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The Southwestern Alliance
CONNECTIONS |
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Southwestern Michigan Economic Growth Alliance ~ Berrien County Manufacturers Council |
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October 2, 2009 - Volume 1, Issue 10 | |
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| Greetings! |
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Many years ago I swam laps in the same practice pool as Mark Spitz. As did every young girl in those days, I also put the famous Seven-Gold-Medals poster on my wall for "inspiration". That was my closest, and only, brush with Olympic Fever - until last week.
I admit I was counting my chickens before they hatched Friday morning. I was thinking about all the construction jobs, metals, plastics, manufactured parts, and services Chicago was going to need from southwest Michigan companies. I even had starry-eyed visions of high-speed train and ferry services to the games. Maybe some of you had already started to figure out how much your house would be worth to an international visitor for a couple of weeks.
All those years ago I was disappointed to never catch up with Mark Spitz (I may actually have been the reason he learned to swim so fast) but I eventually got out of the pool and moved on. The fleeting thought of Olympic Fever is gone so we'll keep moving on and looking ahead.
With the help of the finest manufacturers and business owners in the world, the Southwestern Alliance is pursuing many new and exciting possibilities - we're thinking creatively, we're talking to folks about what we have and what we can do, we're offering training, seminars, educational opportunities, a web-based searchable database for all the commercial/industrial properties in our area, and we're getting noticed in some very positive ways. If you have good news or a great idea of "Olympic" proportions, please send it my way and let's work together to shine the brightest light possible on southwest Michigan.
Shelley Klug |
| Community Conversations |
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If ever there was a time to express your opinion and offer your solutions for Michigan - this is the time. TFactor just sponsored a "Community Conversation" on September 29 but there are still two more opportunities for you to participate. Check out the Southwestern Alliance calendar on the new website for dates/times/locations.
To RSVP for the October 14 Conversation, please go to:
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| Training Opportunity for Communities |
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Michigan Main Street is a successful downtown development program based on a tried and true four-point approach. The City of Buchanan and the City of Niles have both used this program to transform their downtowns! Associate Level Training is available for anyone interested in learning how this program works and is especially essential for local staff and volunteers.
Local Opportunity: October 15, 2009 at the Niles Wonderland Theater (402 N. Front Street in Niles) Program begins at 8:30 a.m. and continues through 4:45 p.m. For more information please contact Deb Patzer in Buchanan at 269-695-3844.
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| Government Contracting - Introduction |
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The Berrien County Manufacturers Council (BCMC) recently hosted Jan Campbell, director of the Southwest Michigan Regional Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), who shared useful, specific, and easy to understand information about how to start bidding for government contracts. If you are interested but were not able to attend the meeting, please contact Jan at: www.ptacsofmichigan.org.
This meeting was part of the annual series of informative meetings sponsored by the Berrien County Manufacturers Council. For more information about this organization please check out:
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| Financing Information |
| Financing! The upcoming October 29, 2009 luncheon meeting will feature three speakers presenting information designed for business owners and local commercial loan officers and specialists. The information will be specific and direct with examples of how the programs have benefited others in situations that may be similar to yours. Mike Flanagan will discuss Michigan's Capital Access Program (CAP) and Eric Hanna will explain a relatively new program - Michigan Supplier Diversification Fund.
Lisa Epple will discuss the USDA Rural Development's Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. There have been some recent ARRA enhancements and new information including eligible areas, eligible projects, and the state funding goal of $57 million of Guaranteed ARRA Funds.
This meeting is sponsored by the Berrien County Manufacturers Council and is open to all. The meeting will be held October 29, 2009 at noon.
The luncheon is $10 per person for members and their staff, ($15 for non-members) and will be held at the Berrien County RESA Building located in Berrien Springs at 711 St. Joseph Avenue (formerly known as the ISD building). Please RSVP to Shelley Klug at 269-683-1833 or smega1@sbcglobal.net by October 26, 2009.
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| Heritage Route Summit |
| Among our finest attributes in southwest Michigan is our historic and cultural heritage. We have learned how to convert this rich history into tourism (external and internal) through many different methods. One of the more interesting ones is the designation of certain roadways as "Heritage" routes or trails. Southwest Michigan was among the first to really maximize this opportunity and is home to one of the longest heritage routes - US 12 is 212 miles long! The US 12 Heritage Trail Council is sponsoring a Heritage Route Summit and is inviting heritage advocates, community leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, students, educators, and politicians to learn more about tapping into our existing assets to create thriving communities.
The Summit is Thursday, October 29, 2009. For more information please go to: http://us12heritagetrail.org/ or contact Kim Gallagher at 269-925-1137 x18. |
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November 4, 2009 |
Back by popular demand! The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) will be holding a series of ten free half-day seminars for employers about the state's unemployment program at various locales around the state in October and November. The seminars explain to employers Michigan's UI tax and benefit programs as well as recent changes at the agency. Seminar topics include: How UI benefits are paid and charged to employer UI accounts; New online UIA services for employers; How UIA calculates employer UI tax rates; and How to appeal an agency determination. In addition, there will be two breakout sessions - one on UI benefits and the other on UI taxes. Each session starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m. The seminar closest to the SMEGA area is in Kalamazoo on November 4, 2009. (Kalamazoo OPD Training Center, 322 Stockbridge Avenue).
To register for any of the seminar sessions, employers can obtain a registration form at the UIA website ( www.michigan.gov/uia). Employers with questions about the seminar can call the agency's Employer Customer Relations staff at 1-800-638-3994. | |
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| Website of the Month |
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The Website of the Month is the new Southwestern Alliance website! The new site provides access through a single portal to the Southwestern Michigan Economic Growth Alliance and the Berrien County Manufacturers Council under the heading - Southwestern Alliance.
Even with our best efforts, we now realize that this website will be a constant and ongoing work in progress. This is primarily because we want to keep our information up-to-date and interesting. As you go through the pages, you are more than welcome to contact us with suggestions and/or changes you think we should consider. As we build steam, we hope this website will become the first and best resource for information about doing business in southwest Michigan!
You can help! Please put our link on your site and invite us to put your link on ours. Obviously, this is a business and economic development oriented site and the links we are seeking are those that will positively impact business in this region.
The Southwestern Alliance Home Page:
Direct Link to the Berrien County Manufacturers Council Home Page
Thank you - we look forward to "connecting" with you! |
| Final Thoughts |
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Our email list is growing! We added over 100 new addresses to our newsletter list-serve last month. You must be helping - thank you! | |
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Shelley Klug, Executive Director
Southwestern Alliance
Phone: 269-683-1833
Fax: 269-683-7515
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