Published July 10, 2008
Prima Civitas To Manage $2M Grant To Train Dislocated Workers In Health Care
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The United States Department of Labor has awarded a $2 million grant to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth to develop new methods to train dislocated workers in mid-Michigan.
This demonstration grant, referred to as the Mid-Michigan Partnership for Training in Healthcare, or M-PaTH, will initially be used to build the skills of dislocated workers in the Flint area.
The Michigan DLEG has designated the Prima Civitas Foundation of Lansing as the project manager for the grant, largely based on its success in managing the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team Workforce Innovation In Regional Economic Development initiative, which covers 13 counties in the Mid-Michigan region, including the Flint area. The Corporation for a Skilled Workforce will also provide strategic leadership for the grant.
The Prima Civitas Foundation will work with the Greater Flint Health Coalition, one of its MMIT partners, which will expand and replicate its successful Flint Healthcare Employment Opportunities Project model to train dislocated workers for careers in nursing and other health care positions.
The Prima Civitas Foundation will incorporate M-PaTH into its overall strategy for regional collaboration and work closely with M-PaTH partners to ensure regional coordination occurs to effectively replicate this training demonstration throughout the Mid-Michigan region.
“We are confident that we will produce a viable, reproducible training system that can be integrated throughout the Mid-Michigan region to retrain our dislocated workers for jobs of today and the future,” Hollister added.
The three year grant is expected to enter the implementation phase this fall.
Established in 2006, the Prima Civitas Foundation is a regional community and economic development collaborative committed to putting Mid-Michigan first. PCF activities include administrative management of the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team WIRED initiative in addition to activities aimed at diversifying Mid-Michigan's economy and promoting job growth.
PCF supports the expansion of industries such as next generation transportation, alternative energy, biomass, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security. In particular, PCF aims to position Mid-Michigan as a world leader in the post-petroleum economy. PCF is a not-for-profit organization under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. |
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Published June 24, 2008
Liquid Web IT company coming to Mid-Michigan
It's one of the fastest growing high tech companies in Mid-Michigan. Liquid Web has two data centers, packed with internet servers, sending information all over the world.
Matthew Hill, Liquid Web Founder & CEO: "We're experiencing much greater than 60% a year growth and that's with revenue as well as staffing."
And that growth is bringing new opportunity to Mid-Michigan.
Tuesday the company unveiled it's brand new 90-thousand square foot building where it plans to add 600 new jobs over the next four years.
Governor Jennifer Granholm: "We think that Liquid Web move over microsoft, right. Move over bill gates, right here, the start of the next big wave."
David Hollister, Prima Civitas: "This is the next generation of employment. We are clearly becoming an information technology center."
The building is empty now, but by this time next year, it will be renovated, and ready to employ hundreds of workers.
Matthew Hill:"they're high tech, they're advanced positions. They're definitely not like fast food jobs at all. There's a huge opportunity for advancement, both in the company and outside of the company, once people are up to speed."
The company is working with Lansing Community College and Michigan State University to fill those jobs.
Jobs the governor says will help diversify the state's economy in the years to come.
Published June 22, 2008
Peers have confidence in Hollister
Local leaders say he can forge regional cooperation
There are several regional leaders who say David Hollister can be successful in his effort to ease the tensions between the city of Lansing and Lansing Township ... if leaders from the two municipalities permit him.
They point to the fact that Hollister was a veteran politician when he retired from public office, has strong ties throughout mid-Michigan's business community and understands the practical aspects of municipal government.
"He's been around long enough in order to get it done," Delta Township Supervisor Joe Drolett said. "David is not the problem on this. David is doing the best to bring the two sides together."
City and township leaders have clashed over some key issues lately, including consolidated fire services - a proposal the township rejected - and the township's pursuit of a $100 million hotel complex at the popular Eastwood Towne Center, which the city says threatens the downtown Lansing Center.
Hollister has been scheduling meetings with Lansing and Lansing Township to discuss these regional issues and help both sides find common ground.
Drolett and Hollister united for the tax-sharing agreement that made it possible for a new General Motors Corp. plant to open in Delta Township two years ago.
East Lansing Mayor Victor Loomis said he has known Hollister for about 25 years.
"He is a key player because of his personal and professional experiences," Loomis said.
And he has the respect of leaders in Lansing - he served on Mayor Virg Bernero's transition committee in 2005 - and in Lansing Township.
"He has everybody's respect," Lansing Township Supervisor John Daher said. "Dave has at least 40 years of experience in local government.
"He's got experience at the county level, at the city level, at the state level. I just think that he's a very wise man.
"He has a true vested interest in the region. Everybody realizes that."
- Susan Vela
Published June 22, 2008
The negotiator: Respected statesman Hollister is a man in the middle
David Hollister doesn't hesitate when sharing the names of his heroes - John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy.
"Can you see what happened to all of them?" he asks with dry wit. "Those people probably influenced my life more than any others."
He credits his heroes for taking him from a mediocre high school student to a self-described "activist teacher" to a liberal legislator on fire to do good deeds.
Now, one of the area's most recognizable figures is facing yet another difficult task: bringing together the region's leaders so mid-Michigan can thrive.
Constant strife between the city of Lansing and Lansing Township, whose leaders struggle to put aside past differences, looms over any progress.
But some say if anyone can bring diametrically opposed parties to the negotiating table, it's Hollister.
Regional leaders point to the 66-year-old's vast political ties, broad knowledge of the issues and his sincere dedication to the success of the region, adding that Hollister is widely trusted and respected.
It doesn't matter that some slammed him years ago as a state representative who kowtowed to labor unions and the liberal agenda and, later, as a Lansing mayor who could be too controlling.
With time, Hollister's colleagues - past and present - remember the big picture.
The former state representative reached across the aisles in the '70s, '80s and early '90s to work with conservatives at the Capitol, carving a niche for himself as a champion of the poor.
As Lansing's mayor from 1994 to 2003, he put aside partisanship to run the capital city, where he emphasized economic development and keeping General Motors Corp. in Lansing.
He then took a key post in Gov. Jennifer Granholm's administration, heading a department focused on the state's labor and economic issues.
Acknowledging that he would want to be "a teacher, not a principal" if he weren't where he is today, Hollister said he is guided by the Constitution's preamble.
"I keep going back to the perfect union: 'We the people,' " said Hollister, who now is president and chief executive officer of the Prima Civitas Foundation, a nonprofit group applying Michigan State University's assets to practical problems. "It's a social compact. We are in this together."
Called to teach
Responding to President Kennedy's youthful optimism and his rousing call to public service, a teenage Hollister considered the ministry.
He gave more serious thought to teaching after hearing King speak at Michigan State University.
He volunteered for the Mississippi Freedom Schools.
During the summers of '66 and '68, Hollister taught at Rust College, a small, historically black liberal arts school in Holly Springs, Miss., where racist hatred was evident.
"It just radicalized me," he said from his office in the old Allen Street School building on East Kalamazoo Street. "I became an activist teacher, (determined) to fix things one way or another."
He returned north to teach social studies at Lansing's Eastern High School. The deaths of King and Bobby Kennedy, both in 1968, convinced him to seek change by running for public office.
Hollister served on the Ingham County Board of Commissioners from 1968 to 1974; was a state representative from 1974 to 1993; and then was Lansing's mayor from 1994 to 2003.
"He walked the talk," said Lansing Community College Trustee Deborah Canja, who had Hollister as a government teacher in high school.
"He has shown by example that you can make a difference."
It was because of Hollister's classroom, Canja said, that she decided to become a lawyer.
Hollister rallied his students to talk current events every day, and the newspaper stories they discussed in his classroom covered the serious topics: Vietnam, protests and the Kent State University shootings.
Canja remembered that Hollister always told students if they weren't part of the solution, they were part of the problem.
"He's very serious about making the world a better place," she said.
He sponsored Michigan's Open Meetings Act and laws written to ensure greater oversight of foster care homes, speedier adoptions for hard-to-place children and more home repairs for low-income families.
