Michigan Is Innovating In Crucial Battle For EV And Microchip Talent

Even though sites for most of the automaking factories of the future and major new microchip-manufacturing plants have been selected — projecting a massive swath of new manufacturing might that will stretch from Georgia up through Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana through Michigan — the scrapping for pieces of America’s burgeoning technology industries has only begun.

That’s because the next war will be for the technical talent to enable American companies to design, develop, engineer, proof-test and, ultimately, manufacture millions of electric cars and new computer chips as these federally favored ecosystems continue to take shape.

States are trying to take the lead in this area as well as in actually capturing future production commitments, and in this arena, Michigan has come out as an early innovator with a new program it calls the Talent Action Team. The Mitten State is attempting, of course, to build on its century-long heritage as the leading global center of automotive development and engineering.

Created by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the state’s economic-development arm, the Talent Action Team (TAT) is piloting unprecedented recruitment efforts in a public-private partnership with 15 major Michigan employers, public universities and community colleges, and state-government agencies. Its kickoff included the debut of the Michigander EV Scholars program, which features awarding of scholarships of up to $10,000 to as many as 350 top tech students who agree to stay and work for one of the companies for 12 months in the Great Lakes State.

The new initiative proved timely when, for instance, Our Next Energy (ONE) recently decided to make a $1.6-billion investment in Michigan’s Van Buren Township to build an EV-battery gigafactory.

“Talking about the Talent Action Team was the first conversation we had following our decision to site our factory here, and it’s very indicative of the philosophy of the state,” said Deeana Ahmed, vice president of strategy, policy and sustainability for the startup, which also put its headquarters in Novi, Michigan. “They care about, ‘How do we bring more jobs here to Michigan?’ and are doing this, instead of feeling a loss of jobs from the transition to electrification.”

This kind of instant understanding and engagement was exactly what MEDC leaders had in mind when they hatched and developed the TAT concept last year. Michigan has rapidly emerged as the overall national leader in electric-vehicle and battery development and manufacturing investments, with more than $14 billion committed by companies in 2022 alone, and MEDC recognized that its talent infrastructure must deliver on the skills and backgrounds required to support this new industrial revolution in the state.

“We needed to create a bold approach to develop and deliver talent specific to Michigan’s economic future,” explained Kerry Ebersole Singh, MEDC’s executive vice president and chief talent solutions and engagement officer. “The Talent Action Team initiative also supports our overall mobility strategy, our support of emerging technology entrepreneurs in the state, and our strong play for R&D and manufacturing investments in microchip production that are coming to the Upper Midwest.

“And this is about action and doing, not about just planning and pointing folks in the right direction. We’re here at MEDC to partner with companies to help customize and deliver specific solutions to them.”

Michigander EV Scholars is TAT’s debut initiative. The one-year pilot program, aimed at recruiting EV and mobility talent beginning this year, involves major Michigan employers, including stalwart Tier One suppliers; carmakers with headquarters and major operations in the state; and members of the industry’s new-technology vanguard.

Eight of the 15 companies pledged to network with and consider making job offers to students in the EV Scholars program: Bosch, Denso, Ford, LG Energy Solution, Mahle, ONE, Shape and ZF; the other employers are focused on promoting opportunities within their enterprises to non-student prospective job seekers who are currently working or interested in EV-related careers.

Michigan subsequently pivoted into a similar program to keep microchip-development talent at home.

With their commitments to work and live in Michigan for at least a year, the new EV scholars will help fill participating employers’ annual demand for 500 to 600 electrical engineers and software developers. “At our corporate headquarters,” ONE’s Ahmed told me, “about 20 percent of our workforce is interns. We’re able to bring young people in and give them exposure and experience and a natural transition, and you can hire those people. The EV Scholars program is aligned with that philosophically, and we’re excited about that pipeline.”