This year’s “Be a Tourist in your Own Town” event will bring thousands of people from around the state into Downtown Lansing and drive up sales for more than 50 of the area’s participating businesses.

“The tourism industry is a key component of the Greater Lansing economy,” says Tracy Padot, vice president of Marketing Communications for the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Based on a study conducted by Michigan State University, more than five million out-of-town guests visit Greater Lansing each year, generating $431 million in direct spending and supporting 7,500 jobs in the tourism sector. We want residents to not only enjoy the leisure options Lansing offers, but also recognize the importance of creating a hospitable environment for our guests by serving as community ambassadors.”

On May 31, area tourists will spend $1 on a “passport” to visit 50 businesses including the Michigan State Capitol Building, Impression 5 Science Center and Paramount Coffee.

“There’s a lot of unique things you can’t typically get in to see,” Padot says, explaining that businesses often try to showcase portions of their operations that aren’t generally opened to the public.

The Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau and area sponsors spend $10,000 to $12,000 on the event each year.

“Because we’re one of the first to start this, we were actually listed as a 'best practice' in our industry for this particular event,” Padot says.

Every year the event expands. This year, Wyoming-based pedicab company, Elite Pedicabs, is bringing its business to the event. Elite Pedicabs' owners, Randy McCullough and Daren Galinis, anticipate that their pedicab business will take off in the area, which could prompt them to open a new location in Lansing.

Source: Tracy Padot, Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau

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

Michigan State University (MSU) Design Days is a chance for MSU engineering students to show off their innovations to professors, colleagues and industry leaders, and this year they did not disappoint.

Students showcased an electro-mechanical desk chair that allows children with cerebral palsy to sit at a desk; a Ford sensor showroom and a workflow editor.

One group created a Spartan T-shirt shooter that uses a cannon-like extension to shoot balled-up T-shirts into a crowd. Another team put together a device that measures a snowboarders' or skiers’ speed and distance as they fly down the mountain.

Each student worked with a team of engineering students to create their innovation. The MSU students also showed their work to middle school students in an effort to get them interested in engineering at a young age.

“It provides a link between early notions of dabbling in technical challenges and the launching of a successful career,” said Maureen Blazer-Adams, coordinator of the event. “It serves as an invaluable opportunity for precollege students to experience the different avenues of engineering and their importance in the technological fields.”

Many of the projects were sponsored by industry bigwigs such as Boeing, General Motors, IBM, Lear Corp., MacSteel Jackson Division, Microsoft, Motorola, NASA, Shell Oil Co. and Whirlpool Corporation.

Source: Maureen Blazer-Adams, MSU College of Engineering

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

The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) recently recognized the East Lansing Public Library (ELPL) for its innovative International Storytime program.

Students and members from a cultural awareness club at East Lansing High School paired with the ELPL to create the International Storytime program. Students from different countries read their favorite books—first in their native language and then in English—to younger students.

“My goal was that the kids could hear books like the Rainbow Fish in Japanese and English,” says Mary Hennessey with the ELPL. “Hopefully they understand that even though we might have a lot of differences with people in the world, we still have a lot of similarities.”

This the second time the ELPL has received national attention for a reading program. In 2002, the ELPL was recognized for its Stories in the Garden Program. Through this program, high school students read to kids in thechildren’s garden at Michigan State University (MSU) throughout the summer.

“Since we’re in such a diverse community, we do a lot of multi-cultural programs,” Hennessey says. “It’s one of the greatest things about living in this area.”

The ELPL also received $1,000 from the USBBY for the program.

Source: Mary Hennessey, ELPL

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

A study put together by manufacturing leaders and academics shows that the Mid-Michigan region in particular is ripe for bio-manufacturing opportunities.

“Many regions, such as greater Lansing, may be uniquely positioned with an historic, competitive advantage in both manufacturing and agricultural sectors, which can lead to increased wealth and job creation in the bio-based economy,” says Rex LaMore, project director of Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Community and Economic Development.

Mid-Michigan has a good manufacturing base that can produce bio-based products, and diverse crops that are necessary for harvesting bio-economy feedstock, according to the Tri-County Bio-Manufacturing Feasibility Study.

“We have the ability to grow those crops, and places in the rest of the world don’t have the same ability to grow those crops,” LaMore says.

Even though Mid-Michigan has the infrastructure and growing capacity to support bio-based products, the market hasn’t yet determined which products are going to lead the industry. But, whatever product takes the lead, Mid-Michigan will likely be able to produce it.

“One of the advantages we have in the Midwest is our crop diversity,” LaMore says. “It may not be corn, or sugar beats or soy, but we have the diversity to adjust.”

If Mid-Michigan plays its cards right, bio-manufacturing could create a new economy for the area.

“Consumer demand is growing, consumer desire is growing and this sector seems to be a potential growth area,” LaMore says.

The final published results of the study will be released within weeks.

Source: Rex LaMore, MSU

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

The insurance and financial sector in the Lansing area continues to be one of the area’s largest and best-paying.

