Whitmer announces new effort to reverse Michigan's sluggish population growth

MACKINAC ISLAND — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer launched a new effort Thursday aimed at reversing Michigan's sluggish population growth, tapping a bipartisan duo to lead the initiative along with Michigan's first-ever "chief growth officer."

"We all know that where someone chooses to make their lives is the most important vote of confidence," Whitmer said during a news briefing where she established the new Growing Michigan Together Council.

The group will be led by former U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates John Rakolta Jr., a Republican, and member of the Wayne State Board of Governors Shirley Stancato, a Democrat. Whitmer also named Hilary Doe, a Detroit resident who most recently headed a software development company, to serve as the state's new growth officer.

The council has until December to generate policy recommendations to grow Michigan's population under an executive order Whitmer signed Thursday. As part of this mission, the group will craft proposals to improve education outcomes and infrastructure funding in Michigan.

"Our state has been stagnant for over 30 years in terms of population," said Rakolta. Despite being home to great universities and clean freshwater, Michigan's education and infrastructure systems present key challenges to growing the state's population.

Stancato called population growth Michigan's "most urgent challenge." The state has to do a better job attracting people from outside its borders, she said.

But the work to translate the council's recommendations into actual population growth should extend past Whitmer's final term, the governor said.

"I will be governor three and half more years but this work has got to continue," Whitmer said in a keynote address at the Mackinac Policy Conference.

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As part of her effort to grow Michigan's population, Whitmer put forward an inclusive vision for the state's economy. "Blue collar, white collar, no collar — it doesn’t matter. Everyone has a path to prosperity in Michigan," she said.

Ahmad Nassar, the CEO and creative director of Detroit 75 Kitchen in southwest Detroit, spoke at the news briefing earlier in the day about his return to Michigan to grow his business after he moved abroad as an example of the entrepreneurial opportunities that exist in the state.

"I'm glad that the governor is taking population growth seriously, because we're running out of people to sell sandwiches to," he joked.

The 2020 decennial census — the once-a-decade count of all people in the U.S. — showed that Michigan experienced the second-slowest population growth in the nation over the previous decade. Three states lost population during that period. In Michigan, slow population growth resulted in the loss of a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the fifth consecutive decade. Since the 2020 census, Michigan has lost population, according to census estimates.

Michigan faces a triple whammy when it comes to its population challenges: Not many looking to relocate to another state choose to build a home for themselves in Michigan, international immigration to the state has fallen and too many young residents leave the state, according to a new analysis from The Citizens Research Council of Michigan and public health research nonprofit Altarum.

Whitmer previously pitched Democratic policy victories on abortion and LGBTQ rights as a way to help lure new residents to the state during her State of the State address earlier this year. "States with extreme laws are losing talent and investment because you know what? Bigotry is bad for business," Whitmer said. During her keynote speech Thursday, she once again championed legislation she approved protecting abortion and LGBTQ rights.

House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, blasted the new council and called for greater legislative involvement.

"After four years of failure, the governor has no plan to keep young people in Michigan, no excuse for our crumbling roads, and no vision to improve childhood reading levels," he said in a statement. "She's doing what every politician does when they have no real plan — create a commission and kick the can down the road."

Whitmer told the Free Press that she discussed the proposal to establish the council with legislative leaders. She decided to establish the council by executive order because she did not obtain support from top GOP lawmakers. "But I’m reserving a seat at that table," she said.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer launches new effort to grow Michigan population