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International Trade Manager

In June, the MEDC adjusted its organizational structure to promote efficiencies and cross-collaboration between business units. As a result, the MEDC has created a new Market Development team, comprised of both industry and policy experts. Jeanne Broad has shifted from her role as International Trade Manager (ITM) to focus on trade policy and international development as a member of the Market Development team. Since Jeanne's transition, the ITM territories have been redistributed among the remaining five ITMs.

Click here to view the updated territory map. While most areas of the state remain unchanged, a few counties have been affected. If you have questions regarding your company's point-of-contact, please email us at export@michigan.org.

Community and government leaders gather to endorse economic benefits of tourism to state

LANSING, Mich. – The Tourism Industry Coalition of Michigan (TICOM) and Travel Michigan celebrated Michigan’s travel and tourism impact and the many ways travel contributes to state and local economies. The event was held today in Lansing at the Michigan History Center.

American Center for Mobility welcomes Michael Noblett as President and CEO

The American Center for Mobility (ACM) welcomes Michael Noblett as president and CEO, effective February 25. Noblett will lead acceleration of the Center’s growth strategy and development, spearhead program innovation and economic development initiatives and oversee the strategic direction of the award-wining proving grounds.

Internationally recognized as an expert in automotive electronics and wireless communications, Noblett joins the ACM team from Intel, where he served as the global segment lead of automotive industry sales. Noblett replaces interim CEO Kirk Steudle, who was appointed by the board of directors in mid-2018.

ACM’s executive leadership team moving forward includes Mark Chaput, who was recently promoted from vice president of operations and construction to chief operating officer and will lead day-to-day operational tasks, and Jeff Rupp, who joined the team in May 2018, serving as chief technical officer and chief safety officer.

March 11th Update; Summit in 8 days, register for attendance in Kalamazoo Tuesday March 19th!

PMBC’s Event Registration and our Supplier Application have been open and now reaching a priority deadline at the end of this week on Friday. This is for the 6^th Annual Pure Michigan Agriculture Summit on March 19^th at the Kalamazoo Radisson. Jeffrey Mosher catches up with Katy Till, Program Specialist for PMBC, who shares the details.

PlanetM Funds Three Mobility Pilots in Michigan

PlanetM awarded grants to three mobility startups as part of the PlanetM Startup Grant program, which provides mobility startups funds to test, deploy and validate their technologies that address real-world transportation challenges in Michigan.

Tony Vernaci, President, AIAM,(Aerospace Industry Association of Michigan) joins MBN's Jeffrey Mosher on this segment of Michigan Business Beat.

Global innovation platform to hold first Detroit Summit on
July 11th

Chris Holman interviewed Amanda Roraff, PlanetM Operations Manager, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, out of Detroit. Representatives from Michigan’s mobility ecosystem – including 40 startups, 60 corporate entities and educational institutions from across the state – are coming together today, on Wednesday, July 11, at Little Caesars Arena for a first-of-its-kind Detroit Summit featuring a day of pitches, exhibits, demos and one-on-one meetings.

The event is being hosted by Plug and Play – the world’s largest global innovation platform – in partnership with PlanetM and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Detroit was a natural choice for an event, given the city’s reputation as a leader in transportation innovation.

PlanetM Launches grant program to support mobility startups Derq, MDOT, Mcity announced as first partners
of two-part program 

Detroit, Mich. — Mobility startups now have access to more than $1 million in grant funding, thanks to a new statewide PlanetM program announced today. The two-part program, one of the first of its kind, includes a PlanetM Pilot Grant and a PlanetM Testing Grant, was unveiled during the 2018 ITS America Annual Meeting held in Detroit, MI.

June 21st update: Jeffrey Mosher interviewed Amanda Roraff, PlanetM Operations Manager, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, out of Detroit. They discuss this announcement and the Detroit Mobility Innovation Initiative and the $8 Million Michigan Mobility Challenge.

Lansing, MI – The City of Lansing, the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), and Macritchie Storage are pleased to announce the Grand Opening Celebration of a newly remodeled building at 506 S Hosmer Street in Lansing. The facility has been transformed into CubeSmart Self-Storage, which offers 600 climate controlled self-storage units, as well as secured parking spaces for RV and boat storage.