The Pure Michigan Talent Connect, found online at MiTalent.org, offers opportunities for workers to get their names out in the open and for business owners to post job openings.

The front page of the website posts easy-to-follow links that redirect Michiganders looking for work or seeking out potential employees to a “Job Portal,” where jobs are organized into different categories.

The site also boasts a “Career Events” page, which contains links to different job fairs around the state.

Michigan has one of the highest unemployment rates in the U.S. The most recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for November 2011, lists Michigan’s unemployment rate at 9.8 percent.

Isabella County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, at 5.7 percent. Nevertheless, Michigan Sen. Judy Emmons, who represents District 33, which includes Isabella County, urged unemployed workers to use the site.

“The comprehensive site is designed to help connect job seekers with employers, and I encourage all mid-Michigan workers who are unemployed or looking to get ahead to take advantage of this useful job search site,” Emmons said in a news release.

Pure Michigan Talent Connect also has tools for Michiganders looking for new career or educational paths. The “Career Matchmaker” tool is used to pair up an employer’s needs and a potential employee’s skill sets. The “Career Investment Calculator” is available to help those looking to find a new career path determine how much money it will cost them with any additional education that may be required.

The website also contains tools designed to help entrepreneurs start new businesses in Michigan and to help veterans find work and take full advantage of services available to them.

Shepherd resident Rich Nader has a drink and talks with Perrinton resident Amy Bradley Monday evening at Bennigans Grill & Tavern, 2424 S. Mission St. "We're on our first date and we're having a lot of fun," Nader said. Bennigans renovated the interior and exterior of the restaurant. (Jeff Smith/Staff Photographer)

Customers dining at Mount Pleasant’s Bennigan’s may notice some significant changes to the decor and atmosphere.

Bennigan’s, 2424 S. Mission St., was closed for two weeks in December during the renovation.

The restaurant’s management hoped the 21^st century decor would attract more customers, said CEO Jeff Neely.

“We wanted to present the residents and college students of Mount Pleasant a fresh new restaurant,” Neely said.

The restaurant was originally built between September 1996 and February 1997 by Konwinski Construction Inc., a company that has done projects with the food chain for more than 20 years. Bennigan’s had not gone through a corporate renovation since its grand opening.

Project Manager Joe Flemming said they started tearing down walls on Dec. 13 and finished the job 10 days later. The restaurant officially re-opened on Dec. 27.

“We worked hand-in-hand with the management staff,” Flemming said.

Meetings were held throughout the project so everyone knew what had to be done, Neely said.

One of the most astounding things about the project, Flemming said, was that they did a job that would have normally taken three months.

“The team coordinated the entire process together,” said Bennigan’s Division Manager Dave Kitchen. “This was a company effort.”

Before, the restaurant interior had been out-of date. Its last cosmetic renovation had been between five and 10 years ago, said General Manager Steve Mumich.

The bar had also felt closed-up because of the storage units hanging over customers’ heads, he said. Everything was torn down and the open space allowed them to add HD flat-screen TVs. An additional 30 seats were also added with the new furniture setting.

With the fashion-relevant interior design, Bennigan’s hopes to become more appealing to groups of all ages, Mumich said.

Aside from achieving great customer satisfaction, another goal was to keep up with the competition, he said.

The old bar tap system was changed and is now suspended from the ceiling, he said, which is supposed to serve people cleaner, tastier beer.

“They have some of those (prototypes) in California. I think we might be the first ones in Michigan to use them,” Mumich said.

Brent Skaggs, the owner of Spartan Pastabilities that operates the two Fazoli’s restaurants in Midland and Mount Pleasant, 211 S. Mission St., said there is a possibility of a Panera Bread franchise opening in the two locations, according to the report.

The report stated he did not find it economically suitable to renew the franchise operation after it expired, although the 15 years of business brought profits.

Skaggs said the bakery-café that serves bread, baked goods, salads, sandwiches and other café foods and drinks will open in March, and said he hopes for full operation in June, the report said.

