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The Greater Lansing Region

Located in the center of the great lakes state is a community where people are committed to living life to the fullest and where business thrives.  The Greater Lansing region in Michigan offers a range of opportunity.  Incubation and innovation, renowned research capabilities with global connectivity, leading edge employers, incredible talent and abundant resources await you.  If your business is ready to make the connection to great things in a great place, we invite you to choose Greater Lansing.

Greater Lansing THRIVE

 

The business-friendly location that your employees will be happy to call “home”
Located in south-central Michigan, and within a two-hour drive of 90% of the state’s population, the Greater Lansing area offers easy access to the Midwest—and the world!—and is one of the region’s most affordable places to work and live.

Historically a hub for industry, academia and government, Greater Lansing has broadened its horizons and is now a leader in a wide variety of categories including healthcare, IT, insurance and more.  We offer a diverse, well-educated and growing population, plus ready access to one of the world’s premier education resources: Michigan State University. Add in excellent healthcare and K-12 education, plus affordable housing and a wide range of cultural and recreational opportunities, and a Greater Lansing location makes sense for your business and your employees. 

Contact Leap, Inc. today to learn more about the difference a Greater Lansing location can make for your company. We look forward to working with you.

Location

Located in south-central Michigan, the Greater Lansing region is within a two-hour drive of 90% of Michigan’s population, and within a day’s drive of a substantial portion of the U.S. population.  A strong multi-modal transportation network makes it easy to move production materials or finished products, and connects you with suppliers, customers and employees.

Transportation

Our region has an exceptional transportation network.

Highways:
Our well-maintained highway network makes it easy to connect within Michigan and to nearby states.

Major area highways:

• I-96
• I-69
• I-496
• Regional highways:
• US 27
• M 99
• M 43

Rail:
Our area is a main line for Canadian National and CSX.

Air Service:
We have six airports within 70 miles, including the Capital Regional International Airport right here in Lansing and one of the nation’s largest airports: Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Motor Carriers:

• 45 general freight carriers
• 21 specialized resources.

 

Utilities

The Greater Lansing region has plentiful power supplies across categories and multiple provider options for communication services.

Electricity

Lansing Board of Water & Light
www.lbwl.com
(517) 702-6006

Consumers Energy
www.consumersenergy.com
(800) 477-5050

Natural Gas

Consumers Energy
www.consumersenergy.com
(800) 477-5050

Mxenergy
www.mxenergy.com
(800) 785-4373

Steam

Lansing Board of Water & Light
www.lbwl.com
(517) 702-6006

Internet and Telephone

ACD.net
www.acd.net
(517) 999-9999

Arialink
www.crt.net
(517) 492-1350

AT&T U-verse
www.att.com/uverse
(800) 288-2020

Comcast
www.comcast.com
(800) 266-2278

EarthLink
www.earthlink.net
(800) 327-8454

McLeodUSA
www.mcleodusa.com
(800) 500-3453

TDS Metrocom
www.tdstelecom.com
(877) 208-5111

Telephone-VOIP

Lingo
www.lingo.com
(866) 571-9722

Vonage
www.vonage.com
(800) 583-9518

Water

Lansing Board of Water & Light
www.lbwl.com
(517) 702-6006

 

An affordable cost of doing business

In its national cost-of-doing business index, the Milken Institute ranked the State of Michigan as 20th in the country:

	Michigan stats	Index score*
Wage and salary cost per employee	$41,697	99.5
State tax revenue as a share of personal income	69.4	106 .7
Cost of commercial/industrial electricity in cents per kilowatt-hour	7.1	95 .9
Square-foot cost of industrial space	4.3	87 .9
Square-foot cost of office space	18.6	92 .7
Cost of doing business index		98.9

*An index score of 100 means the state is equal to the US average; a number lower than 100 means the state’s cost is less than the national average

Plus! Our cost of living is 21% lower than national averages!

Business-Centric Tax Structure

We’re committed to creating a business-friendly environment and here’s an excellent example: the Michigan Business Tax (MBT), which has saved Michigan businesses over $1 billion in taxes.

