The founding director of the Capital Area District Library (CADL) is retiring in June. Susan Hill has been there from the beginning, when the Lansing School District Library and the Ingham County Library system merged.

She predicts that the library board of trustees will enlist a national search firm seeking her replacement.

In a little over a decade, Hill crafted the library system into a financial powerhouse, nearly doubling its annual budget to $13 million while spinning-off annual community economic impact of $78 million.

“Studies show that every $1 spent on a library system yields $6 spent in that community,” Hill says. Libraries tend to be destination points, drawing people into the towns where they are located. Patrons then spend money nearby, she says.

CADL serves 10 communities, from Stockbridge to Lansing, and Holt to Webberville.

Public computer usage has increased by 340% over her tenure. The libraries had three or four computers for public use when she came on board. Now, there are 260 public access computers, with specialized classes to teach their use.

Reaching into the community has been a Hill priority. A business librarian was brought in four years ago. She developed a collection for entrepreneurs and now offers classes for small business owners ranging from accounting to Internet marketing.

A contest is running now for the best start-up business plan; the winner will receive $2,000 in cash plus services such as advertising. Fifty people have signed up so far.

What will Hill do in her retirement?

“Maybe nothing for awhile,” she laughs. “But who knows what opportunities may arise?”

Gretchen Cochran, Innovations & Jobs editor, may be reached here.

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

20 Capital-area high school seniors will don hard hats and other safety paraphernalia when they report for work this week at the Lansing Board of Water and Light.
 
The BWL will invest $90,000 in the First STEP program, a first of its kind for a Michigan utility. BWL hopes to lure some of the youngsters back for full-time entry jobs. The students will earn $10 per hour, working five days, three hours each. The other half day, they will attend school. Each will be constantly accompanied by a mentor while at work.

Nearly 120 students applied for the positions, writing essays and filing resumes. The pool was narrowed with the help of Capital Area Michigan Works.

The final students come from across the area: 12 from Lansing schools, two each from Charlotte and Grand Ledge, and one from Bath, Holt, Mason and Stockbridge. Half of the students are minorities, and four are young women.

“We have an aging workforce,” says Dallas Burdick, manager of organization development and training at BWL, and chief organizer of the First STEP program.

Over the next five years, 40 percent of the 730 BWL employees will be eligible for retirement. It is a problem reflected throughout the utility business.

“Our goal is to help the students link what they’re learning in school to how it relates to the real world,” Burdick says. “We also hope we can hire as many as 10 to stay on with us.”

He predicts the lure will be great. An entry level position can pay as much as $15 per hour plus benefits. A line worker working atop utility poles making repairs can make as much as $25 per hour or more. Students who are not hired will qualify for a $1,500 Lansing Community College scholarship.

Gretchen Cochran, Innovations & Jobs editor, may be reached here.

It started with an initial $350 investment for one truck. 20 years later Mary Ellen Sheets has grown Two Men and a Truck into an international franchise corporation with 200 offices in 31 states and Canada and Ireland, and nearly $200 million in revenue.

Now dubbed the nation’s largest independently-owned business and residential moving company, the Capital region’s own company has been ranked number one in the “Moving Services” category of Entrepreneur magazine’s list of top franchise opportunities in 2009.

It’s the second consecutive year the company has claimed the top spot in the moving services category of the “Franchise 500”—and the 17th successive year it has appeared in the magazine’s rankings, says Brig Sorber, the company’s president, and one of Sheets’ sons who is leading the company.

The list results from performance rankings in areas including financial strength and stability, growth rate, and system size. The company also ranked 212th among the magazine’s top 500 franchise opportunities.

In 2008, the company ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Full Service Moving Companies” by J. D. Power and Associates.

Meanwhile, three employees have recently received professional certification from the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITTL): Norine Bardo, service center specialist; and Steve Pinkos, business applications specialist; and Scott Auge, infrastructure team leader. Bardo lives in Lansing, Pinkos in Holt, and Auge in Laingsburg.

Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
 

Lansing's new Information Technology Empowerment Center (ITEC) won't officially open in the old South Holmes Street School until April, at least. But that didn't stop the Mayor from hosting his State of the City speech there on Monday, and isn’t slowing the energetic organization from teaching people, particularly teens, about the methods and magic of the high tech world.

