On February 12, 2010, the Clinton County Economic Alliance together with the Ionia County Economic Alliance and the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership will hold a workshop on “Selling to the State of Michigan”. The Purchasing Operations of the Michigan Department of Management and Budget along with the Small Business Technical Development Center and the local Procurement Technical Center will make presentations on how to sell your product or service to the State of Michigan. There are more than 1,100 contract opportunities valued at over $20 billion. If you are not already selling to the State this is your opportunity to learn how.

 

The workshop will be held at the Clinton County Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) at 1013 S. U.S. 27 in St. Johns. The session will start at 9:00 a.m. and will last about two hours. Call 517-669-1345 or email lehmank@cceami.org to register.

On November 10, 2009, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership released “Greater Lansing Next”, a plan for regional prosperity. LEAP worked with partners throughout the region and with Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute to develop the plan. The Greater Lansing Next presents seven priority strategies for action necessary for regional prosperity. They are:

 

1.      Expand Business Assistance, Acceleration, and Attraction Efforts.

2.      Expand Talent, Attraction, and Retention Efforts.

3.      Support Placemaking Improvements.

4.      Enhance Cultural and Creative Assets.

5.      Improve First Impressions.

6.      Expand Entrepreneurship and Innovation Services.

7.      Strengthen and Expand our Regional Mission.

 

The plan stresses the importance of working cooperatively, together to achieve a common vision of prosperity. To see a complete copy of the plan go to www.GreaterLansingNext.com

Through the Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA) a class on how to start and operate a business is offered to ALL high school students in Clinton County. The first semester is devoted to classroom teaching and the second semester is placement with a local business. The students work 8:00 a.m. to 10 a.m. each day and they would start the first of the year, 2010.

 

This is a great opportunity for your business to support Clinton County’s young budding entrepreneurs by offering them an opportunity to work in your business. This gives the student first hand knowledge of an actual business operation. If you can give an opportunity to a high school student please send an e-mail to Kelly Williams at Williams@dewittschools.net. Pay is optional.   At the Clinton County Economic Alliance we have paid the student minimum wage. The students that we have had over the past two years have been exceptional. They are hard working and dedicated.

 

If you have any questions please give me a call at 517 669-1345 or send me an e-mail at czarneckij@cceami.org. 

 

Our new Web site www.clintoncountyeconomicalliance.org has given us a global presence on the Internet.  About half of the visits we receive each week come from referring sites.  To help us drive more traffic to the site, please add a CCEA link to your own Web site.  The more the CCEA Web Site is linked to, the higher it will appear on search engines such as Google.  This helps raise awareness about our county throughout the world.

 

 

                                                                                               

The University of Michigan’s Research Seminar in Qualitative Economics released its much anticipated report on the national economy this week with positive, yet modest news. The report indicated that growth in the economy would come before any substantial decrease in the unemployment rate. It stated that the nation’s unemployment rate will continue to rise into next year, finally topping out around 10.4%. It is then expected to drop late next year, and declining to about 9.5% by the end of 2011. Also, while the report indicated an expected increase in overall jobs by 233,000 per month, during the recession the nation shed nearly 8 million. 

Part of the reason the climb out of the recession will be slower than in previous recessions is that the new housing market which dropped off 75% from 2006 to 2009 will be hindered by the backlog of unsold existing homes, suppressing the demand for new housing construction and therefore hindering job creation. 

 

Other indicators the report mentioned included a growth in the Gross Domestic Product of 2.3% in 2010 and 2.6% in 2011, in contrast to the projected decline of 2.5% this year. The data on the Consumer Price Index trends much the same way as it registered its first yearly decline in over 50 years in 2009, as prices fell by 0.3%, but is expected to rebound 2.6 % in 2010.

 

Some relatively good news for Michigan related to the auto industry, although the total number of light vehicle sales dropped nearly 7 million vehicles this year, by 2011 the market is suppose visibly rebound and increase by over 2 million sales. The U of M report is highly regarded and is one source of information used by Michigan’s policy decision makers for the state’s revenue-estimating process. 

 

For October Clinton County dropped .04 points to have the fourth lowest county unemployment rate in the state. Only Mackinaw County 7.5%, Isabella County 8.3%, and Washtenaw County 8.8% have lower rates. We continue to be below the state rate of 14.3% and below the national average of 9.5% for the month of October. I am hearing positive comments from our manufacturing sector that things are picking up.

 

The Technology Innovation Center in downtown East Lansing recently opened to facilitate the development of technology-based business in the mid-Michigan region. The Technology Innovation Center supports the business community by providing affordable office space and services, training, mentoring, and a network of professional advisors. Businesses can remain in the center for up to three years. Upon graduation from the Center we hope to have you locate your business to a permanent location in Clinton County.

 

If you are a new tech business looking for space you may want to give Jeff Smith a call at 517-319-6831 or email him at jjsmith@cityofeastlansing.com.

By Douglas E. Stites, CEO of Capital Area Michigan Works!
(From the Sept/Oct 2009 issue of SBAM's member-only Focus on Small Business magazine.)

You’ve heard the news. You’ve seen the unemployment numbers. You hear your colleagues, neighbors, even employees talk about the horrible economy. And yet, you’re doing okay. Or maybe even better than okay? You’re replacing employees as they leave or retire. You’re growing.

Hiring in slow economic times can be just as difficult, if not more so, than hiring in a thriving economy.

