Working with the financial industry for over twenty years, many politicians from both party lines, and round table discussions over the course of my career; I have been seen by many as generally being more conservative. In general, I have considered myself to always be respectful of all elected officials, whether I voted for them or not, and therefore most importantly – I am fair. I do not party line vote; in some cases, sadly I feel I vote for the lesser of two evils or who can do less damage while in their term of office. However, I can openly say that I do not believe in party lines once elected officials are voted into office as they are to represent ALL their constituents – on ALL sides. I believe this is often forgotten, especially over the last few decades.

I have always stood up for all politicians because after working with numerous officials from both sides and being affected as both a civilian and a business owner; I do not believe anyone puts themselves or their families through the stress and scrutiny it takes to be in office. However, with all of this said, I have also always stood up and referenced back to our founding fathers and our responsibilities, not just rights, as citizens in any and all topics.

So, I am disheartened to say, as a previous business owner prior to my stroke, yet still a consumer and American citizen that our President has taken his authority to an extent in which it is not a ‘grey’ area but very much black and white. Corporate business. More specifically the implied threat and I say implied very reluctantly, to General Motors’ CEO and Chairman Mary Barra, earlier today with his several statements indicating that he was ‘very tough,’ ‘not happy,’ and that GM and Ms. Barra ‘better get back to Ohio soon.’ I realize he promised to boost the US auto industry, and this may be someone’s thought for defense to these statements. I realize that some may wonder why I am not chiming in on immigration or other business outcries our President has made in the past. Primarily because all have been in what I would consider ‘grey’ areas and although I have agreed on some and disagreed on others, I choose to not get caught up in things that I cannot control until I am able to vote on it; if in a ‘grey’ area. (And yes, I did vote in our recent elections.)

What a lot of citizens though do not realize is that all of these are issues – with every community and every politician across our great country. Everyone ‘wants’ to boost the economy, keep our nation safe, and create world peace. None of these things however is a one-person or overnight job. It takes more than one Mayor, one Governor, one Congressman, one Senator, one Supreme Court Justice, and even one President to handle these issues. For any woman that has been pregnant; they have heard their doctor tell them at some point along the way that they didn’t gain their pregnancy weight overnight and therefore they should be realistic that they will not lose that pregnancy weight overnight either. I use this analogy because it is the same for all the issues our country faces; everything from our economic concerns to the safety of our nation – none will just be fixed overnight.

But ‘wanting’ to boost an economic area, ‘wanting’ to improve policy, ‘wanting’ to make a difference – are all just that – they are wants. Until a plan is in place, until a forecast is done, until tough decisions are then made and followed through upon; the wants cannot become outcomes. THIS is what business – both small and large – must do on a day to day basis. They must create outcomes in order to stay viable, healthy, and IN BUSINESS. Ms. Barra is doing just that, and she is proving it in the numbers. She has released the decreased sales and thousands of dollars already lost by GM to support her decisions. And anyone can logically realize that you cannot continue to invest money into products that your customers are not willing to buy. Would you be willing to spend your money on something you do not want? So, clearly after forecasting like any smart business person for her company’s future; she based her decisions on tangible sale statistics, the currently strong economic figures, and most importantly the feedback from her customers. She is getting ‘ahead’ of things as she has told reporters. She has also cited that consumers spend more money on SUV’s, crossovers, and electric/smart vehicles. Of the 2,600 factory jobs that are in jeopardy in the U.S. she has already indicated that some may transfer into other factories that will be increasing production to meet those needs.

The President also referenced how much our government has done for GM in the past. So, I want to remain fair. The U.S. did take steps in the past to boost the economy both in the financial industry as well as the automotive industry and I saw a boost during those times in business. But it was an artificial boost and what I considered to be a band-aid; so, companies in the financial industry that I witnessed, ‘hung on longer’ only waiting for their inevitable demise. Although I was fortunate enough to not have to be one of them because I had never weighted my business on an area that was not going to last; I saw many affected by a short-term fix, much like it would be if Ms. Barra postponed the inevitable that would only end up hurting her company more. But to make implied threats to force a company to rethink its position and to use a ‘boost’ that a company benefited from, along with many other companies and consumers in the past, is not grey; it is black and white wrong. It is wrong morally, ethically, and even constitutionally; which is something we need to keep in mind as well. Since the 1800’s the question of what ‘rights’ a corporation has or does not have has come into question. But it has always circled back to the same position: the more rights you want to give a corporation, the less beneficial it will be to the people. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot argue that we do not want corporations to have even more influence in politics if we are willing to allow politics to have even more influence in our corporations. Therefore, we cannot treat corporations as people and force them to make the easy decisions we would all want them to make. I am a concerned citizen, whether it directly affects me or not because EVERYTHING in our global economy affects EVERYONE (another lesson that has yet to be learned).

Another reason I believe I was fortunate enough to sit on so many of those round tables throughout the years with so many other different types of business professionals; is that I am also willing to share ideas versus just stating my opinion or what I like to say, ‘jump on the bandwagon.’ So, the real issue is this: how do we re-create, create, or replace the nearly 14,000 jobs that GM must restructure? (Not just because our President promised jobs during a campaign rally. Again, ALL elected officials would love to give our jobs to everyone but none of them have a crystal ball.)

After a little bit of research, I found myself circling back to the root or stem of the problem – all pun intended. The acronym, STEM, has become a household name among many other technologically based acronyms over the last few years and in the case for what our future economic status holds might just be one, that I believe, could be a saving grace. STEM – standing for: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math is not a thing of just the future but again has been that of the past for several years now. According to the Smithsonian Science Education Center “STEM-related jobs grew at three times the rate of non-STEM jobs between 2000-2010 and by 2018 (yes, this year) over 2 million STEM jobs would go unfilled.” TWO million UNFILLED…not just fourteen thousand… The best yet, they also reported that STEM occupations out-earned non-STEM jobs by 12-30% – across all education levels.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics dated January 2017, pointed out that in May 2015, STEM related jobs accounted for 6.2% of ALL U.S. employment – equaling 8.6 million jobs. (MILLION not thousand) It also indicated most of the jobs to date, as well as those that were forecasted for growth, were computer related jobs and it also supported the Smithsonian’s report of the wages earned in STEM related jobs. In the future, the report does indicate that employers will be looking for additional educational requirements to support some of the STEM related jobs; citing that most would require some type of post-secondary training. (hhhmmm…maybe our government could look at stimulating something in education or further tax breaks to companies, maybe like GM, that would support their employees in furthering their educations – just another thought?)

Canada, in fact, who is also being affected by GM’s labor cuts; also happens to already be in negotiations with U.S. based companies; according to a report issued annually by MIT. MIT has issued an annual report for the last 17 years that has become known as its “Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies.” One breakthrough on its radar was announced by Canada in October 2017 about a project that may start as early as 2019 and involves listening to the daily needs of its civilians and combining it with artificial intelligence to build a ‘Smart City.’ The concept outlined in MIT’s report issued earlier this year also lists four major U.S. cities that have already called inquiring more information about Canada’s new concept. The MIT report goes on with an additional seven of its top ten technology concepts and/or projects already being available NOW and two others being available in the next 3-5 years and 5-10 years respectively. So, GM, it turns out is not the only one forecasting smarter vehicles and smarter business; our country has been for years as well. Maybe we just need to start circling back to the stem, staying out of those grey areas and jumping on the future band-wagons that drive themselves?? ?