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Michigan Springs Forward

by Lisa Diggs

From golf courses to sandy beaches to charming towns to cool lakes, Michigan has so much to offer as a tourist destination that the State of Michigan has launched its first national tourism ad campaign. This comes on the heels of news that five years and $26.3 million worth of out-of-state tourism promotion to date, has resulted in nearly 5 million new tourists coming to Michigan who spent $1.1 billion and contributed $75.3 million in tax revenue. That's a return of $2.86 for every $1 spent, according to state officials. The expansion of the Pure Michigan campaign is a $10 million investment. Tourism in the state is down overall, because so much of it has traditionally been driven internally, and the national launch is a bold attempt to change that paradigm.

Residential Home Health of Madison Heights is looking to add 250 professionals in Michigan this year. The Michigan-based company is the only member of the state’s top five home health care providers to achieve HomeCare Elite distinction for 2008. HomeCare Elite is a compilation of the most successful Medicare-certified home health care providers in the United States. Residential Home Health serves patients in 32 Michigan counties. For more information on job opportunities visit Residential Home Health.

Former Detroiter, and President of Unity Studios, Jimmy Lifton has returned to Michigan with big plans. Unity Studios intends to invest $146 million to locate a new film, television and media production studio in Allen Park. The facility will provide production services, including stage rentals, grip, electric equipment, production vehicles, editorial equipment, camera equipment, post sound facilities, music recording facilities, animation design, and a media school. In addition, Unity Studios will produce and distribute its own products. The project is expected to create 121 new jobs, including 83 directly by the company.

In more movie news, according to a press release issued by Parallax Production Studios, the company has entered into a significant agreement to handle post-production work (editing, color correcting, and special effects) at their new 24,000 square foot studio. The Southfield-based company made a deal with California-based New Castle Entertainment to handle post-production for all of their features over the next two years. The deal is expected to include as many as 12 movies and be worth approximately $60 million. It marks another significant milestone for Michigan’s film industry, as post-production within the state, rather than back in Hollywood, will create more local jobs.

It’s been a windy spring so far, providing great evidence as to why Michigan’s wind turbine renewable energy plans have been on the move. According to the annual wind energy industry rankings report released this month by the American Wind Energy Association Michigan ranks second in wind energy growth on a percentage basis. Indiana ranked as the state with the fastest growth rate, expanding installations from zero to 131 MW, followed by Michigan (48 percent), Utah (21 percent), New Hampshire (17 percent) and Wisconsin (6 percent).

Ann Arbor’s Quantum Signal, an advanced engineering company specializing in image processing and simulation, recently kicked off four projects with a total value of $2.9 million for the US Army. The projects are Phase 2 and were awarded based on outstanding research and development activities and results during their initial phase. This quadruple of projects makes a total of five such program awards for the company since its founding in 1999, all of which have gone to Phase 2 and 3 status.

There’s been much talk about the possibility of a so-called Aerotropolis, between Detroit Metropolitan and Willow Run airports, and now the first official step has been taken. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement creating the Aerotropolis Development Corp. to move the concept forward. The idea is to cluster air-commerce related businesses together, into a sort of “airport city”, utilizing approximately 60,000 acres of land in Wayne & Washtenaw counties.

Michigan nonprofits generate $108 billion a year in economic activity according to the recently released Economic Benefits of Michigan’s Nonprofit Sector 2009. The report indicates that $60 billion is in direct spending by nonprofits and $48 billion in indirect economic impact. It also indicates that while employment in Michigan dropped 3 percent between 2006-2008, nonprofit employment increased 2.6 percent.

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