The Grand Renaissance Corridor and The Water Winter Wonderland - Assignment Example

An Examination of The Grand Renaissance Corridor and The Water Winter Wonderland Introduction According to the project report, Michigan has been dependent on the auto industries. With the upcoming changes, there is a need to shift from current major focus areas. Global warming has been raised as the main issue in the proposal. This is the main key, based on which the shift is needed. The primary viewpoint presented in this project is that- If the focus is not shifted, there will be a decline in the economy. The shift should be towards developing other existing industries Focusing on communication and information technology. As per the project proposal, it will gain advantage of the government policies towards encouraging high technology businesses. Evaluation of the proposal The proposal is based on the fact that automobile is the main industry in Michigan and it is going to decline. The major cause for that is the issue of Global Warming. Of course, is a big challenge in front of us. There has been a joint declaration issued by the national science academies of Brazil Canada, China, England, France, Germany, India Italy, Japan, Russia, and United States in June 2005 which says that global warming has reached an alarming stage and –“ that delayed action will increase the risk of adverse environmental effects and will likely incur a greater cost.” [Source: “Joint Science Academies Statement: Global Response to Climate Change,” June 2005—royalsoc.ac.uk/document.asp] This seems to agree with the given proposal. However, if we look at the data of industries in Michigan, we may find some discrepancies. Michigan’s official economic development and travel site(www.michigan.org) says that Michigan is a leader in automobile manufacturing. It also has a large plastic industry. This is also linked with automotive industry. But apart from this, Michigan is also home to baby food, cereals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, machine tools and a huge office furniture system. It also mentions presence of Life Sciences sector. There is enough research facility available as well. Agriculture and food production is also well established industry there. While establishing the need for moving away from the auto industry and quickly look at other industries that can be developed, it cites The Life Sciences corridor, but it finds it this an overlapping industry with other neighboring states and sees no point overcrowding the same. This seems to be a valid point. The proposal points the need to look at the other areas that Michigan already has like - financial and life insurance, education, medicine located along the old grand river. This is supported by the data on the Michigan official site. Now communication and information industries are also coming up in these areas. This shows a healthy overall growth. A base of existing industries is enhanced by adding the new technologies. High technology is attracting everybody. The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a 21st century workforce office whose mission is to “ensure that all American workers have a fulfilling and financially rewarding career as they aspire to have and to make sure that no worker gets left behind in the limitless potential of the dynamic, global economy of this new millennium.”( www.dol.gov) Once there is a growth of telecom and information technology in this region, the existing industries will get a support. This provides an overall development of the area and an environment for growth of interdependent industries. Financial industries get immense benefit from development of communication and information technology. This attracts the new age work force also while supporting the existing one. The involvement of new age workforce brings in government assistance as they want to improve in that area as per the 21st century workforce policy. A scenario can be imagined when a fresh lot of new workforce enters the place with new technology based businesses. This gives a boom to the existing finance and other industries. There is development in the retail sector because of growth of working population, and same in infrastructure sector. A growth in housing, education, medical, entertainment etc is predictable. An interlinked growth in various industries and businesses can be seen. As per the statistics of U.S. business,2001, out of 192,712 industries, 26,361 are construction industries, 14,054 are manufacturing industries, 26,729 are retail trade, 20,262 professional, scientific & technical services, 10,601 waste management, 19,063 healthcare & social assistance, 14,455 accomodation & food services and other services are 22,809. There is presence of arts, entertainment, recreation, education, agriculture, mining, utilities and some others also but in a minor way. (statistics of U.S. business) The project will help these minor industries to grow. There could be a setback for auto industry specialized workforce, which is inevitable if there is decline in that industry. These people can be absorbed in the newer opportunities created. A growth in the entire corridor will attract many other players and a cross-industry development will be encouraged. With a growth synergy in this corridor it will become the focal point for all the big industries from various