- Economic leaders in Greater Lansing released a "State of the Region" report to assess and improve the area's economic competitiveness.
- Anderson Economic Group, the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership led the effort, aiming to boost local growth and business development.
- The report found the Lansing region ranks #1 in retaining and attracting Gen Z and also saw a 16% increase in business startups over the past five years.
- A key challenge mentioned in the report is population growth and foot traffic, but leaders are optimistic as the region’s population begins to rise again.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Fortune 500 companies, college towns, and a growing small business industry — the Greater Lansing area has a lot to offer. But the Lansing Chamber of Commerce and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership are looking to take it a step further.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here with a look at the “State of the Region” report from the two organizations as they work to make our neighborhoods more economically competitive.
"I'm a person who started a business here, and I decided to have my family stay here." said Patrick Anderson.
When Patrick Anderson decided to start his business in the neighborhood, he never imagined that he and his business would still be here over two decades later.
"Anderson Economic Group is a consulting firm that has been headquartered in the Greater Lansing area for 28 years." Anderson said.
Anderson Economic Group has become so embedded in the community that they want to be a part of growing it, which is why they took the lead in creating a "State of the Region" report.
"We wanted to take a hard look at ourselves and really compare our region with other major metropolitan areas of the United States." said Bob Trezise.
Bob Trezise is the CEO of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, and he joined forces with the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce to get these comparisons in writing.
And what they found out was surprising.
"Tell me about the main takeaways from this study." I asked Trezise.
"Well, one of the main takeaways was our region is really good — in fact, number one — in keeping and attracting Generation Z people." he responded.
"And we saw a 16% increase in the last five years in business startups, and we took that as a real positive." said Tim Daman, CEO of the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce.
But one major area of improvement mentioned during Tuesday’s Chamber of Commerce luncheon was population growth and foot traffic in local businesses.
"The population was declining here for part of the last five years, but now it's on its way up." Anderson said.
To bring more people to work, live, and play in Greater Lansing, the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Area Partnership say they plan to encourage more local and large-scale businesses to call the region home — and the people, they say, will follow.
"Those are things I see Lansing making progress on, and we have more to do in the next five years." Anderson said
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