Michigan passes $335M battery stimulus bill
The U.S. is not exactly a leader in battery production at the moment. Most of the copper tops that power our hybrid cars come from other countries, mostly in Asia. That may soon change. Hot on the heels of General Motors' announcement this week that battery packs for the 2011 Chevy Volt would be built in Michigan with LG Chem, Jennifer Granholm, the state's governor, signed a bill into a law that provides $335 million in refundable tax credits to companies willing to develop and build batteries in the state. As the U.S. auto market shrinks, no state is hurt worse than Michigan, and Governor Granholm has been doing whatever it takes to keep her state relevant as consumer tastes, the market and the entire industry evolves. She's betting batteries will play a big part in the years to come, and she's probably right. It will be some time, however, before we know if the $335 million bill will be a large enough carrot to attract new business to the region. But at this point, Detroit and Michigan just need a little luster.
[Source: WWJ.com, Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty ]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rob 10:41AM (1/16/2009)
How is America supposed to compete with battery production when China has no human rights or environmental regulations? I don't see how spending money will help, we need import tariffs on products created in developing countries, that is the only thing that will equalize price.
Reply
homunculus 11:00AM (1/16/2009)
how is america supposed to compete when they can't find a domestic manufacturer for batteries? last i checked LG chem is a korean company.
rallyusa 10:42AM (1/16/2009)
Wow, smart move, I hope it works.
Reply
allofmichigan 10:43AM (1/16/2009)
grandholm screwed up michigan worse then anyone could have imagined, she has no idea how to run anything. i know she will find a way to mess this up also. plus shes from canada
Reply
dkw 11:21AM (1/16/2009)
Gov. Granholm has arguably had the toughest job of any governor in America.
I applaud her efforts to bring business into the state. Remember she is fighting an uphill battle against the current economic conditions not only in the United States, but world-wide. All of that is also combined with Michigan's large dependence upon the automotive industry, an industry hit very hard from the current recession.
It is impossible to diversify the economy of Michigan in under 10 years, moving away from the industry that has been the foundation of the state's economy for almost 100 years, but she had two choices, 1) stick with the automotive sector, or 2) attempt to diversify. She has always looked to diversify.
I will also give credit to her and the Senators and Representatives from Michigan in their fight to push Congress for the bridge loan for automakers. They were all working against some harsh opposition.
To give a tax credit for battery design/development and manufacturing is a forward-looking step, and for that she should deserve credit.
While some may not like her, it's OK to give credit where credit is due.
caddy-v 11:41AM (1/16/2009)
We will glagly trade Grandholm for Blagoyovich.
kentaschaaphok 12:18PM (1/16/2009)
Truth. She is an awful, awful governor-- I don't know whether i am happy or sad that she is going to go work for Obama, at least she wont be here. She does have a brilliant mind, and her ideas are theoretically sound, however, people do not follow theory. Michigan was doing relatively well until she became our Governor, and now Michigan.... isn't.
kentaschaaphok 12:24PM (1/16/2009)
okay dkw, she has tried hard to get new businesses to come here, however these are her people talking. In reality she raised taxes on businesses already here, and any business that looks at Michigan she promises a tax cut, but that tax cut is not enough to make Michigan appealing. It has actually relied heavy on manufacturing, of all forms, not just or primarily on the auto industry
MikeW 12:35PM (1/16/2009)
You can have Blago and we will throw in a Daley for free!
MikeW 12:38PM (1/16/2009)
You can have Blago and we will throw in a Daley for free.
happy_penguin 12:40PM (1/16/2009)
Granholm isn't my favo(u)rite either but please spare me the melodrama. She isn't that bad. Does anybody remember her predecessor Governor Chiseler, The Road Repair Governor? He was in there for what, twelve years? Running on that same platform of road repair which NEVER HAPPENED! Or his big $12 million budget surplus which disappeared as soon as Granholm took office. And I don't blame her, I don't believe it ever existed.
