Michigan Reimagined

The traditional indoor mall phenomenon of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s has been the focus of attention recently. The advent of e-commerce and online shopping has threatened these multi-acre, million square foot institutions often located in the heart of a community's central business district. In this episode, I'm joined by Stephon Lebovitz and Shawn Dunham to talk about an impressive milestone anniversary and outlook of a local shopping mall.

Guest:
Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of CBL Properties
Shawn Dunham, Senior Specialty Leasing Manager for Meridian Mall/CBL Properties

Unemployment is low. Employers are desperate for talent. Michigan has mobilized numerous initiatives to retain talent. Well, we’re all aware that talent agencies exist, but do we really understand the role they play and how they can help the talent concerns in Michigan? In this episode, I am joined by Pamela Drake and Daniel Shinaver, co-owners of Drake-Shinaver Employment Services, to discuss the role of talent agencies in this climate.

The phrase “starving artist” has been around a long time, and unless you’re an actual artist, this concept seems more like a metaphor than a reality. There is an impressive amount of effort being put into eradicating the phrase and helping art become a more mainstream and feasible career choice. In this episode, I am joined by Mike Marriott, Owner & Director of Opportunity Arts, to discuss a new-to-Michigan support system working to this end.

STEAM education - Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math - is proving not to be just fashion, but rather incorporated in a wide variety of locales, including a growing wave of hands-on museums. Recently the Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing unveiled a new exhibit called SMASH.

In this episode, I am joined by Executive Director, Erik Larson and Board of Directors member, Wendy Hamilton to discuss the exhibit.

Raise your hand if your organization has a website. Ok, raise your hand if you KNOW that your website is optimized for accessibility as mandated by federal law? I imagine not so many.

In this episode, I am joined by Ash Harris, the Managing Partner of Akea Accessibility Partners, to discuss what web accessibility is, and why many companies, nonprofits and municipalities are vulnerable to lawsuits due to non-compliance.

In this episode, Chris breaks down the evolution of regional transit and why its significant.

Guest: Jerry Norris, Founder of The Fledge

Guest: Katharine Czarnecki

Guest: Ariniko O'Meara

Guest: Luke Hackney, President of RetroDuck.com