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The Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario Regions represent the busiest corridor for trade between Canada and the United States. International border crossings in this area occur via several routes: the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor; the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel; the Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario; two railroad tunnels; and a ferry that carries trucks across the Detroit River. The Soo Locks at Sault St. Marie is another crossing point.

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Lansing Tri-County Region Report

BIO-FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR THE TRI-COUNTY REGION OF MID-MICHIGAN (LANSING REGION) RELEASED

Author: LPI Hannah Professor Research Team Date: 5/2/2008

For more than a year, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC), the Center for Community and Economic Development Program at Michigan State University (MSU), Lansing Community College (LCC) and the Land Policy Institute at MSU have been working on an initiative to support the establishment of the tri-county region as a hub for bio-based industries. The Initiative examined the current tri-county region's economic environment, the effect of the declining automotive industry, and the feasibility of bringing bio-manufacturing to the tri-county region. LCC has also worked on developing a curriculum for training workers for the bio-based economy.

On April 22, 2008, the research study findings, "Bio-Capacity Focus: Is There a Future for Bio-Manufacturing in the Capital Region?," were presented to a group of economic developers, educators, researchers and the media at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing. The report demonstrated that the tri-county region has most of what is needed to develop a bio-manufacturing industry and bring jobs. Prima Civitas director David Hollister, the event moderator, asked for and got a commitment from community members to move this study forward by gaining political support, raising awareness, and forming a network of motivated leaders from the manufacturing industry, agricultural industry and leaders from MSU, Lansing Community College, municipalities and bio-based industries.

Project partners have completed, or are nearing completion of, several research components. Now available on the LPI website is the report, "Bringing Manufacturing into Focus: Job Loss in the Tri-County Region of Mid-Michigan (Lansing Region)," the first of several reports from this initiative, which breaks down the tri-county region into a zip-code-level representation of the region's change in number of jobs and sales. The economic impact resulting from specific automotive-related job loss over the past 16 years is estimated. Also included is a list of State and Federal incentive programs applicable to bio-based industries initiatives.

This work has been supported through a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration, as well as community matching funds from across the tri-county region. For more information, contact Melissa Gibson, Hannah Program coordinator at the Land Policy Institute at gibson@landpolicy.msu.edu or 517.432.8800 Ext. 110, or Chris Hnatiw, Economic Development planner at the TCRPC at chnatiw@mitcrpc.org or 517.393.0344.