Shri Thanedar, a Democratic candidate for governor, visited Marquette and held a Town Hall at Graveraet Elementary School Friday night. Thanedar shared his views and background with attendees, who had a chance to meet the candidate and engage in a question and answer session. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — Attendees of Friday’s Town Hall meeting held by a Shri Thanedar, a Democratic candidate in Michigan’s gubernatorial primaries, had a chance to learn about the candidate’s background, political views and policies he would pursue as Michigan’s governor.

Thanedar, who immigrated to the United States in 1979 from India to get his Ph.D. in chemistry, said his education and experiences shaped his views and the trajectory of his life as a student, scientist, businessman and now, gubernatorial candidate.

“I grew up in poverty in India, worked as a janitor — education was the ladder for my success,” he said. “Education pulled myself and my family out of poverty.”

He says he wants to take an approach to policy and governing that is “bottom-up” rather than “top-down,” investing in education and infrastructure.

“My approach is very diametrically opposite of what Rick Synder or Bill Schuette or what any of the Republicans will do, or have done — we will move away from this approach of not investing in our education, not investing in our infrastructure, letting our roads and bridges crumble,” he said, noting “this trickle-down economics has not worked, ever.”

One major example of his “bottom-up” approach, he says, are his ideas about education.

“We’re going to work with people at the bottom and one of the major things I want to do is early childhood education,” he said.

As governor, he said would like to implement a state-paid, state-managed pre-kindergarten program, with the aim of investing in the education of children, while allowing parents who struggle with the high cost of childcare to get back to work.

“We see the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer — we need to close the gap and we can only do that by education,we can only do that by giving people the skill set they need for tomorrow’s jobs,” he said. “And that means we have to think big, we have to think bold.”

He feels investment in areas such as infrastructure, education and healthcare will help Michigan prosper.

“We are only going to take the state to prosperity by investing in our state,” Thanedar said, noting “we can’t cut and cut and cut our way to prosperity.”

Health care is another priority, he said, adding that he wants Michigan to be a state that provides health care coverage.

“Quality, universal healthcare is not a privilege — it should be a right for all Michiganders,” his website states. “I will start with universal coverage for every child under 18.”

Thanedar says he wants to move Michigan away from corporate welfare.

“We need to invest in Michigan and it’s not about giving away to corporations,” he said, noting that he believes it’s important to invest in the people of Michigan, rather than corporate interests.

He said his experiences growing up in poverty, then working as a scientist and businessman, have shaped his views, policies and work habits.

“These ideas and approaches that I have are heartfelt from my own lifetime experiences,” he said, noting “that’s what I bring, the passion I bring to the governor’s job — that I have learned, I have seen, I have gone to bed hungry.”

Thanedar shared his experiences as a businessman — he purchased a small chemical testing and analysis company in 1990, which grew into a multimillion- dollar business employing hundreds of people, but his business was hit hard by the 2008 recession, as many of the startups and small companies that made up his clientele were struggling. Eventually, Thanedar said, he lost his business.

He says this experience helped make him a better problem solver — “that’s why I’m such a good problem solver, I had plenty of problems,” he said.

Thanedar said he worked hard to solve this problem — he moved to Ann Arbor and restarted his business in 2010, which grew to employ 50 people by 2016.

“At that time, it felt like we achieved our American dream,” he said of the experience.

This inspired him to work toward helping others achieve their own “American dream” by selling his business and entering the gubernatorial race, he said.

“At that point, it felt for both of us — it’s not about our family anymore, it’s about giving and we need to help others achieve their American dream,” he said. “And with that thought, we sold the business, took some money gave it to all 50 employees, we distributed it based on length of their service, not on their title.”

He took the remaining money to put into his campaign, Thanedar said, noting he didn’t want to “take a penny from corporate special interests,” as he is strongly in favor of campaign financial reform and transparency.

“That’s the pledge I’ve made — not a single penny from special interests,” Thanedar said.

Thanedar encourages all Michigan residents to register to vote in the Michigan Primary elections on Aug. 7.

For more information on Thanedar, visit www.shri 2018.com.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248.