"The Brookings Institution's report, 'The Great Lakes Economic Initiative and its Vital Center,' offers valuable insights about how to make sure that the Great Lakes region, which built the industrial might of this country, leads the way in developing the talent and creating the new technologies the nation needs for a more economically and environmentally vibrant future."
Senator Carl Levin, Michigan
Co-Chair Congressional Great Lakes Caucus

"I know many will agree with me when I say that we must explore new alternatives to jump-starting our economy, particularly in my great state of Michigan. It is especially important that the successes of new industries, such as the tech community, do not overshadow the struggles that our manufacturing industries are facing. ? I look forward to learning more about the work that the Brookings Institution has conducted and hope that it will help to encourage the Great Lakes region."
Congressman John Dingell, Michigan
Co-Chair Congressional Great Lakes Caucus

"The opportunity for the Great Lakes region to thrive economically, as a center of innovation, and as an environmentally sustainable, 'clean-green' playground for our nation's people to live and work, is unrivaled. The Great Lakes Economic Initiative is critical to help us nurture the policies and practices that can make this vision a reality."
Ned Gramlich
Former Governor of the Federal Reserve

"Ontario and Quebec have been historically essential partners for the United States in growing the Great Lakes economic and industrial heartland to be the world center that it is today. Canada is pleased to work together with Brookings to develop a new tool which will help people living in the region understand more fully the shared benefits achieved by the combined power of our bi-national Great Lakes region and help them realize the potential which can be achieved for the Great Lakes by identifying new opportunities for economic growth and sustainable development."
Georges Rioux
Consul General for Canada, Chicago, IL

"The future economic health of our region is linked to the overall economic well-being of our country. The Great Lakes Economic initiative lays out the major policy directions that can fuel the Midwest as the national leader in innovation and new technologies—including in energy—we and the nation need to compete."
Gerard Anderson
President, DTE Energy

"As a region, the Great Lakes states have faced challenges in recent decades. However, the region's assets—strong research universities, an extensive transportation infrastructure, world class medical facilities, unique natural resources—provide the basis for strong future growth. Too often economic development has been approached as a competitive win/lose proposition. By looking beyond jurisdictional boundaries—whether state or local—and viewing this as a coherent economic region, policy makers can build on the assets of the Great Lakes states. This vision is at the heart of the Great Lakes Economic Initiative."
Tim Penny
former Minnesota Congressman Director Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation

"The Great Lakes Economic Initiative is laying a roadmap for building a more competitive regional as well as national economy by, in part, leveraging the strengths of what is arguably the world's leading network of universities, well positioned to drive today's knowledge economy."
Lou Anna Simon
President, Michigan State University

"The Brookings Great Lakes Initiative is defining the common interests of our region and helping us identify the vital role we play in the American economy. The 'heartland' still beats, but Brookings is helping America better understand how it can help keep us strong in a global economy."
Doug Rothwell
President, Detroit Renaissance

"Companies like Ford Motor Company understand the highly interconnected nature of our Midwestern economy—the challenges we must overcome to compete globally, and the tremendous opportunities we have to build on our strengths to emerge as leaders in the new knowledge economy. The Great Lakes Economic initiative provides a roadmap for the Great Lake region's transition from dominance of the industrial era to leadership in the innovation age."
Mike Schmidt
Director, Education and Community Development Ford Motor Company Fund

"The Great Lakes Economic Initiative can help us identify our areas of greatest potential and chart a course towards maximizing that potential. If we do it right, we could become known as the 'water belt'—a place where people want to live, work, and play, and a region that helps fuel the growth of our nation."
Emily Green
Director, Sierra Club Great Lakes Program

"[The Vital Center] is a stunning new prescription for America's Great Lakes mega-region...The Great Lakes states aren't just key battlegrounds in elections. Fixing their imperiled "Rust Belt" economies and hollowed-out cities may be key to America's 21st century fate.
Neal Peirce
Washington Post Writer's Group Syndicated Columnist