Ypsilanti : Innovation & Job News

Logic Solutions has acquired Quantum Compliance Systems, capping off a year of growth that has included 20 new hires for the software firm.

Based in Ann Arbor, Logic Solutions specializes in custom strategy and development of mobile and web applications. Quantum Compliance Systems, which calls Ypsilanti home, develops software that embeds sustainable environmental, health and safety practices into a company's daily operations. The two software companies have been partnering on projects for several years before this acquisition.

"Quantum offered a software product that was exceptional but needed some updating," says Angela Kujava, director of marketing for Logic Solutions. "They wanted a new web portal and a mobile app. We have worked with them for years before so it just made sense."

Logic Solutions employs 200 people around the world, including 40 at its Ann Arbor headquarters and another 10 across the U.S. It has brought on 20 new people to its team over the last year, including the five people at Quantum Compliance Systems who will be folded into the Ann Arbor office.

"We're hiring people almost every month," Kujava says. "The hiring we're doing in the U.S. is for leadership positions."

Source: Angela Kujava, director of marketing for Logic Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Tree Fort Bikes isn't just the little dream of a couple of guys who wanted to own a bike shop. The Ypsilanti-based business is growing into a sizable online retailer of bicycles, aggressively adding people and building out the company infrastructure.

"Over the past year there have been a lot of changes," says Dante Tucker, HR & logistics manager for Tree Fort Bikes. "Our shipping method has changed. We have developed a new training program."

That has allowed Tree Fort Bikes to almost double in size over the last year. And that's after it doubled in size the year before. Over the last 12 months, the company has hired nine people, expanding its staff to 17.

Driving all of this growth is the online sales of its bicycles. That has pushed not only its web sales numbers but also traffic through its retail store. The company is now looking at a new home to accommodate its expanding customer base while still maintaining its core mission of being a community bike ship.

"We're trying to be the bike shop that people can go to have their needs provided for," Tucker says.

Source: Dante Tucker, HR & logistics manager for Tree Fort Bikes
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

An Eastern Michigan University professor has developed a sustainable coating technology that can be applied to materials in various industries, such as automotive and construction.

Vijay Mannari, associate professor of polymers & coatings at EMU, and a group of researchers at EMU's Coatings Research Institute have developed sustainable polymers and coatings that use renewable, non-toxic sources. These coatings (think rust inhibitors) can be used industrial products within the automobile, aerospace, transportation, packaging and building industries.

"It's a huge market," Mannari says. "Anybody who uses structural aluminum uses these coatings."

The prize product, currently being licensed out to a Michigan-based company, is a chromate-free, anti-corrosive coating for metals that inhibits rust. Traditional coatings are based on hexavalent chromium, a proven carcinogen. Mannari's coating "doesn't have any harmful heavy metals, including chromium," he says.

Mannari and his team have received two grants worth $125,000 from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to fund the commercialization of these coatings. The EMU research group is also partnering to develop these green coatings with Plascore, a Zeeland-based company known as a global manufacturer of honeycomb core and composite structures used in aerospace, marine, military, safety and transportation industries. It utilizes coatings on many of its products.

Source: Vijay Mannari, associate professor of polymers & coatings at Eastern Michigan University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

What was once SchoolPictures.com is now National School Services, a new name that better embodies the growing breadth of services offered from the Ypsilanti-based business.

The 6-year-old company got its start providing portraits of students, using a formula that allowed the school to create a new revenue while providing student photos. So far that formula has provided $3.5 million in new revenue for schools across the U.S. in the company's lifetime.

SchoolPictures.com still exists as an arm of the newly rebranded National School Services. The company has expanded its offerings to include things like diplomas and class rings. "We're doing some different things, but all of our customers know what we do," says Skip Cerier, CEO of National School Services.

That has also allowed the firm to expand to 41 people and a couple of interns after hiring four people in the last year. This new hiring is being propelled by double-digit revenue growth, including 20 percent growth over the last two years.

"It [growth] has been pretty steady," Cerier says.

Source: Skip Cerier, CEO of National School Services
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

VGKids is an Ypsilanti company, and it's going to stay an Ypsilanti company. So sayeth its founder, James Marks, who means it enough to move out of state but keep his company in the city he has called home for more than a decade.

