Governor Snyder's Education Summit (Connect: Business Leaders & Educators)

April 22, 2013 10:44 AM

Biz leaders react to Snyder's call for action at Education Summit

By Chris Gautz

Snyder

Gov. Rick Snyder opened his education summit Monday morning by continuing to stress the importance of better connecting the education and business communities.

Speaking at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, Snyder said the world has changed a lot in the past few decades, when there were just a few job categories most students thought about.

"The world is much more demanding, in terms of specifying what you need to have to get a position," Snyder said. "And that's only becoming more challenging."

Snyder said the education system of today doesn't work anymore, and, nationally, something needs to be done about it.

He said his goal of Monday's 2013 Governor's Education Summit was not to make any major proposals, but to be a facilitator for discussions between the business people in the room and educators.

"If we get this right, think what that means for this great state," said Bill Parfet, CEO and chairman at MPI Research Inc.

Paul Hillegonds

More than 600 educators and business leaders from across the state discussed educator effectiveness, early childhood investment and workforce partnerships, as well as other topics, at the summit.

But Snyder said he didn't just want people to talk, saying - as he has said in the past - that he doesn't like "nice meetings."

"I like meetings where there is action coming out of them," Snyder said.

This summit is a follow-up to his economic summit last month in Detroit.

Summit attendee Paul Hillegonds, senior vice president of corporate affairs at DTE Energy, said there will be intense competition for in-demand jobs at DTE, where a third of the workforce will be eligible for retirement in the next decade; other companies around the state are in a similar position, he said.

Michigan Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Michael Finney said his organization has been focused on this competition and that it should be viewed as an opportunity.

Doug Rothwell, president & CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan, said Michigan may not be able to fill these jobs in the future with just Michigan residents. He said more work needs to be done to attract out-of-state students to attend school here and then stay.

Snyder said he hopes the discussion will carry on after Monday and that everyone understands that no one party has all the answers; it will take the business community, educators and government all coming together.

"This is only the beginning of a dialogue that needs to go on for the next few years," Snyder said.