capitalgains - Innovation & Job News

East Lansing Will be Home to $550 Million Isotope Research Facility

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

It’s official: Michigan State University (MSU) beat out several top nuclear science locations around the country for the new, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science-funded, $550 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

FRIB will provide intense beams of rare isotopes—short-lived atomic nuclei not normally found on Earth—that will enable researchers to address leading-edge questions in nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics.

MSU’s National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) has been recognized as a world leader in rare isotope science and has produced research that has led to important breakthroughs in medicine, materials research, national security and physics.

"This is a great day for science,” says MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “We are grateful to the Department of Energy’s commitment to address this critical priority for the nation's physical sciences research infrastructure, and we are proud to have been selected as a partner. We are deeply dedicated to working with the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to develop an exceptional user facility serving the needs of national and international scientists."

Conceptual designs for the new facility will be created this year. Construction is expected to take up to 10 years. The facility will attract top researchers from around the world to conduct experiments in nuclear science, astrophysics and applications of isotopes to other fields.

The facility is expected to bring $1 billion in economic activity and 400 jobs to Michigan, according to an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group.

The NCSL facility will also get an upgrade, including a new, low-energy linear accelerator for nuclear astrophysics experiments and a 10,000-square-foot expansion of the experimental area. The upgrade should be complete by the summer of 2010.

For more information on the NCSL, click here.

Source: MSU

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

$2.2 Million Federal Grant to MSU Focuses on Health Outreach

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A $2.2 million federal grant will help Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Human Medicine engage students in the medical field before they reach college.

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration funded the three-year grant, which will pay for the creation of the Health Professions Achievement Pathway Alliance. The alliance will help engage elementary and high school students who are interested in medicine in health and science related activitiesbefore they decide to continue their education.

Specific programs will target middle and high school students, pre-health professions students enrolled in Michigan colleges and universities, post baccalaureate pre-medical students and disadvantaged students who are enrolled in MSU’s College of Human Medicine.

Alliance members include MSU’s colleges of Human Medicine and Natural Science, the Lansing School District, the Ingham Intermediate School District and three community-based organizations: the Black Child and Family Institute, the Cristo Rey Community Center and the Greater Lansing African American Health Institute.

Source: MSU

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

State Trust Fund Approves $1.98 Million for Lake Lansing Park Purchase

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Michigan National Resources Trust Fund (NRTF) approved a $1.98 million allocation for the acquisition of 120 acres of land that will expand Lake Lansing North Park.

The community’s played a huge role in getting funds for this expansion. The Meridian Township Land Preservation Advisory Board provided $675,000; Ingham County supplied $25,000 and the community raised $150,000.

The Preserve Lake Lansing Trails Committee and the Friends of Ingham County Parks, raised more than $150,000 from more than 1,000 donors in five short months. Matching funds for the grant had to be raised before the grant could be awarded.

“Kudos to the entire Preserve Lake Lansing Trails group for their tremendous commitment and determination,” says Ingham County Commissioner Deb Nolan.

The land will be jointly developed by Meridian Township and Ingham County.

“This property was overwhelmingly identified by Land Preservation Advisory Board members as the most unique in the county with the most exceptional natural features,” says Mary Helmbrecht, Meridian Township Clerk The current property owner, HDI Builders, has allowed Ingham County Parks to use a portion of the property for the Lake Lansing Park North trail system at no cost since the 1980s.

Source: Deb Bavery, Ingham County Parks

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

MSU Nails $1 Million NSF Globalization Grant

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers are delving into the effect globalization has on remote communities.

The researchers are using a $1 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to conduct a five-year study of “globalization from the perspective of households,” says principal investigator Dan Kramer, an assistant professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and James Madison College.

The study focuses on a group of villages on the Caribbean Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua. It wasn’t until 2007 that a road was completed to connect the coast to Managua, Nicaragua’s capital. The group will study the road’s effects on household resource use, farming and fishing, through comparisons to baseline data collected before the road was built.

Kramer says other studies have focused on globalization’s effects on nations or regions, but have ignored the “really complex set of drivers,” such as market access, technological change and migration between communities that cause changes in households.

Kramer said the group has already observed changes in the villagers’ attitudes about development. Initially they were excited, but are now exhibiting some apprehension about spinoff developments.

