2010 – Page 25 of 78

Retailer Mythlogic caters to custom PC market

By Newsroom

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August 18, 2010

Conventional wisdom dictates computer retailing doesn't have much of a future outside of Apple and Best Buy stores. The guys behind Mythlogic weren't paying that much heed when they recently opened their store on the north side of downtown Ann Arbor.The 6-year-old start-up has carved out a niche of creating custom PCs for gamers and small businesses. The five-employee firm started as a partnership between Josh Tacey and Jeff Cline, who ran it primarily through Internet sales and word of mouth. One or two more hires may be imminent. The firm occupies 1,800 square feet of ground-floor retail space at 209 N Main, in an old UPS store across the street from the Washtenaw County Building."We wanted to be able to give people a customized computer, but back it up with great service," Tacey says. "Anybody can build a PC."Mythlogic now builds and works on laptops, desktops, tablets, netbooks, and game consoles. It does this for everyone from PC gaming nerds to video game centers to law firms. "We're kind of the all-in-one consultation shop," Tacey says. "We fix pretty much anything that will turn on."Source: Josh Tacey, co-owner of MythlogicWriter: Jon Zemke

Beal Group lands on Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in America

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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August 18, 2010

The Beal Group is becoming the exception to the rule in the construction industry these days, raking in awards, scoring new projects, and creating jobs.Beal Inc, a construction trade services provider, scored a spot on the Inc. 500 list, a compendium of the most entrepreneurial and fastest growing companies in America. Stewart Beal, the latest heir in the family business, also won the Outstanding Young Michigander Award from the Michigan Jaycees chapter.This is all on top of the company adding dozens of jobs of late. About 50 of its 130 staffers are based in Washtenaw County with the rest occupying Beal's offices in Detroit and Toledo. The company expects to add more project management professionals over the next year."We have added a ton of people," Beal says. "For instance, Beal Inc went from 50 people to 100 people in the last year."The Beal Group recently won $3 million in contracts to renovate 58 homes in the city of Detroit. The project is creating 25 jobs, ranging from senior project managers to drywall installers to painters and other skilled trades. It has also scored a number of other government contracts over the last year from the likes of Ann Arbor, the state of Michigan, Wayne County, Toledo, and local school districts. Source: Stewart Beal, president of the Beal GroupWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M studentpreneurs make finals in Entrepreneur magazine contest

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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August 11, 2010

The best hope for revamping and reinventing Michigan's economy is from the entrepreneurs who aren't entrenched in it yet. Don't believe it? Go check out the fresh produce in a Detroit city liquor store and ask yourself who made that possible. Excerpt:A relative's complaint about pricey special occasion clothes for an infant who would quickly outgrow them sparked Allen Kim's idea for an online rental service for baby clothing.A desire to make credit-card purchasing safer and more convenient inspired Daniel Pearson to develop a smart card that combines multiple credit cards into one.The ideas have earned Kim, a University of Michigan senior, and Pearson, a Central Michigan University senior, the honor of being two of the five national finalists in a competition run by Entrepreneur magazine.The fact that two of the five finalists are Michigan students is likely a testament to the increased emphasis on entrepreneurism in the state. It's an emphasis some say is crucial to turning the state's economy around. Not only is much of the job growth happening in small companies, but experts say an entrepreneurial mind-set -- including being open to new opportunities and developing different ways to do business -- is crucial to being successful working in large companies.Read the rest of the story here.

Tampa Bay Tribune hearts Zingerman’s

By Newsroom

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Healthy Communities

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August 11, 2010

Ever doubt the power of the national appeal of Zingerman's brand? How about after reading a Florida food writer describe the Ann Arbor-based deli's name as a "magical word for foodies?"Excerpt:ANN ARBOR, Mich. — President Barack Obama flew here in May to deliver the University of Michigan commencement address. He didn't stick around. But before Air Force One departed, the White House put in a to-go order from Zingerman's Delicatessen for delivery to the airport. Even the leader of the free world doesn't go to Ann Arbor and miss Zingerman's.Zingerman's is a magical word for foodies. Its reputation as one of the most famous and beloved delis in the United States is improbable, tucked away as it is in a charming university town that's not a destination city unless you're a football fan or parent of a university student.Read the rest of the story here.

Pure Entrepreneurship: A Q&A with Catherine Juon and Linda Girard

By Jon Zemke

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Economic Development

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August 11, 2010

How do you get to the top of Google's first page? Catherine Juon and Linda Girard have a few ideas. It's why they started the successful website optimization firm Pure Visibility. Jon Zemke sits down with these Ann Arbor entrepreneurs to talk about sharing leadership, running a company in downtown A2, and teaching school kids more about business (among other topics).

