When: April 27, 7:00 – 8:30pm

Where: James Madison College Library, 3rd Floor Case Hall

What: Address many different aspects of networking, including questions to ask and how to approach employers.  Additional time will be spent for a resume critique.

Questions? Email us at SpotlightMichigan@gmail.com

See you next Wednesday!

SC Launch

- SC Launch helps spin off high tech science start-ups through wet lab incubation space, venture capital investments (via its own funds), and access to local economic development resources/organizations.

-The state passed an investment act which allows investors to write off dollar for dollar amount up to six millions dollars, which SC Launch can use to invest in new ventures.

- Although there is a tremendous opportunity, SC Launch has not fully tapped into university students as interns as a valuable resource for growing businesses.  However, they do work closely with Clemson University and University South Carolina.

Charleston Chamber of Commerce

- The Charleston Chamber of Commerce is doing a great job providing services to start up companies that are less than ten employees.

-The four services that Chamber provides start up companies are: 1) Idea competitions (new ideas for new Carolina, www.newideassc.com) 2) Fasttracks (Kauffman foundation) 3) Execnet (connects formers C-level individuals with start-up companies) and their 4) Entrepreneurship Center (helps start-ups with market research).

-The Chamber works closely with SC Launch, but like SC Launch the Chamber is having trouble connecting with college student.

Digital Corridor

- The Charleston Digital Corridor is a incubation organization that has physical space which helps create a network of new knowledge based start-ups.  In addition to providing them with a sense of community, the Digital Corridor provides them with collective services such as low rate utilities, shared workspace amenities.

-The Digital Corridor keeps a comprehensive list of hiring tech firms (www.charlestonworks.com)

-  The two companies we meet with in the Digital Corridor (Peoplematter & Sparc) gave us great insight into how second stage business recruit talent.  But like the second-stage businesses in Michigan, Peoplematter & Sparc are having trouble connecting to college talent. Specifically, they mentioned how the classic career fairs drown out the second stage businesses by giving preference to bigger corporations.

City Slickers

-A small based tech company that creates easy to use applications for use on the Apple iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

-Capital is key! Venture capital is can be difficult to obtain in the Charleston area for small start up companies. Especially for companies that are not receiving funding from economic development organizations.

-They have a real need for IT talent. But they cannot afford it or they cannot find it.

-City Slickers works to connect with local colleges to bring in internships. Unfortunately, they are doing little to recruit students from the two large universities in South Carolina, USC and Clemson

-There is room for growth in their company though. They have currently expanded into other cities such as London and the University of South Carolina to create interactive maps for these areas. They are now working on creating interactive maps for malls around the countries.

Take Away Points

- Policy Matters: Investment and tax policies have a significant impact on the success of start-ups. Start-up’s need access to capital from economic development organizations, venture capitalists, and private investors as they look to expand their business and hire new employees. However, investors need solid returns and smart incentives before they being investing.

-Connection Matters: As businesses grow they need access to the right kind of talent that will add value and help the business grow. Incubation centers, economic development organizations and government agencies need to develop connections with universities to encourage internships, college level entrepreneurship, and hopefully develop the local talent for regional economic development

-Integrate with colleges: colleges and local businesses need to collaborate to develop the types of curriculum that will provide businesses with the talent they are seeking. The integration of computer sciences into college curriculums will help prepare graduates as they enter the workforce and ensure that business can obtain the skills they need.

Our trip to Charleston has been extremely insightful and it would not have been possible without the help Lansing Economic Area Partnership, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Dean Transportation, and Symbiosis International.

Develop Indy is an economic development organization that focuses on business and workforce development.  They take a comprehensive look at different Indianapolis businesses to gain an understanding of how they can help them succeed.  We quickly learned that Develop Indy focuses on creating jobs through a three-prong approach: 1) Job retention 2) Expand & grow 3) Attraction efforts.  Develop Indy identified six, high-growth, industries targeted for economic development in Indianapolis using indigenous growth both locally and attracting outside the community: 1) Life Science/Health 2) Information Technology 3) Logistics 4) Clean Technology 5) Advanced Manufacturing 6) Motorsports.  As far as second-stage businesses development is concerned Develop Indy promotes tax-abatement as an incentive to draw in new economic ventures into the area. Furthermore, the organization offers networking services to connect these second-stage businesses with employees.  Develop Indy has identified education and improvement in mass transit as vital to the continued growth of the Indianapolis business scene.

