The governor's race will tighten as election day nears, predicted Adrian Hemond, Grassroots Midwest, who spoke at Capitol Issues Forum Oct.24. "I think we're all going to wake up to a lot of surprises on Nov. 7," said Hemond who expects Gretchen Whitmer to win the governor's race. Brian Began, Grassroots Midwest, who joined Hemond on the panel, pointed out that during big midterm elections more campaigning and funding goes into big ticket issues such as the governor's race or

A lot has been done, but more needs to be accomplished, said Ari Adler, communications director in the governor’s office, when he recapped Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of the State speech at Capitol Issues Forum Jan. 24. The state of Michigan has achieved significant progress during the governor’s tenure, Adler noted, referring to two Wall Street Journal articles the governor handed up during his speech. The first article published Oct. 2009 was titled ‘The State of Joblessness’,

Detroit is recovering from its 2013 bankruptcy by focusing on improving schools and economic development, Chad Livengood, reporter for Crain’s Detroit Business, told Capitol Issues Forum Sept. 20 in his talk “Covering Detroit’s Resurgence.” As city leaders tackle blight, expensive auto insurance and workforce challenges, Detroit’s comeback story is still being written. Investments by entrepreneurs like Tom Gores, Dan Gilbert and Shahid Khan have brought business and jobs int

Entrepreneurship creates jobs and drives Michigan's economy said Neil Sheridan, chair of the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) Entrepreneurship Task Force, and Rob Fowler, President and CEO of SBAM, at the April Capitol Issues Forum "Accelerating Economic Growth through Entrepreneurship." More than 650,000 registered small businesses in Michigan rely on economic growth and entrepreneurship opportunities. To help better align public and private support of entrepre

Inmates now have a better chance of success outside of prison thanks to programs focused on self-improvement, said Chris Gautz, Michigan Department of Corrections, at the March Capitol Issues Forum “Rehabilitation & Reentry.” Although prisoners at the Cooper Street Correctional Facility in Jackson, for example, only made up five percent of the Jackson College student body, they were 57 percent of the Dean’s List this past semester, said Gautz, who is MDOC’s public information

Michigan could be losing out on jobs and economic growth thanks to inadequate investment in infrastructure, said Mike Nystrom, Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association and Janice Beecher, MSU's Institute of Public Utilities, who spoke at Capitol Issues Forum Feb. 16 on findings and recommendations of Gov. Snyder's 21st Century Infrastructure Commission. Potential businesses looking to relocate or expand to the area are concerned about Michigan's i