Tagged: reWorking Michigan

Business leaders from more than 20 Michigan companies are traveling to China this week on a trade mission.  The six-city tour is one of the largest overseas events Michigan economic development officials have ever sponsored.  It’s an opportunity to match Michigan farmers, automakers, engineers and manufacturers with potential customers in China.

Data often show a clear connection linking employment back to education.  In Lansing, the executives of a new public school academy are going a step further by focusing its curriculum on entrepreneurialism and leadership. 

On this Labor Day from reWorking Michigan, our Monday report looks at the future of training in the skilled trades.

WKAR’s Scott Pohl spoke with Lawrence Hidalgo Junior, training director for the Lansing Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee.

It’s a joint program between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and NECA, the National Electrical Contractors Association. They work with young electricians to prepare them for careers in the field, both in labor and in management.

That training has evolved in recent years.

Cities around the world are competing for new businesses and talented workers.  Lansing is no exception.  Cultural initiatives can and do play a role in economic development.  With that in mind, a new program strives to tell the stories of artists, musicians and business owners along Michigan Avenue.

Immigration experts in Lansing are planning a major outreach project this week.  Starting Wednesday, thousands of undocumented immigrants in Michigan who arrived in the U.S. as children will be eligible to file for work permits. 

A new program is offering talented college grads the chance to learn entrepreneurialism on the front lines. It also aims to help perk up job creation in some of America’s most economically challenged cities, including Detroit.

A unique mid-Michigan business is succeeding in keeping it loose at work.  Baker Drive Train in Haslett has carved out a profitable niche in the motorcycle business with cutting edge transmissions it designs and sells all over the world.  WKAR’s Mark Bashore reports on a married couple who left their buttoned-down GM jobs to embrace the rowdier culture of high performance motorcycles. 

There’s energy on the shop floor to start the workday at Baker Drive Train.  A little ‘liquid metal’ with your caffeine of choice is just the ticket for clearing out the morning cobwebs.

In 2007, the city of Lansing closed the Red Cedar Golf Course near the Frandor shopping center for budgetary reasons.  Now, an economic development team is studying five proposals to revitalize a portion of the 61-acre tract.  Regardless of which plan is selected, the land will undergo a major engineering project to keep pollutants from storm water runoff from spilling into the Red Cedar River.