During the MEDA (Michigan Economic Developers Association) Annual Meeting in Bellaire, MI, one of the panel discussions was "A Millennial Perspective on Economic Development."

Jeff Williams speaks about the rise of young millennium leaders in the economic development arena across the state, which is largest population group in America outside of Baby boomers. He goes on to introduce the 4 panelists. The first panelist to speak is Jeff Smith, Director, University Corporate Research Park, at MSU Foundation. He spoke on the need to create an environment for millenniums that make sense from their perspective. Jeff Smith goes on to discuss the philosophy of millennium, and the expectations they have in a connected environment. He reflects back on the reason he created the Hatching (a Lansing area project) in 2008.