With the beginning of the new semester, ITEC will be teaching 90 students at Lansing’s Pattengill Middle School about the science behind videos, music, and even poetry.

“Kids tend to use Facebook but they don’t know how to set up or design such a site," says Kirk Riley, ITEC director. "We’re going to help them look under the hood. We’ll be teaching about waves, pixels and sequencing” and lots more. And it will be fun.

Classes will also begin this month at Lansing’s Sexton High School; they have already started at the Black Child and Family Institute. By spring, Riley expects a partnership with Impression 5 Science Center to bring classes there. And by summer, he hopes to be offering six-week technology camps.

Funding is still being captured for the ITEC programs. Riley has raised about $100,000 of the $350,000 goal to push the program forward.

“Jobs are going unfilled here because the applicants’ tech skills are not good enough,” Riley says. “We’re going to change that, building homegrown talent.”

Source: Kirk Riley, ITEC

Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, can be reached here.

Making biofuel from corn-crop waste just got cheaper, thanks to a new process patented by Michigan State University (MSU).

Doctoral student Ming Lau and professor Bruce Dale have found a way to speed the fermentation that is required to turn products into biofuel. By pretreating corn cobs, stalks and leaves, referred to as “stover,” with ammonia, the cellulose is broken down into fermentable sugars which may then be turned into biofuel, Lau explains.

The MSU process is called ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX). It uses ammonia to break down the cellulose and hemicellulose in plants. The pretreatment process is 75 percent more efficient than when conventional enzymes alone are used, Dale says.

“Reducing the cost of breaking down cellulose into fermentable sugars has been a major issue slowing cellulosic ethanol production,” Dale says.

The next step could be a pilot plant, perhaps at MBI International. MBI, a subsidiary of the MSU Foundation, partners with universities and companies to commercialize technology.

“There are several companies—including the Mascoma Corp. of Boston, which plans to open one of the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol plants here in Michigan—that may be interested in using this technology,” Dale says. “We are working to make the AFEX technology fit these companies’ needs.

Their research is published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Gretchen Cochran, Innovations & Jobs editor, may be reached here.

When the Capital region’s high school juniors take the Michigan Merit Exam in March, they’ll find a new component on the test called Work Keys. The keys will assess if the students have the skills required to manage a job, including math, understanding what they read, and knowing how to find information.

If they do well enough, the students will receive certificates declaring their employability, says Sheila Dunham of the Ingham Intermediate School District.

Employers are embracing the National Career Readiness Certificate program now that Michigan’s Council for Labor and Economic Growth (CLEG) has approved the certificate as the statewide workforce credential. More than 375 employers have signed letters of commitment for the Michigan initiative, Dunham says.

“The certificate offers individuals, employers and educators an easily understood and universally valued credential that certifies the attainment of workplace skills.”

The certificate began as a pilot project in 2007. With the help and leadership of the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team, the Prima Civitas Foundation, and Ingham Intermediate School District, Capital region high school seniors received 1,441 certificates in 2007.

Gretchen Cochran, Innovations & Jobs editor, may be reached here.

Mid-Michigan’s milk cows got star billing in the state’s 2008 annual Agri-Business report just released by Don Koivisto, director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

Highlighted in the report is the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), which owns the largest dairy co-operative in the state in Ovid, in Clinton County.

The MMPA invested $35 million in its Ovid plant, leveraged into $186 million in both direct and indirect economic impact, the MSU Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources says. With the plant’s new capacity, it can process five million pounds of milk, or 25 percent of the state’s annual milk volume of 7.5 billion pounds. The plant expansion created 10 new jobs, bringing its employee base to 96 and creating 344 construction jobs.

Koivisto also cites grants extended to the Michigan Potato Industry Commission and the Michigan Apple Committee, both housed in DeWitt, as well as Seafood Systems, Inc. in Okemos, which is working on developing shrimp farms.

Agri-business employs a million people, nearly 25 percent of those currently working in the state.

“If Michigan’s agri-food sector appeared on the Fortune 500 list, it would rank 62nd, which speaks volumes on the importance to Michigan’s economic health,” Koivisto notes.

Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture

Gretchen Cochran is Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.