Source: MSU

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

East Lansing-based Web Ascender Employees Sell New Feature to Whitepages.com

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Employees of Web Ascenderin East Lansing are forever tinkering with new technologies, both onand off the job. In October, two of these employees sold one of theirideas to Whitepages.com.

Jeff McWherter and Michael Pardo sold a feature to Whitepages.com for the Google Phone, allowing the phone user to get the caller’s name, phone number and address when they call. This allows users to identify callers that arenot in their contact list.

During the firsttwo weeks of the application’s release, it was downloaded more than100,000 times and was featured on Web sites such as Gizmodo and Lifehacker.

The application even allows the user to add the person to their contact list and pull up a map of where the call originated.

“Itis always amazing to see something that starts as just a simple officeconversation, and watch it turn into a viable product,” says WebAscender's president Ryan Doom.

Source: Ryan Doom, Web Ascender

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

Williamston-based Printer Working With National Greeting Card Industry

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Williamston-based Wendy Shaft Block Printed Images and Limner Press are celebrating a year of success with the national greeting card industry.

Wendy Shaft, owner of Wendy Shaft Block Printed Images and her husband, Don Bixler, own Limner Press and signed a contract with national Collage Greetings last September. They now produce letterpress cards for the company, a partnership that’s given Shaft and Bixler a national presence.

“They picked us up nationally last September and it’s still going pretty good,” Bixler says.

Limner press specializes in old-fashioned letterpress printing.

Block and Bixler first started their printing company in1984 in Alaska while Shaft worked on the Alaska pipeline. Family circumstances brought them back to Michigan so they moved the printing business to Williamston.

The move is working out well for Bixler who says he likes living in small town Michigan.

“I actually like it,” he says. “I’ve spent most of my adult life in bigger cities and I really like the close business community that’s out here. I like having the ability, if I want something, for the most part, being able to walk right up the street to get it.”

Source: Don Bixler, Limner Press

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Williamston Medical Innovator Receives Award, $400,000 Grant

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Williamston-based AI Medical Devices, Inc. will close 2008 on a positive note. The medical device supplier recently got a $400,000 loan from the Michigan 21st Century Jobs fund and one of its founders, John Schwartz, was named innovator of the year by MichBio, Michigan’s biotechnology industry association.

AI Medical devices produces the Airway RIFL (Rigid Intubating Fiberoptic Laryngoscope), a device that facilitates placement of a flexible plastic tube into the trachea of patients to protect the airway and allow mechanical ventilation. The procedure, although common, is difficult, often traumatic and—if improperly done—can cause grave damage. It is especially difficult to perform on those suffering cervical spine injuries.

Schwartz, a Michigan State University (MSU) professor, and his brother ,Richard, an MSU graduate and Medical College of Georgia emergency room physician, created AI Medical Devices more than two years ago.

The brothers devised their innovation while on a sailboat in the Virgin Islands. Richard was in the military and was concerned about inserting medical tubes in people with spinal and facial injuries.

They started tinkering with pina colada straws in hopes of creating a device that might make the procedure less risky. When they got home, they fully developed their device and made plans to get it on the market.

They now have 11 patents pending. Two have been approved.

The two brothers recently completed a new scope that has a camera in the tip. It’s being tested in some markets, but should be in most markets in January.

“It’s completely electronic system,” Schwartz says. “We’ve done away with all the fiber optics.”

Now they need to find a CEO that can take them to the next level.

“We agreed with the 21st Century Fund, that we would hire a Michigan-based CEO for the company and that we would do most of the product development here,” he says. “We are also looking for some office space and warehousing space.”

Source: John Schwartz, AI Medical Devices, Inc.

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Prima Civitas Awarded $200,000 Grant To Support University Commercialization

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Lansing-based Prima Civitas Foundation (PCF) received a $200,000 grant that will allow the nonprofit to help universities commercialize innovations.

The C.S. Mott Foundation awarded the grant to Prima Civitas. The grant is a renewal of a 2007 Mott Foundation grant that provided funding for the “Moving Ideas to Market” initiative. The first round of the initiative created five action groups that will support efforts to commercialize university research and intellectual property.

