Strategic Initiative Fund (SIF)

Great Lakes Blue Engine

This project addresses a growing workforce and infrastructure challenge in the Great Lakes region's water sector. Aging water systems, climate stressors, population shifts, and new water-intensive industries are increasing the need for modern, resilient water infrastructure, just as the sector faces a major talent shortage, with many experienced workers nearing retirement. The project frames this challenge as both a risk and an opportunity: by strengthening water-sector education, credentialing, and career pathways, the region can build a "Blue Engine" that supports climate resilience, economic mobility, and environmental equity, positioning U-M as the defining public institution addressing this looming national crisis at the regional scale. The project uses a multistage research framework organized around three workstreams:

• The first, “Mapping the Engine,” will compile and analyze labor-market data for core and adjacent water-sector job families across the Great Lakes states, using sources such as NAICS, O*NET, Brookings data, and Lightcast.
• The second workstream, “Examining Career Pathways,” will use community-engaged methods to better understand how people enter, advance within, or are excluded from water-sector careers.
• The main outcome will be a Great Lakes Water Workforce Playbook, offering actionable recommendations for local, state, and national leaders on hiring, training, credentialing, retention, and workforce development.

The significance of this project lies in its proactive approach to knowledge transfer: rather than solely training new workers, the team is building a strategic bridge to capture decades of undocumented institutional expertise before it retires out of the system, integrating cutting-edge technological capacity into the foundation of regional water systems. Blue Engine aims to ensure Michigan's future-ready workforce is equipped to manage "smart" infrastructure with the precision and innovation required for global leadership in climate resilience.