Rebuilding Michigan’s
Industrial Future
Smart public investment. Good-paying jobs. Strategic manufacturing leadership.
Michigan helped build the American middle class — but decades of offshoring, consolidation, and underinvestment have weakened our industrial base.
The Michigan Industrial Renewal Plan will restore our leadership in advanced manufacturing, infrastructure development, and strategic industries by tying public investment directly to job quality, domestic production, and long-term economic growth.
This plan ensures that taxpayer dollars build lasting prosperity — not executive bonuses or stock buybacks.
A Changing Economy Needs a New Strategy
Michigan’s economy depends on strong manufacturing, logistics, and infrastructure systems.
Yet too many communities have experienced plant closures, declining wages, and shrinking opportunity. At the same time, global competition for strategic industries — from semiconductors to clean energy components — is accelerating.
The Industrial Renewal Plan positions Michigan to compete by rebuilding domestic production capacity and investing in industries critical to national security, economic resilience, and long-term prosperity.
Strategic Industries Investment
Michigan will target public investment toward industries that strengthen supply chains, expand domestic production, and create durable middle-class employment.
The global economy is shifting quickly. From semiconductors to battery systems to advanced manufacturing, the states that build real productive capacity will be the states that win long-term jobs, innovation, and economic stability.
Michigan has the workforce, industrial history, and location to compete — but we need a clearer strategy and stronger public coordination.
Priority sectors include:
semiconductor fabrication and packaging
renewable energy component manufacturing
battery and grid equipment production
robotics and advanced automation
pharmaceutical and biotech production
These investments will help Michigan become a national hub for high-value production while reducing dependence on fragile overseas supply chains.
Industrial renewal means building the industries of the future here at home — with public investment tied to real jobs, real production, and long-term public benefit.
Michigan will prioritize public investment in strategic industries that create long-term jobs, strengthen supply chains, and expand domestic production.
The Policy
Infrastructure That Lets Michigan Build Again
Michigan cannot compete with broken roads, failing water systems, weak freight links, and unprepared industrial sites.
Industrial renewal requires modern infrastructure that helps businesses move goods, workers reach jobs, communities attract investment, and manufacturers expand without delay.
Michigan will invest in the systems that make growth possible:
roads and bridges built for Michigan weather and freight demand
modern freight rail, ports, and logistics corridors
reliable water, sewer, and power systems
stronger broadband and digital infrastructure
site-readiness upgrades for manufacturing and industrial development
This plan means fixing roads the right way, using stronger standards, longer-life materials, and construction methods designed for Michigan’s climate — so taxpayers are not forced to pay again and again for the same repairs.
When infrastructure works, industries grow. When industries grow, communities gain stability.
Michigan will align infrastructure investment with industrial development — and fix roads, utilities, freight, and industrial sites to support long-term growth.
The Policy
Public Investment Must Deliver Public Value
Michigan will set clear expectations for companies receiving public support.
Tax incentives, grants, infrastructure partnerships, procurement preferences, and industrial development support must be tied to measurable public benefit — not handed out with no accountability.
Companies receiving state support will be expected to:
pay wages above regional living-wage benchmarks
respect collective bargaining rights
meet hiring and training commitments
maintain transparent reporting on jobs, wages, and investment outcomes
avoid stock buybacks or executive enrichment tied to public subsidy periods
repay support when promised obligations are not met
These standards help ensure public dollars create broad-based prosperity, stronger communities, and durable economic growth.
Companies receiving public support must meet standards for wages, labor rights, training, transparency, and long-term community benefit.
The Policy
Getting Results From
Public Investment
Strong oversight mechanisms are essential to ensure that infrastructure and industrial programs deliver measurable outcomes.
Policy tools may include:
• performance benchmarks
• clawback provisions
• transparent reporting
• regional planning coordination
• public dashboards tracking job creation and wage outcomes
Workforce Development
Industrial renewal requires skilled workers.
Michigan will expand:
apprenticeship programs
career and technical education partnerships
adult retraining pathways
industry-aligned certification programs
These initiatives will help workers transition into emerging industries and strengthen long-term workforce resilience. Michigan will connect training directly to real hiring pipelines so workers can move into stable, well-paid careers without unnecessary barriers or debt.
Competing for the Industries
of the Future
Michigan can become a national hub for strategic manufacturing sectors, including:
• semiconductor fabrication and packaging
• renewable energy component production
• battery and grid equipment manufacturing
• robotics and advanced automation
• pharmaceutical and biotech production
Reshoring critical industries strengthens supply chains, supports energy affordability, and creates high-skill career pathways.
Worker Power in the
New Economy
Strong labor standards and real worker representation are essential to building a stable, high-road economy.
Michigan will support worker power in strategic industries by expanding collective bargaining protections, strengthening union apprenticeship pathways, and creating new structures for sectoral bargaining where traditional organizing models leave too many workers behind.
Public investment should not subsidize low-road employment. If taxpayer dollars help build an industry, workers in that industry should have a real voice over wages, training standards, safety conditions, scheduling, and benefits.
Michigan can support worker power by:
requiring labor neutrality for major state-supported projects
expanding union apprenticeship and training partnerships
supporting workforce councils in emerging industries
piloting sectoral bargaining frameworks in strategic sectors
tying public subsidies to labor standards and worker representation
Encouraging collective bargaining helps align productivity gains with wage growth and ensures that economic development builds shared prosperity, not just higher profits at the top.
