Google brings in new jobs and hope
Ann Arbor HQ could reverse brain drain
July 12, 2006
BY KORTNEY STRINGER, ANGELA TABLAC and CHRIS CHRISTOFF
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Note to Google Inc. from Michiganders: Let the brain gain begin.
Hours after the Internet search engine giant formally announced plans Tuesday to expand into Ann Arbor, residents, students, educators, businesses and politicians were buzzing that the move could boost the state's sagging economy and stem the exodus of young college graduates to other regions.
Jeremy Wagner-Kaiser, a 20-year-old senior at the University of Michigan, said Google's decision to come to Ann Arbor increases the chance he will stick around after graduation.
"Google will be high on the list of where I'll send resumes, in part because I like Ann Arbor," said the computer science major from Battle Creek.
At a news conference in Lansing, the company, based in Mountain View, Calif., said Tuesday morning that it would bring 1,000 jobs to Ann Arbor by creating a headquarters facility for Google AdWords, its main advertising unit, which offers pay-per-click ads.
Google said it would begin hiring immediately for the jobs, which will pay an average of about $50,000 a year -- more than Michigan's average household income of $44,667. By Tuesday afternoon, Google had posted some of the jobs, which it says will be filled mostly from Michigan's current talent pool.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales, said the quality of Michigan's workforce was a key factor in Google's decision. "We hire bright, motivated people," he said.
Google's news, reported in Tuesday's Free Press, was announced shortly after the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s board approved a $38-million tax break over 20 years for Google's new Ann Arbor digs. Google officials said Monday that they hadn't decided whether to build or lease office space, but will open temporary quarters later this year.
The development group, which had been wooing Google for about a year, estimates the move will generate an additional 1,245 spin-off jobs within five years and generate more than $2 billion in personal income for Michigan workers over the life of the tax credit.
Surrounded by a few dozen students wearing white Google T-shirts, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Google's presence will, among things, lead to other companies bringing in high-paying jobs. Granholm said Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 U-M graduate, played a major role in the company's decision. "This is about our future," she said.
Google's announcement provides a breath of hope for Michigan, which has been plagued by a dismal economy and job market that has prompted young people to flee the state for areas with better prospects, a phenomenon often called the brain drain.
U.S. Census Bureau figures show 42,600 young, college-educated singles left Michigan between 1995 and 2000, while only 26,600 moved in, reducing the state's population of that group by more people than in any other state during that time, except Pennsylvania.
Steve Morris, managing partner of GVA Strategis, a Southfield-based office brokerage and consulting firm, said Google's move will stimulate spin-off benefits, such as boosting local real estate markets. "It's also a boost for the state's morale," he said. "It's just nice to have some good news instead of all this other stuff going on."
And at least one business that likely will compete with Google for workers saw the move as a win-win for Ann Arbor. "The issue Ann Arbor is having is keeping high-tech workers in the area," said Larry Foresee, chief executive of Foresee Results, which does Web surveying and has about 60 employees.
"You find great people who go to U-M and other colleges and then leave because opportunities don't exist, or the perception is that they don't exist. "Google coming to town reinforces that there's great opportunities in Michigan."
Unemployment in Washtenaw County, at 4%, is below the overall state rate of 6%.
Not everyone was convinced that Google's move to Ann Arbor is all good. Vivek Shende, a 22-year-old who just graduated from U-M with a degree in math, said he worries Google's presence "will turn this town into a place that students can't afford."
John Laird, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the university, has other concerns. "I think this will be great as a way to encourage students to stay in Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan, but there's going to be a funny twist -- a shortage of workers. They'll be in a competitive place to get the jobs, but what we need is more students to go into" the computer sciences.
Ann Arbor HQ could reverse brain drain
July 12, 2006
BY KORTNEY STRINGER, ANGELA TABLAC and CHRIS CHRISTOFF
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Note to Google Inc. from Michiganders: Let the brain gain begin.
Hours after the Internet search engine giant formally announced plans Tuesday to expand into Ann Arbor, residents, students, educators, businesses and politicians were buzzing that the move could boost the state's sagging economy and stem the exodus of young college graduates to other regions.
Jeremy Wagner-Kaiser, a 20-year-old senior at the University of Michigan, said Google's decision to come to Ann Arbor increases the chance he will stick around after graduation.
"Google will be high on the list of where I'll send resumes, in part because I like Ann Arbor," said the computer science major from Battle Creek.
At a news conference in Lansing, the company, based in Mountain View, Calif., said Tuesday morning that it would bring 1,000 jobs to Ann Arbor by creating a headquarters facility for Google AdWords, its main advertising unit, which offers pay-per-click ads.
Google said it would begin hiring immediately for the jobs, which will pay an average of about $50,000 a year -- more than Michigan's average household income of $44,667. By Tuesday afternoon, Google had posted some of the jobs, which it says will be filled mostly from Michigan's current talent pool.
David Fischer, Google's director of online sales, said the quality of Michigan's workforce was a key factor in Google's decision. "We hire bright, motivated people," he said.
Google's news, reported in Tuesday's Free Press, was announced shortly after the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s board approved a $38-million tax break over 20 years for Google's new Ann Arbor digs. Google officials said Monday that they hadn't decided whether to build or lease office space, but will open temporary quarters later this year.
The development group, which had been wooing Google for about a year, estimates the move will generate an additional 1,245 spin-off jobs within five years and generate more than $2 billion in personal income for Michigan workers over the life of the tax credit.
Surrounded by a few dozen students wearing white Google T-shirts, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Google's presence will, among things, lead to other companies bringing in high-paying jobs. Granholm said Google cofounder Larry Page, an East Lansing native and 1995 U-M graduate, played a major role in the company's decision. "This is about our future," she said.
Google's announcement provides a breath of hope for Michigan, which has been plagued by a dismal economy and job market that has prompted young people to flee the state for areas with better prospects, a phenomenon often called the brain drain.
U.S. Census Bureau figures show 42,600 young, college-educated singles left Michigan between 1995 and 2000, while only 26,600 moved in, reducing the state's population of that group by more people than in any other state during that time, except Pennsylvania.
Steve Morris, managing partner of GVA Strategis, a Southfield-based office brokerage and consulting firm, said Google's move will stimulate spin-off benefits, such as boosting local real estate markets. "It's also a boost for the state's morale," he said. "It's just nice to have some good news instead of all this other stuff going on."
And at least one business that likely will compete with Google for workers saw the move as a win-win for Ann Arbor. "The issue Ann Arbor is having is keeping high-tech workers in the area," said Larry Foresee, chief executive of Foresee Results, which does Web surveying and has about 60 employees.
"You find great people who go to U-M and other colleges and then leave because opportunities don't exist, or the perception is that they don't exist. "Google coming to town reinforces that there's great opportunities in Michigan."
Unemployment in Washtenaw County, at 4%, is below the overall state rate of 6%.
Not everyone was convinced that Google's move to Ann Arbor is all good. Vivek Shende, a 22-year-old who just graduated from U-M with a degree in math, said he worries Google's presence "will turn this town into a place that students can't afford."
John Laird, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the university, has other concerns. "I think this will be great as a way to encourage students to stay in Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan, but there's going to be a funny twist -- a shortage of workers. They'll be in a competitive place to get the jobs, but what we need is more students to go into" the computer sciences.
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