ABOUT DR. AMANDA STYPE:
Dr. Amanda Stype is an Associate Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University. She received her PhD from Michigan State University. Her research primarily focuses on public policy and health economics. She is also interested in economic education and encouraging economic literacy.
ABOUT ANDY LABARRE:
Andy LaBarre was first elected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in 2012, representing District 7, located in the eastern half of the City of Ann Arbor. Andy is a proud Democrat. For 2021 he serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Commissioners, and previously served as Chair of the Board (2017-18), Chair of the Ways and Means Committee (2015-16), and Chair of the Working Session Committee (2013-14). Andy lives in northern Ann Arbor with his wife Megan (a teacher at Dexter Community Schools), son Declan, daughter Delaney, and dogs, Monster and Frankie.
Andy now serves as Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations for the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and is David Fair's co-host for "Washtenaw Business Lens."
RESOURCES:
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to the first edition of Washtenaw Business Lens for 2026. I'm David Fair, and this is our monthly conversational series focused on the health of our business community in Washtenaw County. We take the news from around the state, country, and world and look at its impacts right here in our neighborhood. This is certainly some uncertain times when it comes to the health of our economy and what that may mean through 2026 to the business community and, ultimately, to you. We're going to take a bit of a look forward today. Andy LaBarre is here. Andy is executive vice president of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and our partner in Washtenaw Business Lens. Happy New Year, Andy!
Andy LaBarre: David, Happy 2026! Good to be with you!
David Fair: And our guest today is Dr. Amanda Stype. Dr. Stype is an associate professor of economics at Eastern Michigan University. And thank you for coming over today! We appreciate it!
Dr. Amanda Stype: Thank you for having me!
David Fair: The University of Michigan's Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics forecasts a challenging 2026 for the state. There's an aging population. There are labor force constraints expected to limit job growth. And while the U.S. economy as a whole is projected to see moderate growth, again, there is that uncertainty. Now, that's a very broad look. And, Amanda, the impacts on major corporations and small business owners can be very different. Is this a climate in which our small independent business owners can thrive?
Dr. Amanda Stype: I think some of that is going to depend on what industry you're in. I think that some industries are more insulated than others, but also there's so much uncertainty and so much risk right now. It's really hard to know.
David Fair: And, Andy, what are the challenges and concerns you're hearing from the membership in the A2Y chamber?
Andy LaBarre: Well, we're dealing with global and national issues, but they impact individual businesses and operators. I would agree with Dr. Stype. Right now, the biggest factor that I think is preventing more robust growth in economic activity is uncertainty. Folks are looking for dependability of what they're seeing in terms of frameworks and in terms predictability. And that is lacking in some ways that it has traditionally been provided. So, folks are waiting and seeing, and that has an economic impact.
David Fair: Dr. Stype, the costs of health care have been going up for a long time now. It's impacted every sector of our lives, including small business owners, educational institutions, nonprofits, even large corporations. The Affordable Care Act has helped hundreds of thousands in Michigan stay insured, but that extension is not a given. Is health care the bag of bricks that can sink the economy?
Dr. Amanda Stype: You know, that's a very complicated question. One thing that we are seeing is people opting out of health insurance if they think they're not going to use it, which then means that when they do use it, that becomes cost passed on to everybody else, or....
David Fair: It's a subsidy one way or the other.
Dr. Amanda Stype: Yeah. And we also have the people who are staying in the insurance pool are the people who are high utilization users, which are going to drive premiums up going forward. It's just kind of a bad situation overall.
David Fair: And, Andy, some small business owners simply can't provide health care plans for all of their employees. And those that can, the cost can take a small margin of profit and turn it into a deficit. What is the scuttle on health care among the members of the Chamber?
Andy LaBarre: Well, it's exactly that dynamic. The smaller the business, the less they are able to avoid the reality of the math. And we're seeing hard choices having to be made in a real sense that this is a societal issue that has direct impacts on all businesses. And it's beyond sort of the personal relationship in terms of the employee with health care, but also just the feasibility of how we operate as a society in terms of providing this for enough people to provide sort of societal stability. In many ways, David, we are getting back to where we were pre-Affordable Care Act, in terms of the weight of health care as an economic drag.
David Fair: You are listening to Washtenaw Business Lens on 89.1 WEMU, and we're talking with Andy LaBarre from the A2Y Regional Chamber and EMU Associate Professor of Economics, Dr. Amanda Stype. Now, Dr. Stype, we have an aging population, and that's going to have an increasing impact on everything from employment levels to housing, transportation and more. As we look to sustain and build on the local, state and national economy, what about the age of our population? Do we need to better accommodate?