State-supported industrial growth will strengthen collective bargaining, expand union pathways, and pilot sectoral bargaining in key industries.
The Policy
Small Businesses Should
Grow Too
Large infrastructure and manufacturing projects should generate opportunity for local suppliers and entrepreneurs.
Michigan can expand small business participation by:
• strengthening procurement access programs
• expanding technical assistance and financing tools
• encouraging regional supply chain development
• supporting cooperative business models
Economic development should strengthen local economies — not bypass them.
Building a Durable
Michigan Economy
When infrastructure works, industries grow.
When industries grow, communities gain stability.
Strategic public investment can crowd in private capital and accelerate innovation.
By coordinating tax policy, infrastructure development, and workforce training, the Industrial Renewal Plan will:
increase productivity
attract domestic and international investment
create stable middle-class jobs
expand Michigan’s long-term revenue base
Economic growth and fairness can move together.
Michigan built the industries that shaped the modern world.
With smart policy and bold leadership, we can lead again — creating opportunity for workers, stability for communities, and prosperity for future generations.
Implementation Timeline
Michigan Industrial Renewal should begin with a strong first phase that delivers visible economic progress while building the foundation for larger structural change.
The first priority is to move quickly on the projects and policies that can create momentum early: industrial site readiness, freight and road modernization, strategic industry investment, workforce pipelines, public-return standards, and high-road labor rules.
This first package should be ambitious. Michigan should not wait years to begin rebuilding productive capacity.
Move fast on sites, infrastructure, workforce, and public-return rules first — then scale industrial growth statewide.
The Policy
Phase 1 — Launch Industrial Recovery and Competitiveness
(Years 1–2)
Michigan begins by moving on the projects and standards that can create jobs, attract investment, and improve industrial readiness quickly.
First-phase priorities include:
strategic industry investment in semiconductors, robotics, advanced manufacturing, batteries, and critical components
industrial site readiness and utility modernization
fix-it-right roads and freight corridor upgrades
workforce and apprenticeship expansion
high-road labor and job-quality standards
public-return rules for major public-private projects
transparency and accountability requirements for publicly supported investment
What people see first:
more project-ready sites
visible road and freight upgrades
faster movement on manufacturing projects
stronger hiring and training pipelines
clearer rules that protect the public interest when public dollars are used
Phase 2 — Build Regional Capacity and Supply Chains
(Years 2–4)
After the first round of site, freight, and investment work begins, Michigan expands into the systems that make industrial growth more durable.
Second-phase priorities include:
domestic supplier development
regional industrial coordination
advanced road materials deployment
small business participation in industrial supply chains
deeper workforce training hubs
utility reliability improvements tied to industrial growth
What this adds:
stronger domestic supply chains
more local business participation
better infrastructure performance
broader industrial growth across regions
Phase 3 — Scale Long-Term Industrial Strength
(Years 4–6)
With early systems in place, Michigan can scale industrial renewal into a durable statewide strategy.
Third-phase priorities include:
expanded advanced manufacturing clusters
deeper semiconductor and robotics ecosystem development
stronger public-private partnership capacity
broader worker representation structures
long-term reinvestment of public returns into infrastructure, workforce, and community growth
What this delivers:
stronger industrial resilience
better long-term job growth
more public value from major investments
a more competitive Michigan economy built on real productive capacity
Legislative Package
The Michigan Industrial Renewal Plan would be implemented through a coordinated legislative package covering strategic industry investment, infrastructure modernization, worker power, workforce development, public accountability, and regional economic growth.
Key bills would address:
strategic industry investment standards
fix-it-right roads and bridge modernization
freight and logistics upgrades
industrial site readiness and utility modernization
labor standards and worker representation
workforce and apprenticeship expansion
public accountability, transparency, and clawbacks
This package is designed to ensure that public investment creates durable jobs, stronger communities, and long-term industrial capacity.
Industrial renewal will be backed by a full legislative package — not piecemeal incentives.
The Policy
How Industrial Renewal Fits into the Michigan Reform Plan
Michigan Industrial Renewal is part of the broader Michigan Reform Plan to rebuild the state’s economic foundation, strengthen public systems, and create durable opportunity across every region.
This plan works alongside infrastructure investment, energy reform, workforce development, housing policy, healthcare reform, and MI-Meds to reduce long-term costs while expanding Michigan’s productive capacity.
When infrastructure works, industries grow. When industries grow, communities gain stability. When workers have bargaining power, growth is more broadly shared.
That is why industrial renewal cannot stand alone. It must be coordinated with transportation, utilities, workforce training, labor standards, public procurement, and long-term financing.
The goal is not just to attract isolated projects. The goal is to build a stronger Michigan economy that can make more, employ more, and keep more wealth rooted in local communities.
In the Michigan Reform Plan, industrial renewal is both an economic strategy and a public-capacity strategy.
Industrial renewal connects investment, infrastructure, worker power, and public standards to rebuild Michigan’s long-term economic strength.
The Policy
Policy Details
For readers interested in the full legislative framework, the proposed statutory language for this policy is available below.
These documents outline how the proposal could be implemented in Michigan law and provide a more detailed view of the policy design.
The policy frameworks will continue to be refined with input from policy experts, healthcare providers, educators, and community leaders across Michigan.
Support Michigan’s Economic Renewal
Building a high-wage economy will require leadership, partnership, and public support.
Michigan can lead the nation in rebuilding domestic industry and strengthening worker opportunity.
Learn More About the Michigan Reform Plan