New Fears Arise in Michigan

Neq York Times ^

[mathwhizz]

“You just sit and you worry,” said Pat Weber, a construction administrator in Fennville who was laid off more than a year ago. “In the last year, I’ve put in for more than 100 jobs. I stopped counting after 110. It’s just so defeating.”

All around Fennville and its neighbors here in southwest Michigan, front lawns are peppered with for-sale signs and merchants complain about slow days. But while this remains a beautiful place with none of the obvious blight of Detroit on the other side of the state, residents say the hardship beneath the surface is very real.

It is the same story in other parts of Michigan, as the state’s already entrenched recession — in at least its fifth year, according to economic experts — digs deeper as a result of the recent global financial crisis.

New data show the state’s unemployment rate crept up to 9.3 percent, almost three times what it was in 2000, and, along with Rhode Island, the highest in the country. Just last week, Herman Miller Inc., an office furniture company based in Zeeland, Mich., announced that it would eliminate or lay off 400 to 650 workers, many of them in western Michigan. SKD Automotive, an auto parts manufacturer in Jonesville, Mich., where it is the largest employer, indicated it would eliminate 300 jobs.

As a result of the steady job losses that began in the summer of 2000, 1.82 million Michigan residents, or close to 20 percent of the population, are now on some form of public assistance, including food stamps and home heating credits, a record for the state.

[Dianna]

Getting paid much less, but having a job, is still better than a whole lot of nothing not having a job and no jobs available if I am not working...

Georgetown Kentucky has a huge Toyota plant. We aren't a right to work state and have a dem governor, but it might be an option for you.

[Kozak]

With the Rats having the WH, House and an essentially filibuster proof Senate, there won’t be ANY “Right to Work States”.

[Malesherbes]

At the beginning of the 20th century, a common expression in Paris was “as rich as an Argentinian.” Argentine was one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Today after a century of largely left-wing government, it is literally on the verge of bankruptcy.

The same is true of Michigan, once prosperous, now hanging by a thread - and sadly, hanging on to Granholm and voting for Levin and Stabenow and BO. The disease is spreading to our whole country, and what happened to Argentina can happen to us.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Actually some deflationary realism will help the economy.

I predict a resurgance of manufacturing in thenext few years as waqes hit a realistic level and automation proceeds a pace.

Unions are on their last legs; there is no rationale for their salary/benefits/retirement schemes.

Management will also have to do with much less as stockholders will demand a better return on their investment.

[codercpc]

It's going to cost the state $15 billion

Actually it is worse than that. Two years ago the estimates were $18 billion a year (I am sure 2 years later it will be higher), and it will be financed through a payroll tax, similar to Social Security to the tune of $510.00 A WORKER I don't know about you, but I can't afford that.

It would also be mandatory, so no matter how good your insurance is right now, you would be forced to pay into the system.

[STONEWALLS]

“I predict a resurgance of manufacturing in thenext few years as waqes hit a realistic level and automation proceeds a pace.”

.....I would really like to see that...I live in NC where textiles and furniture factories are boarded up....we have some tourism dollars coming in but nothing beats a good steady factory payroll.

[Strutt9]

Ah be careful... Looks whats happen to other states that the libs ran to, they went blue. Let the libs fix thier own state before ruining another.

[o_zarkman44]

I fully understand what the other half is going through. too old to change profession. Too young to quit. And too broke to keep the wife happy.

She seems to think I enjoy my unstable work history.
Trust me. I love a steady paycheck as long as it pays the bills.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

Georgetown Kentucky has a huge Toyota plant. We aren't a right to work state and have a dem governor, but it might be an option for you.

Thank you.

I found their web site. Looks like a good place to work with lots of motivated and intelligent people working there...



In the story below - copied from the web site - I see that she got her degree from the Pennsylvania College of Technology and is now working at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK), so she obviously moved from Pennsylvania to Kentucky to work there.

