PONTIAC - Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson says repeal of the state's Single Business Tax is a critical issue that voters, rather than Lansing lawmakers, must decide. The biggest concern is how would the lost $1.8 billion in revenue be replaced? In an interview with Gongwer News Service, Patterson said he is looking at several
TROY - OnStar gets turn-by-turn navigation this year as the GM division tries to boost profits and take on in-car navigation systems. The technology will be unveiled this week at the Chicago auto show. Right now, OnStar subscribers can ask OnStar operators to give them instructions over the network, and can record them in some
PLEASANT RIDGE - ePrize, a week after annoucing a $32 million angel investment round, said Monday it posted record sales of $28.6 million in 2005, a 54 percent gain from the year before. The interactive promotion agency also said it added 151 new clients in 2004. As a result, ePrize hired 84 new full-time employees,
LANSING - On Friday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, as expected, vetoed legislation cutting the Single Business Tax and blocking a proposed ergonomics rule. The SBT tax cut would have saved the average business about $700 a year. Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema (R-Wyoming) and House Speaker Craig DeRoche (R-Novi) said those actions would hold the
BLOOMFIELD HILLS - An injury to the founder of Entrepreneur & Investor Exchange has forced the group to cancel its monthly networking and pitch meetings until September. Founder Fritz Spademan fell twice and broke several bones, which he said in a message to his members "will take some time to heal." Spademan went on to
LANSING - Michigan Citizen Action, in cooperation with the organization Drug Industry Immunity Must End, launched a series of radio ads this week aimed at passage of a House bill that would repeal lawsuit liability for drug companies accused of injuring or killing people with their product. The radio spots were launched through a series
LANSING - A Michigan House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday learned that Michigan would have to compete more with other states this year to receive federal dollars for homeland security, as the state has already had to reprioritize funds that continue to diminish each year. Captain Kriste Etue, deputy state director of homeland security and emergency
LANSING - For the second time in less than a month, Gov. Jennifer Granholm will lose a key member of her cabinet with Treasurer Jay Rising stepping down to become executive vice president and chief financial officer for the Detroit Medical Center. Gongwer News Service reported Thursday that Rising's departure at the end of February
DETROIT - General Motors on Thursday said it has chosen several technology companies to outsource up to $15 billion of information technology work, as the No. 1 automaker tries to cut costs, restructure operations and replace work done by EDS in a 10-year contract that expires this year. EDS, formerly owned by GM, will have
LANSING - Paula Cunningham, who had been the popular president of Lansing Community College, stepped down from that post on Wednesday and was immediately named by Gov. Jennifer Granholm as the new director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, replacing David Hollister. Granholm had been in discussions with Cunningham about the post for