Entrepreneurship :
Featured Stories
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
From clipping and bathing to cleaning ears and nails, dog groomers in the Capital region provide personal care services to your favorite pack member as part of a growing profession for our pet-indulgent culture.
Shannon Nobles
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
This past Thursday, May 30, folks from the community gathered together to talk about incubator spaces and the impact they have on the local economy. The conversation was centered on the way these programs are designed to support the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Multi-million dollar investments by the City of Lansing, the federal government, and the Board of Water and Light are transforming a dormant Lansing district for the 20-teens. Just south of downtown, REO Town promises to light up with festivals, new business and revitalized neighborhoods. There’s even a restored train depot in the deal.
Veronica Gracia-Wing
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Eclectic Art Tattoo Gallery owner Geary Morrill and his wife Cyndi chose Lansing to start a business and raise a family. Find out why they were called back from Southern California to begin a new adventure together.
Kate Tykocki
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
What would you do if you had 54 hours to spare? Laundry? Start a new project? How about start a business? That’s what budding and experienced entrepreneurs alike did one weekend in October when they gathered from around the globe at the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity and the Henry Center for Executive Development for Lansing Startup Weekend. By Sunday evening, five new businesses had been launched, complete with business models, research, working websites and pitches to venture capitalists.
Dawn Gorman
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Business owner, Camron Gnass knows a good story, and a good opportunity, when he sees one. So he jumped at the chance to publish local author Jack Ebling’s tale of the Michigan State Spartan’s renaissance.
Dawn Gorman
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Lansing resident, Ty Forquer, loves Lansing so much he launched 517 Shirts, an online t-shirt company capturing Lansing landmarks with a unique edge and providing Lansing-lovers with a hip way to wear their pride.
Kate Tykocki
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Justin Bugsy Sailor has made the move from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Lansing twice now. In between, he spent time in more than 100 homes spread out across each of the 50 states. Find out more about how this ultimate road tripper landed in Lansing, and what he really wishes you knew about him.
Rich Tupica
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Starving artist, we’re all familiar with the term. But illustrators in the Capital region seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. We couldn´t highlight them all, so here’s a look at how some of our well-known local artists are making it by following their passion and doing what they love: art.
Natalie Burg
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
So, how far has Lansing come in a decade? Have we grown, developed? Are we on the right track? Let's take a look and see, shall we! In the first part of our Lansing Growth series, we take a look at how Lansing has changed as a place to work.
Staff
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Two-thousand-eleven has been a banner year for key development in the Greater Lansing area. It’s not just that there was an influx of any old type of building projects. The kind of development we saw in Lansing this year has been groundbreaking and innovative. They are the kind of projects inspired by collaboration, history and community - furthering growth across the region.
Payal Ravani
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Five years ago, Denny Duchene decided his construction work needed a focal point. After some careful research, he noticed a void in the green building industry and piloted Inspired Green in 2009. Little did Denny know his company would see a 700 percent growth two years in a row. As he explains, though, his success has taken a lot self-evaluation and persistence.
Dawn Gorman
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Conscious design is the backbone of Old Town’s against the Grain design studio. Over the last few years, the company has worked to bring local artisans together to share their skills. Now they’re ready to grow on a bigger scale, building on a long-time dream of creating a truly sustainable artist community and teaching center.
Patrick Diehl
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
When people think of Old Town’s six square miles of arts and culture, they often think of someone like Alan Hooper: A person who's involved and invested in his community. We talk to him about his work, his exciting ventures and his passions in this issue of Capital Gains.
Payal Ravani
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Last year over Thanksgiving, Jeff and Allie Siarto visited family and friends in Michigan. The newlyweds, both in their mid-20's, had been itching to leave Chicago for some time and always entertained the idea of returning. That quickly became a reality after a fantastic few days in Michigan. Less than two months later, they made the big move.
Leslie Wolcott
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Chris Johnson had an epiphany while working as a grocery delivery person during grad school, learning about nutrition and physiology ... what he was learning about in school isn't what he was seeing in the groceries he delivered. So, he set to change that.
Natalie Burg
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Yes, volunteers are integral to creating a thriving downtown ... but what about economic development? We talk grants, small business, job creation and more in Part 2 of our four-part series, The Recipe For Thriving Downtowns.
