Tonight at the Manistee County forum hosted by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians I laid out an eight-point economic plan that builds on our strengths and puts local people first.
If we’re going to turn our state around, it’s crucial that we have local-based representatives that are willing to stand up to the Lansing special interests who have done so much to put us in our present economic situation. Working together, however, we can overcome these challenges. This plan is a start on the road to recovery:
1. Make Northwest Michigan a global center for renewable energy production and innovation.
2. Create a Michigan Tourism Investment Corporation, a public-private partnership focused on results, not partisan politics.
3. Connect local businesses to the global economy through an expanded broadband infrastructure.
4. Utilize our local strengths to differentiate local renaissance zones from others in the state. Creating a virtual port authority in Manistee is one example.
5. Foster a statewide entrepreneurial culture by providing incentives for workers whose jobs have been outsourced to create and replace the job they’ve lost
6. Promote Michigan Small Business. The Small Business Barometer shows just 14% of Michigan small business owners give the legislature a positive score.
7. Provide a predictable and competitive business tax environment. In replacing the Single Business Tax, we should be guided by the following four criteria: (1) stable revenue source, providing certainty and predictability; (2) minimize compliance costs; (3) competitive with other states’ business tax rates; and (4) encourage innovation, promote jobs creation, and reduce the penalties for adding jobs that exist in the current system.
8. Invest in education to build the best-educated workforce in the world.
By taking these shared local priorities to Lansing, I hope to help build a competitive business environment that enables Michigan entrepreneurs to create a 21st-century Michigan economy that is brighter than anything we’ve seen thus far. Will you join me?
