President Rebecca brought the meeting to order with the Rotary Bell and all rose to recite the four-way test. Craig Stiles gave the reflection focusing on how he incorporates the Rotary four-way test in raising his children and how they navigate their lives filled with choices and interact with others in their lives. The club than sang “My Country Tis of Thee”.
Tiffany Brown roamed the room with the mighty LCC Cube of Audio to allow for the introduction of guest and visiting Rotarians. President Rebecca resumed her perch at the podium to inquiry if anyone has any news on the health of the club, the silence was golden as all appears good with the members and their family’s health.
Courtney Millbrook introduced today’s special music, Patrick Johnson, principal pianist with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Michigan Philharmonic. Patrick performed three preludes, two of which were written by Jared Miller, another member of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. The first was titled “Dissonance” and the second was titled "Imperfect Consonance”. The last prelude was written by Chopin commonly referred to as “The Raindrop Prelude”.
President Rebecca delivered the club announcements starting with congratulating Julie Pingston on receiving the 2025 Legacy Award which honors leaders in the Michigan tourism industry. The Delta-Waverly Rotary Club is hosting their annual golf outing on August 7th, details can be found in the weekly Rotogram.
Sam Tucker presented April birthdays noting a 93% participation rate and raised $1,300. Sam’s question was “What is your favorite birthday tradition?" President Rebecca – no chores on your birthday, Julie Pingston – cake with a character theme, Bill Frysinger – his mom’s vinegar pie and sauerbraten (the recipes are below in the Download Files) and finally Sam Tucker – his wife rents an Airbnb for a destination family celebration.
Chris Holman rose to introduce today’s guest speaker Brian Calley, CEO and President of the Small Business Association of Michigan. Brian presented our club with an overview of the 2025 Entrepreneurship Scorecard. The scorecard looks at a 20-year window of data for businesses in all demographics in the Michigan economy. The current report encompasses data from 2004 to 2024.
Brian started by noting that in Michigan 81.9% of these businesses have 1-9 employees (stage 1 businesses) and 99.8% have fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses provide over 50% of Michigan private sector employment. Businesses employing 10-99 individuals (stage 2) account for almost 38% of Michigan jobs, followed by businesses with 100-499 individuals (stage 3) at 27.5% of private sector jobs.
The data over the 20-year period also indicates that these small businesses are more resistant to economic downturns, such as what we experienced during the pandemic. The data showed that while there was a decline in jobs during the pandemic, they have since rebounded, with stage 1 businesses experiencing the slightest decline during the pandemic. Brian noted that while large businesses with over 500 employees tend to be able to hire quicker when the economy rebounds, they tend to shed jobs quicker during recessions and economic downturns.
Additionally, on the small business front Michigan is in the top five states with a 5-year survival rate during and after a recession. Michigan has also shown growth in women owned and minority owned businesses over the 20-year period increasing from 29.6% to 35.5% for women owned businesses and from 10.5% to 18.3% for minority owned businesses. Although Brian noted that minority owned business growth is lagging compared to the national economic data.
After a brief time for questions, the meeting was wrapped up by President Rebecca, until we meet again next Friday.
Email for Tim Adams: Tadams@manercpa.com