Dear Friend, 

Today, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist and I issued a proclamation making this October Careers in Construction Month in Michigan.

More Michiganders are working in construction today than at any point in the last 22 years. They are rolling up their sleeves to fix our roads, bridges, and water infrastructure, and building homes and businesses across our state.

This year, in our work to fix the damn roads, we’re on track to have fixed nearly 23,000 lane miles of roads and over 1,600 bridges since I took office, enough to pave a road from the Indiana border to the Mackinac bridge 72 times. 

This Careers in Construction Month, we are celebrating the Michigan workers who make our progress possible and highlight the opportunities available to narrow the skills gap in Michigan so more people can get on a path to a career in the skilled trades.

We will not go back to crumbling roads and bridges, failing water systems, and lack of affordable housing that makes life harder for Michiganders. 

Together, we are rebuilding our infrastructure, revitalizing communities, and building a brighter future for Michigan.

Sincerely,

Gretchen Whitmer

Governor

Creating Jobs and Investing in Our Workforce

There are projects underway everywhere in Michigan to rebuild our infrastructure, build new housing, revitalize communities, and help more people ‘make it’ in Michigan.

Michigan’s skilled trades workforce ranks in the top ten nationally. In the last 4 years, we have created over 22,000 new apprenticeships in Michigan.

We are continuing our momentum of growth by investing in Michigan’s workforce, securing good-paying jobs, and investing in our communities. One of the ways we are growing Michigan’s skilled workforce is by lowering the cost of higher education so that more young people can get on a path to earning a degree or certification in a technical or vocational program.

• Michigan Reconnect is a tuition-free community college or skills training scholarship program that is now offered to Michiganders ages 21 and over.

• The Michigan Achievement Scholarship is helping to lower the cost of higher education for hundreds of thousands of Michiganders and get them on paths to higher education or skills training that leads to a good-paying job. That includes up to $4,000 to earn an industry-recognized certificate in a career-training program for a faster track to a high-paying career.

• With the Community College Guarantee, we are delivering two years of in-district community college tuition-free for Michigan high school graduates, helping nearly 20,000 young people save up to $4,800.

• Our Talent Action Team Programs are providing exposure, training, and job placement for Michiganders in high-demand industries. Since their launch in 2023, our Talent Action Teams have placed 2,400 workers in good-paying jobs and collaborated with 12 community colleges and universities to teach students the skills they need to succeed in internships and jobs researching and building the future.

• Initiatives like GoingPro and our partnership with the Battery Workforce Initiative will help us continue to develop the future of advanced manufacturing right here in Michigan.
  • The Going PRO Talent Fund makes awards to employers to assist in training, developing, and retaining current and newly hired employees to help close the skills gap. The application period for the Fiscal Year 2025 Going PRO Talent Fund Cycle 1 is now open and will close on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Getting Our Hands Dirty – Getting it Done

Fixing the Damn Roads

This year, we’re on track to have fixed nearly 23,000 lane miles of roads and over 1,600 bridges since I took office.

We are focused on rebuilding our roads and bridges with the right mix and materials, so they stay fixed, supporting 118,000 good-paying construction jobs along the way.

• We will issue the final, $700 million bond of the Rebuilding Michigan Plan to keep building up our most economically vital highways and bridges without raising taxes by a dime.
• Key upcoming Rebuilding Michigan projects include work on I-94 near Detroit Metro Airport, I-696 from Southfield through Warren, and a critical bridge project in Erie Township.
• The new budget invests another $4.2 billion into our roads and bridges, including $1.7 billion from the Biden-Harris administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Housing – Build Baby Build!

Across the state, pipefitters, carpenters, bricklayers, and roofers are rolling up their sleeves to ’build, baby, build’ a heck of a lot more housing and ensure every Michigander has a safe, affordable place to call home.  

• Since I took office, we’ve built or rehabbed over 50,000 units, and we are not taking our foot off the accelerator. Brick by brick, we are laying the groundwork to build up our communities, ensuring they thrive for generations to come.
• This year, MSDHA is making the largest investment to build, rehab, or permit housing in Michigan history—a $1.4 billion investment for 10,000 homes, without raising taxes by a dime.
• The new balanced, bipartisan state budget I signed will invest another $100 million to build or rehab affordable housing.
• Building more of every kind of housing—single-family homes, apartments, and mixed-use buildings—will expand supply and lower cost while creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs along the way.

Keeping our Water Clean

We’re making critical investments to make much-needed repairs on aging systems by replacing lead service lines, upgrading wastewater plants, and making improvements to sewer systems, supporting good-paying construction jobs.

• Since I took office, we have invested over $4 billion to upgrade drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater facilities, supporting over 57,000 jobs, helping communities remove lead service lines, reduce toxic contaminants like PFAS, rehabilitate water plants, rebuild sewers, and so much more.
• In April, we announced a $290 million expansion of the MI Clean Water Plan, investing voter-approved bonds to help communities across Michigan build up their water infrastructure.
• We’re providing $50 million in loans and grants to local communities to support projects associated with lead service line replacement.

We will continue to fix the damn roads and bridges, invest in communities, and create good-paying jobs across Michigan.