As Economic Development Week 2025 begins, awards recognize Talent Action Team’s statewide collaborative effort powering bold workforce solutions, and the community impact of recent investments from Dow, Hemlock Semiconductor and Laepple Automotive.

The continued success of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Make It in Michigan holistic strategy focused on attracting projects, cultivating a skilled workforce and developing thriving communities is being recognized with awards from leading publications Business Facilities and Trade & Industry Development. The MEDC shared details of the honors to mark the beginning of Economic Development Week 2025 (May 12-16), an annual celebration of economic achievement. 

Business Facilities, an established source of news and trends for site selection decision-makers, announced the MEDC Talent Action Team as part of its 2025 class of Economic Development Organization (EDO) Awards.  

In addition, the MEDC received three Corporate Investment/Community Impact (CiCi) awards from Trade & Industry Development, a leading publication dedicated to site selection for businesses, for projects by Dow in Midland County, Hemlock Semiconductor in Saginaw County and Laepple Automotive in Detroit.

“We are honored by this recognition of the tremendous progress that Team Michigan is making in executing the ‘Make It in Michigan’ economic development strategy helping more people and businesses envision their futures here,” said MEDC CEO Quentin L. Messer, Jr. (left/above) “We are grateful to the staffs of Business Facilities  and Trade & Industry Development magazines for this recognition. A huge congratulations and thank you to our partners supporting these awarded projects! While work remains, when we cultivate our People, develop great Places, and compete for and win impactful Projects, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish together.”

The MEDC’s Talent Action Team, created in 2022 as the first public-private state talent coalition to specifically address the talent gap in the electric vehicle (EV) and semiconductor industries, works directly with employers to identify priority occupations and the skills needed to fill these positions as well as with the state’s educational institutions to train the next generation of workers. Thanks to the Talent Action Team’s focus on the EV/mobility and semiconductor sectors, Michigan will continue to train, retain and attract the best talent for the state’s key industries.

This latest award from Business Facilities builds on other accolades for the MEDC’s Talent Action Team, including the following:

• Inc. recognized the Talent Action Team on its 2024 Inc. Power Partners list in the Business Products & Services category; the MEDC was also recognized on the Power Partners list in 2023 and 2024.
• The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) honored the Talent Action Team as a Silver Winner in the Public-Private Partnership and Talent Development & Retention categories of its annual IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Awards.
• Fast Company ranked the Talent Action Team No. 4 in the Business Services category of its 2024 Most Innovative Companies list. 

Celebrating Michigan’s Advanced Manufacturing and Clean Energy Wins

The MEDC was recognized by Trade & Industry Development in the Community Impact category of its annual CiCi Awards for three recent transformational projects in the state:

• Dow received support from the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) in July 2024 to modernize its Michigan Operations Industrial Park in Midland and the Auburn Operations facilities in Williams Charter Township, strengthening the company’s world-class research and development and manufacturing capabilities in Michigan.
• Michigan-based manufacturer Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) was awarded $325 million in federal funding in October 2024 to build a new facility to make polysilicon, supporting 180 permanent, advanced manufacturing jobs and over a thousand good-paying construction jobs in Saginaw County. 
• Laepple Automotive, the U.S. entity of German auto parts manufacturer LÄPPLE AUTOMOTIVE, received MSF support in September 2024 to establish its new U.S. headquarters and main operations in the city of Detroit. Laepple Automotive manufactures stamped spare body parts for automobiles such as hoods, fenders, doors, and trunk lids, with the capability to produce any part for any OEM. 

The CiCi Awards follow several other recent honors for the MEDC and its programs, including MEDC’s designation as an Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO) by the IEDC in April 2025 and Corning’s $900 million investment in Saginaw County earning recognition in Business Facilities’ 2024 Impact Awards in the Clean Manufacturing category. Corning was acknowledged alongside the MEDC, Consumers Energy and Saginaw Future.

Learn more about the MEDC’s Talent Action Team and resources to assist businesses growing and relocating in Michigan.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state‚ marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan‚ economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.