U-M Medical School goes on hiring spree, expects 100 new positions

By Newsroom

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Healthy Communities

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August 11, 2010

The University of Michigan's Medical School is growing ever larger these days, with 184 new faculty members since May.That rounds out the medical school's staff to 2,254 employees, its highest point ever. Compare that with a headcount of 1,818 in 2005. Although the bulk of staffing is done during the summer time, up to 100 new positions are expected to be created by the end of the year."It's very satisfying that despite the economic downturn the University of Michigan has continued to grow," says Dr. Margaret Gyetko, associate dean for faculty affairs and a professor of internal medicine at the U-M Medical School.The medical school has been consistently growing over the years, including a net gain of 103 new positions in the 2010 fiscal year. The university adds an average of about 100-150 new physicians and scientists each year. Source: Margaret Gyetko, associate dean for Faculty Affairs and a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical SchoolWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Buycentives enters auto incentive market

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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August 11, 2010

Conventional wisdom dictates that a company whose business model is based on automotive sales would not have done well over the last year or two. Buycentives is not that kind of firm."Even in the downturn we have gotten a lot of interest because our product allows them to spend their marketing dollars more effectively," says David Goldschmidt, co-founder of Buycentives.The 1-year-old start-up housed in Ann Arbor SPARK's downtown incubator specializes in making sense of this big, bloated morass of incentives for both sellers and buyers. Its software lets automakers target small groups or even individual consumers with the right incentives, helping auto manufacturers eliminate inefficiencies in the buyer incentive pool.Buycentives has spent the last year introducing its principal product to the market and is readying it for other types of Internet sales leads. The 3-person firm expects to hire a few sales people to facilitate its growth over the next year."We have made significant progress," Goldschmidt says. "We're gaining some traction with local car companies and dealership groups."Source: David Goldschmidt, co-founder of BuycentivesWriter: Jon Zemke

Deal of the week: Tektronix acquires Arbor Networks

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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August 11, 2010

When local leaders talk about the economic potential of higher education spin-offs, ideally they're speaking about start-ups like Arbor Networks. The brainchild of a U-M professor and a doctoral student in 2000, it spun out of the University of Michigan 10 years ago and grew into one of the leading IT firms in the world. It has been acquired for the second time this week, this time by Texas-based Tektronix Communications. Arbor Networks specializes in network security and data centers, which is also the forte of Tektronix. Arbor Networks handles network security for about 70 percent of U.S. service providers. It is now headquartered in Massachusetts but maintains a research and development center in Ann Arbor. "It's actually pretty good for Ann Arbor," says Rob Malan, co-founder and CTO of Arbor Networks. "It basically means Arbor is going to stay Arbor. They really value the team here."That team has been growing. Its staff is up to 20 new members in the Ann Arbor office over the last two years, rounding out to 90 people. Malan expects that trend to continue. "We have been hiring strong for quite a while. We don't see that stopping.""We hire strongly out of the university," Malan says. "We bring in talent from around the world here to Ann Arbor." A sales price has not been disclosed, but the deal should be consummated by September. Tektronix is a subsidiary of Danaher Corp, a multi-billion dollar firm based in Washington, D.C. Source: Tektronix Communications and Rob Malan, co-founder and CTO of Arbor Networks Writer: Jon Zemke

Far From Standard expands in Ann Arbor, plans to open in new U.S. markets

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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August 11, 2010

Far From Standard is growing both inside and outside of Ann Arbor as the 3-year-old tutoring service adds staff in Tree Town, expands its offices near the University of Michigan, and looks to open new locations nationwide."We have been growing steady so everything looks good," says Neel Chheda, president of Far From Standard. The company provides highly trained and specialized academic tutors for university science and business students. These are focused on the University of Michigan and Michigan State University classes. Over the last year, Chheda, a U-M graduate, has added one new employee in Ann Arbor and a couple of tutors to round out his staff to three full-timers and 20 tutors.The downtown-based firm has also moved to bigger office space, upgrading from two tutoring rooms to eight. Chheda is also looking at opening in other markets across the U.S., such as Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York. Far From Standard has also revamped its website and is focusing on providing more video content. "We have basically been creating our own database of material," Chheda says. "It creates an identity and brand for ourselves."Source: Neel Chheda, president of Far From StandardWriter: Jon Zemke

Workantile Exchange adds members and space

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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August 11, 2010

The Workantile Exchange in downtown Ann Arbor is heading towards capacity, picking up speed and even expanding its space to accommodate demand."We'd like to continue expanding if we can," says Trek Glowacki, co-owner of Workantile Exchange. "If we can't we might cap membership and create a waiting list."The 3,200 square-foot co-working space on Main Street, a few doors down from Vinology, has 89 members and adds an average of four new members each week. It expects to hit its capacity of 120 people by the end of the year. To help accommodate this growth it's adding about 400 square feet by taking over the Mighty Good Coffee Shop property, which is moving to 217 Main St. Workantile's community is still deciding how to use the space.Potential uses include expanding the general work area or utilizing its street frontage to display the work of members, potentially a pretty eclectic mix. Workantile's membership is primarily knowledge-based workers but encompasses a broad variety of professions. Some examples include award-winning authors, teachers, attorneys, software developers, real-estate agents, and archeologists."It's sort of all over the map," Glowacki says. "People ask, 'What's your biggest demographic?' We don't know. It changes everyday."Workantile Exchange got its start last summer as a local grass roots effort to provide a working area for the new economy's 1099 workers who are primarily home- and coffee shop-based. Glowacki and Mike Kessler turned the old Arcadian Antiques building into community workspace with two conference rooms, a kitchenette, a phone room, a loft area for training, and a cafe space. Monthly memberships run $160 including a monthly bus pass valued at $50.Glowacki and Kessler are looking at expanding into the third floor of the late 19th-century building or perhaps even finding more adjacent space. Those plans are tentative for the time being as the partners focus on continuing to expand their business' membership.Source: Trek Glowacki, co-owner of Workantile ExchangeWriter: Jon Zemke