If you’ve posted a job opening anytime in the past year, you’ve seen first-hand how overwhelming it can be, particularly for a small business owner. Hundreds of resumes come in, many of them without the right skills or education to meet your needs. You’re already short-staffed, and the last thing you have time to do is sort through a towering stack of paper and try to find the perfect fit for your company.

And you don’t have to.

There are many tips and shortcuts small business owners can take to help minimize the effort associated with the hiring process, and maximize the results.

Start by putting time and energy into the process up front. Create a job description that is truly reflective of the position, skills and education levels necessary and ask candidates to clearly outline in their cover letters how they meet those needs.

Accept resumes in one format only. Whether it’s via email, fax or through an online submission, use the submission format as a way to determine which candidates pay attention to details and follow directions. Don’t make any exceptions.
Consider utilizing an assessment tool. ACT’s WorkKeys, for example, helps businesses to assess whether a candidate can read for information, and the company has even developed an assessment tool for soft skills. For more information, visit www.act.org/workkeys/.

Network for candidates. Instead of posting the position, consider looking to your existing network of contacts or asking employees for referrals. Now, this won’t work for public agencies, but for many private small businesses you may find the right employee without ever posting the position.

Get some help. Michigan Works! agencies throughout the state can help small businesses by posting jobs for them, screening resumes, setting up interviews and more at no cost to businesses of all sizes. To be connected to the Michigan Works! agency in your county, call 800-285-WORK (9675) or visit www.michiganworks.org to search by zip code.

Even once you’ve screened down resumes and identified some final candidates, finding the right fit can be a challenge. The interview process is critical for businesses to be able to learn more about a candidate and whether he or she is a good fit.

Engage other employees in the hiring process. In a first or second interview, invite some of the employees who will work with the new employee to see how comfortable they feel with the person and their assessment of his or her skills.

Choose unusual interview questions. Rather than, “Tell me a time when…” questions or asking someone to describe his or her strengths and weaknesses, try something that will give you a better sense of the individual’s ability to think on his or her feet, and his or her personality. Instead of asking someone about their greatest success, ask them about their greatest failure, or a major risk they took. Or ask candidates, “Who do you admire most, and why?’ Or even, “In the news story of your life and career, what would the headline be?”

Finding the right candidate doesn’t have to take more time for a small business owner. Using the tools at your disposal, and some creative thinking, you can grow your team, and still have time to run your business.

 

 

The story of Granger began in the early 1960s when a construction company operated by the Granger brothers needed a way to handle the waste materials from its job sites. Through innovation and planned growth, this small waste hauling operation evolved into a comprehensive environmental management service company.

 

Granger offers a variety of waste hauling and disposal services for both residential and commercial customers, and prides itself on meeting the needs of those customers. Granger provides trash collection for more than 100,000 residential customers. Supplemental collection services, such as curbside recycling pickup and yard waste collection, are also available to residential customers in many areas. Additionally, Granger offers rental of large trash containers for clean up and remodeling projects.

 

For commercial customers, Granger provides long-term, front-end load containers in various sizes for both trash and recycling collection. Office paper recycling pickup and specialty services, such as secure document shredding, are also available to businesses and schools. For industrial customers and contractors, Granger provides several sizes of short- and long-term containers.

 

Two landfills in mid-Michigan, one in DeWitt Township and one in Watertown Township, are owned and operated by Granger. Both the Wood Road Landfill and Grand River Landfill accept trash from Granger trucks, several municipalities and other independent haulers. Self-hauling for businesses, contractors and homeowners is available at the Grand River Landfill.

 

Granger operates a 16,000 square foot recycling center, where materials are sorted and baled for transport to buyers. The facility processes between 50 and 70 tons of material a day. A recycling drop-off center is also available free of charge, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Materials accepted at the drop-off include boxboard, cardboard, tin and aluminum, #1 and #2 plastics, clear and brown glass, magazines and newspapers.

 

Yard waste is accepted from homeowners and businesses alike by Granger seasonally at its Compost Center. The material is processed over a nine- to 12-month period into finished compost, which is then distributed by local landscape company Hammond Farms.

 

One of the innovators in the field of landfill gas-generated renewable energy, Granger brought the first landfill gas project to the state of Michigan in 1985. By providing direct-use power to Motor Wheel, Granger began capturing a power source previously untapped in Michigan. Since that day, Granger’s energy operations have expanded to include seven electric generation stations in Michigan and seven additional operations, both electric generation and direct-use, in states such as Utah, Alabama, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. The generation of this power is an important step in helping to meet the renewable portfolio standard, as well as reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Power generated by Granger in the mid-Michigan area is sold to the Lansing Board of Water & Light, and amounts to slightly more than 5 percent of their retail sales.

 

Though Granger employs more than 200 associates, it is still a small company at heart. The third-generation, family-owned business maintains strong ties to the communities it serves. Bible verses and inspirational sayings still grace the back of many of the recognizable brown trash trucks that are seen on the roads every week. Granger’s friendly mascot, Captain Curby^SM, can be found entertaining delighted children in parades and other community events. Another sign of Granger’s dedication to the community is the building and donation of a 76-acre park to DeWitt Township in 2005 as part of a Host Community Agreement to structure the future development of the Wood Road Landfill.

 

Granger’s commitment to the tenets of its mission statement, “selective innovation” and “planned growth” have served it well over the years, as has its diversification into separate, but interrelated fields. As the company’s associates look to the future, they eagerly anticipate the opportunity to continue serving the community.