SpotlightMichigan

The decline of the auto industry has everyone from politicians to journalists proclaiming the need for diversification and a new look for the Michigan economy. While this may be easy to talk about, there are few tangible ideas as to how this may take form, or which industries it could involve. It would be almost impossible to offer a comprehensive plan, but my suggestion is Islamic Banking. It is a booming industry that is poised to expand outside of its traditional areas of operation.

Islamic banking is founded upon a rejection of interest based financial transactions. In addition to a ban on charging interest, Islamic banks can be distinguished from conventional banks in that they are prohibited from investing in activities that have contributed to the recent credit crisis. As a result, they have fared far better in the current global recession than their more traditional counterparts.

The Islamic banking industry has grown at a rate of 15% per year. The value of the assets managed by these banks is predicted to have grown by 33% between 2007 and the beginning of this year. As of 2008, there were 300 Islamic banks and investment firms spread over 75 countries managing almost a trillion dollars in capital. Despite these trends, the United States has yet to take advantage of is an industry with tremendous potential.

As of 2009, there are 1.82 billion Muslims in the world—the market for Islamic banking is quite large. Recognizing the potential of this opportunity, other nations have begun to promote Islamic Banking. England offers car insurance, mortgages, and credit cards that comply with Islamic law, putting it far ahead of the United States. As other financial hubs continue to nurture the growth of Islamic Banking, the U.S. could lose a portion of its stake in the global financial market. The U.S. needs to take advantage of the Muslim market.

Michigan is in the unique position to become the hub of Islamic banking in the United States. It has the largest Arab population in the world outside of the Middle East. About 300,000 people of Arabic descent live in southeast Michigan. Dearborn alone is home to 30,000 Arab-Americans, the largest proportion for a city its size in the country. It is also home to the Islamic Center of America, the largest mosque in the country.

The Arab-American population in Michigan puts it at a distinct advantage for welcoming Islamic Banking to the US when compared to the rest of the country and even many other parts of the world. This idea is both regionally specific and unique. Looking around and taking what is being done elsewhere in order to invigorate Michigan’s economy is ineffective. Those opportunities have already been recognized. We need to consider the resources that we have and how they can be used in new ways. Islamic banking is one way. What are the others?

Anthony Mianecki is a senior at Michigan State University and the Director of Media and Technology for Spotlight Michigan, a student-run company that focuses on creating young, talented, and entrepreneurial communities for the new economy. For more articles like this one, visit www.spotlightmichigan.com

Mike’s Article was featured in the February 7, 2010 edition of the Lansing State Journal. Get Article

Lansing is full of places to spend evenings and weekends. Unfortunately, many of the 40,000 students living in East Lansing remain entirely unaware of them.

Take, for example, Elderly Music on Washington, Silver Bells, or the romantic Emil’s restaurant on Michigan Avenue where you can dine where Al Capone once rested between Chicago-Lansing moonshine runs. These are the places where memories are made.

So why are the students of Michigan State University and Lansing Community College not infusing their free time, nightlife, and weekends with the electricity of what the capital city has to offer?

This problem of weak infusion between students and Lansing is already out in the open to many of the residents of the Lansing and greater-Lansing area. We see organizations like Capital City Connect and the Lansing city government sponsoring programs and competitions to promote activity. There is the Entrepreneurial Mentorship Program that connects enthusiastic students with a network of businesses of Lansing. There are idea competitions. This list runs on; however, these attempts fail to promote wide-ranged consumerism or activity.

Regardless, these are merely outside organizations attempting to do the advertising work that businesses should already be doing themselves.

This editorial goes out to the companies and organizations that feel their businesses are floundering or failing to pull in a healthy number of customers. Who couldn’t use a little more revenue?

It takes more than organizations like Lansing Connect to advertise all of the activities, events, festivals and businesses that the capital city has to offer. The professional organizations of Lansing and the greater-Lansing area must do more to involve the educated and enthusiastic populations of MSU, LCC and the rest of the youth in the Lansing area.

We crave nightlife. We crave a city. Show it to us.

Create internships programs to build the minds as well as résumés of these hardworking young adults in Michigan. Emphasize the importance of the volunteer opportunities and they will spread throughout the city. Involve Sparrow hospital and local health clinics to expose the hundreds of pre-med students to what the real world of their major has to offer. To the businesses and professional organizations of the capital area— it is up to you.

Small businesses may not be able to afford such programs, but larger business sectors and commissions in the area can begin the process and the trickling effect. Lansing has it all; we need to want people to see that.

Mike Tasse is a senior at Michigan State University and the Director of Operations and Finance for Spotlight Michigan, a student-run company that focuses on creating young, talented, and entrepreneurial communities for the new economy. For more articles like this one, visit www.spotlightmichigan.com

I’ve been living in Shanghai since May, and before I left home, I looked for a gift that is unique to my hometown to give to my host, as is customary in Chinese culture. However, after searching the gift shop at the Bavarian Inn Restaurant in my hometown of Frankenmuth, I was amazed to find that I could not find anything that didn’t have “Made in China” branded on it. Finally settling on a pair of salt shakers that were at least made in Germany, I thought to myself “man, nothing is made in America anymore!”

This reality is hitting Michigan hard today. As we lose our manufacturing giants, how can we not help but feel like we are letting “them” take “our” businesses? “Our” jobs? This globalization thing is crippling our state’s economy, isn’t it?
It’s all true. Our jobs are being taken. Our state’s economy is being left behind. But it is not going to change; the world is not going to slow down.

So what are we going to do about it?

Myself and the team at Spotlight Michigan think it is time for Michigan to shake things up. While living here in Shanghai, I’ve found that if we don’t change soon, we’ll never be able to catch up later. Everybody else is moving too fast. China is only getting bigger and stronger. Its society is becoming more advanced. Its professional management is improving, and its manufacturing and production sector is pumping out everything from toy cars to real ones at a staggering pace.

So why not embrace it? Why not move with the global tide? It is time to see the writing on the wall: adapt or die. Manufacturing and production jobs are leaving the state whether we like it or not. And if we don’t invest our time and money into other areas, such as innovative ventures and 21st century education, we will start to lose ground to countries like China in these areas as well, maybe sooner than we think.

And here’s the best part: This change doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Think about it. If  countries like China, Laos, and Vietnam, get our “old jobs,” that saves businesses time and money here in Michigan to pursue other endeavors for dynamic growth (i.e. R&D). While in Tsingtao a car is being made, CEOs, managers and business developers in Detroit could be working on creating the “what’s next” – innovation that will produce more value here in our state.

Not only will this prepare us to be competitive now, but it will also help us create better partnerships with players in the world economy, particularly with China, a country that has already become the world’s largest car consumer. The Big Three are already learning this lesson. Although sales went down in China after the financial crisis, they are still making a large profit over here as their outlays fail at home. With 1.3 billion Chinese (officially), it is critical that global businesses reach this large consumer base.

To respond to the global economy, our state must stop enacting short term policies that only “minimize the damage.” We need to start thinking in the long term. Our state needs to encourage companies to move their business production to other places if it’s more efficient, and not put up barriers. This may result in lost jobs in the short term; but in the long term, it will create an economy that is making newer products and creating better jobs that pay more and create more value. It will take time, but eventually it will lay the foundation for a new Michigan that will be prepared to do global and dynamic business in the 21st Century.

- Dan Redford