Michiganders have lost jobs over the last few years. And that, unfortunately, can't be sugarcoated. However, with unemployment come a jolt of entrepreneurship and startup businesses. And Michigan is chalked full of 'em.
Excerpt:
"The influence you're seeing by new firms and smaller firms is
apparent," said Mark Lange, executive director of the
entrepreneur-focused Edward Lowe Foundation. "It's the influence of
small business and the fact that people are leaving large companies to
start their own businesses."
Between 1998 and 2007, Michigan lost 215,800 jobs, but the state
also added 143,000 new establishments in the "stage one" category, or
those with less than 10 employees, according to foundation data.
Consider Mandy and Pandy, an early-stage Ann Arbor, Michigan
business that teaches children Chinese in a fun and easy way, by
integrating books with CDs, DVDs, toys, fashion and television. It saw
2009 revenue of about $130,000 and forecasts a healthy increase for
this year.
The company, which printed its first book in June 2007, was created
by former Ford executive, Chris Lin. Lin, a 40-year-old American-born
Chinese, is leveraging the skills he learned as a marketing director
for the automaker in China and later as a consultant with Deloitte.
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