It’s getting hard to know what to say to mid-Michigan businesses these days. While some are closing their doors or facing massive layoffs, others maintain they’re surviving. A few tout that they are thriving, even given current economic conditions.

Businesses grow. Businesses shrink. It’s part of the economic life cycle.

Regardless of where in the life cycle your business is, you know what a challenge it can be to find people whose skills match your needs.

Even as they’re laying off, there are core positions businesses must maintain. And companies in a growth mode find themselves flooded with unqualified candidates.

Capital Area Michigan Works! wants to be a part of the solution for businesses and we believe education is the key.

Imagine if you could pick the best candidate from a pool of prescreened, qualified folks, and then send that person to school for up to two years to get the skills your business requires. When he or she finishes, you hire him or her on fulltime. In the meantime, you get that person to volunteer or intern with you. All the while, we foot the bill.

Honestly. I know, when things are “free” we tend to see them as having no value, or being too good to be true, but believe it. Though we work our hardest to look and feel like a business and to buck the traditional stigma of “government,” Capital Area Michigan Works! is a special purpose unit of government.

At our core, we want to see our region’s businesses thrive and local residents find meaningful employment that will sustain their families, and we dedicate our resources to doing so.
We think working together with you, the business community, is a win-win-win.

You get the resources and support you need to create qualified individuals to fill your jobs. Local residents get the education they need to land the jobs you have. We get to help fulfill our mission to enhance the productivity of people and business by providing a world-class workforce.

Interested?

• Think of what positions in your organization are most important to help your business survive or grow right now.
• Start gathering job descriptions. What specific skills or education do those positions require? Can you readily find the right candidates in the labor market?
• If so, we can help ease the workload and streamline your process using tools like the Michigan Talent Bank, www.michworks.org, our Employer of the Day program and even Twitter (yes, my millennial staff are using Twitter).
• If not, though, we can look at scholarships. Are there education programs out there that could give people the skills you need? We can find a pool of candidates and let you pick which ones to send to school.
• Then you figure out the best way to build loyalty for your organization with the candidates you have in school. It might be volunteering for you, doing an internship in the field in which they’re studying or part-time employment in another department so they can sustain themselves.

This scholarship model is already being employed in the healthcare and IT industries in the region. Businesses such as Dewpoint and the region’s hospitals are using scholarships as a way to fill challenging vacancies.

But the model isn’t just for large-scale hiring at big companies.

These scholarships are a chance for small businesses to offer education they might not otherwise have been able to afford, companies like a law firm that needs an accountant or a veterinary office looking for a tech. Any position that is tough to fill might be a match. We recognize the role small business is playing in sustaining our local economy and the role it will play in the region’s economic recovery.

Want to explore if scholarships, or other Michigan Works! assistance, are right for you? Contact Kate Tykocki, chief communications officer, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 517-492-5509 and she’ll get you to the right place so we can help.

		Doug Stites, CEO Doug Stites is the chief executive officer of Capital Area Michigan Works!, a network of resources that partners with businesses to develop recruiting and retention strategies and partners with job seekers to enhance education and career opportunities.