GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan - Michigan Municipal League CEO & Executive Director Dan Gilmartin will give the keynote address during the 3rd Annual Public/Private/Partnership (P3) Conference in Grand Rapids May 31. The event, taking place at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, is jointly sponsored by the Urban Land Institute of Michigan and the Michigan Municipal League. (Please note this event was originally scheduled to take place in April but has been rescheduled for May 31).

To register go here. This half-day event will begin at 8 a.m. with a breakfast and keynote address, and will continue through the morning with discussion panels, a case study, and the Metro Marketplace, where exhibitors from non-profit, development organizations, communities, and local governments can market their property listings, development plans, incentives, and services to developers and financiers, and the private sector can showcase their services to the public sector community.

The past two conferences in Rochester and Lansing have been overwhelming successes and attracted more than 450 of the state's leading real estate developers, investors, public officials, academics and professional service provider. Gilmartin will give the keynote address and discuss how to balance community wants with market realities. View the full agenda here.

"It's more important now than ever before that seemingly disparate groups find common ground to build communities that attract our young leaders to live, work, shop and play in Michigan."

Non-members of ULI can save $100 off membership when they register for this event at michigan.uli.org. For registration and sponsorship information, please contact ULI Coordinator, Shannon Sclafani at ssclafani@uli.org or (248) 807-1600. Click here for more details on registering for the event.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 and mbach@mml.org.

DEARBORN, Michigan - East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Jonesville, Livonia, Meridian Township, Tecumseh and Wixom have been identified as the top-performing communities at fostering entrepreneurial growth and economic development in a study by researchers at the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Center for Innovation Research (iLabs).

This is a great honor for these communities and League staff members Heather VanPoucker and Luke Forrest were there as the communities were recognized during a ceremony at University of Michigan-Dearborn Oct. 19. The recognition is part of the eCities 2010 program and honoring communities for entrepreneurship is consistent with the MML's Center for 21st Century Communities initiative. The initiative has identified eight assets that make for vibrant communities and entrepreneurship is one of those assets. Read more about the 21c3 effort here and here.

The annual eCities research project, which started in 2007, uses data supplied by the participants as well as other public records to assemble information on how they encourage entrepreneurial activity. The study looks at clustering, incentives, growth, policies, community, education and other factors. In total, 55 Michigan communities were recognized as developing a positive entrepreneurial climate.

The five star communities recognized were: City of Ann Arbor, City of Auburn Hills, City of Chelsea, City of Coldwater, City of East Lansing, City of Farmington Hills, City of Frankenmuth, Village of Jonesville, City of Litchfield, City of Marquette, City of Marshall, Meridian Township, City of Midland, City of Northville, Northville Township, City of Novi, Village of Oxford, Pittsfield Township, City of Rochester, City of Rochester Hills, City of Royal Oak, Scio Township, City of Southfield, City of Sterling Heights, City of Tecumseh, City of Troy, City of Wixom. and Ypsilanti Township.

The four-star communities honored were Ada Township, Alpine Township, Cascade Township, City of Dearborn, City of Farmington, Flint Township, City of Grand Rapids, City of Hillsdale, Holland Township, City of Howell, Independence Township, City of Lansing, City of Livonia, City of Madison Heights, Milford Township, City of Monroe, Plymouth Township, City of Romulus, City of Saline, City of Sturgis, Superior Township, City of Taylor, Thomas Township, Traverse City, City of Westland, Waterford Township and West Bloomfield Township.

View a press release about these awards here.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 or mbach@mml.org.

A new study by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) reports on the "Economic and Community Benefits of Local Bus Transit Service (Phase Two)." The statewide analysis concludes that public transit "saves money for riders," "alleviates traffic congestion," "expands mobility," "stimulates the economy," and "protects the environment," according to the report. Leaders of ongoing public transit improvement initiatives throughout Michigan can use the study's findings to advocate for their projects and argue the "economic and community benefits" of public transit systems - a good point that Grand Rapids Press writer Kyla King brings up in her recent article, entitled "Study shows every 10 public transit jobs creates six more jobs in Michigan economy."

King takes a look at what this equation means for Grand Rapids. "That translates to 523 people directly employed by The Rapid and 206 spin-off jobs. The study shows The Rapid creates $43 million in "social benefits" - the money saved by riders that they then spent on other things - in addition to the $31 million spent to operate the system," she reports. She also concludes that MDOT's study "could be key as The Rapid system looks to fulfill a 20-year improvement plan that will bring streetcars, speedy high-tech buses and routes that run more often until midnight and on Sundays," King writes.

Beyond creating jobs, the also study reports; "It is estimated that transit operations sustained more than 9,200 jobs and contributed about $1.08 billion in economic output in Michigan in 2008. Moreover, the re-spending of a portion of out-of-pocket cost savings by transit riders added $264.4 million to the Michigan economy."

Jennifer Eberbach is a professional journalist and writer. Find contact information on her website www.jenthewriter.info