MICHauto is partnering with Creative Class Group on a comprehensive study that will benchmark regions across North America that are succeeding in attracting and retaining high-tech talent and businesses. The study will offer a comparative analysis of Michigan’s assets when it comes to business and talent attraction and offer specific recommendations on what Michigan must do to be more competitive.
“For over 120 years, Michigan has been a global leader in innovation, design, research, and engineering centered on the automotive industry. Like our signature industry, all industries today are technology driven and enabled,” said Glenn Stevens Jr., Executive Director of MICHauto and Vice President of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives at the Detroit Regional Chamber. “We must ensure that Michigan is recognized and renowned as a tech hub and magnet for the digital talent that will be the driving force for the state’s economic future. We are partnering with the Creative Class Group to benchmark and develop strategic recommendations and actions that our state can take to make this a reality.”
The study, authored by renowned urbanist and professor Richard Florida and his Creative Class Group team, is due to be released this spring and will provide data and inform how Michigan’s business, government, and economic development leaders can enhance opportunities for talent and tech growth and improve Michigan’s standing as a destination for leading tech talent. The study’s recommendations will target the entire state and its various tech and talent hubs and identify the public-private strategies and investments required to ensure future growth in this critical area.
“Talent is the key driver of innovation and economic development in today’s economy. Talented people can increasingly choose where they want to live and work, and so states and communities must orient their economic development strategies to compete for talent,” said Richard Florida, Co-founder of Creative Class Group. “Greater Detroit, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and other tech and talent hubs across Michigan have considerable assets to compete including urban amenities, affordable housing, great public and private schools, and world-class universities. Our project will help identify the future-oriented strategies and investments, which will enable them to compete even more effectively for talent and tech industries.”
The partnership kicked off during Florida’s appearance in Detroit at the Detroit Policy Conference hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber on Tuesday, Jan. 10. Florida’s remarks at the Conference focused on what urban areas like Detroit, Grand Rapids, and others need to do to reinvent themselves post-pandemic in order to attract and engage young talent. Read a recap here.
This new partnership will support one of the four critical workstreams of MICHauto’s High-Tech Talent Strategy to strengthen Michigan’s global competitiveness in the automotive, mobility, and technology industries. That broader initiative is being funded by a grant through the state of Michigan’s Mobility Futures Initiative with a goal of growing high-tech talent in Michigan and bringing to life the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification’s MI Future Mobility Plan.
About MICHauto
MICHauto promotes, retains, and grows Michigan’s signature industry as the state’s only automotive, mobility, and technology cluster association. MICHauto provides a platform for industry leaders and stakeholders to engage in advocacy, discuss industry priorities, improve the high-tech talent outlook, and create an innovation-friendly environment to support next-generation mobility developments. As the automotive and mobility industry continues to evolve, MICHauto serves as a trusted advisor and representative for the industry, ensuring Michigan maintains its global leadership and competitiveness. Learn more at michauto.org.
About Creative Class Group
The Creative Class Group (CCG) is a strategy firm comprised of leading researchers, thinkers, and business experts. Drawing on its own proprietary datasets, CCG advise corporations, governments, nonprofits, and universities on topics ranging from economic development and growth, competitiveness, talent attraction and retention, real estate investment and locational strategy, and inclusivity and sustainability. Its approach centers on the proven research of urban theorist and CCG founder Richard Florida, author of the seminal book The Rise of the Creative Class. Making up about one-third of the U.S. work force (much more in some cities), the Creative Class collects half of all wages, and accounts for 70 percent of discretionary spending. No company, organization, or economy can afford to overlook it.