Currently, Grand Blanc is the closest Panera Bread location in the Great Lakes Bay region.

But the state of the economy is a large factor in how much some businesses are expecting to profit during this year’s deer hunting season.

Russ Smith, owner of Smith and Sons Meat Processing, 5080 E. Broadway St., said the economy shouldn’t impact his business because there are still guys out spending money.

“Probably in a profit, about 60 percent of (our) profit comes in about one month out of the year because of deer season,” Smith said.

Alice Wheeler, owner of Ultimate Deer Hanger LLC in Remus, said the economy has taken a toll on her business.

“Because of the state of the economy, there is a lot less business than there should be,” she said. “But once the economy turns around, then this area will pick up also.”

Normally, business does pick up during hunting season, she said.

Wheeler said the year has been pretty slow because so many people have been out of work.

“Our hangers sell for $35 and if people need a hanger to hang their deer, they’re going to go to Wal-Mart and buy a $5 one,” she said. “It’s not as good as the ones we sell, but it gets the job done.”

MC Sports, 1416 S. Mission St., is another business that has an increase in revenue during hunting season.

MC Sports employee Scott Miniear said they get a lot more business because the outdoors department has only been there for about a year.

“Business goes pretty smooth during hunting season. It’s real busy and it attracts a lot of people in,” he said.

Miniear said the economy may impact business because licenses cost money and there are people out of jobs.

Wheeler is confident business will increase eventually.

“It’s just a matter of waiting for the economy to turn around,” Wheeler said, “then business will pick up quite a bit.”

Honorary business organization Beta Alpha Psi will host “Meet the Recruiters” night from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Bovee University Center Rotunda.

Participating companies, accounting firms and government agencies include the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, Auto-Owners Insurance Company and the Baker Tilly accounting firm.

The event is open to all majors but concentrates on students majoring in business, finance and computer-related fields.

Monroe senior and Beta Alpha Psi member Gabbrielle Webb said the event is geared toward juniors, but benefits all standings. She said it could also benefit seniors who are looking for internship opportunities and jobs.

Webb attended the event last year and was later able to get an interview with a company there.

“(The recruiters) give you an idea of what to expect out of graduation or how to search for these kinds of jobs,” she said. “It’s not just how to get into their firms.”

Beta Alpha Psi Vice President Isabelle Rose said the event is a chance to meet firm recruiters before an interview.

The Cheboygan senior said many of the firms interview potential candidates on campus and meeting the recruiters in person can make the interviewees more comfortable.

“It’s really a chance to meet them before you’re actually posed in front of them with your resume and they’re asking you technical questions,” Rose said.

Auto Owners Insurance recruiter Mark Hempsted, said his company provides students with a “career opportunity packet” including internship and full-time position information. Their corporate positions offer on-the-job training according to Hempsted.

He said Central Michigan University is high on their list of schools to hire students from in Michigan.

“(These events) are just another great opportunity to meet some more students,” Hempsted said.

Depending on his or her major, Central Michigan University students enter into very different job markets. A recent survey shows that students often end up working in areas outside of their specialization.

The highest employment rate is for those majoring in business, which had 93 percent of students surveyed find employment in their field. The lowest rate is for students majoring in liberal and applied arts, where only 74 percent of students surveyed found employment in their field.

CMU’s unemployment rate six months after graduation for students with bachelor’s degrees has increased approximately 8 percent in the past 10 years.

The employment numbers for CMU graduates are not completely accurate, since only approximately 35 percent of graduates typically reply to the survey. The actual percentages are probably lower.

“Most of the students who do (reply) are those who are very excited to share the job they have gotten, or those who haven’t gotten anything,” said Julia Sherlock, director of career services.

Students are sent email surveys six months after graduation, and if they do not reply, a paper copy is sent.

In 2000-01, 93 percent of CMU grads with bachelor’s degrees found employment or went onto graduate school six months after graduation. In the 2009-10 school year only 85 percent of students who graduated found employment or continued to graduate school, according to a survey conducted by the office of Career Services.

