It has often been said often that Lansing and, for that matter mid-Michigan, suffers from an image crisis. Let’s put it to rest now. This image crisis is nothing more than an imagined crisis. It’s as if we have been looking at ourselves in a funhouse mirror for a long, long time instead of a real mirror. Looking with a proper reflection will tell us who we are as a community, how we should be defined, and what others should know about us. We are, of course, Michigan’s capital city, but we are so much more.  Bragging right include:

Education capital

Mid-Michigan is home to one of the finest and largest research universities in the world; namely, Michigan State University. MSU is the pioneer land grant college in the United States, and the prototype for all other land grant colleges and universities. MSU, a member of the Big Ten Conference, offers more than 200 programs of study, including three medical schools (the only university in the nation with three medical schools) and a law school. MSU attracts students from all 50 states and more than 125 nations and boasts one of the largest foreign exchange student programs in the world. In 2001, MSU was listed as a “Public Ivy” (public school of Ivy League caliber) by Greene’s Guide.

Our community is home to not one, but two law schools. The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, headquartered and founded in Downtown Lansing, is the largest law school in the nation. Cooley attracts a large percentage of year-round, out-of-state students and has students and/or graduates representing all 50 states.

Lansing Community College offers more than 200 degree and certificate programs and is a nationally recognized leader in community college education. LCC serves more than 40,000 students per year. LCC recently broke ground on a multi-million dollar University Center that will allow students to complete their bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at LCC’s Downtown Lansing campus.

Insurance capital

Our community is home to no less than four national insurance companies, including Auto Owner’s, Jackson National Life, Michigan Millers, and Accident Fund. Mid-Michigan also has many other insurance companies including Delta Dental Plan of Michigan and Michigan Farm Bureau.

21^st Century automotive capital

Lansing’s rich automotive history dates back to approximately 1897 when a young Ransom Eli Olds built his first factory. From those humble beginnings Lansing has been a world leader in automotive manufacturing and technological breakthroughs. Unlike the heavy smokestacks of the past, Lansing’s two new “green” General Motors assembly plants are more like laboratories that are extremely high-tech and energy efficient. The Delta plant completed in 2006 is a gold certified facility from the Green Building Council and has set aside 75 acres of land as wildlife habitat. Its roof is white to reflect sunlight and heat, and rainwater collected from the roof is used in plant bathrooms. This plant uses no ozone-depleting substances in its building equipment. These green efforts have received worldwide recognition, making the Delta plant the only automotive manufacturing plant in the world to ever receive any level of LEED certification.

State Capital

Lansing is the state capital of Michigan, since 1847. The present Capitol building was built in 1879 and lovingly restored in the early 1990s. All three branches of government and most of the state agencies and lobbying firms are located in or near Lansing. The beautiful Hall of Justice, which houses the Michigan Supreme Court and a Court of Appeals, is located directly west of the Capitol building on an attractive pedestrian mall.  Being the state capital, Lansing also serves as caretaker of Michigan’s history with the architecturally significant Michigan Historical Museum and Library of Michigan. The library houses one of the top genealogical research facilities in the nation and is often frequented by scholars and researchers

Events capital

Mid-Michigan is home to many of Michigan’s best and most visited events. The Common Ground Festival and Silver Bells in the City annually attract more than 80,000 visitors to Lansing. The East Lansing Art Festival, started in 1964, also attracts more than 80,000 art enthusiasts annually. Jazz Fest and Blues Fest in Lansing’s historic Old Town attract more than 20,000 visitors annually. Other great festivals and events include the East Lansing Film Festival, Oktoberfest, Festival of the Sun, the REO Town Music Festival, and Shakespeare in the Park.

In 2006, the Wharton Center for Performing Arts was recognized as the fifth most visited performing arts venue in the world. Mid-Michigan is also home to numerous live theater companies including BoarsHead Theatre, the Riverwalk Theatre, the Lansing Civic Players, Icarus Falling, along with numerous other excellent local theater companies. The Lansing Symphony Orchestra has been entertaining audiences in mid-Michigan and beyond since 1927. Of course, perhaps the biggest events of all are MSU Big Ten Conference athletics.

A capital place to live and work

Hopefully, we have replaced the fun house mirror with a mirror of proper reflection, and we see that mid-Michigan is the only metropolitan area of its size in the nation that boasts a state capital, supreme court, appellate court, federal court, state library, state historical museum, four national insurance companies, high-tech green automotive manufacturing, two law schools, and a major international research university with no less than three medical schools. These fine institutions tell us a lot about mid-Michigan, and they tell us even more about the high-grade, knowledgable workers who dedicate themselves to these institutions, the people of Mid-Michigan.

Siena Capital Management is proud to call mid-Michigan home.  Our community is truly a capital place to live and work.

		Stephen L. Hicks, JD, MS, AIF® and Roger L. Millbrook, JD, CPA/PFS, are fee-only fiduciary investment advisors and principals of Siena Capital Management, LLC and Siena Accounting Services, Inc.