Fred Dillingham was the conservative state representative who occasionally opposed Hollister but came to view the staunch liberal as a good friend.
The two worked closely together on hospice legislation.
"We could always reach the middle ground to solve a problem," said Dillingham, executive director of the Economic Development Council in Livingston County. "Between the two of us, we kind of considered all aspects of an issue, from the far right to the far left."
Bringing people together
Hollister seems adept at turning around situations and people, according to a former political opponent.
"Everyone who supported me feared Dave Hollister, that he was an ultra ultra liberal," said Jim Crawford, who unsuccessfully campaigned against Hollister for mayor in 1993. Crawford, who had served as mayor for roughly a year, lost by about 2,500 votes.
"They feared what he would do if he became mayor. I am thankful that he proved me wrong. He proved that the issues that we used against him were not real fears."
Crawford said he was impressed with Hollister's pragmatic turn.
Hollister himself admits that being a Democrat sometimes had little to do with how he ran the city.
There's nothing Democratic about fixing a pothole, he said.
At least one former City Council member says he was frustrated with the mayor "2 percent" of the time.
Rick Lilly remembered Hollister rarely attended council sessions and he didn't take quickly to ideas that weren't his own.
"It always seemed that Dave wanted to be in control of the idea," Lilly mused. "If it wasn't Dave's idea, he was cool to it."
Lilly said City Council had a good relationship with Hollister's chief of staff, David Wiener, and his finance director, Bob Swanson.
"His real strength is to bring people together and then to encourage them to get the work done," Lilly said. "The city grew more than anything else in terms of economic development."
Regional middleman
The region looks to Hollister now because of his business acumen and political clout, which grew when he served as Lansing's mayor.
"He's a mentor, a friend, a trusted advisor," said Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who asked Hollister to be part of his transition team after he was elected in 2005.
"He happens to have the friendship and the trust of the leaders of Lansing. He's the ideal person to stand in the gap."
Bernero and his administrators have feuded with Lansing Township over sewer capacity, which the township needs to develop.
Their relations have been further aggravated by the township's studies into the possible construction of a $100 million hotel complex that would have meeting space and an indoor-and-outdoor water park.
City officials consider the proposal a direct threat to the downtown Lansing Center. Bernero recently canceled a meeting with township leaders to protest.
Talks regarding regional issues between city and township leaders, with Hollister mediating, were happening on an occasional basis.
Published June 8th, 2008
Hotel dispute: Lansing, Lansing Township can find an equitable agreement
Full Article: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/OPINION01/806080627/1085/OPINION
Further investment in the Eastwood Towne Center site has Lansing and Lansing Township officials on opposite sides - again.
At immediate issue is the idea of a $100 million complex of hotels, conference rooms and water parks. At heart, the dispute is the same old one: The future of a community separated by political lines drawn ages ago.
And, again, the best policy is one of continued negotiation, continued engagement, continued exploration of what steps each government can take to best advance the region's interests. David Hollister and the Prima Civitas group have been working to foster talks, more of which should occur without delay.
To the passing eye, the hotel proposal appears exciting. Two more hotels in the north-central part of the metro area, conference rooms, an indoor water park and an outdoor water park.
Investment is investment. More lodging choices rightly earn rapt attention. A Great Wolf Lodge-style year-round water park - who wouldn't want that?
But ...
As is typical with big proposals, the questions crop up in the details, particularly the finances.
The largest is the one of initial financing.
When Lansing Township officials outlined a hotel/conference/entertainment project to the LSJ Editorial Board earlier this spring, it was presented as a matter of letting the marketplace work.
Hotel firms and developers were eager to get in, all the township had to do, really, was get out of the way - ensuring zoning, utility and regulatory issues were squared away.
Businesses don't target locales where money won't be made. Everyone wants some of that.
In recent weeks, though, the story line has changed.
The township, itself, through its Downtown Development Authority, may have to consider issuing bonds to bolster the project. Under this scenario, Lansing Township would become a partner, a subsidizer, in the project.
That story line carries much more doubt. Yes, governmental assistance, via tax abatements and property improvements, is commonplace these days. The city of Lansing, which is so upset right now about this hotel idea, routinely offers up tax assistance to businesses and developers within its boundaries.
But the financing here, like so much with Lansing Township, would have an unusual history. The township claimed the Eastwood area under its Downtown Development Authority - a taxing and public improvement idea originally enacted by the state to help revive decaying urban cores.
At Eastwood's creation, the township fought with the county, Lansing Community College and the Capital Area District Library over the taking of taxes meant for them. Those groups said they had the choice under the law on whether to agree to tax diversions; the township argued that under the old version of the downtown development law, it alone decided. An agreement eventually was brokered, but a sour taste - a loss of trust and cooperation - resulted.
The city of Lansing also has a legal history with the township over Eastwood. Mayor Virg Bernero's administration is not the first to see Eastwood as detrimental to Lansing's interests; this hotel dispute is the latest manifestation of the argument. Lansing sees new hotels and conference space damaging the publicly subsidized Lansing Center
And even a consultant hired by the township admits in a report that new hotels at Eastwood would trim occupancy rates at other Lansing-area hotels - at least in the short term.
Lansing Township and Lansing officials have responsibilities to their constituents. But that responsibility extends to the health of the entire region.
Lansing Township is wise to pursue private investment. But the township board should be most hesitant to spend public dollars unless absolutely necessary. Private dollars drive growth. Public dollars should simply help guide it.
The city of Lansing is being responsible in questioning the larger impacts and the use of government aid. The key is for everyone to keep talking. Lansing and the township need to strike a deal to share the benefits without hurting the core city. It is possible. And it would benefit the entire region.
Monday's LSJ: Why can't Lansing and Lansing Township get along?
Published June 6th, 2008
21st Century Jobs Fund Workshop set
Lansing's Prima Civitas Foundation, Michigan State University, Midland Tomorrow and the Rational Siting/Push-Pull Accelerator project are offering a free workshop June 12, to assist companies interested in 21st Century Jobs Fund Business Plan Competition.
It will be from 10 a.m. to noon in room 1005 of the Mott Community college Regional Technology Center in Flint.
Up to $30 million in loan funds is available to Michigan for-profit entities in the 2008 competition, a state initiative that seeks to grow the advanced automotive, manufacturing and materials; alternative energy; homeland security and defense; and life sciences sectors.
Business plans are due June 30 and can be submitted online at www.themedc.org/21cbizplan/.
Published May 19th, 2008
MSU up for major nuclear science facility
Lab would boost research program, bring funding and jobs to the state
Full Article Online: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080519/NEWS06/805190385
BY MATTHEW MILLER • LANSING STATE JOURNAL • May 19, 2008
EAST LANSING -- Michigan State University is preparing to compete for a next-generation nuclear science facility that would place the university at the forefront of rare isotope research for decades to come.
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams would be at least 1,000 times more powerful than the machines now running at MSU's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. In some cases, 100,000 times more.
It would mean $500 million of federal money flowing into mid-Michigan and likely billions in economic impact over time.
But first, MSU has to win the project.
"I think the chances for us to win this competition are excellent," said Cyclotron Lab Director C. Konrad Gelbke. "But one has to realize, it's not only science, it's also politics."
The cyclotron lab is already the country's leading research facility for rare isotopes, atoms so unstable they often exist only for fractions of a second.
The work there focuses on fundamental questions: the structure of matter, the origin of the elements in the cosmos, the nuclear processes that take place inside stars.
The FRIB project, in some ways, is a scaled-down version of the $1-billion Rare Isotope Accelerator (RIA) project, which was shelved by the federal government two years ago.
Many believed the RIA project was destined for Argonne National Laboratory outside Chicago.
But, according to David Hollister, president and chief executive officer of Prima Civitas, formerly mayor of Lansing and head of the state Department of Labor and Economic Growth, aggressive pursuit of the project by MSU and state leaders "created a two-institution competition that was very intense."
