In the News

Surprise! The creative class is thriving in Michigan

Bridge Magazine Thursday, June 06, 2013

In this Bridge Magazine column, journalist Natalie Burg dispels the popular misconception that the creative under-40 class is leaving Michigan as fast as it can.

Excerpt:

"Hi. I'm Natalie. I'm a self-employed writer, I'm 31, and, if you listen to the headlines, I don't exist. Like a centaur or a yeti, the well-educated, career-driven, creative-class Millennial like myself is not found in the wild here in Michigan. Supposedly, we've all left or are desperately attempting to do so.

Surprise! Not only am I a Michigander by choice (seriously, my husband is a musician; we could literally be anywhere), I get offended when people ask why we're "still here." I try to break it down as simply as I can for them: I know Michigan's challenges as well as anyone, but I love it here, and I know – not think, know – we're on our way back."

More here.

Michigan ranks 8th nationally in economic development success

Michigan Economic Development Corp. Thursday, May 16, 2013

Call Michigan the nation's comeback kid. Site Selection magazine just named it 8th best for job creation and economic development.

Excerpt:

"Michigan advanced eight spots in this year’s Competitiveness Awards, up from 16th in 2011.
The state's many business climate changes have resulted in other noteworthy improvements, including:
No. 1 for states that recovered most from the Great Recession.
No. 4 in the nation for most new corporate expansions or building projects in 2012.
Third most business-friendly tax ranking among the nation’s 12 largest states.
Third in the nation for high-tech growth."

More here.

Oakland County's job market is healthiest in years

University of Michigan News Service Thursday, May 02, 2013

This is the best it's been in years for job seekers in Oakland County, economists say. And the jobs pay well above the minimum wage.

Excerpt:

"On the heels of its strongest two-year job growth in almost 20 years, Oakland County's economy will add nearly 42,000 jobs through 2015, say University of Michigan economists...

In their annual forecast of the Oakland County economy, Fulton and colleague Don Grimes of the U-M Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy say that high-wage industries—with average pay of more than $62,000—accounted for more than half of the new private-sector jobs created during the recovery, a trend that will continue throughout the forecast horizon...

Overall, Fulton and Grimes say that Oakland remains among the better local economies in the nation, ranking 10th among 36 comparable U.S. counties on a series of measures that indicate future economic prosperity."

More here.

Silicon Valley company finds Metro Detroit just right

Tech Crunch Thursday, December 20, 2012

Silicon Valley's Stik moves to Detroit because of the region's resources - particularly talent.

Excerpt:

"“We had a great network the last two years in the Valley. But the employee side was more advantages here in Detroit being a much bigger fish in a smaller pond of startups. We didn’t start here 2 years ago because we didn’t see the network of investors and advisers that we knew existed in Silicon Valley. But that was 2010.

Now, in 2012, there’s a lot of resources here between Quicken Loan’s major investment in the tech scene and an investor group in Ann Arbor that has been very helpful.”"

Read the rest here.

Metro Detroit among 10 best metros to becomes a millionaire

Business Insider Thursday, December 20, 2012

Some years you're up. Some years you're down. Detroit's metro region is back in the rarified air of creating a whole lot of millionaires. In 2011 we had over 90K of them.

Excerpt:

Still, the city saw enough growth to maintain a spot in the top 10. After losing 16% of millionaires in 2008, it's added just about 15% back.

Read the rest here.

Detroit Venture's Josh Linkner calls out Silicon Valley

Forbes Thursday, November 01, 2012

Former ePrize founder and CEO and local entrepreneurial guru takes a sharp needle to the Silicon Valley's over-inflated bubble and extolls the virtues of growing a company in Detroit.

Excerpt:

"Many people think the Valley is the best place to start a digital/tech company. While there have been no shortage of successful start-ups in Silicon Valley, I argue that many of those ventures succeeded in spite of their location. For me, this “best place” logic makes no sense. In the Bay Area, there is more competition for everything – talent, funding, office space, resources, etc. What kind of investment tip is “buy high, sell high?” As an entrepreneur, it’s difficult enough getting a company off the ground; why make your work any harder than it already is? Give yourself more leeway – pay fewer dollars for higher-grade intellect, make a splash in the media because you’re the big fish, and get the investment community to notice you and the traction you’re making. Why over-pay just to blend in? When you’re swimming in a vast ocean filled with other startups, you need herculean accomplishments to stand out any more than the next guy. Every single day. Good luck with that."

Read the rest here.

Metro Detroit IT firms get creative with hiring

The Detroit News Thursday, October 11, 2012

Metro Detroit's IT industry is growing in leaps and bounds and that means local firms must get creative about bringing in the talent they need to succeed.

Excerpt:

"Secure-24 is one of many Metro Detroit companies that are looking for creative ways to increase a local talent pool with a shortage of qualified IT workers.

"Demand is huge, and I think that in southeastern Michigan, the news is that we have in the past year doubled the requests (for IT workers) compared to Silicon Valley," said Alysia Green, director for talent development for Automation Alley, a technology business group in Troy."

Read the rest here.

Crains picks this year's 40 Under 40

Crains Business Detroit Thursday, October 04, 2012

Come on, admit it, you were hoping you'd make the list of Crain's best and brightest for 2012. Well, maybe you know someone who did...

Here's a sample:

"Driscoll had worked in the restaurant business in California to get experience. But after a visit back to Michigan -- his and Christine's home state -- they decided Detroit was a better place to invest.

