2010 – Page 51 of 78

Essen BioScience moves to new HQ in Ann Arbor, adds jobs

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April 14, 2010

Essen Instruments has become Essen BioScience and now housed in a bigger and better headquarters in Ann Arbor to accommodate its expanded staff.The biotech firm recently renovated 25,000-square-foot space on the south side of Ann Arbor next to the Michigan Research Institute. That new space now houses a staff that measured at 25 employees when we checked in with the company last spring. It expects to almost double that number in the next few years.Essen BioScience builds, sells and services pre-clinical cell-based research tools, the type of products used by pharmaceutical companies for research. The company has noticed that a lot of these firms are now outsourcing a large portion of their lab work, prompting Essen BioScience to create the Discovery Services Business Unit Development Project.The 11-year-old firm recently received a $490,940 tax credit over seven years from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation last year. That allowed the life sciences company to invest $3 million in its Ann Arbor facility. It has already created XX of the 43 new jobs over five years it expects to create over five years as part of the tax-break deal.Source: Essen BioScienceWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M Medical School scores $63M research grant

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Community Development

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April 14, 2010

The University of Michigan Medical School set a new record for research grants, earning a $63 million from the National Cancer Institute.The cash will go toward the Southwest Oncology Group over the next six years to fund cancer treatment research at the clinical research cooperative group, which is based out of the university's medical school. The annual award represents a little more than 20 percent of the group's $48 million annual established budget. "It lets the group go forward from where it is," says Frank DeSanto, community manager for the Southwest Oncology Group. "It maintains the group's jobs."The group employs almost 5,000 people at various research centers across North America, and employs 20 people in Ann Arbor. Four of the group's executives, including its chairman, are faculty members at U-M.The group moved its headquarters to Ann Arbor in 2005, bringing 15 jobs with it. Before that it had been headquartered at the Cancer Treatment Resource Center in San Antonio where it part of the University of Texas.The group designs and conducts large-scale trials of new cancer treatments and prevention regimens. Its network includes more than 500 institutions, including 19 of the National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers.Source: Frank DeSanto, community manager for the Southwest Oncology GroupWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M students focus on clean energy, entrepreneurship

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Economic Development

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April 14, 2010

More and more students at the University of Michigan are focusing their efforts on emerging new economy sectors, such as clean energy. Even more are exploring the idea of commercializing that type of new technology through entrepreneurial studies.Excerpt:Ann Marie Sastry, 42, plays two crucial roles in the advanced battery industry. In the first role, she's a professor at the University of Michigan who trains graduate students for careers in the electric vehicle industry.Secondly, she's an entrepreneur, CEO of Ann Arbor-based battery startup Sakti3, who is using her years of research to make the technology less expensive in the future."You can demonstrate things in a laboratory to your heart's content. But until you can scale, you can't address markets," Sastry said.Read the rest of the story here and about U-M's TEDx conference here.

Ann Arbor asks: Are bicycles safer on street or sidewalk?

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Community Development

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April 14, 2010

Novice bicyclists are often seen weaving between pedestrians on sidewalks while regular riders dodge automobiles on the road. People in Ann Arbor are beginning to wonder which way is safer.Excerpt:Chris Marble rarely feels unsafe on his bike, but a recent Sunday was an exception.Marble, a 71-year-old retired schoolteacher, was riding his bike on North Main Street in Ann Arbor. Suddenly, he was in heavy traffic from a University of Michigan basketball game."It wasn’t that bad, but I wouldn’t want to do it over and over again,” Marble said. "The drivers were nice. ... I don’t remember anybody cutting me close or blasting their horn or giving me the one finger peace sign.”Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor hoop houses promote community gardening trend

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Economic Development

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April 14, 2010

Community gardening isn't just a summer hobby in Wastenaw County thanks to some large, plastic-covered hoop houses that are starting to pop up in the Ann Arbor area.Excerpt:Shannon Brines stooped down, pulled a young carrot out of the ground and gently brushed the soil off its roots."My customers love to get these," he said, checking his crops one cold, rainy morning last month.While most Michigan gardeners still haven't bought their vegetable seeds, Brines spent his winter harvesting handfuls of baby carrots and hundreds of pounds of fresh baby lettuce, arugula, spinach, chard, kale and exotic gourmet greens from three unheated hoophouses near Dexter.Growing produce year-around in Michigan may sound like a global-warming daydream. But entrepreneurs like Brines prove it can be done -- profitably -- in the low-tech, plastic-covered sheds."It could be a living, depending on your definition," says Brines, 34, a University of Michigan data analyst who lives in Ann Arbor. If he focused only on growing, he figures he could make about $40,000 a year.Read the rest of the story here.

