metromode - Blog

Jeff Helminski - Post 4: What if we did something radical?

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In my previous post I suggested a no cost option as a small step towards addressing this issue of attracting and retaining young talent. But what if we really think outside the proverbial box and pretend for a minute we have some funding to play with. What could we do to attract this desired cohort in a direct and meaningful way that would get their attention?

There is a tremendous amount of money from foundations, state and federal government and some philanthropic-minded high net worth individuals and families targeted at community development and job creation, and the attraction & retention of talent fits within that goal. What if we took just a little from each pot and spent it on a direct marketing initiative to attract and then support the most promising young, entrepreneurial talent in the world?

I am thinking of a place, a physical space or a mixed use community with apartments, a business center, a YP community center (we have them for senior citizens and kids why not YP’s?), some form of salary and a student loan forgiveness program like the rural physician loan forgiveness program. There would be seed money to help fund start up costs, a mentoring program and connectivity to established business, community and political leaders to incubate these burgeoning entrepreneurs.

We would commence a campaign to reach out to the top universities and young entrepreneurs around the world and it would be a competitive process to be admitted to the program. Once in you would have all the support you could ever need to start your business which could be the next Microsoft or Starbucks or Apple. The only catch is you and your company would have to stay in Michigan.

Sound crazy? Probably does. Besides, we like to think it has to be “made here” to be real or worthy. Why look outside of Michigan to recruit the best and brightest in the world. We don’t need them; we already have it here, right?

It would probably require more cooperation between communities that are better at fighting with each other than working together toward a common goal than we are capable of. After all, it could only be located in one place and we are very good at viewing things as a zero sum game so there would be one winner and everyone else would be a loser, right?

Maybe not; maybe we are finally at the point where something this radical might actually be able to be pulled off. Hmmm, what if…? Or what if you the reader of my crazy idea have some other radical concept to help us move forward as a state. A big idea or a small but unconventional step in the right direction.

Think about it. What’s your idea? Let’s find a way to make it happen. Michigan is counting on us.

Jeff Helminski - Post 3: If you attract them, prosperity will come

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I am one of the believers in the Lou Glazer philosophy of economic development. The single most determinative issue to the future prosperity of Michigan is the attraction and retention of young talent.

The best local source of information I am aware of on this topic comes from Michigan Future Inc. The empirical data show this to be true and the experiential data I have gathered over my time spent in successful cities around the world seem to indicate the theory holds.

The debate rages on as to whether YP’s first select a job or a place. I have observed first hand the decision making process about where to live as made by YP’s with the greatest amount of opportunity and flexibility. This comes from observing my classmates at Stanford Business School in making post graduate moves and more recently my sister’s process as she finishes her MBA at Duke. I have concluded that the decision-making process is place first, job second.

However, I believe that economic opportunity (ie. job opportunities) is a significant component of what makes a place attractive. I think this is a shift from the decision-making process of past generations and therefore difficult for some members of those past generations to understand. I will offer one not so scientific example to illustrate this point. During the boom years of the late 1990’s when jobs were plentiful in Detroit (remember when GM stock traded at $90 and I thought my stock options were worth something?), the Michigan brain drain we talk so much about today was still in effect.

I am certainly neither the first person to identify this issue nor the first to blog about its importance to our state. We in Michigan are far from the first to identify this important issue either. Virtually every other state in the union has seen the same light and is targeting these young talented individuals for recruitment to their state.

The question I often ask myself is: What makes us any more likely to win this talent battle than any other state? If you read the materials from chambers of commerce and economic development organizations from around the country, you could replace Nashville with Detroit or Arkansas with Michigan and it would look about the same as our materials. Every state has economic development dollars and incentives to throw at this objective. What can we do that is unique and different and meaningful?

How about this? How about, in order to show the YP’s of the world that Michigan is truly committed to this effort, we set aside one position on every board, commission, task force and advisory panel at the state, county and local level for a young professional. Create an extra slot or fill all newly vacated positions with a YP.

This is a no cost, highly visible way to show the level of commitment we as a state have to this important group. This would show YP’s that not only do we want you located in our communities; we want you engaged in the decision making that will shape our communities. It would infuse new perspectives, new energy and a new level of connectivity between experienced leaders and young leaders in helping chart the future course of our state.

Jeff Helminski - Post 2: Don't Assume It'll Happen

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I have made the very conscious decision to live my life and build my company in Detroit. As I interact with the many people and groups of which I am a part, I often here people say that it (the economy, the political quagmire in Lansing, etc.) will get better eventually; some even put a timeframe on it: after Obama takes office or by the end of 2009.

These are people I generally consider thoughtful and insightful professionals. And yet they say this without any meaningful analysis of the current state of affairs or identifying a process or even a sequence of events required to address the types of things that need to happen to "fix" Michigan.

The only explanation I can come up with for this lack of real analysis of the situation is that they don’t want to think about what the alternative would mean for them and the lifestyle they have become accustom to. Thinking about changing careers or moving out of the area can really rain on your parade; so many people simply convince themselves that it is not going to happen.

Burying our heads in the sand can be very dangerous for us as a region. I have chosen to be here because I believe there is a great future ahead for Michigan, but it isn’t just going to happen. We can’t sit back and let time pass so it can heal all wounds. We must take action; meaningful, thoughtful, coordinated action. That means you, me, our legislators and everyone else. Reading what others think needs to get done doesn’t bring us any closer to a solution. We must act, individually and collectively. It will take all of us to accomplish this immense and important task. And unfortunately not everyone can or will grab the rope and pull so those of us that do have to pull doubly hard.

What can we, the young professionals (YP’s) of metro Detroit do? How do we become part of the solution?

It’s a balance between sticking together within groups of ourselves to create a diverse community of connected, supportive, like-minded individuals that can collectively leverage the power and influence of a coordinated group and integrating ourselves into the established power structure. Finding a home within the community of engaged YP’s is relatively easy. If you need help getting connected, start with organizations like Fusion, GLUE, Young Professionals Leadership Council, United Way and the seventy or so other YP focused groups in the area. The more difficult task is getting inserted into the established decision making bodies that govern our communities and set the tone and direction of the institutions that drive our region.

How do we do that?

Here is a thought starter for you: Get involved in local, regional or state politics. Get appointed to your local planning commission, run for County Commissioner, encourage a YP to run for state office and support their campaign, or better yet, run for office yourself.

I believe Detroit is at an inflection point in its history and the decision we make today will determine our future course. When I talk about taking action, I am talking about game-changing action. That doesn’t mean spending three hours on a Saturday morning serving breakfast at a soup kitchen, which is certainly a laudable action and necessary in our communities, but for those of you that have the skills and abilities to be a game-changer, go do it in whatever way suits you. Invest the time and make the sustained and consistent commitment to become part of the solution. Just think about where we could take this place if we were in charge!

Jeff Helminski - Post 1: Why I Live Here

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Michigan is at a crossroads. There are important and difficult decisions to be made. We each have an opportunity and, I believe, a responsibility to play a leadership roll in what those decisions will be. I will share with you this week my thoughts on why I chose to locate in Michigan, the critical importance of young talent in our state and a few ideas about what we as a state and as young professionals can do to move Michigan forward.

One other thing that will be helpful to understand as you read on is that any reference I make to Detroit means all of southeast Michigan which includes Ann Arbor and other non-Detroit proper areas - even though there are elements from each side that prefer to disassociate themselves from the other.

Ann Arbor in particular is a critical part of the future of SE Michigan and Detroit benefits from the intellectual and innovative elements of Ann Arbor.

Symbiotically, without Detroit (and a strong Detroit) Ann Arbor is an isolated outpost lacking many of the big-city benefits it realizes by having a large metropolitan area as close as Detroit.

Why am I here?

Before I get into the throws of this blog I have been asked to write, I will try to provide some perspective on the experiences that color my view of the world and, more importantly, the lens through which I view the issue of moving Michigan forward.

I, along with my younger brother and sister, was born in Cadillac but raised in Muskegon by amazing parents. My dad was a teacher and coach at a Catholic school, my mom stayed home to raise the three of us. They managed to raise a family of five on today’s equivalent of $33,642. We qualified for food stamps but my parents wouldn’t take them. They felt they were able-bodied people who should be responsible for taking care of themselves. I didn’t realize we were "poor" at the time. I never knew any better.

Eventually, my father left teaching and became a life insurance salesman. By the time I was in the 8th grade, we were situated in more of a true middle class lifestyle. We once even got to take a vacation to Sea World in Ohio!