This is a bad time for any state and in particular for Michigan. Granholm may not be the fairy godmother but cut her a bit of slack. Some things are beyond her control.
notYou 12:42PM (1/16/2009)
jkw: "To give a tax credit for battery design/development and manufacturing is a forward-looking step, and for that she should deserve credit."
And that my friends, is the sorry state of America:
"...give a tax credit..."
is the socialistic nonsense version of:
"...let people keep their own money..."*
[*people or organizations]
The fact that we've strayed so far from reality that people now banter around the reverse-speak version in casual conversation as fact is the largest factor in our current fiscal issues.
It's not the government's money by default (regardless of what Biden and company think) - it's yours. Any play that contains "...tax credit..." is just more government largesse babble that really means "...we're going to scr3w you less..."
Jeremy 12:52PM (1/16/2009)
You can't blame Michigan's troubles squarely on Granholm, and if you do, you have to also blame the state legislature that was controlled by the GOP for the last 8 years. While she hasn't been the best Governor, she has at least tried to get new companies to come into the places where others have left.
The small town I grew up in (about 8k people) was home to an Electrolux plant that closed in 2006. That plant employed well over 1k people and basically devastated the economy when it closed and relocated it's operations to Mexico. Granholm was able to convince United Solar to come in and build a new plant which put some of these people back to work. It's new technology like this that is going to keep the manufacturing sector alive.
As far as building batteries goes, I hope this works out and they are able to do with minimal effects on the environment.
AZZO45b 12:58PM (1/16/2009)
John Engler the "Road Repair Gov"... I just called him "Fat Boy"!!! :)
Yep Fat Boy just privatized many state offices & then got a cushy job with EDS after he left office (after promising only to run twice).
Jenny isn't the best, but Fat Boy wasn't exactly keeping MI on the straight & narrow At least he had a full-charge Big 3, the current Gov does not.
dkw 1:48PM (1/16/2009)
@notYou:
I don't necessairly agree with using tax incenties to get businesses to come into a specific region, but that is the way of the world now adays. A business dangles jobs in front of a governor, and says, essentially, if I build a facility here, what will you give me?
Every person or business living or operating in a city, state, or country pays taxes. Lower taxes do let you keep more of what you made, but taxes are a part of business, just as income tax is a part of our daily lives.
Don't want roads to drive on? Food safety standards and monitoring? Police and fire service? The protection of a military unit to guard the safety of the yourself, your family, your neighbors, your country? Fine, then don't pay taxes. Let's see how well that works out for you.
This was a good decision by "Jenny from the Block." Blaming Michigan's current economic condition on Granholm is ridiculous. As the leader of the state she is ultimately held responsible, but she has no power to overcome 100 years of Michigan's economy being heavily rooted in the automotive industry, or the world-wide economic situation. As a citizen of metro Detroit, I'm actually surprised that it's not worse.
TigerMil 10:43AM (1/16/2009)
Won't work unless MI/feds relax environmental standards. Incredibly polluting battery production is (sorry Yoda). Assembly of batteries sourced in China, maybe.
Reply
Commuter 10:46AM (1/16/2009)
Yeah, just wait until COVE (Citizens Opposed to Virtually Everything) and the NIMBYs hear what goes into making a battery.
Reply
Yaroukh 10:46AM (1/16/2009)
huge ears
Reply
kentaschaaphok 12:28PM (1/16/2009)
she was in beauty pageants when she was young, she didn't make it as an actor and that is when she went to school got a law degree and practiced as an attorney.
rallyusa 10:46AM (1/16/2009)
As long as developing countries aren't held to the same standards that manufacturers in the USA must adhere to, there won't be any chance of competition because there won't be any chance of profit. Instead of imposing tarrifs, make it illegal to import goods unless they are manufactured under the same guidelines that American products must be manufacturerd under. I'm sure that would eliminate over 90% of what we import at least. Is it just me, or does it seem like we're just digging our own hole deeper and deeper?
Reply