In anticipation of Gov. Rick Snyder’s special message on health and wellness in September, Bridge Magazine spoke with Dee Edington, one of the nation’s top experts on designing workplace wellness plans.
Expert: Just stop getting fatter
Posted inChildren & Families
100,000 Michigan kids still lack health insurance
(Originally published Aug. 18, 2011) Imagine a city somewhere between the size of Lansing (114,000) and Sterling Heights (129,000). Imagine this city is populated only by children. Imagine every single one of these children lacks basic health insurance. That’s the reality in Michigan, says a health expert engaged in a campaign to get tens of […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Billion-dollar bust?
(Originally published Aug. 10, 2011) A 15-year-long effort to spur jobs and vitality in some of the state’s most economically depressed areas by turning them into virtual tax-free zones — and thereby forgoing about $1 billion in tax collections — is being curtailed by Gov. Rick Snyder. Citing disappointing results in Renaissance Zones, the Snyder […]
Posted inSuccess
Flint enjoys 'Diplomat'-ic initiative
Flint is home to the largest privately held specialty pharmacy in the United States. Didn’t think you would ever read that sentence, did you? But Flint is indeed home to Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, a firm with more than 500 employees that is winning national business growth awards as well as the adoration of the Flint […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan's regulation of liquor business is sobering
(Originally published June 22, 2011) By Susan J. Demas No, it’s not your imagination. That bottle of Jack Daniels really does cost more in New Buffalo than in Michigan City, Ind. “There is a mark-up,” said Andrea Miller, spokeswoman for the Liquor Control Commission, the state agency that regulates alcohol. Why is that? The answer […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Deep inside the Lost Decade: Decline, transformation and resilience in Michigan's regions
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 […]