Walt Sorg interviews Caitlin Dewey of Kiplinger magazine on why they chose Lansing as one of "10 Great Cities for Young Adults". 

 Excerpt from the November Greater Lansing Forward. Read other articles from November here. 

 Click here to listen to Pam and Sara talk about the regional headline video, Next American City and the Greater Lansing Regional Entrepreneurial Collaborative grant. 

 Julie Pingston of the GLCVB gives an update about the Certified Tourism Ambassador program. 

 The First Impressions Strategy Team, in collaborate with many others, is leading an initiative to connect college students with our regional community.  Several initiatives are already in place to connect with local businesses for internships and mentorships; however, we need to do a better job “selling our community” as a great place to live and play, as well as work.  Studies increasing point to the fact that college graduates are first choosing WHERE to live, then finding empl...

Working with neighboring municipalities in the core urban area of Greater Lansing, members of the Placemaking and First Impressions Action Teams have proposed the creation of a regional signage and wayfinding plan, and to find innovative and sustainable ways to fund its implementation and maintenance.  It is more cost effective to broaden the scope of the project and split the fixed costs associated with its rollout - it may be too expensive to tackle alone, but pooled resources will lessen...

The team has been working on developing a plan for an initiative called “Taking Pride in Greater Lansing”  in which community members identify places in the region that are considered detrimental to presenting a positive first impression, and then teams or groups of volunteers gather to improve them. The projects could range from simple spring and fall landscaping cleanups to physical repairs at highly visible entryways through the community.  We will plan for and promote a community d...

Throughout the year, the team has been working on a plan to implement the use of this brand to regional partners in the form of a “toolkit” to create cohesive branding of the region to visitors and newcomers. Elements of the toolkit will include brand usage standards, signage templates, frames for advertising, the regional brand video, guidelines to utilize the regional brand with local community branding efforts, and other suggestions for usage. The team has continued to brainstorm ways to begi...

The CTA program is led by the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the First Impressions team participated in the very first training program, and were also trained to serve as facilitators for future community participants.  This program is a national one, and our region is one of 15 across the country who have embraced this curriculum.  The four-hour course is designed to equip our front-line service employees to promote the region and present a positive first impressi...