While there has been a significant drop between the job placement rates in the decade between the 2000-01 and the 2009-10 graduating classes, the 2009-10 job placement rates are down less than two percent from the 2008-09 school year when 86 percent of graduates found employment or continued on to graduate school.

Rudy Barron, 2011 graduate, was able to quickly find a job using his accounting degree.

“The job security was part of the reason I took the job,” Barron said. “I always knew I wanted to go into business, and if I got an accounting degree it was a good base to build off of.”

Saginaw senior John Ketchum said he is worried about finding a job after graduating in December because of the current economic climate.

Ketchum, graduating with a degree in broadcasting and cinematic arts, said he believes his experience from numerous internships, including National Public Radio, will help him obtain a job.

“Getting a full-time job in journalism is definitely going to be hard,” Ketchum said. “I will most likely work for two to three years, then go to graduate school and get certified to teach.”

Sherlock still believes that a CMU degree is indispensable, and students can still find jobs if they take advantage of the opportunities offered to them.

“A degree is an investment in yourself and it’s something that no one can take away from you,” she said.

- CM Life Senior Reporter Ben Harris contributed to this article.

To be honest, I couldn’t be more heartbroken.

Every Monday and Wednesday I go to SOC: 101: Social Justice in a Global Society. The last two class periods we discussed our notes on the book “Threads” by Jane L. Collins.

“Threads” discusses the global apparel industry, shipping jobs overseas and the conditions workers face in factories.

It wasn’t news to me that the world is not perfect, but some of the figures really put it in perspective.

Billion-dollar corporations are hiring workers for as little as 50 cents per hour, not because they can’t afford to pay more, but to make the largest profit.

These businesses have workers on their feet for extremely long hours in poorly lit and poorly ventilated buildings, but they do not bother changing anything.

The list of travesties goes on, but I’m not here for a book report. The real shock came from some of my classmates’ reactions.

The excuses and logic thrown around to justify the conditions baffled me.

Some students argued it was “just business.” Corporations are just trying to get ahead.

I see something truly wrong with that thinking. It’s not just business. It’s people’s lives. A company staying afloat is one thing, but making a couple hundred million more dollars at the expense of its employees is just wrong.

Another student argued we did not need to pay these workers as much because the standard of living is different.

“We live in houses while some of these workers remain in make-shift huts,” she said. “They don’t need as much to survive.”

Well, maybe they wouldn’t still be in huts if they made enough to live in a modern home and still afford food. Most of them don’t have that choice because of their income.

The final argument to leave me dumbfounded was that we were doing them a favor by providing any jobs at all, despite terrible conditions and unfair pay.

Seriously? That’s like saying you are glad someone kicked you in the shins instead of punching you in the face. You should just be grateful? I don’t think so.

At the end of it all I am left wondering how we got here. How are we even able to come up with these justifications?

What happened to empathy, compassion and putting people first?

I’m not claiming my viewpoint is superior on all subjects and I’m always right. I’m not even saying I have answers to fix the problem at hand.

I’m just talking about caring for humanity and doing the right thing.

To me that should be very clear cut, no excuses.

But to further Central’s vision as a nationally prominent university, I believe it needs to take a statewide initiative to implement a budgeting class for all freshman students.

The proposed initiative includes mandating all incoming freshman to take the FIN 201: Personal Finance course instead of an elective University Program course.

At his recent State of the Union address, President Obama made it clear that the devaluing of the dollar and America’s reliance on credit are both continuing and disconcerting issues as we steam ahead in 2011.

As a personal financial planning major, I understand the need for people to get financial advice as investing and budgeting are very complex topics.

In light of all this, I see a huge problem: My peers are out of touch of with what is going on around them.

The recent “Great Recession” will linger for years to come but unfortunately many are unaware of its severity.

I am the first to admit my generation should be called the “entitlement generation.” My peers feel they are entitled to certain things — Social Security, health benefits, a job, etc. — but in reality, these should not be viewed as guaranteed anymore.