After visiting with Develop Indy we met with Ronald Gifford of the Indy Partnership.  One area that has lead to economic growth in the Indianapolis region is the growth of the amateur sports industry. Indianapolis built an economic sports cluster, which according to Ronald Gifford has helped to create an identity for the Indianapolis area.  The development of the sports industry cluster helped draw in business executives from diverse industries, increasing their awareness of Indianapolis assets and in many cases contributing to the relocation and expansion of their businesses into the city. Indianapolis, like many cities within Michigan, is facing the “brain drain” issue.  Ronald mentioned that the city continues to see talented college students leaving not only Indianapolis but also the state of Indiana in hopes of finding jobs in other major cities.  To try and stop the “brain drain”, Indy businesses and local universities have collaborated to form regional cooperations to tackle economic growth issues and strengthen the attractiveness of local businesses.

Our final visit of the day was with Eric Hopp of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.  The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce is a regional chamber of commerce serving nine counties, which encompasses over 4,000 businesses and 300,000 employees. 80% of the chambers members consist of second-stage business ventures.  The chamber is leading an effort to incorporate increased Regional Corporation and consolidation within the economic development community to improve efficiency and growth. From the chambers perspective, the key challenge to overcome is for small businesses to locate talent.  In 2009, the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce conducted a survey with their members. They discovered members wanted four things: 1) More connections within members 2) They want the chamber to serve as an advocate for governmental issues 3) To use membership to get discount on business services and supplies and 4) How to support members’ employees during economic downturns.

After meeting with all three organizations, it has become clear that a major challenge facing Indianapolis is that people outside the Midwest are unaware of the city and its assets.  The three organizations we meet with today often referred to Indianapolis as the “Unknown City.”  However, everyone we meet with did mention that once people move to Indianapolis it is hard for them to leave the bustling city. Another major challenge that Indianapolis is facing is education reform, which is currently underway.  Indianapolis public schools do not have the best reputation as only a few years ago their high school graduation rates were at a mere 70%.  Education reform is a hotly debated topic in Indianapolis however after only a few years of focusing on improving school systems graduations rates have risen to 80%.

Professor Ballard

We hope you had a great and well-deserved break over the holiday. Since coming back from our winter break the Spotlight team has been hard at work.

We met with Professor Charles Ballard to go over our survey and we learned a lot about the Michigan economic environment.  This has proven to be very helpful as we are putting the finishing touches on our survey.

On January 20th a few of us made the trek down to Cassopolis, Michigan to visit the Edward Lowe Foundation. They are doing amazing things with second stage, high growth businesses. Going on this trip helped us see that these second-stage companies, while only accounting for just over 10% of the economy, employs over 35% of the population.

Ed Lowe Foundation

Ensuring the success of these business’ promises Michigan to have strong future. Every year they honor the top 50 companies to watch in Michigan for the next year. Check them out at www.edwardlowe.org and see all the great companies that are working in Michigan.

Spotlight Michigan ventured to Grand Rapids on  Friday, January 21^st. We toured the city and spoke with the Chamber of Commerce, the Wright Place,  Axios Incorporated, and the DECC company.  From the trek to Grand Rapids, we were able to witness the innovation and  economic growth  in Western Michigan.  Through our discussions, with local entrepreneurs and economic development agencies,  we learned  how the area is recruiting , expanding, and supporting business’ in the Western Michigan.

The Right Place

A lot of things are in the woodwork for us. Our spring break research trip is right around the corner and our survey is looking better then ever!  Follow us on our facebook and twitter page for updated info.

Registration is easy, just follow this link!

Career Circus Business Registration

When: 1:00 – 4:00pm Friday, April 29, 2011  

Where: 4th Floor, Spartan Stadium, Michigan State University

See the Career Circus tab above for more information!