After nine months of searching for a property and then doing repairs on the one they bought on West Lafayette at 14th Street, Green Dot Stables opened in March. It didn't take long for word to get out about the sliders and fries."

Read the rest here.

Michigan needs better cities to attract better talent

Lansing State Journal Thursday, September 20, 2012

Lou Glazer, who heads the nonprofit think tank Michigan Future Inc., has never been shy about his opinion on what Michigan needs to compete as a worldclass economy, destination, or community. In a Q&A he advocates for a better educated workforce and more progressive cities.

Excerpt:

"Culture ends up being the most important ingredient. Learning, entrepreneurship and being (welcoming) to all. Michigan’s having problems with all of them.

You need cars less because all of these cities are walkable.

That’s what’s missing in Michigan."

Read the rest here.

Creativity and entrepreneurship go hand in hand

The Atlantic Cities Thursday, August 16, 2012

Intuitively it's kind of a no-brainer: Creativity begets invention which begets entrepreneurial endeavors. Still, it's nice to see Richard Florida put some numbers to the theory. Good numbers.

Excerpt:

"The size of the creative class is "positively and significantly associated with the total of establishment growth in a region, the number of new opened establishments and the expansion of existing establishments," they find. Furthermore, they write that “regions of all sizes primarily experience growth through the creation of new establishments, and that growth is always, significantly, and positively associated with regional creative employment."

Read the rest here.

Troy-based CEO is pluckin' talented

Crains Business Detroit Thursday, April 19, 2012

Yeah, business is important but there must also be music. John Smith is president and CEO of Ross Controls Co. and trustee for Lawrence Tech and plays a mean banjo.

Excerpt:

"This is a club where a CEO takes cues from a crane operator. Brian Newsom directs the Ban-Joes of Michigan and is chairman of the North American International Banjo Convention. He spent 42 years as a crane operator, helping build Joe Louis Arena and General Motors Co.'s Poletown plant.

One of the clubs is Canadian. "Hence, we've got the international thing going on," Newsom said."

Read the rest here.

The next trend in housing? Smaller, urban, walkable, rentable

The Atlantic Cities Thursday, April 05, 2012

This terrific first-person editorial on the current trends in American housing highlights both the virtues and concerns of moving toward a walkable, more compact rental market.

Excerpt:

"Beyond rentals, the clear changes in the residential marketplace also bode well for innovative approaches to smaller-footprint but nonetheless high-quality types of housing, such as “pocket neighborhoods” of cottages and slightly larger homes arranged around a common green, as championed by Ross Chapin. Downsizing trends may provide opportunities as well for more applications of the “Katrina Cottages” designed for quick rebuilding along the Gulf of Mexico coast following the loss of homes to Hurricane Katrina. A LEED-Platinum version of the latter was just celebrated in a cluster of 29 of the homes on two acres in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

(Marketing tip: it may be time to lose the “Katrina” part of the trademark for these cottages – whose concept I love – since the potential market might increase without the association with temporary housing in the context of a national tragedy. Just saying.)"

Read the rest here.

Motor City region has the high-tech mojo

NewGeography.com Thursday, December 01, 2011

Which cities are growing their tech job sectors the fastest? Who seems to be sustaining that growth? Is Silicon Valley still ground zero for high-tech talent? So many questions. Thank goodness someone is looking at the numbers.

Excerpt:

"How about other potential up and comers for the coming decade? Two potentially big and somewhat surprising winners. The first: Detroit. Though the Motor City area lost 20% of its tech jobs in the past decade (ranking 40th on our list), it still boasts one of the nation’s largest concentrations of tech workers, nearly 50% above the national average. In the past two years, the region has experienced a solid 7.7% increase in technology jobs, the second highest rate of any metro area."

Read the rest here.

Richard Florida says density = innovation

The Atlantic Thursday, October 27, 2011

Though we have to wonder whether it's density or the presence of world-class research universities that have the bigger impact (or is that a chicken-egg question?), Richard Florida presents some interesting ideas about urban density and the creation of patents.

Excerpt:

"It's not surprising that San Jose (Silicon Valley) tops the list with .831 patents per square kilometer or that nearby San Francisco is second with .446 patents per square kilometer. Los Angeles is third with .41 patents per square kilometer, followed by Trenton, Bridgeport-Stamford, Connecticut, Greater Boston, Boulder, Greater New York, Ann Arbor, and New Haven.

The density of patents is closely associated with key regional economic outcomes such as regional wages (.668), regional incomes (.588), and regional economic output (.459). (As usual, I point out that these correlations only suggestion associations between variables. They do not specify any causation or make any claims about the direction of causality. Other intervening variables may come into play)."

Read the rest here.

Michigan climbs to 15th in tech job creation

mlive.com Thursday, October 13, 2011

In 2010, Michigan added 155,100 high-tech workers, which is pretty darn good. But did you know we're ranked 4th in the nation in R&D and testing labs, and 6th in engineering services? In average wages we're 23rd, however. Sounds like some people are due for a raise.

Excerpt:

“The fact that Michigan added more tech jobs in 2010 than any other state may surprise people – including people within the state,” said Ed Longanecker, executive director and regional vice president, TechAmerica Midwest. “But job gains in key sectors like software and research and development have helped the state recover from hard economic times. We hope to maintain this momentum by promoting math and science education in our schools and a business friendly environment in our economy.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Talent : In the News