Michigan
UP small businesses represent Michigan at virtual South by Southwest Conference in Texas
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – Businesses from throughout the Great Lakes State, including the U.P., are attending the 38th edition of the annual South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, which celebrates the convergence of technology, film, television and music.
The conference encourages the businesses to band together with state government leaders this week to help promote the Mitten State as a place to consider calling home, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp (MEDC).
The MEDC said it and the state’s population growth effort Let’s Grow Michigan will join Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist (D) and the state’s first-ever Chief Growth Officer Hilary Doe to partner with 53 businesses and organizations to introduce the best digital gift “swag bag” in state history at the famed cultural festival that runs through March 16.
The MEDC said exclusive deals and discounts will be offered to visitors attending Michigan-hosted events at SXSW and are designed to inspire the hundreds of thousands of conference attendees expected to arrive in Austin to consider Michigan as their next destination to explore, experience and envision as their new place to launch a career, start a business and call home.
Michigan has presented gift bags to attendees at previous SXSW conferences, but the number of businesses participating in this year’s offering surpasses any prior distribution, MEDC officials said.
“Michigan is the birthplace of countless innovations that have changed the way we all live and move through the world,” Doe said. “We’re showcasing some of those makers and creations at SXSW, while highlighting the incredible places and opportunities our state offers to live, work and build a life. No matter what you’re into, there’s something for everyone in Michigan. Michigan’s presence at SXSW helps us to speak directly to the talent that we know can thrive in the Great Lakes State, whether they’re building their own company or supporting the vast number of Michigan’s existing tech leaders of all sizes and across industries. Our message is: Let’s grow!”
The MEDC added the annual SXSW Conference offers attendees a view of the future, celebrating innovation and technology and providing a forum for creative thinkers to discuss what’s next and connect to resources and community to build the future.
While SXSW is known for high-profile premieres and live performances, it has also become an early career hot spot for professional development, according to the MEDC. From tech startup competitions and future-focused exhibitors to global emerging talent and buzzworthy speakers, SXSW fosters creative and professional growth across a multitude of industries.
The MEDC added the festival’s demographic data show 62% of attendees are between the ages of 26 and 45, with 67% having a household income of at least $100,000. Among the main industries for total attendance in 2023 were marketing and advertising, creative industries and computer technology. Events like SXSW are opportunities to raise awareness of Michigan’s unique places, creativity and innovation among diverse talent sectors Michigan communities and employers are eager to recruit.
Doe is a featured panelist at SXSW’s influential Midwest House, an experiential embassy of the nation’s Midwest region to SXSW and a year-round catalyst for regions, innovators and creatives, the MEDC said. Gilchrist is featured on a panel during Tuesday’s 2024 SXSW Conference programming. Another SXSW panel will include Michigan Chief Mobility Officer Justine Johnson discussing “The Future of Air Travel: Innovation From the Ground Up.”
MEDC officials said they will join state leaders hosting sessions on a wide array of topics ranging from innovation, technology and economic opportunities to Michigan’s strong union heritage and the state’s role in building America’s premier Black tech ecosystem. Several Michigan-based outdoor recreation companies, such as Carhartt and Wolverine Worldwide will also be highlighted.
In addition, the MEDC said it is hosting a panel featuring Juan Atkins, regarded as the founding father of techno who made Detroit the birthplace of that music genre, and West Michigan tech founder and CEO, beverage entrepreneur and popular local DJ Andrea “Dre” Wallace, who will discuss the intersection of “Techno and Tech” followed by a happy hour showcasing Detroit-style pizza and Michigan beer.
Organizations from the U.P. include:
- Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill (Ironwood): Copper Peak will soon be the world’s largest ski jumping hill!
- Kall Morris Incorporated, dba KMI (Marquette): We are an orbital debris research and solution development company focused on Active Debris Removal (ADR) to keep space clear for all.
- Rigoni’s Bakery Yooper Pasties (Ironwood): Old-world baked goods and home of Upper Michigan’s No. 1 pasty.
- Stormy Kromer (Ironwood): Iconic wool caps, plus jackets, vests, shirts and more!
- Swimsmarttech (Marquette): Enhancing beach safety through smart and connected beachfront technologies with the greater goal of ending drownings in our communities.
- Syncurrent (Marquette): We work with underserved communities to turn entrepreneurship into an economic engine.
All businesses and organizations from Michigan:
- Alfie Logo Gear (Traverse City): We’ll get you geared up. Spiffy logo gear, branded merch and creative solutions for companies, teams, events and more!
