TED: Working Together to Attract Talent and Economic Development

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A year ago, Governor Snyder launched the new Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development – affectionately known as TED. The aim of the department is to accelerate the state’s effort to become a national leader in connecting highly skilled talent with in-demand jobs. TED combines the efforts of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the Michigan Strategic Fund, and the newly created Talent Investment Agency into one collaborative unit.

To highlight how TED can benefit communities, we assembled a panel of the new department’s key players: Steve Arwood, TED director and CEO of MEDC; Kevin Elsenheimer, MSHDA executive director; and Stephanie Beckhorn, acting director of the Michigan Workforce Development Agency.

Steve Arwood

Steve Arwood emphasized what the League has always said – that today’s talent is attracted by place more so than the job itself. That makes places like Austin, TX a big draw, particularly for millennials. To help Michigan take the lead in attracting talent, the new department takes a collaborative community development team approach. Instead of working on projects separately, they work on them together. The goal is to enact a comprehensive strategy to make sure communities are vibrant and attract to talent.

TED has several initiatives in motion. In Rising Tide, ten communities were chosen to participate in a pilot program to work with local leaders as they develop new strategies for economic prosperity, creating more and better jobs. The 18-35-year-old age bracket is the focus of strategies to get this generation to stay or locate in Michigan.The Community Revitalization arm participates brownfield and other real estate projects as an investor. TED partners with many communities through the Pure Michigan tourism program, which last year brought in $6.5 billion. And the department’s Public Spaces Community Places crowdfunding program has been especially successful.

“The program is so popular we’ve doubled the money,” said Arwood. “It gets us involved in lots of smaller communities. We’re really proud of that. We want to be strong partners.”

Kevin Elsenheimer

Kevin Elsenheimer, executive director of MSHDA, shared that MSHDA’s primary piece of the attraction puzzle is ensuring that Michigan has an adequate supply of decent, affordable housing. One of the main ways they do that is through MSHDA-backed home loans. Funds generated from people who take out MSHDA home loans are used to provide up to $7,500 in down payment assistance to first-time buyers.

MSHDA also manages low-income housing tax credits, allocating these credits from HUD to projects all over the state. Recently, they worked with Menominee on a high-quality low-income housing project that will have an important impact on the community. MSHDA has also been very involved in Detroit housing projects, which Elsenheimer hopes will serve as catalytic development and get market rate developers involved.

“We create place,” said Elsenheimer. “Business needs, talent, talent needs place, and place needs talent. We invest in talent. We invest back in Michigan.”

Stephanie Beckhorn

Stephanie Beckhorn focuses on the workforce piece of the puzzle through the Workforce Development Agency and the Unemployment Insurance Agency. The workforce agency helps individuals all along their career path, from transitioning people back to the workforce to helping youth get ready for their first job. They do this through classroom experiences, on-the-job training, and apprenticeships. Their goal is to help companies grow by providing them with workers with in-demand skills.

“Employers are our customers. We focus on supply and demand,” said Beckhorn. “We’re fortunate to have a skilled trades training program that helps employers with a need for workers with specific skills. The results have been pretty impressive and lots of jobs have been created.”

The workforce agency is now able to work more closely with the Unemployment Insurance Agency. Their aim is to prepare individuals for their next career step. Through job training and housing assistance, they help people get off public assistance and into a rewarding career.

For more information on all of these programs, please visit the TED website.