Jump to undergrad: Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Tech. University, after which I was on to the prototypical automotive career as an engineer at General Motors - mostly manufacturing engineering. I earned a Masters in Engineering from Purdue at night. I spent time as a line supervisor at Pontiac East Assembly Plant with about 30 UAW represented employees working in my department. I then moved to the roll of Business Manager of Final Assembly (125 hourly employees and 5 salaried supervisors) before "retiring" from the auto industry. I left GM in May of 2001 to attend business school at Stanford University.

After earning an MBA at Stanford I followed my wife to Ann Arbor where she was attending Law School at U of M. I was a post MBA career changer, moving into real estate development. I worked for a small developer for three years, and after my wife passed the Bar Exam, I started my own development company focusing on urban, infill redevelopment. That was two years ago. As you can imagine, it is a tough time to start a real estate business.

My wife and I have chosen Michigan as our home and the place we will build our careers and raise a family. I view Michigan and Detroit as a place with great opportunity and equally great challenges. I am often asked why I am here; why I came back and am now staying. People say to me "you have the skills to go anywhere in the world and succeed. Why are you screwing around in Detroit?" I am understandably asked similar questions by my business school classmates from New York, London, San Francisco, Chicago and other world class cities. However, the most fervent questioners are those born and raised here; life-long Michiganders who know this place for better and worse.

I am here because the Detroit region fits me. It’s real, unpretentious, maybe even slightly unrefined. It has history, character, challenges, potential and it has a future that I can be part of shaping. It is big enough to have everything a major metropolitan area can offer, while the circle of engaged individuals and organizations is small enough that you can get to know people and have a meaningful impact on your community.

I am here because I love this state, because there is opportunity amidst the challenges we now face and because even though I am young and early in my career (maybe precisely because of that) I can help shape Michigan’s future.

Sharon Carney - Post 4

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

And here, it begins: well over 100 people came out to the Renaissance Club in Detroit last night to discuss the Millennial Mayors Congress and the role that our region’s future leaders will play in it. They came from Oakland, Macomb, the Grosse Pointes, Detroit and Downriver. Some were familiar faces, but most were new to the conversation. They’d come with the prospect of learning how they could get involved and connect with others who, like them, want to do something to improve this place.

So far, I’ve written about the concepts underlying the Millennial Mayors Congress. But if you’re like me, you’re probably curious about how it will take shape. What will the Millennial Mayors Congress look like? How will it function, and what can it accomplish?

Let’s envision the Congress in action.

Say, for example, the Congress delegates decide at their first session to focus on greening our cities as a way to enable more sustainable lifestyles, create green jobs, decrease our carbon footprint and shed our rustbelt image. Crucial improvements can be made in local communities that, when done with regional coordination through the Congress, will exponentially increase the positive impact of any one city.

After discussing what representatives want to accomplish and possible strategies, the Congress might draft a task force to dig deep into how to make it happen in southeast Michigan communities. The task force—made up of issue experts, city staff and other innovative doers and thinkers—could assess existing regional resources, capabilities and best practices, develop shared goals for the communities to strive toward and commission research where appropriate.

While this process moves forward, Congress representatives (as well as council members, city staff, interested young people and other community members) will build their knowledge of “green” strategies and ways to encourage sustainability through periodic hearings and presentations. They’d also keep their partners in city leadership and their local peer networks informed.

Eventually, task force findings and research will coalesce into actionable goals and recommended policies that will be reviewed, discussed and adopted by the Congress by consensus decision. Thoroughly informed by the best knowledge available on the subject at hand and by the realities in southeast Michigan cities, the Congress protocol will be feasible and specific, with plenty of room for local customization.

A protocol on greening our cities might include, among other items:

Reducing municipal energy consumption levels by 20%;
Changing zoning ordinances to incentivize green buildings; and
Increasing the options, accessibility and convenience of non-automobile transportation to reduce rush-hour traffic by 15% in five years.

Each Congress community (25 and counting, as of today!) will then have the flexibility to determine how exactly to accomplish these goals within their own borders. They may conduct internal energy audits and make infrastructure and policy improvements based on those assessments. They could provide staff training with the support of a shared energy expert. They could alternately focus on walkability, creating bicycle lanes, improving the safety of crosswalks or upgrading or adding bus stop shelters. Resources like In the Ring, a policy publication focused on local government innovation in specific areas, could provide recommendations and effective strategies that cities could use to achieve these goals.

Where the rubber hits the road is at the city council level. The Congress will be asking each participating community to ratify the action plan and set in place the policy and program framework necessary to implement it. Like many programs our cities adopt right now, city-based plans will be rooted in measureable, achievable goals that are highly relevant to the citizenry of that individual community. The difference will be that at least 25 communities will be taking action toward a common regional goal—allowing city leaders to benefit from the experience of those in other cities and magnifying the impact of every change.

As we discussed at last night’s visioning session in Detroit, Millennial representatives will be critical in moving their community to action. By tapping the skills and knowledge of their peer networks, they will build awareness in their cities for the Congress protocol. How? In the green cities example, they could work with local artists to organize a pechakucha-style exhibit of LEED certified structures. They could disseminate information about retrofitting homes. They could be as creative as they want in leveraging in the ideas and skills of the network. The important concept to me, here, is that the governance process for improving our region becomes integrative, relying on and engaging the creative talents of our residents, leaning on the nonprofit community for vision and experience, tapping into the business community to help clarify the metrics and design the system through which change at the local level becomes a regional phenomenon.

Making our cities leaders in sustainability is just one of many possible focus issues. Now, think of applying this process to other regional issues for new economy investment: making communities more business-friendly, encouraging entrepreneurship, increasing inclusivity and social equity, improving water quality, creating “sense of place”... any of these initiatives could be furthered through the Millennial Mayors Congress.

Stay tuned for what’s next in the Millennial Mayors Congress. It will launch in spring 2009, though we’re convening next month to discuss how we’ll nominate Millennial representatives. This is a major collaboration effort, so we’re looking for individuals and organizations to partner with! Email me at sharon@suburbsalliance.org if you want to be a part of it.

Meanwhile, the interaction is already happening at www.millennialmayorscongress.org. Join the conversation, see what’s happening next, and sometime before the holidays, get a full recap of last night’s discussion.

I’ve been grateful to share our vision with you here at Metromode. Thanks for reading.

Sharon Carney - Post 3: Detroit, the Land of Opportunity

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:57:54 GMT

In my experience, the talent retention/attraction conversation has a tendency to split into two camps: "It’s all about jobs" and "Place comes first." I struggled a bit between the jobs versus place debate until adopting a different theory.

Eric Robertson, the Chief Administrative Officer of Center City Commission in Memphis and founder of New Path, a political action committee, defines a "culture of opportunity" as

The beliefs, customs, practices, and behavior of a particular people that cultivate and reinforce a combination of favorable circumstances or situations, real or perceived.

Eric’s belief, which I now share, is that opportunity, or the perception that opportunity is exists, is the most influential factor drawing mobile young talent to cities. Therefore, those places where a "culture of opportunity" exists are going to be the winners in a knowledge economy. To me, this line of thinking bridges the disconnect between the jobs and place arguments.

Opportunity means different things to different people, Millennials included. For some it’s the ability to make an impact, to effect change. For others it’s a job. For some it’s a place that enables a particular lifestyle. Then there’s mobility—the ability to rise as a leader or to excel in your field. The power of perceived opportunity is nothing new. It’s what drew (and still draws) millions of immigrants to America. It’s what sent pioneers to the West. It’s what brought millions of southerners to Detroit. It’s also the force that sent millions of GI’s sprawling into farmlands, fueling the suburbanization of America. While the results might not be ideal, the point to remember here is that opportunity is a potent influence on human behavior.

Earlier this year when I was trying to decide my next career move, numerous people advised me to head to New York. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "There are so many more opportunities for you there," I probably wouldn’t be working anywhere; I’d be exploring South America. How many people think of Detroit as the land of opportunity?

I can think of a few right off the bat.

Meredith Mullan moved here in October from Phoenix and works as an enrollment counselor for the University of Phoenix at Macomb Community College. She’s meeting different kinds of students than she did in Phoenix; many are former auto workers looking for a new career. "The changing auto industry creates opportunity for change and reform," she said. "I can be a part of that here through education."

My friend and co-worker, Toni Moceri, is a 29-year-old Warren native who spent two years getting educated in Europe before returning to Detroit in 2007. She stayed because she perceived potential for leadership. Last week, she was sworn in to her first term on the Macomb County Commission.

