Evaluation of the Michigan Energy Assistance Program: Successes and Options for Improvement
Michigan’s energy assistance programs support hundreds of thousands of low-income households each year. For many, these programs are the difference between heating their homes on the coldest of winter nights and having their services disconnected. Recognizing the need for a sustainable energy assistance model, in 2013, the state’s legislature created the Michigan Energy Assistance Program […]
Q&A: PSC’s Jon Beard discusses how much Michigan should be spending on its water infrastructure
Unseen infrastructure, such as water pipes, is vital despite going unnoticed. That’s why Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association enlisted PSC to determine how much Michigan was investing in its underground infrastructure and whether that investment was sufficient to meet necessary repairs and replacements.
PSC turns a fun, friendly competition into a statewide behavior-change program for small businesses
In January 2017, we refreshed our brand, giving PSC a refined focus and sunny new look. Now, we’re doing the same for Bright Ideas. To start, we created a new tagline: What 45+ policy geeks are thinking, reading and doing. That’s because Bright Ideas is our muse – a place where we can not only stay […]
Thank You Ken Sikkema
At Public Sector Consultants (PSC), we are fortunate that clients regularly hire us to do interesting and important public policy work that moves Michigan forward. Every now and then, our staff members are also called upon to work pro bono on consequential topics that directly touch people’s lives. For example, PSC senior policy fellow Ken […]
Engaging Detroit: URC’s Contributions to Resurgence in the Motor City
Detroit is Michigan’s iconic city, with a diverse population and a rich cultural history. Its innovation helped create the auto industry and America’s middle class. Michigan’s University Research Corridor (URC) is an alliance of Michigan State University (MSU), the University of Michigan (U-M), and Wayne State University (WSU). The URC ranks as one of the […]
Data visualization: PSC helps longtime client explore this new frontier
Data can be used to make decisions and drive change, but only if it can be easily accessed, understood and manipulated. That’s why Public Sector Consultants (PSC) utilizes Tableau, an interactive software program that allows the firm’s clients to have the data they need in a way that is easy to visualize, use and share. […]
Eight placemaking assets show economic promise for Michigan communities
With so many headlines broadcasting the challenges facing our cities — from struggling schools, crumbling infrastructure and a lack of affordable housing to food insecurity and precarious finances — it is unclear whether city managers and local government officials have any arrows left in their quivers to sustain and revitalize their communities. Leaders of smaller […]
Michigan’s Water Infrastructure Investment Needs
PSC evaluated the adequacy of water infrastructure investment in the state, determining the funding necessary to upgrade statewide systems and facilities to meet current standards while also evaluating whether the current investments made by communities are adequate to address challenges.
Striving for more graduates in Michigan
This article originally appeared in Capital Gains, an online magazine and website showcasing the growth and investments transforming the Lansing region, on February 24, 2016. It has been edited by PSC staff for this reprint in Bright Ideas. Ezekiel Moreno, a college adviser at Everett High School in Lansing Jeff Guilfoyle of Public Sector Consultants Brandi Johnson of the Michigan […]
Leveraging Michigan’s natural resources for economic development
As any Michigander knows, our state has abundant and diverse natural resources that everyone can enjoy. These resources contribute significantly to the state’s culture, history, identity and economy—attracting visitors, residents and businesses to the state. Michigan is not, however, a top ten state in terms of its natural resource economy (i.e., an economy based on […]