Grade A Entrepreneurs

By Marylene Delbourg-Delphis @mddelphis

While Silicon Valley remains a powerful magnet for entrepreneurs, quite a few locations in the US also offer friendly entrepreneurial ecosystems. That’s definitely the case of Ann Arbor in Michigan, an incredibly energetic University town with a real quality of life, a highly educated workforce… and one of the best music organization in the country. Ann Arbor consistently makes the “Best Of” lists for education, culture, creativity and lifestyle – and Ann Arbor SPARK rightfully claims to be a “driving force in establishing the Ann Arbor Region as a desired place for business expansion and location.”

So, if you are an entrepreneur, here is a good reason to move to Michigan. Participate in the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, an international business plan competition designed to highlight Michigan as a great venue for innovation and business opportunity. “With more than $1 million in cash winnings, plus in-kind awards of services, staffing and software, the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition is the world’s largest business plan competition.”

The prizes are definitely worth it, with a grand prize of $500,000, $150,000 for the runner up, and nine additional prices of $25,000 for best in nine categories (Advanced Materials, Advanced Transportation, Alternative Energy, Defense & Homeland Security, Information Technology, Life Science, Medical Devices, Next Generation Manufacturing, Products and Services). So hurry: the first set if deliverables is due by October 6, 2010. Check the Eligibility & Rules as soon as you can (it’s a straightforward one-pager, easy to read and understand), as well as all the Deliverables & Dates. For complete details: http://www.confmanager.com/main.cfm?cid=2235&nid=14328

If you have never been to Michigan, buy a plane ticket and see the Ann Arbor region with your own eyes. Five years ago, I had no idea of what it looked like. I was born in France and I have lived in California for over twenty years – and now, I look for every single pretext to fly over there!

Winning this competition is an excellent reason to settle there — and no sacrifice at all! All the more so as Michigan has great business ties with virtually every part of the country, especially with California. Incidentally also, don’t forget that Larry Page was born in East Lansing (one hour away from Ann Arbor) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan!

Thanks to Jennifer Owens, Ann Arbor Spark’s vice president for business development, for alerting me on this remarkable initiative!