These action groups focus on post-secondary entrepreneurship; high school entrepreneurship; developing a network to accelerate the relationship between entrepreneurs and angel investors; university and industry partnerships; and the WeToo Web feature that will link entrepreneurs and their service providers with regional resources.

“We know that we can’t change the culture in one year or grant period, but I am confident that a consistent tactical approach toward reinventing our entrepreneurship and commercialization strategies will pay off for the region,” says David Hollister, CEO and President of the Prima Civitas Foundation.

“Mott’s commitment, and the commitment of our partners and regional universities, moves us significantly forward.”

Source: Steven Bennett, Prima Civitas

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Capital Region Clean Cities Coalition Using $15,750 to Improve Vehicle Options

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities Coalition (GLACC) received $15,750 from the Michigan Energy Office to promote clean transportation vehicle technologies, fuels and practices.

“The goal is to speed up the adoption of alternatives to petroleum in the transportation sector,” says Maggie Striz-Calnin, program coordinator for the GLACC.

The GLACC works to achieve cleaner air and energy security in the Capital region through alternative fuel and vehicle usage, and fuel economy practices. Stakeholders include fleets, corporations, nonprofit organizations, utilities, local governments, and individuals—anyone interested in ways that cleaner fuels, vehicles, and practices can improve our air quality and energy security.

The GLACC is creating a three-year strategic plan that will help develop and implement programs that will increase alternative fuel availability. The GLACC is also planning a workshop series called “Greening your Fleet” to help fleet managers increase fuel economy and reduce emissions.

“The result for the region is improved air quality and reduced dependence on petroleum fuels,” says Striz-Calnin.

The GLACC grant will be used in Ingham, Clinton and Eaton Counties. The Michigan Energy Office awarded six grants totaling $89,184 for four Clean Cities Coalitions.

Source: Maggie Striz-Calnin, GLACC

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

Entrepreneur Brings Media Production Business to East Lansing Tech Incubator

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Justin Caine recently moved his media production company into the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center.

Caine owns Good Time Communications, a media production and graphic design company he started in February 2008.

“This place is great,” Caine says of the Technology Innovation Center, which is located above Barnes & Noble on Michigan Avenue in downtown East Lansing. “It’s so inexpensive, yet it provides services that would cost large amounts of money somewhere else.”

The City of East Lansing works with tech-based entrepreneurs to provide low cost rent while they get their business started.

Caine specializes in working with nonprofit groups and has created several productions for Lansing-based Sparrow Hospital.

Caine is a Children’s Miracle Network survivor who struggled with a brain tumor when he was a child. He says working with nonprofits allows him to give back.

“Not only do I feel completed to provide top quality video production and graphic design, but I’ve also been there and had my struggles as a kid,” Caine says.

Source: Justin Caine, Good Times Communications

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

A.J. Boggs Develops Information System for Ontario Non-Profit

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Okemos-based A.J. Boggs has developed an information system for a London, Ontario, non-profit organization, an innovation that will allow the Community Services Coordination Network (CSCN) to more effectively administer services to those with developmental disabilities.

The CSCN attempts to help integrate those with developmental disabilities into the community by providing a variety of services to these individuals. Before A.J. Boggs developed the Developmental Services Information System (DSIS), the CSCN had difficulty measuring an individual’s need, because there wasn’t a system in place to calculate this need. Each of the 50 Ontario agencies involved with administering these services had its own needs-assessment tool.

The DSIS is a streamlined system that evaluates the individual based on a support intensity scale, rather than their diagnosis.

“This is getting toward what their support needs are, and what their dreams are, and what they want to be doing,” says A.J. Boggs' CEO, Clarke Anderson.

Boggs says the new system is extremely important because it helps determine where these individuals will live.

“They’ve really been thrilled with it,” he says.

The system is in the pilot phase, and is expected to go beyond the Ontario pilot. A.J. Boggs is working with Oakland County and other Michigan-based units of government to develop something similar.

“We’re finding that states are being pressured by the Medicare agencies to standardize their criteria for supports,” he says.

