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reWorking Michigan examines our evolving economy, as citizens of the Great Lake State explore new ways to make a living and build a future for their families. A project of WKAR NewsRoom, WKAR-TV and WKAR Online.
This week's reWorking Michigan story looks at how Michigan’s new law allowing motorcyclists to ride without a helmet is affecting insurance companies and agencies.
Therapy for children with autism can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Until now, that kind of treatment was unaffordable for many parents of autistic children. But a new Michigan law will soon require insurance companies to cover autism diagnosis and treatment for children and teenagers. This law is also expected to create hundreds or perhaps thousands of new jobs for people who are trained to treat autistic children.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero (at podium) announces the city's involvement in a pilot program to place wind turbines atop City Hall and the Lansing Center. The unit shown at lower right is produced by Windstream Technologies of North Vernon, IN.
Last week, Mayor Virg Bernero announced that a series of small wind turbines would be installed on the roofs of City Hall and the Lansing Center in June. Generating electrical power from wind energy is part of Michigan’s overall renewable energy strategy. But there’s some debate as to whether the urban core is the best laboratory in which to try it out.
Leon G Jewelry moved from East Lansing into the Kositchek’s men’s clothing store in downtown Lansing four years ago. It’s an unusual arrangement in Lansing.
This week from reWorking Michigan, we look at the first project under development at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. The Land Grant Project will stretch the museum’s mission, bringing artists into the classrooms at MSU.
Our report this week looks at safety in the workplace. In 2011, the state of Michigan created the Workplace Safety Advisory Rules Committee. For months, its members combed through volumes of health and safety rules applying to a wide range of industries. The committee recommended eliminating hundreds of regulations it deemed obsolete or burdensome. State lawmakers are now considering that report. In the meantime, some labor groups say the recommendations go too far.
For the last year, most of the cross-border attention has been paid to the debate over building a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. However, things are also happening in Michigan’s other border cities to help businesses in Michigan and Ontario.
Record-breaking warm temperatures this spring have coaxed fruit trees and other perennial crops in Michigan to bud weeks ahead of schedule. Farmers are facing a much earlier growing season and several more weeks of anxiety over the threat of frost.
Patricia Spitzley, Ken Szymusiak and Matt Brinkley are members of a task force created to devise new plans for redeveloping several former General Motors sites in Lansing. This scrap pile lies on what was once Plant 2 on West Saginaw.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
The remnants of Lansing Car Assembly Plant 3. It closed in 2006.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
RACER Trust deputy redevelopment manager Patricia Spitzley and Lansing Township Planner Matt Brinkley talk about possible redevelopment plans.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
Twisted, rusting metal frames are all that's left of many of the buildings that were once housed at the Lansing Craft Centre. Planners say the electric substation in the background could be used to service future infrastructure that may come to the site.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
The old GM auto plants still contain access to railroad lines, which may be an asset for future redevelopment.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
Lansing Westside Neighborhood Association president Danielle Casavant stands just feet away from huge broken concrete slabs that marked where the Verlinden Plant once stood. She and many residents would like to see light industry reclaim the site.
Starting in 2005, General Motors closed several of its mid-Michigan factories, including Lansing Car Assembly and the Craft Centre. The economic blow was devastating to thousands of families who had given generations of service to America’s auto industry. Now, a new task force is working to bring families, businesses and neighborhoods together to plant new seeds in those vacant brownfields.
More people in Michigan are using yoga to keep their bodies toned and their stress level in check. For others, it's a growing business opportunity. reWorking Michigan looks at the growth potential of yoga studios.
Michigan Army National Guard Captain Amanda Falor is working on a master's degree in management. She says civilian employers sometimes find it difficult to understand her experiences in the military.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
CPT Amanda Falor is a logistics specialist with the 246th Transportation Battalion of the Michigan Army National Guard.
Photo by Kevin Lavery / WKAR
Maj. General Gregory Vadnais commands the Michigan Army and Air National Guard. He believes the military has a responsibility to educate its own members and civilian employers about the abilities veterans bring to the workforce.
The military is a unique sub-culture of American life: it speaks in acronyms, it has its own justice system, and it places great responsibility on its members. Yet despite their high level of training, thousands of veterans who leave the military struggle to find a job. A new initiative in mid-Michigan is designed to bring warriors to the workplace.
Can parks, natural areas and waterways affect employment growth and income? Yes, according to a new study by the Land Policy Institute and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory at Michigan State University.
ReWorking Michigan examines our evolving economy, as the people of the Great Lakes State explore new ways to make a living and build a future.
Today, our reWorking Michigan Monday report looks at the challenges facing immigrants with backgrounds in professional fields. Thousands of health care providers, engineers and financial specialists who’ve earned their credentials in their home countries often start at or near the bottom as they work to become re-certified in the United States. Experts say that can be an impediment for employers searching for prospective hires.
This week's reWorking Michigan report takes us to a laboratory where inventors can get help making a prototype of the product they want to take to market. The Fab Lab is at Mott Community College in Flint.
East Lansing, MI – EAST LANSING, MI (WKAR) - Some Chinese students at Michigan State University are not only getting their degree here, but also want to start a business here.
East Lansing, MI – EAST LANSING, MI (WKAR) - Last week, officials got a scare when U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu expressed some doubt over whether the federal government would continue funding the $615 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University. Still, the hiring and construction process continues.
2012 is a presidential election year, and campaigns are gearing up across the state. For people who are looking to change careers, or those who've lost their jobs and are hoping to resume getting a steady paycheck, politics could be an option this year.
EAST LANSING, MI – Winter farmers markets are expanding across the country and in Michigan. On our reWorking Michigan Monday report, WKAR's Gretchen Millich shows us how hoop houses allow farmers to grow and sell fresh vegetables through the winter.
