White Glove Workshops, a digital marketing company specializing in planning, managing and promoting educational seminars for professionals in multiple industries announced John Johnson as managing director of business development and Paul Gazda as director of marketing.
CarbonTV, the world’s leading outdoor, online OTT streaming content site, announces today the appointment of Julie McQueen to President, effective immediately. McQueen is a well known outdoor television show host, producer, writer, ambassador, spokesperson, and conservationist.
He’s the first Democratic Chairman of Oakland County’s governing board in more than 40 years. As chairman, he presides over the county’s $890 million annual budget, policy making, and appointments to various boards and commissions. Oakland is Michigan’s second largest county.
Michigan International Speedway, MIS Cares and its sister company Americrown combined to donate a total of $1,022,097 in 2018 to local service groups and organizations through cash donations, in-kind donations, work programs, grants and sponsorships, as well as tickets and merchandise for raffles.
Comcast has promoted Parvathy Hariharan to vice president of sales and marketing for the company’s Heartland region which includes Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. She has spent the past three years as the Heartland Region Vice President of Customer Service Strategy and Operations.
Chassix, Inc., a leading global automotive supplier of safety-critical light weight casting and machining solutions, announced Andreas Weller, 49, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer. Weller comes to Chassix from the ZF Group, where he most recently served as president, Asia Pacific.
Comerica Bank has recorded a reversal of a slide in Michigan’s economic activity that started in June.
In its latest report, which covers October 2018, some seven out of nine sub-indexes for the bank’s Michigan Economic Activity Index were positive, with only total state trade and sales tax being negative.
While Comerica’s chief economist, Robert Dye, pointed to the signing of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement as being a signal of less uncertainty for Michigan businesses, the deal must still be ratified by legislatures in all three countries.
Other trade factors considered, Comerica’s Dye is saying that exporting businesses may soon feel softer demand from their international buyers.
Outside North America, in Europe and China, there are signs of cooler growth heading into 2019.
GM’s announcement of plant closures was followed by United Kingdom and India plant closure announcements from Tata Motors (parent company of Land Rover and Jaguar).
“This does not impact Michigan directly but it does show the unsettled nature of the global auto industry,” said Dye.
Dye also spoke to an American Banking Association audience, where he said a sustained expansion is likely.
“A strong consumer sector and moderate business investment, along with full employment and rising wage growth, should sustain the expansion,” he said.
The Comerica report said U.S. auto sales have held up well, averaging a 17.5 million unit annual rate from September through November.
Comerica’s Michigan Economic Activity Index consists of nine variables—non-farm payroll employment, continuing claims for unemployment insurance, housing starts, house price index, industrial electricity sales, auto assemblies, total trade, hotel occupancy, and sales tax revenue.
In related news but from a national perspective, the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research pointed to a jobs gain of 312,000 in December.
The biggest job gainer was health care, which added 50,200 jobs, well above an average of 28,800 over the last year.
There were some 32,000 manufacturing jobs added for the month and employment in that sector is now up by 284,000 over the last year, according to CEPR reports.
Retail also had an unusually good month, with the addition of 23,800 jobs, well above an average of 7,600 over the last year.
On the wage growth side, CEPR reported a modest pickup in the month, with year-over-year growth of 3.2 percent.
The $30-million, multiuse project at The Corner – also known as the former Detroit Tigers stadium site on Michigan Avenue in Detroit’s Corktown – posed a variety of challenges and opportunities for its developers and designers as they came up with a new vision for this unique site.
The opportunities were great: The property is in a highly desirable Detroit neighborhood, had huge community interest and a developer who wanted to think big about what should go on there. One idea, considered by the developer, Larson Realty Group, was to leverage innovations in modular project delivery.
ROSSETTI, a Detroit-based architectural design firm, was up for the challenge. The design team engaged with delivery practitioners to identify strategies for successful outcomes. As a result, the property has more than 100 modular units at its development, along with corner site-built units that take advantage of views at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbull, all complemented by a retail podium that adds to pedestrian street-level activity and vibrancy along the Michigan Avenue corridor.
Modular housing, already a big trend in Europe, is prefabricated living spaces that are built in a controlled environment to precise standards. It is starting to gain fans in the United States, but it had yet to be tried at a large scale in Detroit, officials said.