Marks and his wife (an Ypsilanti native) recently moved to Berkley, California, for a change of pace in life. They decided to keep VGKids in Ypsilanti with a local management team running the company's day-to-day operations. "VGKids will stay in Ypsilanti," Marks says. "There is no danger of it moving to California."

Which is a good thing because the 12-year-old company continues to grow. The firm recently hired one person, expanding its staff to 14 people. Marks expects his company to hire at least one more person this year. "We will keep growing slowly, and steadily," Marks says.

VGKids is a printing company specializing in things like t-shirts and cards. It has watched sales go up by 25 percent over the last year. It recently started a merchandising arm called Whiplash, which has grown so fast that it is looking to set up its own space in Ann Arbor soon.

"We're growing bigger," Marks says. "We're running out of physical space."

Source: James Marks, founder & creative director of VGKids
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Not all bio-technology advances in Michigan originate at the University of Michigan. One Eastern Michigan University professor has licensed his wireless sensor technology to a Frasher-based company.

The technology is called iPecs (Intelligent Prosthetic Endo-Skeletal Component) and is a wireless device that measures stress on artificial limbs. The sensor measures a patient's gait to determine what is happening to them and their prosthetic device while walking.

"We're always trying to measure things that are going on," says Frank Joseph Fedel, assistant professor of orthotics and prosthetics at Eastern Michigan University and one of the co-invetors of iPecs. "What is happening to this person while they're walking?"

Fedel licensed the technology to College Park Industries, which has been designing and manufacturing prosthetic feet for the worldwide market since 1988. Fedel has created his own start-ups before and dedicated more than a year of his life solely to getting them off the ground. He knew this would be more complicated and decided licensing it out made more sense than trying to go it alone.

"Our feet are complicated," Fedel says. "If you're going to make something that replicates it it's going to be complicated."

Source: Frank Joseph Fedel, assistant professor of orthotics and prosthetics at Eastern Michigan University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

CityFARM, the latest start-up launched from Beal Inc., has a dual purpose: create more urban gardens and help alleviate hunger in Metro Detroit.

The Ann Arbor-based social entrepreneurial venture specializes in designing, building and maintaining urban gardens. The start-up has a couple of projects in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area and is aiming to have 25 under its belt by the end of the year.

"Organic urban gardening can make a real difference in communities, both in the environment and job development," says Lauren Maloney, farming genius & business manager for CityFARM.

CityFARM's first project is the Adams Street Farm, a demonstration garden in downtown Ypsilanti. CityFARM will install a new garden bed at the Adams Street Farm for every new client it adds this year. The garden will feature 2,000 square feet of growing space, which could allow for up to 6,000 pounds of food production.

"All of the food produced there will be donated to Food Gatherers," Maloney says.

CityFARM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Beal Inc and employs three people. Maloney is about to graduate from the University of Michigan this spring with a masters degree in conservation biology. CityFARM is offering urban farming internships for this spring and summer. For information, contact Maloney at lmaloney@WeAreCityFARM.com.

Source: Lauren Maloney, farming genius & business manager for CityFARM
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Integrated Sensing Systems has scored a $1.5 million grant from the National Institute of Health to help the company finish the pre-clinical work on its new technology, which wirelessly monitors the heart.

"It's the last stage of a very long process before you get to human trials," says Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems.

The Ypsilanti-based firm, commonly known as ISSYS, designs and develops microelectromechanical systems for medical and scientific sensing applications. Its latest piece of technology is an implant for the heart that allows medical professionals to wirelessly monitor the heart.

"So you can monitor the heart on demand even with home monitoring," Najafi says.

ISSYS, founded in 1995, has been working on this technology for 12 years. It has a staff of 30 and plans to add another 2-3 jobs this year. It will continue clinical trials of the technology for the next two years. After that, Najafi hopes to begin work on human trials, while also receiving FDA approval so it can begin sales.

Source: Nader Najafi, president & CEO of Integrated Sensing Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

DeNovo Sciences has its sights set on closing a seven-figure angel round within the next few months, thanks to the boost from its big win at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition.

Of course it doesn't hurt to have the competition's $500,000 top prize to start with. Kalyan Handique, the start-up's new CEO, says the win "definitely helps move our investors toward signing a term sheet," which he expects will happen by the time his company closes its first investment round in the first quarter of 2012.