Charleston Alliance-

-The Charleston Alliance is a combination of the Chamber of Commerce, Renaissance Charleston and business industry development corporations.  They wrap all of their economic development, Chamber of Commerce programs and business industry attraction activities into one organization.

- Charleston Alliance also doubles as an incubation workplace that has been successful for the past twenty years.  Over the past twenty years, the Charleston Alliance incubation has produced over 200 companies.

-The incubation space- wet lab space is comprised of five buildings, 258 acres, 250,000 square feet and ten million of operating expense donated by Dow chemical.

- The Charleston Alliance buys depressed assets and repurposes it for commercial activity/business use.

- As far as education is concerned, Charleston Alliance has facilitated programs for two years degrees for positions like a Chemical Operator. While there is no one main university in town, the Charleston Alliance works closely with the community and technical colleges that are located in Charleston.

-  Charleston Alliance also works with businesses throughout Charleston, W.V. to send a list of summer internships that are available in Charleston to majority universities in their geographic region.

-Charleston Alliance invests in business creation as a means to retain highly trained chemists in the area.

Kureha

- The company manufactures of biodegradable polymers, and they located in Charleston because of the available natural resources and existing infrastructure.

-Despite a large labor pool of previously trained chemical workers, the employer pre-screened job applicants to insure that his workforce had a younger more collaborative attitude.

- Having good relations between technical employees and management helped insure high quality affordable labor

-The company relied heavily on a close working relationship with community colleges to guarantee the new graduates were adequately prepared for the field.
Take Away-

- Charleston is highly collaborated and the city works closely with the state economic development agency and commerce department.  This has helped overcome vested interest and turf issues.

- Charleston, W.V. benefited from philanthropic efforts and business base leadership. The consolidation of multiple economic development organizations was made possible by the influence and vision of significant local philanthropists who desired to create a more streamlined and focused effort. Following this initial push, the participating organizations created a democratic system to create a new board that equally represented each organization in the new alliance.

Spotlight Michigan is pleased to announce the presentation of  its year-long comparative research project, exploring the attraction of young, entrepreneurial talent to Michigan.

We are inviting community stakeholders and interested

parties to join us as we present our findings on April 21st. The event, ‘Evolve: Talent in the New Economy,’ will be held at 5:30 Wednesday, April 21st in The Spartan Club at Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium.

Interested parties can register for tickets here.

In regards to our final report, we must apologize as we will not have the report up tonight as was originally planned. We are working diligently to put the final touches on what will be a years worth of hard work. The report will be up by the end of the week, as we do not want to rush our efforts. We appreciate your patience as we continue to fine tune our report, and hope that you check back in soon to see the results.

The Spotlight Michigan Team

The Ohio Department of Development

- The Ohio Department of Development is a state agency charged with attracting, growing and retaining businesses in the state of Ohio.

- The Ohio Department of Development maintains regional focus by keeping track of development efforts in neighboring states.

- They are in process of transitioning to a quasi-governmental organization.

- The Department implemented a strategy called the “Third Frontier” to develop new industries such as: bio-tech, polymers, food and agriculture business, info-tech and advanced energy (specifically wind).

- The Department has established an internship program, which helps connect college students to internships around the Columbus area.
Columbus Chamber of Commerce

- The Columbus Chamber is a regional chamber, so it works closely with the areas surrounding the city of Columbus.

- The Chamber has established a young professional program, an internship program (internet portal linking college students to Columbus businesses), and another program called Columbus2020!

- The Columbus2020! program has a three-pillar focus: 1) Attract 2) Retain & Expand and 3) Create

-Using this three-pillar approach the city hopes to create 180,000 new jobs     and foster $10 billion of new capital investment by year 2020.

- All the economic development organizations are working cohesively for the economic development of the region under the umbrella of the Columbus2020! program.
Things we learned

- The ODO has a regional strategy, which focuses on the fact that there is inter-regional competition but they try to mitigate the competition.

- Economic development progress has been improving

- The ODO markets their state from a business standpoint, which has increased the flow of new businesses and young professionals to the area.

