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Covering the intersection of business and policy, and informing Michigan employers and workers on the long road back from coronavirus.
Articles
Slideshow: Worst counties for wages (September 2014)
Here are the worst counties for average weekly wages, as of September, 2014
State struggles to boost lives of the working poor
Four-in-10 Michigan families can’t afford life’s basics, according to a report by the United Way. The report contends that helping struggling workers will ultimately benefit the state as a whole.
Up North, isolation impedes health care for seniors
In far-flung rural Michigan, hardly anything is close by. It can be a problem for those in need of medical attention.
Poverty in paradise: Halting the exodus of young workers from northern Michigan
After growing up in Pure Michigan, millennials say they must leave a land they love to fulfill their career ambitions. Second of two parts.
How posh Aspen and Jackson Hole make housing affordable for year-round workers
Michigan’s northern resort counties could learn from these swanky ski towns in Colorado and Wyoming.
Postcards from paradise: A daughter of Petoskey finds homecoming a real page-turner
Like lots of smart young natives, Katie Capaldi thought her destiny lay far from the northern Michigan town where she was raised. But she’s writing another chapter. Plus, five other looks at people and life Up North.
Postcard from paradise: In the inky dark, a glimmer of starshine – and tourism
The Headlands is drawing stargazers to a 550-acre park at the very tip of the mitten, officially designated an International Dark Sky Park.
Postcard from paradise: Custom skis, made by hand
Jeff Thompson figured he could make his own skis as easily as buying them. Then mom and dad sold their house to come work for him.
Postcard from paradise: At Coolhouse Labs, a native son incubates startups in Harbor Springs
Internet-based companies can live anywhere. One twenty-something hopes giving entrepreneurs a great northern Michigan summer might turn their heads.
Postcard from paradise: Needing to get out, a young man looks to the water
His parents always warned: In a small-town economy, the pie is too small for everybody to get a slice.
Postcard: Luxe life at Bay Harbor reflects changing economy
A luxury playground grows where an abandoned cement plant once stood on the shores of Little Traverse Bay.
See which Michigan regions are growing the fastest
While the Detroit region is beginning to emerge from recession, the Grand Rapids, Monroe and Benton Harbor areas posted strong GDP gains in 2013.
Michigan’s economic comeback promising, but incomplete
Amid promising signs of growth, Michigan still has not reached its peak GDP from a decade ago.
Grand Rapids growth invites civic pride
The Grand Rapids region is strong in virtually every economic sector, and is the closest of any Michigan region to returning to pre-recession levels.
Lansing and Ann Arbor staging a battle of economic might
The Lansing and Ann Arbor regions are closely matched in GDP. Ann Arbor is just ahead in 2013. But will it last?
Recovering Detroit region still drives the state
The Detroit region, digging out from a tough decade, still wields manufacturing might. But its future may well hinge on health care.
