In Ann Arbor a buyout doesn't always mean a sellout. Though innovative startups like Fry, Healthmedia, and T/J Technologies have been snapped up by larger out-of-state companies, they have decided to stay in the city that birthed them.
Everyone is creating application for iPhones and Blackberries these days, so a trio of University of Michigan students thought why not them, too?The School of Information students (who recently graduated) ended up creating Troubadour Mobile last year. Two of the team are now heading out west for jobs with the likes of Microsoft but one of them plans to stay in Ann Arbor and make a go with the start-up. Ghaurav Bhatnagar hopes to develop the technology into his full-time job this year.Troubadour Mobile's application allows iPhone users quickly connect with family and friends. It hopes to create three more applications by the end of the summer. A whole family of applications should be available by the end of the year. And that's not long after when the founders were trying to decided whether to focus on Blackberries or iPhones."We knew something big was going to happen, but we couldn’t nail it down," Bhatnagar says.Source: Ghaurav Bhatnagar, co-founder of Troubadour MobileWriter: Jon Zemke
The three women behind WhereToFindCare.com weren't exactly centralized when they started the firm last year. The trio were spread out all over Metro Detroit, in places like Westland, Trenton and Allen Park. This type of virtual company didn't exactly lend itself to meetings and the like."It was very inconvenient," says Barbara O'Connell, co-founder of WhereToFindCare.com. "We're so spread out."Not anymore. The fledgling business just signed on to claim space in Ann Arbor SPARK's East incubator in downtown Ypsilanti. The three women and an intern will help occupy the quickly filling space of entrepreneurs and established businesses."It seems like a good community for entrepreneurs," O'Connell says. "We want to be involved with that."WhereToFindCare.com helps people choose health-care providers. Its website uses quality and satisfaction data of a number of different types of health care facilities and presents them in a format so users can make an easy decision. The Ann Arbor SPARK East incubator opened earlier this spring in the newly renovated Mack & Mack building. It’s located in the ground floor of 215 Michigan Ave. next to Bombadill’s Cafe.Source: Barbara O’Connell, co-founder of WhereToFindCare.comWriter: Jon Zemke
Students from the University of Michigan could soon be coming to the rescue of American soldiers serving overseas. A group of students are developing a new system of metal detectors that could be used to detect IEDs and suicide bombers in war zones.The students decided to tackle the problem by seeing what combination of existing technologies worked best together. The trial-and-error process resulted in portable, palm-sized metal detectors that can be hidden in trash cans, under tables or in flower pots. These detectors report to a main database through a wireless sensor network, telling when the deadly weapons might be entering the zone. This new system uses sensors that are cheaper, lower-power and longer-range. The seven-member team plans to continue to develop the technology and even create a plug-in sensor. It hopes to commercialize the technology within the next couple of years.Source: Ashwin Lalendran, 2009 mechanical engineering graduate of the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes... LLamasoft just opened a new office in Germany and is getting ready to move into new digs in downtown Ann Arbor.The Ann Arbor-based supply-chain network designer opened an office in Munich to head up its European operations. One person will staff it for the time being."The mindset for logistics has been centered in Germany," says Gary Bobalik, director of marketing for LLamasoft.LLamasoft was recently named as one of the Edward Lowe Foundation's "Michigan 50 Companies to Watch" and is working on the USAID/DELIVER PROJECT to increase the availability of essential health supplies around the world. It employs about 20 people and and has an office in Asia. It’s looking at moving into new and bigger space in Ann Arbor to accommodate its growth.LLamasoft provides software to design and modify supply chain network designs, allowing companies to optimize their supply chain operations for profit and shrinking carbon footprints. The privately-held company was founded in 1998. Its clients include big name corporations, such as ConocoPhillips, Dell and J. C. Penney.Source: Gary Bobalik, director of marketing for LLamasoftWriter: Jon Zemke
There are lots of ways to make a point, like climbing a tree and refusing to come down until the fire department comes to get you.Excerpt:I like that Riney, when they show him up in the tree, is reading a book about Walter Reuther. And I also like that the reporter didn’t ask him where he poops, which is the kind of reporting I’ve come to expect from our regional press. Read the rest of the story here.
Sometimes Ann Arbor’s smarts plays against it. In this case they contributed to the impending downfall of The Ann Arbor News.Excerpt:I have been wondering for a year now which American city will be first to lose its only daily newspaper. The results are in, and the dubious distinction goes to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the Newhouse family's Advance will shutter The Ann Arbor News in late July. Ann Arbor? Home to the huge University of Michigan, birthplace and headquarters of the Borders book chain and a pocket of relative prosperity with only light collateral damage from the auto industry, a literate place, population around 100,000, one might expect to be appreciative of what print newspapers offer. But some of those apparent strengths seem instead to have proven drawbacks -- a curious state of affairs that may provide an unexpected window into what kinds of newspapers are most vulnerable in the brutal business climate of 2009.Read the rest of the story here.
Further proof that Michigan’s universities --especially, ahem, U-M-- will play a key role in reinventing the state’s economy.Excerpt:?A program to help Michigan’s public universities create new entrepreneurs and speed commercialization of research is finding success just one year after making its first grants to universities around the state, officials from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship consortium, and researchers said Wednesday at a news conference at the State Capitol."MIIE is having a tremendous impact at universities who have research projects that require additional funding to move them toward commercialization,” said Marvin Parnes, Associate Vice President for Research and Executive Director of Research Administration, University of Michigan. “Our efforts have allowed important research projects continue that could one day create much-needed jobs and companies in Michigan.”Read the rest of the story here.
If the Workantile Exchange had a slogan it would be that "New ideas happen in old spaces."The new co-working space in downtown Ann Arbor is bringing an old storefront back to its late 19th Century splendor as a place for new economy start-ups and entrepreneurs to focus on reinventing business."It's a place for free agents or independent contractors," says Mike Kessler, co-owner of Workantile Exchange. "For $100 a month they get access to facilities that are conducive to getting work done."Those work facilities include two conference rooms, a kitchenette, a phone room, a loft area for training and even a cafe space. The coffee shop part is in the front of the space on 118 S Main St., the old Arcadian Antiques space.Kessler and his partners returned the 3,000 square feet of space to is late 1800s feel. They brought back the original ceiling and exposed the brick walls.It's working so far. The Workantile Exchange has attracted 40 members, averaging 2-3 a day since opening in May. It hopes to reach 150 members within its first year. Source: Mike Kessler, co-owner of Workantile ExchangeWriter: Jon Zemke
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