By Staff
Hello, this is Governor Jennifer Granholm.
It's been a tough week for Michigan. General Motors filed for bankruptcy. Seven GM plants in Michigan will close or be idled, and thousands of workers will lose their jobs.
When companies in other states declare bankruptcy, it's generally not headline news. It's different for Michigan, because we're so tightly bound to the auto industry. If we don't work in the industry ourselves, we all have friends and family who do. For some families, generations have worked in the plants.
That's what makes this so painful. An era is ending. While many people will continue working in GM plants building the next generation of vehicles, others will be leaving. And for them, we will help however we can, from extended unemployment benefits to job retraining.
Now we have to continue our ongoing efforts to shape a new future for Michigan, one in which we will use our manufacturing expertise to achieve a national goal of energy independence.
Five years ago, we began positioning Michigan to lead a green industrial revolution. We provided tax incentives and grants for making green products. We created venture capital for green start-up companies, and we restructured job training programs to give workers the skills for green jobs.
Manufacturers of green products like wind turbines or advanced batteries can find everything they need in Michigan: technological knowhow, factory space, skilled workers, transportation systems, and great universities.
Today, wind turbines are manufactured mostly in Europe. We intend and we expect to make them in Michigan. Today, the advanced batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are made in Asia. We intend to manufacture them here and make Michigan the advanced battery capital of the world.
In fact, on Monday, General Motors will unveil a new battery lab at its tech center, the largest automotive battery lab in the country. And this leads to an important point about the GM and Chrysler bankruptcies.
In bankruptcy, General Motors is being restructured, not liquidated. There would be no new GM battery lab with liquidation. And as we also saw this week, Chrysler is being restructured, not liquidated. The Obama administration supported restructuring GM and Chrysler into viable companies, because it understands the United States needs a strong automotive industry and a manufacturing sector.
These are tough times for Michigan, but we're pretty tough ourselves. GM and Chrysler will emerge from bankruptcy as stronger companies, and the Big 3 will play indispensable roles in our nation's journey to energy independence. It's a time of national transformation to a green economy, and Michigan is ready to lead.
Thank you for listening.