Innovation & Job News
632 Articles | Page: | Show All
Adaptive Materials' military contracts lead to Ann Arbor job creation
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
Military contracts are proving profitable for growing Adaptive Materials, allowing the Ann Arbor-based start-up to expand its capacity and staff.

The innovative fuel cell firm just signed a $4.7 million contract with the U.S. Army to supply its signature fuel cells. That contract could grow to be worth $5.6 million and another significant multi-million dollar military contract is expected to be announced this spring. So far the company has scored $44 million worth of defense contracts. That will equal about 70 percent of its business in the first and second quarters of this year.

"Military has always been a key piece of our business plan," says Michelle Crumm, chief business officer for Adaptive Materials. "That will continue for us. It's a key piece of the puzzle."

It's also what's driving the Adaptive Materials' growth. It's staff has hit 57 people and an intern. The company has nine job openings and another two internship opportunities. After those are filled, the company hopes to add another 5-10 people later this year.

The 10-year-old company creates a fuel cell that turns fuels like propane into electricity instead of heat. That means its technology can convert a small propane tank used for camping into a generator that can keep a fridge going during a blackout. Think an emergency generator strong enough to power appliances but small enough to carry in your pocket.

The firm, the brain child of University of Michigan alum Aaron Crumm, plans to put its products in every RV, boat, ambulance and, well, any place that can use a highly efficient fuel cell.

Source: Michelle Crumm, chief business officer for Adaptive Materials
Writer: Jon Zemke
U-M students turn Green Silane into award-winning start-up
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
The student entrepreneurs aren't building an empire with Green Silane. They're building an acquisition.

It's an idea that is commonly used in the advanced entrepreneurial ecosystems on the coasts, where entrepreneurs build their start-ups with the idea of hitting a big payday not from customers so much as competitors.

"In 5-6 years we would like to see the potential opportunity of acquisition by one of our competitors," says Matt Schaar, vice president of product development at Green Silane.

Schaar, an MBA student at the University of Michigan, and two other university students started Green Silane in September. Since then they have taken the Erb Award for Sustainability at U-M's Ross School of Business' Michigan Business Competition and third place at the Clean Energy Prize, which is sponsored by U-M and DTE Energy. It has led to the acquisition of more than $10,000, which serves as both prize and seed money.

Green Silane produces silane gas for customers on-site in a manner that is flexible, low-cost, and environmentally benign. "It compartmentalizes this so it only requires silicone and and hydrogen," Schaar says.

Source: Matt Schaar, vice president of product development at Green Saline
Writer: Jon Zemke
Gaming firm inDepthLearning expands to 7 in Ann Arbor
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
The evolution of inDepthLearning has been a bit of an, um... well, learning curve.

The Ann Arbor-based firm got its start in 2001 as an Internet-based learning firm, creating programs and applications that let students access and absorb more information online. Today its has moved to video games, putting a new game on the market and developing another.

"We realized we could do a lot more with gaming," says Res Midgley, president of inDepthLearning.

The switch in emphasis has let the company that started with two people, grow to seven including an independent contractor. It recently hired two people and has plans to continue to hire to keep up with its growth. The company has doubled in size in the last 18 months and has high hopes for 2010-11.

"We have great expectations for the next year and half," Midgley says.

It's latest game is called "Drug Scene Investigators," a video game for kids in grades 7-10. The game works to incorporate reading, library search, and decision-making by combining interest in science, heath and mysteries. Users need to figure out which illegal drugs were consumed by game characters, students search the library, take notes, link discovered information with facts, and reason from the evidence to form conclusions.

Source: Res Midgley, president of in Depth Learning
Writer: Jon Zemke
Masco Cabinetry creates Ann Arbor HQ, 250 jobs
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
Masco is combining its Builder and Retail cabinetry groups to create Masco Cabinetry, which will move its headquarters to Ann Arbor, relocating a total of 350 workers and creating nearly 100 new jobs.