other regions of the country and from various different sectors. This again creates a chain reaction as the entry of big companies gives confidence to other smaller players. This looks viable because of funds and subsidy availability( 21st century funds by Michigan economic development corporation Medc.Michigan.org ) for development of employment generating businesses. As discussed earlier, development of interdependent industries create more job opportunities. With growth in the industry more manpower is required. To meet the increase in demand for various consumer related industries even more working hands are needed. Creation of more jobs attracts more funds and subsidies and a snowball effect follows. It has been seen in the Silicon Valley in California and the Research Triangle in North Carolina. Water Wonderworld The Water Wonderland Initiative covers a different scope. It is based on the new development between U.S. and Canada that has a renewed focus on the Great Lakes. This will help to attract the tourist traffic. Tourism promotion as an industry is what this project describes. Great Lakes has already been a tourist destination. This project is more about promoting various packages to attract more traffic. This project has a link with the Grand Corridor as a weekend destination. When the Grand corridor will come up as an industrial epicenter, there will be more population with more purchasing power, looking for a quick weekend vacation in a different environment. This lake is surrounded by many small towns. Refer map( www.merriam-webster.com/maps) In contrast to the industrial city, these will be welcome change. This seems obvious but the most important point in this is the strategies for promotion. Suggestions for promotion These could be some strategies for promoting tourism:- Preserve the character of small town Look for some heritage points to promote Provide special attractions like yachting or other water sports Linking the towns to each other for extended vacations Promote packages Organize special events Position Michigan as winter destination Information Distribution Public relation campaigns Advertising campaigns Marketing approaches for business Explore international marketing The Winter Wonderland project has covered some of these points that makes its implementation possible. It will be important for them to work in tandem with the travel agencies, tour operators, government, corporate sector and event management teams. The travel agencies will be more interested in promotion of this destination if special benefits are given to them. This may require tie-ups with airlines and waterways. The tour operators can also be attracted in the same way. The corporate sector can be encouraged to invest in guest houses or resorts in these locations. As they acquire property in these areas, they make good investment and also improve their human resources by providing them company guest houses. This will benefit the company, give enjoyment to the employees and bring more traffic to the area as desired. Special events provide another pull of traffic. Organizing concerts or sporting events attracts more traffic. Michigan’s population is already very keen on vacations. If this can be promoted, it should get results. Conclusion and challenges These two projects can give a boost to the economy of Michigan. It has two strong bases- existence of auto industry in big way along with other industries. If the auto industry gets into a decline phase, this can be the saver. If the industry continues to thrive, it adds to the growth by promoting other industries. This can be explained by the following diagram:- Growth of telecom and information technology  Growth of existing industry  Economy boom  More workforce  More traffic for tourist destinations The development of tourism through Winter Water project is based on the GR Corridor. But it can be seen as an independent project also. It gets the support from a natural inclination of the population towards tourism. It will need well planned and well executed strategies for promotion. Traffic flow for both - development of industries and for development of tourism, will largely depend upon the promotion. In absence of proper promotion, it may not attract enough industrial growth, neither the tourist traffic. Industrial growth will also need to attract the companies in the desired fields to start operations there. Involvement of big players through government assistance can be the biggest draw for any corridor plan. They bring investment, draw other investors and support small industries. Another issue to be considered is availability of the required resources, i. e. enough skilled population to run them. Although it has a growth factor because the need for skill will encourage education industry. All this needs to happen in a viable time-frame. Since the project complies with government policies, it may get the required support and can be realized. References www.adb.org Homepage retrieved 24th April, 2007 www.dol.gov Homepage retrieved 24th April, 2007 http://www.dol.gov/ medc.Michigan.org Homepage retrieved 24th April,2007http://www.medc.michigan.org/> www.merriam-webster.com Homepage retrieved 24th April, 2007 http://www.merriam-webster.com/ “Joint Science Academies Statement: Global Response to Climate Change,” June 2005—royalsoc.ac.uk/document.asp] Read More