Small Business Help

An article in the Detroit Free Press stated that Michigan banks and credit unions are leading the nation in the issuing of small business loans. The total number of these loans was 2,063 and they were worth $689 million. This is a large increase from last year when only 1,406 loans were issued with a worth of $386 million. This is helping beneficial for small businesses who were in danger of closing down to a lack of funds.

http://www.freep.com/article/20111101/BUSINESS06/111010338/Michigan-banks-credit-unions-led-nation-providing-government-backed-small-business-loans

Job outlook in michigan

While discussing question number three in our group this morning we agreed that if we could live in Michigan after graduation we would. But in reality we are going to live where ever we can find a job. According to this article, we may be able to find a job here because the job outlook in south eastern michigan is improving. There is hope.

http://www.rdmag.com/News/Feeds/2011/10/general-sciences-improved-job-outlook-for-genesee-lapeer-livingst/

Better Roads will boost the States Economy

Michigan has changing weather every 3-4 months. It has four seasons so the roads don't last as long because of the changing weather. The hot and cold make the roads crack and pot holes take over the road. Not only are the roads bad, but the bridges are getting worse as well. 33% of all bridges in Michigan were considered not safe structures. Michigan is simply running out of time to repair these things. Governor Snyder is trying to take about 19 cents tax per gallon on gas to try and start to collect enough money to save Michigan roads. Here is the article from the Detroit news.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20111101/OPINION01/111010316/1008/opinion01/Better-roads--bridges-will-boost-the-state’s-economy

Worth it?

Is it worth staying in Michigan? Obviously the economy is bad and we got hit the hardest it seems like in the country. I think it is pretty apparent that after graduation, we will have to go wherever a job is available but after some time, will you come back if you had the chance. I feel that there is enough that someone can contribute to help out the state because I don't think the U.S. can function as well if they lost Michigan and it just fell apart. As awful as it seems to live here, there are actually a lot of things that the U.S. really depends on Michigan for and could potentially struggle to find additional sources somewhere else for what is missing.

Obama's Student Loan Relief Program

The student relief program allows borrowers of federal student loans to have their monthly payments set to a reasonable amount based on their income and family size. As of right now payments can be capped at 15% of borrowers discretionary income. Under federal law, this cap is set to be lowered in 2014 to 10%. Obama plans to extend these benefits to borrowers who took out student loans in 2008 and later.

Privatized Government

When we were talking about the benefits and costs of running Michigan like a corporation, the first thing that came to mind was the proposed new bridge to Canada. The current bridge is privatized and little money goes to the government or the people. A new bridge to Canada would allow the people of Detroit and Michigan to get more value from the bridge. I found an article talking about the costs and benefits of building a new bridge.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704590704576092881920953952.html

Cool Cities

In last week's readings there was a section that discussed a community looking to the state or county for help when redeveloping a large space. I thought immediately about the Cool City initiative that was set up by Granholm several years ago. The program was developed to invest in cities and town all over the state that were deemed "Cool Cities" in hopes of increasing travel to these destinations. I was able to find an overview of the program and thought it would was pretty interesting.

http://www.coolcities.com/useruploads/files/WhitePaper.pdf