Michigan voters overwhelmingly oppose an effort to expand the state sales tax to services and instead want their political leaders to balance the state’s budget by cutting spending, according to a new poll released today by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Michigan Association of REALTORS®.

Michigan’s leaders would do well by a piece of advice former Gov. George Romney gave then-Gov.-Elect John Engler before his first inauguration in 1991, John Truscott, who served as Engler’s long-time press secretary, told students in Grand Valley State University’s Leadership Academy Fellows Program.

The legislation, House Bill 4257, creates a new tax on in-state telecommunication providers. It also forces local companies to artificially lower the rates they charge large, out-of-state providers, such as Dallas-based AT&T Inc., to use their local networks to complete telephone calls and Internet connections.

Legislation passed by the state House will render investment in new broadband services in Michigan communities economically infeasible.

Despite the recession, manufacturing remains Michigan's largest sector, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the gross state product and employing nearly 500,000 people. Yet it also remains one of the highest taxed industries, and some lawmakers are proposing increasing those taxes further. Michigan Manufacturers Association Vice President Mike Johnston is speaking out against those proposals.

The Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association is opening doors for its members to a global manufacturing giant. Representatives from about 50 Michigan manufacturers received advice from top executives of United Kingdom-based Rolls-Royce about how to do business with the global company.

Michigan company CSS Global Inc. and its experienced international protective operations team will provide security consulting services and training to the transitional government of Somalia.

Former House Democratic Majority Leader Dick Gephardt was a guest on WOOD TV 8's public affairs show, "To The Point," with reporter Rick Albin.

 Former U.S. House Democratic Majority Leader Richard Gephardt was a guest on WILS' "AM Lansing."

Richard Gephardt, former Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives and chairman of the Council for American Medical Innovation, moderated the “Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation,” highlighting the contributions innovators in the state of Michigan have made to public health and economic security. Panelists suggested that new discoveries in the life sciences and medicine are critical to the state’s economic recovery.

The Association of Accredited Child and Family Agencies hailed the work of Rep. Dudley Spade, D-Franklin Twp., Sen. Bill Hardiman, R-Kentwood, and other members of the Department of Human Services budget conference committee for protecting Michigan’s most vulnerable children even as the state grapples with a $2.8 billion budget deficit.

Michael Williams, president of Association of Accredited Child and Family Agencies, was featured by syndicated radio host Michael Patrick Shiels on his morning program to talk about the state of foster care and adoption in Michigan.

The ‘Help is Here Express’ bus tour will be stopping in Michigan throughout the week of July 20 – 24  at various cities in order to help uninsured and financially-struggling Michiganians access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free.

Jeff Metts, president of Dowding Machinery, will appear on News/Talk 760 WJR Greening of the Great Lakes at 7 p.m. Friday, July 10. The interview is available now from Mlive.com.

The John Truscott Group has launched a redesigned Web site as part of the firm’s growing digital and social media strategy. The site, www.truscottgroup.com, features updated client news, detailed features about clients, an easier navigation interface and links to Truscott Group pages on social networking sites Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Dowding Industries President Jeff Metts was featured by LSJ.com to answer questions about wind energy.

Two Michigan firms are working to launch a new wind-turbine component manufacturing venture that is a high priority for the state and could advance the industry's technology.

The venture, spearheaded by Sterling Heights-based MAG Industrial Automation Systems L.L.C. and Dowding Machining Inc. from Eaton Rapids, would have two main functions: design and manufacture state-of-the-art machine tools to make massive wind-turbine components with reduced time and cost, and build a new generation of wind turbine blades out of carbon fiber.

A Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of the health care insurance package introduced by Senate Republicans has been distributed by businesses worried the package could boost overall state taxes by as much $600 million to $700 million.

Dowding Industries President Jeff Metts was featured by WJR radio personality Frank Beckman at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.

Lansing “insiders” again named John Truscott one of the top public relations professionals in Lansing.

State Sen. Gretchen Whitmer is jeopardizing Michigan's economy as she advocates for the personal injury lawyer lobby to allow frivolous lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, doctors and local pharmacists, writes Jim Holcomb, vice president of business advocacy at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, in a Lansing State Journal column.

While Senate Republicans today fought back against the “Party of No” stereotype by unveiling a broad new health plan, it has a controversial component: It raises taxes.

The plan, which will increase access to health care for those below 300 percent of poverty, relies on a new tax on insurance carriers, including third-party, an increased tax on hospitals and an assessment on Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM). Republicans said the plan could cover half of the uninsured in the state.

Perennial opponents of Michigan's FDA defense law are misrepresenting the U.S. Supreme Court's Wyeth decision, a Detroit lawyer argues in a Washington Legal Foundation article.

Dowding Industries was the cover story in Focus: The monthly news magazine of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The John Truscott Group is pleased to announce the addition of Jeremy W. Steele as director of media relations.

LANSING, Mich., March 18, 2009 - The Detroit News today called on Michigan lawmakers to drop an effort to repeal Michigan's drug liability law.

As a 21-year veteran of Michigan government and politics, I have often observed that rhetoric has consequences. Many times, politicians will say things to score political points. Sometimes, those words come back to haunt them.

Dick DeVos may have been soundly thumped in his bid to unseat Gov. Jennifer Granholm 15 months ago, but he still believes he has some answers for what ails Michigan's economy.

"This culture," he said, waving an arm across the floor of his Windquest Cos. factory in Holland last week, "this fast, flexible, teamwork culture, is the future of manufacturing."

Earlier this year, the brothers Frain took CorporateSecurity Solutions global, and to war, as it earned military contracts in Iraq for everything from shipping to personal protection to the manufacture of cement security barriers. The firm boasts overall domestic and overseas revenues between $50 million and $100 million.

Auto enthusiasts from across the state rolled into Wesley Bolin Plaza on the state capitol grounds this morning, bringing their collector cars to celebrate the passing of pro-hobbyist legislation and Arizona Collector Car Appreciation Day.

The “Help is Here Express” national bus tour will roll into Lansing today along with Emmy-winning syndicated talk show host, author and motivational speaker Montel Williams, stopping at Capitol to help uninsured Americans who are having trouble affording their prescription medicines. Since its launch in April 2005, the bus tour -- sponsored by America’s pharmaceutical research companies -- has visited all 50 states and more than 1,000 cities to raise awareness about patient assistance programs.

A vacant slice of downtown Lansing will be transformed into a 12-story office building and matching parking ramp over the next two years – Lansing’s largest private development in two decades.

Ground was broken today for a new development that will set the standard for new projects in the Lansing area. The “Boji Complex” will be a 300,000 square foot office building with an adjoining parking structure with a capacity of 1,450 cars. Located across the street from the south side of the State Capitol, this project will offer more amenities than any other building in downtown Lansing.