At The Corner, Michigan-based Champion Commercial Structures manufactured the units, which include studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. The rest of the development at Michigan Avenue and Trumbull includes 26,000 square feet of retail, curated to include local Detroit businesses and amenities for residents and the Corktown community. Adjacent to The Corner is the Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL) headquarters and the Willie Horton Field of Dreams, a youth baseball field.
The project site formerly served as Tigers Stadium, but true baseball diehards will tell you that the baseball stadium has more than a century of history. When it opened about 100 years ago, it was known as Bennett Park, Navin Field and then Briggs Stadium. The stadium closed and the Tigers moved to Comerica Park on Woodward; the older building was demolished in 2009.
Deena Fox leads ROSSETTI’s multidisciplinary teams on design and planning projects of various scales, and oversees all project management for the firm. She values collaboration, so Fox was ready as a ROSSETTI Principal and Director of Project Leadership to see what The Corner could do for and in Detroit.
For ROSSETTI, Detroit and The Corner, modular housing turned out to be a great solution to the project’s needs, Fox said. The $30 million, mixed-use development posed one challenge in that the city wanted to see the site redeveloped, but both developer and design team felt a keen responsibility to balance the site’s storied legacy with its transformative potential for the future. The developer also wanted to see the development come online in a timely fashion to get it up and running for renters and small businesses.
“The developer was aware that there wasn’t anything else like this in the local market,” Fox said. “They were interested as we were in figuring out if this could work and be beneficial to the project.”
The site for the residential development was an unusual shape, like an angular puzzle piece, Fox said. They had to be thoughtful of what they’d put on the site to make sure it was both a creative and purposeful use of the available space. Plus, they wanted to take Detroit forward in terms of design and secure a beautiful and functional future.
“We need to think about both the future and the past in that part of Corktown, as well as in the city in general,” Fox said. “The goal was to honor the powerful intrinsic history of the site, but the project also had to fit well among future developments, relating thoughtfully to existing buildings along the corridor without necessarily emulating them.”
Fox said ROSSETTI would use modular units again on other projects as the situation allows. She said the benefits have been great, especially for The Corner. Allowing site work to continue while the units were under construction elsewhere kept the entire project moving forward, even in Michigan’s normally chilly winters.
The project, which is most of the way through construction after a spring 2018 groundbreaking, will be open and ready for residents sometime this summer.
Jori Bennett says she’s had “a lot of great mentors,” but there’s one that stands out during her years growing up in northern Michigan. Her high school art teacher “made a really lasting impression,” encouraging her to pursue a creative career. That led her to Savannah College of Art and Design, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic and industrial design. Hired out of college by an experiential marketing firm in Atlanta, Bennett worked on events for major brands such as Coca-Cola and Nintendo. Fast forward through a number of agency promotions, raising a family, moving to California for the agency’s work, and eventually coming back to Michigan—Grand Rapids specifically—Bennett finds herself as the relatively new executive director of ArtPrize, accepting the role in early 2018.
The international art competition, which just celebrated its 10th year, is now reimagining itself by moving to a biennial schedule and introducing a new citywide public art project in the alternate years. “Project 1 by ArtPrize” will begin in 2019 and ArtPrize 11 will run in 2020. Corp! spoke with Bennett to learn more about her and the next evolution of ArtPrize.
Corp!: How did you get connected to ArtPrize?
Jori Bennett: I started networking here and volunteering for ArtPrize and helping them with the sponsorship development program. [At the agency] I was typically the person who sat across the table hearing sponsorship pitches. When the opportunity came up to take the business development role for ArtPrize in 2015, it was an exciting opportunity to talk to brands about why ArtPrize was a great choice.
Corp!: What is the thinking behind the new biennial schedule?
JB: It was informed by all the feedback we receive from our key stakeholders and where we feel our audience is ready to head. We have developed this platform that allows people to talk about contemporary art that is open and engaging and critical. We wanted to know what would happen if we wanted to engage our audience in a deeper way and engage with a few artists versus thousands of artists. I like to say we are moving from being the referees in a competition year and moving to be collaborators with artists, provide resources and funding to do some fun, community-engaged, large scale work in the in-between years.
Corp!: Tell us about this year’s Art Prize that just wrapped up.
