Opinions Forging Ahead Creating a vital climate for entrepreneurship
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Forging Ahead
By Greg Main
President & CEO,
Michigan Economic Development Corp.
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There is no one-size-fits-all solution to creating jobs and growing Michigan’s economy. Instead, it’s important to think of Michigan’s new economy as a support system for small businesses whose sustainability requires many interlocking components to be successful. To that end, we’ve created the 21st Century Jobs Fund, a $2 billion, 10-year initiative that consists of multiple programs designed to offer short-term economic stimulus to companies as they face different challenges depending on their stage of development.
For example, in Grand Rapids, Display Pack was established in 1967 by Roger Hansen in his one-stall garage. From that humble beginning, with a strong commitment to integrity and the customer, this small packaging company flourished rapidly. The company received financing through the 21st Century Jobs Fund in 2009, which enabled the company to create and retain 175 jobs. Today, the Display Pack team has grown to over 400 employees and has 450,000 square feet of manufacturing facilities, shipping to a world-wide customer base.
In Kalamazoo, a group of former Pfizer scientists founded a chemical research company called Kalexsyn. In 2003, Kalexsyn used the 21st Century Jobs Fund ($192,200, paid back in full) to build a company from scratch. Since then, the company has grown from a laboratory in the Southwest Michigan Innovation Center to a stand-alone operation in an adjacent building. Kalexsyn also has hired 21 ex-Pfizer employees. Currently, Kalexsyn provides preclinical development services to companies across the globe.
The 21st Century Jobs Fund’s mission is to create a dynamic climate for entrepreneurship and help transform and diversify Michigan’s economy. Last month marked the four-year anniversary since the fund first began helping companies grow, and an executive report tracking the initiative, titled “Foundation for a New Michigan Economy,” was released.
The 21st Century Jobs Fund has three goals. One is to encourage the development and commercialization of competitive-edge technologies. The others are to increase capital investment activity and make commercial lending more available in Michigan. Almost 1,500 Michigan companies have received assistance from the 21st Century Jobs Fund, and more than 24,000 Michigan jobs have been created or retained as a result of the initiative. Additionally, programs through the fund have helped Michigan businesses obtain nearly 900 new patents and commercialize and license more than 400 new technologies. The first round of funding in 2006 resulted in the award of $126.3 million to 78 organizations now engaged in high-tech research, commercializing new products, and creating new jobs.
During Gov. Granholm’s 2005 “State of the State” address, she proposed the 21st Century Jobs Fund as a way to accelerate the diversification of Michigan’s economy and create jobs by focusing on innovative and entrepreneurial small businesses. Technology — or innovation-based programs had become recognized globally as the focus of the next wave of economic development efforts, and the concept of “economic gardening” — where a state or region supports and grows its own indigenous technology sectors — took hold as the global economy reshaped markets.
Kalexyn and Display Pack are only two success stories out of many. The initial impact of the 21st Century Jobs Fund has been tremendous. In fact, leading California venture capitalist Tom Baruch recently told the San Francisco Business Times that incentives such as the 21st Century Jobs Fund are game-changers, and that other states would do well to make their public-private partnerships as participatory and comprehensive as ours.
By remaining committed to the fund’s long-term strategy of creating a fertile climate for entrepreneurship, we can continue diversifying the state’s economy and producing 21st century jobs for Michigan workers. (To read “A Foundation for the New Michigan Economy” in its entirety, go to www.michiganadvantage.org/cm/files/reports/21cjf_report93r-f3.pdf.