Source: Clarke Anderson, A.J. Boggs

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

LCC Gets Greener By Joining National Climate Protection Commitment

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lansing Community College (LCC) has joined the ranks of more than 500 other colleges and universities committed to reducing carbon emissions through the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

All ACUPCC participants agree to set up committees within the college or university that will help reduce the university’s carbon footprint. They have to complete an inventory of all greenhouse gas emissions and develop a plan to pursue climate neutrality.

They also have to agree to implement two tangible actions from a set of options that include things like requiring that all new buildings meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, agreeing to purchase least 15 percent of the institution’s electricity consumption from renewable sources and agreeing to provide public transportation for all faculty, staff students and visitors.

“We have done our due diligence and, yes, it’s our belief that LCC could meet those requirements,” says Beckie Beard, chairwoman of the Sustainability Advisory Committee about the college’s ability to devise an emissions reduction plan. “There are just so many people in the area who have embraced sustainability. The more we talk about it, the more we learn about what everyone is doing.”

The college kicked off its first sustainable activities in October. The committee is still outlining future sustainable efforts and is creating an emissions inventory to determine how and where it can reduce its emissions.

Source: Nick Wasmiller, Seyferth & Associates Inc.

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

Lansing Expects 400 Percent Increase with New Single Stream Recycling

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In an effort in vastly increase recycling participation, the City of Lansing has announce plans to institute a “single stream” recycling program.

Residents and city employees will no longer have to sort recyclables because they’ll be separated at the recycling facility. The city is also adding plastic bags, cardboard boxes, paperboard boxes, plastic containers numbered three through seven, all paper types, small metal items and plastic-coated drink boxes to its curbside pickup services.

“Because we will no longer have to worry about sorting our recyclables, this new system will be much easier for residents and for City employees,” said the director of the city's Public Service Department, Chad Gamble. “We expect this expansion to lead to a major increase in recycling participation and significantly reduce the amount of waste contributed to our local landfills.”

The City estimates the program will conserve 120,000 trees, 40 million kilowatts of energy and 51 million gallons of water per year. The City also estimates that the program will reduce carbon dioxide gas by 22,850 tons, which is equivalent to taking 4,155 cars off the road.

City officials expect the new system to boost Lansing’s recycling rate to more than 8,000 tons per year—a 400 percent increase from the 2,000 tons that will be recycled in 2008.

The new recycling program will be implemented in three phases over a one-year period. Beginning in March, the City will begin converting to single-stream recycling at the processing end. After a thorough evaluation of proposals, a single-stream recycling processing vendor will be selected. In mid-2009, the City will begin pilot programs in select areas.

The pilot program will test three major components of the program: replacement of the City’s green recycle bins with rolling carts for residential, multi-family and small business use; the collection processes using automated trucks; and a rewards program similar to a recycle bank, which provides rewards for those who participate.

In the final phase, the City will extend the program to the rest of the city.

Source: Phil Lewis, The Rossman Group

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

Spartan Motors Defies Economy, Posts Sales Increase of 59.5 Percent

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Charlotte, MI-based Spartan Motors saw its third quarter net sales increase by 59.5 percent from its 2007 third quarter results.

Spartan reported record third quarter net earnings of $14.7 million, compared with net earnings of $2.6 million the same quarter of 2007.

"This was an excellent quarter for Spartan, especially given the tumultuous national economic environment," says president and CEO, John Sztykiel. "Our market diversification and flexible manufacturing model continue to allow us to grow and profitably compete in difficult times. During the quarter, we ramped up production rapidly and efficiently to complete a sizable military order.”

The 2008 third quarter results represent the best third quarter in the company’s history.

"Our military role is evolving from a rapid production and deployment stage to a long-term sustainment and partnership model, marked by smaller volumes of a wider range of mine-protected variants,” Sztykiel says. “Emergency-rescue continues to be a great foundation with tremendous opportunity."

Spartan Motors was also recently recognized by the U.S. Military for its rapid production and deployment of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

Source: Spartan Motors

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

TechSmith Moves Up On Software Magazine’s Top 500 List

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Okemos-based software company, TechSmith, jumped 12 spots on Software Magazine’s annual ranking of the largest software and services providers.

This year, TechSmith climbed to No. 310, from 322 in 2007. The ranking is based on total worldwide software and services revenue for 2007, and it indicates that TechSmith is outpacing more than two-thirds of the software industry.

