Michigan Policy Summit 2008

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 9th, 2008 in Events, Lansing, Lansing / Jackson

Attention progressives (or anyone who lives in Michigan, cares about critical issues in their community and supports progressive solutions): the 2008 Michigan Policy Summit is this Saturday.

The summit — which runs from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Lansing Center - brings labor, environment, social justice and other progressive groups together to move Michigan forward. [ Read more ]

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DTE embraces biodiesel

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 8th, 2008 in Conservation, Detroit, Environment, Green

A conventional energy company is not the first business I would suspect of going green, so I was surprised to find out that DTE Energy is currently taking steps to do just that. On Tuesday, the energy giant announced plans to lessen its environmental footprint by converting its 800 diesel-fueled trucks and service vehicles to cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel. [ Read more ]

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Michigan’s Creative Economy gets a boost

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 8th, 2008 in Companies, Creative, Design, Digital, News, Talent

We all know how important - scratch that - vital it is to cultivate Michigan’s creative economy. Doing so will allow us to retain and attract the type of dynamic young people our region needs to turn itself around, and will help our great state get away from its reliance on an outdated auto industry. Once these things start happening, capital and talent will follow and Michigan will attain a prominent position in the global economy.

This shift towards a creative economy will not happen overnight, but bills like the ones Governor Granholm signed last week will help get us there faster. [ Read more ]

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Yee-haw!

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 7th, 2008 in Detroit, Entertainment, Events, Lifestyle, Music

The 26th annual Downtown Hoedown hits Detroit this weekend, and - as in years past - this Hart Plaza Festival promises to deliver great national music acts, tasty treats and an all-around good time.

Back in March, MiLifeMiTimes’ Nikki Stephan wrote candidly about the event — dubbed as the nation’s largest free country music fest — even delving into the Hoedown’s history and how it was the launching pad for some of country music’s biggest stars. If you missed that post, you can check it out here. For Hoedown-specific information, an artist lineup and more, click here.

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Brush up on your elevator pitch

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 7th, 2008 in Careers, Events, Resources, Talent

Wanna brush up on your elevator pitch? Then I’ve got just the event for you.

It’s called “Entrepreneurial Improv: The Battle of the Elevator Pitch”, and takes place next week, right after the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium.

An offbeat, slightly outrageous event that highlights how successful entrepreneurs need to think on their feet, the elevator pitch battle is a great way to relax and have fun with Michigan’s venture community. [ Read more ]

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Flex Fuel My Ride

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 6th, 2008 in Autos, Conservation, Environment, Green, Living

Have an older car that you wish could run on E85 instead of regular gasoline?

Thanks to Detroit-based Metropolitan Alternative Energy Incorporated, you no longer need that fancy FlexFuel badge to fill up with ethanol.

Instead, all you need to do is purchase one of Metropolitan Alternative Energy’s E85 conversion kits, which range from the mid-$200s to about $800. The conversion kits are available for everything from four-, six- and eight-cylinder autos to RVs, motorcycles and more. [ Read more ]

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MTU is New IBM Executive Partner

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 6th, 2008 in Houghton / Hancock, Upper Peninsula

Big congrats goes out to Michigan Technological University, which was recently named to IBM’s Partnership Executive Program for Universities. The recent appointment by IBM formalizes and expands a partnership that has been growing between the University and the IT and services company for nearly a decade. [ Read more ]

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The Pulice Report “Arrests” Michigan Innovators

by Bradley Gula

May 6th, 2008 in Creative, Digital, Talent

The first winner of The Pulice Report’s “Arresting Site of the Month” has now been announced. We made a brief mention back in November, but it’s good to see the continued efforts of Michigan Innovators taking home the inaugural award.

A spotlight of newsmakers and issues that impact Michigan, The Pulice Report wants to help exceptional online destinations generate publicity and increase traffic. If there’s a great Michigan site that you’d like to nominate, submissions via email are welcomed for the next month. For more information, visit this post or read the official press release.

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Detroit Ranked in Top 10 Cities for Grads

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 5th, 2008 in Careers, Detroit, Lifestyle, Talent

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Motor City was recently ranked ninth on Careerbuilder.com’s Top 10 cities for college graduates list.

According to the site:

CBCampus.com and Apartments.com crunched some numbers and compiled a list of the best cities for recent college grads. They factored in entry-level job openings, rental prices for a 1 bedroom apartment, and a plenty of fellow young 20somethings.

Philadelphia ranked first, followed by Boston, New York, Phoenix, Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth. Los Angeles and Houston came in seventh and eighth, and Detroit and Atlanta rounded out the list.

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A2 Continues with Green Mission

by Jaime Pfeffer

May 5th, 2008 in Ann Arbor, Architecture, Conservation, Design, Energy, Environment, Green, Jackson, Products

Over the past month, I’ve written a handful of posts on Ann Arbor’s aggressive goals to become a more environmentally friendly city. There was this one about A2’s switch to LED traffic lights, and this one about its goal for 5,000 solar roofs by 2015. Today, I’m reporting on the progressive city’s recent installation of a renewable-energy light demonstration on Packard at the entrance of Buhr Park. [ Read more ]

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