In about a year, East Lansing expects to be better able to fight high rise building fires with a new 100-foot aerial ladder truck, thanks to a $531,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The city will add $59,000 to purchase the truck.

Fire Chief Randall Talifarro says Rep. Mike Rogers, Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Sen. Carl Levin were helpful in securing the funding. The new truck will allow the fire department to better reach 10-story buildings.

The Assistance to Firefighters grant program helps protect the health and safety of the public with respect to fire and other hazards, FEMA says. 81 grants were awarded, totaling $7.6 million to fire departments within the United States.

Source: City of East Lansing

Gretchen Cochran is Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.

An Old Town artist has hit the big time, expecting 15 million viewers to watch TV’s daytime cooking guru, Rachael Ray, extol the virtues of her new traveling cup sling.

Barbara Hranilovich, artist and book illustrator, now adds “inventor” to her repertoire of skills. Her CADDi was featured as an audience gift on the January 19 Rachael Ray show.

The show focused on favorite gifts given during the holiday season. They found Hranilovich and her CADDi on StartUp Nation, the web site devoted to new products and their inventors.

And there it was, the reusable $4.50 cup sleeve with strings, allowing nearly impossible-to-spill transport of any to-go-drink.

The CADDi was listed in the Most Innovative and the Greenest categories. On the site’s popularity meter, it was “on fire”. Hranilovich got a call and had just a few hours to package up the vinyl hanging beverage sleeves and get them off to the show.

Always an independent business person with her art, she’s grown her skill base by joining such groups as Ladies Who Launch, a new media company for women entrepreneurs, which hosts business incubators around the country.

Having spent $40,000 in product development, she now has a patent pending, a product of her company, BARBCO.

Source: Barb Hranilovich

Gretchen Cochran, Innovation and Jobs news editor, can be reached here.

Photo courtesy of CADDi

The first class offering certification in homeland security for local National Guard and local police and fire people has started at the Veterans Affairs site in North Lansing.

Fifteen people from mid-Michigan are registered in the pilot class with an overview of the homeland defense and security system and its relationship to local legal and jurisdictional issues. The class is part of a series to be offered by the Michigan Department of Military & Veterans Affairs and the MSU School of Criminal Justice. 

According to Dr. Phil Schertzing, an instructor at the criminal justice school, the series of courses will offer National Guard personnel, reservists, state and local public safety personnel the tools to work together in the event of either a terrorist attack or a major natural disaster such as a tornado or flood.

The courses are offered as “hybrids,” with traditional instructor-led classroom sessions on drill weekends at the new veterans’ center, supplemented by online activities between classes, says Brigadier General Michael McDaniel, Michigan Homeland Security Advisor and Assistant Adjutant General for Homeland Security.

Source: MSU University Relations

Gretchen Cochran is the Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.

The most recent episode of the new online multimedia post “Wednesday’s at One with Bonnie and Bill,” covered topics ranging from global warming to Edgar Allen Poe. Hosted and produced by Bonnie Buckueroux and Bill Castanier, the program is taped weekly at Gone Wired Cafe on Lansing’s Eastside, but it’s available online anytime.

The show captures the broad and quirky interests of the two hosts.

Buckueroux recently retired from Michigan State University's (MSU) School of Journalism and now focuses on sustainable farming. But one of her first interviews was with two members of the Church of Latter Day Saints that she saw making calls on a local street.

Castanier left the Michigan Department of Economic Development (MEDC) five years ago, and has positioned himself as a literary journalist, offering daily posts and regular podcasts on his MittenLit.com blog. In the latest show, Castanier interviews Gary Hoppenstand of MSU’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Popular Culture about Poe’s impact on the modern detective novel.

A section of the show included The Clementine's, who anchor a discussion about the challenge of finding fresh fruit here in winter.

Included in the site are Twitter updates on local news, archived program podcasts and blogs.

Source: Bill Castanier, "Wednesday's at One with Bonnie and Bill"

Gretchen Cochran is the Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.

East Lansing-based NuWave Technology Partners has formed an agreement with American Office Solutions of Jackson to increase service and technology options for its customers.

“We’re proud to partner with AOS,” says Chad Paalman, NuWave’s vice-president of sales. “AOS’s commitment to providing outstanding service for its customers means it’s a perfect complement to NuWave.”