Dr. Amanda Stype: Yeah. You know, one of the big issues we're going to see going forward is in terms of long-term care, trying to allow people to age in place and having a workforce that enables individuals to age in place. And I think this is a broad issue nationally.
David Fair: We have the Older Person's Millage in place in Washtenaw County, and, Andy, a lot of small business owners are older. And when they're retiring, many either don't have family to pass it along to or have family members that are uninterested in taking over. So, they're being closed off or sold off. Is there a need for better small business protections to fend off further corporatization of our local business community?
Andy LaBarre: I think there is, though, I don't know that anybody has an exact answer for what that looks like. It's very much the case, David, that we are seeing with our Chamber members, folks who have been active, vibrant parts of our business community for decades, who are saying exactly what you mentioned, "I'm out. I'm retiring." There is enough work on a day-to-day basis that it's not something that somebody new from the next generation is just going to easily take over and maintain and grow and do all the hard work the way somebody who's been there for 30 years has put in. And we're seeing, unfortunately, the impact of this way is disproportionately on small, local, independent businesses that tend to be sentimentally sort of those cornerstones of our local economy. You go down a Main Street or Michigan Ave, and, with all due respect to some national and corporate chains, those don't usually tend to be the businesses that you associate with the community the same way as you might those local mom-and-pop shops.
David Fair: Well, in Washtenaw County, you can throw a stone and hit an educational institution. Public schools--they're struggling to meet financial demands. Mid-level institutions of higher learning, like Eastern Michigan University, are all seeing declining enrollment and struggling with finances. Dr. Stype, do you see a 2026 economy that can help the education sector accommodate the challenges, or is this something that might have to get worse before it gets better?
Dr. Amanda Stype: You know, I think that what's driving a lot of this is what's been going on with the birth rates. And what we're seeing now is that birth rates were declining five, 10, 15, 20 years ago. So, in the absence of like a large inflow of people into Washtenaw County, I think we have to ride this one out a little bit.
David Fair: Affordability--we hear a lot about that these days. The prices of just about everything has gone up. Some of it has to do with tariffs, but it also feels like there's some price gouging and exploitation going on, all while the value of the dollar continues to go down. When you add it all up, Dr. Stype, is this an economy that can withstand the furthered upward trajectory of prices?
Dr. Amanda Stype: I think this is where we go back to that uncertainty. It's really, really hard to tell what's going to happen in the near term or even in the next six months. I know that, in some sectors, wages are going up. That doesn't mean that real wages are going up in all sectors.
David Fair: What is the strategy of Chamber members to deal with tariffs and increasing consumer prices, Andy?
Andy LaBarre: It's really innovation, and it's individualized to the member. There is no way, especially for small businesses, to get around increased costs biting into their bottom line. So, what they are trying to do is lean on the existing relationships they have within and with communities and trying to innovative business practices and really efforts to market differently, to establish longer-term relationships with their customers, and really, David, to say, essentially, to their customers, you have a stake in our long-term success, which means helping us in this moment of uncertainty and rising costs. And we're seeing that coupled with, in Washtenaw County, building on a national trend in the nonprofit sector, some real stifling impact from some of the federal decisions that have been made around funding that bleed down to the local level. And when you look at it in a place like Washtenaw County with a pretty vibrant nonprofit sector, that impacts your retail, that impacts you secondary business operations because those folks don't have the same discretionary income to be able to spend at your store or at your restaurant and so forth.
David Fair: And Dr. Stype, how are you teaching all of this to your Eastern Michigan University students?
Dr. Amanda Stype: Yeah, that is a great question! So, one thing I like to really focus on is bringing current events into the classroom. So, I have my students paying attention to news sources, such as WEMU, and also using the tools we have in the classroom and analyzing what's going on in the world around us. And not surprisingly, I think a lot of us are reaching the conclusion of there's a lot of uncertainty, and it's hard to know what's going to happen.
David Fair: And with that in mind, do you detect more fear among students about the future than in years past?
Dr. Amanda Stype: I will say that they seem to be very concerned about the labor market they are graduating into. As somebody who came out of undergrad during the Great Recession, this is something I have a lot of sympathy for. But, yeah, that's there. That wasn't there five years ago.
David Fair: Well, Dr. Stype, thank you so much for bringing your perspective to the table today! We appreciate it!
Dr. Amanda Stype: Thank you!
David Fair: That is Dr. Amanda Stype. She is associate professor of economics at Eastern Michigan University. And, Andy, thank you for being here and we'll visit again in February.
Andy LaBarre: You bet, David! Thank you!
David Fair: Andy LaBarre is executive vice president and director of government relations of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber and our content partner for Washtenaw Business Lens. For more information on today's conversation, pay a visit to our website at WEMU.org. Washtenaw Business Lens comes to you on the second Friday of each month. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU-FM Ypsilanti.
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