"We want to get to $1 million in funding so we're on track next year," Handique says. "We plan to make our prototype next year."

DeNovo Sciences is developing a method of transmitting blood samples from a remote region to a clinical laboratory via cell phone technology as an early warning system for cancer. The one-year-old start-up has gone from its three co-founders volunteering at last year's Accelerate Michigan competition to get access to the entrepreneurs and investors there to landing the top prize this year. It recently hired Handique, a co-founder of HandyLab, as its CEO and moved into new space at the Michigan Life Science & Innovation Center in Plymouth.

DeNovo Sciences' team of four has also lined up a number of consultants and business experts so it can further build out its team next year. That looks like it will be happening sooner than they expected with the Accelerate Michigan hype.

"The win is definitely helping us speed up the entire process," Handique says.

Source: Kaylan Handique, CEO of DeNovo Sciences
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

CAS-MI is now EAG Coatings Solutions after an acquisition earlier this year that has led to more hires at the Ypsilanti-based testing laboratory.

The company has gone from six employees in 2008 to 17 today, including five new hires since the ownership change in April.

"We're quickly running out of space," says Stephen Hall, vice president and general manager of EAG Coatings Solutions. "We have plans to have 5-6 more people in this office and are expanding our facility another 2,000 square feet."

The company specializes in paints and coatings, plastics and polymers, and adhesives and sealants. It's already working with Idea Paint to create a dry erase covering that can be applied to any surface just like regular wall paint. The company has been affiliated with Ypsilanti and Eastern Michigan University since the 1970s.

"We have a very good retention rate so our existing customers stay with us for a very long time," Hall says. "We have two large customers who for the last three years have used us for all their development needs."

Source: Stephen Hall, vice president and general manager of EAG Coatings Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Last year it was Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor at the inaugural Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. This year is was Ypsilanti's turn to take center stage.

Ypsilanti not only successfully hosted the $1 million business plan competition, but firms with deep ties to the little college that could took the top two prizes worth a combined $650,000 in seed capital. Life sciences start-up DeNovo Sciences took first place while green tech firm Fusion Coolant Systems landed in second.

"As innovators you are doing exactly what our country needs to lead us back to greatness," said Peter Perez, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing for the U.S. Depart­ment of Commerce, during his address at Accelerate Michigan's awards gala.

Last year when start-ups based in Ann Arbor or with roots in Tree Town practically ran away with every award, Priya Gogoi worked the crowd for Denovo Sciences, her own start-up she and some friends were trying to get off the ground in Ypsilanti. The start-ups is developing a method of transmitting blood samples from a remote region to a clinical laboratory via cell phone technology as an early warning system for cancer.

For the second Accelerate Michigan competition, the three-person team (which recently brought HandyLab co-founder Kalyan Handique on as CEO and now occupies space at the Michigan Life Sciences & Innovation Center in Plymouth) stood on stage with a $500,000 check for first prize. Not bad for a trio that had to volunteer at the first Accelerate Michigan to get in.

Also sharing the stage and limelight is Ypsilanti-based Fusion Coolant Systems. The green tech start-up is developing a cutting fluid for industrial use that is both more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. It took home second place and a $150,000 check.

Source: Peter Perez, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing, U.S. Depart­ment of Commerce
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Fusion Coolant Systems' rubber is hitting the road and gaining traction for its environmentally friendly cutting fluid.

"We're getting our first sales revenue now," says Tom Gross, CEO of Fusion Coolant Systems. "We're getting tremendous opportunities in process development and research revenues. We have a couple of big deals out there right now."

The graduate of Ann Arbor SPARK's East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti is commercializing an environmentally friendly cutting fluid for industrial uses. That technology eliminates toxic cutting fluids in metal processing for industrial sectors such as aerospace. It also improves cutting tools performance while reducing the wear.

The Ypsilanti-based start-up has received a shot in the arm from the Michigan Microloan Fund and the Detroit FIrst Step Fund worth five figures and is working on raising more money for product development and commercialization. The company, which employs four people and an independent contractor, is currently looking to hire business development specialist and a service technician.