- Angling A.i. (Jackson): Revolving around the “do-it yourselfers” in the fishing industry, our products allow anglers to make high-quality baits at reduced prices.
- Athlytic AI Fitness Coach (Detroit): Apple Watch or iPhone app that gives you personalized insights into and coaching about your health and daily training.
- Audio Radar (Holland): Deaf and hard-of-hearing players can “see the sound” during game play with innovative Adaptive Surround Vision Technology.
- Badr Photography (Dearborn): Specializing in advertising food photography.
- Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo): The home of Oberon beer, and other unique and inspired craft beer.
- BetterPlay Studios (Ann Arbor): World-class gaming experiences to positively impact your mental health.
- BrandXR (Detroit): Bring your brand to life with Augmented Reality (AR)!
- Breadless (Detroit): Low-carb and 100% gluten-free dishes that are absolutely tasty!
- Bridge Street Exchange (Fenton): Lifestyle-based clothing and gift store with an emphasis on quality.
- Cafe Rica LLC (Battle Creek): The Cereal City’s top coffee spot for cold brews and brunch service.
- Copper Peak Ski Flying Hill (Ironwood): Copper Peak will soon be the world’s largest ski jumping hill!
- Corteva Agriscience (Midland): The world’s largest pureplay agricultural company — we offer farmers a comprehensive and diverse portfolio, from crop protection to seeds.
- Discover Kalamazoo: In Kalamazoo County, you’ll experience big-city excitement, with a twist of easygoing comfort.
- Experience Grand Rapids: Culture Pass GR is your three-day admission ticket to explore Grand Rapids.
- Farmish (Grand Rapids): A marketplace app that connects local farms with consumers and wholesale buyers.
- FPX Consulting (Dearborn): Business solutions for small businesses and organizations.
- Giggso (Bloomfield Hills): A no-code Model Ops observability platform for data science, engineering teams and business execs.
- Gilmore Car Museum (Hickory Corners): North America’s largest car museum.
- Great Lakes Crystal (East Lansing): A cost-effective source of large-area, high-quality, single-crystal diamond materials for advanced electronics and quantum technology applications.
- Holo Footwear Inc. (Grand Rapids): Created with a want to shake up the footwear industry — we create sustainable and attainable shoes made with recycled materials.
- IMAGIO Glass Design (Sterling Heights): A healthy alternative to tile and grout!
- Kall Morris Incorporated, dba KMI (Marquette): We are an orbital debris research and solution development company focused on Active Debris Removal (ADR) to keep space clear for all.
- Krav’n Cookies (Saginaw): Sweet shop with over 50 cupcake flavors and more than 100 menu items, including Krav’n Cookies.
- The Lip Bar (Detroit): We’re maximum impact, minimal effort beauty must-haves designed for your complexion. Founded and owned by Women of Color.
- Lite Raise (Mount Clemens): Empowering students and organizations to increase their fundraising potential.
- Live Oak Coffeehouse (Midland): We’re a local gem, offering specialty brews and a warm ambiance for gathering and conversation.
- LoanSense (Ypsilanti): We reduce student loan payments and debt-to-income to help borrowers.
- Lodge Sound (Brighton): The future of outdoor audio! The first self-charging, weatherproof, premium wireless speaker for the outdoors.
- MaxPro (Rochester): Fit a weight room’s worth of equipment into any size space. MaxPro gives you the flexibility of a complete full-body workout, no dedicated space required.
- MoGo (Detroit): Sustainable, on-demand transportation.
- Own It (Holland): Leveraging biometrics to improve wellness, performance and quality of life.
- Paxahau Presents (Detroit): Dance music events promoter and producer of the Motor City’s iconic Movement Music Festival.
- Pearl Edison (Detroit): Streamlining energy efficiency retrofits, making electrification easy and affordable.
- Politics on the Go (POGO, Detroit): A civic tech company simplifying civic engagement for Gen Z and millennials through a gamified, nonpartisan app to revolutionize election research.
- Port City Emporium (Manistee): We carry art and artisan wares from over 40 artists, most from Michigan.
- Reaction Technologies (Ann Arbor): Building athletes’ spatial awareness and proper form using a heads-up display.
- Rebel Nell (Detroit): Sustainable jewelry brand supporting women transitioning out of shelter living.
- Revolin Sports (Holland): Sustainable pickleball paddles designed for obsessed players.