And of course, we all know the success of Slow’s and Phil Cooley and countless others who found entrepreneurial opportunity in the form of available, affordable real estate.

Based on this "opportunity theory" I think the questions we should be considering in the talent attraction/retention conversation are these:

What kinds of opportunities does this region offer young people?
How do we market and connect people to them?
How can we create more?

The target market has to be a part of this process. I say "process" and not "discussion" because I think it’s time to start asking more of our young people than what they want. Let’s stop treating them simply as consumers and ask them to take a leadership role in making this region a place that draws talent.

Enter, Millennial Mayors Congress.

Here in southeast Michigan, I’m seeing young people making change in their communities, and I’m seeing established leaders beginning to consult the next generation. What I haven’t seen is a viable opportunity for the two to act as partners in achieving what I consider a shared goal—until the Millennial Mayors Congress. Imagine the impact of this combination: the vast experience and knowledge of government leaders paired with the fresh perspective and vision of the region’s next generation of leaders. Local governments make decisions every day that directly impact the nature of communities, both in the short and long term. With sense of place and quality of life playing increasingly influential roles in Millennials’ location decisions, it only makes sense that these decisions be informed by young perspectives.

The Millennial Mayors Congress aims to serve as a forum for this kind of intergenerational leadership. Within it, representatives will address social, environmental and economic issues important not only to talent concentration, but to the long-term prosperity and vitality of metro Detroit. Because the fact is, these objectives are closely intertwined and often overlapping. In the process, it creates a number of a range of new opportunities for young people: opportunities to make a meaningful impact, to take a leadership role in the region, to pioneer a new and innovative project, to learn first-hand from successful civic leaders, to gain access to a system that may not seem accessible, to shape the future of the place where they hope to spend many more years.

Our turnaround as a region depends on our willingness to see opportunities of all kinds as drivers of the new economy and offer a meaningful way for the continuum of leaders to tap into them. By letting the full breadth of talent we need in metro Detroit do the kind of work – be it entrepreneurial, industrial, social or political – that gives meaning to their lives, we remind the world that Detroit, too, is a land of opportunity.

Learn more about the opportunities for young people in the Millennial Mayors Congress at a visioning session tomorrow evening (Tuesday, December 16). Details at www.millennialmayors.org.

Sharon Carney - Post 2: A proving ground for innovative problem-solving/collaboration

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:27:56 GMT

I used to play volleyball. Pretty obsessively, I realize, in retrospect. At one club I played for, techniques like passing, setting and spiking were taught in an extremely controlled environment. This is no exaggeration.

During my first 3-hour practice I never touched a ball. It took 90 minutes for my team to graduate from stationary positions to ball-less footwork; before that, we worked on upper body and arm form. Once we’d mastered the fundamentals, other variables were allowed in—simulated passes, then moving balls and, after many weeks, real hitters. For a 16-year-old, this process was agonizing, but come game time, I certainly passed on target.

I typically detest sports analogies, but I think there’s something to this one. Lessons learned: you can’t expect behavioral shifts without consistent repetition, and controlling the variables can be super-effective. What if we were to apply this thinking to something like regional cooperation?

Our track record on regionalism is nothing to boast about, particularly when it comes to addressing challenges that are metro-wide in scope. That needs to change. Climate change, blight, discrimination, job loss, water quality...these issues are not municipally bound. They affect many communities and impede our ability to prosper, especially in the New Economy where sense of place and quality of life are central to the location decisions of companies and mobile workers.

I won’t dwell on this, but I think it’s fair to say there’s room for improvement. Why not control the variables? Instead of getting together at the most pressing times to fix high-stakes regional or multi-city issues, why don’t we build that capacity for cooperation in a lower-stress environment where the actors involved can focus on building strong fundamentals? It seems reasonable that participants’ collective ability to work together would become more sophisticated over time.

There are few among us who live single-city lives. For example, I live in Birmingham. I work in Ferndale. My roots are in Macomb County, so I often spend time with friends there. When I want arts and culture, I head to Midtown. At least once a month I hit Hamtramck for live music, and I love taking visitors ice skating at Campus Martius. As much as I strive to live locally, I also value my ability to leverage the many resources and opportunities our region has to offer.

Despite our regional lifestyles, we live in a place where local control has long been the name of the game. By that I mean most governance issues and public service delivery, like garbage collection and public safety, fall to local government rather than some larger entity, like a county. This system has its ups and downs. On the up side, it enables government leaders to be more in tune with their constituency. The down side is that local priorities sometimes supersede regional ones, and that can make cooperation more challenging—especially when it comes to addressing issues that have greater-than-local implications.

Overcoming those issues depends on an ability to put local priorities in perspective with a collective vision. This is tough in a region where locality and turf have been primary political drivers for generations. A new approach to governance that honors that tradition of local control without sacrificing the opportunity for enhanced collaboration eliminates a few more of the social variables that have impeded metropolitan-level work on critical growth issues like transit, affordable housing and energy.

The Millennial Mayors Congress can serve as a proving ground to pioneer a new approach to cooperation. It will be a space where collaboration isn’t forced, but chosen. The mayors and young people participating in this initiative are doing so in hopes of a brighter future, not out of obligation. Deadlines for meeting goals will be self-imposed. With time, topic and terms of participation controlled, they’ll be able to focus on technique—listening to each other, having values-based conversations and finding solutions that everyone agrees to, making decisions by consensus. As time goes on, they’ll cultivate a foundation for effective problem-solving and take on increasingly complex challenges. When the urgent, high-pressure situations arise outside the Congress, both city leaders and Millennial leaders will be better prepared to collaboratively address them.

Sharon Carney - Post 1: The Backstory

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

About a year ago this month, a small group of local city leaders had a conversation about the future of our region. They talked about the New Economy and the barriers to that kind of growth in Metro Detroit. They agreed on the need for better cooperation to address these challenges, and resolved to launch a new regional effort to improve the status quo.

And then someone had a thought. "What about the Millennials? Their preferences drive New Economy growth."

Heads around the room began nodding in agreement. "They seem eager to make an impact," responded one leader. "And they are our next generation of leaders," said another. "They need to be at the table."

And with that, this visionary group of leaders pioneered an intergenerational approach to regional cooperation, a project that would later be named the Millennial Mayors Congress.

Of course, I’m paraphrasing and oversimplifying. One year ago, I had no idea this conversation was taking place. I was living in Rajasthan, India, learning from women village leaders about their panchayat raj, or village governing system. During the long trips between villages, I contemplated where I might go once I completed my work in Rajasthan – Nepal, Thailand, maybe China? Or, I thought, I could go back to the U.S. and find a job in New York or D.C., somewhere new and exciting, something different than what I knew and grew up with in southeast Michigan.

As it turned out, Detroit was my land of opportunity. The Millennial Mayors Congress needed a point-person, someone who could understand both Millennials and local government with a willingness to work long hours for nonprofit wages. That’s me. I am now helping a growing network of mayors and rising leaders organize the launch of this partnership.

For someone who wanted something new and different, it is a perfect fit. The Millennial Mayors Congress is a unique approach to regional cooperation—one that is inherently collaborative and forward-looking. Each participating community will send a 2-person delegation to serve on the Congress, their mayor (or chief executive—i.e. the supervisor, in the case of a township, or the president, in the case of a village) and a resident young person (aged roughly 18-34). These leaders will together tackle a regional issue that impedes our ability to attract new economy investment and, over the course of several months to a year, develop actionable goals to address it. They will adopt these measures by consensus and action plans to meet adopted goals will be designed and executed at the local level. Think Kyoto Protocol adapted for a metropolitan area.

Delegates to the Millennial Mayors Congress won’t work in a vacuum; there’s room for pretty expansive participation from anyone who wants to make this region stronger. Existing research and data will guide the Congress’ decision-making, and technical experts and thought leaders from across Metro Detroit will wrangle with the details of metrics on task forces and advisory committees.

Additionally, young representatives will have the support of a network of their peers, whom they will be responsible for engaging, both online and on-the-ground. The driving motivation behind it all? Our belief that engaging the next generation of leaders is essential to the future of this region.

Metro Detroit desperately needs transformational outcomes: a system to address greater-than-local concerns; innovative, intergenerational leadership; an enhanced capacity for cooperation. In short, governance that enables 21^st century economic growth. Michigan’s next economy must recognize the importance of concentrating talent, and what better way to institutionalize that than by bringing those voices to the table and giving them a clear stake in their own future?