In short, I believe my peers are spoiled brats.

I’m worried about the non-business school students who don’t get the same views on economy and politics that I or my fellows get. I’m worried they don’t realize the implications of financial aspects of life such as taxes, budgeting, inflation, insurance of all kinds, savings and investing.

Let me give you an example:

Just the other day, a friend of mine who is an English major began to rattle off questions about my opinions of certain business and political issues. He said the country’s current economic situation is simply “out of control” and that the “end-of-times are upon us!”

He said Uncle Sam doesn’t watch his spending, so why should he?

I feel like my peers are totally disregarding the fact that our kids will have to grow up in this financial and political mess and, frankly, it makes me sick with worry!

No matter what walk of life one comes from, the common denominator is money. Unfortunately, my generation has lost the meaning behind the value of money.

Financial literacy is the beginning of financial change. This is exactly what our great university needs and exactly what our great country calls for.

Keith Maskell

Alpena senior

He decided he, too, would travel down the barber’s path while observing his brother at work.

Brown has been a barber at the Westside Barber Shop, 1134 W. Broadway St., since he can remember. He bought the business, which was originally established in the 1940s, in 1972.

“I’ve got all kinds of family in this business … a grandpa, great uncle, uncle, two brothers and my dad all own barbershops,” Brown said.  “We come from a family of barbers.”

Brown’s grandfather, Ford Brown, was one of the first barbers in Michigan to use an electric clipper, he said.

The Westside Barber Shop is one of the oldest in town, he said, and that its historical nature has a distinctive character and traditional hospitality which keeps the clients coming back.

“I love meeting people,” Brown said.  “I see fresh faces, but the majority of the clients are regulars.”

Walle Traenkle, a Mount Pleasant resident, has been coming to the Westside Barber Shop for seven years.

“I come because I go out looking much better,”  Traenkle said. “Dave is a real people person. You need that quality for this business.”

Connected to the barber shop is the Westside Beauty Shop, which Brown rents to Jane Cotter.  The two have been working together for around thirty years, he said.

When she was just 19 years old, Cotter stared working at the beauty shop that was then-owned by her beauty school instructor.

Cotter sees around 15 to 20 clients a day on average, she said.

“I’ve been here forty years,” she said.  “They can’t seem to get rid of me.”

Cotter is the sole beautician, although in the past there were four women who worked alongside of her.

“I like Jane,” said Evelyn Malish, a regular client at the Westside Beauty Shop. ”She does good work.”

The new drive-through burger joint, 1501 S. Mission St., is in the location of the former Hot ‘N’ Now restaurant. Within the first six hours of opening, Oh My had between 300 and 400 cars pass through the drive-thru.

Among the opening day rush was graduate students Kristen Glynn of Farmington Hills and Danielle Bender of Kentwood.

“I saw that Hot ‘N’ Now was getting torn down,” Glynn said. “I’ve never been there because it kind of looked sketchy. Then I saw that this opened and it looked fun.”

Oh My manager John Renz said they’re trying to make fast food business more fresh and modern.

“All of our meat is ground inside the restaurant,” he said. “All of the fries are hand cut. We actually built the front window just so people could see us do it.

Glynn said Oh My reminded her of a burger joint in Farmington Hills called Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

“I just thought I would check it out and get a new fast food place to go to,” she said.

Homer resident and former Central Michigan University baseball catcher Dale Cornstubble had the same idea as Glynn to check out Oh My on opening day.

He said he and his girlfriend had been waiting for weeks to try the new drive-thru burger joint.

“We just wanted to see and check out a new place to eat,” Cornstubble said.

Renz has high hopes the rest of CMU’s student population will take advantage of the location across from campus.

“I think the price is right in line with the rest of the fast food population,” he said. “I know that’s really good college food.”

Renz isn’t worried about competing with similar burger joints on Mission Street.

Oh My offers fresh food as opposed to frozen, and more variety, he said. Turkey burgers and veggie burgers are prominent features of the new menu.