By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Last week’s inaugural West Michigan Regional Policy Conference brought some 600 business and civic leaders, legislators and local officials to Grand Rapids to discuss hot topics for improving West Michigan’s economy, and to quantify a list of hot button reforms.
On the last afternoon of the conference, attendees participated in real-time voting that targeted specific issues and desired outcomes based around three themes:
These themes were broken down into seven subject areas, listed below with the top ranked results.
1. Governance: Reform state spending and revenue streams by eliminating the Michigan Business Tax with corresponding spending cuts.
2. Workforce of the Future: Remove mandatory union membership requirements by implementing a right-to-work status for Michigan.
3. Health Care and Life Sciences: Align medical payment rates with provider performance and costs by increasing funding for providers with effective prevention practices.
4. Manufacturing and Design for the Future: Streamline the state regulatory environment by streamlining the permitting process within state government.
5. Attraction and Retention of Talent: Enhance investment in state transportation infrastructure by updating funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure.
6. Michigan’s Education System: Align Michigan’s curriculum with the needs of emerging industries by providing financial incentives to school districts which offer industry specific academies.
7. Investing in Higher Education: Improve coordination among higher education institutions and secondary education systems by creating additional incentives for high school students entering dual enrollment programs.
Of these, conference attendees determined that the top five in the list above would be the actions most likely to turn around the West Michigan economy.
The leadership of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the West Michigan Chamber Coalition, will review and prioritize these five directives as a first step toward setting a core list of final policy recommendations.
The final list will be made public within the next 60 days.
Source: Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce; Michael Zalewski, Seyferth & Associates, Inc.
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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