Consumers Energy is one step closer to building its first wind energy park in the next two years.

The Jackson-based company has signed a contract with a national manufacturer to supply 56 wind turbine generators for the utility’s Lake Winds Energy Park in Mason County on the state’s western shore.

The contract calls for Vestas-American Wind Technology, Inc. to manufacture, deliver and commission the V100-1.8 MW turbine units. The total installed generation capacity of the units is 100.8 megawatts.

“Securing this agreement is a major milestone in the development of our first wind energy park and continues our commitment to environmental stewardship,” says John Russell, president and CEO of Consumers Energy.

“Consumers Energy already is the largest supplier of renewable energy in Michigan. By the end of 2012, including the addition of our Lake Winds Energy Park, about eight percent of the power that Consumers Energy supplies to its customers is expected to come from Michigan-based renewable sources.”

Consumers Energy provides natural gas and electricity to 6.5 million of the state’s 10 million residents in the 68 counties of Michigan’s lower peninsula.

Source: Consumers Energy

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Liquid Web Inc. is growing again.

The Lansing-based web hosting giant has announced that it is opening a new office located in Scottsdale, AZ. The new office is staffed by eight software development engineers and plans to add 15 more by the end of the year.

That brings Liquid Webs facility count to four. The company has three data centers in Lansing, two on Creyts Road and a third on Ena Drive.

The new office is more good news for Liquid Web, which is also celebrating the launch of a new product feature called Storm Bare Metal. The feature creates an automated system that allows Liquid Web customers to make changes to their own server accounts – such as how much server space they need at any given time – without going through a technician.

It also allows customers to create their own personalized server configurations, depending on their IT needs.

Liquid Web was founded in 1997 in Lansing. The company now has more than 20,000 clients in 120 countries.

Source: Travis Stoliker, Liquid Web

Writer: Louise Knott Ahern

Regency Beauty Institute is opening its fifth Michigan campus in Lansing. Plans are to renovate its 6,361 square foot space at 3415 W. Saginaw in time for March enrollment.

“We’recontinually adding new campuses across the country and we’re alwayslooking for communities where we think there will be demand for ourparticular approach to cosmetology,” says Paul Ariloff, vice presidentof marketing. “We don’t have any campuses in Lansing and this was anatural community to expand into.”

RegencyBeauty Institute is a Minnesota-based cosmetology education companythat has more than 62 campuses located in more than 15 states.

Theschool will bring some jobs to the area. Ariloff says the school willlikely hire five to six local instructors and central staff for itsMarch opening.

“For years the employmentand growth in cosmetology has very closely mirrored population growthand often gets tagged as a recession-proof career,” Ariloff says.

Classsizes are dependent on enrollment, which rotates every four weeks forthe full-time program. Ariloff says students are already showinginterest in the Lansing school. The facility has two classrooms and aperformance floor.

Source: Paul Ariloff, Regency Beauty

Writer: Ivy Hughes

The Michigan Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MADHH) moved from Lansing Township to Lansing’s Westside at the end of 2010, a change MADHH Executive Director Nan Asher says will give members greater access to the association.

“Size-wise, it’s the same, but the floor plan is a little better,” Asher says about the 1,600 5236 Dumond Ct. location. “We’re hoping to expand our services at this location.”

The MADHH provides multiple service to those with hearing loss including parental group education and interpretation. Asher wants to expand services to include remote video interpretation for those residing in locations such as the Upper Peninsula.

“We’ll be able to handle more functions at a centralized location,” she says. “These groups are statewide and this relates to our mission to help people.”

Source: Nan Asher, MADHH

Writer: Ivy Hughes

After 21 years in an office suite, the Mayotte Group architectural firm has moved to a 5,000 square foot, stand-alone building in Delta Township.

“This is just a larger overall space and gives us more meeting space,” says Nicki Badgero, designer with the Mayotte Group.

The 5,000 square foot space is substantially larger than the group's former 3,700 square foot space and includes a basement.

“We’ll also be able to bring our archivals over,” Badgero says about Mayotte’s substantial reference materials.

The move keeps the Mayotte Group near one of its largest clients,  Delta Township's Auto Owners Insurance. 

The Mayotte Group has 11 employees. While the group isn’t currently hiring, Badgero says future growth is possible.

“We’re busy now and it’s hard to say, but there’s potential,” she says.

The new address is 6240 W. Mount Hope.

Source: Nicki Badgero, Mayotte Group

Writer: Ivy Hughes

Emergent Biodefense Operations is investing $10.9 million in its Lansing facility.

Emergent Biodefense Operations is part of biopharmaceutical company Emergent Biosolutions. The $10.9 million will allow Emergent Biodefense Operations to develop and manufacture vaccine and immune-related therapeutics.

The majority of the funds will pay for additional equipment. The company has already spent more than $70 million to ready its Lansing facility for production, says Karl Dorshimer, vice president of the Lansing Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

The investment and expansion of operations is expected to create 93 jobs.

“In these times, I think we should be feeling quite good about how the city’s positioned,” says Bob Trezise, CEO of the Lansing EDC. The Emergent expansion and jobs announcement comes on the heels of Jackson National Life’s announcement to bring an additional 150 jobs to the city.

“People are hurting, there’s no question about that. Times are hard, but we continue to have jobs announcements and it’s a real diversification of our city,” Trezise says. “It’s positioning us well on a global scale,”

Source: Chelsea Niemiec, D+P Company

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

NuWave, an East Lasing-based technology management and telecommunications company, recently opened a new location on Lansing’s Westside.

The 3,500 square foot 6539 Westland Way location houses NuWave’s network services and telecommunications personnel.

“We were looking for office space that gave us mixed use and had both nice office and warehouse space,” says NuWave Vice President of Sales Chad Paalman. NuWave also has offices in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids.

NuWave recently added a new medical solutions division that focuses on electronic medical records as well as a residential network support division that focuses on the retail market. 

“There’s been a lot of downsizing and consolidation in the industry, and we’ve taken over a couple of companies,” Paalman says about company growth.

NuWave has added six to eight people within the last year and continues to grow.

“Probably over the next year we’ll add a couple of more people in the Lansing area,” he says.

Paalman says the company is testing a lot of new software, including the very recently released Microsoft Windows 7, which NuWave been running for six months.

“We try to be very bleeding edge so that we can keep our clients leading edge,” he says. “We internally test and run software months if not years before its available to the public so we’re up to speed for clients when it does become available.”

Source: Chad Paalman, NuWave Partners

Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.

This year has been a busy one for the Ingham County Land Bank. Using part of $5.9 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding the City of Lansing received as part of the economic stimulus package, the Land Bank just started construction on two foreclosed homes on the Southside.

“The Land Bank and the land bank statute is really a tool to be used by the community — and all members of the community — to accomplish an end,” says Eric Schertzing, Ingham County Treasurer & Land Bank chair, referring to the collective interest in rehabbing or removing foreclosed properties to improve neighborhood value.

The two new constructions are located on Risdale Street near Wainwright Elementary School. The Land Bank has roughly 300 parcels within the city, and about half of them include structures. Schertzing says the Land Bank picks up about 100 new properties every year.

The Ingham County Land Bank recently purchased 18 houses from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Land Bank will renovate the majority of the newly acquired proprieties.

“Those are really throughout the city,” he says. “If you look at where we own things, it’s pretty diverse.”

Source: Eric Schertzing, Ingham County Land Bank

Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.