GiftZip.com Founder Sam Hogg is one of several entrepreneurs recognized in Entrepreneur magazine for using class time as a planning period for his business idea.

According to excerpts from the article:

With their increasing focus on entrepreneurship and programs for developing solid, marketable business plans, business schools are becoming the 21st century version of the legendary Hewlett-Packard garage. The cocoon of the business school gives students the chance to develop their ideas under the mentorship of some of the sharpest minds in the business world. In many cases, it also gives them a chance to fail without destroying their reputations or bank accounts.

The result? You're as likely today to find an entrepreneur who developed a business concept in the classroom as you are to find one who bootstrapped a startup in Silicon Valley. We spoke with entrepreneurs whose ideas successfully made the leap from academia about how an entrepreneurial education can be the first step in creating a dream business.

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The creative culture in the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center (TIC), persistence and access to professional expertise is elevating the status of Nicholas Creative, the web development company started by Nicholas Chilenko, 21.

According to excerpts from the article:

At 16, Chilenko was driving a BMW 330—a vehicle he bought himself—and working part time as a creative director for an Internet agency in Novi.

He worked with clients that included AAA, Ford Motor Co. and Comerica Inc.'s Comerica Bank.

Chilenko left the agency after a year and launched Nicholas Creative just before he graduated from high school in 2006.

He continued running his business in the dorms at MSU before finding his new home at the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center.

"I'm happy to be a part of the new entrepreneurial class, especially in the Lansing area because so many people are so involved with it," he said.

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The national magazine Next American City has taken notice of Lansing’s recent success in turning vacant neighborhood school buildings into spaces for high tech, medical and creative industries. The buildings are being scooped up by companies desiring large, relatively cheap start up space.

According to excerpts from the article:

Nanotechnology, biotechnology, and health care companies are scooping up abandoned school buildings ranging from 20,000 square feet to more than 50,000 square feet in size. After purchasing them for $100,000 to $400,000 or less than $20 a square foot, these firms are rehabbing them and turning them into economic generators.

“Over the last 20 years, we have taken five buildings that had really begun to be eyesores on the community and converted them into offices and manufacturing space,” says James Herbert, founder and CEO of the Neogen Corporation.

Neogen is a publicly traded company that develops food and animal safety products. Each year Neogen manufactures more than $50 million worth of product at its Lansing headquarters, which is divided into two campuses, both of which are situated in old school buildings.

The Lansing School District has sold more than 20 school buildings in the last four decades to a small group of tech companies, including Neogen.

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Both the state and the City of Lansing approved nearly $900,000 in brownfield cleanup incentives to clean and rehabilitate the site of the former Governor’s Inn at 1000 Ramada Dr. on Lansing Southside. The site will host a new Sonic Drive-In restaurant and other new development.

According to excerpts from the article:

Flint-based franchisee Miller-Apple LP plans to build the 1,900-square-foot burger joint at the site of the Governor's Inn, 1000 Ramada Drive. The hotel has been vacant for several months.

Miller-Apple bought the property for $800,000 in January and plans to spend $1.45 million to build the Sonic Corp. hamburger drive-in restaurant and prepare the rest of the nearly 4.2 acre site for new development.

The Lansing City Council approved a $797,873 brownfield plan, as well as $100,000 from the Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority's revolving loan fund.

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Michigan State University (MSU) President Lou Anna Simon says the $40 to $45 million art museum now under construction on the corner of Grand River and Farm Lane will not only connect East Lansing and Lansing, but also jump start a regional art corridor.

According to excerpts from the article:

Over the next two years, an empty space at MSU will transform into what project organizers say will be a world-class art museum. It will draw new visitors to the Mid-Michigan area. Museum Donor Eli Broad says, "Art tourists travel a long ways and spend lots of money so they're going to keep MSU and the area green!"

The three-level 46,000-square-foot facility is strategically placed at the corner of Grand River Avenue and the Farm Lane campus entrance. MSU President Lou Anna Simon says, "Part of the reason that we put the art museum where it is is to connect to East Lansing and have it be an engine for economic development and change on the other side of the avenue."

Simon hopes that the project will spur development on parts of Grand River with new businesses and art galleries. Simon says, "If you can imagine the other side of Grand River developing an arts culture ... galleries that compliment those that are already in East Lansing ... more galleries, more art oriented activities, coffee shops, things that essentially help the economy to be vibrant year-round, not simply dependent on students."

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The March issue of Entrepreneur magazine hails the familiar face of the Capital region’s Russ Allen, who operates an internationally known shrimp farm.

According to excerpts from the article:

There are many startup sectors contending for the recognition of being the industry that leads the financially beleaguered state of Michigan out of its post-auto industry struggle. Shrimp farming isn't one of them.

That hasn't stopped Russ Allen, who earned his sea legs in the 1970s in Ecuador, where he helped establish the region's shrimp farming business. In his first year there, Allen helped export 100,000 pounds of shrimp. A decade later, Ecuador was exporting 210 million pounds a year.

He headed to Belize in 1981 and pioneered the process there, launching what ultimately became Belize's biggest industry. Then, after 30 years abroad, he went home to Michigan in 1992. At the time, a legal structure for aquaculture didn't exist in the state. In 1996, with the help of then-Gov. John Engler, Allen helped pushed through Michigan's first aquaculture development act.

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Award-winning director Steven Spielberg and a crew of actors may be headed to the Leslie Depot Diner to shoot a portion of “Real Steel.”

