Michigan State University, in 79th place, is still among the top 100 universities in the nation, according to the latest rankings by U.S. News and World Report.

According to excerpts from the article:

MSU was tied for 79th with American University, Baylor, Miami of Ohio, the State University of New York of Environmental Science and Forestry and the University of Alabama.

The 100 rankings — which were led not surprisingly by Harvard, Princeton and Yale — are considered a key factor in attracting both students and research dollars.

Read the entire article here.

Elderly Instruments, based in Lansing's Old Town neighborhood, has supplied influential musicians like Lyle Lovett, John Mayer and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with their dream instruments.

According to excerpts from the article: 

The locally owned instrument sales and repair shop, which celebrates its 39th anniversary this year, has grown into one of the world's biggest dealers of vintage instruments. Elderly has also become a meeting place for local musicians to jam out on instruments, meet like-minded music-lovers and find just about everything they need to gig out.

Step into the showroom on North Washington, and it's easy to see why Elderly is a favorite stop: Guitars of every make hang from the walls. That's not to mention mandolins, banjos, ukuleles and a collection of other music makers.

Read the entire article here.

You can also read Capital Gains' earlier story about Elderly's online retail success here.

The Information Technology Empowerment Center (ITEC), focused on helping area children learn science, engineering, technology and math skills, will soon have a home base in a refurbished Lansing school.

According to excerpts from the article:

After earning more than $150,000 in grants during the past year, in addition to other grant matches and donations, the organization is creating a home base to supplement its traveling programs that have been used in eight locations to reach more than 700 students during the past two years, according to Kirk Riley, executive director for ITEC.

The money will fund the creation of ITEC Pathways, a learning center in the former Holmes Street School that will offer technology instruction for mostly middle school students through activities such as programming robots and video games.

Read the entire article here.

Neogen Corp., the Lansing-based animal and food safety company, has been ranked on Fortune’s annual list of the 100 fastest-growing companies, making it one of the magazine's "annual collection of rising phenoms" that "reveals who — and what — is succeeding even in a stagnant economy."

According to excerpts from the article:

It was the only Lansing-area company on the list, and was one of five Michigan  companies that made the cut.

Neogen has plans to expand in Lansing. It has an agreement to purchase the city’s Oak Park Field Office at 717 E. Shiawassee St. for laboratories, high-tech manufacturing and warehousing. That would include bringing some British operations to Lansing – a move that could lead to new jobs.

Read the entire article here.

From the sale of the former home of the School for the Blind superintendent to the owner of Rizzi Designs to the Deluxe Inn graffiti art project, the Ingham County Land Bank is shaking things up here in the Lansing region.

According to excerpts from the article:

On the day Rochelle Rizzi first saw the grand, brick house along Pine Street in Lansing, it was “complete construction zone.” The 6,000-square-foot Colonial Revival house was once the home of the superintendent of the School for the Blind but had been vacant more than a decade.

Rizzi was on a quest to find the perfect space for her marketing firm, Rizzi Designs, and when she stepped inside, she knew she had found the right place. “I knew which furniture was going to be in what room,” she remembers. “It just seemed like a great fit.”

Luckily, the Land Bank was much more sympathetic to her cause than, say, an out-of-state multi-national bank.

Read the entire article here.

Sunshine Artist Magazine recently ranked the 2009 East Lansing Art Festival among the nation's “200 Best.”

According to excerpts from the article:

The magazine ranks the top art fairs and festivals in the U.S. each year with its “200 Best” feature, based on responses about sales submitted by participating artists. The top-selling shows make the list.

“The ranking is evidence of not only our artist’s success at the festival , but the tremendous support of those patrons who purchase original fine art and craft at the festival, from the Greater Lansing region and beyond,” East Lansing Art Festival Coordinator Corinn VanWyck said.

Read the entire article here.

Even though Glenn Dorshimer now lives near Chapel Hill, N.C., the Lansing native returned to the area to paint murals of classic American cars on the exterior walls of the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.

According to excerpts from the article:

"I want to change the perception of import buyers by painting these murals. I want to change the way people think about the United Auto Workers (union)," Dorshimer said. "People understand what (GM and the UAW) are about here, but in North Carolina, import buyers still think American cars are inferior," he said.

Dorshimer earned a degree in design, then returned to GM and designed car seats for five years. He left in 1992. Now 48, Dorshimer wished he'd followed his earlier inclination and gone to work at a factory.

"That's where I'd like to be," he said. "I'd like to do that or design cars."

Read the entire article here.

With 271 operational farmers markets, Michigan finds itself in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 2010 National Farmers Market Directory, behind Illinois by a mere 15. It's a 13 percent increase between 2008 and 2009.

According to excerpts from the article:
 
As the state's second largest industry, Michigan's agri-food sector generates $71.3 billion annually, making it a building block for diversifying the state's economy. Production agriculture, food processing and related businesses employ more than one million people. 

Michigan produces more than 200 commodities, making it second only to California in terms of agricultural diversity.

Of Michigan's 271 farmers markets, 57 are authorized to accept Bridge Cards electronically this year. This number has grown from 29 in 2009 through the efforts of the Michigan Farmers Market Food Assistance Partnership, led by the Michigan Food Policy Council (MFPC) and the Michigan Farmers Market Association (MIFMA). The partnership's work and 2010 growth has been funded through a grant as part of the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative. 

Read entire article here.