This time around, the competition could be similar.
An Argonne spokesman confirmed that the laboratory will compete for the project when the U.S. Department of Energy puts out its official call for proposals, which will likely happen later this month.
Gelbke said federal officials could decide by fall where the project will go.
Construction would likely begin in 2013, he said, and the facility would go online by 2017.
In the meantime, MSU and the state's congressional delegation are bringing their influence to bear.
"We have had support of the entire federal delegation for communicating to the Department of Energy their interest in making sure the competition is fair, open, transparent and incorporates education as an element of the process," said Mark Burnham, associate vice president for governmental affairs at MSU.
Sylvia Warner, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said the congressman had been "very involved in that process." He had encouraged the DOE, among other things, "to take into consideration the extended value of having it where there are graduate students who could take advantage of it."
The educational component would be a point in MSU's favor. The university produces 10% of the nation's nuclear science doctorates. Argonne, which Gelbke identified as the major competitor for this project as well, does not award degrees.
Hollister said the impact of the FRIB project on mid-Michigan would be transformational.
"We currently continue to labor under the Rust Belt image," he said. "Should we win the competition, it would be recognized worldwide as a significant development for the region.
"You cannot overemphasize the importance of winning this project for this region."
Gelbke said MSU has not done an economic impact study of the FRIB project.
But an MSU study conducted for the RIA project -- which, again, was twice the size -- projected that it would create 1,600 jobs in the Lansing area. Over 20 years, the project was expected to pump $1.9 billion into the state economy.
Until last year, MSU's cyclotrons were the most powerful in the world, though nearly 20 years old. They have since been surpassed by the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory in Japan, and Germany is building another, more powerful facility.
"As we're pushing out the frontier of knowledge, the laboratory's success will be determined by how many nuclei per second can we smash," Gelbke said.
More smashing power translates, more or less, into the ability to produce rarer isotopes.
"If we don't invest in a new machine, this means that 10 years down the road, we will not be able to compete. Period. End of the debate," Gelbke said.
But if the lab wins the project, he said, "East Lansing would be the place where this kind of science would be made and where the textbooks would be written."
Published May 18th, 2008
Dave Hollister: Mid-Michigan positioning itself for new economy
Capital region has to look to tech industries for jobs
Full Article Online: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/OPINION02/805180687/1087/OPINION02
Day after day, the drumbeat of bad economic news continues. Whether one picks up a newspaper, tunes into the news broadcast or scans the Internet, it is difficult to escape a pervasive sense of doom and gloom.
Obviously our community is suffering from a significant and extended economic downturn. Most economists agree that this isn't a typical business cycle where Michigan quickly rebounds, but a structural realignment and transformation that will take years to fully play out.
Those same economists also note that this is a period of great potential and opportunity, ready for innovation, renewal and growth.
In 2005, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature created a foundation for growth when it adopted the 21st Century Jobs Fund. This initiative targets state investments over the next decade in four high-potential sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Life Science, Alternative Energy and Homeland Security.
The initial peer-reviewed competition resulted in $130 million granted to 76 awardees who are taking their research ideas and turning them into emerging business and new jobs.
The governor and legislature also created a Venture Michigan Fund to help make capital more accessible to Michigan entrepreneurs.
Additionally, state leaders significantly upgraded high school graduation requirements so that our students have the skills to participate in a complex, technological international economy.
The presidents of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University have joined forces to create a University Research Corridor to collaboratively and aggressively engage the universities in economic development and job creation. Tech Town in Detroit, SPARK in Ann Arbor, and LEAP and the Prima Civitas Foundation in Lansing and mid-Michigan are now integrated into our research universities' strategies for diversifying and transforming our economy.
In fact, MSU has completely restructured the intellectual property, technology transfer and commercialization process to make them more transparent, efficient and productive in creating new businesses and jobs.
MSU, partnering with Prima Civitas, continues to sponsor regular Entrepreneur Days where inventors and entrepreneurs make presentations to angel investors and venture capitalists. One cannot sit through these sessions without being impressed with the brain power, energy and personal commitment these budding entrepreneurs are contributing toward creating a new economy.
Capital Area Michigan Works recently released a study documenting the robust growth of the emerging information technology sector in mid-Michigan; 350 companies were identified, and all were looking to hire skilled workers and pay them good wages. CAMW will release a similar study in mid May documenting the same situation for both the insurance and finance sectors.
Even the besieged manufacturing sector is doing remarkably well if one focuses on advanced manufacturing. Spartan Motors, Dowding Industries, Niowave and HardTech are all thriving.
And let's not forget, our General Motors plants and products are the envy of the auto industry.
Published May 15th, 2008
Lansing Twp. has big plans to expand Eastwood
Conference center, hotels, water park worry city leaders
Susan Vela • Lansing State Journal • May 14, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
For Full Article: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080514/NEWS01/805140360
LANSING TWP. - Lansing Township's study into possible construction of new hotels, a conference center, and a water park has the potential to shake the region this summer.
Renewed ties between the township and the city of Lansing could be severed entirely by the proposed developments - possibly to be funded by the township itself - that would add to the popular Eastwood Towne Center.
Promising more than 600 on-site and spinoff jobs, the $100 million project would include 250 hotel rooms; 27,500 square feet of meeting space and a 65,000-square-foot indoor-and-outdoor water park the size of a football field and then some.
City officials are concerned that the development could threaten the Lansing Center, which serves the entire region.
And, "there's a history of distrust," said former Mayor David Hollister, who brokered the recent agreement between the city and the township to allow the township to use more of the city's sewer system.
Thursday, Steven Hayward, the township's planning and development director, meets with the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, one of several attempts to rally public support for the proposed developments.
Hayward also hopes to meet with the Ingham County Board of Commissioners and the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority.
The Michigan Association of School Boards has rotated its annual conference between the Detroit Marriott, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids, Grand Traverse Resort in Grand Traverse County and the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing.
Kathy Hayes, a director, said that downtown hotel rooms are an issue whenever the conference comes to Lansing, requiring a rental bus to shuttle school officials between the convention center and local hotels.
"We, of course, would welcome more hotel space," Hayes said. "That is one of the problems with downtown Lansing."
A Cleveland-based firm's study acknowledges that new hotels, meeting space and water parks in the township could threaten the Lansing Center. City officials said the Lansing Center has about 120,000 square feet of rentable space and relies on an annual city subsidy of about $800,000.
The township paid $40,000 for the study.
"We project the (proposed development) will capture some smaller groups and events from the Lansing Center," the study reads, "which would, in turn, allow Lansing Center to target larger groups.
"We recommend that the developer consider Lansing Center and the subject conference center be operated by a professional management company that would jointly market both the facilities."
Regional leaders have concerns.
"Will it bring new business into the area or will it just pull from our existing hotel space?" asked Marc Thomas, chairman of the Ingham County Board of Commissioners. "It worries me that - instead of bringing in new economic development - what this will do will take away from our already-struggling economy."
Eric Hart, who oversees the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority, which oversees the Lansing Center, has his own questions.
"It's kind of hard to say what the bigger concern is," he said. "How do we protect the Lansing Center, ... because it does support the entire region and how do we grow the region instead of pick off of it?"
"My hope is the whole region can get behind something that benefits everyone," said Hayward, noting that he wants the proposed developments to have the least negative impact on the region.
The market, he added, is driving the interest in hotels at Eastwood.
Lansing Township's involvement in the building and perhaps leasing - two things Hayward said the DDA can do to control the scope and impact of the project - "is going to come down to the financial feasibility, and it's going to come down to the partnerships to be formed between everyone," he said.
It might take some time, Hayward said, before township officials decide how much they want to control the proposed developments.
A partnership sealed with a tax-sharing agreement extending greater tax revenues to both the township and the city is Hollister's recommendation.
He runs the Prima Civitas Foundation, a regional community and economic development collaborative organization. He has been working with the township and city on several regional issues, including hotels, sidewalks and emergency services.
