Business & Economy

Immigrants fuel entrepreneurship in Michigan

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By YANJIE WANG
Capital News Service
LANSING — When Bhushan Kulkarni, an Indian citizen who finished his master’s degree in West Virginia, came to Ann Arbor for a summer internship in 1988, he fell in love with the community. It became his second hometown as he started his own business there after the internship and now owns two Ann Arbor-based companies, providing information technology consulting service. Kulkarni realized his dream to start his own business after he got a green card that allowed him to stay and work in the United States. As an international student, “you need a work visa to do a specific job,” he said. “But when I got a green card, I was free to do what I wanted to do.

Business & Economy

Federal grant helps pay for export growth

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By ANJANA SCHROEDER
Capital News Service
LANSING – Michigan received the second-largest amount of federal funding through the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) program to help small-to-medium sized businesses increase exporting by promoting activities like trade shows and missions. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) will use its $2.1 million grant to help businesses focus on exporting by incorporating a strategic plan and activities like trade shows and website language translation. Chuck Hadden, president of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, said of exporting, “We cannot do a lot besides encourage and train our members, most of which happens at the federal level.”

He said machine-manufacturing companies represent 71 out of 132 companies in the program. The federal grant is $600,000 more than last year’s.

Business & Economy

State money encourages new high-tech start-ups

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By SILU GUO
Capital News Service
LANSING – With $8.5 million in grans to award, the state is encouraging local programs to support start-up high-tech companies. The Michigan Strategic Fund and Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) offer the funding for outstanding programs around the state, with a focus on Northwestern Michigan, Grand Rapids and suburban Detroit. The money will support three years of services for each project, said Paula Sorrell, managing director of entrepreneurial service at MEDC. These programs, called ‘incubator accelerators,’ are designed to support start-ups through an array of resources and services.

Agriculture

Farmers markets expand services as demand for local produce grows

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By PATRICK HOWARD
Capital News Service
LANSING— The demand for fresh, local produce has boosted a statewide uptick in the number of farmers markets. And a state grant program aims at ensuring low-income communities don’t miss out on such opportunities. Katharine Czarnecki, community programs manager at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), the agency that provides the grants, said farmers markets benefit both job creation and health and create social bonds that help communities. Czarnecki said the agency developed the Farm to Food grant program in 2010 to help three areas: urban development, agricultural infrastructure and a “passive solar system loan fund” used to construct “hoop houses” that can grow vegetables year-round.

Business & Economy

Small businesses find new way to sell to China

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By JON GASKELL
Capital News Service
LANSING — McKeon Products Inc. is looking to double its exports over the next two years, and with help from a new Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) program, the Warren-based manufacturer of Mack’s earplugs has taken a big step towards that goal. “We’re very excited to be entering the Chinese market,” said Jennifer True, international sales director for McKeon. “I personally was receiving emails from people in China looking to get hold of our product.”
Now a pallet of Mack’s earplugs has arrived in Shanghai in preparation for sale to a market of 1.3 billion potential customers. McKeon is one of the first Michigan companies to participate in a new MEDC partnership with Ohio-based Export Now that aims to help Michigan small businesses gain access to China’s consumer market.