Welcome to the final issue of the Bridging 96 e-newsletter, the biggest media collaborative effort concerning business in the State of Michigan. Behind the effort were Michigan's two leading business publications; Crain's Detroit Business and the Grand Rapids Business Journal.

Over the past 13 months, this collaborative effort has focused on creating a "regional bridge" between Southeast and West Michigan and an exchange of ideas and opinions that could help Michigan move forward. We believe these goals continue to be important, but we have decided to approach this coverage in our separate ways. Stay tuned for future announcements.

Both organizations share similar missions and goals in their respective regions, look forward to serving your business news and information needs, and are optimistic that you will continue to find value in the stories we share; innovations we uncover and best practices we explore from around the state.

We will continue to promote business growth and more efficiency by government units at all levels. We want to spur the overall economy into moving forward.

To continue to get e-mail news delivered by Crain's Detroit Business e-mail products, go to www.crainsdetroit.com/getemail.

To get e-mails delivered by the Grand Rapids Business Journal, become a GRBJ subscriber at www.grbj.com

Your comments are welcome.

Mary Kramer, Publisher, Crain's Detroit Business

John H. Zwarensteyn, President/CEO/Publisher, Gemini Publications