- Rigoni’s Bakery Yooper Pasties (Ironwood): Old-world baked goods and home of Upper Michigan’s No. 1 pasty.
- Robal Tech LLC (Detroit): Reduce HR workload! Put talent and workforce management into one single sign-on. Try us free for 30 days.
- Short’s Brewing (Bellaire): Michigan’s largest independent craft brewer (plus award-winning Starcut Ciders).
- SISU Custom Fit Mouthguards, an Akervall Technologies Company (Saline): Specializing in advanced oral protection.
- Sniffer Robotics Inc. (Ann Arbor): Sniffer Robotics is a leading environmental technology-enabled services firm providing methane emissions monitoring services for ground applications.
- Soldadera Coffee (Grand Rapids): Authentic Mexican coffee experiences through premium products.
- SOVA Night Guard, an Akervall Technologies Company (Saline): Advanced dental protection for nighttime use.
- Southwest Michigan First (Kalamazoo): With vibrant, artistic communities, family-friendly entertainment options and over 80 public access lakes, you can thrive in Southwest Michigan!
- Stormy Kromer (Ironwood): Iconic wool caps, plus jackets, vests, shirts and more!
- Swaddelini (Holland): A seamless 3D knit sleep sack made with zero closure systems.
- Swimsmarttech (Marquette): Enhancing beach safety through smart and connected beachfront technologies with the greater goal of ending drownings in our communities.
- Syncurrent (Marquette): We work with underserved communities to turn entrepreneurship into an economic engine.
- TripSlip (Detroit): Digital permission slips making field trips equitable and easy to manage.
- Visit Detroit: Mobile-exclusive passes offer savings at some of the best craft breweries and pizzerias in metro Detroit.
Copyright 2024 WLUC. All rights reserved.
2025 MI marijuana excise tax revenues drop for local governments
In 2025, local government retail license share dropped $4,211 from Michigan marijuana sales for the tax year. New taxes could cut it more in 2026.
Michigan municipalities and counties that allow recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to receive far less money this year than last in their annual portion of tax revenue collected from cannabis sales.
Sales declined in 2025 for the first time since legal recreational marijuana sales started in December 2019.
A total of 114 cities, 39 villages, 81 townships, 75 counties and four tribes will receive payments from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, according to a March 3 news release from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.
Last year, each eligible government entity received a little more than $58,000 per business based on a total of nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.
Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality. There are 61 active retailer licenses in Detroit, so the city will get nearly $3.3 million in tax revenue.
State law determines how the money is split. The Michigan Transportation Fund gets 35% of the revenue, which is used for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and another 35% goes to the School Aid Fund to be used for K-12 education. The other 30% is split between municipalities, counties and tribes.
The payments come from revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax. This tax is separate from a new 24% wholesale tax that went into effect Jan. 1. The revenue from that tax will go to fixes for local roads.
Sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries declined by 3% last year to $3.17 billion, down from $3.28 billion in 2024, according to figures from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, leading to the smaller payouts. More government entities also split the revenue compared with last year.
Payments to municipalities could get smaller if sales continue to decline. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan plunged nearly 16% in January compared with December as heavy snow, cold temperatures and fears of higher prices due to the new 24% wholesale cannabis tax kept consumers at home.
While recent trends indicate a cooling period, a February report from Headset, a cannabis market intelligence firm, said the market — one of the largest in the country — has shown resilience over the last two years.
Below are the municipalities that received the most tax revenue:
- Detroit: $3.3 million
- Grand Rapids: $1.5 million
- Lansing: $1.4 million
- Ann Arbor: $1.2 million
- Kalamazoo: $1 million
- Flint: $648,000
- Traverse City, Hazel Park and Adrian all will receive $594,000.
For a full list of municipalities, counties and tribes that will receive marijuana tax revenue, go to www.michigan.gov/treasury.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everything from classroom conversations to social media, and leaders at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) say West Michigan is positioning itself to help determine how the technology is used, responsibly.
The university’s College of Computing is launching the West Michigan Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium, aimed at helping businesses, researchers and the community better understand how to use artificial intelligence.
Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along the Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public.
The effort is aimed at helping West Michigan industries adopt AI that fits their specific needs, while problem-solving for security, bias, privacy, and ethical concerns.
Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)
Marouane Kessentini, Ph.D, Dean of the GVSU College of Computing told News Channel 3 that a wide range of companies in the region are bringing forward questions of where, and how, to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into their practices.