NuWave Technology Partners, which also has an office in Kalamazoo, is a telephone system and computer network integrator that markets, installs and services telecommunication systems and computer network solutions. NuWave also develops custom software applications, proactive network security packages and e-business websites, and provides comprehensive support and maintenance.

AOS is an electronics dealer serving mid-Michigan companies for over a decade. Through sales, rental and service of Sharp office products such as printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines, AOS helps its customers operate their businesses more efficiently, says Brad McEldowney, vice president of sales.

Source: Andrea Davis, NuWave Technology Partners

Gretchen Cochran is the Innovations and Jobs editor. Contact her here.

The Arts Council of Greater Lansing has roughly $25,000 in grant money to hand out to local artists.

“This is the first program that we’ve developed from the sale of the Center of the Arts,” says Arts Council of Greater Lansing Executive Director Leslie Donaldson. “We’re taking the interest that we get off the sale each year to grant individual artists funding.”

The Arts Council of Greater Lansing recently sold the building to the city. Donaldson says the amount of interest earned on the building will change each year, but she hopes that eventually, the Arts Council of Greater Lansing will be able to disperse $40,000 a year.

Individual grants of $1,000 each will be granted to qualifying artists. To apply for a grant, artists need to be members of the Art Council, a $25 membership. Artists in Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Shiawassee Counties are eligible. All mediums are accepted. Artists can apply as emerging or established artists. Emerging artists have to have less than a five-year history of art shows and sales.

“I’m pretty excited about the program,” Donaldson says. “Not only is this the first ever individual artist program that will hopefully help them professionally, but it also provides an education component that we’re seeking to expand.”

The application deadline is Jan. 30.

Source: Leslie Donaldson, Arts Council of Greater Lansing

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

Old Town design company, Rizzi Designs, grew by 70 percent in 2008 and is expanding its business model in anticipation of additional growth in 2009.

Rizzi Deigns is a marketing firm that specializes in graphic design, public relations, event planning, advertising, corporate identity and branding. 

Three years ago, the company increased its focus on commercial products, providing and designing multiple products for its clients. This shift is a large factor in the company’s growth, according to Sandra Neuman, promotions director for Rizzi Designs.

Rizzi Designs provides products for a variety of companies and nonprofits. Many Lansingites may be familiar with Rizzi Designs’ work on the items handed out at Old Town festivals, such as the wine and beer glasses passed out at the Festival of the Sun/Moon.

Rizzi Designs owner, Rochelle Rizzi, anticipates the bridal industry to be their next growth spot. Right now, Rizzi Designs has a few bridal clients, but is increasing its presence at bridal shows.

Rizzi also says the addition of Neuman as business partner has helped propel the business.

“Having two different point of views, I think, is giving us some great momentum,” she says.

Source: Rochelle Rizzi, Rizzi Designs

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

The Eaton Intermediate School District's Career Preparation Center (CPC) at Lansing Community College (LCC) has received three grants worth $4,300 to help promote technology in the classroom.

The money will be used to acquire five digital cameras and printers, MP3 players and a software program that allows teachers to remotely see what students are doing on their monitors.

The cameras will help students build their career portfolios. The MP3 players will allow students to listen to portions of their textbooks.

“These are things that will hopefully help support students and their success here,” says Laura Percival, with the CPC.

The CPC is located on both LCC’s Downtown and west campuses. The programs help high school students learn transferable skills, earn high school credit and college credit.

Source: Laura Percival, Eaton Intermediate School District's (CPC)

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Lansing-based Jackson National recently received national recognition for its dedication to customer service.

In its latest benchmarking study, the Service Quality Measurement Group, Inc. (SQM), recognized Jackson National as a World Class service provider. Generally, only five percent of contact call centers receive this designation; however, 2008 marks the fourth consecutive year that Jackson’s received the recognition.

SQM benchmarks more than 250 North American contact centers every year. To achieve a World Class designation, at least 80 percent of  customers surveyed must rate their experience with a company’s contact center as “very satisfied.”

This year, Jackson received the highest rating from 88 percent of the survey’s participants, a four percent increase over last year’s results. 