In 2006, finance and insurance industries employed 14,900 people in the Capital region. From 2000 to 2006, growth in the region's finance and insurance industries (13.2 percent) outpaced national financial services growth (8.9 percent) by roughly five percent, according to the "Dollars & Sense: Investing in the Insurance and Financial Services Workforce,” a report released by Capital Area Michigan Works! and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP).

“It’s on par with state government, university education and auto manufacturing,” says Bob Sherer with the Capital Area Manufacturing Council about financial sector as a Capital-area job provider.

The financial and insurance sector in the Lansing area leads every other metropolitan area in the state in terms of total jobs (6.8 percent). Statewide, just 5.8 percent of jobs are in these two industries.

“The growth we saw with the finance and insurance was truly unique to the Capital area,” says Mark Reffitt with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth (MDLEG).

From 2000 to 2006, these two industries combined grew by 13.2 percent in the region, and they’re projected to grow by 15 percent by 2014. Health care was the only industry that outpaced the financial sector in terms of growth from 2000 to 2006. During that same period, the health care sector in the Lansing area grew by 19.6 percent.

Source: Kate Tykocki, Capital Area Michigan Works!

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

East Lansing production company CMC2 is looking to add at least three employees by the end of the year.

CMC2 recently hired several employees, but hopes to boost its full-time employee count to 12 by the end of the year.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have clients and be in an environment where there’s a demand for our work,” says Richard Cheeney with CMC2.

CMC2 has earned a reputation as one of the most cutting-edge production companies in the area. CMC2 does a lot of work with imagery, videography, Web combos and programming. Clients have particularly been interested in CMC2’s ability to bring databases together and combine technology with creative graphics.

“That’s been a really big boon to us,” Cheeney says.

CMC2 recently won a contract with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to create a Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) for Spanish and Arabic.

“We’re pretty excited about that,” Cheeney says.

CMC2 does a lot of work in Michigan, but also has clients in Canada and England.

Source: Richard Cheeney, CMC2

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

A new study conducted by Michigan State University (MSU) could encourage more women with breast cancer to pursue chemotherapy treatment.

The study shows that the stress of a breast cancer diagnosis, rather than the chemotherapy itself, causes problematic memory and concentration problems in breast cancer patients.

“Just knowing that the cognitive effects need not be so developed could help in terms of their decision,” says Michael Boivin, with MSU’s Neurology and Ophthalmology department.

In his research, Boivin compared three groups of women. The first group included 44 women with breast cancer who hadn’t received chemotherapy or radiation. The second included 30 women who had a benign breast biopsy and the third included 20 breast cancer survivors who had completed treatment at least a year before.

Each of the women were tested on their cognitive abilities and evaluated for anxiety, depression, their overall quality of life and the amount of social support they had.

Women who were recently diagnosed and those who had benign biopsies performed the same on a working memory and spatial learning test, but neither group performed as well as the survivors who had undergone treatment.

The study also showed that women with breast cancer had slight problems with attention and learning skills prior to starting chemotherapy, and only three women, or 10 percent, developed cognitive problems during chemotherapy.

“These results,” Boivin says, “suggest that cognitive difficulties experienced by women with a new breast cancer diagnosis may be related to stress as a result of the diagnosis and other quality-of-life factors, and not simply due to the effects of chemotherapy or radiation.”

Boivin presented his results at the American Academy of Neurology’s 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago. 

Source: Michael Boivin, MSU

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

Michigan State University (MSU) is using $7.5 million in Homeland Security grants to link area emergency professionals to state and federal response teams.

“One of the criticisms in the 9/11Commission Report was the lack of information sharing -  that agencies weren’t able to connect the dots, they weren’t doing analysis and they weren’t able to get the right information in the right hands,” says David Carter with the university’s Criminal Justice Department.

Carter and his staff started providing intelligence training in mid-2005. One area of training they specifically hone in on is making sure local, state and federal emergency providers communicate effectively in regards to intelligence issues. Carter and his staff have trained more than 2,000 officers from 1,200 agencies in 43 states and three countries in intelligence sharing.

Carter’s also helping the East Lansing-based Michigan Intelligence Operations Center for Homeland Security, which opened in 2007, get connected to local, state and federal emergency providers.

Source: Michigan State University

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

For more than a year, Michigan State University (MSU) and member's of the Lansing area's technology-based community have been working hard to connect students with Mid-Michigan jobs. To further this effort, MSU recently opened its career services Web site to alumni.

Now MSU alumni can get on MySpartanCareer.com and access the more than 3,700 employers who are trying to fill jobs. MySpartanCareer.com was launched last fall in an effort to link students with jobs and internships.

“The air of collaboration is incredible right now because everyone’s at the table looking out for what’s best for the area,” says John Hill with the MSU Alumni Association.

Keeping jobs and talent in the area will help the area thrive, he adds. The City of Lansing and the Capital Area IT Council have been instrumental in getting students invested in the area. The two collaborated on the Linking Lansing & U program, which introduces college students to jobs, internships and the Downtown lifestyle.