JB: In 2018, ArtPrize included 1,260 entries, representing 40 countries and 41 U.S. states and territories. We award over $500,000 in prizes. We awarded two $200,000 winners (one on the juried side and one on the public vote side). They had fantastic stories and they
were able to connect with people in a relevant way. Because it was
our 10th, we wanted to make it a time of everyone coming together. We did a bigger visitor pavilion experience in the center of city
and had events going on there every day. We were up 9 percent in pedestrian traffic over last year.
Corp!: What has been the cumulative economic impact of ArtPrize?
JB: ArtPrize annually attracts more than 500,000 active participants. Since its inception, individuals of all backgrounds have cast more than 3.2 million votes for public art. We don’t have all the numbers from 2018 yet, but we saw $33 million net new economic impact in 2017. It equates to an extra month of business for the Grand Rapids businesses. We had over 18,000 kids participate in education programs this year—field trips, programming in partnership with organizations like Grand Rapids Art Museum, Kendall College of Art and Design, and Grand Valley State University. That is a number we are really proud of. We had 165 venues this year that put on exhibitions.
Corp!: What is your guiding principle to live by?
JB: Knowing yourself really well and going towards what your
passion is. When you are doing what you are passionate about, that is contagious and will spread to all the people you interact with.
Corp!: How do you motivate others?
JB: For me as a leader, it’s important to help my team do their best work by removing barriers for them. Encouraging people to work as a team and lean on each other is really important.
Corp!: What is the biggest management myth?
JB: That you have to have all the answers. I think being able to lean on peers and also your team to find the right answers is the best way to go about things. Management doesn’t always have the right answers.
Corp!: Who is the most interesting person you’d like to meet and why?
JB: Sheryl Sandburg is someone I have admired from afar. I would love to meet her and pick her brain about where she gets her energy and motivation.
Corp!: Who is your favorite artist?
JB: Van Gogh really caught my attention when I was really young and made me understand the power of what an artist can do. I remember going to a museum in Toronto with my parents and there was a Van Gogh exhibit and feeling very connected to the work.
Cooper Standard, an automotive supplier known for products and systems related to rubber and plastic sealing, fuel and brake lines, fluid transfer hoses and anti-vibration systems, is continuing its recent growth with plans to build a new world headquarters in the Detroit area.
The company, now headquartered in Novi, will build its new home in nearby Northville, and not far from its Global Technology Center in Livonia.
Officials say they expect the three-story 110,000 square foot facility, located on 7 Mile just west of Haggerty, to be complete in early 2020.
The new facility is expected to meet the latest energy management standards with a focus on recycling as a goal to reduce the building’s carbon footprint
About 400 employees will work in the new space, which will include opportunities for future expansion
Larry Ott, the company’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer, said the new headquarters will reflect Cooper Standard’s commitment to stay current with the industry.
“We are innovating across our entire business and our new global headquarters will provide an environment for our culture of innovation to thrive,” said Ott. “The new facility will reflect our global collaborative organization, offering the latest employee-focused workspaces and amenities.”
Jeffrey S. Edwards, chair and CEO, said the expansion represents “an important new chapter for Cooper Standard that will help ensure our competitiveness and ability to recruit and retain talent.”
Cooper Standard has engaged Schostak Brothers & Company, Lindhout Associates Architects; and Cunningham Limp, a construction firm based in Novi, for the project.
The company was awarded a $1.3 million performance-based grant from the Michigan Business Development Corporation for this project.
Inspired by Beaumont Children’s patient, Jonny Hendricks, Zeal Credit Union CEO Tony Carnarvon and other Zeal employees paid a visit to Beaumont Children’s in mid-December to present a donation of $1,500 to Jennifer Shea, manager of Student Heart Check for Children’s Miracle Network.
Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Brooke Proverb, from Macomb, helps identify a patient’s correct prescription for glasses at one of two medical sites. The hospital ship USNS Comfort is on an 11-week medical support mission to Central and South America as part of U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise initiative. The deployment reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership and solidarity with the Americas.
Comcast has promoted Lisa Kocsis-LeCureux to Vice President of Customer Service Strategy and Operations for the company’s Heartland region which includes Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky. She will also retain responsibility for Comcast’s Project Management Office.
Fierce Conversations, a training company that teaches how to have effective conversations, recently released its 2019 workforce predictions, and it was no surprise that there was a lot about Generation Z.
