Category Archives: Jobs & Employment

Focusing on the Future at Ford

Rouge Plant, 1947 by Lynne's Lens
I came across this very cool photo from the heyday of the American auto industry yesterday. It's interesting to me to think about how deeply our nation identified with the manufacturing and innovation represented by these cars and how much goodwill Ford, GM & Chrysler were able to squander with [...]

M is for Monday … and Midwest, MCS, Michigan Agriculture and MORELS!

Morels ! by cedarkayak
The latest issue of Midwest Living feature on the Best Midwest Food Towns served up a platefull of restaurants in our region that might entice the culinary tourist. Their editors selected Traverse City as the #2 town and Ann Arbor #3. Also featured were a collection of recipes from Traverse City including [...]

NPR series "Remaking Michigan, Retooling Detroit"

Planet Detroit by paulhitz
National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" is currently running a series titled "Remaking Michigan, Retooling Detroit" which explores Detroit's struggle to regain vitality in the face of seemingly insurmountable economic conditions. It shows that there is beacon of hope out there if approached with creative, innovative thought mixed thoroughly with a good dose [...]

Bank bailout "tweak" to spur auto industry

APRIL 1, 2009 (Detroit): Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke before an appreciative audience at a special press conference at the brand-new Rick Wagoner GM Dealership in Detroit this morning. Mr. Geithner said "Washington has heard the concerns of the auto industry and the Obama Administration remains deeply committed to helping the auto industry weather this [...]

Newspocalypse Now

Extra! Extra! by E. Brow
The story earlier this week that the Ann Arbor News would be ceasing publication caught many by surprise. Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry (who also wrote an essay on newspapers last week) writes that he was shocked by the announcement:
Not downsizing, not going to Internet-only publication. Closing, as in, going out of [...]

Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow Conference ~ May 11th, 2009

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth has extended early registration for the May 11 “Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow” conference at the Lansing Center through March 31 at migreenjob.com.
Registrants can save at least $25 by signing up today for the $110 early registration fee. The registration fee increases to $135 from April [...]

Windmill School in Kalamazoo

windmill (sepia) by idiot_girl
In Training Turbine Installers: A Michigan First, the blog Got2BeGreen tipped us off to:
A school in southwest Michigan called Kalamazoo Valley Community College is launching a first-of-its-kind program to train people to install wind turbines. If you want to get one of those green jobs that Van Jones and the others keep [...]

Five Things you need to know about Michigan: Extreme Economy Edition

Face Plant by by Rudy Malmquist
We try to be as positive as possible, but I do hope that everyone (and yes, I'm looking at you elected officials) is preparing to need to do extraordinary things to keep our state and the people in it afloat.
1. Jack Lessenberry spoke with Ismael Ahmed, director of the Michigan [...]

Featured Link: People and Land

Here's a great video from People & Land about transforming Michigan:

People and Land (PAL) is an organization focused on growth and change in Michigan, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Every day, decisions made by local officials and state leaders about how Michigan’s land is used have great impact on both regional quality [...]

AMP and the Arsenal of Creativity

Untitled by Vanessa Miller
Vanessa has a great set of photos from
allied media conference oh8
Wiretap's Jenny Lee has a great article called In Detroit: Arsenal of Creativity. It begins:
“Michigan will be the next film capitol of the world,” Clint Eastwood said in a recent interview following the release of his new film Gran Torino, shot in [...]