If you are interested in interviewing a Michigan Chamber representative, contact Sara Wurfel, chief communications and marketing officer, at (517) 599-3470 or swurfel@michamber.com.
In the state legislature, lawmakers are considering bills that would meet some of those workers’ demands, and potentially impact Michigan businesses. In hopes that companies can find a seat at the table when it comes to introducing legislation, several organizations representing Michigan industries, including the MI Chamber, have formed the Great Lakes Growth Coalition.
Jim Holcomb, MI Chamber, president & CEO, and Michael Elias is the CEO & co-founder of Common Citizen write guest commentary on SAFE Banking Act; legislation that ensures cannabis business owners and workers have access to the same banking, borrowing and lending options as all other legal industries do.
Representatives for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business lobby, said they are open in concept to changes, such as requiring more transparency from owners of polluted land. But they worry that requiring industry to remove more pollution, instead of containing it, raises the cost of redevelopment.
Business groups say they’re happy with Michigan’s existing laws and leery of burdensome regulations. But they also say they’re open, at least in concept, to discussions on broadening transparency around contamination and finding new mechanisms to pay for orphan clean-ups.
Business groups like the Michigan Chamber of Commerce say they support the current law, but are conceptually open to minor changes and providing more money for cleanups. “Environmental safety is a great thing,” said Michael Alaimo, the chamber’s director of environmental and energy affairs. But Michigan must be careful not to “negatively affect other priorities we have for the state, economic development being an important one of them.”