Michigan tries new tack to lure auto industry

As the center of American automaking, Michigan has enjoyed decades of steady investment in plants and jobs. But last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a new tool for attracting the auto industry of the future, an entity called the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. It will include a state executive post for a chief mobility officer to head up the drive.

Michigan's move represents a shift in thinking about the emerging field of future transportation, with less focus on technology and more on jobs and work force development.

The new agency will replace the state's Council on Future Mobility, which was part of the Michigan Department of Transportation. The Future Mobility initiative will fall under the direction of Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Jeff Donofrio, 39, director of Labor and Economic Opportunity, spoke with Staff Reporter Alexa St. John about what this new approach will mean for attracting investment. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Why does Michigan need a chief mobility officer?

A: It's really important for our state. People sometimes use "mobility" as a proxy for "the auto industry," but we define it as the movement of people and goods. The auto industry is a primary driver of that, of course.

We've got disrupters that we could turn into opportunity. The things that are going to be changing the industry overall are autonomous driving, vehicle connectivity, electrification of the powertrain, shared subscription mobility, AI and then, further globalization of the supply chain.

How do you plan to balance such futuristic mobility concepts with the traditional automotive manufacturing base?

We want to make sure that, moving forward, there's a coordinated effort on behalf of the state — not just the Michigan Department of Transportation doing infrastructure and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. doing economic development and work force development.

First, it's about protecting and promoting the core auto manufacturing and r&d that we have, making sure our people and businesses are the most productive and competitive in the market. And second is to make sure that Michigan continues to be the leader in mobility.

What kind of business might you attract this way?

It's a question of, do we have entrepreneurship at scale? Are we helping companies, or a university, take a technology that's been developed and spin it off into a startup? Are we attracting more startups from Silicon Valley, from Israel, from Toronto, that could come here and scale up?

Is Silicon Valley your competition?

We're not proposing here to simply re-create Silicon Valley. We want to make sure Michigan has an ecosystem of bringing in companies that are established elsewhere and making sure that they have a home here.

It's critically important that we have an ability to take the r&d, the technologies and the good ideas that are out there and make sure there's venture capital, that there's mentorship, that there's the support that's going to make Michigan and Detroit a leader in creating these companies.

We want to make sure the ecosystem is in place here and show what government can do to partner with the private sector. Why make all this part of the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity? Is it a work force issue?

Talent is part of economic development. Part of the equation is making sure we have the right talent to continue to help these businesses grow. We have to make sure that the people who are graduating from our universities are staying here and they have jobs to go to. And we need to make sure Michigan is seen as an attractive place for talent from across the world to come to, to be part of this industry.