The Michigan Economic Development Corp has negotiated a deal with the Michigan-based company, which will includes a $204,588 tax abatement over six years to leverage a $20.6 million investment. That deal will move 206 employees from the Adrian headquarters of Masco Corp (the parent company) to Ann Arbor and create another 250 jobs over ten years.

Masco Cabinetry will manufacture and distribute kitchen and bath cabinetry through big box retailers. The two old subsidiaries that did this were based out of Adrian and Ohio. The Buckeye state had made a similar tax incentive offer to land the new cabinetry firm, specifically in the Toledo area.

Masco Cabinetry's new headquarters will be located off Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor Township. It will serve as the base for an expected payroll of 890 full-time people.

Source: Michigan Economic Development Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke
U-M Biz School rallies corporate leaders to fight climate change
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
he University of Michigan's Ross School of Business is trying to make an impact on climate change, offering a new pilot program that will recruit and teach corporate leaders on what they can do help head off Global Warming.

"There are people in the business community that are interested in climate change as a strategic issue," says Andy Hoffman, a business professor at U-M and one of the organizers behind "Climate Change: What's Your Business Strategy?"

The new program is partnering with the Association of Climate Change Officers to bring industry experts focused on climate change into the university's executive education programs. The idea is to better educate corporate leaders on climate change will lead to better results when it comes to containing it.

The new program's first two-day conference will focus on creating a greater understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with climate change. It will also help business leaders create a forward-looking strategy for their organizations when it comes to adopting a sustainability ethos.

The conference will touch on everything from the scientific basis for climate change, understanding the policies like cap-and-trade program, market implications of climate change, systemic risks and opportunities associated with climate change and how to gain a seat at the table when it comes to developing climate change policies.

For information on the conference, contact Daniel Kreeger at dkreeger@ACCOonline.org or call (202) 496-7390.

Source: Andy Hoffman, a business professor at the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ethics of entrepreneurship, Q&A with Chris Hall
Source: Concentrate, 3/17/2010
Business and job growth are seen as paramount when it comes to the local economy, but where does developing a local set of business ethics for all of this new commercial activity fit in? Chris Hall has an idea or two about that and plans to make them public at Eastern Michigan University's Ethos Week today.

The president of RepairClinic.com, online appliance parts retailer, will speak about "Ethics and Entrepreneurship" at 5:30 p.m. in Room 114 at the EMU's College of Business. The former appliance repairman will elaborate on the ethical challenges facing today's entrepreneurs as they navigate a tough economy, while sharing his own experience as an entrepreneur for the last decade.

Hall recently answered some ethics questions for Concentrate via email. Think of it as a taste test of what you can expect to hear from him this evening.

The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area has a developing entrepreneurial ecosystem that is seen as crucial to the development of Michigan's new economy. What ethical issues will or should this ecosystem confront as it develops?

As we move further from our manufacturing roots in Michigan, and more into a service economy, I believe we need to relearn what it means to serve others - whether customers or employees. We, as a nation, have become too self-absorbed. Too often we put business interests ahead of the people those businesses are supposed to serve.

The line between university research and spinning off that technology for commercial purposes is not always clear. What ethical pitfalls should the local academia and entrepreneurial communities be in the new economy wary of while developing this relationship?

Michigan has a rare and unique opportunity. We have a strong manufacturing and technology base in our universities and businesses. And, we know that auto manufacturing isn't going to support Michigan single-handedly in the future. I believe we can become the leader in green technology. To do that, universities and businesses are going to have to share more of their research with each other. As a nation, we're leaning more toward protectionism. As a state, I believe we need to do the opposite. There are many entrepreneurs that would be able to move some of the green technology forward if they were given the chance.

When it comes to ethics and entrepreneurs, where should Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti look for guidance?

In our own backyard there are two large companies that I believe have been exceptional models of ethical leadership - Ford and Whirlpool. While they haven't been perfect, overall they have set a good example of how to do the right thing by their customers and their employees. On a smaller scale, Zingerman's in Ann Arbor sets a great example of how to do the right thing.

