LANSING - Studio owners, laborers and producers flooded a committee hearing Wednesday on the future of the state's film credits, telling lawmakers that Michigan's on-again, off-again love affair with providing incentives to the industry is a bad way to do business. The Senate has passed legislation scaling back the film credits, but at the start
LANSING - Businesses would potentially be able to get venture capital funding earlier in their development process and the state could see more venture capitalists under a proposal unveiled Wednesday to the Strategic Fund Board. Under the plan, $6 million of the funds that had gone through the Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board for
LANSING - Committee action, mostly on the Michigan House side, will be the name of the game this week, including a discussion by two panels on the future of the state's film credits. The quiet legislative week is attributable to the start of the deer hunting season, which is a traditional time off for lawmakers.
LANSING - In advance of her tour of several Michigan campuses this week, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is stepping up efforts to generate public support for the Legislature to restore some of the cuts made to the 2009-10 budget, especially restoration of the Michigan Promise Scholarship. On Monday, Granholm released a YouTube video about the Promise
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - A new report undertaken by ICSA Labs to mark its' twentieth anniversary contains some dispiriting news for security vendors, and some alarming news for customers. Nearly 80 percent of security products fail to perform as intended when first tested and generally require two or more cycles of testing before achieving certification. The
WASHINGTON - Words like "scam," "fraud," and "arrest" filled the air during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that focused on the controversial marketing companies that allegedly dupe consumers into paying monthly fees to join online loyalty programs. Vertrue, Webloyalty, and Affinion generated more than $1.4 billion by "misleading" Web shoppers, said members of the U.S.
LANSING ? Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Tuesday the next step in her efforts to consolidate state government with the merger of the departments of Management and Budget and Information Technology. Granholm said the executive order to detail the change would not be issued for a couple Of weeks, but she said DIT Director Ken Theis
LANSING - With a total of eight auto-related projects out of the 12 new economic development projects announced for the state on Tuesday, the head of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said there was strong evidence of the resurgence of the automotive sector. The projects dealt not only with advanced battery manufacturing, but with suppliers
LANSING - Motorists would have the opportunity to pay a $10 fee when they renew their annual vehicle registration to receive a permit to use any state park or boating access site under legislation that passed the Senate on Thursday despite a sharp division among majority Republicans. The bills (SB 388 , SB 389 )
AUBURN HILLS - Plex Systems, which provides ERP software for manufacturers, announced this week that the company has received an investment totaling $6 million from multiple sources. Plex will use the growth capital to build on its strong customer base, expand its product development, and accelerate sales and marketing efforts. Funds advised by Apax Partners,