There is no doubt that the makeup of organizations is rapidly shifting as baby boomers retire while millennials and Gen Z take over the majority of new jobs. With this fountain of youth comes a fearless, public and often tactless communication style, which is impacting the workplace in real ways.
“At Fierce, we help companies and individuals talk about what they truly need to talk about — tackling their toughest challenges and building relationships in the process,” said Stacey Engle, president of Fierce Conversations. “This year’s predictions highlight a growing awareness of the need to address problems head on – which a new generation of workers has thrust into the spotlight.”
Fierce through Engle predicts Generation Z will no longer be ignored. An estimated 61 million Gen Zs will apply for jobs in the U.S. next year, many entering the workforce for the first time. Organizations will be forced to adjust to this new reality in 2019, and in order to be successful, will need to find innovative ways to invest more heavily in their training from the get-go.
Fierce believes 2019 will be an area of growth in this regard, as organizations figure out the best way to engage with this new generation. A part of this will no doubt be providing the right resources to this tech-savvy generation to help them succeed both in the short and long term.
Gen Z grew up during the 2008 recession, with smartphones a way of life, and an on-demand economy that provided what they wanted, when they wanted it. They value different things, and it’s important for employees to understand these disparities.
Here’s what Engle had to say about how a business can attract Gen Z workers:
Be Authentic — Perhaps more than anything else, Gen Z values authenticity, and the workplace is no exception. Organizations that communicate openly, honestly and frequently will have a leg up on those with more archaic, stale communication systems in place.
Provide Job Stability & Opportunity Quickly — Not surprisingly, Gen Zers have an incredibly low attention span — only 8 seconds compared to 12 seconds for millennials, according to Vision Critical — and have a low threshold for boredom. To attract and guarantee your Gen Z workers stick with your organization for the long term, be open with details into the health and future of the company often, and provide insight into what an employee’s career trajectory could look like more frequently than a simple once-per-year performance review. Gen Z wants to feel immediately that they are secure in their job and can picture what could be on the horizon for them in the coming year, 5 years and even 10 years from now.
Make Social Welfare a Priority — Providing opportunities to give back both as an organization and individually is highly attractive to this generation, such as allowing time off for volunteering or matching donations.
Highlight Diversity Programs — This generation is more diverse than any other before it and is also more welcoming of those who are different than themselves. They seek organizations that not only are accepting of a diverse workforce, but encourage it and commit themselves to inclusion programs.
Technology Innovation – Organizations that are constantly updating their technology as the latest and greatest will prove successful in engaging Gen Z. Ensure everything from recruiting (video resumes!) to onboarding to internal learning and communication is done in a tech-savvy way, as this generation has come to expect it. They will want the ability to work anywhere and any way that they please and communicate with those they work with this way as well (from co-workers to company leaders).
Create In-Person Opportunities —While technology is important, do not make assumptions about technology use. This generation will still have a strong desire to travel and interact in-person. Do not swing the pendulum too far to only digital offerings.
Hello West Michigan has become a model for what a successful talent attraction organization can be, according to Rachel Bartels, and that is why she is thrilled to become its next Executive Director.
Her goal, beyond working with what she describes as “an amazing team that I’m now privileged to lead,” is to educate, attract, and connect people to West Michigan.
Started by local companies in 2007, Hello West Michigan promotes the 13-county West Michigan region as a place where business thrives and people want to live and work. It seeks to increase the rate of success member companies have in their effort to recruit top talent and collaborates with organizations across the region to help new residents and those interested in relocating find their fit in West Michigan.
For almost six years, Bartels served as program manager for Hello West Michigan, which is based in Grand Rapids. In this role, she was responsible for the organization’s marketing, event planning and communications. A graduate of Aquinas College, also is the founding co-chair of AQ Women’s Connection and on the Association for Corporate Growth, ACG Cup Competition planning committee.
Corp! magazine caught up with Bartels and found out her goals for this year and beyond. Here is a part of the conversation:
Q: What are you most excited about in this new role?
A: In my new role as executive director, I’m excited to dedicate more of my time towards brainstorming the strategic side of things. While I did quite a bit of that as program manager—a necessity when part of a small team—I also had a lot of tactical responsibilities. This new role gives me the opportunity to better focus on strategically developing our programs and partnerships.
Q: What makes West Michigan a great spot to invest in and be?