Former Ann Arbor hockey player becomes best in nation

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Healthy Communities

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April 14, 2010

Blake Geoffrion, former Ann Arbor Huron graduate and member of the U.S. National Development Team in Ann Arbor, has quickly become the best college hockey player in the world. No, he unfortunately didn't win this honor at the University of Michigan, but he is prepping to work his way up in the Detroit Red Wings minor league system.Excerpt:Wisconsin senior forward Blake Geoffrion was presented with the Hobey Baker Award Friday night at Ford Field.Now, Geoffrion, the first Wisconsin player to win the award, will try to help his team win the national championship when it faces Boston College tonight at the same site."It's a great honor," said Geoffrion, who leads the Badgers with 28 goals, including a nation's-best 15 on the power play. "I'm pumped, so happy to win this award.Read the rest of the story here.

U-M students flee Bay Area for refuge in Ann Arbor

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In The News

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April 14, 2010

The stereotype for Generation Y is fleeing Michigan for the Bay Area. Meet a talented, young woman who made the reverse stereotypical migration and is loving it.Excerpt:For some young people, school is something from which to escape. Not so for Janasha Higgins.Higgins, now 23, has long turned to her studies as a way to take a break from a tough family life — and as a means to get ahead."School's been my sanity," said Higgins, "and my mentors helped me a lot, too."The 2004 graduate of the Alameda Community Learning Center earned a degree from San Francisco State University, where she majored in psychology, in 2009. She's currently completing a master's in social work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and will soon begin a doctorate program there in psychology and social work.Read the rest of the story here.

Giant puppet invasion in downtown Ann Arbor gets national coverage

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Arts and Culture

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April 14, 2010

Art in motion paraded through downtown Ann Arbor during the FestiFools event, attracting attention from both local and national news sources.Excerpt:Ann Arbor -- Main Street was transformed into a fool's paradise Sunday afternoon as hundreds of people lined the street to watch huge papier-mache puppets and their colorful puppeteers during the fourth annual FestiFools parade.There were dragons and witches, eyeballs and court jesters, and even Popeye and Mickey Mouse among the dozens of puppets that dazzled the crowd as children applauded.Mary and Al Aviles of Northville brought their three children. "This is our first time and we really enjoyed it," said Mary, wearing a fringed paper hat, handed out to many in the crowd.Read the rest of the story here and more about FestiFools from NPR here.

Ann Arbor restarts work on Fifth/Division streetscape

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Community Development

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April 14, 2010

Construction is restarting this week on the streetscapes of Fifth Avenue and Division Street in downtown Ann Arbor.The $6 million project, partly funded by a $1 million state grant, will reshape the thoroughfares between Packard Street and the Broadway Bridge so they are friendlier to all kinds of transportation, including pedestrians and bicyclists.Construction began last year, significantly improving the intersection of Packard and Division in front of Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger."It has completely changed that intersection," says Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority.The city will install bike lanes on both streets and add about 100 new parking spaces along the road. There will be bump outs at the intersections to shield pedestrians on the sidewalks. The city will also repair brick streets in Kerrytown, add bike rack hoops and replace trees where necessary. LED lights will be installed in the streetlights, too.Work is expected to wrap up this fall before the end of this year's construction season.Source: Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development AuthorityWriter: Jon Zemke

New plans surface for Chelsea’s historic livery buildings

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Arts and Culture

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April 14, 2010

A new plan for renovating the historic livery buildings in downtown Chelsea have surfaced thanks to the friends group working to preserve the vacant structures.Downtown Chelsea-based Dangerous Architects has put forward a plan that would turn the livery's three buildings into a mixed-use development complete with space for retail, restaurants and residential. It was the only submission for the the city's request for proposals for the building. The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority, which had once planned to raze the livery, will entertain the proposal on Thursday."The three main buildings are historic," says Scott McElrath, president of Dangerous Architects. "The structures and their foundations are strong. There is no reason to take them down."McElrath proposed turning the original livery building into a non-profit craftsman space on the ground floor. Five to six apartments would go on the roof and underground parking in the basement.The adjacent Daniels and Mack buildings would be turned into groundfloor retail space for a business that has shown interest in the property. The second floor would become restaurant space, complete with a rooftop deck."We do have a tenant interested in both buildings," McElrath says. "That would be out first major tenant and the major income producer that allows us to save the building."McElrath estimates its would cost $1.8 million to renovate the livery buildings so they would be move-in ready. That cost doesn't include acquisition costs.Source: Scott McElrath, president of Dangerous ArchitectsWriter: Jon Zemke