On this crisp November Friday we were called to order by President Lisa Smith. Invocator Scott Watkins schooled us on how to give thanks this coming Thursday and in a nod to our brothers and sisters in France, we sang La Marseillaise a la Casablanca, and it sounded just like this www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJHJ_WfNgU. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Just a friendly reminder that freedom, culture, and ideology always triumph over tyranny and fear. Dave Trumpie made sure all of our visiting guests got their moment of fame with access to the mic. Diane Sanborn got a new joint, she must have burned out the old one. Nick Hereford and his wife brought new life into the world. As dey say in New York, “Better you dan me.”

 

Announcements: Rotary International President Ravi will help us celebrate our club’s 100th anniversary on June 23, 2016. Rumors that the Pope will join him waterskiing on the Grand River bearing an End Polio Now banner have only just begun to start. John Pence regaled us with suggested yacht names from November Birthtarians. Some of the more memorable yacht names: Farfrumpuken (Germany), Ship for Brains, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. $983 was contributed with more “checks in the mail.” Friday night was also Silver Bells in the City and the club commissioned a float built with the blood, sweat and tears of Tobi Lyon, Bill Moore, Todd Gute, Julie Pingston, Kurt Guter, Ken Beachler, Linda Lynch and Dave Trumpie. Jack Davis and Lisa Smith rode the float as our homecoming King and Queen.

 

There’s no noon meeting on Friday December 18th, but we will again have a Holiday Cheer event at the no tell hotel formerly known as the Sheraton. By majority vote, Rotarians have refused to call the hotel by its rightful new franchise name of the week. Special music of the day was once again provided by the musically inclined Haslett High School. Josh Gerry and Hannah Vogelsang provided a Disneyesque interlude with two numbers from Beauty and the Beast. Did I mention that Jack Davis and Lisa Smith rode the float as our homecoming King and Queen?

 

Our speaker of the day was Rob Fowler, President and CEO of the Small Business Association of Michigan. This was Fowler’s 4th time speaking to our group (trumped only by Mike Rogers, who was curiously here every two years just before the first Tuesday of November in even numbered years). The SBA set a goal of getting Michigan to be one of the top 5 entrepreneurial states in the US. Of course, when size matters, you need a yardstick to determine who the top 5 are. No such yardstick existed so SBA created one 12 years ago and has been doing side by side State comparisons ever since. State entrepreneurial scores are based on 120 metrics. Three categories of interest: Climate (in 2003 we were 47th, in 2013, 21st); Change (in 2003 we were 42nd, 2013, 12th); and, vitality (2003 we were 37th, 2013, 31st). Fowler noted Michigan made some fundamental changes, notably with tax structure and the move to tech industries. He also highlighted the Pure Michigan quality of life we all enjoy here. Infrastructure, notably the roads, continues to be an obstacle to future growth.

 

As for SBA’s future goals, Fowler would like to see: (1) an emphasis on entrepreneurial education. We coach athletes for football, no reason why we can’t train the next generation how to run a business. (2) Keep existing entrepreneurs in Michigan. (3) Commercialization of technolgy (we are 5th in private sector r & d and 8th in university sector r & d, but we fall to the middle of the pack when it comes to patents per thousand and patent royalty income. (4) Keep the gains we’ve made. President Smith thanked our speaker, offered him a cold glass of water filtered with one of our bio sand filters and gave him the Rotary four way test coin (an apropos gift for a lobbyist.  Do something memorable with your families this Thanksgiving!