Lansing City Council President Brian Jeffries concurred that a tax-sharing agreement could grow the city's tax base.
But city and township leaders have angered each other in the past.
"It takes a lot of time to build trust in relationships," Jeffries said. "We just haven't done that yet."
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero acknowledged the impact development in Lansing Township has on the city.
"We know we're affected by the development of Lansing Township," Bernero said. "We ought to just work together."
Right now, Hayward said a tax-sharing agreement isn't his priority, although he said that could be a consideration.
"If there's a tangible benefit for both parties, I wouldn't just limit it to tax sharing," he said.
Some city residents hope Bernero recognizes both the positive and negative impact of the Eastwood development.
They say that it's already tough to ease their vehicles onto Lake Lansing Road around noon and after 3:30 p.m. during the workweek.
"You either plan extra time for travel along that road or you just don't go," north Lansing resident Wendie Karpinski said.
But she's rather fatalistic about Eastwood's future expansion.
"It's going to happen, so what do you want?" she challenged. "A water park would be fun. Anything that would generate revenues for Lansing that is a positive growth, ... that's good for Lansing."
Contact Susan Vela at 702-4248 or svela@lsj.com.
Published May 18th, 2008
Dave Hollister: Mid-Michigan positioning itself for new economy
Capital region has to look to tech industries for jobs
Full Article Online: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/OPINION02/805180687/1087/OPINION02
Day after day, the drumbeat of bad economic news continues. Whether one picks up a newspaper, tunes into the news broadcast or scans the Internet, it is difficult to escape a pervasive sense of doom and gloom.
Obviously our community is suffering from a significant and extended economic downturn. Most economists agree that this isn't a typical business cycle where Michigan quickly rebounds, but a structural realignment and transformation that will take years to fully play out.
Those same economists also note that this is a period of great potential and opportunity, ready for innovation, renewal and growth.
In 2005, Gov. Jennifer Granholm and the Legislature created a foundation for growth when it adopted the 21st Century Jobs Fund. This initiative targets state investments over the next decade in four high-potential sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Life Science, Alternative Energy and Homeland Security.
The initial peer-reviewed competition resulted in $130 million granted to 76 awardees who are taking their research ideas and turning them into emerging business and new jobs.
The governor and legislature also created a Venture Michigan Fund to help make capital more accessible to Michigan entrepreneurs.
Additionally, state leaders significantly upgraded high school graduation requirements so that our students have the skills to participate in a complex, technological international economy.
The presidents of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University have joined forces to create a University Research Corridor to collaboratively and aggressively engage the universities in economic development and job creation. Tech Town in Detroit, SPARK in Ann Arbor, and LEAP and the Prima Civitas Foundation in Lansing and mid-Michigan are now integrated into our research universities' strategies for diversifying and transforming our economy.
In fact, MSU has completely restructured the intellectual property, technology transfer and commercialization process to make them more transparent, efficient and productive in creating new businesses and jobs.
MSU, partnering with Prima Civitas, continues to sponsor regular Entrepreneur Days where inventors and entrepreneurs make presentations to angel investors and venture capitalists. One cannot sit through these sessions without being impressed with the brain power, energy and personal commitment these budding entrepreneurs are contributing toward creating a new economy.
Capital Area Michigan Works recently released a study documenting the robust growth of the emerging information technology sector in mid-Michigan; 350 companies were identified, and all were looking to hire skilled workers and pay them good wages. CAMW will release a similar study in mid May documenting the same situation for both the insurance and finance sectors.
Even the besieged manufacturing sector is doing remarkably well if one focuses on advanced manufacturing. Spartan Motors, Dowding Industries, Niowave and HardTech are all thriving.
And let's not forget, our General Motors plants and products are the envy of the auto industry.
Published May 4th, 2008
Bipartisan caucus hopes to grow area
Legislators seek resources to aid Greater Lansing
Derek Wallbank • Lansing State Journal • May 4, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
Trouble is, Liquid Web Inc. needs help to clear the obstacles blocking whichever tax abatements, grants and loans it might need to grow, according to Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.
"These are exactly the sort of jobs we need in mid-Michigan," Jones said. "This is what we have to do; we have to work together for Greater Lansing."
Enter the Capital Caucus, a group of mid-Michigan lawmakers whose districts include or touch parts of Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties with the goal of securing state resources to grow the Lansing area.
Jones said he plans to bring Liquid Web's case before the caucus. Other projects currently under consideration include allowing community colleges to ask voters for bond money to fund educational programs, helping grow local alternative energy companies and securing money for every high school student in the tri-county area to take a work-readiness certification exam.
The caucus was formed in early 2007 but, so far, has yet to see many tangible results.
The group's first actions were to include matching grants in a capital outlay bill that would partially fund a new runway at Capital City Airport and help renovate part of Lansing Community College.
That bill has stalled because of disagreements between the House and Senate on the cost of the legislation.
A role model
The Capital Caucus is formed in the mold of the Lansing Caucus, a group of local lawmakers during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s.
Former state Rep. David Hollister said the group was instrumental in getting many projects approved, including the building of the Hall of Justice and Anderson House Office Building, as well as keeping General Motors in the Lansing area.
"There were a lot of things we needed to do legislatively to keep GM, and they were able to ensure that every single vote that was taken on the state and local level passed unanimously," he said.
Hollister left the state House to become Lansing's mayor in 1994, an office he held until 2002.
During that time, he said, he called a few meetings - most regarding the Keep GM campaign - but the group eventually fizzled out of existence.
Kelly Rossman-McKinney, president of the public relations firm The Rossman Group, said she foresees the Capital Caucus driving more and more projects and funding to the Lansing area than legislators acting independently ever could.
"What a caucus does is really bring together a sometimes disparate group of lawmakers together for a common goal," Rossman-McKinney said.
"You don't have to build a new coalition over every issue, you already have one in place."
The Dutch Mafia
Arguably the most famous example is the Dutch Mafia, a group of West Michigan lawmakers, many of Dutch ancestry, who for years have wielded considerable power in state politics.
Examples of their success are legion, analysts said, including such development projects as Michigan State University's new medical college, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the expansion of Grand Valley State University.
"The fact that Grand Valley was started is because the West Michigan delegation thought it was important to have a four-year institution over there," said Bill Rustem, president of the policy research firm Public Sector Consulting.
Copying the Dutch Mafia's success is "exactly the point," said Rep. Barb Byrum, D-Onondaga.
The makeup of the Capital Caucus is crucial, legislators and analysts said, because having members in both parties will help the group navigate legislation through the Democratic-led House and Republican-led Senate.
"I think it's extra important to have sponsors from both parties," said Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, because the legislature is an extremely partisan place.
"We may not always agree on all issues, but we can work together on many."
Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, whose office is coordinating the group, agreed.
"I think there's a recognition that there are issues that are bipartisan and bicameral that we can work on," Meadows said.
Return of Hollister
Hollister, now president of the Prima Civitas Foundation, a mid-Michigan community and economic development group, has returned to the group by facilitating meetings with local business and community leaders and the group.
It's the same blueprint the Dutch Mafia has used for years.
"We would say to local leaders, 'Give me your top three priorities,' so we would have in hand a list of 'to do's' that we could work on at opportune times," said former Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema, R-Wyoming.
Travis Stoliker, spokesman for Liquid Web, said he couldn't discuss the details of the company's planned expansion because of state grant regulations prohibiting it, but said "it's going to be huge."
Stoliker said he thinks the caucus will be able to help local businesses get tax abatements, grants and low-interest loans so they can grow.
"I think it's very helpful, especially for smaller companies looking to expand. That's when it's really needed," he said.
Lawmakers said the group is open to any ideas the community can throw its way.
"The question is: If you would have an agenda, what would it be?" Hollister said. "We're still working on that."
Contact Derek Wallbank at 267-1301 or dwallbank@lsj.com
Published April 22th, 2008
Universities lead way on healthy-planet technology
Full Article: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/OPINION02/804220332
Today, Earth Day, Wayne State University is joining WWJ News Radio 950, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University to highlight the work being done in our state to encourage the development of environmentally sound technology.
