If anyone doubts that Metro Detroit is a hotbed of invention, entrepreneurship and creative thinking they just haven't been paying attention. Metromode once again unearthed a treasure trove of people, companies and communities that are evolving our sense of place, building our new economy, and promoting innovation at every turn. As we ring out the year we look back at a baker's dozen of stories that inspired us!
In the shadow of this past weekend's Big Chill hockey extravaganza, The Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition --an American Idol-style contest for start-ups-- was held in Ann Arbor. More important than the $1 million in cash and support handed out was the collaboration exhibited by regional business leaders. Is there a new age of cooperation dawning in SE Michigan?
According to the French, "Gratitude is the heart's memory." Metromode would like to thank Metro Detroit for its great stories and endlessly creative ideas, its comments, compliments and criticisms, and, most of all, for returning each week to read our coverage of the region's growth and innovation. (There are more reasons to be thankful inside.) We're off next week but we'll back Dec 2nd. Have a great holiday!
If you want proof positive of Hollywood's impact on Michigan's economy talk to John Krueger of Scenic Props and Design and Jack Grushko of the Center For Film Studies. The two new partners have seen it first hand - with increased calls for expensive, locally made props and scenery, and with the job placements their students are finding in the movie-making industry.
From technology to business models, change is coming fast and furious, and Metro Detroit is looking for both a digital and generational leg up. Metromode's editor Jeff Meyers sits down with one of the organizers of this weekend's FutureMidwest social media conference to discuss how our region can leverage online tools and better activate its young professionals.
Only 18 months old, the state's film production tax incentive has begun to redefine start-up culture in SE Michigan. Beyond the hit-and-run productions that breeze in and out of the region, a real industry is starting to take root. Metromode sits down with Genre Film Partners, a company intending to shoot 8-10 movies here over the next four years.
In celebration of the Fourth, the Metromode staff will be indulging in some hard-earned R and R. But fear not, we'll be back July 9th with more tales of growth, innovation, sustainability & entrepreneurship from the front lines of the new economy.
Can't we all just get along? Yes, we can! ...if the Michigan Political Leadership Program has anything to say about it. With the state facing one of the most challenging economies in history and partisanship undermining everything, the MPLP hopes to cultivate good government through its 24 fellows, who come from both sides of the aisle and aspire to hold major leadership positions.
Once upon a time, Detroit's auto industry was founded on the visions of its leaders and the risks investors made supporting them. So, where do promising new local companies go today to raise the funds they need? For 27 years the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium has helped provide an answer. The annual two-day event starts today in Ypsilanti. Could it provide the missing link to Michigan's economic evolution?
"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend." -Abraham Lincoln. True leaders understand the need for compromise and cooperation. Unfortunately, the state's term limits tend to encourage partisan opposition. Every year, the Michigan Political Leadership Program brings together 24 fellows of varying political stripes in order to foster a new generation of solutions-based leadership.
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