SSTI Digest

Last Thursday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed bills to aid Michigan’s tool and die industry and to promote new venture capital investment in the state’s high-tech industries. One of Granholm’s key themes in last year’s State of the State address was the importance of leveraging Michigan’s financial power to bring investment capital to the state. The venture capital bills signed today – Senate Bill 834, Senate Bill 835 and House Bill 5322 – create the Michigan Early Stage Venture Capital Investment Fund and provide tax credits for investors in the fund. Money in the fund could be invested in venture capital companies to promote investment in qualified businesses. The $150 million Michigan Early Stage Venture Capital Investment Corporation (MVIC) will be directed by a seven-member board which will include the state treasurer, the chief executive officer of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, two governor appointees, and one appointee each from the Michigan Senate, House, and the the Michigan Venture Capital Association. MVIC will provide money to venture capital firms…

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation has named Sandy Ring to the new position of vice president for economic development policy.

Lizabeth Ardisana was elected Chairperson of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the state.

The Modernization Forum seeks qualified candidates to serve as a project manager for a one-year position. The manager will plan, staff and facilitate research involving focus groups, phone and mail surveys, and secondary resources related to small manufacturing and the economy. The manager will work in collaboration with contracting organization as part of a highly qualified research team. The manager also will work with the president of the association to develop proposals for members to deliver specialized services to small manufacturing sectors. Reporting directly to the ModForum president, the manager will serve in this position for one year pending continuation of research projects and location of the ModForum office. The nonprofit organization is currently located in Livonia, MI. A more complete description is available on the SSTI Job Corner: http://www.ssti.org/posting.htm Responses should be submitted no later than November 1, 2003 to: Project Manager, The Modernization Forum, 38777 West Six Mile Road, Suite 211, Livonia, MI, 48152.  More information about the ModForum…

Donald Jakeway will be the new president and CEO for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm has vowed to enlist her fellow governors in the fight to maintain the nation’s vital manufacturing industry. At a recent meeting of automotive industry executives and experts in Traverse City, Mich., Granholm used her keynote speech to call for actions that will stave off the loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Granholm offered a three-step plan for elevating the national discourse on maintaining manufacturing jobs: Gather Michigan’s manufacturing industry leaders to explore issues and solutions in a state-level summit in the next several months; Encourage the governors of the nation’s other top manufacturing states to hold similar meetings in their states; and, Encourage those governors to gather in Washington, D.C. to discuss state and federal actions needed to sustain the nation’s manufacturing industry. While the governor began her address by reviewing the good news coming out of Michigan this year, she also cited grave statistics to reinforce the immediacy of manufacturing’s problems. After a decade of steady losses, U.S.…

The first director of the new Automation Alley Technology Center will be Thomas Anderson.

Thomas Anderson is the new director of the Automation Alley Technology Center in Michigan.

William Rosenberg has resigned from his position as CEO of the Michigan Broadband Authority. which approved its first loan at the end of March for wireless broadband service in several small towns.

Michael Witt has been appointed Executive Director of MichBio, the state's bioscience industry association.

In SSTI's final look at the 2003 State of the State Addresses and Inaugural Addresses, we find the importance of building technology-based economies continues to be emphasized by governors across the country, despite – or because of – the down economy. Below are excerpts from speeches given in Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Texas. Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, State of the State Address, Feb. 5, 2003 "To this end, I have committed my Administration to create a Technology Tri-Corridor. We will position Michigan to lead the world in the development of the technology-based industries likely to dominate the world economy in this new century. The Corridor will focus new technology business recruitment and development in three critical areas: the life sciences, the automotive industry and the emerging homeland security sector. "Already, our Life Sciences Corridor has nurtured the development of cutting edge bio-technology firms and made our state a leader in this important new field. The same emphasis can help us build on our automotive…

Doug Rothwell, President and CEO of Michigan Economic Development Corp. until the end of Gov. Engler's administration in January, has accepted the position of executive director for worldwide real estate at General Motors Corp.