This event -- Carbon Culture at the Crossroads: Embracing a Green Michigan -- combines a business forum, policy discussion, and daylong radio broadcast.
In 2006, Wayne State, U-M and MSU formed the University Research Corridor, a partnership designed to help turn around Michigan's bleak economy. The URC member institutions promote scientific discovery and create jobs by attracting billions of dollars in research funding to Michigan, developing new technologies, and nurturing emerging businesses. Each of these major research universities has significant initiatives in the environmental sciences and alternative energy research.
The Small Business Foundation of Michigan's 2007-2008 Entrepreneurship Score Card notes that our state "lags well behind a growing number of other states in the clean tech market," which is expected to grow by "many tens of billions of dollars over the next 20 years."
Each of the three URC universities is affiliated with business incubators that support the expansion of clean tech start-ups. TechTown in Detroit, Ann Arbor Spark and Prima Civitas and Leap in East Lansing are helping train the talent and develop the technology to support a secure and stable clean-tech economy in Michigan.
Here in Detroit, TechTown's foremost alternative energy tenant is NextEnergy, a 45,000-square-foot think tank and laboratory center. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Energy provided a $2.5-million grant to develop a biofuels technology lab at NextEnergy. This first-of-its kind lab has the task of developing and strengthening alternative fuel specifications and standards.
In 2003, the Wayne State University College of Engineering became a leader in teaching and promoting environmental sustainability when it launched a master's degree program in alternative energy technology. Today, a graduate certification and undergraduate concentration also are offered.
The college and its students have won national competitions in alternative fuel vehicle development, and collaborated with NextEnergy and Chrysler LLC in developing a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle now used by our police department.
Sustainable environmental practices are not a new concept at Wayne State; we have historically implemented measures to cut waste and encourage ecologically responsible behavior. Through our Task Force on Environmental Issues, we are examining our environmental stewardship across the board.
Wayne State has helped place Detroit at the forefront of environmental research and education. We are committed to sharing our expertise and research and to setting an example for other institutions through responsible energy use. We have set ambitious goals for recycling, green purchasing, sound waste-stream management, and construction that stresses energy, water and materials efficiency.
Sustainability must be much more than a philosophy or a trendy label: It also must be a way of life.
IRVIN D. REID is outgoing president of Wayne State University and the first holder of the Eugene Applebaum Chair in Community Engagement. Write to him in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.
Published April 15th, 2008
21st Century Jobs Fund 2008 Business Plan Competition
Welcome potential applicants, media and other interested parties to the one stop Web portal for:
The most up to date information regarding the 2008 21st Century Jobs Fund Commercialization Business Plan Competition, including time lines and FAQs (listed below)
The single point of posting for the official competition RFP. Follow this link to open the RFP in PDF format.
The single portal for use of the Awards Management System to complete the application and submit a business plan per the requirements of the official competition RFP
The most up to date competition time line available. view time line (PDF format)
Other useful tips and informational documents
The official, frequently updated, FAQs related to the RFP and competition
The most up to date information and press releases related to the competition as well as links to past and current stories on the competition and the 21st Century Jobs Fund Program in general.
Some key highlights from this year's competition include:
$30 million dedicated to the Business Plan Competition
Focused on for-profit companies that can demonstrate a viable, sustainable business opportunity with near term job creation-five years or less.
Technology focus within advanced automotive, manufacturing and materials; alternative energy; homeland security and defense; and/or life sciences.
Matching funds are required
Proposals are submitted electronically in the form of a 25-page or less business plan that can be attached as a pdf file.
A $500 application fee is due at the time of proposal submission.
Proposals will be evaluated by independent peer review experts on the four legislatively mandated criteria of: commercialization merit; personnel expertise; ability to leverage additional funds; and scientific and technical merit.
For more detailed highlights view this PDF file.
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Official 2008 Competition RFP
Below is the official 2008 Competition RFP. All applicants should review the RFP thoroughly before proceeding with an application. There is also a 2008 Competition General Tips document provided below to give a higher level outline of competition basics.
Commercialization Business Plan RFP (PDF format)
2008 Competition General Tips (PDF format)
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Competition Application
The Awards Management System (AMS) is the official tool for applying to the competition and submitting business plans per the requirements of the competition RFP. The AMS was designed to ease the burden and provide seamless connections between all useful information resources for applicants, as well as an easy to use interface for entering an application. Please read the RFP thoroughly before starting an application.
For quick reference before entering the AMS and starting the application, please use the AMS Quick Tips document provided below for useful information on how to use the system as well as overall flow related to entering the application and submitting a business plan. The tips include information on how to acquire technical support when using the AMS.
AMS Quick Tips (PDF format)
Apply Now (Link to AMS)
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has created an official 2008 21st Century Jobs Fund Business Plan Competition FAQs. We aim to answer questions or concerns sent to 21stcenturyjobs@michigan.org within 48 hours through a response posting on this section of the official competition Web site within the FAQs document.
The current deadline for competition or RFP related questions to the above e-mail is May 28, 2008. No answers will be posted to the FAQs after May 30, 2008.
To support equitable treatment of applicants during the competition process, no questions or concerns will be answered directly via this e-mail or the phone.
If your question or concern is not related to the 2008 21st Century Jobs Fund Business Plan Competition or RFP but is regarding the use of the Awards Management System software to enter your application please refer to the Quick Tips document provided in the Application section of this portal for more information.
FAQ Document April 14, 2008
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Time Lines
The most up to date competition time line available. view time line (PDF format)
Media Section
To cover the latest regarding the competition, please use the materials below.
Key Points
Press Release - 9th April 2008
Media contact:
Bridget Beckman
Public Relations Officer,
Marketing & Communications
517.335.4590
beckmanb1@michigan.org
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Published April 12th, 2008
For Full website article:http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200804120400/NEWS06/804120332
MSU Hosts Inugural Inventors Day
EAST LANSING - Sang-Hyuck Park has a vision for Michigan's economy.
It involves complicated terms like carbon sequestration and bioprospecting. In short, he hopes to make renewable fuels created from agricultural products more efficient.
"We need to lower the cost of bioenergy," Park said.
Park presented his ideas as part of Michigan State University's first Inventors Day, a student-created event where five research teams presented research-based solutions aimed at improving Michigan's biofuels industry.
The event, hosted by the Michigan Futures Seminar, a public policy group based at MSU's James Madison College, was intended to connect students, business and government leaders and create an opportunity for dialogue.
"One of the things we saw is that universities, business and government officials weren't communicating," said Matt Stuart, a political theory and constitutional democracy student who helped organize the event.
George Seroka, an engineering manager for DTE Energy, was one of the industry leaders at Inventors Day.
"As a utility, we are very interested in reducing our carbon footprint," Seroka said, adding that the utility was trying to move its energy portfolio toward more renewable energy.
The difficulty now in providing more alternative energy options, he said, is the difference in cost for consumers between fossil fuels and renewable fuels.
"If there's a way the research can close the economic gap between resources, then that would help us make the optimum choices in the future," he said. "We want to do what's right for the customers and for us."
Kristin Sulewski, a 22-year-old international relations and social relations senior who helped organize the event, said she was particularly intrigued by a proposal to use land that can't be commercially farmed to grow plants for biofuels.
"It's a step in the right direction," she said.
Other ideas include:
• Genetically engineering crops to yield more biofuels
• Modifications to internal combustion engines that could optimize ethanol-based fuels
• Using animal waste products to create biofuels.
"There are a lot of solutions out there to address the bioeconomy," said MSU student Alex Plum, another event organizer. "Maybe we're one small step on the way to that."
Contact Derek Wallbank at 267-1301 or dwallbank@lsj.com.
Published March 30th, 2008
For Full website article: http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1206850812315820.xml&coll=5
Showing progress
Chamber effort will help build winning attitude
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Slowly but surely, things are happening in Genesee County that will produce economic gains over time, but that story hasn't gotten out in a coherent way because of the lack of an effective messenger.
