Editorial

After Billions in Subsidies, Just 918 Michigan Car Battery Jobs

In 2010, Granholm predicted 62,000 jobs

In a February 2010 speech, then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm described how Michigan was becoming a center for advanced battery production, which would diversify the state’s economy.

Granholm characterized the state as “becoming a world capital for advanced batteries,” and boasted that the industry was “projected to create almost 62,000 new jobs" in the state.

"We have a whole industry sprouting up all over the state with respect to the battery," Granholm said in 2010.

ForTheRecord says: As of 2015, Michigan had 918 battery manufacturing jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's even after billions of dollars granted to this industry by state and federal lawmakers. In contrast, there were 4.6 million Michigan jobs as of June 2016.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.