MICHauto > Blog > MICHauto in the News > Whitmer Announces $2 Million Grant to Grow High-Tech Talent

Whitmer Announces $2 Million Grant to Grow High-Tech Talent

December 8, 2022

Crain’s Detroit Business
David Eggert
Dec. 8, 2022

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday announced a $2 million grant to help Michigan attract and develop high-tech talent in the automotive, mobility and technology sectors.

The money, which is part of the $25 million Mobility Future Initiative enacted in March, will go to the Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation and the chamber’s MICHauto initiative. The funding will be used to:

  • launch a pilot with Kettering University and Michigan Technological University to engage, track, guide and retain students in high school FIRST Robotics, Square One Network and VEX programs;
  • survey students, parents, teachers and school counselors about career paths in the automotive and mobility industry to inform strategies to position the state as a destination for high-skilled workers;
  • analyze why high-tech talent concentrates in specific places in North America and recommend ways to make Michigan more competitive; and
  • establish an organization to create more industry connectivity and tech clusters across the state.

“These projects will help us build the workforce of the future, compete for high-skilled workers and create good-paying jobs,” Whitmer said at the MICHauto Summit in Detroit. “In a state where one out of five jobs is mobility-related, these projects will leverage our greatest asset — our people — and make Michigan more competitive and improve the future of our economy and communities.”

She said the funds will support two projects to boost student enrollment in STEM programs and increase industry connectivity between the Upper and Lower peninsulas.

“MICHauto is grateful for this funding and the opportunities it provides to advance our state’s competitiveness by developing, attracting and retaining talented professionals to support our signature industry’s high-tech evolution,” said Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of MICHauto and vice president of automotive and mobility initiatives at the chamber. “MICHauto’s direct connections to leading automotive, mobility and technology companies and their needs informs our strategy to ensure Michigan is a destination for the world’s most innovative minds.”