There was lots of bad news, some good news, and then more bad news at the 2026 Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
As always, Sandy Baruah and his chamber team knocked it out of the park with an impressive lineup of “A-list” guests, presentations and conversations. This year’s chairman, Bob Riney, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health, also did an excellent job setting the tone around the chosen theme: “A quest for common ground.”
Detroit Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem kicked things off Tuesday night with his now reliably entertaining and well-produced sports-themed program and dinner in the large tent at the Grand Hotel’s Tea Garden.
Then came the surprises.
Wednesday afternoon, we learned that one of our scheduled guests, Kevin Guskiewicz — an all-around nice guy and great guest — was leaving Michigan State University to become the next president of Clemson University.
What?
That was a shocker, at least to us. And if you’re keeping track, he became the sixth president in six years at MSU. The revolving door at the top of Michigan’s premier universities is more bad news for our state.
Now, on to the good news.
Tricia Keith, President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and David Miller, CEO of Michigan Medicine, announced on my show that they had reached a contract agreement. Michigan Medicine’s academic health system facilities and providers will remain part of the insurer’s health network.
That is truly good news for everyone involved.
But then came another bombshell.
While many of us believed Michigan ranked somewhere in the middle — perhaps between 25th and 28th among the 50 states on key economic indicators — the reality is much worse. Michigan’s rankings are near the bottom nationally.
And falling.
In our shared “quest for common ground,” we should all be able to agree on this: Michigan is better than that.
Paul W. Smith is host of “Focus” on WJR-AM (760) from noon to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mackinac’s wake-up call for Michigan | Paul W. Smith
Reporting by Paul W. Smith / The Detroit News
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