Innovation & Job News

PNC Bank and Learn Live Lead Entrepreneurial Academy partner to open an in-school bank

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Students at Learn Live Lead Entrepreneurial Academy (L3) can now add money management skills to their young resumes. In an exciting partnership between the Lansing Academy and the PNC School Bank Program, L3 students are getting hands-on banking experience with the grand opening of an in-school bank.

"L3's cutting edge approach to education offers a perfect fit for the PNC School Bank Program, which has several features aimed at developing good savings habits and money management skills," explains PNC Retail Market Executive, Jim Paul. The program is part of PNC's Grow Up Great initiative, which has served more than 1.5 million at-risk children nationally.

The bank will open twice a month during the school year. Five L3 students will staff the branch during lunch periods, opening bank accounts and taking deposits. The program provides an opportunity for students to establish their first bank accounts, as well as improve their math skills as they track their savings and calculate interest earned.

"PNC offers leadership, advocacy, funding, volunteers and educational resources because we believe that an investment in our children now makes good economic sense and plants the seeds for the dynamic workforce of tomorrow," says Paul.

Source: Jim Paul, PNC
Writer: Veronica Gracia-Wing, Innovation News.

Have an innovation news story? Send Veronica an email here .

Great Lakes Capital Fund celebrates 20-year anniversary, $130 million in local investments

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Situated in the heart of REO Town, Great Lakes Capital Fund is celebrating 20 years of local and national service and investments; $2.6 billion across the Midwest and $130.3 million in the Lansing Tri-County area.

"Twenty years of operation means twenty years of building vibrant, healthy, and sustainable communities," says GLCF advocacy specialist, Kelly Bernero.

GLCF is able to leverage private equity that otherwise would likely not be invested into local community development projects, through tax credits, mortgage and debt financing, grants, and other financing tools. Through $2.6 billion worth of investments, GLCF has supported 35,000 units of housing, 1 million square feet of commercial space, and in its 20 year history the Housing Credit has helped leverage 52,588 jobs.

Bernero says of GLCF and innovation: "As a full service community development finance institution, our organization is constantly seeking the most efficient, and flexible ways of doing things for people and communities."

In the Lansing Tri-County Area alone, GLCF has contributed $116.2 million to local incomes and $14.2 million in local government tax revenue. This amount of investment has leveraged 1,736 jobs in the Lansing Tri-County Area since 1993.

Source: Kelly Bernero, Great Lakes Capital Fund
Writer: Veronica Gracia-Wing, Innovation News.

Have an innovation news story? Send Veronica an email here.

CASE continues to grow staff, receive state and national awards

Jeffrey Benson, CASE Credit Union Wednesday, October 24, 2012

It’s been a busy year for CASE Credit Union. And to talk to CASE President/CEO Jeffrey Benson, it doesn’t sound like things will be slowing down anytime soon.

“It’s kind of strange,” say Benson, “because we keep growing and it doesn’t seem to stop.”

CASE has added 28 new positions over the past two years, five of which have been added this year. Benson expects another five to six positions will be added over the next year.

Benson attributes the credit union’s growth to improved company morale, as well as their focus on electronic services for customers. Among other services now available, Benson says CASE was the first local institution in the Lansing area to offer mobile banking.

“Each employee is mandated to memorize [our mission statement so they have it in their heart to do what’s best for the members,” Benson says. “We’ve taken down some of the barriers to join or to get a loan. Every time a member touches us – online or in person – we want it to be a positive, warm experience.”

Additionally, CASE has also been busy in the community service arena. Their CASE Cares Miracle Field opened this May at Valley Farms Park. The field is a place for children and young adults with special needs play to baseball, and won CASE first place in Michigan’s Dora Maxwell Social Responsibility Recognition Program and second place in the national program.

Benson himself also received the “Credit Union Professional of the Year” award from the Michigan Credit Union League & Affiliates and the Michigan Credit Union Foundation.

State of Fitness grows staff, renovates workout space

Justin Grinnell, State of Fitness Wednesday, October 03, 2012

State of Fitness brought a new kind of workout to East Lansing when they opened their doors more than two years ago. The training-focused facility has been growing ever since, and has recently completed a major renovation.

“When we first moved into the facility it was beautiful, and it was already built out really well for a gym,” says State of Fitness Trainer Justin Grinnell. “But the way we train our folks is different than your traditional gym.”

A 2,000 square foot space in State of Fitness has been transformed into a field turf area, where a variety of training and exercise can take place. Grinnell also swapped out some of the facility’s more traditional cardio equipment for newer, more cutting edge machines. The renovations represent an approximately $40,000 investment.

