The Detroit Regional Chamber (DRC) is ready for the 2014 Mackinac Policy Conference, which will be held Wednesday through Friday, May 28-30 on Mackinac Island in the Upper Peninsula.
Convened by Sandy K. Baruah, president and CEO of DRC,and Henry B. Cooney, conference chair and president and CEO of Plunkett Cooney, the press conference announced that this year’s focus will be on creating a globally competitive and financially attractive business climate in Michigan.
According to Cooney and Baruah, the 34th annual conference will feature top-level speakers, insightful panels, and other pertinent programming. The event is expected to attract approximately 1,500 of Michigan’s top leaders in business, government, corporate and education sectors, as well as many of the state’s most forward-thinking entrepreneurs.
“There are three pillars for this year’s Mackinac Policy Conference,” said Cooney. “They are Entrepreneurship, STEM Education, and Impact of government policy and government structure on Michigan’s transformation.”
Cooney elaborated, “We see entrepreneurship as being the key to both Detroit’s and Michigan’s economy growth. We want to make sure that the region and state are great places for innovation, and we want entrepreneurship to be a part of Michigan’s DNA going forward.”
He further stated, “STEM education stands for science, technology, engineering and math. It is relatively known that we have tens of thousands of jobs in Michigan that are not currently being filled because the workforce does not have the appropriate skill training and education to fill those high-tech jobs.
“By focusing on STEM education and advanced skills training, we are looking to ensure that we have a workforce and that well-paying jobs are provided for the 21st century.”
Cooney also added that the Impact pillar will focus on the economic transformation of Michigan as the state takes the lead and becomes the catalyst for bold government structures and policies in order to have a great environment for investments throughout the state.
The statewide conference will also include such pillars as the National Thought Leaders, PAC Senate Reception, “Detroit: Where We Go from Here?,” The Governor and the Michigan Impact, CNN Pundits Debate the Midterms, Veterans Talent Showcase, the Next Generation Workforce, The Entrepreneurial Nexus of the Automotive Industry.
“Detroit: Where We Go from Here?” will feature key participation by both Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and emergency manager Kevyn Orr, as well as other stake holding CEOs. They will discuss the city’s historic bankruptcy, the path back to stability, and the importance of having a strong Detroit in order for the state to be successful.
“One of the things that we believe very strongly in is that the fortunes of the state and the city of Detroit are intertwined,” said Baruah.
“When I travel internationally, which I often do with the governor, Detroit actually has more brand awareness than Michigan does. While the Mackinac Policy Conference is a statewide event, you can’t have it without significantly touching the issues facing Detroit.”
One of the other most interesting pillars with be a forum featuring U.S. Rep. Gary Peters (Democrat) and former Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land (Republican), who are both running for the U.S. Senate seat that’s being vacated by Sen. Carl Leven.
The conference with also feature keynote speeches by such notables as Gov. Rick Snyder, who will deliver the opening day address and an address on day two of the conference.
Other prominent speakers are John A. James, founder and CEO of the James Group International; Gallup’s Jim Clifton; best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell; former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels; Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City Department of Education: Larry Weber, chairman and CEO of Racepoint Global; Joe Harlan, executive vice president of Dow Chemical; CNN’s strategist Paul Begala, CNN’s host of “Crossfire” S.E. Cupp and more.
For the fourth consecutive year, the conference will produce a “To-Do List,” which will chronicle action items that result from the Mackinac Policy Conference’s discussions.
“We hold ourselves accountable at the end of the conference,” said Baruah. who has been the lead facilitator of four Mackinac Policy Conferences. “We issue the ‘To-Do List’ and said ‘These are the three, four, five things we are going to do coming out of this conference,’” We then, at the Chamber, will report the following year what we got done, or what we didn’t get done.”
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