By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-912860.mp3
LANSING, MI –
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Governor Granholm says Michigan is the nation's top beneficiary of President Obama's energy policy. The president visits west Michigan Thursday to help launch a new advanced battery factory.
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Michigan already has 16 advanced battery factories. Governor Granholm says those operations are feasible because the Obama administration has provided research funding, as well as financial incentives to make future electric vehicles like the Chevy Volt and the Ford Focus more affordable.
She says Michigan capitalized on that with job retraining, so there was a ready-to-go, experienced manufacturing workforce. The governor says that also helped Michigan stem the loss of jobs, though unemployment remains high.
"We are in a world of hurt, and we would have been in a much bigger world of hurt without a commitment to American manufacturing," she says.
She says Michigan factories are getting battery business that would otherwise go to manufacturers in Asia. She says that shows U.S. companies can win back jobs that are going overseas.
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