Gov. Whitmer Outlines Strategy to Tackle Michigan’s Population Growth, Announces First-Ever Chief Growth Officer

• ‘Growing Michigan Together’ is about investing in our people, places, talent, and education.
• Hilary Doe will lead charges as new Chief Growth Officer; Shirley Stancato and former U.S. Ambassador John Rakolta Jr. will serve as Growing Michigan Together Council Co-chairs.
• The Governor is focused on continuing efforts to make Michigan attractive to future talent that transcends partisan divides.

During her keynote, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recapped the progress on her administration’s priorities—which include quintupling the working families tax credit and expanding Going PRO, the Tri-Share Child Care programs, and the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

She also announced the appointment of Hilary Doe as Michigan’s Chief Growth Officer, the first in the state and the nation. Doe will work alongside the Growing Michigan Together Council to grow Michigan’s population, boost economic growth, and make Michigan better for all.

“Growing Michigan Together is about investing in our people, places, talent, and education,” Whitmer said. “With her extensive experience in policy, strategy, and technology, her future-oriented work to empower communities and tackle the biggest challenges, and her commitment to our state, Hilary Doe is an ideal candidate to lead our Growing Michigan Together efforts and get the job done. I am incredibly excited to work with her to achieve our population growth goals and build a Michigan with vibrant communities, a growing economy, and a bright future.”

The council will bring together stakeholders and leaders from state government, the private sector, nonprofits, education, and others to collaborate on a long-term vision and concrete goals to address current and future challenges and set Michigan up for success.

While the governor’s vision of the council has vastly changed since the idea’s conception, what hasn’t changed was intentional efforts to make sure it succeeds and transcends elections and power transfers.

“We often get caught up in partisanship,” she said to the Chamber’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Sandy K. Baruah, on stage following her keynote. “That’s why it was important to have robust representation. I have some assumptions, but I want data; I want expertise informing the work.”

The conversation topics varied from other bipartisan efforts to come and strengthen economic development in the state.

“In order to have good jobs, you gotta have good businesses…to think that a business can be profitable, or employees can live a good life — that’s a false choice,” she said. “The beautiful part of our history is that we were successful on both fronts for a long time. That’s why we have strengths that are unique to our area.”

In closing, Whitmer said she will do all she can to build on Michigan’s profitable future during her last three years as governor.

“I am sober about the real challenges ahead, but it feels good to be here right now,” she said. “And I’m going to everything I can every day, every minute I’m in the office, to set Michigan off to success. And I’ll hand it off to whosever’s next.”

This Mackinac Policy Conference session was sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.