2010 – Page 55 of 78

U-M partners with Chinese university for research

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March 31, 2010

Research at the University of Michigan is going global now that it has signed an agreement with a major Chinese university to jointly fund renewable energy and biomedical research projects. U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, based out of Shanghai, have launched two programs that will receive $3 million from each university over the next five years. That money will fund research grants that can go as high as $200,000. Both universities have issued a call for proposals and the first grants are expected to be awarded in June. Proposals must have researchers from both U-M and SJTU.The new partnership hopes to develop new technologies that reduce global carbon emissions, a primary cause of climate change, in the renewable energy end. Think: Research in improving coal technology and creating cleaner vehicles. The biomedical half will focus on technological advances that improve human health, such as minimally and non-invasive therapy and bio-nanotechnology. This is not the first time a regional university has reached across an ocean or two to form a partnership with a foreign institution of higher learning. Lawrence Technological University has formed partnerships with a number of Indian universities in what is becoming a growing trend in higher education.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Growing Hope continues hiring in Ypsilanti

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Community Development

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March 31, 2010

Growing Hope is taking root and flourishing in downtown Ypsilanti as it expands it budget and gets ready to go on a hiring spree.The non-profit has cultivated its budget from nothing in 2003 to a little more than $300,000 this year. That has allowed it to grow it staff to 11 people (nine full-time and two part-time) and it expects to fill another eight positions this spring. Those jobs are the equivalent of 10-week summer internships that pay about $900 a month and come with a $1,200 education tax credit."The growth has been tremendous," says Amanda Maria Edmonds, executive director of Growing Hope. And its not just staff wise. The non-profit has helped grow downtown Ypsilanti's Farmer's market from $20,000 in sales a few years ago to $108,000 in sales last year. That includes about $20,000 in sales that came from seniors or economically disadvantage people utilizing government programs like Bridge Cards. It expects to grow the farmer's market even more this year.Another growth area that is attracting attention to Growing Hope is its hoop house. That has allowed the non-profit to raise crops year round and attract hundreds of volunteers. Those volunteers range from people donating one day of their time to one day a week during the growing season."The hoop house has been the biggest attraction," Edmonds says. "It continues to draw people to us. It's pretty amazing to see people harvesting spinach in February when there is snow outside."The hoop house is next to Growing Hope's new home, a house on Michigan Avenue in the midst of restoration. The donated Tudor has benefited from a number of organizations, including Washtenaw Community College's construction program, the local plumbers union which roughed in $7,500 worth of kitchen plumbing and the generosity of the Next Generation Philanthropy, which works out of the Ann Arbor-based Community Foundation.Source: Amanda Maria Edmonds, executive director of Growing HopeWriter: Jon Zemke

Internet2 adds a dozen people in Ann Arbor

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Community Development

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March 31, 2010

Change and growth are becoming two key words for Ann Arbor-based Internet2.The network-providing non-profit has expanded to 96 people, adding nearly a dozen people since we checked in last late in 2008. It has made two executive team additions, including a new CTO. It also plans to replace its retiring CEO, Doug Van Houweling, soon."Doug will continue to lead the organization, as he has for the past twelve years, until the new CEO is selected and transitioned into the role," Beth Miller, marketing communications manager for Internet2, wrote in an email. "The search effort is underway."For now Internet2 has a number of positions it is trying to fill. Those openings include director for international relations, a director of network services and business operations and a network software engineer. More positions are set to open up later this year. Internet2 got its start in 1996 of providing high-performance networks for higher education and research labs. That was with a team of four people in Ann Arbor. Today it has an office in Washington, D.C., and several employees working remotely across the country.Source: Beth Miller, marketing communications manager for Internet2Writer: Jon Zemke

Ypsilanti’s VG Kids, Ann Arbor’s NuStep adapt and expand

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Entrepreneurship

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March 31, 2010

Two different companies in two unique cities have one thing in common - growth.Excerpt:For having been beat back by the failing economy over the last two years, Ypsilanti’s VG Kids' owner James Marks stands on surprisingly solid ground.In that time frame, the 31-year-old Ypsilanti entrepreneur opened four buildings, closed down three, consolidated his screen printing company’s operations into one new building, opened a new set of studios for area artists and launched a merchandising company.But all the twisting and turning to pull out VG Kids out of a financial jam has proved beneficial, leaving Marks wiser and his business in a better position."We contracted physically but expanded in the reach of our ideas," Marks said. "Part of the effect is having more time than we had before, and with increased efficiency we can take advantage of more opportunities."Read the rest of the story here and how NuStep is growing here.

Ann Arbor’s push for Google Fiber gains national headlines

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Community Development

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March 31, 2010

The A in A2Fiber was on proud display in picture after picture in major media outlets across the U.S. last week.Excerpt:Minutes ago, a small plane flew over the Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., trailing a banner that read "Will Google Play in Peoria, IL?"It was the latest in a series of stunts by cities across the country to get the attention of Google. The Internet giant is promising to build an ultra-high speed network to serve, free, 50,000 to 500,000 people in one or more communities.The stunts, which I first wrote about on Monday, accompany more serious applications by cities and communities making the case why Google should pick them. Google says that more than 1,100 communities expressed interest in the Google Fiber project by the Friday deadline.The stunts included the mayor of Duluth, Minn., jumping into Lake Michigan; the mayor of Sarasota, Fla., swimming with sharks; manatees voting with their snouts; and Senator Al Franken playing his old comedian self. They’ve been joined by the Peoria plane; hundreds of students in Ann Arbor, Mich., singing the “A2 Fiber Anthem”; the waving of a flag on Alaska’s Mount McKinley; a people-powered light display in Greenville, S.C.; and a video by Senator Tom Udall, of New Mexico, poking good-natured fun at Mr. Franken’s clip.Read the rest of the story here, more about it here and how telephone poles could play a critical role in Google's decision here.

