Holland Sentinel, February 2018:
The Republican Bill Schuette toured and hosted a manufacturing round table at EBW Electronics.
HOLLAND — Attorney General Bill Schuette visited Holland on Monday to discuss expanding the state economy and bringing more jobs into Michigan.
Schuette, a Republican running for governor this year, toured and hosted a manufacturing round table at EBW Electronics.
“It’s all about my intention to be a jobs governor,” Schuette said. “This is a state where we need to make sure we have more jobs, more paychecks and more people.”
Schuette will face off against current Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Saginaw Township physician Dr. Jim Hines and state Sen. Patrick Colbeck of Canton for the gubernatorial Republican nomination in this year’s Aug. 7 primary.
On the Democratic side, former Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, former Detroit health department director Abdul El-Sayed, retired Ann Arbor businessman Shri Thanedar, Farmington Hills businessman Bill Cobbs and emergency medical services driver Kentiel White of Southgate have announced their candidacies for governor.
Schuette, a Midland native, was elected as Michigan attorney general in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
The gubernatorial candidate said Republican leaders have helped Michigan rebound after the Great Recession, but more can be done to push Michigan’s economy forward.
Michigan is still 300,000 jobs short of where it was before the recession and is not expected to regain those jobs until 2023, Schuette said.
“We can’t wait that long and I am not satisfied with today,” Schuette said. “I am thinking about tomorrow and I want us to compete and win against the states growing faster than we are.”
The issue of attracting talent workers to Michigan is a topic Schuette said was discussed during his round table discussion in Holland.
Schuette said he heard from a cross section of leaders in the business community in Holland. Cutting taxes, expanding apprenticeship programs and balancing incentives for business expansion are all important elements in attracting talent.
Schuette also referenced Ottawa’s County’s growing affordable housing shortage. He said bringing back certain federal and state programs to create more affordable housing in Michigan is something that needs to be considered.