By Christopher Sell

Chris serves as a member of the Career Services team at Western Michigan University, and is an alumnus of WMU (’07) and Michigan State University (’10). In his spare time, he loves to go running, camping, and backpacking throughout western and northern Michigan. To learn more about his professional work, visit www.christophersell.com or follow him on Twitter @WMUBronco_Chris.

I am excited to be a part of Michigan’s comeback.

I grew up and spent most of my life in Michigan. I studied at two of the 15 wonderful public universities in Michigan, so it’s natural that I would have an affinity to the state shaped like a mitten. But it’s more than that. Things are changing, and I am excited to contribute.

I do not have to look far to see the signs of a dramatic resurgence.  Recent tax reform at the state level is making Michigan a competitive marketplace for seasoned business owners and emerging entrepreneurs:

• Grand Rapids is home to nationally-renowned traditions like Art Prize and LaughFest.
• Communities like Kalamazoo and Ann Arbor are drawing the attention of young professionals looking for charm, fun, and an enduring spirit of walkable urbanism.
• The Lansing region was just cited as the nation’s leader for fostering manufacturing growth since the end of the recession.
• Artists, innovators in technology, and stewards of the creative class are helping transform Detroit into the envy of the Midwest.

Michigan’s revitalization is not just around the corner. It’s happening now.

Today’s college students will be the workforce champions of tomorrow, so we must create environments lucrative to college grads and showcase the myriad opportunities for living, working, and playing in the new economy. Young professionals are not just interested in a job. They also want to work in a community that offers urban housing, great shopping, and a sleek public transportation system.

As a state we must illuminate companies and cities in Michigan as favorable destinations for Generation Y.

Our team at Western Michigan University Career Services is partnering with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help engage college students and young alumni in several programs focused on highlighting Michigan communities rich with jobs and opportunities for living, working, and playing.

For the past year, we have promoted LiveWorkDetroit! to our students, a reoccurring day-long program that showcases Detroit as a destination for young job seekers looking for a vibrant community. The Great Lakes Bay Region and the Holland/Zeeland communities have partnered with the MEDC to host Pure Michigan Opportunity events– programs similar to LiveWorkDetroit. Our team has promoted both events and actually driven students to and from the program.

We also recently added content to our web site for Pure Michigan Talent Connect, the state’s new portal for job seekers and employers, to better align our services with state initiatives.

This March, we will be taking WMU engineering students on our first annual Michigan Industry Road Trip, giving our students a chance to tour industry-leading companies, practice networking skills, and learn about the incredible opportunities that find genesis in Michigan.

As a college educator, I am a first-hand witness to the incredible work of our state’s teachers, professors, and university administrators in readying students for the workforce. And as a native Michigander, I’m very encouraged by the progress our state is making.

I cannot wait to see what is yet to come!

With Michigan leading the nation in new job growth and the Federal Reserve projecting Michigan is on track to lead all other states in job growth over the next six months, a growing number of Michiganders are seeing the opportunities of coming home.

Detroit, Grand Rapids and Lansing all recently ranked in the top 10 for growth in manufacturing and other sectors. Just last week, President Obama similarly touted Michigan’s national leadership in advanced manufacturing and research and development. Bloomberg Businessweek also spotlighted the state’s growth.

They also said spoke of unleashing “the Era of Innovation” by empowering talented people through the ‘Three Cs: Connecting, Collaborating and Creating.’

Michiganders who left the state and were drawn back by Pure Michigan opportunities are featured in a new Pure Michigan MiAdvantage video out today.

“I am who I am because of the education in this state, growing up in this state,” notes Jonathan Seyferth, a Central Michigan University graduate who moved to Wyoming and was recently drawn back. “I wanted to make sure that if I had the opportunity to have a positive impact, I was going to take advantage of that.”

With a renewed focus on attracting and retaining talent, the MEDC Talent Team is looking to attract talented former residents in hard-to-fill or growing fields to MichAGAIN. The next event is slated for next week in Orlando, Fla.

Amy Cell, MEDC Vice President for Talent Enhancement, calls MichAGAIN a way to connect this valuable pool of talent to employers who are currently seeking to fill critical jobs.

Through partnerships with universities and alumni associations, the MichAGAIN program seeks to appeal to former residents, educating them on growth opportunities.

The MichAGAIN team also has plans to be in Austin, Texas March 9-13 and San Francisco May 8-10.  For a complete listing and up to date information visit them at www.michagain.org.