Fortunately, something is being done about this leadership void. A new initiative of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce will seek to highlight and explain the successes of business groups and other organizations so the community might get a better sense of what progress is being achieved. Minimally, that should create public confidence in the notion that there is a local plan for economic renewal and people carrying it out.
Granted, this will be a challenge for the chamber's Partners for Progress program, as it's not easy for an institution, even a good one like the chamber has become, to communicate like a human being. That's something acknowledged by former Lansing Mayor David Hollister, whose Prima Civitas Foundation worked on the Partners project.
Yet at least the local chamber knows what people want to hear. It's "jobs, jobs, jobs," according to a survey and focus groups held before the launch of the program. While research probably wasn't needed to glean this insight, there are other findings that are useful.
Key is deep support across the county for a three-item agenda: the aforementioned desire for economic development, education and work force training, and continuing efforts to renew downtown Flint.
In all of these areas, there are people and groups toiling on plans and getting results, such as the first student housing under construction at the University of Michigan-Flint and the reshaping of downtown buildings for new businesses and residents. The chamber goal is to highlight and promote a plethora of economic development efforts and achievements under the Partners for Progress umbrella, so the general public might get a full sense of what's going on and regain confidence in the area's future.
"We're focusing our efforts on the positive so the community can believe in itself again," sums up chamber CEO Tim Herman.
That would be no small victory, and one that has to be achieved if Genesee County is to be relevant in a global economy. Losing attitudes don't produce winning teams, and a community down on itself suffers the same consequences.
Sensibly, however, the chamber's Partners program isn't trying to build self-confidence with empty symbolism or psychobabble, but by highlighting concrete assets and accomplishments, things that naturally would bring pride to any town but somehow don't produce those feelings here.
Hollister, who built a national reputation as the architect of Lansing's comeback during a 10-year mayoral stint, has noted that the Flint area has a self-esteem problem, which he suggests is one of the things holding it back.
Partners for Progress should help change that thinking by convincing the broad community not only that it can be better, but also in many ways we already are.
Journal Publisher David C. Sharp is board chairman of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Published March 27th, 2008
Partners' aims to focus on economic growth
GENESEE COUNTY - Good news is about to get the red-carpet treatment from the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The organization is expected to launch a program today called Partners for Progress that's designed to consistently focus attention on economic development and other news.
The launch comes after focus groups and a survey of 400 county residents told the chamber people are concerned about economic development issues here.
The need for more "jobs trumped everything ... but (people) didn't identify any particular individual that was leading the effort," said David Hollister, president and chief executive officer of Prima Civitas Foundation, which worked on the project.
The Partners for Progress program could have been used for more than a dozen economic development stories in 2007, chamber representatives said - serving as a cheerleader for the construction of student housing for the University of Michigan-Flint and construction on downtown office buildings.
"We could have really been out ahead of the game," said Tim Herman, chief executive officer of the chamber. "We're going to (promote) these type of good announcements."
Herman called Partners for Progress one of the chamber's most important new initiatives in 2008 and said it's designed to combat the area's collective low self-esteem.
"We're focusing our efforts on the positive so the community can believe in itself again," he said.
Partners for Progress will be a program of the chamber's Regional Leadership Council, a group of more than 25 members, responsible for identifying issues, responding to needs and providing guidance to the chamber board.
Hollister said the chamber's survey and focus groups also showed:
Race relations are only perceived to be "fair" but are not a "top-of-the-mind" concern given the state of the county's economy.
The most pressing concerns facing the county are the economy and jobs. Crime runs a distant second, and many other concerns, such as drug use and health care coverage, are seen by many as fallout from the poor economy.
While there is a heightened degree of pessimism - 71 percent believe the county is on the wrong track - area residents remain hopeful that community and business groups can work together and solve many of the problems facing Flint
Published March 12th, 2008
Former mayor of Lansing talks at breakfast
By Dan Meisler
DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
Michigan has a plan to diversify the economy through investment and education, but state officials must show the political will to pay for it.
That was the message delivered by David Hollister, former state legislator and ex-director of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, at a speech to the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce's Good Morning Livingston breakfast on Tuesday.
Hollister, one of the architects of the 21st Century Jobs Fund, which is meant to spur economic development in emerging industries using money from the national tobacco settlement, outlined the challenges and opportunities of today's economy. He is now director of the nonprofit group Prima Civitas, whose goal is to promote economic development in mid-Michigan.
"These are exciting times. These are challenging times," he told the audience at Crystal Gardens in Genoa Township. "We have the strategy. The question is, do we have the political will to do it, to pay for it?"
He said spending cuts in other areas of the state budget or increases in revenue are necessary.
Hollister, who has been a county commissioner and mayor of Lansing, said the aging of America and new demands for "technological literacy" in the job marketplace are major factors in transforming the economy.
The present and future health-care needs of the 77 million baby boomers nearing retirement may be a challenge in terms of funding Social Security, but they're also an opportunity for employment, Hollister said.
"Health care also creates economic opportunity," he said. "Those are good jobs that can't be exported."
Making today's students "technologically literate" is also a big challenge, he said.
The new high school graduation standards implemented this year are a start, but also come a little late, Hollister said.
The state has recognized that students need more than just a high school education, he said, by changing the way the Merit Scholarship is distributed. It used to be given to students who do well in high school, but now it is awarded based on a student's enrollment in college.
"We're assuming everybody will need two years, minimum, past high school training to enter the economy," Hollister said.
Merry Sherman, a Genoa Township resident of 27 years who was in the audience, agreed with Hollister's emphasis on
education.
She said it was too bad that many students don't understand how important college is, and many parents don't, either, or can't afford it.
"I felt like he was really right on," Sherman said. "So many kids out there ... their parents don't have the money to send them to college."
Hollister also highlighted some economic success stories in mid-Michigan, including Livingston County-based Electrojet Inc., which makes fuel-injection systems for small engines; and an Albion company that landed a contract with NASA.
Published March 7th, 2008
For Full website article: http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080307/OPINION01/803070311/1085/opinion
A deal: Sewer pact opens way to cooperation, progress
A Lansing State Journal editorial
After months of overheated rhetoric and miscommunication, the city of Lansing and Lansing Township have worked out a sewer deal.
Kudos to Lansing Township Supervisor John Daher and Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero - and former Lansing Mayor David Hollister, who's credited for brokering the agreement.
Was it overdue? Yes. But a good late deal is still cause for some celebration.
The pact announced Wednesday will aid plans to expand development near the Eastwood Towne Center in Lansing Township. And it comes with a big bonus: an agreement between the two governments to discuss cooperation on 19 other topics.
"Agreement" and "discussion" haven't been words associated with these two entities in recent years. Bernero, in particular, has routinely lobbed rhetorical grenades at Lansing Township, and on the issue of city-suburb relations generally.
The mayor has his points. But as was noted in this space last November:
"(I)sn't it good to draw investment to the region, regardless of where it falls on a map?"
Apparently the logic of that position has won out.
Bernero has long thought that the Eastwood Center should have been on Michigan Avenue as part of that corridor's redevelopment. Such ideas certainly would get an amen, for example, from Michigan Future Inc. Director Lou Glazer, who recently told the LSJ that the Michigan Avenue corridor should be priority No. 1 for the area.
But Eastwood isn't on Michigan Avenue. It's on Lake Lansing Road, and thriving. Lansing Township thinks it can draw in more businesses to that area. It needed sewer service for that. Lansing balked. Impasse ensued.
With this agreement, Lansing Township can proceed with its plans, and Lansing can put its energy into cooperative work on Michigan Avenue, on old General Motors corp. sites on the west side, and on creating border bonds, not border skirmishes.
Published March 6th, 2008
For Full website article:http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080306/NEWS01/803060332
City, township reach sewer deal
Lansing to provide service; leaders agree to discuss emergency services
Jeremy W. Steele
Lansing State Journal
After months of acrimony over a proposed hotel, Lansing has agreed to provide sewer service to a developing area of Lansing Township.
