Dan Gilmartin, executive director and CEO of the Michigan Municipal League, explains the large population losses experienced in some of Michigan’s largest cities and what community leaders are now trying to do to improve their cities.
Rick Snyder is CEO, Chair of the Board and co-founder of Ardesta LLC, a venture capital firm located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Snyder previously served as CEO and Chairman of Gateway, Inc. On July 21, 2009, Rick Snyder announced his intention to campaign for Governor of Michigan as a Republican in the 2010 election. Snyder won the gubernatorial primary to become the Republican nominee for Governor of Michigan.
Virg Bernero is the current mayor of Lansing. Prior to serving as mayor, Bernero served as a legislative aide, an Ingham County Commissioner and as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives and the Michigan Senate. He is the Democratic nominee for Governor of Michigan in 2010. He also is a member of the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees.
Dan Gilmartin explains the large population losses experienced in some of Michigan’s largest cities and what community leaders are now trying to do to improve their cities.
John Bebow, 43, is executive director of the Center for Michigan, a nonprofit "think-and-do" tank devoted to heightening citizen engagement in public affairs, producing in-depth public policy journalism, and otherwise advocating for an improved climate for prosperity in Michigan. Before joining the Center in 2006, Bebow worked for 16 years as an investigative reporter for The Chicago Tribune, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Ann Arbor News, and Traverse City Record-Eagle. He covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq for the Detroit News and Gannett newspapers. He also served as editor-in-chief of MLive.com.
Brian Balasia is president and CEO of Digerati, Inc., and is recognized as an expert in business process engineering. As a sophomore at the University of Michigan, Balasia and classmate Joe Klecha co-founded Digerati, Inc., a company that develops individually tailored electronic records systems for medical practices and institutions.
David Lossing has served as mayor of the city of Linden since 2004 after serving on the Linden City Council since 1998. Lossing, a member of the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees, currently works for the University of Michigan-Flint as the director of government relations and as an adjunct lecturer for the School of Education on UM’s Ann Arbor campus.
Karen Majewski, a historian by profession, is the Mayor of the city of Hamtramck. Majewski, vice president of the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees, began her work in public service on Hamtramck's Historical Commission. She served on city council and as city council president before being elected Hamtramck's first woman mayor in 2005. She is former executive director of the Polish American Historical Association, and on the board of the Dekaban Foundation and the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. She is also a member of the Michigan Association of Mayors and Michigan Women in Municipal Government.
According to the last US Census, 2/3 of college graduates between 24 and 35 chose where they wanted to live before they looked for a job.
Nearly half of Michiganders between the ages of 18-34 say they would visit downtown Detroit more often if there was a better transit system in place.
46% of Michigan's college graduates are leaving the state within a year of graduation.
Ann Arbor offers more than 200 unique dining experiences.
Each year Detroit’s peak-time commuters spend an average of 52 hours sitting in traffic congestion, which wastes 34 gallons of gas per person.
Michigan’s metropolitan areas account for 88% of the state’s gross domestic product and are home to 89% of the jobs.
Traverse City’s walkable downtown boasts more than 150 boutiques, galleries, and restaurants.
Detroit has the second-largest theater district in North America, after New York City.
Every $1 invested in public transit returns around $6 in local economic activity.
Cheers! Michigan ranks 6th in the nation in the number of brewpubs and microbreweries.