Name one thing would you change about the local business area when it comes to business ethics?

I would love to see the local communities get together and develop a code of ethics. Then, have local businesses opt in to be randomly audited for compliance to that code of ethics. Finally, build a website where local residents could check out the rankings of a business, and submit complaints for resolution. Kind of like the BBB but with a better resolution process and more transparency in the rankings.

Source: Chris Hall, president of RepairClinic.com
Writer: Jon Zemke
U-M helps lead new transportation consortium
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
If there is one thing Ann Arbor knows its research. And if there's one thing Metro Detroit knows its transportation. The two areas are combining these two strengths to create Transforming Transportation: Economies & Communities.

The University Research Corridor's new program promotes multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research that supports industry, community and government policy-making and planning. The University of Michigan and Wayne State University will lead the charge with this new effort that hopes to serve as a nerve center for transportation innovation in the regional, state, national and global economies.

"It's an idea who's time has come," says Allen Batteau, an anthropologist who heads Wayne State's Institute for Information Technology and Culture.

Both U-M and Wayne State (along with Michigan State University) are holding meetings to help organize the program's first transportation summit in Detroit in October. The idea is to leverage the region's location and assets, along with creating synergies between university, community, government and business when it comes to moving people and goods from Point A to Point B.

Batteau believes the new program will help spearhead innovation in the sprawling transportation sector and create economic opportunity locally. In fact he sees this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink fundamental assumptions through a unique collaboration of regional leaders.

"Every time we make a leap ahead in transportation infrastructure, whether it's the Transcontinental Railroad or the Erie Canal or the expressway system, it is what kicked economic development into overdrive. In other words, transportation investment is vital."

Source: University of Michigan and
Allen Batteau, an anthropologist who heads Wayne State's Institute for Information Technology and Culture
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor start-ups take big bite of microloans
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
The Current Motor Co sees a promising future for its business, especially now that it has received a small-yet-significant chunk of change from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program.

The company and its staff of six makes electric mopeds and motorcycles. It will use the money to develop a new moped scooter, among other things.

"We're using it to help expand our market and protect our intellectual property by writing patents," says John Harding, founder of Current Motor Co.

The Ypsilanti-based start-up is one of four companies to split $155,000 in loans from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program. The other company's include Avicenna Medical Systems, Shepherd Intelligent Systems and TRIG Tires and Wheels. These companies will use the loans, which range between $10,000 and $50,000, to help further develop and market their products and build their core business.

Avicenna Medical Systems, a University of Michigan spin-off based in Ann Arbor, develops health-care software applications. Shepherd Intelligent Systems, another U-M spin out based in Ann Arbor, creates software that predicts arrival times for mass transit vehicles, like buses. Southfield-based TRIG Tires and Wheels is developing a anti-roll off and run-flat system for vehicle tires.

The $1.5 million Michigan Microloan Fund Program is made up of three distinct microloan funds, including the Eastern Washtenaw Microloan Fund ($225,000), Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund ($1 million) and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Local Development Financing Authority ($275,000). The Michigan Microloan Fund Program, which is administered by Ann Arbor SPARK, has distributed $911,500 to 23 companies since last year.

Source: John Harding, president of Current Motor Co.
Writer: Jon Zemke
Hook adds 4 people in downtown Ann Arbor, plans more hires
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
Hook is growing in just about every way imaginable. The downtown Ann Arbor-based firm is adding people, clients and office space as it starts to assert itself in the city's growing service-based economy.

"We've been lucky," says Aaron Schwartz, co-founder of Hook. "We have some great clients who keep coming back to us. There is a great demand for our services right now."

That means the commercial-art start-up has expanded its payroll to 10 people by adding four new employees since the last time we checked in with it in late 2008. It has also quadrupled its office space to 2,500 square feet.

The 4-year-old firm has also grown its client base and moved itself up the advertising food chain. It has gone from producing auto show materials to moving onto a broader range of interactive advertising. Think: Building micro sites and taking over Internet homepages.