I know I’m leaving unanswered questions on the table, but I’ll be back tomorrow for a deeper dig. In the meantime, read up on the Millennial Mayors Congress at www.suburbsalliance.org. Think about regional governance, new economy talent, sense of place and the kind of leadership that it takes to transform a rust belt economy into a robust icon of the new millennium.

Jerry Lindman - Post 5: New Paradigm of Nonprofit Leadership

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:23:54 GMT

Earlier in this blog I referred to an 'older paradigm' of nonprofit leadership. That observation is not intended to take anything away from the many nonprofit entrepreneurs who have dedicated their careers to a cause and a charitable organization at times when the sector was in its formative stages and truly a new frontier in mangement. Such passion and commitment has resulted in countless achievements in social welfare, environment, health, arts, and education, just to name a few.

However, with the dramatic growth of the nonprofit sector in the last few decades, the challenges, expectations and requirements have also grown, and changed. It is these new demands on nonprofit organizations and their leaders that require a higher level of strategic management. Measurable outcomes, financial sustainability and accountability and transparency are the new challenges today. The nonprofit CEOs of today need to simultaneously manage many challenges that result from:

Increasing demand on nonprofit services
Decreasing government funding
Growing competition for charitable contributions and grants
Higher expectations from donors regarding the impact of their donations
Increased oversight and regulation from federal and state governments
Expanded media coverage
New technological applications
Unique volunteer habits of Gen X and Millennials.

The challenges facing the nonprofit sector are many but these nimble organizations are adapting to the new demands while continuing to demonstrate important gains in the variety of societal causes they work on. Professional nonprofit management education such as at Lawrence Technological University recognizes this "new paradigm" of nonprofit leaders and have crafted unique curriculum, drawing from proven business practices, to educate this new generation of leaders.

In closing this blog, I leave you with a statement by Peter F. Drucker, longtime guru in corporate and nonprofit management. With this statement, Drucker lays down the gauntlet to the nonprofit sector in regards to its important role of developing the leaders of our society for the 21^st Century.

"…. The more economy, money, and information become global, the more community will matter. Only the social sector nonprofit organization performs in the community, exploits its opportunities, mobilizes its local resources, and solves its problems. The leadership, competence, and management of the social sector nonprofit organization will determine the values, vision and performance of the 21st century society." ¹

Jerry Lindman - Post 4: Careers in Fundraising

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:47:43 GMT

Nonprofit fundraising, known as 'fund development' is a leading source of nonprofit jobs openings. A look at the classified ads shows that.

Fund development officers are the professionals who provide the critical leadership and management of the various programs used by nonprofits to secure charitable contributions and grant funding. Whether in hospitals, universities, museums, fund development officers are highly respected professionals serving in executive levels and reporting directly to the CEO and board of directors. All nonprofits, regardless of the size and fields of interest, have a fund development program, most have a fulltime position or positions for this function.

The fund development field is actually made up of several subsets of development specialists who manage the standard fundraising methods commonly used to secure charitable contributions such as major gifts, annual fund, planned giving, and special events and grant writing. Each of these specialties requires distinctive skills. The fund development field also includes many key support jobs which staff various important functions in a professional fund development office such as researcher, data mangers and web specialists. All the positions in the fund development office are in high demand and have the best average pay of all nonprofit positions. Average salary for U.S. fundraisers was $72,683 in 2007.

The skill set and competencies of a fund development staff have similarities to business sales and marketing however there are critical differences which need to be addressed for a successful transition to a nonprofit fundraising career. Here are some tips for exploring whether a fundraising career is right for you:

Keep in mind that the nonprofit sector is about achievement of a mission not a profit, especially when fund development is concerned.
Don’t get hung up on the barrier of being uncomfortable asking people for money. Once you understand the field of fund development, you will appreciate how naïve this perspective is.
Most people do not fully understand the profession of fund development and various activities that make up a professional program. Take time to read about the fundraising profession. There are some quality books such as Careers in Fund Raising, Lilya Wagner.
Get quality, professional training in fund development. Two highly regarded professional certifications programs are The Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and the Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFRM). For information about the CFRE program for fundraising professionals click here. For more information about the CFRM education program for fundraising professionals, visit here.

An important resource for professional fundraisers is the Association of Fundraising Professionals.This national organization has helpful local chapters such as the AFP Greater Detroit Chapter and the AFP Collegiate Chapter at Lawrence Technological University.

Fund development for nonprofit organizations offers an exciting and viable professional career option for persons who take time to fully understand the nonprofit sector and the various jobs of the fund development professional.

Jerry Lindman - Post 3: The Nonprofit Job Search

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:07:18 GMT

Once a person decides to actively pursue a nonprofit job, their next step is to develop an effective job search strategy. Similar to any professional job search, there are some distinctive activities to consider which can help when pursuing a nonprofit job particularly when crating your resume, developing your network and how business skills and experience are presented to nonprofit employers. The additional advantage to the job search process is that it helps people better understand their level of interest in a career with a nonprofit organization.

As with any job search, fashioning an effective resume is an important first step.

Your resume should be written so that it identifies your most relevant qualifications for nonprofit management. Remember to focus on accomplishments that demonstrate your skill and abilities. That is why I recommend a functional format to a resume rather than a chronological format. Especially for persons new to the nonprofit sector, this will highlight transferable skills and demonstrate an appreciation for the uniqueness of skill set of a nonprofit manager.

The vast majority of nonprofit organizations are small. As reported by Independent Sector in 20071, "More than 73 percent of reporting public charities reported annual expenses of less than $500,000 in 2005. Less than 4 percent of reporting public charities had expenses greater than $10 million."

Therefore, your resume should demonstrate diverse management skills and abilities related to several of the core nonprofit management functions listed below.

As you design your skilled based resume, consider that most nonprofits are small and managers are charged with multiple management functions. Therefore, demonstrating multiple management skill sets is valuable to nonprofit employers. The following list of core nonprofit management competencies may be helpful in categorizing your skill sets:

Fund development – Systematic seeking and securing of charitable contributions and grants using a wide range of proven strategies.

Governance – Collaborative and effective work relations between the CEO and the board of directors.

Nonprofit financial management – Management of revenues from grants, charitable contributions, and earned income. Keep in mind, nonprofits commonly view their success based on dual bottom-lines of mission achievement and financial sustainability.
Program assessment – Program success is a key success factor for a mission-based organization.
Human resource and volunteer management – Volunteers are an essential resource for any successful nonprofit and need to be uniquely managed.
Public policy activities – Lobbying and advocacy directed to elected and government officials to improve government policies and funding on behalf of the nonprofit mission.

Throughout the job search process, keep in mind the 'mission-focus' of the nonprofit sector and its organizations. Though financial sustainability is vitally important, the key primary focus for nonprofits is the success of achieving the mission. Keeping this clearly in mind will help you present your business experience and education in the most convincing light.

When you craft your cover letter, keep in mind its main purpose is not to get the job but to get the interview. Always highlight your key accomplishments that closely match the employers specific needs identified in the job description.

Networking Techniques

As with most job searches, the majority of job openings are never advertised or publicly announced, filled through word-of-mouth or networking. Consider these networking techniques for your nonprofit job search:

Translate work experience to nonprofit job types with nonprofit education and training

Education that addresses critical nonprofit management functions like fundraising, volunteer and HR management, financial management, program assessment.
Consider shorter nonprofit certificate programs if you already have a graduate degree. For example, the College of Management at Lawrence Technological University offers a 36 credit MBA with concentration in nonprofit management but also offers a 12 credit graduate certificate in nonprofit managent and leadership which is very attractive to experienced business and government professionals who already have a masters degree but don’t have education in core nonprofit management competencies. Such a short graduate certificate also helps translate your work experience to the mission-based organization.

Volunteer strategically; work on project which utilize your past experience and skills; work directly for a nonprofit CEO or executive who has influence in hiring decisions.

Volunteer to serve on a board of directors. It's a great way to immerse yourself in nonprofit management and allows you to network with nonprofit board members.But it is important to understand how your background and skills apply to critical nonprofit management functions.

Consult or take on project work in your area of expertise; nonprofit heavily utilize consultants and independent contractors; great way to witness and compare the cultures of different nonprofits and evaluate which is better for you.
Seek informational interviews with nonprofit CEO’s and executives.

Interview and Preparation

An interview is your chance to sell yourself. The more you are comfortable with your strengths (and weaknesses) and how you may fit into the nonprofit, the more success you will have.

Preparation includes researching the particular nonprofit and its industry (e.g. arts & culture, health, environmental, education, etc.). Research is one of the most important components of a job search. You will not succeed in your job-search without knowledge of the organizations you are interviewing with or information about the particular nonprofit industry.