Mayor Virg Bernero and township Supervisor John Daher announced the deal Wednesday at a Lansing Economic Area Partnership Inc. board of directors meeting that included area business and political leaders.
As part of the deal, the city and township agreed to a framework to continue discussing 19 other areas, ranging from planning for development on their borders to collaborating on police and fire services.
"I'm hoping what the city and Lansing Township is doing will expand to the entire region because the entire region needs to be talking about a lot of these issues," Daher said.
The dispute arose over a proposal to build a Holiday Inn Express hotel near Eastwood Towne Center.
In December, developers proposed a Holiday Inn Express on West Road, near Lake Lansing Road and U.S. 127 in East Lansing.
That project eventually went to East Lansing when Lansing didn't approve a sewer request.
Bernero was among the city officials expressing concern that development near Eastwood could stall city projects.
The township's master plan provides for hotel and conference center space, medical and professional offices, and some residential developments.
Lansing will provide sewer capacity for up to 1.26 million gallons a day for the area.
"I feel like now we're going to have that collective approach over the border areas we share," Bernero said. "That's going to lead to better development."
The deal was brokered by David Hollister, a former Lansing mayor and president and chief executive officer of the Prima Civitas Foundation.
Officials from both sides now will have to build trust as they work on the joint plan, he said.
"I think there are some very doable, substantive, impactful projects on our list," Hollister said.
Contact Jeremy W. Steele at 377-1015 or jwsteele@lsj.com
February 19, 2008
Prima Civitas Foundation unveils PSA highlighting importance of the National Career Readiness Certificate for area businesses
Lansing, MI – The Prima Civitas Foundation and the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team (MMIT) this week unveiled a new 30-second public service announcement (PSA) highlighting the importance of the new National Career Readiness Certificate initiative for the region’s high school seniors. The NCRC is a key credential for job seekers that demonstrates mastery of applied mathematics, reading for information, and locating information.
Over 12,000 Mid-Michigan high school seniors will have the opportunity to take a short third test that will complete the requirements for the NCRC (these students took the first two tests as juniors as part of the Michigan Merit Exam). This pilot initiative is made possible through U.S. Department of Labor WIRED funding through Michigan State University. The Prima Civitas Foundation and its Michigan State University partner have embraced this exciting initiative to give every Mid-Michigan high school senior the opportunity to earn this important certificate
The certificate complements the skill mastery information denoted by a high school diploma or college degree. Employers from across the country use information from the NCRC in hiring practices; in fact several major employers in the state of Michigan require all prospective employees to obtain the NCRC.
David Hollister, President of the Prima Civitas Foundation, is featured in the PSA which serves to educate local businesses about the importance of the NCRC and why they should incorporate this credential into their hiring practices. “The NCRC initiative is an important opportunity for Michigan to be able to catalog the immense talent that already exists in our state’s workforce,” said Hollister. He added, “Students from across the region will be better equipped to enter the workforce with this cutting edge credential.”
The PSA was produced by students from the Haslett High School Vision 22 TV Station. To view the PSA, visit www.midmiinnovationteam.org or www.primacivitas.org. The video is also available through YouTube under the search term Prima Civitas. For more information on Haslett High School’s Vision 22, visit www.haslett.k12.mi.us/vision22.
February 15, 2008
Grant Gives Student Voice To Biofuel Economy
James Madison College, Michigan State University
In her State of the State address, Governor Jennifer Granholm told the people of the State of Michigan that alternative energy has “blockbuster potential” for the economy. Drawing on its wealth of resources, Governor Granholm pointed out Michigan’s water-ways as conduits of transportation; empty factories as ample infrastructure for starting a new industry; talented manufacturing-workforce as future employees; and natural resources of wood and farmland as the source for biofuel production. But one more should be added to the Governor’s list: smart university students with ideas, inventions, and research relating to the bioeconomy.
The Michigan Futures Seminar of the James Madison College at MSU has received a generous grant from the Prima Civitas Foundation to hold an Inventors’ Day focused solely around the innovative ideas, research, and inventions of Michigan’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students. The conference will be held Friday, April 11, 2008 at the Henry Center for Executive Development in Lansing, Michigan from 8:30 am – 2:00 pm. Leading business executives and academic and government experts will be in attendance to answer questions, provide feedback to student designs, and talk about how their work can further the bioeconomy in Michigan.
Proposals describing student research, invention, or idea are being solicited from all disciplines at universities across the state; professors and advisors are urged to recommend their students to apply. The top five proposals will be awarded $1,000 and the opportunity to make a twenty minute presentation to industry and government experts at the conference. All other submissions will be presented via poster-board display. Travel grants are available based on need. A call for proposals can be found online, www.mciep.org/InventorsDay.
The Michigan Futures in the Global Economy Public Policy Seminar, started in 2005, is supported by the James Madison College and the Michigan Center for Innovation and Economic Prosperity. The Seminar produces a yearly report highlighting potential areas of growth in Michigan’s economy.
Published January 31, 2008
Vision Mid Michigan
Grants fund mid-Michigan entrepreneurship
CMU, SVSU, Delta College and ThumbWorks Michigan Works Agency, were among the 10 organizations awarded mini-grants from the Lansing-based Prima Civitas Foundation to host a variety of Entrepreneur and Inventor Days.
The awards total nearly 45,000 and are funded by a grant received from the C.S. Mott Foundation in October 2007. A competitive bid process was announced in December 2007 for regional higher education and related institutions who would host an Entrepreneur or Inventor Day in order to spur innovation by fostering investment in talent development and cultural change. Funded proposals received from across the region will either showcase individuals’ and firms’ business development efforts during an Inventors Day or provide a platform for funding pitches to actual investors during an Entrepreneur Day.
A full list of organizations receiving a mini-grant includes, Central Michigan University, Delta College, the Michigan Futures Seminar of the James Madison College at Michigan State University, MSU Extension Center in Huron County, MSU RSPPA Program, M-Team of Meridian Township, Saginaw Valley State University, ThumbWorks Michigan Works Agency, University of Michigan-Flint Launch Program, and a combined proposal from Baker College, Jackson Community College, and Spring Arbor University.
Each organization will be included in Prima Civitas Foundation’s upcoming Commercialization Conference on April 9 at the Henry Center in Lansing. Scheduled Entrepreneur and Inventor Days will be announced by individual organizations at a later date.
Established in 2006, the Prima Civitas Foundation is a regional community and economic development collaborative committed to putting Mid-Michigan first. PCF activities include administrative management of the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team in addition to activities aimed at diversifying Mid-Michigan’s economy and promoting job growth. PCF supports the expansion of industries such as next generation transportation, alternative energy, biomass, health care, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security. In particular, PCF aims to position Mid-Michigan as a world leader in the post-petroleum economy.
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Published January 29th, 2008
PCF has announced the 10 winners of the Entrepreneurs and Inventors Day grants. Organizations that received a grant include: Central Michigan University, Delta College, Michigan Futures Seminar of the James Madison College at MSU, MSU Extension Center in Huron County, MSU RSPPA Program, M-Team of Meridian Township, Saginaw Valley State University, ThumbWorks! Michigan Works Agency, University of Michigan-Flint Launch Program, and a combined proposal from Baker College, Jackson Community College, and Spring Arbor University. Each organization will be included in Prima Civitas Foundation’s upcoming Commercialization Conference on April 9, 2008 at the Henry Center in Lansing, Michigan. Scheduled Entrepreneur and Inventor Days will be announced by individual organizations at a later date.
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Published January 28th, 2008
Lansing-area groups receive Mott grants
Jeremy W. Steele
Lansing State Journal
Three area organizations received grants to host events to link entrepreneurs, inventors and investors.
The M-Team of Meridian Township, Michigan Futures Seminar of the James Madison College at Michigan State University and MSU Rational Siting/Push-Pull Accelerator Program are among 10 groups splitting nearly $45,000 in funding from the C.S. Mott Foundation.
