Notable News

A new Internet website created to help small businesses succeed and become more profitable recently came online. Advertising 180.net, a subscription service headquartered in Lansing, was developed to provide innovative, effective and affordable instruction on advertising how-to’s for businesses that need successful advertising to better compete but may not be able to afford the services of professionals.

Many associations and chambers of commerce throughout Michigan have already endorsed Advertising180.net as an effective business resource for their members.

For more information on Advertising180.net, contact Tom Helderman at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 517-374-6600.

The East Lansing Technology Innovation Center (TIC) has launched a new Virtual Tenant Program, which will further extend the support and resources offered at the TIC to a larger community of entrepreneurs. Essentially, virtual tenants will be offered all the perks of a traditional TIC membership with the exception of office space. Those interested in becoming a virtual tenant can contact Smith at 517-319-6861 or 517-420-1670.

Although the Virtual Tenant Program has just launched, the TIC has already signed its first virtual tenant: Gravity Works Design & Development. Gravity Works is a full-service website design and development company.

Learn more about Gravity Works at www.gravityworksdesign.com.

Lansing Board of Water & Light tap water has been judged one of the world’s best-tasting municipal waters, according to results of a recent international competition.

BWL water placed fourth in competition with 43 other municipal water­ systems. Awards were handed out recently at the 20th annual Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting competition in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

The event is considered the world’s largest water-tasting competition. The BWL has more than 120 deep wells that tap into the Saginaw Aquifer, located several hundred feet below the surface. The water is piped to the BWL’s two water-conditioning plants, and then is distributed to more than 55,000 customers through 784 miles of water mains.

The BWL provides about 23 million gallons of clean, safe drinking water to its customers every day.

Join the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management and Michigan State University for their breakfast series, Business and Bagels, a series of seminars providing a setting for faculty and staff to share recent and compelling research; along with unique information that can benefit the local business community.

On Wednesday, April 28 at the James B. Henry Center for Executive Development in East Lansing, Richard A. Spreng, associate professor of marketing at the Eli Broad School of Management will present, “Managing Your Customer Relationships to Enhance Profitability.” Attendees will learn how to measure satisfaction and present the results for maximum impact.

The program runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and includes bagels, presentation and a Q & A session. The cost is $25 per person, or $20 if three or more from the same organization attend. To register, call 517-353-8711 or visit www.bus.msu.edu/execed.