Fusion Coolant Systems, which recently made it to the semi-finals of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, is also planning to open a tech center in Detroit at the Focus: HOPE facility that specializes in advanced manufacturing and research and development. The company still plans to maintain its presence in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.

Source: Tom Gross, CEO of Fusion Coolant Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The second annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition will take place later this fall, and Ann Arbor-based start-ups are setting the stage yet again, dominating the ranks of the semi-finals for the second straight year.

This year there are at least 23 start-ups that call Tree Town home, along with two from Ypsilanti, one from Saline and a handful more with ties to the University of Michigan. More than half of the 53 companies in the semi-finals are in Washtenaw County. A broad range of firms like past winner Accio Energy and up-and-comers like Denovo Sciences are represented. Ann Arbor start-ups also took half of the semifinal spots last year. Is anyone really surprised? Jacob Cohen isn't.

"I would expect it because of how robust the business plan circuit is in Ann Arbor," says Cohen, a Detroit-based venture capitalist. "It just goes to show you how important it is to provide structure and a path."

Cohen is a vice president of Detroit Venture Partners, an aggressive early stage venture capital firm that is trying to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in downtown Detroit robust enough to compare to Ann Arbor's. It's a task Cohen believes can be accomplished within a few years. Cohen is a U-M graduate who is six credit hours short of a dual graduate degree in business and law from U-M. He stopped short to take the job with Detroit Venture Partners. He also grew and exited his own start-up in Ann Arbor called Ugrub.com.

Cohen sings the praises of Ann Arbor's entrepreneurial support system and its depth. Services from Ann Arbor SPARK, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce and other local entrepreneurs are the backbone of building a successful start-up culture ripe with talent, investment and acquisitions. Paramount to all of that is U-M, he says, adding it goes a long way in putting Ann Arbor "years ahead of everybody else."

"Michigan has $1.3 billion in paid research," Cohen says. "U-M has a real research and venture capital community. You can't replace that."

Source: Jake Cohen, vice president of Detroit Venture Partners
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

DeNovo Sciences recently took first place in the New Business Idea category of the most recent Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest business competition earlier this summer. It was a win, and a $5,000 cash prize, that came at just the right time for the Ypsilanti-based business.

"We were desperately looking for some recognition and money," says Priya Gogoi, president & co-founder of DeNovo Sciences. She says that prize money will go toward further research for its principal product and salaries for some of its three co-founders.

DeNovo Sciences is developing a microfluidic and imaging platform for early detection of metastatic cancer by isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells in blood. This new test would replace biopsies, which are often quite painful for patients. The 18-month-old start-up is working to have a prototype done by 2013 and have it commercialized by 2014.

"Our biological testing is underway," Gogoi says. "We're also applying for SBA money."

Gogoi also says that her firm has recently made its first hire and expects to bring on its first CEO in August. Gogoi declined to identify the person until the announcement is made public later this summer, but did say this person was a member of the executive team of another successfully acquired bio-tech start-up.

Source: Priya Gogoi, president & co-founder of DeNovo Sciences
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Clean Energy Coalition is adding more staff members and space to house them, moving to a bigger office in Ann Arbor just north of downtown.

"We're continually expanding," says Sean Reed, executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition. "We're in the process of hiring three people right now. We have the potential for another 4-8 hires later this year as we continue to grow."

That brings the sustainability-oriented non-profit's staff to 14 employees, four interns, and two independent contractors. That growth also prompted the organization to move into its fourth office in six years. It had been occupying two spaces (1,000 and 1,500 square feet, respectively) in Ypsilanti's Depot Town for the last few years. Today, it calls 6,000 square feet on the near north side of Ann Arbor home.

"This allows us to bring the staffs of the offices together under one roof," Reed says. He adds that it also gives adequate room for growth for the Clean Energy Coalition, which is debuting its new website this week.

The Clean Energy Coalition has landed several million dollars in grant funding in recent years, including $15 million from the federal stimulus package. That money is part of Michigan's $31 million Green Fleets project, which will integrate more alternative fuels and advanced fuel-efficient technology (i.e. bio-diesel) into municipal vehicle fleets. The non-profit is also working to help make local government buildings more energy efficient.

Source: Sean Reed, executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition
Writer: Jon Zemke