Highlights from the 2010 Mackinac Policy Conference: attendees discuss economic revitalization, policy change.

With nearly 1,500 people in attendance, the 2010 Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference was successful in bringing together business and political leaders to discuss the change needed in Michigan.

As can be expected during such an important election year, policy discussions were at the forefront. The Detroit Regional Chamber's Political Action Committee brought together an unprecedented debate between all seven gubernatorial candidates--one of the few times they all appeared together during the election season.

The nation's most important health care official, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, delivered a keynote address on the effects health care reform will have on business. Sebelius also called for major investment in developing the health care workforce, indicating that more scholarship and training opportunities will create better quality and more streamlined coverage.

Former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich was another keynote speaker, drawing a large crowd on the opening day. His speech posed the question: how serious is the problem, and how serious are you about change?

"The UAW strikes are over," Gingrich said. "Get over it. The racial problems are over."

But, he added, "Their burdens linger." He urged Michigan business leaders to come together to affect real change, indicating that institutional transformation alone will ensure the continued vitality, perhaps even survival, of our nation.

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Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Flat S.p.A. and Chrysler Group LLC, covered the global alliance of Chrysler Group and Fiat in a range of topics, including economic recovery.

"I welcome the signs of macroeconomic recovery," Marchionne said. "Stabilizing incomes, loosening credit and consumer confidence inching upward. But recovery, with apologies to Karl Marx, is the opiate of dysfunctional industries."

Similar to Newt Gingrich's keynote address, Marchionne brought up China and the challenge it presents. "We cannot stop China from growing and we cannot afford to be unprepared. The excuse that we do not understand, and that we underestimated China, will serve no purpose."

If you didn't make it to the island, it's not too late to visit mpc.detroitchamber.com to see conference photos, read session summaries and view a comprehensive online video gallery featuring session highlights.

Jennifer Baum is editor of the Detroiter.