President Obama Visits Warren, Michigan

President Obama visited Warren, Michigan on July 14 for a town hall meeting about education, job creation and retraining workers for the jobs of the future. The visit marked President Obama's first visit to the Great Lakes state since he was the Democratic nominee for the presidentcy.

Obviously the visit from the president means more to the region now than it did when he was running for office. The government already owns a majority stake in Chrysler and is said to own roughly 60 percent of GM as the rise out of bankruptcy.

Creating Southeast Michigan's Agenda for Advancement

The Detroit Regional Chamber put together a three question survey last week to poll members on what they thought President Obama should do to help reinvigorate the Detroit area and help make the region a great place for businesses. Through the use of email, Facebook and LinkedIn, the Chamber was successful in gaining hundreds of responses to the Southeast Michigan's Agenda for Advancement survey. The survey questions were as follows:

1. If you had dinner with President Obama, what would you tell him needs to be done to help southeast Michigan?
2. What do you think should be the Obama administration's first priority to help rebuild and reinvigorate the economy of southeast Michigan?
3. How can the Obama administration help to decrease the current 14 percent unemployment rate in Michigan?

The results of the survey were presented to President Obama and his administration during his visit to Warren on July 14. Below are the materials included in President Obama's package:

• Letter to President Obama
• Summary of the survey results
• All open-ended responses in their entirety

Common themes/needs to come out of the survey:

• Reducing taxes
• Attracting more businesses to the area
• Create more incentives for companies to come to Michigan
• Creating green jobs
• Reducing health care costs