Big Government at Work: 9% of Jobs Announced in Major Michigan Taxpayer-funded Deals From 2000- 2020 Actually Created

The Michigan Legislature has committed nearly $2.1 billion in taxpayer-funded business incentives in recent years, but the spending isn’t producing the jobs promised. Since lawmakers created the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve program in 2021 with the intent to reel in major manufacturing investments, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others have touted more than 12,000 jobs created through billions in taxpayer funded incentives.

While many of the businesses that received the funds distributed through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation declined to discuss specifics with The Detroit News, it’s clear few of those promised jobs have materialized.

The Mackinac Center study, titled Front Line Failures, found just 9% of the jobs announced in major state-sponsored deals from 2000 to 2020 were ever created.

Examples in the report:

• A 2007 deal with a Detroit pharmaceutical company promised to create 600 jobs. Instead, the company added zero new jobs and closed its facility by 2014.
• A 2009 deal with General Electric promised 1,200 jobs. Zero jobs were created.
• A 2008 headline announced, “State reels in jobs.” It announced 4,800 jobs. Companies created 112 jobs.
• One local official proclaimed she could not “overstate the impact” of a 2015 deal to create 1,000 jobs. The company created 26 jobs.

Read the Full Story at The Midwesterner