Business

The local food movement is not a new thing for Michigan State University's Dairy Store.

It has been selling local dairy products such as cheese and ice cream since 1913. The milk is bought from Michigan Milk Producers, less than 30 miles away.

It's then taken to MSU where it is processed and distributed. A lot of the ice cream flavors have MSU or Big Ten themes.

Stateside's Emily Fox, visited the store and chatted with customers, workers and manager, John Engstrom.

You can listen to the audio postcard above.

Michigan is tenth in the nation for the number of women-owned businesses.

When it comes to revenue being pulled in by these businesses, Michigan ranks 49th out of the 50 states. 

Boosting the earning power of women is one of the leading goals of Count Me In.

The national group is helping women in southeast Michigan who own small businesses at an event called Urban Rebound.

Urban Rebound comes to Detroit on September 30 and October 1.

Founders of a new startup company are trying to help teens create a professional online presence.

The website Meritful.com launched this week. It's sort of a LinkedIn for students.

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are among the top sites where teens connect with friends and talk about their lives. But a lot of teenagers also posting embarrassing stories or pictures that can have some unplanned consequences as they apply for colleges, internships, and jobs.

Azarias Reda is one of the founders of Meritful. "In this day in age a digital presence is a very important currency, something that you have to protect and build. And high school really is the time to start," he said.

Listen to full interview above to learn more about the Ann Arbor startup.

Proponents of an effort to allow eight more private casinos in Michigan scored a victory in court today.

The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a group called Citizens for More Michigan Jobs.

The group is pushing a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to permit the private casinos.

An appeals court had ruled that the proposal's language was unconstitutional because it didn't include text of the law the group wants to amend.

A long-time Monroe business may decide to stay and build its world headquarters there. 

Think "recliner" and chances are La-Z-Boy will come to mind.

The company that makes the famous chairs and other furniture started out in the city of Monroe 85 years ago.

It has about 500 employees at its Monroe location.  Now the company wants to build a new facility and says it's interested in staying in Monroe, but is also looking at other sites.

Bob Clark is the city's mayor. He says the City Council will review some economic incentives.  

DETROIT (AP) - About 8,000 DTE Energy Co. customers in Oakland County will receive credits on future bills after losing service this summer due to a substation fire.

The Detroit News reports Friday that the credits will range from $25 to $250 and show up on bills over the next several months.

Residences and businesses in Royal Oak and Berkley, north of Detroit, lost power for two days last month.

DTE Energy spokesman Len Singer says the amount of the credits will depend on the length of time customers were without electricity.

The newspaper reports that customers can seek a $25 credit if an outage lasts more than 16 hours under normal conditions or more than 120 hours under catastrophic conditions.

Whirlpool Corp. is planning to shut down the last of its operations in a southern Indiana city where it had more than 1,500 workers a few years ago by moving refrigerator development work to Michigan.

The state's biggest electricity provider says customers who don't want a smart meter will have to pay extra for the privilege.

Smart meters use radio signals to allow two-way communication between a customer's residence and the utility.

The meters let utilities know immediately who has lost power, among other things.  The company will also be able to remotely shut off power and turn it back on. 

More than half of new businesses in Michigan are started by women. But women may not be aware of funding available to them.

The Michigan Women's Commission says women tend to start smaller businesses, rather than big manufacturing firms. They generally go to their bank or credit union for loans.

Suzy Avery directs the Women's Commission.

She says there are other sources for loans or grants that have been specifically set aside for women-owned businesses.