LANSING - Business licensing and regulation has been housed with business development efforts for decades, but breaking them apart actually gives the state an opportunity to be more business friendly, said Steven Hilfinger, director of the new Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, told Gongwer News Service in a recent interview. The new department retains
LANSING - For years now, the story has been that young people leave Michigan in search of jobs and more exciting places to live. If Governor Rick Snyder and the forces at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation are successful in their new development strategy, young people will want to remain in Michigan and will have
DETROIT - Grants totaling $200 million from the federal government will help put Michigan on the rails for high-speed, or at least higher speed, train service, Governor Rick Snyder and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced at a news conference in Detroit on Monday. The funds will focus on improving the track lines from Dearborn
TROY - Troy Chamber President Michele Hodges recently celebrated her 10th anniversary with a surprise reception given her after the April board meeting. Current and past board members, as well as current and former staff, attended. "Michele is a great encourager and all great leaders do this,? said 2011 Board Chairman John Tagle of John
ALLEGAN - Perrigo Co., which makes store-brand, over-the-counter drugs and infant formulas, said Tuesday its fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 43 percent, helped by new product sales and gains in some existing categories. The company earned $89.1 million, or 95 cents per share, in the three months that ended March 26. That compares to earnings of
DETROIT ? Led by sales of fuel-efficient passenger cars and crossovers, General Motors reported April sales were up 27 percent from a year ago. April also was the best sales month for the Chevrolet Cruze and record sales for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers. Retail sales, those to individual customers, rose 25
AUBURN HILLS - Chrysler Group LLC, 25 percent owned by Italy's Fiat SpA, posted its first quarterly profit in five years Tuesday - $116 million in the first quarter of 2011 compared with a net loss of $197 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating profit, excluding taxes, interest and pension-related costs, more than tripled to
GRAND RAPIDS ? The West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Michigan Strategic Fund to offer access to its high-tech Venture Center for business incubation and acceleration in the life science industry. WMSTI will use the grant to: Launch an affordable ?mini-lab? option that
DEARBORN - Consumer demand for Ford's fuel-efficient vehicles continues to grow, with April sales increasing 16 percent versus a year ago and year-to-date sales up 16 percent ? totaling 686,498 vehicles. ?With gasoline prices eclipsing $3.90 a gallon, consumers are placing an even higher priority on fuel efficiency in every size and kind of vehicle,?
ANN ARBOR ? A team of chemical engineers at the University of Michigan is exploring new means of exploiting the abundant energy produced by Earth's nearest star. They have discovered a method for utilizing metal nano-particles, which act much like nanometer-sized light antennae, to help accelerate the production of renewable solar fuels and other chemicals.