Mlive recently reported that Inc. Magazine lists five of the top 500 fastest growing companies in America as Michigan-based:
On a per-capita basis, this is not a strong performance for a state of nearly 10 million people, but a company's growth relies on more than just the population of its home state. More interesting is that none of the companies listed appear to have been selected by the state’s economic development agency for special favors. None have been granted selective MEGA tax breaks or subsidies, for example.
Over the last decade, Michigan politicians went on a binge of picking corporate winners and losers for special state tax breaks and/or cash handouts (they passed 280 new laws categorized as "economic development"). But as these five firms demonstrate, who wins in the marketplace has little to do with who does or does not get selective government favors.
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