BY THE NUMBERS: by institution

• aggregate
• in-state
• by institution

MSU PRODUCT CENTER PERFORMANCE STATISTICS
Fiscal Year 2005/2006

Customer Service Activity

Our latest fiscal year (7/1/05-6/30/06) saw strong participation numbers in all service offerings.  Agricultural producers and producer groups remain the largest segment of customers served by the Product Center.  Venture launches (both new businesses and new products for existing businesses) were strong at 39, bringing total launches since the Product Center was created to 50.

*Agricultural producers only; producers are shown in the totals for All Customers

Economic Impact

The 50 launches collectively represent a major addition to Michigan’s economy.

Recent Program Highlights

• The Product Center report, The Economic Status and Potential of Michigan’s Agri-Food System, was published in January 2006 and has been widely quoted and cited.  The key findings confirm the importance of Michigan’s agri-food system:  $60.1 billion in annual economic output, and 1.05 million jobs (24% of all Michigan employment).  The full report can be found at www.productcenter.msu.edu, under the Strategic Marketing Institute tab.
• The Product Center is overseeing and cooperating in a major study of Michigan’s potential for participating in the emerging bio-economy.  The study is being conducted by Centrec and will be completed in Fall 2006.

• The USDA Agriculture Innovation Center Grant was successfully completed at the end of March 2006.  This $1,000,000 grant was critical to fully establishing the programs of the center.  For Michigan, 39 of the 43 producer-related venture launches assisted by the Product Center were supported by the grant.

• The Product Center is carrying out a $300,000 USDA Rural Cooperative Development Grant for 2006.  We are currently assisting 5 existing cooperatives, 3 of which are receiving direct financial support to complete studies for their projects.  We are also working with 5 groups to investigate the formation of cooperatives to meet their goals.  We are providing funds for two of these groups to complete feasibility studies.  An education session for Michigan cooperative boards and managers was presented on September 7 and 8.  The program focused on cooperative finance and strategic planning.

• The Innovation Counselor Network (currently 24 counselors located around the state, most having a 20% time commitment) is set to expand and evolve.  With the cooperation of MSUE and local partners, we will be increasing the level of commitment for Innovation Counselors from 20% to at least 50%.  In addition, we are creating a new category called Innovation Educators who will help promote our programs locally and provide more limited services (less than 20% time commitment).  To increase the size of the network of counselors and educators, we will be training and certifying a new class of individuals by the end of January 2007.

• At top of the first page of this update, we have reproduced our new Product Center wordmark.  It is the center piece for a new marketing effort to let even more people know who we are.  Our website is in the process of being redesigned to be more customer-friendly.  New brochures and related marketing materials are also being developed.

• Our Second Annual Report is being written and will be published in early November.  We will shortly set a date to release the report as part of a Partners Appreciation event for the Michigan Partnership for Product Agriculture and our internal MSU partners.