Finally, some additional activities to improve your chances of successful nonprofit job search are ‘strategic volunteering’ and nonprofit education and training. Volunteering is essential to understanding the uniqueness of the nonprofit organizations.

All types of volunteering are important and valuable but for people seeking employment I recommend ‘'strategic volunteering'. Strategic volunteering is a volunteering assignment of limited duration, arranged between a nonprofit executive and an experienced volunteer, to carry out a valued management deliverable for the organization. This type of strategic use of volunteering is a win-win for the nonprofit and the person seeking employment. It is a great way to help translate business skills to nonprofit management.

Training and education in nonprofit management is critical to any person working, or seeking to work, in the nonprofit sector because of the dramatic sector changes. A variety of levels of training and education exist from community seminars to graduate college education. Lawrence Tech nonprofit graduate students come from all walks of life. Many already have master’s degrees. Regardless of their background, they find helpful the immersion into core nonprofit management competencies with the particular emphasis on fundraising.

The job search for a nonprofit job is similar to most professional job searches. Following these tips regarding crafting of a resume, developing a network and preparing for the job interview will help you to make the case that you understand the unique challenges of a nonprofit organization and will add real value to the achievement of its mission.

Jerry Lindman - Post 2: The Nonprofit Career

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

After the initial session with persons interested in a nonprofit career, I find it helpful to immediately immerse them in recent information and research about today’s nonprofit sector and the increasingly important role it plays in our society.

Though highly educated and possessing solid work skills, most persons I work with come to me with an understanding of the nonprofit sector that I refer to as the 'older paradigm.' It is important to update them on the nonprofit sector and the sophisticated work it carries out locally, nationally, and globally.

They also need to get a dose of reality at this stage. Though their passion for seeking meaningful work is a key indicator of potential success in transitioning to a nonprofit career, it can easily blind them to the realities of nonprofit work. Multi-tasking, heavy workloads, and lower compensation (relative to business and government) are key sources of burnout for current nonprofit leaders and executives. I ask people to take time to reflect on these issues and the risk involved in the decentralized nonprofit sector, which is predominantly made up of small organizations with operational budgets under $500K. It is this dose of reality that often causes people to think twice, and I don’t see some of them again.

At this stage, I also introduce them to other ways in which they can contribute at a high level with a nonprofit organization—and gain great satisfaction—withoutbeing a fulltime employee. Serving on a board of directors is one such option.

In the nonprofit sector, the volunteer board of directors is legally in charge of the operations of the nonprofit and research shows that the more effective board an organization has, the more successful it is. This is why the Center for Nonprofit Management hosts a low-cost workshop series to train new or emerging nonprofit board members. Called BoardWALK, this series is offered in partnership with the United Way for Southeast Michigan and the Detroit Executive Service Corps. For more information about its seven workshops, visit ltu.edu/management/nonprofit_training.asp.

To update people on today’s nonprofit sector, I start with developing a common definition of what we are talking about.

There are many commonly used terms to describe the nonprofit sector, such as ‘nonprofit,’ ‘not-for-profit,’ ‘charitable organization,’ ‘exempt organization,’ and ‘public charity.’ Also, there are many types of nonprofits, such as hospitals, museums, universities, food banks, religious organizations, the Red Cross, United Way, etc.

What they all share in common is that they are legally established nonprofit corporations authorized under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code as 501(c)3 nonprofits. As 501(c)3 nonprofits, they are all legally bound to carry out a public purpose and share a very unique tax advantage (beyond their tax exempt status): contributions to the nonprofit are deductible by a donor on their federal and state income tax returns.

Nonprofits offer a wide variety of publicly beneficial (if not essential) programs and services in our communities. Researchers commonly categorize 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations into the areas of their interest::

Arts, culture, and humanities – Includes museums, symphonies, theaters
Education and research – Includes private colleges and K–12 schools, research institutions
Environmental and animals – Includes zoos, bird sanctuaries, wildlife and land protection organizations
Health services – Includes hospitals, public clinics, and senior and nursing home facilities
Human services – Includes housing/shelter/food, programs low-income clients
International and foreign affairs – Includes overseas relief and development assistance
Public and societal benefit – Private and community foundations, civil rights organizations, and civic, social, and fraternal organizations
Religion – Includes all types of houses of worship and their programs

In the three-county area of Southeast Michigan, as of 2004¹, the nonprofit sector consisted of a total of 2,446 public charities with expenditures of approximately $15.3 billion. The breakdown by type of most of them is:

Health services – Total: 379 with annual expenditures of $11.7 billion
Human services – Total: 846 with annual expenditures of $1.7 billion
Education and research – Total: 401 with annual expenditures of $.5 billion
Arts, culture, and humanities – Total: 207 with annual expenditures of $.2 billion

Another reality check for people is to view the latest compensation studies of CEOs and staff at charitable nonprofit organizations. An example of a national study is the 2008 CEO Compensation Study by Charity Navigator². Some of the findings of this salary survey of CEOs are:

The top leaders of the 53,241 charities in America evaluated by Charity Navigator earn an average salary of $148,973, representing a 2.55 percent increase from the prior year.
For the Midwest region the average salary of a nonprofit CEO in 2008 was $140,795, a 3.36 percent increase.

Regardless of the type or size, at some level, all nonprofits share common management functions, competencies, and legal requirements, which clearly make them unique from business and government enterprises.

The common management functions shared by 501(c)3 nonprofits are:

Fund raising/Grant writing – the systematic seeking of charitable contributions and grants
Governance – Lead by a voluntary board of directors
Nonprofit Financial Management – Management of various revenue sources in from grants, charitable contributions, and earned income
Nonprofit Programs Outcomes – Success is measured by, at least, dual bottom lines: mission and financial
Public Policy – They have unique legal restrictions on lobbying
Volunteer Management – This essential skill for nonprofits represents the heart of the charitable nonprofit sector!

As I said previously, employment and careers in the nonprofit sector are not for everyone. The important passions that drive the sector to achieve and have made it what it is today can sometimes blind organizations to sound, sustainable management. But, increasingly, it is the right place for a growing number of persons to pursue a meaningful professional career.

What do you think about the management of nonprofit organizations today? What is your experience? How are you connected to it: volunteer, donor, board member, employee? All of these roles are essential in today’s nonprofit sector. But, they do need to be managed effectively.

Jerry Lindman - Post 1: A Nonprofit Career

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:01:05 GMT

A sign of the times in Southeast Michigan is the number of people in the midst of career transitioning. My work at Lawrence Tech University’s College of Management offers me the privilege of meeting a select group of them; those exploring the idea of a career with charitable nonprofits.

They come from all walks of life and represent a wide spectrum of professions; business management, government, marketing, sales, engineering, information technology to name a few. Most are highly skilled with solid work experience and professional achievements. And, they have one thing in common; they want their job to be more meaningful, more connected to their personal values and passion.

This blog will recount my experience working with dozens of people over the last few years exploring a nonprofit career.

My career coaching stems from my work as a professor in the College of Management and as the Director of the Center for Nonprofit Management. As in all educational programs at Lawrence Technology University, it is my job to educate and support a new generation of leaders, in my case, leaders of charitable nonprofit organizations.

In initial coaching sessions, there are three questions commonly asked:

Why is there a need for a graduate program specifically for charitable nonprofit executives?
Why hasn’t my business education and work experience already prepared me to be a CEO of a nonprofit?
How did this program get started at Lawrence Technological University, a place long known for educating successful engineers and architects?

I always enjoy responding to these questions.

The first point is easily addressed by providing recent research on the nonprofit sector, its organizations, revenue and employment, over the last few decades. This information demonstrates tremendous growth in the nonprofit sector.

For example, a 2006 national study identified a 'stunning deficit' in the supply of nonprofit executives over the next ten years. The study concluded that "the projected leadership deficit results from both constrained supply and increasing demand" for executives at nonprofit charitable organizations.¹

Various other national institutions have recognized this dramatic growth in the nonprofit sector and sector’s increasing role as a major economic contributor to local and national economies.

Though still significantly smaller in size compared to the business and government sector of our economy, its annual growth has increased much faster. As the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis stated in a recent publication entitled The Economy’s Middle Child² (Fedgazette, July 2006) "..a major part of the economy, the nonprofit sector is poorly understood and maybe a tad underappreciated……despite the fact that it employs close to one in 10 American workers and has annual revenue in the trillions. You might even nominate it as the nation's most productive sector, given its extensive use of free labor."

