That said, as a relocated michigander, I often find that people have a skewed view of my home state. Even people that have spent time in college there often never see it for all it has to offer. I grew up spending summers in Charlevoix and Petoskey, canoeing and fishing. We took family trips to Mackinac Island and Sleeping Bear sand dunes. It's a great state to raise a family in but this is not always what a 23 year old is thinking about. They are thinking about working for "Apple" or "Google" or making their name with whatever the latest "it" company is. I disagree with winston and think that for a 23 year old $10k is a substantial motivator but it's still not a bright enough lure to attract there gaze. A young talented graduate wants to be where the action is. I will say that Detroit seems to be on the right track
Also, how do you directly market jobs to people that have a previous relationship with the state, former Michigan/Michigan State grads, people that grew up in the state and studied elsewhere? How do you directly communicate to these people and woo them back? I agree with cliffelam that Michigan needs to be attracting "new" talent in order to win but any business will tell you that it's FAR more expensive getting new business than it is to retain business. 80/20 rule? 80% retention of former current and former michiganders and 20% people new to the state.... ? Good luck jstasik, it's a noble goal. Let me know if I can help. And... GO BLUE!