LANSING - A new "economic competitiveness benchmarking report" released Monday by a group that backed many of Gov. Rick Snyder's early economic moves finds that the state's climate for doing business has improved. However, Business Leaders for Michigan, the expanded statewide version of the CEO group Detroit Renaissance, contends that Michigan?s competitiveness with other states
ANN ARBOR ? The dining and lodging industries got higher marks from consumers, but the airline industry continues to score very low on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The report covers satisfaction with the quality of products and services provided by airlines, hotels, full-service restaurants, fast food, and express delivery and mail services. Airlines: Poor
SINGAPORE ? A quarter-century after the creation of ".com," the agency that assigns Internet addresses is loosening its rules and allowing suffixes named after brands, hobbies, political causes and just about anything else. Under guidelines approved Monday, Apple could register addresses ending in ".ipad," Citi and Chase could share ".bank" and environmental groups could go
LANSING ? Michigan committee hearings on legislation to authorize a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, will continue, but Senate Republicans said late Thursday that the bills will not move until sometime after the Legislature's summer recess. The decision, at odds with Governor Rick Snyder's request that the Legislature pass the legislation by July
LANSING - There would be about 25 to 35 truly competitive Michigan House seats under a new legislative map drawn by Republicans that will be unveiled Friday, Gongwer News Service has learned. And unlike the current map, the remainder of the "safe" House seats for Democrats and Republicans would be pretty evenly split. Last-minute negotiations
GRAND RAPIDS - Mobile Monday Michigan Friday announced the mobile technology education and networking group's expansion in West Michigan with a new chapter, Mobile Monday Grand Rapids (MoMoGR). Mobile Monday Michigan is the state's branch of the Helsinki, Finland-based International Mobile Monday organization. MoMo Michigan is sponsored state-wide by the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan
BEIJING - The Chinese military wants to beef up its cyberdefense efforts as it anticipates greater threats originating from the U.S. "The U.S. military is hastening to seize the commanding military heights on the Internet, and another Internet war is being pushed to a stormy peak," the Chinese military wrote in its official newspaper, Liberation
CHICAGO - Tech savvy kids and their families have more positive mindsets overall and express less anxiety about the future, a new study contends, providing a road map for brands that want to connect to this growing market. Ogilvy & Mather, in partnership with Communispace, released findings from its new joint research study, ?Tech Fast
ANN ARBOR - Proposed increase in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) from 35.5 mpg in 2016 to 62 mpg in 2025 will increase vehicle prices that exceed the savings in fuel costs, a new study from The Center for Automotive Research contends. The study focused on the impact of anticipated fuel economy and safety
LANSING - Governor Rick Snyder and the state's top financial officials were in New York City on Monday meeting with the three rating agencies in an effort to improve Michigan's bond rating. Snyder, along with Treasurer Andy Dillon and Budget Director John Nixon, flew to New York Monday morning on a state plane to meet