Why a business career doesn’t directly translate into a nonprofit career goes directly to the heart of the difference between profit-making versus mission-focused enterprises. This fundamental difference in organizational focus determines uniquely distinctive management competences at charitable nonprofit organizations, which many business professionals are unfamiliar. Management competencies unique to the nonprofit sector include fundraising, board and volunteer management and financial management are examples.

Don’t get me wrong, Lawrence Tech's nonprofit management program was designed with the firm belief that nonprofit managers can learn a lot from the proven business practices, that business professionals are needed in the sector, and will fill the projected shortfall in nonprofit executives.

However, transferring business competencies is best done with an understanding of a mission-focused organization and its unique culture. The graduate program focuses on this transformation and helps a business professional make that transition successfully.

As for how this program took root at a university known for its engineering and architecture programs, it has a lot to do with Lawrence Tech’s vision for the new economy of Southeast Michigan and its entrepreneurial approach to education.

Launched in 2002 by Dr. Robert Inskeep with the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the LTU graduate nonprofit management program was created to be part of a traditional school of business management to see how it might address the growing demands placed on nonprofit leaders by government, funders and donors.

Today, there are dozens of people pursuing graduate nonprofit degrees at Lawrence Tech's College of Management for either an MBA with a concentration in nonprofit management or a 12 credit Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. Each student receives the support they need to transition or advance their nonprofit careers.

I have also learned that the nonprofit sector is not for everyone. It is best suited for a person with a unique blend of characteristics. In my experience, it takes a person with a strong drive to pursue non-monetary benefits in a job; motivated more by societal than personal monetary gain.

From my perspective these people are risk-takers and entrepreneurs, albeit 'social entrepreneurs'. These people understand what Jim Collins means when he says "I’ve come to see that it is simply not good enough to focus solely on having a great business sector. If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one."³

So, are you one of these types? Have you considered pursing a career with a charitable organization? I mean a permanent, fulltime job that pays a salary and benefits? Let me know your thoughts or any questions you may have.

My next posting will share information on how to evaluate and explore nonprofit career for yourself including current examples of compensation in the sector. I will provide some updated information on the today’s nonprofit sector and where it is headed in the future.

James Studinger - Post 5: Offense, Defence And Going Green?

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:12:51 GMT

For most of this week I’ve been talking about building wealth by investing our time and money into appreciating assets (Buy Appreciating Stuff Often or BASO). When economies are tough, it can seem like there is nothing to reinvest. So today I’m going to give you some practical ideas to free up your cash.

In Wealth Is a Choice I frequently discuss financial offense and defense. Offense is the money you bring in, and defense is what you do with it. When people feel behind, they often believe increasing income is the only solution. There are many in Michigan losing their jobs, or who have become overextended. I won’t deny that more income can be helpful, but I also believe that we are not sufficiently working with the income we already have.

And until we are, it is possible that no amount of income will be enough. The economic winds may be so fierce in Michigan that none of us are safe from the gails. Even for those who are employed and living within their means, strengthening your defense during good times is paramount to keeping afloat even if we’re not always so lucky.

Go Green?

Books like Deep Economy (Bill McKibben) and Common Wealth (Jeffrey Sachs) point out that America makes inefficient use of our resources, and that this trend can not be sustained. Do we need to buy less (live less) in order to waste less? Or is it possible that by wasting less we might just find ourselves spending less, and therefore saving more? David Bach Author of Go Green Live Rich believes you can, and so do I.

A couple of years ago, looking out my window at all the gas guzzling vehicles in the parking lot, I wrote an article that suggested if we paid more attention to how many barrels of oil we consume (rather than focus on the price of gas) then eventually gas prices would reduce. The amount of my income that goes to gasoline may be less than last year, but that alone won’t tell me if I used more or less gasoline. It is the collective habits of the masses that most influence the future cost of transportation.

So this year my wife and I did some experimenting. We tried using fewer resources. We began frequent car pooling. We took that a step further, and dusted off the bikes. It’s a 7.5 mile trip one-way, but amazingly we discovered it only added 15 minutes to the commute. It also gave us a great workout, and replaced some time needed at the gym. It has its realities, the first week I got a flat. And one tends to get a little sweaty. But we worked around those issues and functioned just fine. With office space so available in Michigan, next year when our office lease is up and we’ll move to a location much closer to home, making manual commute more reasonable and likely.

We began buying food in bulk, and composting (turning waste into nutrients) the veggie scraps. Next year we’ll have a real nice little garden, which won’t replace the grocery store, but it will make a difference. We joined a food co-op and got a weekly supply of locally grown veggies. We have a big freezer in the garage, and I get my annual meat supply from a couple farmer friends (giving more Michiganders a little more income rather than some corporation located outside our state. Plus, my average cost per pound is only around $3.50 and it’s all organic.

I see families get more creative with toys for their kids. During a taping of Ken Stern's new Detroit Public Television show, he said he’d be giving friends gift certificates for Christmas, but not for stores, but instead, for his time (babysitting kids, helping shovel their snow, cooking a meal for them). Remember, cardboard boxes make great forts and drawings are fantastic birthday cards.

We do much of our communication via email, and try to reduce the number of things printed. Instead of mailing client holiday cards we send them an email that we’ve donated the expense to charity. When we take notes, it’s usually on the backs of useless scrap paper. So we recycle paper once before it’s shredded and recycled again. Through this, something very interesting happened with our trash. I used to pile up bags each Tuesday for pick-up, now I usually just have one small bag of trash, and one box of recycle. We use less - spend less, but still buy the things we want. But we are not spending as much money for packaging or convenience.

Take a month off spending

If you want to see what’s possible but can’t commit to a massive yearlong change, then just take one month. For one month, brown bag it for lunch, don’t go shopping for new clothes, don’t sign up for new memberships, and see how much less you can spend that month. Re-think the way you buy groceries. Go through the cupboards and see what’s there. Look around your community for free family events. Get involved to improve your neighborhood. And more than just not spending money - see if you can improve your net worth. Rather than feeling trapped inside and watching TV, brainstorm and see if there are fun things you can do that also might increase income. Rediscover your strengths. Spend some good ole’ wholesome American family time with friends and have them over for a pot-luck.

I’ve posted a free "Cash Flow Worksheet (Budget)" on my website. It’s in an excel format, so please feel free to download it and alter the fields to personalize your budget.

The good thing about a bad economy is that it’s easier to make the shift to living frugally. We’re all in this together and even the Jones’s are cutting back. And we might discover that this whole "Go Green" thing is reconnecting to those around us and building stronger communities.

I’ve enjoyed this week, and hope it gave you some good practical ideas. Please continue to share your thoughts and ideas.

James Studinger - Post 4: Outside The Business

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:09:45 GMT

Most of Michigan’s primary income is W-2, from an employer. Some are sole practitioners and work independently on a 10-99, and others own organizations that employee others. Sometimes the sole-practitioner, and usually the business owner, is also building an asset that can be sold for a profit. All three methods of earning an income are unique and not suited for everyone as their primary source.

Padding our wealth with different wealth

I’m a big believer in the powerful word ALSO. I encourage business owners to also build wealth outside of their business, and for employees to also build options outside of their job. The advantages of having self employment income are vast, and can be viewed as part of one’s overall "investment" strategy. Not only does it keep open the possibility of prosperity, but there are also many practical benefits.

Here are a couple of examples, starting with the employee. I recently met with Steve who is working for a big three supplier experiencing heavy layoffs. So far he is safe. Steve is quite good at building websites, and has been for a number of years, for free. Besides the fact that he isn’t making any money, unfortunately his skill isn’t structured as a business for tax reasons. Most of the equipment, overhead and meetings with his pro-bono clients would be considered a business expense if he operated as such. Some of the equipment helps him on his day job, and is written off as an un-reimbursed business expense on his tax return. But that is subject to a 2% restriction of AGI (meaning that if he made $100,000, then he could only begin writing off expenses that exceed $2,000). However, if he had a legitimate business (pursuing paying customers) then he might be able to benefit with greater realized deductions. Not to mention making extra income.

As it turns out, he actually does have potential clients who want to pay him to build websites. If he gets laid off, will the income be enough to support his family? Probably not entirely - but it helps. And who knows, the experience may open other doors. The great news is that it gives him options - another source of income, some nice tax advantages and another diversified way of building wealth.

