Bank of America to release 1500 Michigan workers

Detroit News reports:

"Bank of America Corp. will close its $21 billion deal to purchase LaSalle Bank next week, a move that will trigger the beginning of 1,500 layoffs of LaSalle workers in Michigan over the next two years."

Lawrence Di Rita, a spokesman for Bank of America, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., also said with respect to customer experience,"There are typically hiccups along the way, but we try to minimize them. There is no reason to believe this won't be a smooth transaction."

Do you suppose the 1500 lost jobs will be experienced by the workers as mere "hiccups along the way?" Will their children who experience disruption in home life and stressed parents find the circumstance a mere inconvenience, a blip in the grand scheme of their formative years?

Well, that's not Bank of America's problem. In the last two weeks Bank of America announced it was raising ATM fees for non-Bank of American customers in order to provide better service to its own customers. How about sending a small portion of those fees to a fund for displaced Bank of America workers to assist with transition to some other knowledge-based, new economy job?

Hundreds Gather for Progressive Policy Summit in Lansing

Stewardship, transformation and hope emerged as key themes yesterday at the Michigan Policy Summit in Lansing. Hosted by Michigan Prospect, the event gathered hundreds of activists and concerned citizens from around the state with the purpose of drafting action plans for health care, clean energy and education.

David Hollister, Executive Director of Prima Civitas, summarized the economic and cultural challenges facing Michigan. Hollister served as a state representative, mayor of Lansing and director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. He assured participants that Michigan is "not facing a fiscal crisis," but rather a crisis of "political will." Hollister presented challenges and opportunities for Michigan. Among the challenges, an aging population, accelerating technological change, and "devolution in decision making" rendering the state processes nearly "irrelevant."

Among areas of opportunity and hope--the research corridor of University of Michigan, Wayne State and MSU; the 21st Century Jobs Fund; MSU President Simon's vision for a "World Grant Philosophy" in higher education; and the Venture Michigan Fund.

Keynote speaker, Donna Brazile, encouraged participants to move beyond single issues and build alliances among disparate groups and issues. Advocating inclusion, she said that working across interests will require trust and compromise. Progressives must "fight cynicism and negativity with hope for all."

She counseled,"Do not grow weary in doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Yes, that's scripture--Galatians 6:9.

Hello, New Michigan

"A New Agenda for A New Michigan" by the folks at Michigan Future, Inc. lays out strategies for finding our way along this path.

From the report:
"Our agenda to help better position Michigan and its regions to succeed in a knowledge-driven economy is centered on (1) developing a culture, and (2) making key public investments that are aimed at preparing, retaining, and attracting talent."

It lists three characteristics of successful regions in the new economy:

"*Learning. Instilling the love of learning may well be the most important foundation for economic success in a world characterized by accelerating creative destruction of both jobs and enterprises."

Learning is good. Schools are good. Public schools are good. Don't cut education funding; pamper your schools with more funding.

"*An entrepreneurial spirit. This is more than starting a business, although we need far more of that. It is a community that stops thinking of employment as a long-term entitlement to a good job and starts valuing competition and constant reinvention of one’s career."

That means empowered, creative people ready to try new things even when the big boys say it can't be done. It means thinking creatively about who you are now and who you can become. It means tooling and retooling yourself as technology changes. It means community support of lifelong learning.

"*Being welcoming to all. The places that do the best in attracting talent from anywhere on the planet win. This means building a culture that condemns rather than tolerates discrimination and segregation, as well as welcoming, with open arms, talented people from outside Michigan."

Being welcoming to all. Michigan, we have a long way to go on that one, starting with the fallout from the "marriage amendment" to the state constitution. We must start by welcoming the minorities and quirky, creative people already among us. Don't scorn or drive out the populations whose very existence forces us to question cultural assumptions. The presence of people doing things differently is a living witness that keeps us alert to our own complacence. Take a deep breath and understand that we need to be diverse, that we already are, and that it is a gift.

Between Jobs--Jackson Converts to a Cool City

Somewhere between our beefy manufacturing legacy and the New Economy -- between east Michigan and west Michigan -- sits the city of Jackson (pop. 36,316). If you look closely, you'll see signs of its transitional status--lots of houses for sale, lots of vacant commercial properties, a 'COOL CITY' neon sign in the Chamber of Commerce front window.

What makes Jackson a "Cool City?" It's the Armory Arts Project, an economic development effort transforming the historic 19th-century Jackson State Prison site into a live/work space for artists. It garnered the 'Cool City' designation from Governor Granholm in 2004 as part of the Cool City Pilot Program.

A generation of Jackson workers spent their lives with Goodyear Tire. From 1937 to1983, Goodyear operated a massive manufacturing facility on a 59 acre site. Colorado-based Kinder Morgan now operates a gas-powered, electric generating plant on the site. In the past year several more plants have closed, TRW and Eaton among them.

Redevelopment for economic development continues to be a focus of the Enterprise Group of Jackson, an alliance of several organizations devoted to keeping Jackson County economically viable. Jackson County has four tax-free "Renaissance Zones" and a long list of corporate/commercial properties available for development.

I spoke with Jane Robinson from the Enterprise Group about the Armory Arts Project,"We did an initial feasibility study in partnership with Art Space, a Minneapolis-based group that cultivates space for artists around the country,"Robinson said.

Robinson says the project is already having a positive impact on the downtown with new residential development and shops moving in. "Property values on the street with the Armory have risen 972%,"Robinson boasted.

"What makes this project unique in the country is our incredible historic site. There is a four-story high gallery, eight smaller galleries, workshops, a ceramics studio, and a large scale art production studio all available for the tenants at no extra cost,"Robinson said. "In future plans for the Armory, we will have a 'creative innovations center.' This will be a learning environment where manufacturing and artistic communities come together for collaboration." According to Robinson, business and marketing workshops will also be available to artist/residents.

Groundbreaking happened in November 2006 with a completion goal of January of 2008, which Robinson expects to meet. There are 62 units--some apartments, some lofts. "We kept the integrity of the buildings with the exposed brick walls and coved ceilings. 40 units are already reserved. We have attracted artists from around the country--Miami, Atlanta and Chicago, as well as from across Michigan,"Robinson shared.

This Saturday, June 16th, at 4p.m. there will be a tailgate reception and hard hat tour of the project. Robinson welcomes all creative people who might be interested to the Saturday event.