- The non-hierarchal structure of the Columbus 2020! initiative leads to better teamwork and increased productivity because while everyone has specific goals, they collaborate extensively, ensuring that they maintain a unified long term vision for regional economic development.

We again would like to thank Dean Trailways, The Lansing Economic Area Partnership, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation for the support, and for making this trip possible. We had a wonderful experience, and cannot wait to share our research!

Today Spotlight Michigan had a productive roundtable discussion with individuals representing a variety of interests in Madison, WI.  Having identified towns similar to the Lansing metro area, the group is attempting to discern which qualities of place are attractive to innovative talent.

As the first stop in a whirlwind tour of five Midwest cities, the individuals we spoke to in Madison provided our group with both positive feedback about our willingness to foster the cultural change needed to promote innovation and some ideas for how to continue this transformation.

Spotlight Michigan was able to quickly identify which individuals and organizations would likely have their respective fingers on the pulse of life in Madison.  In a true testament to the city’s efforts to continually promote itself Allen Dines and Cynthia Sweet of the Office of Corporate Relations hosted our group and spoke primarily about the relationship between the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the private sector.  Inclusive in this was a description of how the designation of the University as one of six Ewing Marion Kauffman Campus Grant recipients has helped move the culture in the area towards one of innovation. Also providing information and a general narrative about the city were representatives from the Madison Area Growth Network (MAGNET), Accelerate Madison, and the MERLIN Mentors program.

While each organization has a distinct mission statement and target audience, it was quickly apparent that a different attitude existed regarding the area in general.  Yes, each individual has a vested interest in selling the area to those who have minimal knowledge of it, but even after the meetings we concluded there was a genuine sense of passion from these groups that they really wanted to engage the members of our group in their community – even if we could only experience the city for a short time period.

One clear motif from the meeting involved the necessity of networks and networking on both the individual and organizational level.  We believe it to be true that an emotional connection to a city leads to a willingness to forgive other shortcomings.  This is where Madison excels.  From addressing issues of the trailing spouse to taking the time for personalized tours of the city, Madison is moving in the right direction.  It speaks volumes that a “To Whom it May Concern” email would receive such quick turnaround and bring individuals who have unique yet respected views on what makes their city a vibrant, exciting place to live, work, and play.

It was especially interesting to drive through the city and notice that in many ways it resembles the Lansing area.  Madison residents still pick up a shovel in the winter and deal with gray skies, and yet there is a marked difference in the attitudes of the residents of the city.  Everyone in Madison has something good to say about it – from the presence of farmer’s markets to the pickup volleyball matches one can find any day of the week.  In a very short period of time we quickly gained a small appreciation for the level of pride that exists among those who choose to call this city home.

As we continue to uncover what is working well in towns across the Midwest it will be of particular interest to observe what the next cities on our itinerary have to say about networking and how well they function as an ambassador to their city.  It seems in this case attitude and a willingness to plug someone into a formal or informal network that promotes an emotional tie to an area can lead to a success story for a city with or without a positive employment outlook in the near future.

Next Stop:  Iowa City, IA

Drive Time:  3 hours, 51 mins.

As the holiday season begins, and the fall semester comes to an end, Spotlight Michigan is moving forward with the momentum it has acquired through its eventful first semester.  So far, the class has read Richard Florida’s, “The Creative Class,” and Baumol, Litan, and Schramm’s, “Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism, and the Economic of Growth and Prosperity.” They have used this insightful literature as tools to help further analyze their site visits, and shape their research topic and questionnaire.

The class has completed site visits to MBI in Lansing, and the Next Energy and TechTown facilities in Detroit. As well as this, the class has spoke with members from Lansing’s Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), and Michigan Works. The class has also had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Jeff Church, an MSU alum, and co-founder of Nika Water. The students are very thankful for having the opportunities to visit these promising places, and speak with these inspiring professionals. The site visits and discussions have been very informative, and the students have come away with similar sentiments about Michigan’s economic future.

