Michigan Ranked Third in Nation for High-Tech Job Growth

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LANSING — A new study released today by Engine Advocacy – the voice of tech startups in government – shows that Michigan ranked third in the nation for high-tech job growth from 2010-2011. The report also shows Lansing ranking as the sixth top metropolitan area in the U.S. for high-tech job growth over the same period, and Warren/Troy/Farmington ranked thirteenth.

“This news really captures what is special about Michigan—we discover things, we make things, and we make things work,” said Michael A. Finney, Michigan Economic Development Corporation president and CEO. “Very few places in the world can match our technology leadership, R&D capabilities, and world-class workforce. These strengths make us a great location for high-tech innovators to grow their businesses and create jobs.”

Engine Advocacy commissioned the Bay Area Council Economic Institute to analyze Bureau of Labor Statistics data to identify communities around the country that are experiencing pronounced job growth in tech.

“This is great news for the Lansing area and for the state of Michigan,” said Travis Stoliker, marketing director of Liquid Web, a Lansing-based web hosting company. “Now our challenge is to build on this positive momentum and continue to encourage and support technology startups, entrepreneurs, education and training.”

“We are proud to be part of the ‘bright spot’ of Michigan’s rebounding economy,” said Joe Ford, co-founder of Netvantage Marketing, a Lansing search engine marketing firm with an office in Grand Rapids. “The technology sector will continue to boost Michigan’s economy and make the Great Lakes State a hotspot for innovation on the global stage. We should continue to invest in talent to spur new tech startups in Michigan.”

National key findings from the Engine Advocacy study include:

â—     Jobs in high tech industries exist almost everywhere, with 98 percent of U.S. counties home to at least one high tech business

â—     Hubs of high tech employment can be found in unexpected places, including communities in the Midwest, South, West, Northeast and along both coasts

â—     Employment growth in the high-tech sector has outpaced growth in the private sector by a ratio of three-to-one since the dot-com bust’s bottom in early 2004

â—     High tech job growth is projected to outpace the job growth of the economy as a whole over this decade, expanding by 16.2 percent between 2011 and 2020; and

â—     Higher wages and job growth have significant effects: the creation of one job in the high tech sector is estimated to best associated with the creation of 4.3 other jobs in local economies.

“The dynamism of the US high tech companies matters not just to scientists, software engineers and stockholders, but to the community at large,” said Enrico Moretti, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and author of The New Geography of Jobs. “While the average worker may never be employed by Google or a high tech startup, our jobs are increasingly supported by the wealth created by innovators.”

“This research confirms the story that I see unfolding every day in cities across the country.” says Michael McGeary, senior strategist for Engine Advocacy. “The trajectory for job growth and the higher incomes of tech workers, combined with the job multiplier effect, make the high-tech sector a key driver of economic growth in cities across America.”