Well I was pleased to hear the headline when I was doing a little morning news briefing today. Google is going to open a Research Center in Ann Arbor, which is where University of Michigan (Larry Page’s alma mater) is located. Michigan is really in need of a boost in the tech industry and I couldn’t think of a company better than Google to lead the way.
Hopefully, what you will see, is the foundation for an amazing infrastructure, one which will prove to be beneficial for other leading edge technology companies to join the Michigan market.
This quote from the article in the Detroit Free Press sums up why this is so exciting:
If Michigan is to shed its Rust Belt image and avoid becoming an industrial backwater in the new global economy, it’s clear that the state must diversify and emphasize the strength of its research universities in producing scientists and engineers.
Oh and as a footnote, everybody says the founders of Google are from Stanford, which is true because they both received their Masters degrees there. But do not forget that one of the founders graduated from East Lansing (Michigan) High School and both of his parents are professors at Michigan State University (my alma mater) =)