The theme depicted by this month’s cover is one of my favorites, as this issue highlights a passion of mine: entrepreneurship. The prevailing opinion today would indicate that most of the jobs coming to Michigan are those in support of small businesses. Presently, big business would appear to be shrinking and small business to be expanding.

This is exemplified by the spirit of entrepeneurship creating success for the people you will read about here.  In many ways they are fighting against difficult odds in these challenging times.  But they are succeeding and flourishing, expanding the job opportunities in the Greater Lansing area.

Micro-enterprise funding hadn’t received much publicity until the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for success in micro-lending, issuing loans of small monetary amounts, for starting small businesses, all of which led to amazing [is this too strong an adjective?] success in creating opportunities for literally hundreds of [again, too strong?] people to realize their entrepeneurial dream.  Our cover story is particularly gratifying to me, because I’ve known the folks featured here since they came out of the local micro-enterprise fund run by Denise Peek [Please check spelling].  They were willing to take the risk, and then to diligently work toward creating and sustaining a successful enterprise.   Small business owners are close to the marketplace and in a unique position to observe, to discover those little niches of market opportunity, and to adapt and respond rapidly.  What a sense of accomplishment these people certainly must feel as they find their business dream moving to reality—and then to experience ongoing success.  I am very proud of the area’s entrepreneurs and what they bring to our community.  They are a large part of a strong economic future, and I feel certain you will enjoy reading about them.

We here at the magazine wish them—and you—a very prosperous month.

		Chris Holman Publisher