New Economy

LPI Events 

Innovation Club for Entrepreneurs to Meet in March

On Wednesday, March 13, 2013, the Innovation Club for Entrepreneurs (ICE) is hosting their next meetup from 6pm-7:30pm, at The Avenue Cafe' in Lansing (on the Michigan Avenue bus route). The March meetup topic will focus on "Mentors . . . How to Find One and How to Be One." The discussion on idea generation will continue with guest entrepreneur, Don Waskiewicz, President of Deep Blue Insights, along with Michael Garavaglia, an MSU student that Waskiewicz mentors. They will share their experiences as mentor and mentee. Each will bring their unique perspective on mentorship. What is the value of having a mentor? How do I find a mentor? How do I mentor? What is the difference between mentoring and coaching? These are just a few discussion points that will be considered. The guest facilitator will be Tom Hamp, professional Business Coach with AdviCoach. Join ICE for the conversation and bring your ideas and/or experiences to share on the topic.

The ICE meetup is open to all--those just starting to think about an idea, those who have taken some action on their idea, those who have started a business, and those who have been entrepreneurial for a long time, as well as those who have available resources to assist entrepreneurs at any stage. 

RSVPs are welcome and appreciated. Please sign up at ICE Meetup by clicking on the "count me in" button for the March meeting. Please send any questions about this month's meeting to ice@landpolicy.msu.edu.

At the February meeting, the discussion on idea generation continued with guest entrepreneur, Deb Mason, Owner of bidfreez.com.  The topic of conversation was "Can I Start My Business with a One-Page Business Plan?" Laurie Lonsdorf, Senior Business Consultant from the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC), started the meeting with an overview of the business services available through SBTDC, and how she came to work with Mason as a client. She then introduced Mason, who had a career with the tool and dye industry when the auto industry declined.

When Mason was challenged to find an alternative source of income, she created bidfreez.com, an online auction for incredible deals on vacation packages and travel. It's a bit like crowdfunding, in that many people pay very small amounts of money (say $0.25) to take a chance on the trip. At this stage of her business development, she is looking for ways to add more trip options to her bidding infrastructure, and to expand her membership base. As Mason described her business model, and the participants looked at her website, there was discussion about how this concept might apply to other types of businesses. There were several new ICE members this month, too.

Check out the February ICE Meeting Summary for more information from this meeting. Summaries from past meetings and more information about the Club are available at Innovation Club for Entrepreneurs. Be sure to check out ICE on Twitter and Meetup. For questions about ICE, contact Dr. Barb Fails Raftshol at fails@landpolicy.msu.eduor call 517.749.1974; or Marsha Madle at madle@landpolicy.msu.eduor call 517.575.9234.

The purpose of the monthly club is to provide a forum for innovators and entrepreneurs in the Greater Lansing area to share ideas in a positive and supportive environment, strengthen networks for collaboration and find resources to bring ideas to life. The ICE is a collaborative effort of the Michigan State University Land Policy Institute and the MSU Entrepreneurship Network (msuENet).

The MSU Center for Community and Economic Development is hosting Re-Imagining Our Economic System: A Balanced and Sustainable Economy on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at the MSU Union in East Lansing. Co-Sponsored by the Land Policy Institute and many others, this day-long event will focus on ways to achieve a balanced and sustainable economy, and bring together professionals from across the state and nation presenting in four panels on the topics of:

• What is the Economy for?  

• How Has the Current Economic System Succeeded, and in What Ways Has It Failed Us?  

• What Could a New Economy Look Like?  

• Where Do We Go from Here to Achieve Greater Balance between Our Economic, Social and Environmental Systems?

This event is free and open to the public with limited space. Learn more at Re-Imagining Our Economic System.

• "Q&A with Ann Arbor's Eli Cooper: The Push Continues For a New Train Station" (February 24, 2013) Ann Arbor.com 

• "State Adopts Five Year Strategic Plan To Grow Tourism Industry" (February 18, 2013) CBS Detroit 

• "Meet the Makers: Rebuilding Detroit by Hand" (February 14, 2013) Co.Create   

• "Remaking Detroit: Can Creative Companies Save an American City on the Brink?" (February 13, 2013) Co.Create   

• "VC on the Rise: State Bucks National Trend, Sees Investments Increase" (February 3, 2013) MiBiz.com

LPI's Dr. John Warbach Shared Placemaking Expertise at the 2013 New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Kansas City

Last month, the Local Government Commission hosted the 12th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference in Kansas City, MO. This multi-disciplinary event highlighted cutting-edge smart-growth issues and featured the latest research, implementation tools and strategies, successful case studies, new partners, new projects, and new policies.

On Saturday February 9, 2013, Dr. John Warbach, LPI's Associate Director of Faculty Research Development, participated in a panel discussion at the afternoon session on "Placemaking in Michigan: Starting the Economic Development Engine." During his talk he outlined changes occurring in the demand for housing and neighborhoods. Dr. Warbach then shared preliminary results from LPI's Rebuilding Prosperous Places Initiative, including responses from a national placemaking survey with the goal to better understand what people want in their neighborhoods nationwide; a Midwest survey about neighborhood and home features with the goal to understand how Midwest cities are designed, and whether people like their neighborhoods; and whether "place" amenities impact property values through a hedonic analysis of the relationship between placemaking elements and home prices in 11 Midwest cities. The latter included six cities in Michigan, with the goal of studying how walkability to businesses, parks and other place features affect the value of residential properties. 

Other panelists included: 

• Jamie Schriner-Hooper, Executive Director of the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan; and 

• James Tischler, Director of Community Development at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. 