Other upcoming talent-focused events and initiatives highlighting great Michigan opportunities are also in the works, including:

MiVirturalCareerFair: The very first state-sponsored virtual career fair aimed at filling the hottest IT and high tech positions.  On February 15, job seekers will have the opportunity to interact with Michigan businesses, actively recruiting highly-skilled candidates through a live, 3-D virtual environment. Search jobs, submit resumes, and network from the comfort of your own home or office. Register today!

LiveWorkDetroit: Detroit is one of the hottest places in the country to live and work.  LiveWorkDetroit gives college graduates and young professionals the opportunity to see it in person.  Hear directly from employers eager to hire the best and brightest.  New events are scheduled nearly every month, find out more at www.mitalent.org/LiveWorkDetroit.

Opportunity Spotlight: Features a list of in-demand jobs, rapidly hiring employers and key training programs for people in transitions, provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Workforce Development Agency.

Pure Michigan Talent Connect: Featuring nearly 80,000 current jobs along with career exploration tools. The site serves as the gateway for employers to find talent and job seekers to find new career opportunities.  Begin your search at www.mitalent.org.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership serving as the state’s marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, focuses on helping grow Michigan’s economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit michiganadvantage.org

Pure Michigan has been tapped as a key partner in Brand USA, the first-ever unified national U.S. consumer brand to promote international travel to the United States.

George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, has been appointed to the Brand USA Marketing Advisory Group. The Marketing Advisory Group will play a critical role in developing and monitoring efforts to encourage international travelers to explore America.

Zimmermann joins marketing officials from other state and local tourism offices, as well as destination and hospitality groups, including Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau, Marriott International and Google, Inc. The primary role of the Marketing Advisory Group is to aid in the development and execution of America’s global consumer brand marketing campaign and provide recommendations on how the Brand USA marketing efforts are perceived internationally and among industry partners.

“Being part of the marketing efforts for Brand USA offers Michigan a tremendous opportunity as we work to grow the Pure Michigan brand nationally and internationally,” Zimmermann said. “Michigan, and the entire Great Lakes region, offers a unique travel experience here in the United States and it is exciting to contribute our efforts and experiences to this new national branding effort.”

Pure Michigan will be part of Brand USA’s consumer launch in March at ITB in Berlin – the world’s leading travel show – through the state’s partnership with Great Lakes USA, the multi-state international marketing consortium of Travel Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Brand USA will also have a presence at the 2012 Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism being held March 25-27 at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. Joel Secundy, Vice President of Strategic Outreach at Brand USA, will provide a keynote address discussing Brand USA’s efforts to be the gateway to the international market for the U.S. tourism industry.

Other key note speakers at the conference are Governor Rick Snyder and national travel expert and CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg. A new feature at this year’s conference is a special track for economic developers and regional and local officials interested in utilizing tourism to help their community grow. This new track will present information on the connection and the correlation between tourism marketing and development and other economic development activity and results.

With the expansion of the Pure Michigan brand beyond travel in 2011, public and private partners have quickly found the power of Pure Michigan to help market Michigan and grow the economy.

For more information, or to register to attend the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on Tourism, visit the conference website.

Travel Michigan, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the State of Michigan’s official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state’s tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information services. For Michigan travel news and updates, go to michigan.org.

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership serving as the state’s marketing arm and lead agency for business, talent and jobs, focuses on helping grow Michigan’s economy. For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit: MichiganAdvantage.org

The Collaborative Group, a Michigan-based nonprofit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, has launched and is accepting applications for Challenge Detroit, an urban revitalization project for one of the most significant cities in the world.

Challenge Detroit is a national initiative focused on revitalizing Detroit by attracting innovative leaders to bring their intellectual capital and talents to the city. Participants will have the opportunity to work with and learn from top companies and nonprofits in and around Detroit while helping to make a difference in the region.

“Challenge Detroit is founded on the belief that 30 of the best and brightest, passionate, hard- working and inventive leaders of tomorrow can make all the difference in the world, let alone a city,” said Deirdre Greene Groves, executive director of The Collaborative Group and Challenge Detroit. “We are working with top companies, nonprofits and leaders from the greater Detroit area to develop this exciting social initiative that will positively impact the future of Detroit and the region.”

By Yuliya Harris

This past Saturday over 200 students from University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University as well as countless other universities gathered at the LiveWorkDetroit! Cross Sectors event at the Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit.

