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