• Hannah McKinney, Vice-Mayor of the City of Kalamazoo.

This session was moderated by Gil White, real estate agent and public sector consultant.

Download Dr. Warbach's presentation: Placemaking in Michigan. Be sure to check out this related LPI study:

• Building Prosperous Places in Michigan: Understanding the Values of, Perceptions of and Barriers to Placemaking - Full Report; and

• Building Prosperous Places in Michigan - Summary Report.

College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

MSU Students Win First Place in Homebuilders Competition

February 21, 2013

 The MSU Construction Management Residential Competition Team earned first place honors, out of 34 university teams, at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Competition, held during the International Builders Show, last month in Las Vegas. The team is led by Ken Gottschalk, adjunct specialist in the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction and the group's adviser.

The NAHB Student Chapters Residential Construction Management Competition is one of the highlights of the annual International Builders Show. The competition gives students the opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom to a real construction company by completing a management project/proposal. HBI Building Careers administers the NAHB student chapters program for the NAHB.

"Congratulations to the NAHB student chapter at Michigan State University," said John Courson, President and CEO of HBI. "They and their competitors showed a great deal of talent along with a depth of understanding of building industry management, from land development to marketing to scheduling to estimating."

Proposals are submitted to a group of construction company executives who act as judges. During the convention, students defend their proposals to the judges in front of an audience.

"My favorite part of the MSU Construction Management competition team is the group of people," said Koblar Jackson, Construction Management senior from Mt. Pleasant. "Working on the project was fun but wouldn't have been as much fun had the team not been so great."

Jackson, the site designer for the team, said the win is important to the team because it helps to solidify MSU's role as a leader in Construction Management education.

"Winning was a surprise," Jackson said. "We all knew that we had put a lot of work in and had done well, but winning first place was unexpected. It feels great to have our hard work pay off."

The Construction Management Program at MSU is housed in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and has 175 undergraduate students and 39 graduate students enrolled.

"The best part of being on this team was the ability to take what I have learned at MSU and apply it to a real-life scenario when creating our $55 million residential development," said Mike Damico, Construction Management senior from Troy. "My other favorite part was being able to compete against other universities across the country and see how our program compares to others."

Damico was a new face to the competition team this school year. His major role was product and home design but he also helped with many other aspects in creating the proposal.

"It meant a lot to everyone on the team to be able to win first place, especially after the hours upon hours we all spent together working very hard in the Human Ecology Building," Damico said. "It was a great feeling, winning this competition on the biggest stage in Las Vegas at the International Builders Show, where we could showcase MSU in front of building professionals from all over the world."

For more information about the MSU competition team, contact Dr. Scott Witter, Director of SPDC, at witter@msu.edu or call 517.432.6379. Please join us in congratulating this team for their win!

Spotlight on an LPI Partner: Michigan Citizen Planner

Save the Date: Michigan Citizen Planner's Advanced Academy Coming in June

Michigan Citizen Planner is hosting their annual Advanced Academy on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in East Lansing. This year's event will focus on "Placemaking" Today's Best Practice for Community and Economic Development for Planners: An Introduction to the Michigan Placemaking Curriculum." There are six modules in this curriculum:

• People, Places and Placemaking;  
• Economics of Place;  
• Neighborhoods, Streets and Connections;  
• Form Planning and Regulation;   
• Collaborative Public Involvement in Placemaking; and   
• Applied Placemaking.

Recently, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, the Michigan Municipal League, the MSU Land Policy Institute, and other statewide organizations launched the MIPlace Partnership Initiative and a companion "Placemaking Curriculum" with the purpose of helping Michigan communities learn more about and implement Placemaking as a strategic economic development initiative in the New Economy. Attendees will learn what their community can do to create Places that retain and attract talent, enhance the quality of life for everyone in the community, and help restore prosperity to Michigan. More details coming soon.

"Land Policy News" is an e-Newsletter published bi-monthly by the Land Policy Institute at Michigan State University. This e-Newsletter is intended to be an informational tool. Information in the newsletter not directly about the Land Policy Institute does not necessarily reflect the Institute's views, but is, instead, included because of its relationship to the Institute's mission and work.

If you would like to provide feedback on any of its content, or send content for inclusion, please email Heidi Charron at charron@landpolicy.msu.edu. Submissions of presentations, publications, event announcements, job postings and news regarding activities related to land use and prosperity can be sent at any time.

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The MSU Land Policy Institute is affiliated with the School of Planning, Design and Construction. The Institute is supported by Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and MSU Extension programs.

Calendar of Events

LPI events are highlighted in red.

LPI's Entrepreneurial Communities Program Event: ICE Meetup

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Avenue Café, Lansing, MI

Public Policy Forum: Linking Michigan's Agricultural Industry to the World Economy

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Anderson House Office Building, Lansing, MI

MSU Campus Sustainability Research Symposium in March

Thursday, March 21, 2013

MSU Union, Campus of MSU, East Lansing, MI

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MSU Union, East Lansing, MI

Sunday, April 14 - Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, Detroit, MI

MSU IPPSR Public Policy Forum Series: Emerging Issues regarding the Great Lakes 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Anderson House Office Building, Lansing, MI

MSU IPPSR Public Policy Forum Series: Legal Barriers to Entrepreneurship in the D 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Anderson House Office Building, Lansing, MI

Michigan Certified Natural Shoreline Professional Training - Paw Paw Exam/Field Demo

Michigan Certified Natural Shoreline Professional Training - Brighton Exam/Field Demo

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Location TBA, Paw Paw, MI 

Michigan Citizen Planner Advanced Academy

Thursday, June 13, 2012

Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center, Campus of MSU, East Lansing, MI 48823