What are some examples of innovation and/or pivots that the MEDC and/or Michigan businesses adopted to get past said challenges? Michigan’s economic resilience is built on our ability to innovate, adapt and compete. At the MEDC, we’ve worked alongside businesses to embrace new technologies and invest in our future.A prime example is the Michigan Auto Supplier Transition Program that helps small and mid-sized manufacturers pivot to electrification and clean energy, ensuring they remain competitive in the rapidly evolving mobility sector. This Auto Supplier Transition Program builds upon work that the MEDC has undertaken to assist manufacturers, especially small and medium sized ones, take advantage of the opportunities afforded by Industry 4.0 and continuing productivity gains. As part of the State’s overall clean energy goals and priorities, Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the MI Healthy Climate Plan in 2020, which lays out a pathway for Michigan to reach 100% carbon neutrality by 2050 to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis, create good-paying jobs, and build a healthier and more prosperous, equitable, and sustainable Michigan. Working with public and private stakeholders, including Michigan’s two major energy providers, Consumer’s Energy and DTE Energy, we are collectively and aggressively working toward a clean green future. In addition, Governor Whitmer has reinforced a commitment to clean energy investments within the state’s budget, including for the re-opening of the Palisades nuclear powerplant.This effort would save 600 good-paying, high-skill jobs, continue delivering clean power to approximately 800,000 homes, and support an economic engine in Southwest Michigan. This is yet another way that Michigan is leading by example for the rest of the nation, as Palisades remains on track to becoming the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in American history. In doing so, we are showing the world that Michigan will be an epicenter of clean energy production and will do what it takes to save jobs, protect local communities, and deliver reliable power to homes and small businesses. We’ve also doubled down on talent development through MEDC’s Talent Action Team, which works together with the state’s educational institutions and regional, dedicated workforce development boards to deliver the talent solutions required by businesses to succeed. Working in conjunction with our talent attraction and retention efforts, we are focusing on our Make It in Michigan strategy that is based on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to succeed right here in our state. Our statewide placemaking efforts invest in projects that make our communities more inclusive and prosperous while adding affordable housing options in communities across Michigan. Additionally, over the past two years,Team Michigan added senior executives to spearhead creating innovative policy and programming for the state, namely, the nation’s first Chief Growth Officer, Hilary Doe, who led the Growing Michigan Together Council focused on devising strategies for growing the state’s population; and the state’s first Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer, Ben Marchionna, who is charged with growing Michigan’s growing 27 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 03 FOREWORD (MICHIGAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION)
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