Power Potential is Just Blowing in the Wind

It is taking a company from New York, but Michigan's thumb area is going to be home to the nation's fifth largest wind-generated power plant. By 2008, 180 turbines are expected to be installed in Michigan's thumb area. The company, Noble Environmental Power, plans to sell the energy to the utilities that already supply electricity throughout the state. Read more - mlive.com: NewsFlash - Wind-generated power coming to Michigan's Thumb region

Super Bowl XL - The Good and Bad

For those of you who have been out of the country for the past few weeks - Super Bowl XL was played in Detroit yesterday. The Detroit Free Press has a rundown of the good and bad things that happened during Detroit's hosting of the Super Bowl. Check it out -

BILL MCGRAW: Winners, losers off the field

Kalamazoo More Promising Than Super Bowl Host Detroit

Just wanted to comment on a great little article from the Detroit Free Press about the longlasting impact of the Kalamazoo Promise versus the fleeting fame Detroit garners from hosting the Super Bowl. Unfamiliar with the Kalamazoo Promise? Basically, it is this - anonymous benefactors are giving 4-year scholarships to Kalamazoo Public School grads who attend any Michigan public college or university. If the kids start attending KPS in kindegarten they receive 100% of their 4 years of tuition. Even students who join the district up to their sophomore year receive 65% of the cost of their tuition. That is a great deal that will allow the city of Kalamazoo to reap the benefits and rewards of having more college educated people being born and raised there.

Anyway, you have to admit that the Kalamazoo Promise is going to allow Kalamazoo to reap a great investment for many years to come. Detroit being host to the Super Bowl? Five years from now will anyone outside of this region even remember that Detroit hosted Super Bowl XL?

BRIAN DICKERSON: While Detroit parties, Kalamazoo progresses

Gov. Granholm - Wait 5 Years For A Booming Michigan Economy

Let me preface this with the statement that I am looking at Gov. Granholm's proposals and ideas unveiled at the State of the State Address with a non-partisan viewpoint. I am looking at it as a small business owner in a state that has a tough time getting new businesses to start and grow here. I am also looking at it from the point of a resident of a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. The bottom line of her address is this - "In five years, you are going to be blown away by the strength and diversity of Michigan's transformed economy" - Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

I don't know about anyone else that lives, works, or does business in Michigan, but I don't want to wait 5 months for good news, let alone 5 years. I am not looking for a quick fix, but I am looking for marked improvement a lot sooner than 5 years down the road.

Read the full article - Granholm: State on road to recovery

Tough Road Ahead For Ford

Bill Ford laid out a plan on Monday that would call for the idling of 14 manufacturing facilities, 25,000 to 30,000 factory jobs, and cut 12% of the company's officers by 2012. The six year plan would supposedly bring Ford back to profitability within two years. It is a simple matter of producing way more vehicles than Ford is currently selling. To cut back the number of vehicles produced, Ford must idle some of its factories. These are painful, but necessary cuts if the automaker plans on continuing to be in business for another 100 years.

Get all the info from the article as well as audio statements by Bill Ford and others - MORE PAIN AHEAD: Ford lays out deep cuts, but details unclear

Biodiesel Plant to Locate in Bangor

A bit of good news has finally come to southwest Michigan. It appears that Bangor has been able to woo a biodiesel plant to locate there instead of in Fremont, Indiana. The plant is scheduled to be running by summer and expects to produce about 30,000 gallons per day and employ approximately 22 people. This is will be the second biodiesel plant in Michigan. The first one is in Gladstone in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It is not yet up and running.

Read the full story - HERALD-PALLADIUM