Displaying items tagged: University of Michigan

Nearly two years after announcing its initial plan, the Trump administration issued a final rule on March 31 that rolls back Obama-era automobile fuel economy standards and requires modest fuel efficiency increases in forthcoming internal combustion models.

An updated economic outlook from the University of Michigan projects a partial recovery for the U.S. in the second half of the year that would follow a deep drop in the second quarter caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

University of Michigan economists expect the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic to drive the U.S. economy into recession for the second quarter.

Economists at Comerica Inc. now expect the U.S. economy to possibly dip negative for the second quarter as a fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Today’s emergency interest rate cut could aid a slowing U.S. economy facing a significant threat from the coronavirus outbreak, according to Comerica Inc. economists.

Backers of legislation that would bar employers in Michigan from requiring certain employees to sign a non-compete agreement say they simply want the free market to work.

The statewide advocacy group for automobile dealers says “more questions than answers” follow a recent settlement agreement between California electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. and the state.

Michigan’s venture capital industry made further progress in 2019 as investors put a record $771.6 million into 115 deals with state-based companies, according to Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. Despite the industry’s growth, David Brophy says a lot more needs to happen to further build venture capital in Michigan to seed and grow more startups and attract more investors, particularly large institutional investors who can put money into Michigan-based funds. Brophy serves as director of the Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance at the University of Michigan and is founder of the annual Midwest Growth Capital Symposium. He spoke with MiBiz about the status of venture capital in Michigan. 

An assortment of state-backed capital funds and initiatives to support business startups, innovation and entrepreneurs recently earned renewal in Lansing.

For this 13th installment of Crystal Ball, MiBiz reporters interviewed dozens of West Michigan executives about their outlook for the state and national economy and the indicators they’re watching as they prepare their businesses for the new year. While no single issue seemed to rise to the top this year, here’s a subjective list of their concerns that came up most often, ranked in no particular order. 

Fears of a national recession in 2020 are largely unfounded. So insists Jim Robey, director of regional economic planning services at the Kalamazoo-based W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

A combination of factors came together in 2019 to take a bite out of Michigan’s economy. The six-week General Motors strike, white-collar job cuts at GM and Ford early in 2019, a slowing manufacturing sector, and relatively flat auto sales collectively held back the state’s growth this year.

Employers across West Michigan granted pay raises this year averaging 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent, according to annual survey data.

Mercy Health and Metro Health-University of Michigan plan to integrate cancer care in West Michigan through a new network to treat patients at three locations in Grand Rapids and Muskegon.

As Michigan universities land tens of millions of dollars in opioid research funding, students at all age levels are learning lessons about the epidemic.

One of the barriers for health care providers responding to the opioid crisis in Michigan is a shortage of doctors trained in addiction medicine.

If Michigan collects a share of what could become a multi-billion-dollar legal settlement with Purdue Pharma LP, Peter Jacobson believes the money needs to pay for prevention, treatment, and compensating people who became addicted to opioids.

In 2017, Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration proposed and later signed into law a 10-bill package meant to be an “all-hands-on deck approach” to the opioid crisis, as former Lt. Gov. Brian Calley described it at the time. 

Michigan’s economic growth “slowed down considerably” during the spring and summer, although University of Michigan economists doubt the state is on track for a downtown in the next two years.

As students head off to college this fall, some of them in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will be blazing a trail when it comes to new fields of study: growing and testing hemp and learning how to lead a cannabis business.

Helix Steel hopes to find a silver lining in what’s become a growing infrastructure crisis in the state of Michigan. 

The idea sounds simple: Create a $150 million to $200 million fund supported by foundations and university endowments to back venture capital investors in the Great Lakes states.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this month reversed a policy from the Snyder administration that blocked commercial solar energy projects on property enrolled in the state’s farmland preservation program.

The latest quarterly economic survey from Business Leaders for Michigan shows continued optimism about the state economy, although few executives expect higher growth through 2019 and into next year.

Whether the West Michigan manufacturing industry continues on an ongoing growth trend in 2019 or veers into a contraction remains uncertain. Economist Paul Isely, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University, uses automotive, furniture, agriculture, and “amazingly nowadays” aerospace manufacturing to find the pulse of where the region’s economy is headed in the coming months and years. 

Michigan’s economy will see slower economic and employment growth in 2019 amid the ongoing tight labor market and less U.S. economic growth, economists say.

Robert Dye views 2019 as a “transitional year” for the U.S. economy as a trio of forces align to moderate growth during the year.

Michigan will maintain job growth through 2019, although at a slower rate than the past several years as employers have fewer people to hire.

Smaller public universities in Michigan will have to come up with less matching funding to secure state grants that support startup companies coming out of research labs.

GRAND RAPIDS — With a new project, Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital and the University of Michigan are laying the foundation for further research collaborations.