Natlie Burg
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Capital Gains' News Editor, Natalie Burg, sat down with Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution discussing the ways we can move cities - like ones in the Capital region - into the next economy.
Julianne Van Wagenen
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
More personal than any piece of jewelry, more intricate than any makeup and more festive than a string of holiday lights … it’s mehndi, the adornment of skin with henna paste, and it’s right here in Lansing.
Dan Nufer
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
A collaboration between a local record store and an MSU student is bringing The Middle of the Mitten music showcase to the Loft in Downtown Lansing.
Larry O’Connor
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
For 25-year-old Kelly Kobus, entrepreneurship and artistry are two ingredients in the mix of a successful cake-decorating business.
Kelsey Turek
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Denene Vincent's approach has helped make her "Le Chat Gourmet" cooking classes and international tours big hits with adults, children and culinary adventurers.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Chris and Lisa Nowak are 10,000 miles into a cross-country trek that has them hiking, climbing and kayaking just as far as their sales of a magical berry and a vegetable-fueled vehicle will take them.
Gretchen Cochran
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Entrepreneurs like Jerry Norris, CEO of jadian enterprises, are bringing exotic places like Maylasia and Madagascar into the mid-Michigan mix—and fitting in some serious skateboarding in Dubai along the way.
John Foren
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Many young leaders are contributing their time and talent to good causes before diving into the private sector. In the Capital region, that means more MSU students getting involved in community projects.
Viki Lorraine
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
MSU's Dr. Constantinos Coursaris is a busy and worldly guy, with projects running from Dubai to Japan to East Lansing. He's also got some advice for turning around our local economy.
Leslie Wolcott
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
We're all guilty of touting success while hiding failure. But if we're serious about supporting entrepreneurship, a better strategy is to ask, "How can we help each other fail well?"
John Foren
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
They're tiny, transparent and difficult to understand. But in an old Lansing warehouse district, tiny nanoplatelets are working hard to reinvent the area’s high-tech business sector.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
In the game of life, these entrepreneurs have opted to play the home version, and have sorted through the advantages (dominion over the coffeemaker) and the challenges (hello, distractions) of running a home-based business.
John Foren
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
MSU entrepreneurs dazzled by the business spirit in the Capital region are opening their own businesses between—and sometimes instead of—hitting the books.
Gretchen Cochran
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Capital region businesses and state leaders are embracing the allure of Michigan's forests, rivers, ski trips and mountain bike adventures to help keep more young talent in Michigan.
Staff
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
What are incubators? How are they helping drive the economy in the Capital region? Capital Gains will be listening for answers at our very first Speaker Series, on March 25 at The Loft in Downtown Lansing.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
It's idea time! Get ready to light up one of Lansing's most innovative events—IgniteLansing!—with your mind, body and wallet.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
15 years after Lansing Eastern and MSU grad Jason Meyers high-tailed it to Chicago, the web entrepreneur has returned, and he thinks the Capital region is at the forefront of a seismic economic shift.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Confused by the strange new world of Social Media? Fear not. Julielyn Gibbons has created a company designed to steer those troubled tweets and tags.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
OK. We’ve been silent long enough. From here on out we’re going to post our number one must do, must see, must have news every week. We’re not interested in being Captain Obvious so if you have ideas that are off the radar, share them
here.
Gabrielle Johnson
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Many of the area's traditional businesses and organizations are gaining new insights and support by opening board of director positions to young leaders.
John Foren
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Under the direction of Ron Averill, this East Lansing high-tech firm is finding a new niche in the rapidly changing economy and, along the way, helping to retool the way engineers work.
Danielle Sharp
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Lansing's Reo Town neighborhood hosts an entrepreneur who passed on a chance to work in New York. He chose instead to build his recording studio in a formally condemned house.
Viki Lorraine
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Proving that Lansing has plenty of opportunities for creative, passionate people, homegrown-proud Mike Stratton has found international success as a therapist, writer and DJ.
Staff
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
What does “green” really mean? Our readers, developers and community members ask us this question all the time. We take it to mean lots of things — LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) development, sustainable living, public transportation, walkable communities and the reuse of abandoned properties.
Throughout 2009, we’ve run several articles concerning green ideas and green developments. After much deliberation, we’ve put together our Best of Green issue.
