Blog: Todd Palmer

Todd Palmer is our guest blogger this week. Todd founded Diversified Industrial Staffing, a company that provides staffing for manufacturing, construction and logistics businesses, and Diversified PEOple, a professional employer organization for small businesses. He sits on the board of directors for the Detroit Chapter of Entrepreneur’s Organization, and is a recent graduate of the Birthing of Giants class held at MIT. 

Check back each week day to read Todd's thoughts on keeping, identifying and attracting talent.

Post No. 1

Like finding a needle in a haystack, sometimes you have to look really hard to see the good things happening in Michigan's job market. The mainstream media is certainly not going to help you along the way. If anything, they make the haystack "appear" bigger. Obviously large company employers in Michigan have seen better days. Right now people need to know things can get better, and the truth is that they are getting better, if you know where to look.

Good or bad, big numbers make headlines, especially when it comes to jobs. When Pfizer downsizes or GM closes another plant, newspapers plaster the ideas all over the front page. Good news in the job market rarely receives so much attention, and even when the news is good, only the big numbers are the ones you're likely to hear about.

What is rarely in the news, but  just as important, are the single positions added by various small companies and entrepreneurships. Each of these spots puts another qualified individual back to work and furthers the growth of Michigan's future. Big companies make headlines, but if business shifts in one direction these jobs can be gone just as quickly as they are introduced, but small companies are not as affected by a single business trend. The new Michigan economy will not be held up by three big corporations, but by thousands of small businesses.