According to excerpts from the article:

Depot owner Pam Wheeler said that Dreamworks Studios contacted her about six months ago and informed her that the film crew was considering the historical restaurant for a filming location.

Then last week, Wheeler said nine people from Dreamworks came to the Depot to see it for themselves.

“They came inside and looked around and took pictures, they did the same outside too,” she said.

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Now that General Motors is kicking up its production, local auto suppliers are preparing for a boost in business.

According to excerpts from the article:
 
Milwaukee-based Manpower Inc.'s national employment outlook survey shows Lansing-area employers have more optimistic hiring expectations for April, May and June from the first three months of the year.

Manpower reported 61 percent of more than 100 Lansing-area employers surveyed plan to keep their current staffing levels for the second quarter, while 22 percent expect to hire workers and 14 percent anticipate cuts.

That's better than the first quarter, when 70 percent of roughly 150 local employers surveyed said they planned to maintain their existing workforce, 21 percent expected to cut jobs and 6 percent planned to add workers.

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Theresa Gasinski’s plan to put bicycle banks around the region as part of a bike sharing program won her first place at Eve of Ignition and a spot at Ignite Lansing, reinforcing community interest in her idea.

According to excerpts from the articles:

The event's 15 presenters were chosen by popular vote in an online poll prior to the event. Topics ranged from how to become an amateur astronomer to how to write a novel.

The Lansing Principal Shopping District hosted the event along with area sponsors.

The presenters at Ignite gave the sort of keynote speech you might hear at a conference, but in a condensed form. The event's slogan is "enlighten us, but make it quick." Each presenter had five minutes to make their point. The presenters' slides forwarded automatically every 15 seconds.

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IBM is increasing its local hiring as it looks to hire 60 employees at its East Lansing location on the Michigan State University (MSU) campus.

According to excerpts from the article:

The openings are for computer application specialists. IBM is seeking candidates with one to seven years of experience in application testing, Web development and other skills, said John Hill, director of MSU's Alumni Career Services.

Hill said he could not provide information about salary for the positions, and he is not sure exactly when the jobs would begin.

MSU and IBM will hold recruiting events 1:30-3:30 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Monday, March 8, at the MSU Varsity "S" Club Room, Career Services Center in Spartan Stadium. The event is open to non-alumni.

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A restaurant incubator is a likely candidate for a 64,000 square foot build out in downtown East Lansing.

According to excerpts from the article:

Developers David Krause and Douglas Cron are planning a 64,000-square-foot building for the northeast corner of Grove and Albert streets.

They're seeking site plan approval from the East Lansing Planning Commission on March 10.
"I think there's a need for more residents downtown, and the more variety you can provide the stronger the downtown is," Krause said.

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Charrette anyone? More than 20 urban planners and developers met with the co-founder of the National Charrette Institute to discuss how collaboration could help with Capital region building and zoning improvements.

According to excerpts from the article:

“Charrette” has become the term of art for gatherings of developers, officials, citizens, and anybody else in town with an interest in a proposed redevelopment project or zoning overhaul.

Bill Lennertz, co-founder in 2001 of the Portland, Ore.-based National Charrette Institute, came to Lansing last week to tutor 28 urban planners, developers and students from all over Michigan in the delicate art of running a charrette.

Municipalities sometimes run charrettes, but usually they are run by a team of professional designers and planners who are certified by a trainer like Lennertz.

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A new MSU partnership will examine the power of social networking tools and strategies for a variety of projects, from improving the way people collaborate and to helping the state create plans for sustainable economic development.

According to excerpts from the article:

On Monday, university officials announced a new research and development partnership with INgage Networks, a Naples, Fla. company that's in the business of enterprise social media, essentially building the online portals and networks that enable businesses, governments and nonprofit organizations to bring together large numbers of people and make constructive use of what those people know.

INgage is in the process of setting up a project office in MSU's Communication Arts and Sciences building. Initial plans call for the creation of 24 new high-tech jobs.

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Two developers are working out the details of a proposed eight story mixed use building on the corner of Grove Street and Albert Avenue in East Lansing.

According to excerpts from the article:

David Krause, the developer of the proposed building that would be adjacent to the Grove Street Parking Garage, said the bottom floor of the building would be zoned for commercial use and could house the city’s proposed restaurant incubator. The upper seven floors would be primarily two-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot apartments with one and a half bathrooms and will be available on a rental basis.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a long, long time now,” said Krause, who—along with partner Douglas Cron—developed Albert Place Condominiums and Stonehouse Village in downtown East Lansing. “(East Lansing city officials) asked us to redevelop the corner, and we thought, ‘Well, we’ll get a plan going.’”

A submitted site plan will go before the East Lansing Planning Commission at its March 10 meeting.

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Michigan State University’s (MSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine recently opened a new campus in Macomb County's Clinton Township.

According to excerpts from the article:

The new facility opened to about 50 students at the start of the spring semester, said Kari Hortos, associate dean at the site. Students were accepted into the school in June and attended classes at a temporary facility during the fall semester, she said.

The Macomb campus is part of expansion efforts by the MSU college. A new campus site at the Detroit Medical Center in downtown Detroit opened in June, Hortos said.

Hortos said about 50 students attend the Detroit school. About 200 students attend the College of Osteopathic Medicine in East Lansing, she said.

Read the entire article here.