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Whitmer discusses commitment to auto industry at GR symposium

Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Carlos Osorio
/
Associated Press
Governor Gretchen Whitmer

The governor addressed the demand for talent development

Speaking Thursday at Grand Valley State University’s 24th Michigan Automotive Suppliers Symposium, Governor Gretchen Whitmer shared that since taking office Michigan’s automotive industry has secured 35,000 supply chain jobs.

There’s a demand for talent and its development. A top priority for auto industry employers.

The governor says her recently introduced budget addresses the need by lowering the age requirement of the Michigan Reconnect Scholarship. It’s currently available to residents 25-years of age and older offering tuition-free education at an in-district community college.

“I’m proposing lowering that age to 21. So that we can embrace and encompass this opportunity for an additional 350,000 young Michiganders who want skills but a financial barrier is keeping them from pursuing it.”

Governor Whitmer says the budget also pursues continued funding in the bipartisan Michigan Achievement Scholarship. It currently provides financial aid for 2023 Michigan high school graduates attending Michigan-based institutions of higher learning or training programs.

Patrick joined WGVU Public Media in December, 2008 after eight years of investigative reporting at Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV8 and three years at WYTV News Channel 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. As News and Public Affairs Director, Patrick manages our daily radio news operation and public interest television programming. An award-winning reporter, Patrick has won multiple Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter/Anchor awards and is a three-time Academy of Television Arts & Sciences EMMY Award winner with 14 nominations.
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