From: Ogar, Jon (GOV)
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 2:29 PM
To: Whipple, Deb (GOV)
Subject: What the Governor's Talking about Today

Importance: High

Debbie:

 

Following is today’s edition of WTGTAT. I don’t know if Liz wants to add the Race to the Top statement or not. Thanks!

 

What the Governor’s Talking about Today

Thursday, March 4, 2010

 

Governor Issues Executive Order Consolidating Public Finance Authorities into New Michigan Finance Authority

The governor today issued Executive Order 2010-2 to further improve efficiency in state government by consolidating 10 public finance authorities into one Michigan Finance Authority.  The new finance authority will be an autonomous entity within the Department of Treasury and is one of the 29 government reforms outlined by the governor in January to transform Michigan government.

 

The Michigan Finance Authority will be comprised of the state treasurer along with six additional members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Michigan Senate.  Each of the six members will have experience in a particular area, such as housing and community development, or public finance-related issues.  The state treasurer will chair the authority.

 

The 10 public finance authorities whose functions will be consolidated into the Michigan Finance Authority are:

 

 

Pending legislative review, the executive order will take effect May 30, 2010.

Key messages:

 

 

Michigan Ranks No. 3 State for Major New Corporate Expansions

The governor announced today that Site Selection magazine has named Michigan the No. 3 state in the nation for major new corporate facilities and expansions in 2009.
 
Site Selection, a global business publication, verified 371 projects that met capital investment, job-creation or size standards, up from 296 for 2008, as part of its annual Governor’s Cup ranking (www.siteselection.com).  This is the second year in a row that Michigan has finished in the top three.  This year, Michigan was 10 projects back of first-place Ohio and three back of second-place TexasPennsylvania finished fourth with 333 projects.  Rounding out the top 10 were Tennessee, New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia and Indiana.
 
Major new corporate projects for Michigan in 2009 included:  advanced energy storage and solar firms like Xtreme Power and Clairvoyant Energy on the site of the former Ford Wixom assembly plant; advanced-battery development and manufacturing firms A123 Systems (Ann Arbor), Johnson Controls-Saft Advanced Power Solutions (Holland), and Dow Kokam (Midland); and major expansions by General Motors and Ford for electric and hybrid vehicle production here.
 
Site Selection also recognized Detroit-Warren-Livonia as the nation’s No. 4 metro area with a population of one million or more for new and expanded corporate facilities.  Among metro areas with a population of between 200,000 and one million, Grand Rapids-Wyoming tied for third; Holland-Grand Haven was fifth; and Ann Arbor and Lansing-East Lansing tied for sixth.

Site Selection’s annual Governor’s Cup competition recognizes the states with the most new or expanded private-sector capital projects as tracked by publisher Conway Data Inc.’s new plant database.  Facility projects counted in the Governor’s Cup, Top Metros and Top Micropolitan rankings meet one or more of these criteria: capital investment of $1 million or more, creation of 50 or more new jobs, or new floor space of at least 20,000 square feet.

 

# # #

 

Jon Ogar

Senior Writer/Editor

Communications Division

Office of Governor Jennifer M. Granholm

Office 517-335-6819

Cell 517-515-2743

Fax 517-335-6790