Ann Arbor, U-M serve as examples of home-buyer tax credit success

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Community Development

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March 31, 2010

Ann Arbor was one of the real estate hot spots in Michigan before the housing crash. After the housing crash and after the home-buyer tax credit takes effect, Ann Arbor is one of the first places to rebound.Excerpt:The Michigan cities of Ann Arbor and Detroit are only about 40 miles apart, but the distance is enough to present starkly different housing markets.The Ann Arbor market saw the boom and bust in recent years. But first-time home buyer tax credits in 2009 helped change fortunes."It's almost like we started fresh this year," says Alex Milshteyn, president of the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors. "For the first time, I have buyers who are in the market (who) can't find what they are looking for."Read the rest of the story here.

Chelsea’s Bearclaw Coffee looks overseas for expansion cash

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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March 31, 2010

The folk's behind Bearclaw Coffee have gotten really creative with their financing so they can continue to expand their growing business.Excerpt:When she needed investors to help grow her Bearclaw Coffee Co. franchise, Debi Scroggins looked to the Middle East.The founder of the Ann Arbor-based coffee company has recruited nearly a dozen Iranians -- with more to follow -- to open mobile coffee carts in the United States at $180,000 a pop."These are candidates who are cash-ready," Scroggins said. "I've had so many candidates (in the United States) who have $30,000 to put down and cannot get financing because they lost their home equity and they lost their 401(k) and, oh, by the way, their credit has nicks in it."Read the rest of the story here.

20-something U-M grad brings start-up Powerleap back to Ann Arbor

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Entrepreneurship

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March 31, 2010

University of Michigan alum Elizabeth Redmond went looking for love for her start-up, Powerleap, in all the wrong places before finding what it really needs back home in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2006, Elizabeth Redmond moved to the Windy City to try to turn a school project into a business. Her clean-tech design project would use high-tech ceramics to convert the energy generated by pedestrian and vehicular traffic into direct current that could be stored in batteries. She worked by day trying to secure funding and at night as a waitress in a high-end vegetarian business. Redmond, 25, grew up in Dexter and missed the Ann Arbor area — especially bike rides along the Huron River — but what got her back to Michigan last year were the economic support systems at the state and regional level. "Chicago is a really neat town, but the resources of a small community in Michigan are much more accessible than those in Chicago. I couldn't find much support there," she said. Her company, Powerleap Inc., is now a virtual tenant at Ann Arbor Spark's downtown Ann Arbor facility. She doesn't have an office there but uses its facilities and has been provided a wide variety of support services, including help with a new business plan and a due-diligence package for potential investors."I think this company is going to be huge, and I want it to be in the state where I grew up," she said.Read the rest of the story here.

Ypsi Project catches faces in the cool crowd

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Arts and Culture

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March 31, 2010

Faces in the crowd are no longer just that thanks to The Ypsi Project, which intends to take a portrait of a different person in the city each year.Excerpt:Remember how, a year or so ago, I told you about a young photographer here in Ypsi and her ambitious plan to take a portrait of a different person in the City every day for a year? Well, Erica Hampton’s Ypsi Project has taken a few big twists and turns since then, but it seems as though things are finally heading toward some kind of big conclusion. Erica is planning a public showing of about 100 portraits from the collection at the end of May, in what was the old VG Kids customer service office on Michigan Avenue - a space which is now being referred to unofficially as the XVG Gallery. And, she’s just launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $2,400 she needs to pay for the printing, mounting, framing, space rental, etc.Read the rest of the story here.

Washtenaw Comm College in downtown Ann Arbor?

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Development News

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March 31, 2010

Washtenaw Community College is considering a new satellite campus and downtown Ann Arbor is at the top of its list.The college's leadership seriously considered signing a lease for 30,000 square feet of space in the Talley Hall Building (behind Border's downtown location) but backed away when budget constraints pushed the option onto the back burner. McKinley then offered the space at $10.50 a square foot with an option to build out the space."The price was very, very attractive," says Larry Whitworth, president of Washtenaw Community College. "We almost struck a deal with them."That hammer never swung because the state's budget cuts to higher education funding, its need to contribute more to retirement funds and decreasing local tax revenues. The expansion into downtown Ann Arbor seems at least two or three years down the road."At this point we're waiting for an economic rebound in Washtenaw County," Whitworth says.What made downtown Ann Arbor attractive is the fact that it's the county's main population center and could serve as the gateway for patrons from the west side of the county. The primary reason for this is because downtown serves as a mass transit hub for the county. Plus, the college's main campus (east of Ann Arbor) makes the idea of a downtown Ypsilanti campus redundant."We do an extremely good job serving the eastern side of the county," Whitworth says.Source: Larry Whitworth, president of Washtenaw Community CollegeWriter: Jon Zemke