These feature, development and innovation articles include large green developments such as the renovation of the 20,000 square foot former Cedar Street School, as well as large green ideas such as the City of East Lansing’s commitment to becoming the first Michigan city to adopt a green building policy.
Thank you for your loyal readership! Have a great holiday and we’ll see you again in 2010.
Rebecca Stimson
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The latest crop of students in MSU’s Organic Farming Certificate Program is putting Lansing at the forefront of both food production and talent attraction.
Staff
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
In 2009, we heard some great ideas regarding social business, entrepreneurship and the redevelopment of one the region’s most valuable assets — the riverfront.
We also talked to individuals who are creating or have created incubators for the area’s best and brightest. Interestingly, these incubators run the educational gamut, providing services for elementary, high school and college students as well as start-ups.
Since it’s the end of the year, we can’t resist concluding with a few top 10 issues. This week, we’re running the Top Ten of 2009 so if there’s a feature, development or innovation story you missed during the year, here’s your chance to take another look.
Enjoy!
Lydia Weiss
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Being a high-tech entrepreneur is difficult. But pack a bunch of people with fresh ideas into a low-rent, high-interaction office building, and their big dreams instantly become more attainable.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
One Capital region entrepreneur takes a look at social business, a business model he believes could give the region a positive boost both economically and socially.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Lansing has plenty of networking groups and business organizations, but now it’s got something entirely different—a group of young professionals who are investing their time, businesses and ideas in creating a city they want to live in.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Lansing and Pittsburgh have quite a bit in common as they scramble to reinvent economic success. Capital Gains talks with one of the leaders who helped the Steel City pull itself back.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
More communities are turning to local currencies to encourage people to buy local goods, build neighborly bonds and reward unpaid actions. Is Lansing missing out?
Viki Lorraine
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Jerren Osmar talks about the entrepreneurial spirit and business philosophy that have made him a ray of light in the small town of Grand Ledge.
Jeff Shoup
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Capital Gains takes a tour of the new business and education incubators that are becoming driving forces for economic and cultural reinvention in the Capital region.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
MSU's Vincent Delgado brings to Lansing a world's worth of new ways to look at issues like community engagement, immigration and entrepreneurship.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Is it possible to make money with fine art? Lansing artist Kimberly Lavon thinks so, and is using the weight of the press to make it happen.
Justin Caine
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Ignite Lansing 2.0's sold-out crowd of 500 at the Old Town Temple Building was on fire with possibilities.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Jamie Schriner-Hooper talks to Capital Gains about Old Town, the Michigan Main Street Program, and a grassroots movement to rebuild Michigan’s downtowns.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Lansing entrepreneur and tax expert Max Pricco developed a tool to bring order to the often frantic business of tax preparation. Now he's turning the valuable software into a growing business.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Former East Lansing mayor Sam Singh spent a year traveling the world. Now he's back and ready to put that experience to work in the Capital region.
Andy Owen
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Young and mobile talent in the Capital region is looking to business leaders and local government to make changes.
Chris McCarus
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
The
Michigan Municipal League (MML) has established eight elements they say will help change the way millennials view Michigan.
Stephen Worsfold
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Young entrepreneur Megan Dolby found a way to make her living pole dancing in East Lansing, but her business isn't nearly as risqué as you might think.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
MSU prof Bryan Ritchie landed in Michigan with all the credentials of a Creative Class leader. Capital Gains chats with him about entrepreneurship and what he and his students are doing to keep the Capital region's best and brightest here.
Chris McCarus
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What does Lansing need to keep talented young entrepreneurs like Bunmi Akinyemiju? Try mass transit, entertainment centers and a more risk-tolerant attitude.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Kevin Shaw, one of six partners with the Wieland-Davco construction company, sits down with Capital Gains to talk about green building, world travel and diversification.
Viki Lorraine
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Thanks an innovative mother-daughter collaboration, Lansing’s first school will soon be the site of the country’s first Integrative Medicine Rheumatology Residency.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
A Lansing-based contingent of sports enthusiasts are quickly maturing a tailgate party staple into a sanctioned game bolstered by a self-organizing national network. Behold Michigan's Monkeyball masters.