“It’s been great,” says Grinnell. “People like that they have more space to workout in. We have a lot of fun. It’s like an adult playground here.”

Gone Wired becomes The Avenue Cafe, to add up to seven staff

Alex Rabe, The Avenue Cafe Wednesday, October 03, 2012

A favorite local hangout on Lansing’s Eastside has received a makeover and new identity. After eight years as the Gone Wired Café, the business has added a bar, alcohol sales, an entertainment stage and a new name: The Avenue Café.

“Eight years ago, most bars and most restaurants didn’t have wifi,” says Alex Rabe, bar manager at The Avenue Café, “but now that name is kind of stale; it kind of promotes something that everyone has.”

With the new amenities and services, The Avenue Café is seeking to instead promote several things that make the venue unique, such as a selection of Michigan beers on tap, using local produce in their updated menu and retaining their reputation as a great place for groups to meet for studying, meetings or fun.

“We’re thinking about doing beer dinners soon,” says Rabe. “We’re working with the breweries to have a line up of beer to build a menu around.”

The Avenue Café’s staff is changing as well. The café traditionally maintained a staff size of five to six employees, but are now increasing those numbers to 12 to 15. The Avenue Café also features new entertainment, such as live bands, open mic nights and film screenings.

MSU to receive $45M to support African scholars

President Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Engagement in Africa is nothing new to Michigan State University, having more than 50 years of history working with students and organizations there. Now, MSU has announced it will deepen its ties with the continent as a partner with The MasterCard Foundation on its $500 million education initiative, The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program.

“The MasterCard Foundation did a preliminary scan for universities that were actively involved in Africa,” says MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “They wanted to make sure the students could go back home and tap into existing networks. Because of MSU’s fifty-year history in Africa, we were selected to submit a proposal.”

The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program’s goals are to provide talented, financially disadvantaged youth with access to high-quality education. MSU is the only institution in the Midwest to be a part of the program. The school will receive $45 million to support 185 scholars throughout the nine-year program, including 100 undergraduates and 85 master’s degree students. Six African students – four graduate and two undergraduates – have already begun their work.

President Simon says MSU’s participation in the program is not only beneficial to Africa, but also to the Greater Lansing region.

“We already have about 200 students form Africa,” says President Simon. “It’s also important to think about the connections we’ve made over the years to Africa and their emerging economies. There will be a number of business opportunities that can evolve through this network.”

MSU will host the more students than any other of the six U.S. partner institutions. The university will also organize an annual conference for scholars.

Local martial arts expert launches world's first online martial arts school

Richard McDowell, Martial Arts University Online Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Martial arts expert Chief Master Richard McDowell knows there is an array of things that prevent people from attending training, even if they want to learn martial arts.

“People don’t have the time anymore to go to a school,” says McDowell, “And some people may be too shy to come to class. But they still want to learn, they want their kids to learn”

McDowell created a solution for those obstacles by creating the first online martial arts school, Martial Arts Online University.

“We made it very affordable,” McDowell says. “You train at your pace, not anybody else’s. If it takes you six years, if it takes you six weeks, that’s up to you.”

The school gives students of all ages and in any location the opportunity to train up to black belt level. Twenty-five instructors – nine of whom are in the Lansing area – teach video courses available in 13 languages. As students become ready to test for the next level belt, they simply submit a recorded video to the master instructors for evaluation.

“You can also download everything to be a black belt, and never have to test,” McDowell says.

The unique online school began this month and already has students in Canada, Europe and Jamaica, as well as throughout the United States. Here in Lansing, the Westside Community YMCA serves as the home for Martial Arts Online University, as the setting for the filming of the course videos, as well as the location where 60 students attend non-virtual classes.

Telethon raises $756,000 for Sparrow Children's Center

Joy Wiseman, Sparrow Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The votes are in and it’s official: in Lansing, kids matter. The Sparrow Children’s Center has recently announced it was able to raise $756,000 during the Sparrow Children’s Center Telethon, a number that is notable not only for its size, but for where the money came from.

“There are different sources of the money, and the money that came in from the phones from people in the community was much bigger than we’ve seen before,” says Joy Wiseman, who coordinated the event for the Sparrow Foundation. “The reason I’m most excited it is because of the community support. We’re still in some hard times in the community, and it’s just amazing to see what people will still do to support children.”

The telethon funds will be used to furnish needed equipment, programs and investments that are unique to the Children’s Center. Wiseman explains that unlike medical equipment that can be used on any adult of any size, children’s medical equipment is specialized. One such forthcoming investment is an $80,000 pediatric transport unit to help premature babies be safely transported to Sparrow’s neonatal facilities.

In addition to raising more funds directly from the community than ever before, the Sparrow Children’s Center Telethon marked its 24th year.

