West Michigan Prosperity Alliance

Community Conversation Regarding the Future Prosperity of West Michigan

March 17, 2014Ballroom C, DeVos Place

2:15 – 4:00

Michigan State Senate Districts

Michigan State House Districts

Michigan Municipal League

Michigan Township Association

Michigan Association of Counties

Some Simple Statistics About Our Region

• 13 Counties• 341 Units of

Government• 1,532,851 people

(15.5% of Michigan)• 757,540 Labor Force

(+1.5% since 2009)• 7.4% Unemployment

Rate ( 4.7 % since 09)

• 8,163 square miles, about the same size as the State of New Jersey

• 130 Miles of Lake Michigan Shoreline and extends 75 miles to the heart of Michigan’s lower peninsula

• 10,000 employers,$5.7 billion in economic output

• Between 2000-2012 our population gained 86,575 or 6% while overall Michigan lost 55,500 residents.

• Over 90,000 people commute into our region for work and over 114,000 residents leave the region for their jobs.

• Employment has recovered from the Great Recession

• Between 2009 and 2012, payroll jobs in the West Michigan Prosperity Region grew by 50,025 or 8.6%percent, more than twice that of the 4.0%percent growth statewide

• 90+ school districts, 13 major colleges and universities, 70,000 college students

What are the Required Deliverables?

• A 5 Year Regional Prosperity Plan including and economic development blueprint

• A performance Dashboard and measurable annual goals.

• Monthly meetings to consider and discuss issues leading to a common vision of economic prosperity including economic development, talent and infrastructure.

Regional Transportation and Planning

EconomicDevelopment

Adult Education

Higher Education

Work Force Development

Private Business/At

Large Members

West Michigan Prosperity

Alliance

Regional Prosperity

Plan

Steering Committee

Plan Implementation

Continued Regional

Cooperation

Community Conversations

Steering Committee

At Large/ Private

Business

Workforce Development

Economic Development

Adult Education

Higher Education

Regional Transportation and Planning

• John Weiss - GVMC• Dave Bee - WMRPC• Erin Kuhn - WMSRDC• Steve

Bulthuis - MACC

• Paul Griffith - Michigan Works! West Central• Deb Groeneveld - Michigan Works

Muskegon-Oceana

Jacob Maas - Kent-Allegan Michigan Works!

• Mike O’Connor - Adult Edu. of Zeeland P.S.• Kathleen

Sullivan - Adult Learning Partners of West Michigan• Doug Wood - Orchard View Schools Adult Education

• Bruce Adair - Lakeshore Advantage• Valarie Byrnes - Barry County Economic Dev.• Ed Garner - Muskegon Area First• Rick Chapla -The Right Place

• Fiona Hert - GRCC• Julie VanDyke - WSCC• Dan Rinsema-

Sybenga - MCC• Simone

Jonaitis - GVSU

• Linda Brand - Model Community Initiative• Jim Fisher - Padnos• Roger Safford - MDOT• Andy Johnston - West Michigan Chamber Coalition • Jim Sandy - Mecosta

County Dev. Corp.• Bill Raymond - Ottawa County Michigan

Works!• Kevin Stotts -Talent 2025

Steering Committee Committees

• Alliance Communications• Public Communications• The Prosperity Plan• Community Conversations

September 26, 2013

125 Regional Representatives Attend Informational Meeting

Community Conversations

Can We Agree on 5 Projects of Significant Regional Economic Importance?

Criteria

Potential Projects

Final Projects

March

June

September

Community Conversation Regarding the Future Prosperity of West Michigan• We would like your feedback

– What do you think about the proposed project criteria?• Are these the right criteria?• Do you have others to add?• How do you weight these criteria? • Which are most important?

Together, We are Creating a Strategy Screen

• A strategy screen is a set of criteria by which to choose a particular strategy or project.

• It should be developed before considering which projects to select.

• Must be conceived carefully.• Ensures that the selection of an emerging

project is consistent with goals and strategic direction.

• Simple powerful tool for decision making.

The West Michigan Prosperity Alliance

• The West Michigan Prosperity Alliance (WMPA) will solicit projects from across the region and from across interests.

• The WMPA will evaluate each project based on criteria established by the Alliance.

• The following list of criteria is a suggested starting point for the discussion.

10 Proposed Prosperity InitiativeProject Criteria for Selecting Projects

• Long-term impact of project • Sustainability of project • Proportion of the Region potentially impacted

by the project• Impact on various employment sectors

(manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, etc.)• Creation of high tech jobs

10 Proposed Prosperity InitiativeProject Criteria for Selecting Projects

• Overall employment creation• Use of existing capacity before creating new

facilities• Builds on Region’s strengths and addresses

Region’s challenges• Project readiness and feasibility• Public and private support for project

Discuss at Your Tables

• Two handouts– List of ten proposed criteria– Worksheet with three questions to be considered

at your tables• Then we will report out

Group Report Out

• How did you react to the 10 proposed criteria?• What were your top three criteria? • What criteria did you add?• Do you have any questions or concerns for the

committee to consider?

Next Steps/Nomination of Projects

• Forms are available in the back of the room• A written communication will be sent in the

coming weeks with opportunities to nominate projects

• Analysis of the nominated projects will be conducted

• We will meet again in June to determine the final list of Projects of Significant Economic Importance.