An honorable mention is a whole lot better than a poke in the eye. For communities of 25,000 - 200,000, Ann Arbor's SPARK recently won praise for its ability to develop a tech base in the local community. The IEDC pointed to SPARK's MichAGAIN program, an effort to lure back grads who have left the Mitten to take jobs at high tech firms across the nation. The program was started in 2010 and then rolled out by the MEDC in 2011.
Read about the rest of the winners
here.