Finally some Good News for Michigan

The press release below is not for our immediate area (here in Northeast Michigan), but it is good news for Michigan. Let's hope that we have a big announcement (Wolverine) soon too!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2009; Contacts: see below.

MSU Named Home to IBM Global Delivery CenterIBM supports creation of state technology corridor

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, on behalf of the state of Michigan, and IBM (NYSE: IBM), in close partnership with Michigan State University (MSU), today announced the creation of a global delivery center for application services to be located on the MSU campus in East Lansing. The global delivery center will be the first of its kind in the U.S. for IBM. The center will provide innovative application development and support services to modernize older and less efficient IT systems for state and local government agencies and universities. Additionally, IBM will accommodate work from telecommunications, health care and other U.S.-based clients in the center with a focus on modernizing IT applications through process excellence, tooling automation, and asset re-use. “We are working hard every day to grow our economy and create jobs,” said Governor Granholm. “This center is an outstanding example of a project that brings together economic development, educational opportunity, and jobs in a way that can help transform our economy in the 21st century.” IBM will collaborate with MSU professors to educate students and recent graduates on the application development techniques that will help to create a workforce prepared to lead in the current economic environment. “Michigan State University shares the bold vision for the role technology plays in building a diverse 21st century economy, said MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. “Our partnership with IBM will involve a multidisciplinary approach that leverages the intellectual assets of several colleges, including business, engineering, natural science, and social science.” Michigan State University is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. “Like IBM, MSU has a long tradition of and commitment to international engagement,” said Simon. “Our understanding of the global environment makes us the ideal partner for this project.” Students studying computer science, supply chain, and engineering will be candidates for employment by programs in the IBM global delivery center.

“Combining our own expertise in services and application development, this agreement builds on a successful long-term relationship between IBM, MSU and the state of Michigan,” said Charles L. Prow, managing partner government, IBM Global Business Services. “This project demonstrates Michigan’s pledge to use technology to improve agency services as well as a commitment to create highly skilled job opportunities for its citizens.” The project supports Granholm’s vision to create a technology corridor that uses highly skilled workers as a means to generate job growth and improve the economic base in the state. Establishment of the center will help to centralize application support and increase efficiencies. In its network of global delivery centers, IBM has a set of integrated tools, processes and disciplines that will be transplanted to the Michigan center to deliver superior applications for clients. Support from the city of East Lansing, Lansing Economic Area Partnership (Leap), MSU Federal Credit Union (MSUFCU) and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation was a key factor in IBM’s decision to locate this project in Michigan. “This is a huge opportunity for our region,” said Denyse Ferguson, Leap’s president and CEO. “We’re thrilled to welcome IBM and everything they’re bringing in terms of jobs, opportunities for students, and support for our IT sector.” IBM expects to begin operations in the first quarter of this year in the MSU Federal Credit Union building on campus, as the credit union has relocated its headquarters to another location. The state estimates that the move by IBM to bring jobs and employees to Michigan as part of the new center will create up to 1,500 new direct and indirect jobs over the next five years, with 100 new direct jobs by June 2009.