Decisions made now may set events in motion that will affect the state's reputation and its ability to perform for years.
Firms that work in employee recruitment and site selection do not dismiss Michigan. The UAW strike doesn't really matter because, as one Texan politely put it, companies that are "labor sensitive" weren't coming to Michigan anyway.
"You've got great universities, great R&D. Other than in the union complex, you've got excellent labor markets," said C.R. (Buzz) Canup Jr., president and CEO of Canup and Associates in Austin, Texas.
Camille Crist, executive director of Grant Cooper and Associates in St. Louis, Mo., a company that assists hospitals and physician practices with recruitment, said Michigan's main drawback -- and only to some recruits -- is its winter weather. "When it's quite cold up there, it can be harder to sell," she said.
Rec! ruits generally are far more interested in the job itself or whether it will get them closer to family. When looking at Michigan, "so many times, they'll say it's a great hospital, or a great organization or a great position," Crist said.
Great schools
Universities and a quality medical system, the top of these two people's lists, are Michigan assets that often go unappreciated by the home crowd. They are also at risk if the state can't keep itself going.
The health of hospitals, plus the ability to attract doctors and other medical specialists, is woven tightly into the number of insured, including those who get coverage under Medicaid. Hospitals are required to treat anyone who shows up in their emergency rooms, insured or not. Every cut in Medicaid, a big target because it eats up so much of the state budget, endangers their fiscal health. And because Medicaid costs are shared roughly 50-50 with the federal government, cutting people or the lev! el of coverage takes more money out of the health care system ! than jus t the amount represented by state taxes.
The less coverage by Medicaid, the shakier many Michigan hospitals -- most of which have fine reputations -- become.
State universities, often No. 1 in the national perception of what makes Michigan desirable, also will suffer if state support dwindles. Michigan State University Provost Kim Wilcox said Lansing's inaction is increasingly a topic of conversation when the university recruits faculty. While the uncertainty has yet to change a candidate's mind, he said the impact is undeniable.
"From afar, Michigan State and the University of Michigan have a halo that's pretty impressive," he said. "But that halo is at risk of getting a little tarnished as the state situation wanes."
At the intersection of higher education and medicine, Wayne State University has found success recruiting for its nursing program. New faculty have traded in positions at schools such as Seton Hall in New Jersey and the University o! f California, San Francisco, to come to Detroit.
Some of the trend is attributable to Michigan's dire need for nursing faculty and the fact that WSU is home to the first Center for Health Research within a nursing program. Such programs are precisely the sort of assets that can bring new lifeblood to Michigan, if they aren't overshadowed by shortsighted state leadership.
Work in Michigan?
For school districts hunting for strong leaders, Michigan's budget situation is already a deterrent.
Eight superintendent jobs sit open around the state, none in high-profile districts. But William H. Mayes, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators, said he suspects even a high profile opening would be a difficult sell.
"We're competing with states that have their legislative and budget processes in order," Mayes said. Superintendent candidates, he explained, are "really concerned because they know they're going to be ! held accountable by school boards for the choices they make, t! hough we have no budget to work with. They have no control."
Michigan's internal sense of crisis has also reached out-of-state job recruiters, who know they can more easily convince young college graduates here that their prospects are better if they leave.
Phil Gardner, director of the College Employment Research Institute at MSU and compiler of an annual national survey of employment trends for graduates, says about 60% of MSU's business and engineering graduates now leave Michigan, the highest numbers he has ever seen.
"Most kids who grew up here would really like to stay in Michigan, but they are willing to start their careers in other states, and they are being courted," Gardner said.
"Recruiters still like Michigan kids. They like the work ethic, and what I would describe as the blue-collar values. They're steady, dependable. They do the job."
And finally, from site selection executive Canup, comes a caution about how state budgeting affects ! nationwide reviews. Once a short list of sites is ready, he said, each state's financial strength -- bond ratings and debt, for example -- comes into play.
A reputation for competent budgeting can take years to rebuild once it is lost. If Michigan lets its assets erode and doesn't keep its own books in order, no one can claim surprise if the stage lights dim.
Source: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Lopenr=709300542&Ref=AR&Dato=20070930&Kategori=OPINION01
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