The Next Idea Michigan and other states are having an increasingly hard time finding qualified people to work in construction. The perception that construction careers are dirty, hard, and dangerous plays a big part in the labor shortage. Brindley Byrd , executive director of the Michigan Construction Foundation , wants to help people find careers in construction by marketing the Michigan Construction "brand" and connecting people to resources like educational training programs.

The Next Idea Michigan's farmers and growers are always looking for new and bigger markets for their products. The Michigan Farm Bureau thinks they should look at China, where there is growing interest in what Michigan's farms have to offer.

The Next Idea As Detroit's fortunes rise from the ashes of bankruptcy, developers are seeing opportunity. In the neighborhoods, banks and outsiders look to develop residential real estate. But recent Knight City Challenge Award Winner Chase Cantrell is focused on redeveloping commercial properties, the “nuts and bolts” businesses at the end of the street where people live.

The Next Idea Day care for children is a fact of life for many Michigan families. But with more and more people looking after aging parents, there's also a need for adult day care.

The Next Idea We think of borrowing from a library and what comes to mind? Books. DVDs. CDs. Now, through the Capital Area District Libraries in Lansing, you can check out a badminton set, a GoPro camera, a thermal leak detector or even a sewing machine. Those are just some of the items that they have available in the CADL's Library of Things .

The Next Idea For centuries, people who need some fast cash have turned to pawn shops: "pawning" some personal treasure for a cash loan. Today there is a modern way to pawn an item. Instead of driving from shop to shop, you can turn to a Michigan-based startup called PawnGuru and do your dealing online.

The Next Idea Recently, I read a story in the LA Times entitled, “'A sea of despair': White Americans without college degrees are dying younger.” It was about a Princeton study on mortality rates. Apparently, all ethnic groups are living longer with the exception of white Americans. The researchers suggest that decades of underemployment have had a damaging effect on the group’s financial and personal decisions, making them an easy target for profiteers and ideologues. The message: You need a

The Next Idea Imagine cyclists, and there’s an image that might come to mind of people wearing Spandex pants and helmets out for a ride on country roads; or maybe of someone riding through the city on their way to work or the grocery store. There is an economic and sometimes racial gap between those two cycling worlds.

The Next Idea During the recent Academy Awards broadcast, Samsung aired a commercial for its new phone. Casey Neistat, a YouTube and HBO reality personality, narrates over a montage of young people engaged in feats of derring-do and uninhibited expressions of creativity. He declares that we are the true makers and maestros, and finishes with this zinger: “When we are told that we can’t, we all have the same answer - watch me!” And, there it is. The glorification of our selfie culture.

The Next Idea You can't have a successful entrepreneurial community without money. And that's exactly why venture capitalists play such a critical role in helping Michigan start-ups get up and running.