MichAgain program brings Michigan's college grads back into the fold

Michigan's a pretty great place to grow roots: a four-season climate, sand dunes and forests, friendly people, and of course, top notch academic institutions.

A long time concern of state leaders, though, is that the very students that give those universities such vitality leave the state after completing their degrees, thinking there is a dearth of available jobs. That would be an invalid assumption, as high-tech companies have sprouted all along the Detroit – Lansing corridor. But communicating that message to young, talented Michigan "expats" can be challenging.

In an effort to lure back grads who have left the state to take jobs at burgeoning high tech firms, economic development organization Ann Arbor SPARK has led a consortium of several private companies, economic development groups, and the University Research Corridor member universities – Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University – to launch the MichAgain campaign. MichAgain hosts events in various cities with vibrant high tech communities and significant numbers of Michigan college alumni. Receptions bring together representatives from companies such as GE and Barracuda Networks and economic development officials to talk to local grads about the opportunities available to them back home. Events held during the fall months in Chicago and Austin were successful in drawing alumni, with over 75 in attendance at each event. The campaign is also using social media to reach young people where they live as well; it has an active website which provides links to hundreds of company and state-wide job postings, a Facebook page, and Twitter feed.

"Talent is by far the number one need for companies from a growth and/or attraction perspective," says Amy Cell, vice president of talent enhancement at Ann Arbor SPARK. "It's all about supply and demand. Michigan has a wealth of highly educated people that are available to join companies looking to open an office or locate a headquarters here. We also have alumni and Michigan expats that have left the state and are interested in returning for the right opportunity. The MichAgain initiative marries both sides of the hiring equation and provides an exciting means to attract and retain talent in Michigan."

John Hill, director of alumni career services at Michigan State and an active participant in the MichAgain events, thinks getting the word out about opportunities in Michigan is crucial to growing the economy. "We're mobilizing as ambassadors and trying to make this a viable destination for high paying jobs," he says. "It's a wonderful concept if we can figure out exactly how to make it work to bring back graduates for the long term."

The short-term objective of MichAgain is to attract candidates for specific job openings in Michigan, with longer term hopes of attracting businesses or business operations whose decision makers are Michigan college alums. High tech firms that have opened here are generally quite bullish on the state's workforce and think its location is actually something of a plus for recruitment.

"These are folks that are extremely technically gifted, hard working, and interested in building great products, and there are plenty of them here in Michigan.  They are not looking to jump from job to job willy-nilly; the folks in Michigan are looking to be a long-term part of an excellent team, and to show what they've got," says Mitch Rohde, chief operating officer of Quantum Signal, which creates advanced signal processing software for forensics and biometrics, robotics, and simulation uses, among others. The company is a supporter of the MichAgain outreach effort.

Rohde co-founded Quantum Signal shortly before completing his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. The Ann Arbor firm has grown to 35 people since its founding in 2000 and there are plans to add more positions in 2011. "Our business is math/software oriented, so technically we could operate pretty much anywhere and thus didn't absolutely need to be, say, on one of the coasts or in a specific city," he explains.

Arbor Networks, a Massachusetts-based firm with R&D operations in Ann Arbor, was acquired by Tektronix Communications, a Texas-based provider of network diagnostics and management tools, for an undisclosed sum last year. Arbor Networks provides security and monitoring for global communication networks.

Kris Lamb, vice president of engineering at Arbor Networks, came here after a successful startup launch, followed by three years spent working for IBM in Atlanta. Moving to Michigan wasn't a difficult decision for him and his family, based on the overall quality of life, and, he says, the company has several "expat" grads who have come back to work for Arbor Networks.

Programs like MichAgain are key to the state's marketing itself as a destination for high tech jobs. "Michigan has a lot going for it – it's a great place to live and raise family and there is more opportunity here than is perceived," Lamb says. "I think Michigan is challenged from a marketing perspective. If you're not from here, the vision people have of Michigan is that its best days are behind it, and that's not accurate."

Arbor Networks is planning a very aggressive hiring campaign in 2011, as the firm becomes an R&D center of excellence, Lamb says. "The technology market that has been in Michigan is growing and discernible from the outside. Graduates can come back and put their roots down, and be a real part of the technology culture building up here."



Kris Lamb, Mitch Rohde, and Arbor Networks photos by Doug Coombe
MichAgain Austin event photo courtesy of Ann Arbor SPARK