Race For Governor
ON THE COVER
DeVos from page 13
Granholm from page 13
expertise and bring business here to help
develop the products called homeland
security and defense Granholm said, cit-
ing a Wayne State University partnership
providing alternative energy solutions for
a flex-fuel generator engine best suited for
w ar zones. •
"I suspect that that kind of technology is
going on in Israel all the time," she said. "I
suspect there are a lot of business opportu-
nities in Israel and partnerships that can be
made right here as a result!'
Michigan also has a niche in alternative
energy, Granholm said. "We put the world
on wheels; we have a moral and economic
obligation now to make the wheels run on
ethanol, bio-diesel or fuel cell technology.
"In the first round of funding, we had
$100 million to distribute to companies
that wanted to come here, grow here and
hire people here in those four areas,"
Granholm said.
The top 61 proposals in the first wave of
500 were funded last month and created an
immediate 3,100 jobs. A second round of
funding will be completed by the end of the
year, she said.
Speeding up building projects can imme-
diately increase job creation, Granholm said.
"We've taken 10 years worth of infrastnic-
ture projects and pulled them all into the
next three construction seasons," she said.
The result is 40,000 people and $4 billion
_
worth of work into the next three seasons
to jump start the short-term solution"
Short-term retraining of the unemployed
also is important, Granholm said. "If you're
50 years old and you've worked for 20 or 25
years at a factory, what can we do as short-
term training for you and place you in a
vacancy that exists in today's economy?"
Michigan has created a regional skills
alliance in 13 different regions to handle
90,000 job vacancies in Michigan in health
care and skilled trades, Granholm said.
"We've devised a partnership with the
community colleges, which is the best
opportunity to train people from the work-
force for the vacancies that exist and get
them certified. We've drawn down federal
dollars to do that. Last year, we placed
107,000 people in Michigan in careers; our
goal is to up that this year:"
Detroit
The state has and will be a strong partner
in revitalizing Detroit, but there is still work
to be done to attract people and business,
Granholm said. "Obviously, we have to work
on the basics!'
Partnering among the Michigan State
Police and Wayne County and Detroit law
enforcement to target hot spots can reduce
crime in Detroit, she.said.
Other ways to draw people back to the
city, she said, include repairing Detroit's
crumbling infrastructure,
installing more family
resource
centers in schools
Jennifer Granholm
that service challenged
families, fostering small high
Born: Feb. 5,1959, in Vancouver, British Columbia,
schools that are relevant, and
Canada
combining good drivers who
Residence: Lansing
are homeowners into a pool
Family: Husband Dan Mulhern and three children:
that
reduces insurance rates.
Kate, 17; Cecelia, 15; and Jack, 9
,
Education: Phi Beta Kappa graduate, University of
California at Berkeley,
bachelor's in political science; honors graduate,
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
Public Service: Wayne County corporation coun-
sel, started 1994; Michigan attorney general, 1998
to 2003; governor since 2003
Web site: www.granholmforgov.com
Education
Granholm said her goal is to
double the number of college
graduates in Michigan over
the next 10 years
She said she has pushed
for a new high school cur-
riculum, which now requires
Granholm on page 15
14
October 5 2006
ticular specific investment, but one fun-
damentally across the board for all busi-
nesses, whether they receive special grants
or considerations or not',' DeVos said.
"Jobs that come by the thousands can
go by the thousands," he said, suggesting
that Michigan create an environment that
draws thousands of small to medium
companies instead of one large company
that employs thousands.
And those small and medium com-
panies will aim high, as in high-tech.
"Technology is oftentimes pigeonholed
into computer science, but it's a much
broader issue as we embrace technology
in manufacturing and agriculture DeVos
said.
Transferring ideas from research into
the marketplace is also important. "We've
been slow as a state to get that to happen
and we need to accelerate that process:'
DeVos said.
Israel would be part of his diversifica-
tion plan, he said, because he has been
there three times and has the relationships
and experience to make it happen. "We
should leverage our citizens in Michigan
doing business in and with Israel," he said.
Detroit
From both a social and
economic view, Detroit
has a tremendous
impact on the rest of
the state, DeVos said.
"The renaissance of
Michigan will not be
complete without the
renaissance of Detroit;'
he said.
Detroit is the core
of the state's southeast
community and the
southeast community
is critically important
to Michigan. A strong
Detroit only adds posi-
tively."The teachers'
strike was a tragedy,'
DeVos said. "These are
children who need an
education more than
possibly any other group in the state. And
these same children have been placed in
the middle of an adult debate. We've got
to learn how to solve our problems and
not put our children in the center of the
equation.
"We need to have great public schools:'
he said, suggesting the consideration of
alternative public schools to provide an
opportunity for choices for parents who
may not otherwise have that economic
choice.
And the state should create opportuni-
ties for access to capital for businesses
in the city, "which is most oftentimes the
most challenging subject;' DeVos said.
Religion
DeVos, who is pro-life and supports a ban
on partial birth abortion, said that separa-
tion of church and state is "appropriate,
but exactly how that is executed is always
going to be a question," he said. "Do we
have freedom of religion or freedom from
religion? That's the way it's characterized
by many. With regard to the right of inch-
viduals to practice their faith freely, there
is no question."
DeVos on page 15
Dick DeVos
Born: Oct. 21,1955, in Grand Rapids
Residence: Ada Township
Personal: Wife, Elisabeth "Betsy" DeVos, and four
children:
Richard DeVos III, 24; Elisabeth, 21; Andrea, 18; and
Ryan, 15.
Education: Northwood University, Midland, bachelor's
degree in business administration
Political: Elected to Michigan State Board of
Education in 1990, resigned in 1993
Business: President of the Windquest Group, a Grand
Rapids firm involved in making and marketing stor-
age and closet organizer products, 2002-present;
president of Ada-based Alticor Inc. (parent com-
pany of Amway Corp.) 1993-2002; president, the
Windquest Group, 1989-92; Amway, vice president-
international and other positions, 1974-89.
Web site: www.devosforgovernor.com