"Our purpose is to meet with the companies that have expressed an interest in coming here," says Jennifer Kopp, director of communications for the MEDC. "We're making a presentation on initiatives and other perks that may benefit the companies."
As part of the pitch, the corporation is telling the Pacific Coast firms that power outages, such as the blackouts seen in California, are basically unheard of in Michigan. The MEDC sent 4,500 Golden State companies computer mouse pads with the words "Michigan Will Never Leave You In the Dark" printed on them.
"One of the main things we will point out is that while California has no new power plants, two are already under construction in Michigan, and nine more are planned," Kopp tells GlobeSt.com.
More than $260,000 has already been spent on the recruiting campaign, which is the state's largest cheerleader for development. The MEDC is a state-supported non-profit corporation, with a main goal of increasing commercial development in Michigan.
Kopp wouldn't say which companies are on the visit list, but did confirm that their looking primarily for information technology and advanced as well as life science technology firms.
Besides the electricity situation, Kopp says there are many other reasons why companies should want to move east into Michigan.
"We've cut taxes 31 times in the last nine years, we're phasing out theSingle Business Tax, the only true corporate state tax. We've also got the fourth largest high-tech workforce in the nation. We have the workers to get the job done," she adds.
Also included as good reasons are the MEDC's Smart Zones, areas ofhigh-density technology firms that receive state assistance, a singlebusiness tax credit program and funding for worker recruitment and training.
Kopp says MEDC president Doug Rothwell and a few of the corporation's board members will make a second recruitment trip to California this summer.
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