TEMA PE Specialist Highlighted in Documentary

GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY, (June 23, 2008) —A Toyota team member from Georgetown is being showcased in a public television program. Jennifer Brinkley-Cruz will be a featured vignette in the “Degrees That Work” television series, a co-production of Pennsylvania College of Technology, her alma-mater.

The series is designed to build awareness of careers that may not be familiar to the public but offer ample job opportunities and are projected to see employment growth.

Brinkley-Cruz, a native of Pennsylvania, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology in 2005  and oversees automated welding cells at Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky (TMMK). The show follows Brinkley-Cruz working on the plant floor and explains other jobs related to the field of welding.

Shot over two days in October and scheduled to air at the end of June, Brinkley-Cruz recalled that the shoot was time consuming, but notes all the planning was worth it once she viewed the end result. “The show really highlighted the benefits of seeking a career in welding,” she explained. “Obviously welding is not considered a female-dominated field and I am glad I could serve as an example for other girls to say, “hey that just might be something I am interested in pursuing”.

Brinkley-Cruz works in the Toyota plant’s Body Weld Unit, where 700 robots are responsible for 97 percent of the welds applied to each vehicle. She oversees 40 robotic welding cells, specifying which robots will be used for a task and how the cell should operate. “I would say this is a dream job for me,” she says, “I am very grateful that I picked such an amazing career field as welding.”

“The show also promotes the fact that Toyota employs a diverse workforce of which I am very proud to be a part,” Brinkley-Cruz added.

The episode is available for viewing now online at www.pct.edu/degreesthatwork/welding.htm.

TMMK is located in Georgetown, Ky., and is Toyota’s largest manufacturing facility in North America employing about 7,000 team members. TMMK has the capacity to produce 500,000 vehicles and engines annually. Its products include the Camry, Camry Hybrid, Avalon and Solara as well as V6 and 4-cylinder engines and engine components.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

I fully understand what the other half is going through. too old to change profession. Too young to quit. And too broke to keep the wife happy.

Your wife has to be your equal partner in this or you don't have a marriage.

I have discussed this point with my wife.

[dearolddad]

I have an idea.

Let’s elect Democrats and see what happens.

I think that's been tried and it ain't working out too well.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

what money, pray tell,will these unemployed persons use to move and work in another state?

Lots of good ideas have been mentioned on this thread. The main point is that the people of Michigan have made their own beds, by voting for the idiots in their government, now they have to lie in those beds.

[Last Dakotan]

With the Rats having the WH, House and an essentially filibuster proof Senate, there won’t be ANY “Right to Work States”.

We have thought out a strategy for that - will simply stop hiring.

[Cboldt]

-- the Western part of MI is like a different world. --

I spent the bulk of my formative years in Holland. Great memories.

[Clemenza]

When DuPage voted for Goldwater in 1964 (a year when most suburban counties went for LBJ, btw, including those with Republican majorities in registration), it was largely a mixture of estates for CEOs and "old money", along with many farms in the western and southern end of the county. Those days are long gone, as folks who moved from Chicago over the years brought their politics with them. The secularization of the white population outside of rural areas and the South is also a factor, though not as much as the former.

[jwalsh07]

Re-elect Governor Granholm!

[Frantzie]

My experience in MI is flying into Detroit airport then on to Grand Rapids. Pretty area, super people and a nice little town. It is a shame MI cannot be split into E MI and W MI.

[teletech]

When DuPage voted for Goldwater in 1964 (a year when most suburban counties went for LBJ, btw, including those with Republican majorities in registration), it was largely a mixture of estates for CEOs and "old money", along with many farms in the western and southern end of the county. Those days are long gone, as folks who moved from Chicago over the years brought their politics with them. The secularization of the white population outside of rural areas and the South is also a factor, though not as much as the former

We have now sadly become an extension of Cook Crook County.

[grellis]

If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.

[mombonn]

I've listened to my fellow Michiganders whine about jobs, the economy, etc and blame Bush categorically for the past 8 years.

At the same time, they keep electing more and more RATS.

I wonder when they'll connect the dots?