The grants, coordinated by the Lansing-based Prima Civitas Foundation, will be used to showcase business development efforts during an Inventors Day or allow entrepreneurs to make pitches to investors during an Entrepreneur Day.
Dates of the events have not been announced.
Other organizations that received grants include: Central Michigan University, Delta College, MSU Extension Center in Huron County, Saginaw Valley State University, ThumbWorks Michigan Works Agency, University of Michigan-Flint Launch Program and a combined proposal from Baker College, Jackson Community College, and Spring Arbor University.
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January 28, 2008
Prima Civitas Foundation Awards Nearly $45,000 in Mini-Grants to 10 Mid-Michigan Organizations for Entrepreneur & Inventor Days
Lansing, MI – Prima Civitas Foundation President David C. Hollister announced today the awarding of ten mini-grants to Mid-Michigan organizations who will host a variety of Entrepreneur and Inventor Days. The awards total nearly $45,000 and are funded by a grant received from the C.S. Mott Foundation in October 2007.
A competitive bid process was announced in December 2007 for regional higher education and related institutions who would host an Entrepreneur or Inventor Day in order to spur innovation by fostering investment in talent development and cultural change. Funded proposals received from across the region will either showcase individuals’ and firms’ business development efforts during an Inventors Day or provide a platform for funding pitches to actual investors during an Entrepreneur Day.
“These ten proposals will create significant opportunities throughout the Mid-Michigan region for entrepreneurs of all walks of life who will help create the new Michigan economy,” said Hollister. “An entrepreneurial spirit will be the backbone of our economy and these proposals will further the tremendous work that is already being done to help spur Michigan’s economy.”
Organizations that received a mini-grant include: Central Michigan University, Delta College, Michigan Futures Seminar of the James Madison College at MSU, MSU Extension Center in Huron County, MSU RSPPA Program, M-Team of Meridian Township, Saginaw Valley State University, ThumbWorks! Michigan Works Agency, University of Michigan-Flint Launch Program, and a combined proposal from Baker College, Jackson Community College, and Spring Arbor University. A brief summary of each proposal is included as Attachment A.
Each organization will be included in Prima Civitas Foundation’s upcoming Commercialization Conference on April 9, 2008 at the Henry Center in Lansing, Michigan. Scheduled Entrepreneur and Inventor Days will be announced by individual organizations at a later date.
About the Prima Civitas Foundation (PCF)
Established in 2006, the Prima Civitas Foundation (PCF) is a regional community and economic development collaborative committed to putting Mid-Michigan first. PCF activities include administrative management of the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team (MMIT) in addition to activities aimed at diversifying Mid-Michigan's economy and promoting job growth. PCF supports the expansion of industries such as next generation transportation, alternative energy, biomass, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and homeland security. In particular, PCF aims to position Mid-Michigan as a world leader in the post-petroleum economy. PCF is a not-for-profit organization under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
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Published December 12, 2007
Entrepreneur Day Offers Chance to Network
Jeremy W. Steele
Lansing State Journal
EAST LANSING - Bottom line, they were there for the money.
But the chance to make a 20-minute presentation before potential investors, customers and business partners was more than a dollars-and-cents matter for the eight people who made pitches Tuesday at the third Mid-Michigan Entrepreneur's Day.
"We're constantly looking for investment, but it's also for other kinds of contacts," said John Cunningham, chief executive officer of Lansing-based startup Rapid BioSense, which is working to produce a new type of test to quickly and inexpensively detect bacteria.
"We find these forums extremely valuable as a way to build our network of people."
Economic development officials say making those kinds of connections are integral to building a regional economy based on entrepreneurship and innovation.
That's why the Prima Civitas Foundation, with support from the Flint-based C.S. Mott Foundation, plans to spend $45,000 over the next few months to help bring inventors, entrepreneurs and investors together across a 13-county region, in communities such as Saginaw, Flint and Lansing.
"I'm quite energized at what I'm seeing around the region," said David Hollister, president and CEO of the Lansing-based nonprofit economic development organization.
Tuesday's event was the third Entrepreneur Day for Prima Civitas in the Lansing area. Hollister said the organization hopes to hold similar events about every other month in cooperation with other area economic development groups and educational institutions. He said the idea is to help create a better climate for small business startups by linking entrepreneurs with coaches, investors and each other.
"We're trying to build the infrastructure," Hollister said. "It's not going to be done overnight."
Developer George Eyde, whose been coming to the events, said he's already seen some companies worth investing in.
The idea, he said, is to help the next great entrepreneur and keep them in the area.
He referenced East Lansing native Larry Page, a co-founder of Internet giant Google Inc., which is based in Mountain View, Calif.
"We'd like to have these kind of people find an interest in out community," Eyde said.
December 6, 2007
Prima Civatis Foundation Supports Entrepreneurs
Lansing, Mich-
The Prima Civitas Foundation (PCF) and Michigan State University are co-sponsoring a Mid-Michigan Entrepreneurship Day on Tuesday, December 11th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm on the MSU campus. The event, which is designed to facilitate the collaboration between MSU technologies and non-profit companies, will feature eight entrepreneur presenters with topics ranging from biosensor technology to internet and technology insurance. The invitation only event is the 3rd entrepreneur day that PCF has sponsored. These events have been excellent tools in providing a connection between entrepreneurs and interested venture capitalists and investors.
Working with funds provided by the C.S. Mott Foundation, PCF, on behalf of the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team (MMIT), is also sponsoring grants to sponsor Entrepreneurs and Inventors Days throughout the region. By leveraging the region’s resources in entrepreneurship and commercialization, intellectual property, and human capital, Entrepreneurs and Inventors Days are intended to spur innovation by fostering institutional investments in talent development and cultural change. On December 4th, PCF sent a Request for Proposals (RFP) to interested organizations. PCF and MMIT are hopeful that these events and grants will further encourage the diversification of Michigan’s economy.
“The generous support of the C.S. Mott Foundation has allowed the Prima Civitas Foundation to start several initiatives aimed at developing a more entrepreneurial culture in Mid Michigan. I’m hopeful that these multiple efforts will stimulate new businesses and more jobs of the next few years,” said David Hollister, President and CEO of PCF. This initiative will culminate in a conference on April 9, 2008 where PCF will convene the region’s university and other commercialization and entrepreneurship service providers to encourage alignment of efforts, identify benchmarks, and adopt exemplary commercialization and technology transfer models.
For information regarding the Entrepreneur Day, please contact the Prima Civitas Foundation at info@primacivitas.org.
For information regarding the grants, please contact the Mid Michigan Innovation Team at info@midmiinnovationteam.org.
December 4, 2007
Prima Civitas Foundation & MMIT announce grant opportunity for development of Entrepreneur & Inventor Days
To help spur innovation throughout the mid Michigan region, the Prima Civitas Foundation, along with the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team, today announced a $5,000 grant opportunity for regional organizations that will develop and sponsor Entrepreneur and Inventor Days.
By leveraging the region’s resources in entrepreneurship and commercialization, intellectual property, and human capital, Entrepreneur & Inventor Days are intended to stimulate innovation by invigorating higher-education-associated commercialization activity and raise awareness of higher-education institutions’ roles and activities in this field.
“This grant opportunity offers area higher-education institutions and organizations a chance to bring together the region’s entrepreneurs and inventors to engage in regionally supported economic development”, said David Hollister, President of the Prima Civitas Foundation.
This initiative will culminate in a conference on April 9, 2008 where Prima Civitas will convene the region’s university and other commercialization and entrepreneurship service providers to get updated on the region’s commercialization assets, encourage alignment of efforts, identify benchmarks, adopt exemplary commercialization and technology transfer models, and formulate policy recommendations for the legislature.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) has been published by the Prima Civitas Foundation, and applicant proposals are due January 18, 2007. The RFP is available online at www.midmiinnovationteam.org.
