TRAVERSE CITY -- For decades, northern Michigan's economy largely has been driven by tourism, manufacturing and agriculture.
A new initiative aimed at growing the regional economy and job base by expanding the area's brain power covers dozens of area counties. The project is dubbed "Transition to the Knowledge Economy," and is designed to bolster long-range economic prospects by spawning new start-up businesses and attracting more high-tech jobs in northwest Michigan.
"Right now we're looking at a rude awakening, if you will, that our economy is in transition," said Matt McCauley, associate director of the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. "I think all industries are starting to look at what's needed in their business plans for us to compete in the 21st century."
The term "knowledge economy" refers to the use of knowledge to generate economic benefits. It became more mainstream in the late 1990s as a way of describing how various high-tech businesses, such as telecommunications or computer software companies, along with research and education institutions, can contribute to a region's economy. It puts more emphasis on intellectual capabilities over natural or physical resources.
Organizers said one of the goals is to create an index to measure the region's transitional progress. It would include tracking data like new start-up companies, patent applications and the number of research and development facilities in the area, McCauley said.
It also will include developing recommendations for local governments to help grow economic opportunities by doing such things as expanding wireless Internet networks and creating more housing options to attract workers.
McCauley said he hopes the effort can help boost the region's job opportunities in new areas like alternative energy. But it can create more choices in traditional sectors like farming and manufacturing by increasing the region's value-added agriculture business and diversifying its manufacturing base.
"We want to position our region for the global economy," he said.
The project is being coordinated through Michigan State University's Center for Community and Economic Development. MSU is working on a similar effort with the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments involving counties in the central and eastern parts of the northern Lower Peninsula, and with three counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula.
"We're very pumped for this project," said J.D. Snyder, who will head the 18-month effort for the MSU Center. He said the project will identify the "gaps and needs" in the rural communities of northern Michigan to expand economic opportunities related to the knowledge economy.
"The focus on innovation is one of the major parts of the knowledge economy," Snyder said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce approved a $150,000 federal grant for the project, and matching funds from MSU will bring the total cost to more than $500,000.
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