Business & Economy

State faces dramatic decline in working teenagers

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YOUTH EMPLOYMENT: Greg Davis hires a couple teenagers every summer to work at his Lake View Motel and Gift Shop in Lake City. The local Tasty Twist ice cream shop in this tourist town hires 20 to 30. “I don’t think we have any choice,” Davis said. But Michigan’s teen labor force has declined each year for two decades. In 2000, the share of teenagers ages 16 to 19 in the workforce was just under 62%. By 2022, the rate declined to just over 41%. A declining population of that age group and increasing school enrollment are two reasons for the strain on seasonal businesses that depend on the influx of teens into the summer workforce. We.By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP!, CADILLAC AND ALL BUSINESS PAGES

Arts & Entertainment
Downwind Sports in Munising offers outdoor gear and equipment.

State and business partnerships may improve the environment

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ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP: State and private partnerships and sponsorships could help parks and meet other environmental needs while boosting the economy. We talk to DNR officials, the Michigan Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, the Michigan Environmental Council and the Great Lakes Business Network. By Jack Timothy Harrison FOR CORP!, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS AND BUSINESS AND NEWS PAGES OF ALL POINTS

Diversity Issues
The START Project at Grand Valley State University’s Autism Education Center works with students across the state, including these students at Sault Ste Marie High School.

Autism diagnoses and awareness on the rise 

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AUTISM AWARENESS: State health agencies and advocates are providing more resources to address autism, the nation’s fastest-growing disability. About 50,000 people in Michigan have autism. Some experts say that rising diagnoses of the illness could mean there are improved ways of recognizing and defining it. We talk to the Disability Network of Michigan, a state Medicaid official, and the director of a Grand Valley State University autism program. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, WKTV, SAULT STE. MARIE AND ALL POINTS.

Education
Michigan State Police promotes trooper openings through a billboard campaign, including one in Barry County, with Wayland Post Trooper Steffon Mayhue.

Police agencies try new recruitment tactics to address big shortages

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POLICE OFFICER SHORTAGE: Police agencies across the state are trying to figure out how to attract more applicants for law enforcement jobs. The decline is dramatic, down 4,000 positions from a peak of 22,000, due to attrition, according to interviews with the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association, the Michigan State Police and the Harbor Springs police chief. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR HARBOR SPRINGS, LANSING CITY PULSE and ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy
Wind turbines, like these in Cadillac, put Michigan 17th among the states for the share of power generated by wind.

Advocates hope for big year for renewable energy 

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RENEWABLE ENERGY: Michigan ranks 22nd and 17th among the states when it comes to solar and wind-generated energy. Advocates say the state must do better. Raising the cap on the share of energy that comes from solar panels on home rooftops and other sources is one way to improve the state’s renewable energy profile. State senators from Ann Arbor and the U.P. want to require the cap to be lifted. We talk to a leader of a nonprofit promoting renewable energy, the Michigan Environmental Council, an energy business group and DTE. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR DETROIT, PLANET DETROIT, CORP!, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, BAY MILLS, ST. IGNACE, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, WKTV, CADILLAC and ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy

Michigan’s private universities enjoy stable enrollment, at least for now

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PRIVATE COLLEGES: Despite the impending shut down of Finlandia College, a small private school in the UP, the associations representing private colleges in the state say the others are financially stable. We hear from the Michigan Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the Michigan Colleges Alliance, MSU economists and two national organizations. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR IRON MOUNTAIN, MARQUETTE, BAY MILLS, SAULT STE. MARIE, ADRIAN, HILLSDALE, DETROIT, GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, AND ALL POINTS

Education
Paula Herbart, president of the Michigan Education Association.

School vouchers could be issue, particularly for rural districts

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SCHOOL VOUCHERS: Grand Rapids’s Betsy DeVos is no longer U.S. Secretary of Education, the GOP no longer controls the Legislature and conservative-led efforts to get the state to issue vouchers to pay for children to attend nonpublic schools are stymied. Critics say taxpayer-funded vouchers would damage public education, especially in rural areas. School choice advocates still hope for alternatives, such as tax credits for donors to state scholarships for private school pupils. We talk to the Michigan Education Association, the Michigan Association for Non-Public Schools and the Great Lakes Education Project. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.

Diversity Issues
Jenny Brown, CEO of Dutton Farm, with her sister, Rebecca ‘Becca’ Smither.

Addressing disability complaints a top priority for Civil Rights Department

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DISABILITY COMPLAINTS: Disability discrimination complaints to the Department of Civil Rights now outpace complaints based on race. The department wants to ramp up its enforcement of legal protections and increase public education and awareness. The governor wants the Legislature to provide more money to do so. We talk to the executive director of the department, its head of special projects, and an advocate in Rochester. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR LANSING CITY PULSE, DETROIT AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy
Tom Boyd, who heads the State Court Administrative Office, testifying about court funding at a House Judiciary Committee hearing

Upcoming court ruling could impact trial court funding as deadline approaches

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LOCAL COURT FUNDING: A quarter of local trial court funding is set to expire in 2024 or even earlier if the state Supreme Court says judges can’t continue to impose costs on convicted criminal defendants. Unless the Legislature acts, local taxpayers would then be saddled with those expenses. We hear from the Association of Counties, state court administrator and the president, from Gratiot County, of the Michigan Judges Association. Alpena County reference. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR ALPENA, DETROIT, IRON MOUNTAIN, DETROIT, MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. MARIE, CHEBOYGAN AND ALL POINTS.

Business & Economy

Blue-collar suicides focus of state prevention effort

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BLUE COLLAR SUICIDES: Construction workers are experiencing disproportionately high suicide rates, and other blue-collar occupations are also witnessing high levels of mental health problems. We talk to the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the Michigan Manufacturers Association and a national suicide prevention group. By Jack Timothy Harrison. FOR GRAND RAPIDS BUSINESS, CORP! LANSING CITY PULSE AND ALL POINTS.