“We’re already getting ready to celebrate our 25th year next year,” Wiseman says.

Cravings Popcorn invests in larger-than-life sign and area non-profits

Chad Jordan, Cravings Gourmet Popcorn Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Things are popping over at Cravings Gourmet Popcorn. The Old Town snackerie has recently unveiled two new significant investments – one in the business itself, and another in the community.

“I’ve always said I had the worst sign in Old Town,” says Cravings owner Chad Jordan. “I had a specific idea in mind. I wanted to have a sign that people would stand in front and have their picture taken.”

Jordan’s vision was fulfilled by a six-foot-tall, four-foot-wide, popcorn-box-shaped sign that made its debut during Be a Tourist in Your Own Town day in June. Jordan worked with Lansing’s Young Sign & Awning on the sign and invested about $4,000 into the project. And just as he’d hoped, passersby have been stopping to take their photo with the larger-than-life sign.

Less visible from the outside, but with perhaps an even greater impact, Cravings has recently launched its Community Popcorn Project. The program gives local non-profits the chance to apply for free popcorn for events that raise money or awareness for a community cause.

“I think it’s important that all businesses complete the cycle,” says Jordan. Customers buy from them, and they should be appreciative of how the community has helped their business to grow. They should give back to the community in a way that is possible for them.”

The Community Popcorn Project allows recipients one jumbo-sized bag (80 cups of popped popcorn) of the Three Way Mix or Theater Style flavors. Applications must be completed two weeks prior to the event.

Grand River GM plant adds 600 jobs after $190M investment

Erin Davis, General Motors Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Lansing is home to the two newest General Motors plants in North America, and the Detroit-based carmaker is now making the most of one of those recent investments. The Grand River Assembly Plant location is now adding a second shift and 600 new jobs. The workers have been hired to build the new Cadillac ATS.

GM began working toward the 600 new hires in October of 2010 when the company announced it would invest $190 million into the Grand River Assembly Plant to prepare the facility to build the new vehicle. The hiring began in March when GM started taking on about 40 new employees each week and beginning orientation and training. As of last week, 460 of the 600 new employees had been hired.

“The majority are new hires,” says Erin Davis, plant communications manager for the Grand River Assembly Plant. “Everyone’s really excited. It’s exciting whenever you get an investment and get a new vehicle. The ATS is a brand new platform that has never been done before in Lansing. It’s good for the community, the plant and for GM.”

The Grand River Assembly Plant was not only chosen for its relative newness, but also because of the proven track record of the Lansing-area workers.

“We’ve received numerous awards for our vehicles,” says Davis. “We’ve had a JD Power and Associates Bronze Plant Award, plus we have a great workforce who has demonstrated how well we can make quality vehicles.”

According to Davis, the new Cadillac should be ready for the showroom by late summer.

Old Town and Mid-MEAC to host Scrappy Bike Rack event with $10K grant

Louise Gradwohl, OTCA Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Two area non-profits dedicated to making life in Lansing even better have joined forces on a project to make the city more beautiful, bike-friendly, and for one very exciting weekend, even more fun. The Old Town Commercial Association’s popular Scrapfest will have a new twist this year with a display of nine new bike racks made by teams of area artists from scrap metal that will then be installed around the city.

“The teams did submit their drawings in advance, so we have some that I think will be a really fun,” says OTCA Executive Director Louise Gradwohl.

OTCA and the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council received a $10,000 “Sense of Place in the Arts” grant from the Lansing Economic Development Corporation and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing for the event that’s being called the “Scrappy Bike Rack Project.” The goal of the project is to promote public art, scrap metal recycling, bicycling and placemaking. Participants include metal artists, as well as art and welding students at Lansing Community College.

“Julie Powers [of Mid-MEAC] came across the grant over a year ago,” says Gradwohl. “We decided at the end of December to launch it during Scrapfest when we already had metal arts on display.”

The artistic bike racks will be completed by Friday, June 22, when they will be judged to determine if the bike racks are in compliance with the Scrappy Bike Rack Project’s rules and regulations. Racks that meet all requirements will be installed at Potter Park Zoo, Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing City Market and Old Town.

Ele's Place receives $5,000 grant to aid grieving elementary children

Molly Day, Ele�s Place Wednesday, May 23, 2012

One in twenty children under the age of 18 will have experienced the death of a parent. While the statistic may be overwhelming, it’s compounded by the fact that the needs of children struggling with such loss vary from age to age and therefore requires specialized support. Ele’s Place has been working to address those needs in Lansing since 1991.

Thanks to a recent $5,000 grant from the Joe D. Pentecost Foundation, grieving children in the early elementary age group will receive specialized support for one year.

