Earlier this week, I wrote a post on Michigan’s new low-profit limited liability company, or “L3C”.  From Matt Roush’s The Great Lakes IT Report today comes this:

New ‘L3C’ aims to help nonprofits with technology
Michigan’s third “low-profit limited liability corporation” is a new technology consultant for non-profit organizations. Ardent Cause L3C aims to supply technology products and business methods designed to make the work of nonprofits easier, as well as consulting services to strengthen nonprofit operations and teams. Ardent Cause was established by three Detroit-area technology veterans — Rosemary Bayer, formerly of Sun, Amdahl and CDC, Kathleen Norton-Schock, formerly of CA and Unisys, and Diane Cairns, graduate program developer …read more

If I said that the State of Michigan passed legislature last year that creates a new Low-Profit Limited Liability Company, many Michigan entrepreneurs might respond that they’ve already been operating one of these for years.

Nevertheless, Michigan’s newest entity, the Low-Profit Limited Liability Company, or L3C, is not designed for the struggling startup but, rather, to ease the tax and regulatory burden of charitable foundations wanting to participate in community and economic development projects.

So, what exactly is an L3C and why do we need one?  The Council of Michigan Foundations sums it up perfectly:

The L3C’s unique structure allows foundations to invest by using an alternative to grants called program-related investments (PRIs) – a loan, loan guarantee, equity purchase …read more

A simple concept: startup culture in cities around the world gathers around a bar to have a pint and discuss what they are working on, what they need help with and what they can do for each other.

- startupdrinks.com

The next Detroit Startup Drinks event is August 26, 2009 from 6-8 p.m. at Slows Bar BQ in Corktown (2138 Michigan Avenue, Detroit).  The first beer is FREE (while supplies last) compliments of our generous sponsors Jason Brown and PublicCityPR.

Come on down and meet like-minded individuals looking to …read more

Ann Arbor New Tech is a group of people from various industries and backgrounds (e.g., entrepreneurs, technologists, investors, lawyers, marketers, students, etc.) interested in fostering local technology startups by organizing events, sharing resources, and building a supportive community.

Ann Arbor New Tech’s signature event takes place on the third Tuesday of each month, at 6 p.m., at Chesebrough Auditorium at UM’s Chrysler Center on North Campus.  The monthly event features three to five companies who are each given five minutes to demo and five minutes to answer questions.  Open announcements and networking follows.

This month’s meetup (on July 21st) features:

• Deryl Seale, Intel-Assess
• Steve Schwartz, RateMyStudentRental
• John Umbaugh, Noteworks
• Greg Schwartz, …read more