Council Assesses Mid-Michigan’s Regional Innovation

LANSING, MI—Randall Kempner, vice president of regional innovation at the Council on Competitiveness, presented the findings of an innovation assessment of the Mid-Michigan region at the Mid-Michigan Innovation Team Town Hall Meeting. The assessment used public data, interviews with community leaders and a survey of business leaders to evaluate the innovation assets, networks and culture of the 13 counties in the Mid-Michigan region.

According to Kempner, the region has strong higher education institutions and healthy collaboration exists among colleges, universities and businesses. However, the region must develop a 21st century workforce, support entrepreneurship and strengthen regional collaboration in order to succeed in the global economy.

The Mid-Michigan Innovation Team, through a $15 million Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant from the Department of Labor, has made significant progress in addressing these challenges to propel Mid-Michigan toward renewed economic prosperity.

The meeting received regional coverage in both the Lansing State Journal and the Great Lakes IT Report.