Just What the Doctor Ordered

Diplomat Pharmacy, headquartered in Flint, has been named one of the fastest growing companies in the nation by Inc. magazine for the fourth year in a row. Jeremy Allen of mlive reports: "After a three year growth of 185 percent — going from $270.8 million in revenue in 2008 to $772 million in 2011 — Diplomat ranked 1,585 out of the 5,000 businesses to make the list. To qualify, companies apply by providing relevant financial records and a general description of their business."

(My apologies for that headline.)

Coming Home to Michigan

MichAGAIN is working to get expatriates to return home to the Great Lake State.

Solution to a Flint Fantasy: Inflatable Buildings

The German architecture firm Raumlabor brings Spacebuster to NYC.

I know Flint has enough real worries without having to deal with hypothetical problems. But what happens if the city, in its zeal to downsize, overdoes it? Then, when the Flint economy finally blossoms, we'll be left with a housing shortage. (Let's not speculate on what will prompt Flint's economic miracle; I'm not that much of a visionary.) People from the southwest might flood Flint when their water supply dries up, along with their jobs. If that ever happens, inflatable buildings may be the answer.

A Daily Dose of Architecture has a nice overview of bulbous inflatable structures that bring back memories of John Travolta's 1976 made-for-TV classic The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. At least we have one of the potential problems of an economic boom solved.

Bringing people downtown

More small steps that might add up to real change in Flint:

"Thousands of car buffs and enthusiasts gathering to admire shiny rides and the years of memories they elicit," reports Melissa Burden of The Flint Journal.

"Hundreds of people enjoying a concert, sampling food and drinks on a warm summer day.

"They're part of a grassroots group's vision to pack downtown Flint with a festival or event every weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2009, piggybacking off several successful and highly attended downtown events this past summer.

"Steve Casner, owner of Casner Insurance Agency Inc. in Flint Township, and four other people who share a love of cars have been talking for more than a year about bringing more events and festivals downtown. The group -- which includes a physician and a teacher -- would like to see the events bring in 10,000 or more people each weekend."

Thankfully, it does not appear that drag racing will find a spot on the Flint calendar.

The greening of Flint

Is wind farming in Flint's future?

The Green Tech Gazette reports:

"But, now the windy Great Lakes region may start to be populated by powerful generators of renewable energy. A man named Steve Smiley (how can you not like this name?) envisions the Saginaw Bay area of east Michigan sprouting wind power in the near future.

"Smiley has already helped construct two other wind turbines in Michigan in the Mackinaw and Traverse areas. According to the local wind maps that show where consistent corridors of high winds prevail, the territory they harbor is over the water.

"According to Smiley, part of the infrastructure to build the needed wind turbines exists in Flint, Michigan which will make the residents there plus Michael Moore very happy people."