As a small business owner, I know how important it is for policymakers to stay connected to the people creating jobs on Main Street — especially as we navigate new technologies like artificial intelligence. A recent Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices survey found that 76% of small business owners already use AI, and 93% say it’s helping their business. The biggest gains are in efficiency: 84% say AI saves time, and 87% say it augments employees rather than replaces them.
Still, only 14% have fully integrated AI, often due to limited expertise or uncertainty about tools. Seventy‑three percent say they need more training and resources. The bipartisan AI for Main Street Act would empower the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers to provide that support, and 85% of owners in the small business survey back it. I urge Senators Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters — and the full Senate — to act quickly.
Hana Abboud
This letter writer is the owner of Hana Abboud, a designer-led, semi-couture bridal studio in Dearborn.
Dittrich Furs closing
The closing of Dittrich Furs marks the end of a long chapter in Detroit’s retail history.
It also reflects a broader shift already underway. Across the fashion world, consumers and designers are moving away from animals’ skins in favor of innovative, cruelty-free materials that align with modern values. Many major brands have already made this transition — and thrived.
On fur farms, animals are often confined to small cages before being killed, often by gassing or electrocution. In nature, traps can leave animals suffering for days. Labels like “sustainably sourced” or “humane” don’t change that reality.
As legacy businesses retire, Detroit has an opportunity to look forward by supporting ethical, forward-thinking fashion. Progress is how cities — and industries — move forward.
Scott Miller
This letter writer from Norfolk, Virginia is a writer at the PETA Foundation.
Norfolk, Virginia
Labor organizing is core to Michigan’s childcare crisis
Central to our state’s problem with childcare is that policymakers treat it as a private market to be optimized for profit, rather than essential public infrastructure for all.
As a Michigan resident, I’m encouraged by early efforts to organize childcare workers here (“As Michigan’s childcare costs rise, workers debate risks of unionizing,” March 30). Many earn barely above minimum wage, and the tight margins make it impossible to raise wages without raising costs for parents.
Research from the Roosevelt Institute shows the success of organizing elsewhere. In California, providers won higher reimbursement rates, better benefits and more stable funding. In Connecticut, unionized providers gained wage increases and professional development funds.
Equally important, organizing can build solidarity between providers and parents, creating a constituency capable of securing lasting public investment.
Organizing Michigan’s childcare workers could be the first domino in a chain that raises wages, lowers costs for families and strengthens our state’s economy.
Suzanne Kahn
Ann Arbor
Plug-in solar could drop utility bills
We’re all dealing with skyrocketing utility bills. A great way to defray the rising costs of energy is to employ plug-in solar. A household will be able to cut their energy bill substantially, reduce the strain on the grid and cut climate pollution. Unfortunately, there are regulatory barriers to implementation of plug-in solar in most states, including Michigan. Only Utah currently has laws legalizing plug-in solar.
State Rep. Will Snyder, D-Muskegon, recently introduced House Bill 5764, bipartisan legislation which would allow consumers to install a plug-in solar system with an output of up to 1,200 watts without the burdensome requirements associated with large rooftop solar systems, such as interconnection agreements.
Let’s all get behind this legislation and make Michigan a leader in plug-in solar!
David Gurk
Ann Arbor
