Category Archives: Economic Development

More momentum toward a "Grand Bargain"

By John Bebow | Published: January 21, 2010
Governor Jennifer Granholm’s last, and most challenging, state of the state and budget addresses are both coming in the next month. And, like a surfer in sunny southern California, she has an opportunity to ride a swell of momentum for big changes in the way Michigan does the public’s business. Two quick examples… 1. Growing Sentiment on [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments closed

'Can farming save Detroit?'

By John Bebow | Published: January 14, 2010
One of the most in-depth explorations of that question — or at least of one of the largest proponents of large-scale farming in Motown, appears in this month’s Fortune Magazine. An excerpt… Yes, a farm. A large-scale, for-profit agricultural enterprise, wholly contained within the city limits of Detroit. (Stockbroker John) Hantz thinks farming could do his [...]
Also posted in Entrepreneurialism, Fresh Thoughts | Comments closed

SPECIAL REPORT: How some Midwestern cities loosen the rust belt

By The Center for Michigan | Published: January 7, 2010
By John Foren The design was scrawled on a napkin. It was no Rembrandt, but it communicated everything you needed to know about the hopes and dreams of what would become the Silvermine Stone Company. That’s where Brian Doudna, who heads the Economic Development Corp. in Eau Claire, Wisc., comes in. The EDC helped turn the napkin [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments closed

SPECIAL REPORT: Benchmarking the economies in "Big Ten" college towns

By The Center for Michigan | Published: December 17, 2009
By Melissa Preddy Nine months ago, Tera Johnson officially launched a dream, presiding over the first shift at her new $14 million Wisconsin Specialty Protein whey-processing plant in Reedsburg near the University of Wisconsin. Next month, Johnson’s “Teraswhey” brand of protein supplements will hit the shelves in 200 Whole Foods markets nationwide, and her factory will produce [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, K-16 Education, Quality of Place | Comments closed

SPECIAL REPORT: Inside Michigan's economic growth zones

By The Center for Michigan | Published: December 10, 2009
By John Foren The positive economic numbers for Michigan are eye-popping and jolting. One economist says they “did shock me.” Others say they are the untold story of a state whose national reputation is being fashioned as an industrial graveyard and cautionary tale. You may have thought this decade has brought us only nation-leading unemployment statistics and [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments closed

SUCCESS STORY: Michigan students join the wind economy

By The Center for Michigan | Published: November 13, 2009
Editor’s Note: This is the latest in our continuing series of success stories across Michigan. We get our story ideas from participants in the Center for Michigan’s Community Conversations. Have an idea? Email us. By Jo Mathis  Now that the auto industry has taken a back seat in Michigan’s economy, many are counting on a redefined [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts | Comments closed

SPECIAL REPORT: AN INSIDE LOOK AT MICHIGAN’S REGIONAL ECONOMIES

By John Bebow | Published: October 15, 2009
Beyond the dismal unemployment numbers, what’s happening in Michigan’s economy? Are there spots of growth? Are some regions healthier than others? How do Michigan’s distinct regional economies compare to others in the Great Lakes and across the nation? New numbers from the feds provide fascinating and provocative answers to those questions. At the end of September, the [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, Quality of Place, The Center at Work | Comments closed

Good business, good news

By John Bebow | Published: September 30, 2009
Beyond the palpable gloom of the overall Michigan unemployment clouds, good news continues to dribble out on occasion. Six recent examples… 1. Up to 1,000 new high-tech jobs in Ann Arbor. Systems in Motion, a fast-growing IT start-up from Silicon Valley announced big plans this month for expansion in Silicon Valley. 2. More jobs than talent projected [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments closed

50 Ideas to Fix Michigan

By center | Published: September 25, 2009
Here’s an example of the good things that can come out of those giant gabfests like the annual policy conference on Mackinac Island right after Memorial Day each year… This year on the Island, Detroit News editorial page editor Nolan Finley and a number of folks in the Center for Michigan tribe cooked up the [...]
Also posted in Fresh Thoughts, The Center at Work | Comments closed

It's time to start running the state like a business

By The Center for Michigan | Published: September 25, 2009
By Richard T. Cole I must admit that I am one resident of the state (perhaps there are others?) who is getting a bit tired of hearing that we need a strategy to save Michigan. What I think we need first is a dream upon which to build a strategy for a new [...]
Also posted in The Center at Work | Comments closed