A: How much space for this column again…? All kidding aside, there are so many things that make West Michigan a great place to invest in and call home. The region houses 30,000 payroll companies across various industries, each contributing to the diverse economic profile of West Michigan. With several companies in each industry, ranging from small, family-owned operations to large, global firms, it’s never a ‘one-and-done’ deal for job-seekers. If someone relocates here for a job and it doesn’t work out, there’s almost always opportunities elsewhere within the same industry. When you combine our economic diversity and the depth of our industry clusters with great quality of life, low cost of living, and a beautiful locale, you really have a top-notch destination for talent.
Q: What are your goals for the next 6-12 months?
A: In the next 6-12 months, my biggest goal is onboarding a new team member to fill my vacant program manager position. It’s the first full-time role we’ve hired for in almost six years, so onboarding will look much different from when I began, due to how much the organization has grown since then. I’m excited to help the next person shape their role within Hello West Michigan. Programmatically, we’re looking at a new event concept for West Michigan Intern Connect, now in its 6th year, as well as continuing to grow our multi-location Thanksgiving Eve event, ReThink West Michigan. We’ve also begun brainstorming a retention program with high school students, which would be an entirely new undertaking for us.
Q: What do you like to do with your free time in West Michigan?
A: I’m not orginally from West Michigan, so I love discovering what the region has to offer, which means spending time outdoors, winter or summer. In the summertime, I prefer not to travel outside of Michigan, because I’d almost always rather be at one of our beaches along Lake Michigan instead. I also love the access to fresh, local produce we have here. It’s not uncommon for my family and I to visit a u-pick farm and take home 30-40 pounds of blueberries at once. In winter, I love cross country skiing. When talking with newcomers, I always suggest picking up a snowsport as a great way to thrive during a West Michigan winter. You could never get me out of bed on a winter day at 8:00 a.m. to go running for 30 minutes, but I’ll be up just as early with bells on to go skiing for a couple of hours. Year-round, I spend a good amount of time volunteering with the community boards I’m on, which I feel is a pretty big deal for young professionals. In larger cities, young people don’t always have access to those types of opportunities.
Architect Doug Campbell, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, has joined Dearborn-based architecture and engineering firm Ghafari Associates as Director of Education. Ghafari is thrilled to welcome Doug, who brings over 15 years of design experience and an impressive portfolio of higher education projects.
Senior leaders from Canton-based clinical research organization MMS Holdings visited the MMS Bloemfontein, South Africa office. The company’s
regional operations in South Africa has more than doubled in the past fiscal year.
Stratacomm, a full-service communications agency, announced growth in the Detroit office with three new hires, Ava Frakes, Sarah Kuzdak and Tonie Wells and two promotions, Ashleigh Artist and Marcella Dudek.
Many businesses, urban planners and government officials knew Michigan, especially cities in Metro Detroit, for being an attractive place for factories and similar developments. That model was fine for many decades, one think tank says, but it is now time for a new set of ideas.
Recently, Michigan Future released a report that focuses on how Michigan has missed opportunities because it has focused too much on its local needs rather than keep up with the changing international economy. That has created many issues, especially a talent gap, officials from the Ann Arbor-based think tank says.
The report, “A Path to Good-paying Careers for All Michiganders: Creating places across Michigan where people want to live and work,” is the latest of a series that aims to help Michigan grow into a more diversified workplace that creates vibrant cities and a broad middle class, says Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future.
Michigan needs to think about how it is going to create regions and vibrant central cities where college-educated individuals want to live and work, Glazer says. By creating a talent abundance, Michigan can retain and attract knowledge-based companies to our state.
“Our mission (since 1991) has been to try to help Michigan be prosperous, especially in an era of technology and globalization,” Glazer says. “What made the state prosperous for most of the 21st century was factory jobs. But that won’t be in the forecast for the next century. We have to advance or companies will go somewhere else.”
Creating good policy
The report identifies five “placemaking policy levers” that matter most:
1) Welcoming to all: A legal framework that prohibits all forms of discrimination and access to the resources necessary for social and economic mobility.
2) State and local development-friendly regulations that facilitate the creation of high-density, walkable, high-amenity neighborhoods in our cities and inner ring suburbs.
3) Understanding that economies are regional, and each region needs the flexibility to develop and implement their own talent attraction and retention strategies.
