The Business-Higher Education Forum

Abstract

What is needed to make Michigan more competitive?Bill McCormack Regulatory reform (e.g., DNR) Insurance, liability, workman's comp Different attitude by Congressional delegation Bill LaMothe: Job creation is the key.Noted "10,000 by 2000" effort in Battle Creek Outstate still perceives that UAW and BIg Three controlL the state, although folks from Detroit discount this.(John Engler noted that "Labor is just 6 votes away from having no power at all.") However there is also agreement that Big Auto has contributed to unrealistic expectations of wage and benefits rates that affect other business.Michigan is still perceived...and perceives itself...as a manufacturing state, and yet manufacturing jobs and activities are being converted every day into knowledge based jobs.Bill Parfet notes UpJohn study of where to site a new plant....and that, when looking at sites within a 600 mile radius, Michigan falls off the scale because of its tax structures... ...the highest business tax ...the highest family tax ...the highest property tax ...the highest cost of doing business There was general agreement that taxes were very much a concern.There was a suggestion that perhaps we need a better "doomsday" story to demonstrate to people what will happen if the tax structure is not changed.There was a suggestion that perhaps we need a better "doomsday" story to demonstrate to people what will happen if the tax structure is not changed.Yet we do a very poor job in making the case for the importance of a strong business climate... MMA and CofC really are very weak compared to labor as a voice in Lansing.Labor is loud...and everyone else is very quiet.Business is just not a major force in Lansing... and yet today it is far more powerful than labor.Adamany noted that Michigan, unlike other states, appears to have no tradition of self-restraint... ...its citizens and their elected officials appear to have a list of endless desires ...they are unwilling to make choices... to agree that certain things are off-limits K-12 Reform and Other Education IssuesEngler has deferred his education message until early fall