2010 – Page 48 of 78

Argo Dam issue takes next step toward resolution

By Newsroom

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April 28, 2010

Whether the Argo Dam stays or goes within the next year, it's a bit cleaner today after a few dozen volunteers cleared out the millrace area last weekend.The Pioneer Rowing Club marshaled 40-50 volunteers between student athletes, parents and other supporters to help clear the overgrown area of trash and invasive plants while working with the city's Natural Area Preservation Group. "We take the stewardship of the pond and river area very seriously," says Jeff DeBoer, president of the Pioneer Rowing Club Board of Directors. The group helps the rowing teams for Pioneer and Huron high schools, which row on the Argo Pond section of the Huron River just north of Argo Dam next to North Main Street, and is the major proponent for saving the dam.The dam has been quite controversial over the last year, dividing Ann Arbor into camps of those who want to remove the 90-year-old dam and those who want it saved. The state ordered the city to close the mill race over the winter months, but it will reopen in May for the summer. A decision has not been made on removing the bridge, preserving the status quo."The dam is staying," DeBoer says.That appears to be the situation for the time being as city leaders continue to kick the can down the road of what to do with it. A city-commissioned study has said the dam embankment is not in danger of failing, but there is still question of how saturated it has become and whether that will compromise its integrity.Most, if not all, of the dam's toe drains need to be rebuilt to help alleviate saturation, a project that could cost between $300,000-$500,000. Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed Council, which is advocating removal of the dam, says that big-ticket maintenance will keep removal on the table as an option."Next year they will either fix the toe drains or remove the dam," Rubin says. "The issue is not going to go away."Source: Jeff DeBoer, president of the Pioneer Rowing Club Board of Directors and Laura Rubin, executive director of the Huron River Watershed CouncilWriter: Jon Zemke

Know Y: Part II of Young and Entrepreneurial

By Kate Rose

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Arts and Culture

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April 28, 2010

Kate Rose returns with the second half of her investigation into what makes young entrepreneurs tick. Thrill to the other-worldly philosophies of Ghostly International's Sam Valenti! Gasp at the cutting edge tribulations of Henrietta Fahrenheit! Shudder in anticipation over what Davy Rothbart has found with FOUND! Is it passion, opportunity or cold calculated economics that spurs these local risk-takers on? Discover the truth by clicking

NIGHT & DAY: A New Voice For FilterD

By Richard Retyi

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Arts and Culture

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April 28, 2010

To paraphrase Mr. Jagger: Please allow him to introduce himself... Richard Retyi takes over FilterD duties for the next six weeks, pointing you, our fearless readers, toward the half dozen best event bets for the week. What tops his list? Click and find out...

MASTERMIND: Peter Allen

By Constance Crump

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Arts and Culture

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April 28, 2010

Whether you agree or disagree with him, developer and U-M prof Peter Allen has had his fingers in many of A2's pies. Concentrate's Constance Crump calls shotgun in his drive through the city and gets a candid view of downtown development.

Video Welcome To The Workantile Exchange

By Keith Jefferies

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Community Development

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April 21, 2010

Workantile Exchange is more than just a work space. It's a co-working community, filled with entrepreneurs, freelancers and creatives looking for a place to exchange ideas, inspiration and insight. A home office away from home, it has all the advantages of the traditional work place with none of the baggage.

Ann Arbor’s Above the Treeline hires 1, plans to add 2

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 21, 2010

A big piece of the future future was unwritten for Above the Treeline when we last checked in with the downtown Ann Arbor-based firm.Then its product "Edelweiss" was just getting its foothold in the marketplace. Last year it accounted for 5-10 percent of the bookseller software firm's revenue. That number is expected to hit 30-35 percent by next year and even more after that."It's at least a major part of the future for us," says John Rubin, president and CEO of Above the Treeline.Edelweiss is an Internet-based interactive service that supplements or replaces traditional hard-copy publisher catalogs. Think of it as an interactive catalog for publishers.It complements Above the Treeline's traditional product of providing software that gives independent booksellers the same economies scales that major retailers enjoy. It also helps these little firms streamline their inventory and create other efficiencies.That software also works for the big boys, too. Above the Treeline hopes to nail down the rest of the medium- to -large-size book retailers this year. That should allow it to continue its growth.The nine-person firm, up one from the last time we checked in, is on track to hire one more person this summer and bring on a new intern. More hires could be on the horizon, too, if the company continues to grow.Source: John Rubin, president and CEO of Above the TreelineWriter: Jon Zemke

