Sunday, July 22, 2007

Google (heart) Michigan, but for how long?



(Originally posted at BFM)



Google chief Eric Schmidt had some great things to say about Google's presence in our state after addressing the governor's conference  Saturday.


Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said after addressing the nation's governors about economic innovation here Saturday that he's convinced Michigan has the educated work force needed to fill 21st Century jobs, including the jobs at the Google advertising sales office in Ann Arbor.


Google is currently at 150 employees and is expected to reach up to 1000 more, just as fast as they can train them.


"There's a physical limit to how fast you can grow," Schmidt said. "You can get the office space but it takes time to train employees."


Schmidt visited the Ann Arbor operation Friday night and reported "the energy level there is pretty phenomenal." He said Michigan is doing some of the things to entice cutting-edge companies like Google to come to the state, including promoting broadband technology and offering a "very searchable" state government data base.


This week Google announced they will be partnering with Michigan to expand the search capabilities on the state's database- only the fifth state in the nation to do so. Google has been ready and willing to keep expanding its work force and visibility in Michigan- very important for attracting more hi-tech companies and jobs to locate here.


So far Google has not had to import any employees, but with the cost of college education going through the roof thanks to our state legislature, can we continue to provide the educated workers that these companies are seeking?


AT & T chief Randall Stephenson had a word of warning.


But it was Stephenson, who has held the top job at AT&T for less than two months, who had the toughest words for the more than 30 state chief executives in attendance. He said that an AT&T agreement with its largest union to bring back 4,000 jobs that had been outsourced to India was struggling because of faulty U.S. education standards. "We're struggling to find qualified candidates to fill those 4,000 jobs."


College education is crucial to Michigan's economic recovery. That much is obvious to everyone, except maybe our state legislators, who intend on dragging their feet as long as they possibly can on any sort of budget agreement.


Nine Michigan universities have now raised their tuition rates thanks to lack of state aid- the latest being the U of M, coming in at 7.4 percent. Others are threatening even steeper increases if they do not get the payments that were delayed from '07.


Many of the schools have blamed the relatively high tuition increases on declining state aid and lack of a government budget agreement for the fiscal year that starts in October.


-snip-


"These tuition increases are a direct result of the delay," Granholm said. "They hurt people. I think the Legislature understands the importance of getting this behind us and putting our fiscal house in order."


Do they? Perhaps they do, but it is apparent that politics takes precedence and most intend to delay the inevitable until a crisis occurs. With the House Republicans mumbling about "task forces" and the Senate Republicans insisting on "reforms" that will take years to implement and even deeper budget cuts on top of that, we might actually have to come to a shutdown before they find the courage to do the right thing.


Granholm said she does not rule out a government shutdown that would temporarily close schools and universities if the Legislature reaches gridlock on budget issues this fall. She chastised the Senate for failing to pass reforms and lacking adoption of a single budget bill as the new fiscal year looms.


In the midst of the budget crisis, Granholm has repeatedly berated the Legislature for taking a 2-week vacation earlier this month and planning full sessions of the House and Senate only once a week in August.


When it comes to our lawmakers, recovery can wait, and you can pay the bill in the meantime.


Maybe we should send Mike Bishop over to Google or AT & T to explain his position on this massive "reform" needs to take place, that for some reason couldn't be done when Republicans had control of the state. They are sure to understand that we need "years" to get our house in order first.


They'll wait for us, won't they?