This event focused on highlighting the recent astounding growth within the city through the business, real estate, and entertainment sectors, as well as pursuing young professionals to live and work in Detroit.

Throughout the day, many students revealed their awe and pleasant shock at the wonderful opportunities that the city has to offer. Even after living in midtown for three years, I was in admiration of Detroit’s hidden gems. At the end of the evening, I spoke a student who said that just from this one day she changed her mind to having Chicago become her “back up,” and the Motor City becoming her future home.

This transformation of the mindset is something that needs to be spread around the country. Many of us remember the constant negative attention that Detroit has received in the past years. However this is all about to change. In the next few months this city is going to be blooming with exciting new businesses and opportunities that will transform Detroit into what it once was- the glorious center of urban growth.

The entire event was not just educational but inspiring. It was amazing to see the recent entrepreneurial growth in the various sectors of Detroit. From new restaurants, expansions, to new and innovative businesses springing around the city, it is obvious that Detroit is growing.

Students especially should start looking at this wonderful city and the new jobs that are being created as part of their post-graduation future. I personally can’t wait to see the incredible things that Detroit will offer in the next few years. What we now have to ask ourselves is: “How can I be part of the new Detroit?”

MiVirtualCareerFair: IT and High Tech will provide a platform for Michigan businesses to interact with and recruit highly-skilled job seekers from anywhere in the world within a live, 3-D virtual environment.

“Michigan employers have an urgent need for high tech and IT talent, but people with those specialized skills remain hard to find,” said Amy Cell, Vice President for Talent Enhancement at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).  “By extending a company’s recruiting reach with this virtual tool, we can help Michigan employers staff up and ramp up much more quickly and efficiently.”

MiVirtualCareerFair follows the December 2011 launch of Pure Michigan Talent Connect, an online talent marketplace bringing together thousands of jobs, unique career calculators and resources for employers seeking talent. The MiVirtualCareerFair platform will provide the opportunity to:

• Connect and interact with recruiters and candidates from wherever you are, avoiding the time and expense of traditional career fairs.
• Upload and submit resumes for multiple job listings.
• Meet other job seekers or employers in the Networking Lounge.
• View informational videos in the Auditorium.
• Use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to search for connections and update your status from within the event.

MiVirtualCareerFair: IT and High Tech will be live from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15.  Employers have the option of either a standard ($500) or premium ($750) booth in the Virtual Exhibit Hall where they can post up to 100 job openings.

Booths can be easily customized with company branding, logos, graphics, video, and details such as company history, employee benefits, and contact information.  Post-event, exhibitors will receive in-depth analytics including candidate resumes, applications, chat transcripts, and booth visit data.  All openings posted during the fair will be accessible to job seekers for 30 days after the live event.

Job seekers and employers will find informational videos at the website http://www.michiganvirtualcareerfair.com/.  Job seekers also can pre-register to attend and employers will find links to exhibitor rates and a form to request more information.

Michigan will host additional MiVirtualCareerFair events in 2012 aimed at finding the specialized talent Michigan companies need to grow and thrive.  MiVirtualCareerFair is the newest tool in the state’s talent toolbox, joining a roster of other innovative initiatives designed to recruit, retain, and train top talent.

“We want to help Michigan businesses find and attract top talent, whether they’re one of the Fortune 500 or a new start up,” said Cell.  “Virtual career fairs will allow us to deliver talented job seekers right to the company doorstep from anywhere in the world.”

By Nancy Mullen Call, Associate Broker at Crystal Mountain Realty

After going through the economic ringer for the last several years, it seems our mitten state is making its comeback. Go Michigan!

We’re definitely feeling the energy here at Crystal Mountain Resort and Spa where I work, and the indications are plentiful elsewhere, too.

In October, the Wall Street Journal declared that “Detroit’s Engine Roars on Sign of a Turnaround.” It went on to say,“The mood in the region is more positive than in much of the rest of the country.”

Also in October, TechAmerica Foundation reported that Michigan’s high tech industry saw a net gain of 2,700 jobs in 2010 – the most by any state from 2009–2010. And in November, a Bloomberg study rated Michigan’s economic health as second best in the nation.

This past August, ABC’s Good Morning America viewers voted Sleeping Bear Dunes the “Most Beautiful Place in America.” That may have been a surprise to people across the country, but not to those of us familiar with this truly magical northern Michigan place.

