Ann Arbor on the east side and Grand Rapids on the west are widely regarded as the most prosperous and desirable metropolitan areas in Michigan. But Kalamazoo-Portage and Battle Creek in Southwest Michigan surprisingly outpaced Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and all other metro areas in the state in economic growth over the past decade. An […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Win cool stuff: 'Two Great Bridges' contest!
To celebrate the debut of Bridge, we’re launching the “Two Great Bridges” contest. The grand prize: An all-expenses paid weekend for two at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, overlooking the Mackinac Bridge. Second prize is a weekend for two at Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit. Here are the contest details: · To enter, simply subscribe […]
Posted inTalent & Education
CRC reports on what Prop A hath wrought
There’s political dynamite to be detonated in the latest report on education funding out of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. Not from CRC, mind you. As usual, the invaluable nonprofit, nonpartisan organization does what it does: tackle the numbers and details to show citizens who want to know what is actually going on with […]
Posted inSuccess
Coffee is million-dollar enterprise
Pricey coffees were among the first casualties of the Great Recession as people cut $4 lattes from their strained household budgets. Even mighty Starbucks was humbled, closing hundreds of stores across the country as the economy tanked. But one small Traverse City gourmet coffee company prospered during Michigan’s “lost decade” by adhering to an ideal: […]
Posted inSuccess
Couple bets all on Michigan start-up; beats odds
Manufacturing appeared to be dying during the past decade in Michigan. Critics of Michigan’s taxes and regulations said the state was a terrible place to start a business. But Justin Ayers and his wife, Tracy, thought it was a great time to open a manufacturing company. And into being came Lakeshore Cutting Solutions Inc., an […]
Posted inSuccess
Warren auto supplier navigates industry turmoil
Tim Droege and a team of managers at German auto parts supplier Woco Automotive in Warren decided in 2008 to purchase the company — just as the state and national economies were imploding. “It was a crazy time to buy an automotive company,” said Droege, who completed the deal in January 2009 and changed the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Learning from prison cuts in other states
(Originally published Feb. 3, 2011) When Judge Steven Alm was appointed to a Honolulu felony court in 2004, it didn’t take long before the new jurist identified what he considered a major flaw in the system: Offenders on probation repeatedly flouted simple rules without sanction, until a-dozen-or-so accumulated violations sent them to state prison for […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Why Snyder's government reform plan may sound familiar
(Originally published March 22, 2011) Gov. Rick Snyder’s speech Monday aimed at reinventing local government actually reinvented (or at least reiterated) numerous reform ideas offered in recent years by the Center for Michigan and other public interest groups. Examples: • Intensifying local government consolidation and service sharing was a key recommendation of the Center’s citizens’ […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Redistricting: How political map-making leaves voters with uncompetitive, pre-determined elections
(Originally published Feb. 10, 2011) In the past decade, voters decided 664 races for seats in the Michigan Legislature. The majority of those races were never in question. Millions of votes didn’t really matter. Districts for many state representatives and senators are not competitive. Many seats are engineered for partisan advantage. A consequence is the […]
Posted inSuccess
Touting Michigan in 100% cotton
(Originally published May 4, 2011) Jon Bell got so tired of hearing friends slam Michigan as a place with no future, he started a company that promotes the state everywhere people go. Since the day he opened Michigan Awesome two years ago, the Grand Rapids native has sold 3,500 T-shirts, each with a pithy slogan […]