Policy Makers Meet to Discuss Michigan's Bright Future

This week marks the 2013 Detroit Regional Chamber’s Annual Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. Each summer, the Wednesday following the Memorial Day holiday, business leaders from around the globe descend on the Grand Hotel to help shape the future of Detroit and to discuss topics ranging from job creation to regional transportation and the key reforms needed for Michigan.

This year, more than 1500 attendees met to discuss this year’s agenda and vision which centered on how to “Work collaboratively to create a globally competitive, financially attractive business environment in Michigan”.  This vision, supported by the pillars of Culture, Education and the 21^st century global market, led to the following to-do list of concrete action items: 

• Convene businesses and community colleges to better link the talent needs of employers with community college program offerings.
• Expand the successful “lessons learned” trips to U.S. cities (e.g. Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C.) that can help inform the ongoing renaissance in Michigan’s major urban centers.
• Century cyber threats.^stExpand upon the cyber security lessons learned at MPC by developing and executing efforts that help inform the business community of 21
• Coalesce the regional business community to support comprehensive immigration report that helps drive economic growth and a pilot program in Michigan.
• Promote the Detroit region as a growing and vibrant IT and entrepreneurial hub.
• Commit to celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit – its successes and its failures – at the 2014 Mackinac Policy Conference.

An increased focus on start-ups and entrepreneurial ideas as they relate to new and innovative products and services can only be a good thing for Michigan. We are working diligently with our Innostate partners to identify Michigan manufacturers that are proficient in design and short production runs that can help bring new ideas to market.