“In a volatile market, the ability to accurately and efficiently service investor and adviser needs is a major competitive advantage for our organization,” says Clark Manning, president and chief executive officer of Jackson. “The fact that we were able to gain percentage points during this time speaks volumes about the individuals who represent Jackson in our call center. We are very pleased to receive this recognition from SQM for the fourth year in a row, and I congratulate our entire service department on an outstanding accomplishment.”   

Jackson National also recently developed a new corporate Web site. The new site, www.jackson.com, replaces the old www.jnl.com address. The new site includes new tools and services for advisers and their clients.

Source: Andrew Silver, Jackson National

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

One of the manufacturers in the Capital region that’s doing fairly well is Fleet Image of Lansing.

The company manufactures chemical agent coatings and paint applications that are used on military vehicles. In the last two years, the company has experienced sizable growth and is expected to hire additional employees in January.

“In the past 2.5 years we’ve experienced a huge growth and we’re furthering our growth right now into other aspects of our industry,” says Brian Brandt with Fleet Imaging.

A contract with British Aerospace systems to apply coatings to mine resistant vehicles gave the company’s production line a large boost.

“By doing such a quality project of putting that into place, it’s led our company into a lot of other ventures,” he says.

Brandt has 133 employees. He expects contracts to pick up in January, which will mean he has to hire more employees.

Fleet Image of Lansing also recently received an ISO 9001:2000 quality certification from the International Organization for Standardization.

“It’s really enhances our production and gives us stronger showing in the field to help our sales and give our customers the comfort level that we have this system in place,” he says.

Source: Brian Brandt, Fleet Imaging of Lansing

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

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers are working with an Ann Arbor-based company to fine tune a technology that will make leafy greens safer for public consumption.

MSU researchers Bradley Marks and Sanghyup Jeong are proving that X-rays can kill bacterial pathogens such as E. coli 0157:H7 and salmonella on the most delicate vegetables. It's research that may extend the shelf life of some leafy greens.

“Our work to date has shown that X-ray technology is very effective in killing the bacterial pathogens without causing undesirable changes in product quality,” Marks says.

Though food radiation has been around for a long time, Marks says this technology is different then radiation and explores the efficiency of the low energy X-rays in food safety.

Marks says the increasing prevalence of food borne outbreaks highlights the need for this type of technology.

MSU’s role in the project is to acquire scientific data that shows the technology is effective and safe. They’re also exploring the dosage needed for each green. From there, the Ann Arbor-based company, Rayfresh, will use it for commercial application in foods.

Source: MSU

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

East Lansing-based biotech company, Working Bugs, received a $2 million grant from the state’s Strategic Fund Board to continue developing new chemicals by using the fermentation process.

“It’s really supposed to give you a boost on building up your business,” says Working Bugs President Dianne Holman. “We have so many ideas that we want to start putting into play and this will really help us get going faster.”

Working Bugs specializes in using the fermentation process to create the chemicals that larger companies, manufacturers and the government purchase and use to create new bio-based products.

As Working Bugs continues to grow, space becomes an issue. Holman envisions Working Bugs’ current East Lansing location as the company’s future main office, but anticipates that they’ll need to acquire a new production facility.

“We’re really bursting at the seams here,” she says.

The $2 million is part of $16 million the Strategic Fund Board distributed to several Michigan-based alternative energy companies and universities to encourage alternative energy development.

To learn more about Holman and Working Bugs, click here.

Source: Dianne Holman, Working Bugs

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Peckham, Lansing’s non-profit community rehabilitation organization, received a $1 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to further link Lansing’s disabled community with private sector jobs.

The Projects with Industry (PWI) grant will help Peckham connect the disabled to customer service and call center-related jobs.

“In the past three years of PWI funding, Peckham has served twice as many clients as anticipated with a 90 percent placement rate,” says Peckham Program Development Coordinator Ann Gillmore. “Technological advancements are vital to succeeding in today’s workforce. This grant will continue to allow Peckham the ability to prepare persons with disabilities to successfully obtain competitive employment.”

Peckham is structurally expanding its presence in Lansing as well. The non-profit is building an $18 million, 180,000 square foot addition to its existing facility.

Source: Bonnie Zimmerman, Peckham

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