MBT Highlights

Business Income Tax	4.95%
Gross Receipts Tax	0.8%
Surcharge: applied to apportioned income and gross receipts tax before credits	21.99%
Apportionment Factor	100% Sales
Filing Threshold	$350,000
Investment Tax Credit*	2.9%
Compensation Credit	0.37%
R&D Credit*	1.9%
Industrial Personal Property Tax Credit**	35%

*Combined ITC and Compensation Credit cannot exceed 50% of tax liability in 2008 and 52% in tax years thereafter. The combined ITC, Compensation Credit and R&D credit cannot exceed 65% of liability in 2008 and beyond.

**Not available on leased property.

Healthcare

The Greater Lansing Region has some of the country’s best healthcare resources.

Sparrow Health System
www.sparrow.org

• 4 hospitals, 1 affiliated hospital and dozens of care centers/clinics
• Level 1 Trauma Center
• Recognized as a Magnet Hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center—an honor held by only 5% of hospitals nationwide
• Received both Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and American Osteopathic Association’s Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program

Ingham Regional Medical Center (Affiliated with Michigan State University)
www.irmc.org

• Rated among the top 5% of non-government, acute care hospitals nationwide by HealthGrades
• More than 30 affiliated practices and teaching clinics
• Michigan State University Colleges of Human Medicine, Nursing and Osteopathic Medicine
• Gives the region access to the latest innovations in primary and specialty services

McLaren Regional Medical Center
www.mclaren.org

• Affiliated with Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• One of the Top 100 Hospitals nationwide
• Numerous Centers for Excellence including: heart and vascular, cancer, trauma/emergency, orthopedic and medical rehabilitation

Great Lakes Cancer Institute
www.glci.com

• Joint venture between Michigan State University and McLaren Health Care.
• Provides some of the country’s best, most innovative cancer care

 

Education

Education is a regional priority. More than 26% of area residents have college degrees, and we are home to some of the country’s most well-respected universities, including Michigan State University. 

	Lansing/East Lansing	United States	Michigan
Less than 9th grade	3.2%	7.5%	4.7%
9th to 12th; no diploma	8.1%	12.1%	11.9%
High school grad (including equivalent)	26.6%	28.6%	31.3%
Some college; no degree	25.6%	21.0%	23.3%
Associate degree	8.1%	6.3%	7.0%
Bachelor’s degree	16.9%	15.5%	13.7%
Graduate or professional degree	11.5%	8.9%	8 .1%
Total	100%	100%	100%

Source: US Census Bureau

Our K-12 schools meet the needs of a diverse and multi-faceted student population with an exceptional mix of public, private and charter school options.

Learn more about the three school districts that make up our area:

Clinton: michigan.schooltree.org/Clinton-County-Schools.html
Eaton: michigan.schooltree.org/Eaton-County-Schools.html
Ingham: michigan.schooltree.org/Ingham-County-Schools.html

Michigan State University (MSU)—Your partner in innovation, research and business success

Thousands of local businesses have leveraged the knowledge and resources of this exceptional university to create economic success. No matter what your industry, experience or size, access to MSU can help make your business better.

• Ranked 30th among public universities (U.S. News & World Report, 2009)
• 460,000+ living alumni worldwide—imagine the networking possibilities!—and more than 46,000 students in 2008-2009
• World-renowned for research
• Most Rhodes Scholars in the Big 10 for the past 25 years
• Nuclear research program second only to MIT
• 14 different degree-granting schools and colleges, including three medical schools, law school and numerous Ph.D. programs

Other exceptional education resources include:

Thomas M. Cooley Law School

• Largest law school in the U.S.
• Ranked #12 nationally in Judging the Law Schools

Lansing Community College (LCC)

• 40,000 students
• 300 areas of study including 240+ associate degree and certificate programs
• Two-year transfer programs

 

Major Employers

Company	Product/Service	Employees
Sparrow Health System	Healthcare	7,400
General Motors	Automotive	6,000
Ingham Regional Medical Center	Healthcare	2,500
Meijer	Retail Store	2,000
Auto-Owners Insurance Company	Insurance	1,500
Jackson National Life Insurance Company	Insurance	1,393
EDS	Data services	660

Incentives

The Greater Lansing region is extremely committed to creating a business-friendly environment and offers incentives in a wide variety of categories including:

• Brownfield
• Capital access programs
• Film tax credits
• Industrial development revenue bonds
• Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) tax credits
• Michigan entrepreneurial credits
• Renaissance zone credits
• SBA 7 (a) loan programs
• Tax abatement
• Tax incremental financing
• Tax-exempt bond project financing
• Training assistance and grants