The refocusing has allowed the firm to plan for even more growth. It hopes to hire three more people this year and take over some more of its space in its second-floor commercial space in downtown Ann Arbor.

"We hope to continue growing," Schwartz says. "We get new business every other day. We hope to add more people."

Hook got its start when two former University of Michigan students, Schwartz and Michael Watts, decided to take the entrepreneurial leap. Some of its first work incorporated 3-D imagery into commercial art, such as animation and illustrations. One of the firm's first clients included part of Toyota's North American International Auto Show display in Detroit.

Source: Aaron Schwartz, co-founder of Hook
Writer: Jon Zemke
Avicenna Medical plans to hire in Ann Arbor
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
The leadership behind Avicenna Medical Systems sees 2010 as a break-out year for the University of Michigan spin-out.

The Ann Arbor-based firm creates healthcare software and thinks it can add six people this year as it claims a small piece of the federal stimulus funds. It also landed a bit of money from the Michigan Microloan Fund Program to help shore up its marketing efforts.

"We recognize that our biggest weakness is in marketing and sales," says Erdwing Coronado, president and CEO of Avicenna Medical Systems.

The company got its start when a small group of doctors and IT professionals at the University of Michigan Hospital started developing healthcare software applications in 2001. They incorporated the company in 2006 and Avicenna now employs four people and an independent contractor.

The firm has two primary products, including one that catalogs and manages patients with chronic health conditions. The other program deals with clinical procedures. Both can cover dozens of specialties, such as cancer and infectious diseases.

"We saw they had a commercial potential so we decided to take advantage of the opportunities and work with the University of Michigan," Coronado says.

Source: Erdwing Coronado, president and CEO of Avicenna Medical Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor's ERT Systems adds 1, plans for growth
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
ERT Systems growth has been slow, steady and growing enough to expand its employee base.

The Ann Arbor-based software start-up has added one person over the last year, bringing its staff to six people. It is also in the midst of hiring another person, expects to add one more person this year and hopes to bring on a couple more in 2011.

"We should pretty easily double in size this year," says Dennis Carmichael, president of ERT Systems. "We're also signing some contracts for 2011 that should allow us to maintain that growth rate."

ERT Systems creates a product that allows first responders and military-style commanders to know exactly where their forces are at all times. Its core product, Onsite ERT (Emergency Resource Tracking), uses a GPS-like system to provide a complete view of the operating theater in real time using lightweight tags and a fast IT system that transmits the information on rugged laptops.
 
The start-up has signed on 30 new customers and a Canadian reseller in 2009. It's in negotiations to land a national reseller this year.

The business was born four years ago when John Ellis, a veteran firefighter, ran into Dennis Carmichael, an IT services company owner.
 
Source: Dennis Carmichael, president of ERT Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke
Miilo targets Internet sales for minority cosmetics
Source: Concentrate, 3/10/2010
The problem: Finding the best cosmetics for people of color. The solution: Miilo.

At least that's what the three budding entrepreneurs at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are hoping happens with their new start-up. Kimberly Dillon, Oswaldo Maxwell and Kelley Washington are creating a website that specializes in selling cosmetic and hair-care products for women of color.

"There is a contingent of us who regularly go to Ypsilanti or Detroit to buy beauty products," says Dillon, a U-M MBA student and founder of Miilo. "It's a universal problem. Anytime you go to a new city you have to find the store that sells the products because they aren't sold at mass retailers."

The Ann Arbor-based start-up recently won $1,000 from the Michigan Business Challenge, which is sponsored by U-M's Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The trio of women is using that cash to finish developing their website, which they hope to launch before the end of the year.

Source: Kimberly Dillon, founder of Miilo
Writer: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor's ePack doubles in size, plans to hire more
Source: Concentrate, 3/3/2010
The gadgets that make technology so cool these days aren't exactly resilient on the inside. That's where ePack comes in, helping tech firms protect their latest innovations.