For the current business owner, building wealth outside of your business isn’t just an option, it’s critical. Norm McKee, a CPA in Rochester has been performing a record number of business bankruptcies. Unfortunately too much wealth was wrapped up inside the business. When times are good it’s easy to think that it will always be good, and we spend our money freely. Then when times are bad we are just scraping by, and have no money to save. Many business owners have their wealth tied up in their business, and they believe that someday they will sell, and get all that wealth out. Sometimes it happens just that way. But other times it doesn’t. Many sell within, to existing employees or family members. People don’t often have the funds to pay for the business with one check, so they put down a modest payment, and then finance the rest. Sometimes they are not able to secure financing with a bank, so they finance with the original owner. For some it works, but for others things get tough, and the new owners are not as successful. The business fails leaving the original owner still wanting for the rest of their payment.

So business ownership can be used on a small scale to supplement income, or large scale to create value, I don’t believe it is a stand alone method of building wealth. I also recommend using various retirement plans (401k, 403b, 457, Simple, SEP), Roth IRA’s, real estate (not just your house), bonds, cd’s and other accounts. When calculating your retirement number, decide how much of that number might be driven by the sale of the business, and how much wealth needs to be raised elsewhere. It’s also wise to calculate what things might look like if the business isn’t sold at all. Are you protecting your outside assets and would they be sufficient to provide you a decent lifestyle?

For most of this week I’ve been talking about building wealth. I know that when times are tough it’s sometimes difficult to imagine excess. So for my final blog tomorrow, I’ll be giving you ideas of how to save money.

James Studinger - Post 3: BASO

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:34:23 GMT

Buy Appreciating Assets Often (BASO). If it were that easy then why isn’t everyone doing it? Well, I think now many people are doing it (401k’s and other retirement plans), some more sufficiently than others. It is apparent that many of us are adopting the shift in thinking, and many are treading waters they didn’t think they would.

Reinventing Job Security In Michigan

Here’s a great example. I was recently having breakfast at the Parade Company in celebration of the upcoming Thanksgiving Day Parade. I met a man who works for one of the Big Three. He told me that after 30 years, he’s changing the way he views earning a living. And he doesn’t think his sons will feed their families the same way he provided for them. In fact, he’s put much of his own financial security on the line to help them start a business. I asked him if they appreciated it. He said that he thought they did, especially the oldest one, "He gets it." He told them they’re going to have to work hard and maybe put in eleven or twelve hour days. But if they can make it through this tough economy and even just survive, then when things eventually recover they should be doing ok.

He’s also looking at his own retirement differently with the state of GM, Chrysler and Ford. He won’t be sitting idle if he does take a buyout. Even now he’s looking into self-employment brokering machinery on-line. He is familiar with the equipment, and knows how to find the product at a fair price, and has found others willing to buy it, for a profit.

He and his family are embracing the shift in what it means to have financial security. They realize that it may take having more than one income source, being actively engaged in outside business, or by having assets that produce income or growth. He admits that there’s a challenging learning curve. He’s made plenty of mistakes over his life, but now he feels he’s experienced enough to do well. “It’s the least I can do to help my boys, and share my experiences in hopes they make better decisions than I did.”

Recently, two close associates of mine, Curt and Vicki, re-invented themselves and transitioned out of the mortgage business. All it took was a moment of inspiration and the couple had invented the concept for an innovative product to service the growing pet industry. A year later, the two have developed product prototypes with established, reputable manufacturing partners and have raised capital to support their efforts. They are on the verge of bringing this new product to market.

The other day Curt said, "I never expected to transition out of a successful career and into an entirely different industry. Now, I am manufacturing a consumer product and loving every minute of it." Curt’s always dreamed of new inventions, but actually bringing something to market is a whole new exciting challenge.

For some, we’ll be building businesses as a side job, something to supplement our income. Maybe it will be the money that puts our kids through college, or invested in retirement accounts that eventually complete our retirement needs. For others, new businesses may totally redefine wealth, and take them to new levels they never thought possible. No matter the immediate results of any pursuit, the experiences are invaluable and "what works" can be duplicated, even in this Michigan economy.

This is a prime example of what BASO means. This gentleman is becoming part of the solution. He is showing us how we can create wealth not just with our money, but also with our time, our ideas and our energy. To learn how to have security by having options, and not just relying on our employer or government in hopes that the $1,500 a month projected retirement income stays true.

Stay tuned for tomorrow as I’ll talk about how to create wealth inside and outside of your business.

James Studinger - Post 2: Appreciation

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Yesterday we discussed being part of the solution and standing out in Michigan’s tough economy; putting pen to paper to test our ideas, relearn our jobs, welcoming peer feedback and establishing goals. And we talked about having strong anchor points to more effectively measure the quality of our decisions.

Buy Appreciating Stuff Often (BASO)

Yes it’s that simple; buy things that go up in value. OK genius, I thought I was doing that in my 401k and at the moment, I certainly don’t feel rich! I hear you, so let me explain.

Michigan retirees have a pension and social security as the engine and chassis, with modest savings in the bank as traction control. For many auto related workers, their retirement strategy was to work with one employer for most of their career, have very low fixed expenses, own things free and clear, while living well within their means. There wasn’t discussion of investing 20% to 30% of earned income. We learned about money in that environment, and have become accustomed to the notion that our income is necessary to keep up with our spending. We would work therefore, to pay bills.

In this new society of individual wealth, scrap the idea that you work just to survive. You work in order to become wealthier, and much more independent. I don’t want my income to keep me afloat; I want my income to make me richer! Beyond money, one thing that hasn’t changed is that our jobs also provide us a purpose and life fulfillment.

It’s ironic, many acknowledge that the tides have shifted, and that we all need to be much wealthier than we are today, and yet we give most of our money to what destroys the sanctity of our future. We spend the majority of our income on bills, depreciating assets and activities which further increase expenses. And we give too little of our resources to assets that have the ability to make us more income. Is it any wonder that we don’t feel more secure?

You’re not going to get it right all the time and sometimes your values will decline. You’ll invest into some bad ideas. You’ll invest at the inopportune time. But through each experience, if you pay attention to what you are doing, and establish your strong anchor point, you’ll get good at this. You’ll realize that it’s not always easy to identify the best investment, but that it is very easy to identify the worst ones, like depreciating assets.

Keep in mind that investments are sometimes volatile, and as we are witnessing today, their value can change rapidly. You should also keep in mind that pension funds also move in value. And although you can’t usually see it, each day the pension fund is a little more or a little less solvent than it was yesterday. In the world of individual wealth we have great transparency and can see the value of our assets gyrate. That transparency can help you make sharp decisions, but it can also bring you anxiety. Keep going back to your goals and your anchor point to stay grounded, and smiling.

Tomorrow I’ll talk specifically about building wealth in business and how to build wealth outside your business.

James Studinger - Post 1: Write What You Know

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I recently wrote Wealth Is a Choice, a book designed to help give people the "secrets" of what I believe it takes to become wealthy. Yesterday I received an email from a local Michigander that asked, "Is your subtitle But Poverty Is Thrust Upon You?"

It certainly feels that way around here these days.

There is no question that in today, in our state’s and even our global economy there is much to fear. Yet tomorrow will come and there will be those who lead, prosper and help take us into that new world. To paraphrase one of my favorite Robert Deniro movies, Ronin, "You are either part of the solution, part of the problem, or just the landscape."

A number of years ago I realized that the financial services industry needs to be improved, and there is much that people need to understand.

We are an industrious society, but we don’t make enough great decisions with our money. Case in point, back in 2003 Michigan residents were given a gift - a fifty year historically low fixed mortgage interest rates. We should be basking in the comfort of having secured our humble abodes. Instead, fast forward just 5 years later and we are in a world wide mortgage and financial crisis. There are many places to point the finger: the consumer, the broker, the lender, the investor and the government. Each has their role.

Writing was my solution

So I began writing about the principles of money, as if I were leaving advice behind to my own children. I shared the experiences I’ve had in the industry and realized that my beliefs are direct answers to many of the questions I’ve heard from clients and others every day for years. After many late night writing sessions, an exhaustive learning curve of the book industry (which I found Michigan is a hotbed for world class printers), and much editing, finally Wealth Is a Choice was published and stands as my modest solution to today’s financial problems, improving my industry and my business at the same time.

We’re all looking for ways to improve our business and stand out (positively) in Michigan and this troubling economy.

Here’s one, write.

Writing about your business/job has multiple positive affects, and here’s why - if you really want to understand something, then teach it. For all of us, whether we’re business owners or employees, there are a couple of things that help drive success. Be very good at your trade, and let others know about it. No matter how good or natural you believe you are in what you do, when you sit down and spend days crafting the specifics, you get better. It’s not required that you end up with a 300 page book; it might be that you dust off and rewrite your business plan or work goals.

