Michigan

Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the United States. It has the longest freshwater shoreline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair.  In 2005, Michigan ranked third among US states for the number of registered recreational boats, behind California and Florida.  Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.  A person in the state is never more than six miles (10 km) from a natural water source or more than 87.2 miles (140.3 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.  It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Michigan’s 2004 gross state product at $372 B.  Per capita personal income in 2003 was $31,178 and ranked twentieth in the nation.

Some of the major industries/products/services include automobiles, cereal products, pizza, information technology, aerospace, military equipment, copper, iron, and furniture. Michigan is the third leading grower of Christmas trees with 60,520 acres (245 km2) of land dedicated to Christmas tree farming.

Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.  Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.  Its research and development, which includes automotive, comprises a higher percentage of the state’s overall gross domestic product than for any other U.S. state.  The domestic auto industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.

Michigan ranked second nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was listed as the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments.  In 2008, Michigan ranked third in a survey among the states for luring new business which measured capital investment and new job creation per one million population.  In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit’s auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of electric vehicle technologies which is expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.  From 2007 to 2009, Michigan ranked 3rd in the U.S. for new corporate facilities and expansions.