“Our growth demonstrates that Michigan has everything a software company needs to thrive,” says the company's president, William Hamilton.

Only five other Michigan-based companies made the list. TechSmith is the only Capital region-based company to make the list. The top Michigan company, Compuware Corporation in downtown Detroit, is ranked 55.

“The Software 500 helps CIOs, senior IT managers and IT staff research and create the short list of business partners,” says John P. Desmond, editor of Software Magazine and Softwaremag.com. “It is a quick reference of vendor viability.”

TechSmith has more than 200 employees and serves more than seven million people worldwide.

Source: Jennifer Middlin, TechSmith

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

Granger, BWL Partnership Powers 6,000 Homes with Landfill Gas

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Granger and the Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) have launched a program that will use landfill gas to power nearly 6,000 Lansing homes.

A new generating plant at the Granger building in North Lansing converts landfill gas to green energy. Granger’s new generating system captures and processes the gas created by the landfill and uses it as a fuel source for engine generator sets. The engine generator sets create electric, which is then distributed to the utility grid.

“What few people know is that landfill gas is one of the most effective, reliable sources of renewable energy,” says Granger CEO, Keith Granger. Granger wants to increase energy production so that 10,000 BWL homes are fueled by landfill gas by 2009.

The amount of energy generated at Granger’s Wood Road Generating Station will increase over the years and is expected to fuel 15,000 homes by 2012.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this great partnership with Granger,” says BWL General Manager, Peter Lark. “Together, our utility can achieve or surpass state renewable goals, and both Granger and the BWL can demonstrate our absolute commitment to being strong environmental stewards.”

It took Granger 15 months to build its new generating plant.

Source: Mark Nixon, BWL

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

Michigan State Graduate Launches Weekly Online Newspaper in Leslie

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Reporter and new business owner, Jennifer Schuster, has launched a weekly newspaper in Leslie.

Schuster launched The Leslie Weekly Guardian Oct. 22. It’s been two years since someone’s attempted to add a weekly paper to the small community.

“People are really hungry for local news here in Leslie,” Schuster says.

Schuster’s taking an online approach to the publication. She says that if there’s enough support, she’ll consider adding a print version of the pub.

“I have a lot of support,” she says. “A lot of people are sending in story ideas and pictures. I’ve a lot of people spreading the word.”

Shuster is a Leslie native. She graduated from Leslie High School in 1996 and received her journalism degree from Michigan State University (MSU).

“I’ve been thinking about this paper for the last two years,” she says. “It makes a big difference that I live in the town and can run the business from my town.”

Source: Jennifer Schuster, The Leslie Weekly Guardian

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

TV Golf Competitors Donate $10,000 Prize to Sparrow Hospital

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Former Michigan residents, Casey and Rachel Lubahn, donated their $10,000 winnings from a recent Golf Channel competition to Sparrow Hospital.

The Oct. 21 episode of the Golf Channel's “Big Break X: Michigan” featured the Children's Miracle Network Challenge, which required participants to hole out from a 30-yard distance over a 16-foot high wall. The Lubahns won the competition because it took them the least number of strokes to get the ball in the hole.

“We’re grateful to Golf Channel, and also to Casey and Rachel Lubahn, for their outstanding golf skills that enabled them to win the Children’s Miracle Network Challenge for Sparrow,” says the president of the Sparrow Foundation, Mike Wall. “This prize will help us to continue to provide the very best medical care to the tens of thousands of children each year who are treated at Sparrow Regional Children’s Center and who benefit from the generosity of those who support the Children’s Miracle Network.”

The Sparrow Foundation has raised $5.3 million during the last five years for the program.

“We’re probably the premier children’s department as a result of that,” Wall says.

The Lubahns played golf at Michigan State University (MSU), and Casey was an assistant golf coach for the Spartan before recently taking the head-coaching job at Miami University (Ohio). They are also the only married couple on the reality series.

The 11-episode series airs at 10 p.m. every Tuesdays. The finale is scheduled for Dec. 16. The winning pair will earn an exemption for the male to play in the 2009 Children’s Miracle Network Classic at the Walt Disney World Resort on the PGA TOUR while the female will compete in the 2009 Bell Micro LPGA Classic on the LPGA Tour.

