Developer wants to expand Wintermeyer office building in Ann Arbor

A touch of Canada: Tim Hortons comes to Ann Arbor

The Canadians are coming! The Canadians are coming to Ann Arbor!A developer plans to turn an old Shell gas station at the corner of Washtenaw and Huron Parkway into a new Tim Hortons on the city's east side now that the City Council said aboot time to the development, giving the the green light Monday night.The gas station has definitely seen better days, becoming older and dingier since it was first built in the 1950s. The new plans call for construction of a 4,500-square-foot building that will house both a gas station and Tim Hortons.The new building will come with a drive-thru, five gas pumps and 18 parking spaces. Tim Horton's is a coffee/donut shop practically synonymous with it Canadian roots. Although it seems like there is a Tim Hortons on practically every corner in Canada, the company just started to make inroads into the U.S. in recent years. This will be Ann Arbor's second store. The first is on Boardwalk next to Damon's restaurant and not far from Briarwood Mall.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Kendle dips into Ann Arbor’s talent pool for 26 new hires

The storyline is familiar now: Pfizer closes its Ann Arbor campus, new jobless pharma techies take a leap of faith and create their own start-up. The tale that isn't told is how Pfizer's closing attracted other companies to set up Ann Arbor offices.Cincinatti-based Kendle is just one of those companies. It didn’t have an Ann Arbor office before the pharma giant's closure but it did soon after."A lot of talented people were leaving Pfizer and we wanted to hire those that wanted to stay in the Ann Arbor area," says Mel Kropko, director of global clinical development for North America for Kendle.The pharmaceutical development company now employs 26 people at its Ann Arbor office. There are another 6-8 people who work regionally but use the Tree Town office regularly. They're part of Kendle's 4,000 world-wide work force.The Ann Arbor office specializes mainly in project management and clinical development. Even though the company is planning to keep growing, it plans to consolidate its gain in Ann Arbor for the time being.Source: Mel Kropko, director of global clinical development for North America for KendleWriter: Jon Zemke

Sequenom acquires assets of Ann Arbor-based SensiGen

Sequenom is taking a bite out of Ann Arbor's SensiGen and paying handsomely to do it.The bio-tech firm is selling its AttoSense portfolio of tests along with a few other assets to Sequenom for $18 million. The two companies have worked together in the past, primarily on developing advanced gene-based molecular tests. The AttoSense portfolio of tests includes analytically validated, ultra-sensitive and ultra-specific tests for detection and monitoring of human papillomavirus, which causes cervical, head and neck cancers, among other diseases. SensiGen, a University of Michigan spin-off, has grown to more than half a dozen employees and a handful of contractors from the original two founders in the last four years. Some of its newest workers include two ex-Pfizer employees and the firm expects to hire more as soon as it closes its latest round of capital fundraising.Source: SequenomWriter: Jon Zemke

Ex-Pfizerites create Cutting Image Histology

The announcement that Pfizer was closing its Ann Arbor campus scared Wendy Rosebury, but she and a co-worker swallowed hard and took the entrepreneurial plunge by starting Cutting Image Histology. The two women are experts in histology and by last May were the proud owners of their own Ann Arbor start-up.Their website describes the company as a "preclinical research-based histopathology and immunohistochemistry contract laboratory serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic research communities." That roughly means it does drug-development research for every one from pharmaceutical companies to the everyday Joe.The company has been able to steadily add more customers and equipment. It has eight clients and expects to add more as their start-up's reputation continues to spread through word of mouth. The company expects to hire its first non-partner employee soon after it attracts more customers.Source: Cutting Image HistologyWriter: Jon Zemke

TSRL hired four last year, plans to add more

Therapeutic Systems Research Laboratories, TSRL for short, is a University of Michigan spin-off that's gaining centrifugal force in Ann Arbor.The company was founded in 1986 and has since grown to 18 people. Of that staff, four were added in the last year. It was enough for the company to double its space on the south side of town."We're expanding about 2,000 square feet, half of which is laboratory space," says Elke Lipka, vice president of business development for TSRL. "We're at about 4,000 square feet."TSRL can thank that expansion on double digit growth in research work. It's enough that company officials expect to add a person or two to the payroll each year for the next five years.TSRL specializes in research and development for oral drug delivery. Specifically it develops ways to enhance the oral absorption of investigational and marketed compunds. It has developed 14 patents that have been granted and another seven that are still pending.Source: Elke Lipka, vice president of business development for TSRLWriter: Jon Zemke

Incept BioSystems attracts $1.25 million investment to Ann Arbor

MEDC's venture capital fairy has touched Ann Arbor again. This time the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is giving $1.25 million to Incept BioSystems.The Ann Arbor-based start-up develops innovative microscale technologies for fertility specialists. That means they develop new technologies to help fight human infertility.It received $3.25 million in venture capital funding in 2007. The award was made possible after a couple of other start-ups withdrew from the 21st Century Jobs Fund program. The companies that are out include Accuri Cytometers, Avidimer Therapeutics and Cielo MedSolutions, all from Ann Arbor. Source: Michigan Economic Development CorporationWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s WindSight wins ACE competition, aims to hire up to 60 people

Ann Arbor's WindSight is on a hot streak and expects that to translate into upwards of 60 jobs within the next five years.But the alternative-energy firm still has a long way to go to reach its goal. Right now it has two employees but expects that number to reach 10-20 by the end of next year."We're looking to ramp up hiring this year and next," Williams says.Good thing one of the firm's two current employees is good at spreading the gospel of WindSight. Peter Tchoryk, the start-ups CEO, won the elevator pitch competition at last week's ninth Annual Collaboration for Entrepreneurship at Washtenaw Community College. He beat out six other competitors from the Great Lakes region.WindSight is a spin-off of Michigan Aerospace Corporation. It is commercializing its parent corporation's laser-based wind measurement products. WindSight's technology provides wind farms and turbine manufacturers with atmospheric information that helps them maximizing energy production while reducing maintenance costs.Source: Cliff Williams, director of product development for WindSightWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M art museum director takes Princeton post

Michigan may consider itself the Harvard of the west but its art museum director (a former Concentrate Mastermind) is heading east to Princeton.Excerpt:University of Michigan Museum of Art Director James Steward is leaving the museum to become director of the Princeton University Art Museum. Steward, who had served as director of the UM museum and as a UM faculty since 1998, will join the Princeton museum in late April, the museum said in a press release posted on its Web site.Read the rest of the story here.