Michigan Shifting Gears, an MEDC program designed to help highly-educated and experienced business professionals transition to new opportunities, needs your help.  Volunteer mentors and resume reviewers are needed at events this week, next week, and beyond.  For more information on becoming a volunteer with the program, send e-mail to Maria Nevai at ShiftingGears@Michigan.org. 

How you can help:

•  Become a Volunteer Mentor:  Mentors help seasoned corporate job seekers looking to leverage their business experience and knowledge with new smaller start ups and entrepreneurial opportunities.  You will share from 1 to 3 hours a month with a Michigan Shifting Gears participant this fall, and attend a ‘Mentor Mixer’ this Friday, September 23rd from 3-5 pm in one of four cities – Detroit at TechTown, Ypsilanti at SPARK East, East Lansing at Prima Civitas, and Grand Rapids at Grand Valley State University.  
   
• Become a Volunteer Resume Reviewer:  Volunteers review resumes of Michigan Shifting Gears participants and advise on ways to improve and enhance their opportunities. If you’re an HR or recruiting professional, we’re anxious to take advantage of your expertise!   On Thursday, September 22nd volunteer reviewers and program participants will meet at three regional mixers from 3-5 pm in Detroit at TechTown, Ypsilanti at SPARK East, or Grand Rapids at Grid 70.  The need for volunteers in Ypsilanti and Detroit is especially urgent, and we’re encouraging anyone who might be interested to attend the mixers in those cities. 
   
• Volunteer a project and earn free help for your startup:  Michigan Shifting Gears participants are required to donate 80 hours to a start up company working on a specific project.  Companies submit project descriptions, which MEDC staff will review and approve.  Participants and company executives then have an opportunity to meet and explore mutual interests at a mixer, currently planned for mid October in four cities – Detroit, Ypsilanti, East Lansing, and Grand Rapids.

 If you have a viable project plan and need the help of a seasoned business professional, or if you’re interested in becoming a volunteer mentor or resume reviewer, please send email to ShiftingGears@Michigan.org.

Small business owners looking for tools to take their businesses to the next level can gain information, contacts and resources through the Small Business Outreach Tour taking place August 10 through September 30.

The first-ever Small Business Outreach tour, sponsored by the Small Business Administration, will stop in 15 cities around the state. The free events will offer workshops on loans, human capital, government contracting, exporting, market research, financial management and social media. Attendees can also hear from inspiring entrepreneurs, meet with experts who can help their businesses grow and connect with other business professionals.

There is no charge to attend, but seating is limited. For registration information, please visit here.

Finding the right tools and resources can often be the toughest part for those with the entrepreneurial itch. But thanks to a new booklet by the Michigan Retailers Association, would-be retailers can get a wealth of information – free – on how to get started.

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Retail Business brings together information from many sources to help entrepreneurs navigate the steps necessary to prepare for that first retail sale. It walks through the important details of planning, setting up and registering the business, navigating tax obligations, planning store operations, protecting assets and more.

This guide can help you join one of the most exciting and rewarding industries in Michigan — retailing. A retail enterprise provides an excellent opportunity to be your own boss, build a company, provide the community with valuable services and merchandise, and reap the benefits of your hard work.

The guide is free. To download a copy, simply visit http://www.retailers.com/mra/StartingABusiness.php.

Each year, the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars on everything from ready-to-eat meals to socks to tanks. Michigan businesses now have a great opportunity to win the contracts that supply these goods to our armed services.

“The country’s going to stay in the national security business,” Dr. Ashton Carter, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, recently told WWJ-FM.  “It’s not going to go away. It’s a pretty safe area to specialize in,” he said.

How does a small business diversify into the defense sector? Attend a free “Introduction to Government Contracting” class on April 14. It’s from 9 a.m. to noon at the Schoolcraft College VisTaTech Center, 18600 Haggerty Road in Livonia. Cost is $40 per person. To register, call (734) 462-4438.

For more information about the many opportunities for Michigan companies in the defense sector, click here.

Entrepreneurs and jobseekers alike will find interesting reading in an interview with Governor Rick Snyder by the University Research Corridor business incubator that was published over the weekend. Among the insights he offers is his vision for a refocused, reinvigorated Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

To help Michigan businesses of all sizes, he outlined plans to launch a statewide network of talent coordinators focused on connecting entrepreneurs, innovators, talent managers and job seekers with established employers. Companies that post on the soon-to-be unveiled MEDC online talent portal will help identify new economic gardening opportunities statewide.  And by scaling this to the entire state, we will offer job-posting services to every company that starts, expands or locates a business in Michigan.