Economic stability in Michigan is promising, the class hopes that they can continue to provide an innovative structure for future growth in Michigan. Spotlight Michigan has learned the importance of promoting business start-ups, while also assessing the feasibility of the products in the market place. Spotlight Michigan has learned the de-risking step of the innovation process to be the most important, as it is the greatest approach to predicting the sustainability of innovation.

Location and culture have also been established as key to the future of Michigan’s economy. While the places and people Spotlight Michigan has came into contact with have been promising, the students have expressed concern for the disconnection between the various ventures occurring in Michigan.

Spotlight Michigan is moving forward with its research, completing the finalizing steps on the questionnaire that will serve as a basis for their report. Spotlight appreciates your ongoing support and wishes you the best during this holiday season.

Over the past eight months, the Spotlight Michigan Team has been conducting research in order to better understand if a disconnect exists between the talent that Michigan universities are producing and the skills that employers, more specifically high-growth, second-stage businesses (10-99 employees), in the state of Michigan need. On April 29th, Spotlight Michigan will be presenting the conclusions and policy recommendations of this research. The presentation will occur at 12pm on the 4th floor of Spartan Stadium, and will be followed by the Career Circus from 1 to 4pm. The Career Circus is a new, cutting edge career networking event targeted at connecting college students with high-growth, second stage businesses within Michigan. The event aims to highlight the importance that small businesses play in the local economy and increase student awareness of these opportunities.  This is an event companies should attend whether or not they have available positions, as it will be a great opportunity to build a connection with the University.

The research findings have been drawn from an in depth analysis of firms, students, governments, and universities in Indianapolis, IN, Charleston, SC, Charleston, WV, and Columbus, OH and Michigan. The Spotlight Team also conducted a state wide survey of Michigan small businesses, and will present the research conclusions at the beginning of the event on April 29.

The Career Circus is free to all businesses with 10-150 employees ,regardless of whether they are currently hiring, and is also open to all MSU students.  This is a great opportunity for all second-stage business within Michigan to create an initial relationship with not only college students but also Michigan State University.  Please visit www.spotlightmichigan.com or contact the Spotlight Michigan Team at spotlightmi@gmail.com for more information about the presentation and the Career Circus.  See you April 29th, 2011 on the fourth floor of Spartan Stadium!!!

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The Spotlight Michigan team would like to extend a special thanks to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Lansing Economic Area Partnership, James Madison College at Michigan State University, Dean Trailways and Symbiosis International for making the research and event possible.

Today, Spotlight Michigan had the opportunity to travel to Urbana, Illinois. Even in East Lansing, we had heard rumblings of the great entrepreneurial initiatives on the campus of University of Illinois. To gain a better sense of city-led and campus-led entrepreneurial activity, we met with the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation and the Illini Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

What we learned, however, was not necessarily expressed by either the Economic Development Corporation or the Academy: it’s all about the LEADERSHIP.

The narrative from the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is that the retention of smart, young, and entrepreneurial company starters is not contingent on the amenities. They feel like Urbana has that. It has a vibrant research park and the University is active in the facilitation of University technology spin-offs. Instead, what Urbana could benefit from is a coordinated effort between all the passionate leaders of the university, local businesses, and economic developers.

The EDC knows that networks are important. When asked about network building initiatives to keep young people in Urbana they pointed to the Young Professional Association and the localization effort of Micro-Urbanist.com (an initiative to network and brand the assets of Champaign-Urbana’s urban centers). However, in walking around town, it was hard to find Micro-Urban branding in the city center. And what was more surprising was that the Young Professional Association, hailed as a key to retaining talent, was inactive and hadn’t met in months.

Both initiatives are low-cost, valuable pieces of the overall puzzle to retainin talent. But, it became clear that more leaders would take these initiatives to great heights. Networks were not enough. You need funding and a larger base of great, dedicated leadership. Those making significant changes in Urbana are stretched for time and money. A wider base of passionate leadership would take limited financial resources very far.

Coming from our meeting with the Kauffman Foundation, we were particularly excited to see how the Kauffman Campus Initiative grant money was aiding programs on the campus of the University of Illinois. The Kauffman Foundation generously donated $4.95 million to fund entrepreneurial education in the form of the Academy of Entrepreneurial Leadership with the promise that the university would match funding.

