rocketfiber
Latest
Michigan's manufacturing past is fueling its tech future
Michigan's struggles have played out on the world's stage. Just after the turn of the century began what's referred to as the state's lost decade; the economy faltered, oil prices skyrocketed and the housing market crashed. Nearly a million jobs left the state between 2000 and 2013, many of them in manufacturing and the automotive industry. For a state of just under 10 million people, the impact was devastating: Unemployment was higher than the national average by more than four percent. Bailouts for Chrysler and General Motors were followed by Detroit's record-setting municipal bankruptcy, but through grit and determination, Michigan started clawing its way back from the brink. Now multimillion-dollar investments in the city from tech titans like Amazon, Facebook and LG make headlines with startling frequency, and a host of tech startups have begun to fill the gaps left by plant closures.
