Congratulations, You are Already In Michigan!

It may sound strange in today’s business environment, but this is true. Michigan can be the likely destination for the aspiring entrepreneurs. After all, “an entrepreneur is a person who assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.” So, welcome to the brave new world! You have already won half the battle by being here in Michigan, a state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation (12.6%) and the Big Three automakers struggling. Congratulation! You have a chance to rewrite the history and pave your way to immortality (in a business sense).

Governor Granholm and President Obama are committed to make Michigan a leader in green renewable energy economy. The slogan’ Green Today, Job Tomorrow’ is catching up in Michigan. According to the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Michigan businesses have already created at least 109,000 private sector green jobs. Michigan's green companies have expanded their employment by 7.7 percent. Companies that produce renewable energy have grown by 30 percent.
Green renewable energy is just one of the competitive-edge technologies targeted by Michigan. Other target areas include:
Life sciences
Alternative energy
Advanced automotive, manufacturing and materials
Homeland security and defense

“Life Sciences” means science for the examination or understanding of life or life processes, including, but not limited to the following:

Bioengineering
Biomedical engineering
Genomics
Proteomics
Molecular and chemical ecology “

“Alternative Energy Technology” means applied research or commercialization of new or next generation technology in one or more of the following:

Fuel Cell Energy System
Photovoltaic Energy System
Solar-Thermal Energy System
Wind Energy System”

“Advanced Automotive, Manufacturing, and Materials Technology” means any technology that involves one or more of the following:

Materials with engineered properties created through the development of specialized process and synthesis technology.
Nanotechnology, including materials, devices, or systems at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular level, with a scale measured in nanometers.
Microelectromechanical systems, including devices or systems integrating microelectronics with mechanical parts and a scale measured in micrometers.
Improvements to vehicle safety, vehicle performance, vehicle production, or environmental impact, including, but not limited to, vehicle equipment and component parts.
A new technology, device, or system that enhances or improves the manufacturing process of wood, timber, or agricultural-based products.”


“Homeland Security and Defense Technology” means technology that assists in the assessment of threats or damage to the general populations and critical infrastructure, protection of, defense against, or mitigation of the effects of foreign or domestic threats, disasters, or attacks, or support for crisis or response management, including, but not limited to, one or more of the following:

Sensors, systems, processes, or equipment for communications, identification and authentication, screening, surveillance, tracking, and data analysis.
Advanced computing or electronic device technology related to homeland security and defense technology.
Aviation technology, including, but not limited to, avionics, airframe design, sensors, early warning systems, and services related to homeland security and defense technology.
Design, engineering, testing, or diagnostics related to homeland security and defense technology.
Product research and development related to homeland security and defense technology.”

(Visit Michigan Emerging Technology Fund site for more detail http://www.gvsu.edu/misbtdc/index.cfm?id=82D603F8-C1F1-E3B9-BDAC78FAF0C1A707)

According to Kelly Williams, managing director and co-head of the Credit Suisse’s New York-based Customized Fund Investment Group, “People forget that Michigan was at the crux of entrepreneurship in the last century, and it’s a perfect place for a rebirth of entrepreneurship in this century.” So, come up with your ideas to TiE Detroit. We are committed to takes budding entrepreneurs from idea generation, to isolating a need, to identifying a target market, through developing a sales process, all the way on up through the nuances of business plan development.