Last week I attended the West Michigan Policy Forum, presented by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.

The forum was filled with interesting speakers from varying backgrounds. There were presentations by local Michigan leaders, but also a wide array of presenters from outside the state. As the sessions unfolded, one common theme emerged: The citizens of Michigan are competing against the world.

Unfortunately, in this global competition, we have dug ourselves some holes. A sampling of what I heard in Grand Rapids:

• Michigan has a structural state budget deficit of billions of dollars each year.

• Michigan was ranked 48th for overall business climate by national site consultants and business executives.

• Sixteen OECD countries (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a forum of 33 countries committed to democracy and free markets) surpass Michigan in postsecondary educational attainment of young people .

• By next year Michigan will have lost two out of every three automotive jobs that existed in the state in 1999.

Yet, in the face of such daunting challenges we continue to erect self-defeating walls: East Michigan versus West Michigan; the City of Detroit versus the suburbs; rural versus urban; and government versus industry.

Frankly, the outside speakers in Grand Rapids seemed a bit befuddled by all of this. It was best summed up by the comment of CBS News correspondent and political satirist Mo Rocca who challenged Grand Rapids’ claim to being “West” Michigan.

As Rocca pointed out, “the folks in the western Upper Peninsula out at 90 degrees, 25 minutes west longitude might take issue with you guys at 85 degrees, 39 minutes claiming to represent West Michigan. You’re Mid-Michigan at best!”

Everything is relative. In a global economy, we are all Michiganders.

Daryl Weinert is the Executive Director of the University of Michigan’s Business Engagement Center. He can be reached at weinert@umich.edu.