WASHINGTON - SBA-backed loans to exporters continued to grow in the fiscal year ended Oct. 1, reaching more than $923 million, which supported $1.7 billion in small business exports. ?Giving small businesses the tools they need to export their goods and services and create jobs is an important part of our core mission,? said SBA
GRAND RAPIDS ? Veteran journalist Rod Kackley has published a new book that examines Grand Rapids' Medical Mile and asks the question whether health care will help reinvent the American economy or will it take a return to manufacturing. Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community, Kackley says, serves as a road map
DETROIT ? Gary Erickson, a serial entrepreneur and business advisor best known in Southeast Michigan for his successful exit from Great Lakes Technologies Group, is back in a higher visibility role as President and Chief Operating Officer for Cybernoor, which focuses on making Oracle applications run faster. Erickson said he has been an advisor to
HOUGHTON - Michigan Technological University has created a Crowdfunding web site where anyone can contribute any amount to help support research projects. ?This is a way to leverage interesting ideas,? said David Reed, vice president for research. ?It can help people get started, do a discrete piece of research or collect data that will enable
DETROIT ? The Michigan Economic Development Corp. has awarded Challenge Detroit a $230,000 grant to help fund programming initiatives for the national initiative focused on revitalizing the Detroit region by retaining and attracting innovative leaders who will bring their intellectual capital and talents to the City. ?The mission of the MEDC is to help businesses
STERLING HEIGHTS -The SBA, along with the Detroit Regional Chamber, and the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center, will host a ?Meet the Lenders? event Oct. 23 at the Macomb Velocity Center. ?We?re pleased to collaborate with the Detroit Regional Chamber as well as our SBA funded partners to give entrepreneurs a chance to
ANN ARBOR ? The New Enterprise Forum's October meeting looks at Technology Trends and Innovation Oct. 18 at the Holiday Inn North. Is your company the next Twitter or the next Bebo? Our October panel will zero in on disruptive softwaretechnologies to help sort out which new ideas are fundable -- and which are not.
LANSING - John Austin, President of the Michigan State Board of Education and a non-resident Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, joined the CEO of the Lansing-based Prima Civitas Foundation, Steve Webster, in announcing the launch of the new Michigan Economic Center, which will serve as an independent policy and action organization for the state. The Michigan
ANN ARBOR ? Amplifinity, which makes social networking an advertising vehicle, has landed another $1.5 million in venture capital, bringing the total raised since the company was founded in 2008 to about $6 million. Amplifinity helps companies maximize their referral systems. The company, formerly uRefer, rebranded late last year. Amplifinity's software allows people to upload
ANN ARBOR - An inkless wet paint that changes color. A reusable heat pack you boil to recharge. A wireless sensor that could one day fit inside a blood vessel. These are three of the technologies that could move closer to market thanks to a unique new Master of Entrepreneurship program at the University of