Author Archives: The Center for Michigan

By Todd Schulz Gov. Rick Snyder has made a blunt claim about Michigan’s schools in 2011: Few of their graduates are actually ready for college work. This spring, Snyder said only 16 percent of the state’s 2010 high school graduates were college ready and that 238 schools had zero — 0 — college-ready students based [...]

By Kurt Metzger Editor’s note: The Center continues a series of comments from Kurt Metzger of Data Driven Detroit on what the 2010 census results mean for Michigan today, and tomorrow. Metzger worked for the U.S. Census Bureau for 15 years and has been studying demographic data and issues in Michigan for three decades. The [...]

In anticipation of Gov. Rick Snyder’s special message on health and wellness in September, The Center for Michigan spoke with Dee Edington, one of the nation’s top experts on designing workplace wellness plans. Edington, director of the University of Michigan’s Health Management Research Center, said he has not advised Snyder on how to improve the [...]

By Rick Haglund A 15-year-long effort to spur jobs and vitality in some of the state’s most economically depressed areas by turning them into virtual tax-free zones — and thereby forgoing about $1 billion in tax collections — is being curtailed by Gov. Rick Snyder. Citing disappointing results in Renaissance Zones, the Snyder administration is [...]

  By Rick Haglund “Blight” and “Traverse City” aren’t often used in the same sentence. But one large, historically significant property in the picturesque northern Michigan community was so blighted that local officials who wanted to redevelop the site were unable to make much progress — until it was approved as a tax-free Renaissance Zone. [...]

By Ron French The Michigan Legislature has voted over the years to designate a state rock (Petoskey stone), a state tree (white pine) and even a state fossil (mastodon). If lawmakers decide to name a state university, Wolverine fans should be worried. There are almost twice as many Michigan State University alumni in the House [...]

Michigan has more than 150 renaissance zones, specific geographic areas or industry sites in which most state and local taxes are set aside to spur specific economic investments, though some have since expired. The Snyder administration is now scaling back the geographic zones, arguing that they have not proven effective in spurring job growth. View [...]

By Jon Zemke Through all of the hype at the press conference for Earvin “Magic” Johnson joining Detroit Venture Partners, you could tell it meant real change not by the tall, world famous African American at center stage, but by the small, locally known Asian American on the edge of the crowd, Henry Balanon. Normally, [...]