SRT Solutions hires 2, looks to add 1-2 more

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 21, 2010

SRT Solutions is continuing its slow-yet-steady march toward growth in downtown Ann Arbor.The software firm has recently added a couple more engineers, allowing it to keep its staff at 18 people. That number includes an intern and independent contractor, and is the same size as it was when we last checked in late in 2008. It hopes to hire another person or two later this year."We're continuing with a slower growth," says Bill Wagner, co-founder of SRT Solutions. "We're buying into new technologies and services we think our customers will need in the next few years."The 10-year-old company helps businesses get software projects done on time and right the first time. Its products range from custom technology analysis, proof of concept development and software development. It's also moving into things like cloud computing and facilitating more natural use interfaces for software.Source: Bill Wagner, co-founder of SRT SolutionsWriter: Jon Zemke

VC Web Design graduates from SPARK East, hires 5 in Ypsilanti

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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April 21, 2010

Meet VC Web Design, the first graduate of Ann Arbor SPARK's East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti.The web design firm was one of the first tenants in the business incubator when it opened last spring. Then it was a two-person start-up looking for a little direction. Today it employs seven people and intern and is moving into its own commercial space a few doors down from the incubator in downtown Ypsilanti on Washington Street."We wanted to be around people in a downtown area," says Vince Chmielewski, president of VC Wed Design. "We couldn't fit at SPARK anymore because we kept adding people. Plus, we wanted our own storefront for higher visibility."Chmielewski caught the entrepreneurial bug when he was attending the University of Michigan in the mid 1990s. The computer science major always ended up as a go-to resource among friend interested in creating websites, which turned into a nice stream of cash on the side. "People would ask me questions and I would sell websites to them," Chmielewski says. It has remained a nice side income for him ever since. He still maintains his full-time job at U-M but is also now putting 40 hours a week into VC Web Design. How long he can keep that up is a little in question. VC Web Design is set to more than double its revenue this year and Chmielewski expects to add another person or two this year.Good thing he has the SPARK East incubator degree and some new space to accommodate all of that growth.Source: Vince Chmielewski, president of VC Wed DesignWriter: Jon Zemke

Tonic purchases U-M student-designed app DoGood

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 21, 2010

he DoGood iPhone application is doing more than a little bit of good for the University of Michigan students who designed it last year.The catchy app has been acquired by Silicon Valley-based Tonic, creating a profitable exit for the handful of studentpreneurs that created it at a university's new Web App Class last summer. Those students created the app under the Mobil33t start-up banner last year, but have since move onto new projects since then."DoGood got really, really popular," says Jason Bornhorst, one of the co-founders of Mobil33t who is now a part-owner with Ann Arbor-based start-up Mobiata. "It became a full-time job for us over the last summer."About 70,000 people use DoGood today to get their daily dose of virtuous deed suggestions. The free app's suggestion include things like don't criticize today or give someone a second chance today. They are formulated by a community of university students who call their group Do Random Acts of Kindness. Tonic plans to keep the same group to provide the suggestions. The student creators are also working with Tonic on the future development of the app, expanding into other smartphone platforms and perhaps even growing into its own website. The students also have their own entrepreneurial ventures cooking they expect to put forward later this year."Stay tuned," Bornhorst says. "We have some really interesting stuff in the pipeline. I can't talk about it right now."Source: Jason Bornhorst, co-founder of Mobil33t and co-creator of DoGoodWriter: Jon Zemke

TorranceLearning grows to 7 people in downtown Chelsea

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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April 21, 2010

Megan Torrance likes to say her start-up, TorranceLearning, started with her and the spare bedroom in her house in 2006.Today her training company employs seven people in downtown Chelsea after hiring three people last year. Her firm is now shopping for bigger office space in downtown Chelsea to help accommodate yet more expected growth."It's a great walkable community," Torrance says. "It's great to walk into stores and be recognized."Torrance spent 15 years specializing in process consulting or change management. It always revolved around some sort of training. Torrance decided to turn that into her own company as a way of spending less time on the road and more time making money for herself. She is seeing more companies spending money on training now that the economy is starting to expand a little. The big argument is that it costs much less to hire a company like TorranceLearning than building up an in-house department."The telephone is ringing again," Torrance says. "It's ringing from places it hasn't rung before."Source: Megan Torrance, president of TorranceLearning Writer: Jon Zemke