www.mybaycity.com
June 29, 2008
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The Green Revolution in Michigan Starting Right Here in Bay City
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Bay City Mayor Charles Brunner, second from right, speaks at groundbreaking for new state office building.
State and local officials and developers wield chrome shovels at site of new office building.
On a hot, sunny Friday afternoon, in the shadow of the General Motors PowerTrain plant in Bay City, ground was broken for a new "green" state office building.
This could have been an ordinary event, but the speakers sketched visions of the "Green Revolution" that may be Michigan's hope for the future.
The unique dichotomy could not have been more ironic: with the looming auto plant, decimated by layoffs and global competition, a new building, said to be the "greenest of the green," will rise over the next six months, driven by over 30,000 man hours of labor through the contractor, Pumford Construction Co.
The main hope for replacement of lost manufacturing jobs, symbolized by the Bay City GM plant, is seen in "green energy."
The Tri-County area, according to dreams of planners and Gov. Jennifer Granholm, will be the future center of solar energy equipment spinning off the Dow Corning Hemlock Semiconductor plant.
Imaginations of economic developers have built a golden tower of job growth, projecting alternative renewable fuels and new technologies. As the auto jobs continue to shrink, they would be replaced by a whole new field of industry revolving around alternative energy.
Brandon Hofmeister, deputy legal counsel to the governor, noted: "Green energy will be the biggest driver of the 21st century economy."
The 25,000 square foot DEQ-DLEG Building, for which ground was broken Friday, will hopefully achieve "platinum" status, the highest green energy rating level, said Jim Sygo, deputy director of the Michigan DEQ. Another building in Warren by the same developer, ProVision, achieved a lower "silver" status.
The building, slated to open in December, will have solar, wind and other advanced energy heating and cooling systems, creating huge savings for state government.
"Mr. Mayor," said Andrew Levin, deputy director of DLEG, addressing Bay City Mayor Charles Brunner,"good things are happening here."
Despite an 8.5 percent unemployment rate, the Bay-Saginaw-Midland region has been the fastest growing region in the state for the past two quarters. Under the "No Worker Left Behind" program, about 1,000 workers have moved into training, said Mr. Levin.
State planners think other jobs will be created on the same 11 acre site, perhaps in private enterprises that will locate there.
"This building represents the future economy of the state that involves more recycling, renewable energy and other "green" technologies," said Mr. Levin.
Another element of beauty of the project is that it puts unused city land back on the tax rolls, explained City Planner Jim Bedell and Terry Moultane of the city development staff. The 11 acres was sold to ProVisions L.L.C. that will build the structure and lease it to the state.
"This is not only a public-private partnership, it is an economic development driver," said the developer, Murray D. Wikol of ProVisions.###
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