Michigan has what Marci Rossell calls “a moment” to take advantage of corporations that are re-establishing their supply chains closer to home in the post-pandemic era.
After chasing lower-cost labor markets in Asia and elsewhere for four decades starting in the 1980s, businesses lately have been trying to bring back supply chains to the U.S. after they were greatly disrupted four years ago in the COVID-19 pandemic, Rossell said.
Potential disruptions continue today, Rossell, the former chief economist at CNBC, said today during an address at the West Michigan Policy Forum.
“Our state, in particular, has a moment, where businesses are moving worldwide back to the United States, and the question is how do we provide a climate that makes them choose our state,” said Rossell, a South Haven resident.
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Other issues that pose a risk to supply chains — cybersecurity threats, geopolitical turmoil that threatens global shipping lanes, and a shrinking Chinese workforce that diminishes its competitive advantage — add to the reshoring trend, Rossell said.
“Businesses have a strong incentive to reshore activity back closer to their customers, but then they have a choice of which state they’re going to choose,” she said. “We have a moment to attract these businesses. Will they come back to Michigan? Or will they come back to Georgia or North Carolina or Florida or Texas?”
Rossell used her West Michigan Policy Forum address to highlight the reshoring of supply chains from Asia and the need for creating a better environment in Michigan to attract both new businesses and people, especially the coveted younger mobile generation of 20- to 35-year-olds who are raising families.
“This is a group that we want to remain in our state and to come to our state,” Rossell said. “So, we’re going to have to talk about what do they want and what will attract them.”
Rossell noted that quality education and “attainable” housing are among the top issues that resonate with the younger generation. Virginia ranks highly by CNBC as a top state in which to live and do business, led by a top ranking in education that acts as a lure for younger talent with families, Rossell said.
“When you’re looking at the 20 to 35 (age) group, education is the one place where the two, businesses and people, kind of intersect with one another,” she said.
CNBC ranks Michigan 41st in the nation for education, a status that Rossell called “a tragedy.”
“This is something that we can do something about,” she said.
Michigan ranked ninth overall in the CNBC rankings and third for its cost of living. The comparative low cost of living enabled Michigan to score in the top 10 in CNBC’s overall rankings and provides a benefit that attracts businesses and workers, Rossell said.
In opening the West Michigan Policy Forum, held at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids, Autocam Medical Devices LLC President and CEO John Kennedy cited changes made in Lansing the last two years since Democrats won control of the Legislature that he believes have hurt Michigan’s business climate.
They include repealing the state’s right-to-work law and re-establishing a prevailing wage law that requires contractors to pay union-scale wages and benefits for workers on public projects, such as school and university buildings.
Kennedy also pointed to how third-grade students in Michigan fare poorly on reading assessments tests, with more than six in 10 testing as not proficient, and that a system that graded how schools perform “so that parents could determine which schools were good choices for their child” has been “gutted.”
“The past two years made it crystal clear that elections have consequences,” said Kennedy, who chairs the West Michigan Policy Forum. “All of these actions put business owners and leaders across Michigan in an uncompetitive position and is leaving our children behind.”
The 250 attendees at the Policy Forum ranked state regulation, education, housing and talent as the top policy issues for the state.
“We are at a pivotal moment in Michigan’s economic future. The decisions we make today will determine whether we attract the businesses and talent we need to thrive,” Kennedy said. “We must be bold in advocating for policies that create a pro-business environment and position Michigan to compete on a national scale.”
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