Hill says more collaborative efforts are on the way. There’s been some talk of creating virtual career fairs that can be accessed by alumni who have moved out of Michigan.

“It gives us another promotional vehicle to let alumni know about a job opportunity and say, ‘You can come back home,’” Hill says.

Source: John Hill, MSU Alumni Association

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

The Mid-Michigan Creative Alliance just concluded its first studio crawl, and it was a hit among the Lansing area's creative talent, including local businesses and college students who are interested in pursuing creative careers.

Twelve of the area’s top creative firms—including video production studios, photographers, advertising agencies and design companies—opened their doors to the public, giving each participant a punch card to mark their progress on the studio crawl. At the end of the progressive tour, visitors who turned in their studio cards were added to a raffle for a free iPod.

Studio crawl organizer and Vision Creative owner, Camron Gnass, says he doesn’t know how many people attended the crawl, but it definitely opened people’s eyes to the area’s thriving creative community.

“It gets warm bodies through our studios and lets them see the work that’s done in this market,” Gnass says.

One student even walked away from the crawl with a job offer.

“This being the inaugural event, we learned so much,” Gnass says. “We saw that this could really go anywhere and had so much success. The community was pouring through the doors and we thought, ‘Wow, this is awesome.’”

The 12 stops on this year’s tour certainly show the Mid-Michigan creative community is alive and well, but those listed on the tour guide are just the tip of the iceberg. Gnass says he hopes several more businesses, such as Studio Intrigue and Redhead Design Studio, will be included in future crawls.

“Ideally every creative place in town could have their doors open,” Gnass says.

Source: Camron Gnass, Mid-Michigan Creative Alliance

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

Graphic artist Carrie Schaeffer says her small, East Lansing-based graphic art company, Outer Graphics, is right on the cusp of a sizeable expansion.

Schaeffer isn’t quite sure how many employees she’ll need to add to her steady base of six freelancers, but she expects to start hiring next year. Schaeffer also needs to expand her office space, which she is rapidly outgrowing.

 “We’ve been busy despite the economy,” Schaeffer says.

During the past three years, Schaeffer has experienced a 20 percent jump in her revenue. Schaeffer’s company specializes in developing corporate logos, desktop publishing and business card creation.

Schaeffer chalks the growth up to consistent client referrals, but says the Mid-Michigan area has always been good to her business. Schaeffer grew up in the Upper Peninsula and after graduating from Michigan State University (MSU), spent some time out-of-state, but couldn’t resist the old Midwest charm for long.

“I just really liked the area,” she says about moving back to Michigan. “I thought it was a big small town, and I had a lot of connections here.”

Source: Carrie Schaeffer, Outer Graphics

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

ConnecTech, which is a technology industry-based networking group, is eager to get a branch started in the Mid-Michigan area.

Unlike other professional networking groups such as LinkedIn, ConnecTech is not based on virtual relationships. Its members actually go to physical events to do their networking. ConnecTech has eight chapters in Michigan.

Mid-Michigan already has a technology networking group, the Capital Area IT Council. However, Danielle DeLarge with ConnecTech says this group will be different because it focuses on tech employees rather than the companies themselves.

“We really are the only organization that’s for the tech professional,” says DeLarge.

Tech professionals would also have access to educational podcasts and mentoring programs. DeLarge says this program is also valuable because, unlike other tech networking programs, it will encourage students and new tech employees to meet people in their industry.

ConneTech is putting together a board to launch the Mid-Michigan chapter.

Source: Danielle DeLarge, ConnecTech

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

It may be painful to pay $60 every time you fill your gas tank, especially if you live in the 'burbs and have to commute to work. But the trend in rising gas prices is turning out to be a positive thing for cities.

Joe Cortright, with CEOs for Cities, recently released a report that showing that high gas prices and suburban living have contributed to the collapse of the housing market.

Those who live in the suburbs usually have to commute to work, because suburban living generally provides very few transportation alternatives, and residents are limited to expensive car trips. As a result, housing prices in distant neighborhoods are faring far worse during the housing crisis than those in downtown areas, according to the report.

In Chicago, for example, the average house in the 60618 zip code (5.6 miles from the city's downtown loop) appreciated from $374,000 to $410,000 (an increase of $36,000) between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the report. Meanwhile, a house in suburban Buffalo Grove (60089) that sold for the same price in 2006 declined by $30,000 over the course of the same year.

Bob Johnson, with the City of Lansing, says Lansing hasn’t tracked the impact of gas prices on Downtown living.

“It’s difficult to say if the increase in petroleum is getting more people to move downtown,” Johnson says. “People are moving down here already.”

But Johnson says there’s “no question” that high gas prices are part of the equation. People moving into Downtown Lansing are attracted to access to public transportation and the area's walkability.

“It (gas price) doesn’t require people to change where they currently live, but it does require them to change what they support,” Johnson says.

Johnson says at this point, it’s critical for the public to have a discussion about mass transit, which needs to be more widely accessible in the area.

View the report, titled "Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs," click here.

Source: Bob Johnson, City of Lansing

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