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Showing posts from January, 2020

GM's President Mark Reuss Discusses $2 Billion in Electric Investments

The market is changing and shifting and GM just got on board with global consumer trends in a big way! Self-driving and electric cars are going to change the market in fundamental ways as other types of technologies follow suit. A growing trend over the past few decades increased the demand for renewable energies and cleaner cars. The technology and investment interests seemed to have matched at this time on our path to a more efficient data driven way of existence. This transition may be a good thing for Michigan as investment dollars move into a changing industry. It is an opportunity for the U.S. to draw in more interest and secure Michigan as next generation vehicles. There may well be a much much bigger market than automobiles a decade or so down the road as alternative clean forms of energy hit a very large up coming global middle class. When large companies like GM invest this much capital into an area, they plan to be there for a while. They are geographically "invested&

Selecting Gifted Students for Advanced Placement in Higher Education

Advanced intelligence is often associated with what society calls gifted thinking that leads to new ideas and ground breaking research that tackles problems in novel ways. Such problem solving is often based in multiple standpoints and cognitive leaps that seam to reach towards logical intuition. The term gifted is often misunderstood and has a lot of cultural mysticism conceptually blended with it. To some it means genius and to others it could mean peculiar. The selection and enhancement of the gifted can lead to greater development of society. Moving beyond standard assessment occurs when we consider the thinking patterns of this population and find better methods of selecting them. Colleges that can discover gifted intelligence and place them into advance programs not only do themselves a favor but contribute to the development of society through contributions to intellectual capital. Let's try and understand what gifted intelligence and thinking patterns mean. While there ar

A Recession Caused by Consumer Debt?

Consumer debt has steadily over the past few decades. As with all big pools of debt there is a chance of market changes and corrections. A little video for people who like economic stuff below. While this is anecdotal, a marina manager shared some knowledge on how during The Great Recession of 2007 a lot of boats got abandoned because there was no cushion for people.

Two Tricks for Calming Jumpy Horses-A Bucking Challenge!

Horses and man have a history together that spans thousands of years. Despite all that time and domestication not all horses are ready to give up their instincts to a human rider. Bluebell is beautiful Arabian and quarter horse mix brought from a rescue. She is smart, knows what she is doing, has lots of skill and potential but jumps at the slightest sound! Doors, cars, dogs, almost anything! Let me say that I have met a lot of people who love a challenge. They come latte in hand into their offices and work everyday while looking out the window. When its their time off they take on challenges like horse riding, training, trail riding and enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle of big city life. Horses have a lot of benefits for business people who need some time outdoors working with something they can see results. Research indicates people who like outdoor activities like horse riding are more intuitive and introverted than others  (Cashel, et. al. 1996). For them, there is so

Pure Michigan Campaign-The Value of Return on Investment to State Taxes

" Business has only two functions-Marketing and Innovation " (Milan Kundera ).    Pure Michigan, a state sponsored national marketing campaign launched in 2008, created a buzz highlighting the attributes of the Lady of the Lake state. Law Makers are confounded on precisely how much (or little) the campaign has contributed to her prestige and prosperity. Expert numbers span the spectrum leaving doubts and in turn a line item veto that removed the program from state budgets. This article is an effort to shed light on the merit of state-sponsored marketing in Michigan and what policies will improve the transparency and functioning of the program. To assess the program's value we must ask ourselves two fundamental questions about Pure Michigan to better ensure the money is wisely spent. 1. Does it have a positive ROI? and 2. Does it have a negative ROI? A positive ROI could mean we should invest in it because it brings additional revenue while a negative ROI means its wast

Suits in the Thicket-2020 Happy New Year's from a Trail

Play and business mesh in the tundra! Business owners can use outdoor activities to tap into their creative side. The outdoors is part of who we are from the deeps roots of our existence. Spending time out there reminds us that life is relative and the goals we set for ourselves should be meaningful to us and beneficial for the rest of the world. The outdoors offers no bias, no social class, no stores, no phones, no...nothing! It is just what it is....our world! Since many of us have business (or job), families, and competing interest we don't make it outside as much as we should. Perhaps 2020 will be that year where you begin to explore places like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where nature blankets everything. If your the type of who is a business owner and love the outdoors and small forest town life you can always open a business here. Plenty of people are willing to put those good old fashion woodsman(woman) skills to work! Labor costs are more affordable than most o