Staff
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
At the first Lansing Give Camp, dozens of web developers, programmers and designers provided 48 hours of donated labor to the area's non-profit community. Check out all the storm-fraught fun on the video.
Suban Nur Cooley
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Is it loud in here, or is it just my helicopter? Local entrepreneur Michael Doherty launches his latest fashion line with an East Lansing mega-party that blends hometown and Hollywood.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
240 people gathered Friday night for the first-ever Ignite Lansing event, feasting on appetizers, drinks and 15 concentrated doses of the region's most creative thinkers and entrepreneurs.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Reach Studio Art Center is a community art gallery in the heart of Lansing committed to art education for people of all ages. Along the way, it's helping beautify REO Town and providing critical skills to kids and adults.
Jeff Shoup
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
With his own company and a decade's worth of satisfied clients, East Lansing's Nicholas Chilenko has a lifetime of entrepreneurial activity under his belt. And he's almost old enough to drink.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bobby Bringi of MBI International in Lansing is helping cutting-edge companies make the jump from great idea to marketable product. "De-risking" commercialization can move Michigan ahead in emerging areas like bio-tech.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
High-tech approaches and environmental consciousness are calling cards of a Lansing print shop that churns out many of the area’s political publications.
Elizabeth Hoyt
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Wendy Kopitsch helps keep Capital region employees fit and focused by bringing yoga right to the workaday office.
Chris McCarus
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
An 80-year-old entrepreneur in Eaton Rapids is trying to turn the historic
Horner Mill Commerce Park into a business incubator.
Daniel Hogan
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Audiophiles are Old Town’s original aural recyclers, investing their money and musical cravings in the hard-to-find vinyl available at Uncle Sam’s Record Emporium.
Chris McCarus
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Michigan legislators and Lansing area leaders recently hosted a discussion about attracting the younger and more mobile workers that characterize the New Economy.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A student team of food scientists from Michigan State University has pioneered a taste sensation with food that pleases the palate and caters to common allergies.
Lynne Crandall
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
A new study abroad program at East Lansing’s Protégé Academy of Cosmetology is bringing hairstyles fresh from the Italian edition of Vogue to the Capital region in an environmentally friendly way.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The edgy, underground of art culture seems to germinate best in the dark. So it makes sense that Lansing's would bubble up from Basement 414, hidden in a Downtown Lansing alley underneath the Nuthouse Sports Grill.
Gretchen Cochran
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Emanating from a quiet home near Lansing, Silver and Goldie are living a lucrative virtual existence in the online world of Second Life, where their turbocharged global business attracts clients like Cisco, Pepsi and Intel.
Joshua J. Marino
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
With two Emmys and a catalog of recording projects that includes work with Frank Sinatra, Spinal Tap, Eminem and Ted Nugent, East Lansing's Glenn Brown may be Lansing's best-kept audio secret.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Choosing 10 innovations to represent the year’s best and brightest is no easy task, but we've managed to pull together 10 people who moved Mid-Michigan innovations forward in 2008.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Green isn’t just the color of the holidays—it’s also the color of the coming economy, and a hallmark of a movement that’s building a more sustainable future for Lansing.
Adam Molner
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ambitious Capital region authors are bypassing the challenges of traditional publishing by turning to self-publishing to get their books in the hands of fans.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
While landfills put the olfactory nerves into overdrive, the growing green economy means that Lansing-based waste management and recycling firms are mining them for practical reuses.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Dianne Holman started the East Lansing-based company, Working Bugs, and is using cutting-edge fermentation and microorganisms to rebuild the country's basic, bio-based roots.
Jeff Shoup
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Doug Neal, host of 88.9 FM's Progressive Torch & Twang, has managed to meld fluid dynamics, entrepreneurialism and an encyclopedic knowledge of alt-country music into a supremely satisfying Mid-Michigan experience.
Gabrielle Johnson
Monday, November 10, 2008
Michigan State University is an emerging leader in video game development. With the support of East Lansing, MSU is adding a degree specialization and a national conference to the potent package.
Gretchen Cochran
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Ryan Kincaid and Ryan Henry, both barely 30 years old, are wowing the Mid-Michigan building community with big projects and a commitment to growing Lansing's green development movement.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
A glimpse at an on-demand, grid-connected future where we move conveniently and happily between various small, clean vehicles depending on what we want to accomplish—and where we need to go.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
An empowered creative class is a bridge that’s been pulling the world’s small, industrial cities like Lansing out of the doldrums and into the spotlight.