The Ann Arbor-based firm is developing technology that helps protect micro devices, such as the motion sensor in a Nintendo Wii. Without such protection these micro devices would be dead on arrival.

"A small amount of moisture or small particles can ruin their performance," says Jay Mitchell, president and CEO of ePack.

The 2-year-old University of Michigan spin-off is starting to raise grant money, which has allowed it to go from its two founding members to a staff of three people, an independent contractor and a couple of advisors. The firm hopes to hire one more person this year and several more in 2011.

For right now it's trying to finish development of its technology so it can go for equity investment in 2011 or later. The long-term plan is to reach the point where it can open a manufacturing facility and produce the technology it is developing.

Source: Jay Mitchell, president and CEO of ePack
Writer: Jon Zemke
U-M student start-ups take 98K from Mich Biz Competition
Source: Concentrate, 3/3/2010
More seed capital is creeping into the coffers of local start-ups now that the Michigan Business Challenge has awarded nearly $100,000 to student-led start-ups from the University of Michigan.

The Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the U-M Ross School of Business awarded the grants to these new economy-based start-ups for excellence in new business plans and concepts. Eighty-five teams competed for the grants with a couple dozen walking away with money. That's a new record for the competition that is now in its fourth year.

Two of the start-ups that landed four figures in seed money include $2,000 to North Coast Fisheries (an organic fish farm firm) for "Best Written Business Plan" and $1,000 to Miilo (an e-commerce site for cosmetics for women of color) for advancing to the final round. Each found immediate uses for their winnings.

"These funds are a great first step as far as exploring all of the legal issues to create a legal entity," says Aaron Skrocki, a MBA student at U-M and CEO of North Coast Fisheries.

"The $1,000 went straight to the web designer," says Kimberly Dillon, a U-M MBA student and founder of Miilo.

The Michigan Business Challenge lets the student entrepreneurs receive support, training and feedback from judges at each phase of the competition. The students are exposed to a rigorous business development boot camp that reinforces the notion that a solid business foundation is necessary to commercialize a great idea.

A list of this year's major winners of the competition can be found here.

Source: University of Michigan, Kimberly Dillon, founder of Miilo and Aaron Skrocki, CEO of North Coast Fisheries
Writer: Jon Zemke
Wolverine Venture Fund scores 4th profitable exit with Mobius
Source: Concentrate, 3/3/2010
The Wolverine Venture Fund is starting to hit a nice streak of profitable exits in the local start-up game.

The student-led venture capital fund has announced its fourth profitable exit with the acquisition of University of Michigan spin-off Mobius Microsystems. This is on the heels of its most profitable exit ($2 million) with the sale of HandyLab.

"It allows us to participate but
at a higher level now, and for more rounds," says Thomas Kinnear, who oversees the Wolverine Venture Fund. He adds that the fund's small size prevented it from investing in the later rounds of the HandyLab deal, but hopefully that will not happen again.

The fund is 11 years old and worth about $3.5 million. It is run by students at the U-M's Ross School of Business. It has invested in more than 18 companies that have some sort of connection to either Ann Arbor or the University of Michigan. Its current portfolio is comprised of 13 companies.

Kinnear says he would be very surprised if another profitable exit occurred for the Wolverine Venture Fund within the next 12-18 months. However, he says its possible since the Wolverine Venture Fund is invested in maturing start-ups like NanoBio.

"It's hard to say but there are several positive signs," Kinnear says. "But no one counts their money before it's in the bag."

Mobius Microsystems deals with precision all-silicon oscillator technology. More simply said it is a company that makes microchips operate more efficiently. It was acquired by
San Jose-based Integrated Device Technology.

Mobius Microsystems was incorporated in Detroit and eventually moved to California after raising venture capital. It still maintained an office in Ann Arbor as of 2008.

Source: University of Michigan and Integrated Device Technology
Writer: Jon Zemke
632 Articles | Page: | Show All