“Here in West Michigan, we have a high concentration of many industries, health, manufacturing, and of course high-tech companies,” said Kessentini. “The first questions are about security, privacy, ethics and bias. It’s not just about deploying tools. It’s about deploying them responsibly.”
Kessentini said the consortium will focus on training, research and community education, with a heavy emphasis on data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.
“There are many examples where AI systems were trained on data that wasn’t diverse,” he said. “That can lead to inaccurate results. That’s why testing and training are critical.”
The consortium will bring together faculty researchers, students, and industry leaders, with weekly meetings planned to develop guidance for using AI at scale.
The goal is to help companies validate AI outputs, clean and manage data, and identify bias before systems are put into real-world use, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare and manufacturing.
Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated.
Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)
The initiative is backed by $1,031,000 in federal support, through the Community Project Funding (CPF) process, resources that U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) said she advocated for among members of congress in Washington.
“West Michigan should be leading the way in how artificial intelligence is developed and used, and that starts with investing in people and institutions we trust,” said Rep. Scholten. “This funding will help GVSU bring together educators, industry, and public partners to build AI systems that are ethical, secure, and transparent while preparing students for good-paying jobs and strengthening our region’s economy. I’m proud to support this work and to continue delivering federal investments that ensure West Michigan remains at the forefront of responsible innovation.”
It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe…
GVSU also launched an online certificate portal that is open for community members interested in learning about ethical AI use, for free.
Kessentini said the training is for the general public to learn how to navigate the technology, including the risks and limitations.
“It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe,” said Edgar Cruz, master’s student with a badge in cybersecurity.
Cruz is currently researching how AI systems can be attacked or manipulated with poisoned data, specifically as it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, where AI helps self-driving cars exchange information like speed and position.
“We want to ensure that the system is robust and safe,” he said. “Because obviously people are involved.”
Kessentini said the consortium is designed to be a public resource, not just an academic project.
Quarterly community meetings will be open to the public, and training materials are available online through the College of Computing website.
“This is innovation with purpose,” he said. “We want to start here in Grand Rapids, but we want to make a global impact.”
Jim Harding, Michigan’s new offensive line coach, has one goal coming out of spring practice: he wants to have a set starting five plus a solid sixth lineman for good measure.
Michigan begins spring practice March 17 and concludes with the spring game on April 18.
Harding, appearing on the Michigan in-house podcast, “In the Trenches” hosted by Jon Jansen, joined new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff from Utah, where Whittingham was head coach the last 21 years. Harding spoke about a number of topics, including returning to the Midwest — he grew up in Maumee, Ohio, and his wife is from Farmington Hills — and his love for the Detroit Tigers, but most important was his discussion about building the Wolverines’ offensive line.
“I’d like to establish the starting five where you feel good that when you go into fall camp,” Harding said on the podcast that posted Wednesday. “Those are the guys that are working together immediately from Day 1.”
Harding said he uses a sixth lineman — he terms that player the “rhino” — quite a bit and would like to have at least two ready to go. The Wolverines also need depth at center considering only Jake Guarnera has snapped in a game.
“And then just having that physicality, nastiness of the offensive line,” Harding said. “Just kind of develop that.”
Since arriving earlier this year at Michigan, Harding said he’s been impressed by the linemen and their desire to work hard on conditioning and developing their craft by asking questions and wanting feedback. They have gone to dinner as a group to get to know each other away from the facility, and Harding has enjoyed the process.
“The things that you can’t measure right now is our physicality or our toughness, things like that,” Harding said. “I’m confident that it won’t be an issue, but that’s kind of the next step once we get pads on, (finding out) who are kind of the Alpha dogs in the room that are going to set the tone for the unit, and then, obviously, the offense. But really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”
Harding shared offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s approach to installing the offense.
“The way (Beck) runs it, everything’s on the table Day 1 in practice,” Harding said on the podcast. “So we’ll get a script with, if you count red zone, probably 60 or so plays, and any play can be called. It’s really unique, and I’d never done it this way, but Coach Beck, actually calls it like he does in the game. There are no scripts, and so we’ll just move the ball down the field, and if it’s a third play and it’s third and 3, well he’s going to call a third-and-3 call.
“So you really have to have the kids prepared for all 60 of those. And then the next day there’ll be maybe different formations and things like that once we get the concepts down in the O-line room for the run game. Now it’s just a matter of dressing up different things. It’s a lot of stuff early on, because every run scheme we have could be called on that first day, every pass protection we have could be called on that first day. So it’s a front-loaded installation.”
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
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