Jeff Shoup
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
With a combination of entrepreneurial spirit, networked collaboration and diligent customer service, Mesee Wilson has built a nationally significant fabric business in the heart of small town Michigan.
Lynne Crandall
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Nestled gently in the shadow of Michigan's Capital City, Williamston has found a way to mix small town charm, urban amenities and modern convenience to boost its economic vitality.
Allie Gruner
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
As a summer of record-high gas prices winds down, we offer the flip side of the cost equation: the positive local impacts of $4 per gallon gas.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
New York Times columnist and author, Thomas Friedman, recently visited Michigan to talk green revolution, local innovation, and the opportunities for Michigan in a hot, flat and crowded future.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Denise Peek, executive director of the Entrepreneur Network of Mid-Michigan, chats with Capital Gains about Michigan’s economy, supporting local entrepreneurs, and revitalizing Lansing neighborhoods.
Yana Levovna
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Put together an entrepreneurial young Venezuelan salsa dancer, a hot local salsa band, and a Lansing riverboat captain, and you’ve got the ingredients for a booming new Lansing dance scene.
Sam Mills
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Ashley Medina is a Life Stylist. From her shop in Downtown Lansing, she's in the business of helping creative professionals grow, network and stay put in Lansing.
Kraig Westfall
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
In the first of many Capital Gains video features, Kraig Westfall gives us a glimpse into Studio Intrigue, a young, REO Town-based architecture firm that’s taking the term “walk the walk” to a whole ‘nother level.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Capital Gains spent an hour with Neogen Corporation’s CEO Jim Herbert in his Eastside Lansing office, talking about combating food borne illnesses, running a $100 million company and Mid-Michigan innovation.
Tara Adams
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Skateboarding is a $3 billion a year industry, and Lansing is becoming a national leader in attracting the sport’s talented and trendy disciples.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Capital Gains launched one year ago this month. Here's a quick rundown of some of our most Frequently Asked Questions, and a few personal tidbits about just who we are, exactly.
Staff
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
With the future of the U.S. economy on the line, Bruce Katz, from the DC-based Brookings Institution, is rallying the country's largest 100 metropolitan areas to action, and offering us a gut-check on how the Lansing/East Lansing metro stacks up in the new, global paradigm.
Matthew Bishop
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
At 25, Ryan Carter embodies the next generation of Michigan's young entrepreneurs. With business partner Dennis Kloss, 42, Carter is taking on risks, working hard, and overcoming adversities that make Michigan's economic transition look like a walk in the park.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Hazel Hotwagner left a highfalutin’ corporate job for paintbrushes and an easel. Now the artist’s community she helped create is following her to new gallery space in Old Town Lansing.
Brynn Howard
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Home sales might be struggling in the wake of the mortgage and credit crunches, but if you’re in the market for a green remodel or a neighborhood makeover, things aren’t looking so bad in Lansing.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Rivka and Chris Fountain have opened several doors—and a few eyes—to the potential of Eastside Lansing housing stock by turning worn, fix-me-uppers into sparkling castles.
Dawn Gorman
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Miko Fossum wanted her business to reflect her values and beliefs. So she took her Eastside Lansing tea house to a whole new level of healthy.
Sandra Miska
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
East Lansing’s popular 48-hour filmmaking contest is attracting creative talent to town, and building a reputation among area filmmakers.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
New Economy jobs, a family-friendly reputation and a high quality of life are tempting talent to Lansing and East Lansing from national hot spots like California, Boston and Chicago.
Larry O'Connor
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Two henna-haired owners are growing their small, Old Town studio into a powerhouse of Lansing community values while supporting a surge in small business growth.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
With enthusiasm for flight and joy in his "work," Peter Kamerainen has landed his successful regional charter business among the top tier of Lansing's leaders.
Staff
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Young entrepreneurs like Jessica Decker are revitalizing Downtown Lansing by working in, living in, and loving on a Cool City that's quickly earning the chill name.
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Under the massive roof of their iconic new digs in Old Town, Rick and Debbie Preuss and their team operate several pet stores—and a rather rigorous matchmaking service.