According to the Academy, Dr. Tony Mendes led the program with passion and drive focusing on creating a campus-wide effort to cultivate creativity cross-disciplinarily. When it was apparent that funding was not going to be met, the university could not afford to keep the program’s momentum.

Funds like Kauffman’s Campus Initiative have the potential to launch Michigan State University’s entrepreneurial culture into the stratosphere. However, it is essential that these funds be met with passionate leaders who are willing and able to see programs through to maturity.

Leadership can take limited resources and extend the reach of a strong core entrepreneurial movement. Conversely, a large amount of resources like a beautiful research park or million dollar grants from Kauffman are nothing without leadership.

2.5 hours to South Bend….  Last Stop!

Thursday March 11. 2010

Eve of Ignition Spring Edition winner Theresa Gasinski also came away with a win after presenting at Ignite Lansing 3.0.  Gasinski presented a proposal to bring bike sharing, a popular and sustainable source of public transportation in Europe to the Greater Lansing Area.

Spotlight Campus held their second Eve of Ignition this past Wednesday, March 3, at East Lansing’s Technology Innovation Center.  Eve of Ignition provides a venue for Michigan State University students to present their ideas for innovation in Lansing.  The event is held prior to Ignite Lansing, where community members present fast paced power point presentations on their ideas and experiences.  This spring, Spotlight Campus partnered with Ignite Lansing 3.0 so that the winner of Eve of Ignition would have the opportunity to present at the large community-wide event.

The theme of Eve of Ignition was Greenovation and MSU students presented on their ideas to build a greener and more sustainable Michigan Economy.  Besides Gasinski’s winning presentation, Spotlight Michigan directors Amanda VanderMeulen, Marketing and Communications Director, and Nicholas Laverty, Media and Technology Director, also presented ideas.  VanderMeulen presented a new interface that can help you find places to study by texting a service.  Laverty presented on ways to utilize social media for linking individuals to short-term, interesting service opportunities.

Spotlight Campus is a student-run consulting company focused on fostering entrepreneurship amongst college students in Michigan.  The company is run by Spotlight Michigan founders, Matt Barkell, Chelsea Burnett, Dan Redford, and Kelly Steffen.

You can check out Spotlight Campus’s other projects at their web page, www.spotlightcampus.org.

Spotlight Michigan Team

Spotlight Michigan in the news Monday 2/22.

See the article here.

DANIELLE EMERSON of the Capital News Service linked up with members of Spotlight Michigan for an article Michigan’s Talent Drain Under Scrutiny.

Emerson really ties together our analysis with other Michigan researchers who are focused on promoting the creative class and building a stronger future for our state.

Look for future articles on Spotlight and our research trip/survey analysis and our upcoming research roll-out event on April 21st.

EVOLVE: Talent in the New Economy

Over the weekend, The State News interviewed Spotlight staff members to learn more about Spotlight’s mission and research.

Media and Technology Director Anthony Mianecki is quoted saying “It’s no secret in Michigan we’re hemorrhaging young talent.”

To combat this trend, Research Director Jennifer Seager argues, “The first step Michigan needs to take is to find a way to attract recent college graduates,” Seager said. “Without the new creative minds in society, there’s not going to be any economic churn, change in the economy.”

Recognizing Michigan’s shortcomings, Spotlight Michigan seeks to promote a more innovative and entrepreneurial culture in Michigan by cultivating and spotlighting young, talented, and entrepreneurial communities for the new economy.

Help  keep the conversation going, and look  for updates on our April event soon.

EVOLVE

Jeff Smith of the East Lansing Technology Innovation Center (TIC) mentions Spotlight Michigan in a video commenting on efforts to blend the university and city, and the university and community to help make Lansing a center for young innovative talent.

If you haven’t heard of all the great things Jeff and the TIC are doing, check out their website, East Lansing TIC or follow them on twitter @EastLansingTIC.

If you feel as passionately as we do about East Lansing’s potential, let your voice be heard and take our survey.

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