DETROIT – There’s a nearly $60 million effort to attract people to live and work in Michigan. It’s called the “You Can in Michigan” campaign and it will be running in states that boast a healthy population of former Michiganders who’ve chosen to take their talents elsewhere, in hopes the ads will encourage them and others to give Michigan a look.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and members of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation officially rolled out the campaign Tuesday, Oct. 10.
More people moved out of Michigan in 2022 than people who moved here. The study was done by the people who literally move people out of state, and what they calculated was that 57% of their traffic was leaving our borders. And while those numbers are being driven by retiring baby boomers and Gen Xers, it’s that migrating workforce that makes those kinds of stats something to pay attention to.
Various studies, publications, and surveys indicate that the exodus rate for college grads rests somewhere between 54% and 68% from Michigan’s institutions of higher education.
The catch-22 is that while Michigan is a state that can make things, it takes people, and if you don’t have the pool of people, you can’t sustain or attract industry and business. So the question is: How do you make the estimated 14,000 people who leave Michigan annually want to stay, can stay, or if they move away, see opportunity to return? The Governor’s office and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are betting on a $60 million effort that includes a $20 million image campaign aimed at showcasing why Michigan is a place to stay and work.
The hope is by showcasing how Michigan is not only putting the world on wheels but keeping those wheels moving in other industries, the jobs, the lifestyle, and the opportunities are as close as your backyard -- when that backyard is Michigan.