Advocacy News – June 26, 2025
What happened: Last week, the MI Chamber led its Manufacturers Roundtable in the Great Lakes Bay Region to engage with Michigan’s top employers and understand barriers to their success. As champions of free enterprise, the MI Chamber developed this series to discuss policies affecting the manufacturing sector.
- Special thanks to Nexteer for hosting the most successful roundtable to date, with a very engaged group of professionals from companies across the region.
Why it matters: Manufacturing continues to be the top sector in Michigan and employs roughly one out of six non-farm jobs in the state. It is critical that Michigan policymakers understand policies that support manufacturing capacity and investment as a key factor to Michigan’s economic success.
The conversation focused on several topics including:
- State permitting reforms: The Chamber will be working with lawmakers over the next several months to make permitting more business friendly in Michigan. Participants were asked to share their ideas on how to prioritize the many ways to improve permitting in the state.
- Road funding: The biggest issue in this year’s budget debate is road funding. House Republicans passed budget-neutral legislation, but the Senate continues to push for new taxes. The MI Chamber will remain heavily engaged, particularly around threats like an increase to the Corporate Income Tax.
- Budget: The budget debate continues, and will likely last through the summer months. We heard during the roundtable discussion that programs like GoingPro, STEP and STEAM have value and should be maintained.
- Workforce development, energy and more: A lot of discussion focused on workforce development and the state’s role in establishing a career pipeline for local employers. We also explored ideas around supply chain constraints in grid management and power supply, childcare access and more.
What’s next: We are actively planning upcoming events focused on the Southeast and Northern Michigan regions. If your organization is interested in hosting the next MI Chamber Manufacturer’s Roundtable, we invite you to reach out.
- Partnering with us provides a valuable opportunity to shape a high-impact event that brings together industry peers and strengthens business-to-business relationships across the manufacturing sector.
For questions or more information, contact Mike Alaimo.