Terrific Bridge article by Chris Andrews on the importance of being welcoming. Highly recommended! Its entitled “Are Michigan’s restrictions on gay and abortion rights holding state back?”
Andrews writes: “A number of experts on economic and community development say Michigan policies on gay rights and women’s access to abortion are creating barriers to growth and prosperity. While states like Minnesota and Illinois reach out to gay individuals and families, proponents of stronger protections for gays and women say the same-sex marriage ban and a new law that will require women to purchase an insurance rider to cover abortions send a different message.”
That certainly is our point of view. The asset that maters most to future prosperity of states and regions is human capital. The knowledge, creativity, and entrepreneurship of its citizens. In a word talent. As Governor Snyder wrote: “Today, talent has surpassed other resources as the driver of economic growth.”
The bottom line is straight forward: The places with the greatest concentration of talent from anyplace on the planet win! A core characteristic of prosperous places in a flattening world is they are welcoming to all. Talent is both diverse and mobile. If a place is not welcoming, it cannot retain and attract talent. People will not live and work in a community that isn’t welcoming.
As the Bridge article makes clear state policy matters. Welcoming is an area where Michigan has not been a leader. Governor Snyder’s leadership on immigration is an important step forward. His opposition to domestic partner benefits is not.
Minnesota provides a model. Its polices across the board are more welcoming than here. Gays can marry, there is no ban on affirmative action at their public universities and they have a Dream Act which allows undocumented students who graduated from state high schools to obtain in-state tuition.
As we have explored previously Minnesota is, by far, the Great Lakes leader in both employment and personal income. It has the economic outcomes all of us want for the region and state. It gets those results in large part from its talent concentration. Also the best in the Great Lakes. It is almost certain that their ability to retain and attract talent is helped by its welcoming policies.
