The Michigan Experiment: Rust Belt State Strives for a Green Makeover – "Garden, don’t hunt"

As the epicenter of the new Rust Belt, the state of Michigan is struggling. With some of the nation’s highest unemployment rates, a struggling auto industry and its ripple effects, the state has become shorthand for the Old American Economy and its inevitable demise. But, to borrow from the proverb, crisis is the mother of opportunity — and in Michigan, we’re seeing an unprecedented level of enthusiasm and funding for sustainable business initiatives.

If you cast your mind back a few decades and substitute "high tech" or "life sciences" for "sustainable business," you’ll recall that, not so long ago, major economic transformations were created in Silicon Valley and on the East Coast, particularly in the Boston area. Like the two coasts, Michigan’s seismic shift will happen not just because one industry fails. Rather, it will be a combination of government tax incentives, an existing knowledge base, and a groundswell of entrepreneurial and VC activity around green business, much of which is generated through the University of Michigan — just as Stanford, MIT and other leading universities have helped foster innovation in their own backyards.

By Sam Lines

Full Story: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/10/05/michigan-experiment-rust-belt-state-strives-green-makeover