This centralized job bank will ultimately diminish the need for jobseekers to click around the Internet to far-flung employment sites. It’s just one of the ways we’re sharpening our mission to create jobs and grow Michigan’s economy.

To read more about Gov. Snyder’s economic-development strategies, click here.

Ever thought about steering your talents in a new direction?

Stop thinking and start doing! Shifting Gears is a career-transition program created by Tech Town and Ann Arbor SPARK for seasoned corporate professionals who want to pursue opportunities in business growth sectors, where they can leverage their business knowledge and experience in new ways.

The program’s results are impressive: Thirty-five percent of participants land new jobs within three months. Fifty-five percent land positions within six months, and a whopping 80 percent find work within nine or more months.

Want to know if this innovative, four-month program – which kicks off on April 15 — is right for you? Click here to register for a free, informational session to be held at Tech Town, located at 440 Burroughs in Detroit’s Midtown area, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 31; 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on April 4; or 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on April 11.

For more information about Shifting Gears, click here.

Need help raising capital to accelerate the growth of your business? West Michigan entrepreneurs now have a chance to make an “elevator pitch” to investors from Beringea, Michigan’s largest venture capital firm, at Grand Valley State University’s (GVSU) Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, located at GVSU’s Grand Rapids campus.

From 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, March 29, entrepreneurs are invited to meet with investors from Beringea. Whether you’re a student with an idea or a professional with an established business, investors will be available for 15-minute time slots to hear your pitch. Click here to register; it’s free and open to the public.

This exciting event is one of many the Center is hosting this month. For a full schedule and details, click here.

Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Learn from a panel of Michigan women who have been there about struggles, sacrifices and rewards involved with launching your own business at “Stories from the Front Lines: A Conversation with Michigan Women Entrepreneurs.” The event will be held Tuesday, March 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Westin, 1500 Town Center in Southfield. 

The panelists will be:

• Shanny Apodaca, Simply Good Kitchen
• Michelle Crumm, chief business officer and co-founder, Adaptive Materials
• Florine Mark, president and chairman of the board, The WW Group    
• Antonella Soloman, Launch Learning Group  

The panel discussion will be moderated by Carol Cain, senior producer and host of “Michigan Matters” on WWJ-TV.

Among the topics they will discuss:

• What it takes to start and run a successful business.
• Reasons for growth and success in spite of a bad economy.
• Managing growth.
• Balancing life and work.
• Reasons to stay in Michigan and do business here.
• Advice for Lansing leadership on how to make Michigan more business-friendly.
• The role of social media and other online tools in making a business grow.

For more information or to register, click here.

Donald Snider, vice president of urban development for the MEDC, has only been on the job a short time, but he’s already completed a guest stint on Detroit Public Television. Snider sat down with the host of “American Black Journal” recently to outline how the MEDC is working to bolster businesses in Michigan’s major urban cores, such as Grand Rapids, Detroit, Saginaw, Flint, Highland Park and Benton Harbor.

Snider, head of the newly created Office of Urban Initiatives, said he’s working with both existing and start-up businesses, meeting with banks to look into creating more lending flexibility, and planning to establish microloan funds.

“Urban populations now have an unprecedented advocate within a gubernatorial administration,” Snider said. “We’ll work to revitalize Michigan cities one neighborhood at a time.”

To watch Snider’s interview on “American Black Journal,” go to www.dptv.org/ondemand/abj/abjvodlg.shtml.

Michigan-based entrepreneurs who want a shot at winning $100,000 are encouraged to register by the 5 p.m. Friday, March 4 deadline for the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest business-plan competition.

“This competition is a great resource for Michigan innovators to tap,” Michigan Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Michael A. Finney said.  “Our future Fords, Dows and Kelloggs get a chance to consult with experts to refine business plans and compete for cash prizes.”

Participants will be matched with a business coach, receive feedback from venture investors, and compete for cash prizes valued at up to $25,000 with the opportunity to win the $100,000 SmartZone award.

Three categories of competition offer opportunities for businesses in various stages of development. Executive summaries and business plans are due May 7 for participants in the New Business Idea and Emerging Company categories. Participants competing for the SmartZone award must have a complete business plan and a letter of recommendation from a SmartZone by April 22. Winners will be announced at the annual GLEQ awards celebration on June 9.

Complete details and registration requirements are available online at www.GLEQ.org.