Michigan picked up five new residents when this Southern California venture capitalist decided to move his family to the Mitten. He saw opportunity here not in the automobile industry but in everything else.
Excerpt:
Quite simply, because I believe it's a hell of an opportunity --
despite the jokes, the put-downs, or the perceptions of Detroit as a
lost city -- I wouldn't be moving to Michigan if I didn't.
The opportunity does not lie in saving General Motors, rather in
giving primarily non-automotive related entrepreneurs and technologists
the capital and market access to enable their companies to achieve
their fullest potential. Knowledge-based and high-growth sectors like
clean tech, life sciences and health care are perfectly suited for
Michigan's deep engineering, research and advance manufacturing base (a
welcome legacy of the automotive industry), not to mention the ample
natural resources of the state, notably fresh water, wind currents,
vast forests and agricultural lands - valuable assets for a "greening"
U.S. and global economy.
Yes, the current economic situation stinks, but Michigan has a lot
to work with, namely a hard-working, well-trained labor force, an
infectious local pride, and a united desire to make things better.
History has shown us numerous times that desperation and misery are
often the muses of creativity and innovation. Michigan has the misery
bit nailed, and I'm betting that the innovation will indeed follow - I
see it in the entrepreneurs I have the honor to work with every day. We
just need more of it.
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