Order Reprints

What a difference a decade makes.
Ten years ago Jeff Padden noticed that "there wasn't much to talk about" in terms of entrepreneurial activity on Michigan college campuses.
Today, a cultural shift is in full swing and all of Michigan's 15 public universities have in some form embedded entrepreneurism, both in academic programming and community outreach, as a core part of their mission, according to new survey data.

  Order Reprints

Stephanie Elhart is director of communications at NewNorth Center for Design in Business, a nonprofit business and educational organization in Holland. The center offers classes of varying lengths. Twenty percent of participants are designers. The rest want to learn to think like designers to launch new companies or reinvigorate old ones. Elhart, who earned a degree in graphic design from the University of Michigan, worked in marketing, communication and business development services — including at Johnson Controls Inc. and fuel-D — before helping launch NewNorth in 2009. She sees this role as the synthesis of all her prior experiences.

  Order Reprints

LANSING — Business advocates view a proposal to reform Michigan’s personal property tax as another solid step toward improving the state’s business climate and competitiveness.

  Order Reprints

GRAND RAPIDS — A low-key but high-powered group of West Michigan influencers and business leaders thinks it’s time to put the rapids back in the Grand. They want to restore a 2-mile-long section of the namesake river flowing through downtown Grand Rapids to attract whitewater enthusiasts.

  Order Reprints

WEST MICHIGAN — Stephen Benoit knows unequivocally that his current company would not have been able to start up and get to where it is today without the help of capital from West Michigan.

Metabolic Solutions Development Company LLC, a drug development and discovery company focusing on compounds that show promise in treating diabetes and other metabolic diseases, has raised more than $55 million since former Upjohn Company researchers Jerry Colca and Rolf Kletzein founded it in 2006. The vast majority of that capital came from investors in West Michigan.

  Order Reprints

WEST MICHIGAN — The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is trying to dispel rumors by letting developers and community officials know money is still available for redevelopment projects.

The Community Revitalization Program (CRP), which replaces the former brownfield redevelopment and historic preservation tax credits, is a part of the Governor’s budget and tax reform overhaul. Under the new program, $100 million total was set aside for the CRP and Business Development Programs program, with at least $20 million allocated to projects that would have previously gone after brownfield and historic tax credits.

  Order Reprints

KALAMAZOO — Imagine what Southwest Michigan would be like if it were really a bedroom community for Chicago. That could happen if a proposed high-speed rail project falls into place, but experts caution it could be years before it takes shape.

  Order Reprints

GRAND RAPIDS — Michigan needs to do less hunting and more gardening when it comes to economic development.

That was a key message delivered at a March 20 event in Grand Rapids that spotlighted a Michigan Economic Development Corp. pilot program aimed at helping grow second-stage companies in the state. The event also included an impromptu announcement by an MEDC official that the organization plans to significantly expand the program, even though the pilot is still underway.

  Order Reprints

GRAND RAPIDS — Even amid high gasoline prices, Michigan’s tourism industry should have a strong year in 2012, Michigan State University researchers say.

An annual outlook from MSU projects a 3 percent increase this year in travel volume over 2011 and a 6 percent increase in travel spending. Travel prices should grow 3 percent over a year ago.

  Order Reprints

GRAND RAPIDS — The Pure Michigan tourism campaign had its strongest returns and paid its greatest dividends in 2011, as the brand gained further traction nationally and drew more people to the state.

New data from travel consulting firm Longwoods International shows a $10.5 million national cable television ad campaign drove 1.2 million visits to Michigan in 2011 by out-of-state travelers who spent an estimated $465.5 million and generated a $3.11 return on investment for every dollar spent.

That compares with about 900,000 out-of-state visitors who spent $313.0 million in 2010 from a national cable TV campaign using the Pure Michigan brand.