LANSING – In an effort to diversify Michigan's economy and create jobs in the emerging field of biosciences, House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township) and State Representative Ed Clemente (D-Lincoln Park) today announced the formation of the New Economy and Quality of Life Biosciences Subcommittee. The subcommittee will promote the bioscience industry, which has the potential to drive future economic development in Michigan.
"The biosciences industry will attract high-paying jobs," said Clemente, who chairs the New Economy and Quality of Life Committee and the new subcommittee. "With our current economic struggles, this industry is a bright spot and has the potential to be a major economic force in Michigan. By making our state a magnet for bioscience companies, we will create good-paying jobs, which is the only thing that is truly going to create long-term economic stability."
The subcommittee will work on reversing a recent trend of Michigan falling behind in the competition to attract bioscience business to the state. While private-industry bioscience employment grew by 5.2 percent in the U.S. from 2002-2007, employment in the industry is down by 10.5 percent in Michigan over that same time period.
"We need to do everything we can to expand this industry and continue to diversify Michigan's economy," said Speaker Pro Tempore Pam Byrnes (D-Lyndon Township), also a member of the subcommittee. "Bioscience not only has great growth potential, it will draw significant investment to the state and pays its workers extremely well. This is just the type of economic development we need to help get our economy moving in the right direction."
Private bioscience industry payrolls already totaled nearly $2.5 billion in 2007 in Michigan, while university life
science research investments were $897 million for the 2007 fiscal year. The 2007 average annual wage in Michigan for
all private bioscience of $73,930 was more than 70 percent above the average for all private-sector jobs. According to a
February 2009 report from the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy, an
estimated 6,213 direct jobs were created in Michigan by life science research and development expenditures.
"Unlike other states trying to grow life sciences, Michigan is in a prime position to become a major player in
this industry," said State Representative Rebekah Warren
(D-Ann Arbor), who was appointed to the subcommittee by Dillon. "Because of our state's top-notch research
universities, Michigan has the assets to expand the bioscience industry and attract high-paying jobs that will put us on
the road to economic recovery."
State Representatives John Proos (R-St. Joseph), Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) and Marty Knollenberg
(R-Troy) were also named to the subcommittee.
"We have all the resources to be a leader in this emerging biosciences industry, we just need a focused game
plan," Segal said. "This panel will work to bring these good-paying, high-tech jobs to Michigan."