The first from Carole Valade, editor of the Grand Rapids Business Journal, entitled Michigan: a state of impoverishment. Citing data from (1) the Gallup-Healthways’ latest State of American Well-Being report that ranks Michigan in the bottom 10, (2) the Michigan Department of Technology, Management & Budget’s Winter 2015 Michigan Economic and Workforce Indicators and Insights data on Michigan continued loss of residents ages 22 to 34 with a bachelor’s degree or higher and (3) the 2015 Kids Count in Michigan data book which showed a 35 percent increase in child poverty over the last six years, Valade concludes:

No matter how many positive proclamations Snyder makes, the state will remain in the bottom 10 without an orchestrated effort to affect education; it is the most effective method to declare war on poverty.

The second editorial comes from the Grand Rapids Press entitled Here’s how we can fight child poverty in West Michigan. Citing the Kids Count data, they write:

We must have a constructive dialogue within our community about how to address the issue of poverty. Far too often, words like “entitlement” and “hand-out” are used to make political arguments, but they fail to grasp the crippling burden of abject poverty. West Michigan’s elected officials in Lansing, most of whom are part of the Republican majority, must continue to find ways to fund programs that benefit and help the poor in our region and state. This includes bolstering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); more money for early childhood education; increasing access to healthcare; allocating more funds for job training; and streamlining human services programs aimed at helping low-income residents.

Exactly! Michigan policy makers need to understand that Michigan––no matter the welcome decline in the unemployment rate––is still a state with huge economic challenges. That we are closer to the bottom than the top on almost all measures of economic well being. And that to reverse that we need more  public investments in education, the safety net and making our communities places where people want to work and live.

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The answer for both Georgia and Texas is not so good. Georgia’s per capita income is a just below Michigan’s at $35,000 and its July unemployment rate is 9.9%.  For Texas it’s $38,000 (below the national average) and 8.2%. Once again both far below  Minnesota which is neither a low tax and spending state nor a right to work state. The Minnesota stats: per capita income of $43,000 and a July unemployment rate of 6.8%. Once again if you care about economic results – as we and most Michiganians do – you want Michigan to be like Minnesota, not Georgia and Texas. And Minnesota, Georgia and Texas are not outliers. They follow the national pattern which is most right to work states and low tax and spending states are below the national average in per capita income.

It’s time that we reject the notion that there are some predetermined right answers to how to restore Michigan to high prosperity and really take the time to learn what are the characteristics of those places across the country that are the most prosperous.

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The Press’ article is part of their terrific Michigan 10.0 series. That the issue of retaining and attracting recent college graduates is now on their short list of agenda items that will determine how well Michigan does in the future is in and of itself a sign of real progress. Believe me, five years ago it was on almost no list of important issues facing the state.

As you know, we believe the question “what does Michigan need to look like so our kids choose to live and work here after college?” is one we believe should be asked of every candidate this year. Because that is the agenda the state and it’s regions should be working on as an economic growth priority.

Both articles assert that place matters along with employment opportunities. And that the place that matters most to young professionals is the central city. We couldn’t agree more. A central conclusion of all our research is that talent is what most determines whether a state is prosperous or not and the states that are the most prosperous are characterized by even more prosperous big metros anchored by vibrant central cities.

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I couldn’t agree more. Its a Michigan example of the Apple model I wrote about in a recent blog. High value pre and post production work done here, while making products in a developing country. Bissell laid off 200 factory workers five years ago. Those jobs went to Mexico. Sound like the familiar Michigan in decline story? Think again! Because there are now 350 Bissell knowledge workers here. With plans to add more.

Whether its high tech products like Apple makes or old line products like Bissell makes, the work that can and should be centered in America is in inventing, engineering, designing and marketing products, not making them. And just like Apple, Bissell understands that their future success is dependent on constant innovation. Inventing what’s next, rather than simply producing today’s products over and over again.

The jobs Bissell is filing in Grand Rapids? According to the column: engineers, industrial designers, market researchers and data analysts.And because these are now the high paid jobs (not factory work which never again will be high paid) its the kind of jobs that will put Michigan back on the path to prosperity. There really is no alternative!

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The editorial on college attainment has some encouraging news. Four-year degree attainment is up twenty one percent at Michigan’s public universities since 1999. And graduation rates are going up. That’s real progress. A rare bright spot in what has been a real depressing decade.

The editorial notes that the rate of growth has slowed in the last few years. And worries that may be, in part, caused by higher tuition. Higher tuition is a direct result of declining state investment in higher education.

That brings us to the second piece – a column by the Press’ Jeff Cranson. Its terrific. Its a common sense essay on the fact that taxes pay for needed services. No taxes, no services. And that some of those services – like higher education – are real important to the future well being of Michiganians.

Cranson cites the small, but growing, number of leaders – both public and private – who have begun a serious discussion of revamping our tax system as a way of making funds available for the public investments that really matter. That’s real encouraging.

He also cites a recent presentation I did where I made the case again that the most prosperous states, by and large, are characterized by high college attainment; while the least prosperous, by and large, are low tax. Once again we need to ask ourselves: why would we want to follow a path to being one of the poorest states in the nation?

We can do better. Now is the time for leadership that get us back on a path to prosperity. These two opinion pieces provide good insight to what that path looks like.

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