Know that values determine decisions.

I liken this to shooting a bow and arrow. There are three important points that when in unison yield a successful shot - the target, my angle of the bow, and my anchor point (values). I need the target in order to know what angle to hold the bow. I need to hold the proper angle in order for my arrow to reach the target. And I need a strong anchor point to ensure that I’ll have consistency in my shots.

I’ll keep with personal finances for a real life example. For as diligent as we are with careers, it’s puzzling that we’re ineffectual when establishing more personal goals such as how much money to have saved for retirement, college or other aspirations. That’s the target. If we do not identify where it is we are headed, then how is it possible to evaluate the quality of the strategies we’re using to get there? How do we evaluate the real cost of buying a house? How much money to budget toward savings? Which car to buy? What investments to use? Should we have life insurance? Should we have a trust, or is a will sufficient? Should we take the buyout? If we take the buyout, what do we do with it? We need to lift our heads above the dust swirling from the battle of trying to move in any direction, and make sure we are actually headed in the correct direction.

For the days that follow

Throughout the rest of this week I’ll write about some of the other principles I've established in my book, for my clients and in my own life. These principles are solid in any environment, but when we are facing such dire circumstances here in Michigan, it’s more important than ever to be on top of your game.

Many employees in Southeast Michigan are facing layoffs and talking about self employment. I'll talk about building wealth through business, and to also how to build wealth outside of business. And, in recognizing the pain of the local economy, I’ll share with you steps you can take to help improve cash flow.

I hope you enjoy, and please send me your thoughts, personal stories and ideas! I’m looking forward to our dialogue.

Aaron Pilat - Post 2: What More Can Detroit Learn from Rome?

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:55:08 GMT

I’d like to offer two additional building projects in Rome that could serve as precedents for redevelopment in Detroit. Rome’s Peroni beer factory was booming in the early 1900’s and expanded its headquarters, which was located just outside the urban center of Rome. As the city expanded, the factory became the backbone for the surrounding working class neighborhood. In 1970, the Peroni family decided to abandon the buildings, opting for a larger, more modern facility further out in the suburbs.

After sitting empty for nearly twenty years, the Peroni factory was finally renovated. The facades were restored to their original character and one of the buildings is now home to Rome’s contemporary art museum. Underground and internal parking areas, banks, offices, restaurants and bars, a gym, department store and fresh food market accommodate both residents and visitors.

Variety and flexibility are key components to this redevelopment project, but much of its’ success is due to the surrounding lively and well-connected neighborhood.

Detroit has been offered some of the financial help it needs and city leaders are currently deciding how to spend $47 million in government grants. Though the funds are primarily to be used for housing, a sustainable neighborhood needs much more. Should the funds be used to further develop already lively neighborhoods such as Corktown or Mexican town? Or should they be evenly distributed across the territory of the city?

The Centrale Montemartini, Rome’s first public electricity plant, had been dormant for several decades when it became the home for ancient sculptures. Pristine white artistic forms are juxtaposed with the purely functional industrial building and its machinery.

Ruins from two different eras, each with different functions, have been removed from their original context, and combined to form a new use. In addition, the surrounding neighborhood is full of nightclubs and is the center of the city’s emerging alternative music and techno scene. These industrial buildings are viewed as an asset for traditional and contemporary cultural events. Could some of Detroit’s industrial buildings be viewed the same way?

Travis Millward - Post 5: The Detroit Lions, GM, Ford & Chrysler – What do they all have in common?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:28:57 GMT

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about teams & organizations. What makes them click? What makes them tick? What makes teams more successful than others? Why are their teams that make winning look so easy?

On the surface it will appear I am talking about sports teams, but deep down I am discussing more than just that. I want to dig down to the fundamentals of not only teams but businesses and organizations and what does it take exactly for X amount of people to be able to cooperate, communicate and coexist with one another...putting the team first and the individual second? Let’s get to it!

I watch football occasionally, so I am not going to claim that I am a fan by any means, but the Detroit Lions suck right now. Its humiliating...I bet a college football team could beat them. So, wherein lies the issue? Is it a lack of talent? Did firing Matt Millen, the team president cause any drastic changes? Are they calling the wrong plays? What will it take for the Detroit Lions to win a super bowl or to win a single game!? Should they just quit playing for the rest of the season? Why should they even keep trying? Are they learning anything from this terrible season?

I read a great article about one month ago in Men’s Journal titled, Brotherhood of the Offensive Lineman of the New York Giants, the reigning super bowl champions-take a look. (I bolded what really stood out to me. )

No other unit in any sport must function as symbiotically as an offensive line. Baseball infielders work in sync, but only sporadically. Basketball players are all over the place. Soccer players too. Rowers work together, but their mission is too simple to count. Defensive linemen — usually a threesome or a quartet — run coordinated stunts, but basically they’re lone assassins. The offensive line, however, fanning out from the center, who is always drawn on blackboards as a circle with an “x” through it while the others are simply circles, must correctly choose their targets, hold their blocks simultaneously and in cohesion, and remain engaged to the end, or else the dam is breached, the wall torn asunder. And they do it in near obscurity.

"Playing O-line you have to take your ego, put it in your back pocket, and zip it up," says Jim Covert, the former Pro Bowl left tackle for the Chicago Bears during their Walter Payton/Jim McMahon heyday. "When you win, you had nothing to do with it. Lose, it’s all your fault. You play against first- and second-down defensive linemen, third-down rushers, specialists coming in and out — 70 or so plays, and if you’re successful 68 times, with two plays being a sack and a tackle-for-loss, you failed."

It takes a tight line to be effective. And it’s hard to find a tighter group than these Giants. Seubert has described them as operating like five fingers of the same hand (making sure to point out that O’Hara is the middle finger). They’ve been together for four years, an eternity in pro football. They eat together at team dinners, barbecue together, and last spring they were at Seubert’s Celebrity Trap Shoot charity event together in Wisconsin. Fifteen-hundred-plus pounds of meat and loaded weapons?

Their durability is a big part of their success. Snee has started 48 straight regular-season games. McKenzie and Seubert started every game last year, including the four play-off games. O’Hara missed only the wild-card game at Tampa Bay with a knee injury. Diehl has started every game (86) the Giants have played since he was drafted out of the University of Illinois in 2003. And, of course, they all played like seasoned vets in the Giants’ 17-14 Super Bowl win over the Patriots.

"They’re such a close-knit group of guys in the first place," Manning says. "Then to have the same five guys for four years? That’s rare."

They spend so much time with one another that, as O’Hara puts it, "by the end of the season, we’re finishing each other’s sentences."

"It’s like ESP," says McKenzie. "It gets to be scary at times."

Which leads to the most transcendent of athletic quests: performing hard things in cohesion without even speaking, the ephemeral realm where the whole becomes far greater than the sum of its parts. It is an offensive lineman’s vision of perfection. "You’ll be on the road where it’s loud and hostile, and all five guys are on the same page, and you play nonverbally," says Diehl. "To not even talk? To go off of looks? Unless you’re an offensive lineman, you don’t know."

Isn't that an incredible article? This just about sums it up for me. The individuals of the team really need to ditch the ego and do what is best for the team always.

Now the big question at hand...do the Detroit Lions deserve a bailout just as GM, Chrysler & Ford are begging? Do the Lions need a financial bailout or an attitude bailout? Don't mind the details on what type of bailout it will be...but what will they learn from a bailout and how will they grow from it?

My point is this, they aren't going to learn a darn thing. If the Feds bailout the Big Three, what are we teaching the Big Three and what are we teaching the American people? I understand that the Big 3 are claiming that by not bailing them out the economy will be effected even worse-I get it. And yes I don't want more people to lose their jobs...but what the economy of the United States is experiencing is much more than just a temporary cold. Being injected with millions of dollars won't solve the problem.

The problem lies within the people of the organization. If we bailout the Big 3 are they even going to change their business model? Times like these cause people to change, grow and adapt. And after the bailout are people going to all of the sudden start buying cars? I don't think so.

What separates the good from the great are people who can take ownership of their failure, digest it, learn from it and become more successful for experiencing that failure. I don't know how much the Detroit Lions are being paid to lose this season. But in the world in which I play business...if I lose I don't make any money, I actually lose money for failing. Risk vs. Reward. This is what the American people are all about, when you trip and fall, you get back up, don't you ever quit-that is what everybody else does. How many of the Detroit Lions team players have quit? How many of them have walked, threw in the towel and said, "I'm done playing football"?

Achieving success can be hard. But guess what, you can do hard things. Never give up!