Source: Rose Tantraphol, Sparrow Hospital

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

Group Raises $150,000 for $2.5 Million Lake Lansing Park Project

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Friends of Ingham County Parks group has raised $150,000 for a new parks acquisition project, estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million in total cost.

The $150,000 raised supports the Ingham County Parks Department’s purchase of 120 acres of privately owned property that’s adjacent to Lake Lansing Park North.

The 120-acre purchase adds to the existing 410 acres in the park. The acquisition of this land is part of a 30-year plan to increase park acreage in Ingham County.

In the 1970s, Ingham County only had 250 acres of parkland. Now the county has roughly 1,500 acres of parkland.

The $150,000 will also help pay a portion of the matching funds the county will have to meet if awarded a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant. Ingham County should get word on the grant by early December.

“We are still getting donations, even though we’ve met the goal,” says Karen Fraser with the Friends of Ingham County Parks.

Meridian Township and Ingham County will also provide matching funds for the pending Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant.

Source: Karen Fraser, Friends of Ingham County Parks

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

Lansing-based Furniture Company Grabs $2 Million State Contract

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lansing-based Smart Office Systems (SOS) recently celebrated the acquisition of a $2 million contract with the State of Michigan.

SOS sells remanufactured furniture to companies all over the country. The state contract, which expires in 2013, allows SOS to help the state restructure how its office furniture is used.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Smart Office Systems, and we are truly honored the state awarded us this contract,” says the president of SOS, Paul Covert.

“Our refurbishment process uses local labor and environmentally friendly materials, which are improvements from previous programs used by the state, both in cost and environmental impact.”

SOS frequently acquires furniture from businesses that are going out of businesses and rehabs the furniture. Covert says SOS will be able to rehab lots of the state’s existing office furniture. Additional furniture will come from outside sources.

The contract is expected to save the state an average of $5.7 million a year.

SOS recently moved its headquarters to the 90,000 square foot site of the former American Sunroof Corporation (ASC), on Lansing's Westside.

Source: Phil Lewis, The Rossman Group

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

All Photographs © Dave Trumpie

New Westside Alliance Survey Says 55 Jobs Created in Two Years

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lansing’s Westside neighborhood has added 55 jobs to the Lansing community in the last two years, according to data collected in the recently released Westside Business Survey.

From 2006 to 2007, surveyed businesses on the Westside reported a net gain of 24 jobs. From 2007 to 2008, a net gain of another 31 jobs was reported. From 2007 to 2008, nine of the businesses surveyed increased their staff numbers, three decreased, and seven stayed the same.

“It was really good to know that "Yes, our area is creating new jobs,'” says Jessica Yorko with Lansing's Westside Alliance.

The Westside Business Survey helps the Westside Alliance determine how to help Westside businesses grow, generates data for grant reports, and benchmarks business growth or decline.

Yorko says she was also pleased with businesses’ responses to the Westside Alliance as an organization.

The survey asked businesses if the Westside Alliance helped their business: seventy percent said yes. The other 30 percent indicated that they were new to the area and hadn’t been around long enough to benefit from the Alliance’s services.

Participants were also asked if they’d like to see the Westside Alliance continue. 100 percent of respondents said “Yes,” including the 30 percent who said they hadn’t benefited from the Westside Alliance’s services.

“That 30 percent said ‘Yes’ because they said we’ve helped the district,” Yorko says.

Source: Jessica Yorko, Lansing’s Westside

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

East Lansing Art Festival Receives $12,000 Cultural Grant

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF) received a $12,000 grant from the State of Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) to help with costs associated with the 2009 festival.

The annual ELAF takes place in the spring and features more than 200 exhibiting artists, free live music, a hands-on children’s arts activity area, and an international food court.

The ELAF was one of more than 300 organizations that applied for the grant. Both in-state and out-of-state culture and arts professionals reviewed the applications.

MCACA grant recipients include organizations that advance the state’s creative, economic and cultural environments. Organizations that receive a MCACA grant must match the grant funds. The ELAF’s major sponsors include Ingham Regional Medical Center, Strathmore Development Company, Summit Community Bank, AP Capital, MagazineLine.com and CiesaDesign.

