Last week I attended a graduation ceremony on campus that may have as much lasting significance for the region as the one coming up next week at Michigan Stadium.

President Barack Obama’s May 1 visit to Ann Arbor will garner more media attention and larger crowds, but the future of Michigan’s economy was on display at the TechArb graduation.

On April 15th eight student-led startup companies “graduated” out of the University’s business accelerator and 14 new student enterprises prepared to take up residence at the facility beginning in May.

TechArb represents the latest example of an evolving entrepreneurial ecosystem around campus.

TechArb began last year as a group of student entrepreneurs sought out co-working space in town.

Eventually the University and RPM Ventures (a local firm) got on board, and the group now has a permanent home in the McKinley Towne Centre, next door to Ann Arbor SPARK and Google.

At the TechArb event I listened to each graduating company provide a five minute summary of their experiences. It was clear that the support these students gained from each other and the community was phenomenal.

The commercial success of some ventures was also breathtaking. Several graduating companies have already been purchased by other firms, and several have clear paths to further growth and revenue. But all of the students gained invaluable experience.

Earlier this year I visited Boulder, Colorado to garner further ideas to jumpstart entrepreneurism in Ann Arbor and at U-M. While there I visited with Jeffrey Powers and Vikas Reddy, U-M alumni who co-founded Occipital LLC, a technology startup focused on mobile visual search. Jeff and Vikas told me how they had moved to Boulder in 2008 because they couldn’t find the resources or community support to help them take their ideas forward in Michigan. Hopefully TechArb will provide fertile ground for new entrepreneurs to plant their seeds in Michigan going forward.

Daryl Weinert is the Executive Director of the University of Michigan’s Business Engagement Center.