This point cannot be labored enough: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office affirmed Detroit's growing manufacturing and knowledge economy by opening its first-ever satellite location in Detroit. Metromode examines the U.S.P.T.O's activities in the region, and what its presence means for the area's economy.

Lots of creative ideas and investments for transforming communities around the nation are meeting with economic success, and can be used as models for others to replicate. Issue Media Group launches a monthly series that asks: "What's working in cities?" At bat, a creative incubator that's winning fans in Chattanooga, TN.

"Game changing technologies". "Thinking outside the box". "Bucking the status quo". Business is big on innovative jargon, but what does it really take to remake the economic landscape? Whether it was the automobile a hundred years ago or last year's iPad, disruptive thinking is more than just risk-taking entrepreneurship, it's the business of course-altering creation. And the financial impacts are staggering.

James Studinger is the owner of the JPStudinger Group, a wealth-management company. James was an instrumental advisor on Michigan's new 529 College Savings Plan and is the author of Wealth Is a Choice. James will be writing about building wealth through and outside business in Michigan's tough economy.

Garrett Myers is the founder and Managing Director of the Gateway Group, a technology strategy consulting firm. Garrett has worked for start-ups, started companies, and raised venture capital money in both Boston and Detroit. He'll be writing about the entrepreneurial and VC cultural differences between the East Coast, West Coast and Michigan.

Mike is president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK. A passionate advocate for the transformation of Michigan's high-tech economy he also managed the MEDC’s $1 billion Michigan Life Sciences Corridor initiative between 2000 and 2002. Mike will be wriing about who's making a difference in the Michigan and why.