Michigan approves $846 million in aggressive bid to attract new business

  • Michigan lawmakers approved $1 billion in spending Wednesday, mostly to fund business incentives
  • The deal was reached between Republican legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, with some critics
  • The SOAR fund was launched last December with $1 billion, with most of it spent on three deals, requiring its replenishment

LANSING — Michigan is intensifying efforts to bring more large-scale development to the state, voting Wednesday to add hundreds of millions of dollars to a fund that would sweeten how much it can offer “transformative” businesses in incentives.

A bipartisan vote in the Michigan Legislature boosted the state’s business attraction budget by $640 million and reauthorized more than $200 million left over from a previous investment in the fund.

The Legislature approved the increase to the Strategic Outreach And Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund late Wednesday, bringing the available balance to $846.1 million — which supporters said will keep Michigan competitive

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