Mark Sanchez: Let's go with more than a little bit of background. You know, I've written business around these parts for a while and I can remember a time where you really didn't see these business plan, or these pitch competitions. You know, not a lot of universities had their tech transfer offices. You didn't see a lot of venture capital or angel investing. You didn't see a lot of business accelerators and business incubators. Now they're a simple part of the economy. That's the norm. And you're seeing many more of these pitch competitions where somebody has an idea for a business, they form it, they get a little bit of traction, they need capital. So, one of those routes they'll go is through just any number of business plan competitions across the state now. And the latest is by the Michigan State University Research Foundation. Last week, the Michigan Strategic Fund Board allocated $3 million to the MSU Research Foundation. It's going to match that with a million dollars of its own money for a four-million-dollar pitch competition. The plan is to hold eight competitions, regional competitions across the state over two years, and then two final competitions. You win the regional competition, that's $250,000. You win the statewide competition; that's a million dollars for your business.And it will start here this month in Grand Rapids, September 29th. And then they're going to go to other communities around the state, Traverse City, Detroit, Ann Arbor. Each regional event will kind of have a different focus. Here in Grand Rapids, they're going to focus on healthcare. So, the application process opened today and startup companies that want to enter, they can go to the website for Michigan State University Research Foundation and find that link to the portal to sign up and enter. It's going to be interesting to see what type of response and reactions they get because the MSU Research Foundation operates a couple of venture capital funds, Michigan Rise and Red Cedar Ventures, and does a lot of investing in the state in startup companies. So bottom line, this is kind of an indication on how far we've come over the last couple of decades to build this entrepreneurial startup ecosystem in Michigan. And it's one more pitch competition where if you've got a great idea for a business, you think you can build your business around this concept, this innovation, this idea. Here's a way to test your metal. Enter a pitch competition and see if you can get the capital funding, capital investment to take your idea forward.
Patrick Center: Is this for in-state only or can out of state ideas come flowing in?
Mark Sanchez: The way I take it is this is, these are for businesses located in Michigan. These are for startup businesses in the state. You see a lot of these venture funds and investors that when they do make an investment, they do require a company to move here as well. We've seen that with a few of the funds formed lately, but right now it's looking like this is for in-state companies.
Patrick Center: We'll stick with in-state. In-state native tribes. We're seeing some studies, some findings, and the dollars that tribes non-gaming businesses are generating.
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, this is kind of an interesting dynamic that we've seen over several years. We've seen the tribes form non-gaming economic development arms. You have Gun Lake Investments. You have Waseyabek as well. That's very active in the market here. And this is a study that came out last week, basically gauging the 2024 impact of the Michigan non-gaming tribal economic development arms. And it shows that Michigan's 12 federally recognized tribes generated a total non-gaming economic impact of $1.24 billion in 2024. That came across 78 tribal business entities. And how does that compare with the past? Well, the last time the study was conducted, it was a $288 million difference. So, it was just under a billion dollars five years ago, and now it's up to $1.24 billion. These organizations, and the study was funded by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. So, these organizations, these non-gaming economic development arms of the tribes. They are investing. We've written about them for several years here at Crain's Grand Rapids Business. And they're really beginning to make an economic impact here on the economy in Michigan.
Patrick Center: We're talking with Crain's Grand Rapids Business staff writer, Mark Sanchez. You're starting to feel a little of the cool evening air. Those mornings are a little bit cooler. You're starting to sense fall is in the air. What does that mean here in Western Michigan?
Mark Sanchez: Yeah, things are changing a little bit. And I found myself arguing with myself last week. It's like, no, it's still August. I am not turning on the furnace just yet. You know, welcome to the Midwest, as I always say to people. But yeah, you're right. The atmosphere is changing. It's a little cooler each evening. That walk in from the parking lot to work this morning was a little, little cool. A little coolness in the air. School is back open and kind of that cultural change is occurring here in Michigan and part of that is hey the apple harvest is coming in. The good news for apple farmers here is there's a bumper crop this year of about 30 million bushels of apples. However, farmers, and this is a report by my co-worker Abby Poirier here at Crain's Grand Rapids Business, she writes although farmers are unlikely to see much from those returns because of low commodity pricing and just ongoing labor challenges. This report from the Michigan Apple Committee released its projection for the apple crop and it shows an above average crop this year. There were 850 apple orchards in the state, and they harvested a total of 37,000 acres last year according to the Department of Agriculture. And you know, last year's data is not completely complete but it shows about 31 million bushels. Last year, now there’s, you know, even better crops coming in, equal to better crops coming in this year. But that better crop is kind of going into some issues with labor, not only issues of finding labor, but federal requirements on how much the migrant workers with the two H2A visas are paid. It's $18.15 an hour right now. The apple growers contend that cost is unsustainable. And so basically right now they're paying more to grow their product and produce their product than what they're getting in on the market. So, it's an issue. Yes, it's a bumper crop this year, but kind of those higher costs and higher labor costs are kind of not necessarily making that a better year financially for the growers.
Patrick Center: Does the study mention what is depressing the commodity price?
Mark Sanchez: It didn't go into that. At least the story doesn't really go into that, but we've seen this, you know, commodities up down, supply and demand. When that supply is high, boy, you don't quite get the price you'd like.
Patrick Center: Crain's Grand Rapids Business, staff writer Mark Sanchez, thank you so much.
Mark Sanchez: Thank you, Patrick.