“This particular grant sponsored the Monday Early Elementary support group, which has been among our largest groups,” says Molly Day, director of marketing and development for Ele’s Place.

A total of 17 children have participated in this group since last September, with up to 11 children attending at any one time. The Joe D. Pentecost Foundation grant provided the resources for clinical staff to develop and implement age appropriate curriculum, for training of skilled volunteer facilitators who work directly with the children, and for supplies used for support group activities.

According to Day, this particular foundation is a natural partner for Ele’s place, and has supported the organization in the past.

“The mission of the Foundation is to support and enrich the educational, social and economic life of the greater Lansing area,” she says. “Through its support of Ele’s Place, the Foundation makes a positive difference in the lives of grieving children, and strengthens our community as a result.”

MSU researcher searches for new tuberculosis drug with Gates Foundation grant

Robert Abramovitch, MSU Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Though we don’t spend too much time worrying about tuberculosis (TB) here in the United States, its worldwide infection rate of one in three people suggests it’s a disease worth more consideration. In fact, TB kills 1.7 million people every year. What’s more, because the drug regimen for treating TB is so lengthy, patients often stop taking their medicine early, resulting in the development of drug-resistant TB.

“We have TB contained here in North America, but if drug-resident TB were to show up here, we’d have a problem,” says Robert Abramovitch of MSU's Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.

Fortunately, Abramovitch does spend a lot of time worrying about TB. He’s been working with the disease for about six years, and has now developed an innovative new way to identify possible new treatments.

“I build strains of TB that are biosensors,” says Abramovitch. “They glow in response to conditions they would experience during a human infection. If we can find a drug to stop the biosensor from glowing, that compound might have the ability to help treat the disease.”

The glowing biosensor is so promising that Abramovitch was awarded a $100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant by the Gates Foundation to continue with his research. He’ll now use the biosensors to screen 265,000 chemical compounds. Abramovitch hopes to find 40 to 50 compounds that impede the sensor’s glow, on which he would then conduct further research with the goal of developing a new TB drug.

Hager Fox plans to grow sales by 33 percent with new focus, branding and marketing position

Matt Anderson, Hager Fox Heating and Air Conditioning Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Hager Fox Heating and Air Conditioning has been servicing the Greater Lansing area since 1941. With the creation of a new position of sales and marketing manager, the company has a growth plan in place to make the next 70 years in Lansing even better, starting with a strategy to grow company sales by a third over the next 18 months.

The growth plan began with the hiring of Matthew Anderson in the sales and marketing position and the first steps of a rebranding process. The company has introduced a new logo, as well as a new website, which will continue to evolve with increased search engine optimization and new content this summer. The rebranding process will also soon include the drafting of mission, vision and core values statements, as well as service standards.

“We want to make sure we’re setting ourselves apart in the industry,” says Anderson.

Hager Fox will also be broadening its target market beyond the traditional residential and replacement services and into commercial markets.

“New construction is taking off in the Lansing area again, so we’re going to be right on top of that,” says Anderson. “And as new homes start to get built again, we’ll be looking at that market as well.”

The goal of the changes is to create an additional $1 million in sales over the next 18 months with the existing staff, after which the company may add more employees as sales continue to grow.

Jackson reaches green delivery goal, donates $100,000 to plant trees

Courtney Sipperley, Jackson National Life Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Earth Day was especially for Jackson National Life this year as the Lansing-based insurance company celebrates the fulfillment of a $100,000 donation to American Forests and its commitment to plant 100,000 trees across the country. Jackson partnered with American Forests’ Global ReLeaf program after reaching its goal of a 30 percent consent rate for policyholders and representatives to receive their company correspondence from Jackson electronically.

According to Jackson’s Courtney Sipperley, American Forests was not only a good partner for Jackson because of their environmental mission, but because the insurance company was assured every bit of their donation would be making a difference.

“We were impressed with their metrics,” Sipperley says. “We knew that for every dollar we gave to them, one tree would be planted. They are a well-rounded and consistent organization.”

Jackson’s commitment to making a positive environmental impact goes back several years, beginning with several internal programs to help reduce waste.

“We started a pretty robust recycling program in Lansing,” says Sipperley. “Also, we started giving employees a discount for using reusable utensils in the dining room. It kind of started as something we should do because, why not? Internally, it ended up saving us a lot of resources and a lot of money.”

Since 2009, Jackson’s Green Delivery efforts have saved the company millions of dollars and decreased its paper and postage consumption. American Forests will use Jackson’s donation to plan 100,000 trees across the United States with a focus on both areas of need and the cities where Jackson offices are located, like Lansing.

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