Source: Mikell Frey, City of East Lansing

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

Capital Area Library Offers $10,000 Business Plan Prize

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Capital Area District Library (CADL) just launched a competition designed to help small businesses get off the ground.

The Spark Your Future competition is open to all small businesses that meet basic criteria.

Business owners will attend a series of workshops and, when they’re finished, write a business plan. The business plans will be reviewed by a panel of judges and the business owner who creates the best plan will get $8,000 in start up services and $2,000 in cash.

The program will start with a panel discussion from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 7. The Spark Your Future winner and runner-up contestant will be announced in June.

The Spark Your Future competition is based on a program that was started by the Brooklyn Public Library in New York.

“We really wanted to create something to allow the businesses to get what they need to get started,” says CADL's business librarian, Elizabeth Kudwa. “I would expect interest to be pretty high.”

The Entrepreneur Institute of Mid-Michigan and the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center are also Spark Your Future partners.

For more information, click here.

Source: Erin Davis, CADL

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

Okemos-based MC Squared to Expand 300 Percent in 2009

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

With revenues up 300 percent from 2007, Okemos-based MC Squared Technology Group is looking to expand by another 300 percent in 2009.

“We had more than a $1 million in revenue this year, and we hope to increase that by 300 percent next year,” says Scott McAuley with MC Squared.

MC Squared Technology Group manages networks and develops Web sites. The firm has another office in Phoenix, AZ, and has plans to open one in Grand Rapids, MI. McAuley says the company has an expansion plan that includes other national markets.

“We have targets in 24 mid-metropolitan areas that have between two and four million residents,” he says. “We think they’re underserved.”

MC Squared serves many markets, and McAuley attributes the company’s success to customer service.

“It’s very important to us that, when we hire someone, the first thing they’re able to do is talk to customers,” he says. “We probably need to hire anywhere between three and six new people.”

MC Squared has ten employees and has enough office space to accommodate 15 additional employees.

Source: Scott McAuley, MC Squared Technology Group

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

$75,000 MSU Grant Helps Future Students Access Engineering Careers

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Motorola Foundation gave Michigan state University (MSU) $75,000 to introduce middle and high school teachers to innovative engineering concepts.

“MSU’s College of Engineering has been increasingly active in curriculum development, summer programs, and after-school, in-school and weekend robotics competitions during the past eight years,” says Drew Kim, assistant to the dean for recruitment and K-12 outreach in the College of Engineering.

The grant will specifically fund the Research Experience for Teachers, a program that immerses middle and high school teachers and students in engineering design projects.

The funding will also give the teachers and students access to MSU’s annual Design Days. Every semester, MSU engineering students show off their innovative research projects during Design Days. Many of the projects have practical, real-world implications.

“This experience will provide teachers with tools to inspire future students to pursue engineering degrees and excite our next generation of thinkers so they will consider studying engineering,” Kim says.

Source: MSU

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

$30,000 Eyeball Exhibit Opening at Impression 5 in Lansing

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Impression 5 Science Center’s giant eye has been talked about for years, but now it’s finally time to unveil the big peeper.

Impression 5 will open the $30,000 exhibit to the public on Nov. 19. The concept of the giant eye, which seeks to allow visitors to get an up close look at the inner workings of an eyeball, was developed by VisionCare Associates and is sponsored by several Michigan businesses.

“We couldn’t find anybody who had a giant, walk-in eyeball,” says Impression 5's director, Erik Larson. “It’s not only unique to the region, but it’s possibly unique to the nation.”

Larson would like to add a few ancillary exhibits to enhance the eyeball experience. The Impression 5 team has thought about hanging smaller eyeballs from the ceiling, so visitors can look through them and see what it’s like to view the world through a variety of eye-related problems, such as cataracts.

“This would let people get an understanding not only of what it’s like to have that challenge, but also get them think about why that happened and if there’s any preventable behavior they can adopt to avoid those things,” Larson says.

Impression 5 is also creating an eyeball float to contribute to the annual Silver Bells festival in Downtown Lansing.

Source: Daphne Reznik, VisionCare Associates, PC

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

Lansing Lifestyle Magazine Celebrates First Year, 33 Percent Growth

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine is gearing up to celebrate its one-year anniversary.