4) Providing and paying for world-class 21st Century infrastructure, basic services and amenities.
5) Transportation as the most important placemaking public investment.
The answers in part lie in creating places where college grads want to live, work and play, Glazer says. Talent like this tends to concentrate in areas where middle- to upper-class jobs are centered. They offer high density. They offer great transportation options. They have well-established and full neighborhoods. They offer interesting places for entertainment, tourism and family life.
Talent equals economic growth, Glazer says, and the key to keeping talent is cool cities. Not the kind of cool cities previous Michigan governors have suggested. But really great cities where there are historical landmarks, amazing restaurants, strong schools, impressive cultural institutions and more.
To Glazer, a key to Michigan’s future comes in the form of a quote. The comment comes from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who recently wrote in a Financial Times column: “The most creative individuals want to live in places that protect personal freedoms, prize diversity and offer an abundance of cultural opportunities.”
Even though Michigan focused on creating a business environment where cost was the main factor – mostly to attract factories and the like – there is opportunity to shift into human capital and finding ways to keep talent. Even if the weather here is cold most of the year. Even if we have lots of work to do in core cities like Detroit and Grand Rapids. There is hope.
New placemaking and campuses
For example, Detroit has the massive investments of Dan Gilbert, Bedrock Detroit and Quicken. The Illitch family is building new stadiums and businesses. Ford Motor Co. purchased the old Michigan Central Station and is turning it into a huge second campus. That is impressive and speaks to the importance of investing in talent and people, Glazer notes.
“Ford now knows that placemaking is not something you can afford only after you have a strong economy, it’s what you need to do to develop a prosperous economy,” the report says. It continues, “They have also learned that this cannot be done in the suburbs. To be competitive requires public and private investments to create high-density, high-amenity central city neighborhoods where you do not need to own a car.”
But all Michigan has to do to wake up fully is think about that Amazon headquarters bid. At least one of those Michigan cities that tried out for the headquarters spot should have made the Top 20 – Glazer said it was hugely disappointing when not a single Michigan location showed up on that short list.
“Many of Michigan’s governors have focused on the auto industry and plants rather than cities and talent,” Glazer says. “Losing (the Amazon headquarters) bid is representative of what high wage work looks like in America now. It is professionals and managers. It is transit option. All of America is making that same corporate decision to situate their businesses in these cities that highlight talent and human investments.”
With just a few weeks before now-former Gov. Rick Snyder’s term ended, the State of Michigan established in legislation the formation of a three-member Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority, which will oversee the building of a $500-million utility tunnel that will replace a controversial oil pipeline.
The legislation will see Enbridge, a Canadian company that has operated the aging Line 5 pipeline system, pay all costs related to the tunnel, although ownership will remain in the government’s hands.
The tunnel will sit 100 feet below the bedrock of Lake Michigan, just west of the Mackinac Bridge, keeping the oil pipeline separated from the environmentally sensitive Great Lakes waters.
The law enacted in the waning days of the legislature stipulates that the Authority’s three-member board can have no more than two members from an individual political party.
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, now Michigan’s Governor, campaigned, along with Dana Nessel, also a Democrat and Michigan’s new Attorney General, to shut down Line 5 and have since expressed their opposition to the tunnel project.
But Pat Devlin, secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, has said he hopes the new governor can be persuaded that the Line 5 tunnel project is good for Michigan.
Devlin says his members support the pipeline for its jobs and economic development. He also has been quoted as saying the project will have the necessary environmental safeguards.
“If everybody can just take a little pause and let the new administration – our new leadership – get in place and sit down and have those constructive dialogues, I think when the whole story is told opinions are gonna change,” said Devlin.
Several Democrats voted in favor of the legislation because it will lead to years of work for unionized heavy equipment operators and other union labor.
Concerns remain over the track record of Enbridge when it comes to reporting gaps in the protective layer of enamel coating around the 65-year-old twin 20-inch pipelines that lay at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac.
At least one legislator, House Speaker Lee Chatfield, who represents Emmet and Mackinac counties, where the oil pipeline crosses the water, calls the tunnel project “the best solution we need to protect our beautiful Great Lakes and ensure Northern Michigan families continue to have the resources they need to heat their homes.”
Chatfield also said doing nothing is not an option. “This has been discussed for years. It’s time to move forward.”
