The new head of Michigan’s largest and most powerful business organization says there is reason for optimism that the state is becoming more attractive to business investment that produces new jobs.
Jim Holcomb is president of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. He brought a generally optimistic message to the business awards breakfast of the Southwestern Michigan Regional Chamber of Commerce at the Mendel Center.
Holcomb says despite partisan rancor at the State Capitol, progress has been made. He pointed to the big General Motors electric truck and SUV plant in Orion and GM’s battery cell plant planned for Delta Township near Lansing. The battery cell plant alone is supposed to produce 17,000 new jobs.
GM will spend $35 billion on electric and high tech vehicles ‘somewhere’—and Holcomb believes Michigan has a reasonable shot at being competitive for several of those projects.
The state chamber’s Legislative Priorities for the rest of 2022 are focused on sensible allocation of the massive one-time infusion of Federal dollars that flowed from COVID 19 relief programs, still being discussed in the House and Senate in Lansing.
The Chamber is also urging a resolution—whatever that is—of the Line 5 Tunnel issue, supposed to replace the pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac. The Chamber supports building the tunnel, but says a decision needs to be made so orderly planning for future energy needs can take place.
Holcomb also called attention to a problem that’s affecting the ‘Fixing of the Roads’ in Michigan. That’s the aggregate shortage. The material used in road building is in short supply in the state, and it’s expensive to transport it from elsewhere. The Chamber believes lawmakers can and should figure that out and solve it, rather than trading blame on who’s responsible for the problem.
