Dan Rather Reports, "Start-up Michigan"

Posted on October 6, 2011

Many factors will play a role in Michigan’s economic turnaround, but Governor Rick Snyder is making one thing abundantly clear: for Michigan to succeed, we must look beyond our borders and open up to the promises and potential of the global marketplace.

Governor Snyder recently sat down with Dan Rather to talk about the importance of attracting talented immigrants to Michigan and the tremendous difference in creative positive economic activity that benefits all of us (see interview here).

Since taking office in January, Governor Snyder has made the case that we must aggressively encourage immigrant entrepreneurs to choose Michigan for their relocation, especially those with advanced academic degrees.

The Governor charged the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to find new ways to encourage immigrants with advanced college degrees to come to Michigan to work and live.

To help battle brain drain and openly encourage innovators and entrepreneurs to come to our state, MDCR and MEDC have enlisted the help of dozens of public and private organizations including businesses, associations, local economic development agencies, advocacy groups and universities to build and execute a new statewide initiative, Global Michigan.

This statewide public-private partnership is aimed at attracting and retaining highly educated immigrants to Michigan to work and live, and to create a welcoming environment for all.

The interview with Dan Rather is timely considering Governor Snyder just last week completed his first trade mission to Asia. The Governor met with numerous Japanese, Chinese and Korean government officials and business executives to share the message Michigan is open for business and welcomes immigrants to help rebuild the state’s economy.

While he was there, the Governor signed an agreement of strategic cooperation between Michigan and the Gyeonggi province of South Korea and announced several partnerships between Michigan and Asian companies.