The magazine, which highlights the area’s female leaders and women’s issues, was created by Motion Marketing & Media's president, Tiffany Dowling, in December 2007. Since that time, the magazine has increased its distribution-base by 33 percent, bringing 11,500 magazines to 375 Capital area locations each month.

“We’re really reaching out to the community to see how we can include different people and different groups of people,” says the magazine’s editor, Heather Beegle. “We’ve done that really well."

To further this community outreach, the magazine is setting up a variety of advisory boards.

“We’re pretty excited, considering that the people we’re inviting are part of an influential group in the community,” she says. “That will help keep the ideas flowing.”

Source: Emily Wenstrom, MM3

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

ArtServe Michigan Recognizes Old Town Firm, CiesaDesign

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

ArtServe Michigan recognized Old Town-based CiesaDesign for the firm's continuous support of area arts and cultural organizations.

“I think what I’m really proud of as a company is that we’ve already had this core belief to give back to the community, and it’s really exciting to see how many other employees have gotten involved with that,” says Lauren Ciesa, president of CiesaDesign.

CiesaDesign has participated in a number of non-profit, art-centric causes, including designing and promoting city festivals. CiesaDesign was selected as an Exemplary Business Award honoree along with Macy’s of Minneapolis and Oakwood Healthcare System of Dearborn. The recipient in this award category will be announced and honored at the 23rd Annual Governor’s Awards for Arts & Culture (The Guvvys), November 13, 2008 at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

“We are an arts studio in a respect,” Ciesa says. “We’ve got the expertise for branding and design that a lot of the smaller non-profits don’t necessarily have. I’ve always believed these festivals and these types of things need a professional look to them so the community accepts them.”

This is the first time CiesaDeisgn has been recognized for this award.

Source: Don Tanner, Tanner Friedman Strategic Communications

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

LCC Adds New Scientific Center in Nanotechnology

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Lansing Community College (LCC) is the Capital region’s connection to the new Scientific Center in Nanotechnology.

LCC is leading the establishment of Nano-Link, which is an education center that will support workforce development in nanotechnology.

“Experts say that more people will work in nanotechnology than in the auto industry in 15 years,” says Thomas Deits, chairperson of LCC's science department. Deits will lead the development of Nano-Link in Michigan. “We went to the nanotech industry and asked what their workers were missing in terms of skills.”

After getting answers from the nanotech industry, LCC started developing a nanotechnology curriculum. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of atoms and molecules and allows researchers and engineers to develop innovative substances.

Nano-Link is a partnership between six Midwestern community colleges and two research universities. It’s being funded with a four-year $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation. LCC will collaborate with community colleges in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota on Nano-Link as well as the University of Minnesota's National Centerfor Nanotechnology Instrumentation and Northwestern University's National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanotechnology.

LCC was chosen to lead Nano-Link in Michigan partially due to its work with Michigan State University on the Impression 5 Science Center, which focuses on introducing nanotechnology education to kindergarten through eight-grade students.

Source: Nick Wasmiller, Seyferth & Associates Inc.

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

MSU Researchers Identify Key Stress Gene in Plants

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have discovered a gene that helps regulate the heat stress response in plants, a discovery that could allow for the creation of crop varieties that will flourish in warmer, drier climates.

The bZIP28 gene helps regulate heat stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana, which is a member of the mustard family that’s used as a model plant for genetic studies.

"We also found that bZIP28 was responding to signals from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), which is the first time the ER has been shown to be involved with the response to heat," says Robert Larkin, MSU assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and corresponding author of the paper. "We're finding that heat tolerance is a more complex process than was first thought."

The researchers had been looking for genes tied to cell membranes that turn other genes on and off. These membrane-tethered gene switches are seen in animals, but hadn't been studied in great detail in plants.

"The bZIP28 protein is anchored in the endoplasmic reticulum, away from its place of action," says Christoph Benning, MSU professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and a member of the research team. "But when the plant is stressed by heat, one end of bZIP28 is cut off and moves into the nucleus of the cell where it can turn on other genes to control the heat response. Understanding how the whole mechanism works will be the subject of more research."

Plants with an inactive bZIP28 gene die as soon as temperatures reach a certain level, but the research could help create plants that would flourish in warmer temperatures.

The research was presented in the Oct. 6 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: MSU

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