Business Facilities magazine recently designated Michigan as the “State of the Year” due to the 10,000 new jobs and nearly $14 billion in corporate investment that’s been driven to the state.
According to excerpts from the article:
The call for entries for Business Facilities' second annual State of the Year Award sparked a palpable excitement within economic development agencies across the United States.
They submitted data for their five largest projects (measured by total capital investment and by creation of new jobs) announced between October 1, 2007 and September 30, 2008. The Business Facilities editors analyzed and tabulated these numbers using a predetermined formula to determine 2008's State of the Year. The resounding winner—bolstered by nearly 10,000 new jobs and, most notably, one jaw dropping, multi-billion-dollar business partnership—is the crown of the Midwest: Michigan.
A dual-peninsula poised along four of the five Great Lakes, Michigan's triumph is a well-deserved accolade for a state that recently has been linked to unflattering headlines pertaining to the struggles of the U.S. automotive sector—a long-standing pillar of the state's economy.
But those headlines don't portray the complete picture of Michigan. In fact, Governor Jennifer Granholm announced in September the state's approval of a whirlwind of incentives to allow General Motors (GM) to develop and produce the Chevrolet Volt, a revolutionary electric car, along with additional advanced energy and conventional fuel vehicles and components.
Read the entire article here.
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