Michigan’s comeback story is a tale with many lessons for others

By Ari B. Adler, Director of Communications

The Wall Street Journal recently opined about Gov. Rick Snyder’s efforts to reform taxes in Michigan and create the tale that has become the nation’s leading comeback story in the nation.

We often report from our office about the more than 500,000 private-sector jobs that have been created since Gov. Snyder was hired by Michigan voters in 2010, as well as the many other ways the state has improved.

The world has started to take notice about how Michigan — in Detroit and Grand Rapids particularly — is roaring back and pulling ahead of every state in the Great Lakes region and many states across the country.

You don’t have to take our word for it. Read what the Wall Street Journal had to say:

As Washington begins to debate tax reform in earnest, states can provide instructive policy lessons for better and sometimes worse — see the fiscal crack-ups in Connecticut and Illinois. Michigan, on the other hand, offers a case study in the pro-growth potential of business tax reform.

Capital investment and hiring have increased sharply. Two months after Mr. Snyder signed the tax reforms, job growth turned positive. In 2011 Michigan added jobs for the first time in six years, and it has since led the Great Lakes region in manufacturing growth.

Unemployment has fallen below the national average to 3.9% even as the labor-force participation rate has ticked up.

Downtown Detroit is drawing tech firms and young entrepreneurs. Unemployment in the Detroit metro area has fallen to 3.2% from 11.4% six years ago. Businesses in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids say they can’t find enough workers. Perhaps they should try recruiting in Chicago or New Haven.

There is no doubt that through hard work, determination and, as Gov. Snyder likes to say, Relentless Positive Action, Michiganders have turned their state around. Now that we’re headed in the right direction, we’re seeing that same determination push the accelerator harder as we race ahead of other states in so many ways.

Michigan’s comeback story is far from over, but it’s nice to see people are taking notice of just how far we’ve come. The next chapter in this story isn’t yet written, but Gov. Snyder has a draft in hand that can keep the momentum going through 2018 and well beyond.