Up here in northwestern Michigan, we regularly show up on Best Places to Live lists. And why not? We have four distinct seasons and abundant natural resources. No hurricanes, earthquakes or tsunamis – just a blizzard now and again that brings lots of beautiful, soft snow. (And I’m happy to say that while the white stuff was a little slow in arriving this year, it is now gracing our landscape.) We are surrounded by clean fresh water – the new gold of the future according to many, and our agriculture industry, including those yummy vineyards, is robust and renowned.

Crystal Mountain itself has been lauded as the #1 Resort in the Midwest by SKI Magazine, one of the Best 15 “Green” Resorts in the country by Golf Digest, one of the 10 Best Winter Resorts for Families by Parents Magazine and one of the Top Spas in America’s Heartland by Spa Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Survey. These major accomplishments and others like them are the result of Crystal Mountain’s relentless market research, its commitment to delivering exceptional-value consumer experiences across all product lines, and a carefully crafted capital plan that is honest and realistic about sustainable leverage levels. I’m privileged to work here and I take every chance I get to invite folks to be our guests. Consider yourself invited!

Pure Michigan – it’s a pretty incredible place to live and recreate. And, as air travel becomes more costly and less convenient, it just makes sense to select a drive-to vacation destination that one can visit easily and often.

If you share my enthusiasm for the future of Michigan and our beautiful corner of it, I urge you to get out there and experience all the reasons they call Michigan a winter wonderland.

Founders Brewery says it chose Michigan for its “delicious water.” ePrize chose Michigan for its cost structure and quality of life.

In a new series of web videos launching today, you’ll hear directly from business leaders who have opted to locate and grow their companies in Pure Michigan.

This ongoing video series will profile Michigan-based businesses, their people and their growth. From the state’s new tax structure to access to talent to proximity to leading universities to the Pure Michigan quality of life, the reasons business leaders are choosing to grow in Michigan are many.

Through these videos, you’ll hear directly from individuals making decisions about where to headquarter or grow their business in Michigan.

Let us know what you think of our video series or share your own  ”Why Michigan?” story by joining the conversation on the Michigan Advantage Facebook page, subscribing to the Michigan Advantage YouTube channel, following Michigan Advantage on Twitter and subscribing to the Michigan Advantage blog. We’ll be using these channels to share new videos in the series.

Xconomy, the online news and events organization, released a report asking 22 of the nation’s top innovators, entrepreneurs and investors: what should students be studying now to prepare for 10 years from now? 

The report poses the question in order to gain a unique view into the future at a time of breakneck technological change and increasing economic uncertainty, according to Xconomy Founder and Editor in Chief Robert Buderi. 

“To prepare for a decade from now and beyond that, most of our contributors seem to agree, students must be incredibly flexible,” Buderi writes. “Students should focus on finding something they are passionate about and not worry too much about the job it will lead to.”

One of the experts featured in the report is the co-founder of Ann Arbor-based Sakti3, who says: “The notion that there is a gold standard—a favored text or tome, a single subject-matter expert, or a single corporation with the single best practice, in any discipline—is really outdated. The ‘new normal’ is generation of information by multiple sources, and use of meta-analysis to sort for the most correct, most useful information.”

Buderi says the report paints a picture of the world that is fascinating and occasionally sobering.

“But all of our contributors see a wealth of opportunities ahead, and they hold some surprising and provocative views about what students should be studying now in order to make best use of those opportunities,” he writes.

Visit here to read more highlights of the report.

Michigan-based Cherry Republic has received approval from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority for a multi-use brownfield redevelopment project that will support the construction of a retail outlet and food production facility and new residential spaces in Traverse City. 

“This new Cherry Republic facility consolidates their production, retail and administrative operations and brings the company’s high quality jobs into the center of downtown Traverse City,” said Michael A. Finney, President and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

The Grand Traverse Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will use local and school tax capture valued at $2,264,085 to demolish two buildings and construct a five story mixed-use development in the City of Traverse City. The Cherry Republic Center Project will include administrative offices, a primary retail outlet and food production facility for Cherry Republic products. The plan may also include up to 13 residential units with underground parking. The project is expected to create up to 30 permanent full-time jobs, with a total capital investment of approximately $13 million.

 Founded in 1989 by Bob Sutherland out of the trunk of his car, Cherry Republic currently sells more than 174 different cherry products including dried cherries, chocolate covered dried cherries, cherry salsa and jams and jellies. With four retail stores, a website, a catalog business and sales to 450 other stores throughout the Midwest, the company’s  mission is “the peaceful advancement of the world’s greatest fruit, the Cherry.”