Gabrielle Johnson
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
From
Frye boots to
Spanx to
True Religion jeans, three female boutique owners are chasing the dust bunnies out of Mid-Michigan closets and replacing Midwestern frocks with New York couture.
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Stan Werbin’s heart was never in biochemistry, the “practical” career he pursued in college. It was in music. And his pursuit of it has turned into
Elderly Instruments, Lansing’s Web-savvy, $17 million, international magnet for musicians.
Ivy Hughes
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
There’s nothing glamorous or chic about a coffee bean, one stuffed toy or a single moving van. But, if you’re creative and have the business savvy of three of Michigan’s most successful franchise owners, you can turn one bean into 150 coffee shops, one truck into 202 international moving locations, one toy into a national franchise or one dollar…into millions.
Ann Kammerer
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
With passion for percolation and a disarming alter-ego, Rudy Baggs is building a better bean and putting Lansing's coffee craving on the road to the good life.
Joshua Hagadorn
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Before mega-brewers made the American beer landscape a mass-produced monolith of light-bodied lagers, beer was the small-batch bastion of entrepreneurs. The tide is turning; our toast to the Lansing area's growing horde of happy hand crafters!
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Nuclear engineers and former autoworkers are hard at work at Terry Grimm's tech company, fabricating the next generation of nuclear accelerators in an old Lansing school.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The 20-plus ethnic groceries in the Lansing area offer more than great salsa and hummus. They're central to our New Economy transition.
Ivy Hughes and Brad Garmon
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Here’s Capital Gains’ look at moving to Downtown Lansing. Also check out our guides to
visiting and
investing in Downtown.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Here’s Capital Gains’ look at investing in East Lansing. Also check out our guides to
visiting and
moving to East Lansing.
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Lansing pipe organ restorer, Scott Smith, has turned a passion for Michigan's musical treasures into a nationally unique business niche.
Jonathan Ritz
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thanks to good venues, collaboration, and a supportive community, the Lansing area boasts a growing army of talented folk and roots musicians. Now, they’re banding together and giving back.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Here’s Capital Gains’ look at visiting East Lansing. Also check out our guides to
investing in and
moving to East Lansing.
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Lansing’s high-tech companies are growing through innovation, and a handful, like
Agate Software, are changing the way governments and companies across the country do business.
Rick Ballard
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Lansing has always had much to offer students and families with children, and now Grand River Connection is helping those in between discover each other and the Capital city.
Ivy Hughes
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
This year alone, the capital region’s financial and insurance companies will create and maintain thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars. A quick tour of a few of the Lansing area's cash cows.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Chris Holman has developed Lansing's new venture capital fund, giving area financiers a look at new and emerging technology companies, and a chance to “invest and be invested in their success.”
Jack Helder
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
After throwing wide the doors of their urban studio space in Old Town, the folks at Perspective 2 are finding themselves awash in the Lansing area's creative masses.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Camron Gnass' business cards say "Mr. Strategy." Entrepreneur, designer and building renovator, he’s rethinking the city's visual identity and attracting great people along the way.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
There's a strange smell in mid-Michigan, and it's a little reminiscent of something called "economic boom." The IT job market has been sneaking up on us for the last decade, but suddenly it's here, and the question now is: how ready are we? We're spinning off new jobs faster than we can fill them. It's been a long time since Mid-Michigan has dealt with that problem. Thankfully, someone's been paying attention.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
What is the New Economy and what does it look like in the Lansing area? We sat down with Dr. Soji Adelaja, one of the region's (and country's) most scholarly, intelligent and courageously out-of-the-box thinkers on strategic investments for economic transition. Tapping into research from forthcoming reports about what makes certain states and regions click in the New Economy, Dr. Adelaja suggests ways to keep teaching an old economy some new tricks.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
If you you haven't been to downtown Lansing this week, then you haven't been to downtown Lansing. Buildings are rising, investments are flowing, and the Capital City is joining the 21st century urban revival, where energy, entrepreneurship and entertainment are the calling cards of a new economy.
Brad Garmon
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Adam Van Lente is pushing his company headlong into the future by obsessing over sites like Google, Facebook and Mashable--his tickets to an eager world market. Find out what this young entrepreneur has in store as he tackles the future, Web 2.0 style.