From: Whipple, Deb (GOV)
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 4:25 PM
Subject: What the governor's talking about this week
What the Governor’s Talking about This Week
Friday, September. 11, 2009
 
Governor Hails Plans to Transform Former Wixom Plant into Renewable Energy Park
 
On Thursday the governor spoke at an event at Ford Motor Company’s former Wixom Assembly plant where Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. announced plans to sell the facility to two alternative energy companies, Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy.  Xtreme Power manufactures large-scale battery systems for storing renewable energy while Clairvoyant makes solar panels and solar power stations.  The two companies want to invest $725 million in the facility to transform it into a renewable energy park.  The project, which still hinges on approval of federal and state incentives, will provide up to 4,000 jobs on site.
 
Talking points:
 
•  Michigan is fast becoming a North American hub for manufacturing renewable energy products.
•  Michigan is attractive to alternative energy companies because of our skilled workforce, technical know-how and manufacturing capacity.
•  Xtreme Power says it will create 2,500 direct jobs while Clairvoyant projects its employment will eventually reach 1,100.  Additionally, Oerlikon Solar, a Swiss-based manufacturing partner of Clairvoyant, plans to locate its North American headquarters at the site and create 300 jobs.
•  Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant plan to begin production in the fall of 2011, and also expect to attract suppliers and other manufacturers to the site.  It’s estimated an additional 10,000 supplier and indirect jobs will result from the project.
 
Library, Historical Center Resources to be Preserved under Governor’s Executive Order
 
The governor on Wednesday issued Executive Order 2009-43 ensuring that when the Department of History, Arts and Libraries ceases to exist on October 1, the state’s library and historical collections will be preserved and maintained for generations to come.
 
The order gives priority to services that affect libraries and their patrons throughout the state such as Michigan eLibrary (MeL) and MelCat, the statewide online catalog and resource sharing system, and the preservation of important collections maintained by the Library of Michigan including the Michigan Collection, Rare Books Collection and Genealogy Collection.
 
Talking points:
 
•  As we continue to streamline government and improve efficiency, we want to ensure that we preserve and protect what defines us as a state.
•  We believe our valuable historical documents, archives and collections need to be protected for future generations.
•  The Michigan Center for Innovation and Reinvention Board, established by Executive Order 2009-36, is required to consider potential ideas to preserve and maximize the benefits to the public of the existing Michigan Library and Historical Center.
 
Governor to Travel to Japan on Investment Mission
 
On Saturday the governor will embark on a 72-hour mission to Japan to meet with key executives considering locating alternative energy projects in Michigan, and speak at the 2009 Japan-Midwest U.S. Association Conference in Tokyo.  The association was formed in 1968 to foster better business relations between 10 Midwestern states and 75 top Japanese businesses.  Approximately 400 people are expected to attend this year’s conference, including U.S. and Japanese business executives, government leaders and trade officials.  
 
Talking points:
 
•  The message the governor is taking to Japan is that Michigan is fast becoming the North American center for the alternative energy industry, and now is the time to get on board.
•  Next year’s Japan-Midwest U.S. Association Conference will be in Detroit, and the governor is using this speaking opportunity to personally invite conference attendees to Detroit and Michigan in 2010.
•  This trip to Japan will be the governor’s ninth overseas investment mission since 2004.  Her previous missions to Austria, Germany, Israel, Japan, Jordan and Sweden resulted in 45 companies announcing more than $955 million in new investment in Michigan and almost 11,000 jobs created or retained.
 
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to be Featured in U.S. Mint’s New Line of Quarters

The governor announced on Tuesday that Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore will be featured in the new United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters program.  Pictured Rocks is on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula.
 
Fifty-six quarters will be issued, one for each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.  The coins’ obverse (heads) side will feature the familiar portrait of George Washington with the reverse (tails) side featuring a national park, lakeshore or other national site.
 
Talking points:
 
• Congress made Pictured Rocks the first officially-designated National Lakeshore in the United States in 1966.
• The choice of Pictured Rocks as the site to be featured on the Michigan quarter was approved by Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner after consulting with Governor Granholm and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
• The quarters will be issued sequentially each year in the order in which the featured location was established as a national park or site.
 
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