Mark Sanchez: And first, of course, didn't at one point last week we all go, phew, glad that's over. And it was so nice to sit there on a Saturday and Sunday and watch a football game without being bombarded by these political ads anymore. So yeah, the election's done. It was a big, big election cycle for the Democrats. They won control of Congress. Jocelyn Benson, the Secretary of State, was elected governor here in Michigan. And the legislature. from January will be fully in control of the Democrats.
Democrats extended their control in the state senate, and they won control of the state house. So, when Governor-elect Benson takes office in January, she'll have a big cushion in the house, 63-47 and 23-15 in the state senate. That'll make it a little easier to advance proposals by the Democrats.
Now what exactly are those proposals to be? We'll see. But in a news conference the day after the election last week, a week ago, she really said she's going to push forward to push the interests of residents ahead of what she called profit-driven interests and try to lower those household costs. So, we could see that could signal kind of a more aggressive era for democratic policymaking with implications for business. Again, we'll have to see what those implications are.
Now, in the immediate aftermath of an election, there's always kind of a grace period. All the statements from the business groups last week, the advocates in Lansing, congratulations, let's work together, let's work together to address issues in this state, make it more competitive, improve this, improve this. That standard come right after the election, but that's the grace period. Come January, when the new governor takes office, the new legislature takes office, we'll see what happens.
But my guess is you're going to see some proposals come out in the first hundred days as is typical of a new governor, a new president. And we'll see how that goes. But she's got a leadership council around her to help in the transition from Governor Whitmer to soon to be Governor Benson. And the business community is, you're right, Patrick, is anxiously awaiting to see what type of policies the governor will likely implement.
Patrick Center: There's little doubt the governor wants to continue growth and to retain and attract more talent. There's also the issue with data centers out there. So, she has a full plate.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, she has a full plate. You're right, the issue is data centers and some of the things she identified last week is maybe cutting the state gas tax, streamlining spending and identifying new sources of revenue. She is going to open her office voluntarily to the Michigan Freedom of Information Act on day one. Those are just a few of the ideas she floated last week when she spoke to the media the day after the election.
And again, right now, the business groups, the chambers of commerce, the trade associations, they're saying, okay, let's work together. But what's the fix? The fighting starts basically when you start putting details out there and then the real debate begins.
Patrick Center: Here in Grand Rapids, Mary Free Bed is preparing to open its new $72 million hospital, and it is designed just for children.
Mark Sanchez: Just for kids, you're right. And this is a project that's been in the work for a number of years. Been ongoing construction there on Wealthy Street for a couple of years. And I had an opportunity to go through it the other day and one of the things that really strikes you from the moment you walk in is this is designed for kids.
And I always say, you know, nobody who goes through the doors of a hospital is having a good day. Even if you're visiting, you're there because somebody's ill, injured, recovering. And this is particularly so for kids. There's a lot of anxiety when a kid is injured or seriously ill. And Mary Free Bed’s just top of the class provider of rehabilitation and rehabilitative care to get people back.
This is a specialized pediatric center for children, adolescents, teenagers, and it's an interesting place. You go through and it's, the design has a sense of playfulness. There are a lot of colors and just to help ease that anxiety and that calm as those kids are going through there rehabilitation to try to recover from serious or traumatic injury or illness.
Patrick Center: It's also location. If you live in West Michigan, you're not traveling somewhere else to receive this type of care. I would imagine there's going to be an influx of patients coming to Grand Rapids.
Mark Sanchez: Well, that's part of the appeal that the folks at Mary Free Bed talk about is not only the referrals from Grand Rapids, from West Michigan, from all of Michigan, but also the Midwest. And their vision is really to be a destination center for the entire nation for this specialized care that Mary Free Bed provides for, again, young patients. And they've had some increase this year, about 10% increase in their patient volume for in patients, and they see that they can really build this referral network across the state, across the Midwest, and perhaps even nationally, because there's only nine of these rehab hospitals in the U.S. specifically designed to serve pediatric patients. So that's a big business opportunity for Mary Free Bed when this opens here on December 7th to build that patient referral network into kind of grow the business.
Patrick Center: And to have those support services also within reach.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, it's well beyond just that clinical care and that rehabilitation. There's the counselors, the social workers, the folks who work with the patients and support the families. They’re getting that partnership together, stronger with Ronald McDonald House. It's not just going for a couple of days and go home. It's you're talking about some extended hospital stays, and if a family member is with them, where do they stay?
So, it's all part of the planning and there are interesting little things. They put refrigerators in each room, not many hospitals have that. Well, if the family's staying there, they can bring food in. There's a laundry center. There's places to prepare food. There are playgrounds on the grounds there. There's an outdoor playground. There's an indoor playground for kids when they have their downtime to go play because they're kids. And there's also rooms there, just quiet areas where if that kid wants to grab a book and get into kind of this comfortable little lounge type setting and read, and somebody can read to them, or they can read on their own. So, there's a lot of these amenities built into this pediatric center for Mary Free Bed that kind of is intended to create that calming, healing environment.
Patrick Center: We're talking with Crain's Grand Rapids Business staff writer, Mark Sanchez. Fifth Third Bank is expanding its neighborhood investment programs in the Grand Rapids area.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, this is an initiative that Fifth Third rolled out a few years ago over in the Northwest Detroit neighborhood, has had some success and basically now it's extending this into Grand Rapids. Basically, to start Fifth Third a few weeks back announced that they are committing to invest $7.6 billion in Michigan over five years. And this will include extending this neighborhood program to strengthen underserved neighborhoods, moderate and low-income neighborhoods.
So, the bank's working to form some partnerships with local neighborhood associations and organizations in the Grand Rapids area and identify some community and economic development projects for the neighborhood program. They hope to have some of these partnerships in place within the next couple of months, two, three months, and then they'll start identifying, where can these investments go? So, it's part of what banks do.
Banks invest in their community and in addition to finding a place to put your money, a place to invest, a place to get a loan for house, car, your business. This is part of what banks do as well. And Fifth Third has made a big commitment to Michigan. It's obviously one of the bigger banks in the state operating here. This is going to kind of unfold and develop over the next year or so into 2027 to see exactly what type of projects, what neighborhoods they pick and what type of projects Fifth Third chooses to support in those neighborhoods.
Patrick Center: Crain's Grand Rapids Business staff writer, Mark Sanchez. Thank you so much.
Mark Sanchez: Thank you, Patrick.