Chris Holman welcomes Jonathan Smith, Senior Chief Deputy Director for LEO, Michigan's Labor and Economic Opportunity Department.

What is the Community Transition Playbook and why is it so important for Michigan right now?

What does it mean for Michigan to be “in the driver’s seat” of our economic transition, and how does this playbook help us get there?

How does this effort tie into Michigan’s clean energy and mobility transition?

All of this falls under Michigan’s Community & Worker Economic Transition Office. Can you tell us a little bit about the office and its mission?

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State of Michigan receives $1.5M grant from Ballmer Group to create Community Transition Playbook

Playbook will equip local leaders, workers and businesses with the tools to thrive in Michigan’s evolving economy

Lansing, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has received a $1.5 million grant from Ballmer Group to create the Community Transition Playbook. Spearheaded by the Community & Worker Economic Transition Office, the playbook will engage local stakeholders to create a comprehensive resource that empowers communities, workers and employers with the resources they need to proactively prepare for, benefit from and shape Michigan’s future economy.

“The Community Transition Playbook will put Michigan in the driver’s seat as we prepare for the wave of new jobs and investments coming to our state,” said Community & Worker Economic Transition Office Director Jonathan Smith. “The generous support from Ballmer Group is a critical investment that helps move this important work forward and positions Michigan as a national leader in economic resilience and clean energy workforce development.”

The playbook is part of a broader strategy that will support resilient communities and shared prosperity through economic transitions impacting the automobile and energy industries. The Ballmer grant is funding three phases of work to support this strategy: 

Phase 1: Conducting simulated exercises to document and understand the existing process that the state and local stakeholders use to respond to plant closures, then reviewing that process to look for improvements, enhancements or best practices. 
Phase 2: Creating a playbook that communities can use to prepare for economic transitions. This playbook would include resources that could be used for resiliency and diversification planning as well as a guide for how to navigate a specific plant closure or business failure. 
Phase 3: Identifying a cohort of cities/regions particularly exposed to economic transitions and providing technical assistance to help them deploy the playbook to develop a resiliency or growth plan for their communities.

Input for the playbook is being gathered through a series of collaborative roundtable events held across the state, bringing together key stakeholders from diverse regions and sectors. These half-day sessions feature plant closure simulations, tabletop exercises and facilitated group discussions — all designed to identify the critical components needed to build a practical, action-oriented guide for real-world implementation.

The Community & Worker Economic Transition Office was created as part of a historic package of clean energy and climate bills passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Whitmer in 2023. 

To learn more about LEO’s Community & Worker Economic Transition Office, visitmichigan.gov/economic-transition.

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Michigan Business Beat | Jonathan Smith, LEO, the Community Transition Playbook - Why It's Important

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Michigan Business Beat | Jonathan Smith, LEO, the Community Transition Playbook - Why It's Important

Michigan Business Network