By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s new regional policy director is in Washington D.C. this week to secure support from congress for two of the chamber’s five policy directives. The trip is part of a push by the Great Lakes Metropolitan Coalition to present federal lawmakers with proposals aimed at jump-starting the region’s economy.
The GLMC consists of chambers from the metro regions of the Great Lakes States. And while the GLMC has its own agenda for lawmakers, two of the items overlap with the five directives established at last September’s inaugural West Michigan Regional Policy Conference.
“There’s crossover on transportation funding and infrastructure issues,” says Regional Policy Director Bill Jackson, “and on diversifying West Michigan’s economy, which is part of the GLMC’s agenda to harness Great Lakes economic potential. It’s time that we put together a greater effort to effect change in Michigan with what’s going on in Washington.”
Nearly 600 business and civic leaders gathered for the policy conference to have their voices heard in Lansing. Five directives were established:
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Update funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure.
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Eliminate the Michigan Business Tax with corresponding spending cuts.
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Streamline the permitting process within state government.
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Increase funding for health care providers with effective prevention practices.
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Implement a right-to-work status for Michigan.
Jackson has been on the job for about two weeks and already he’s getting buy-in from regional movers and shakers to push the directives forward.
“We’ll form five regional task forces,” Jackson says. “The job is to study the issues, look at policies and develop strategic plans to advance the directives. Any help we can get from the federal government is going to help us move forward.”
Source: Bill Jackson, Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce; Karen Hogan, Seyferth & Associates
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Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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