2010 – Page 76 of 78

Zingerman’s set precedent by opening books to employees

By Newsroom

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January 20, 2010

Zingerman's continues to grow and profit by turning traditional businesses beliefs on their heads.Excerpt:Private businesses have traditionally operated from the top down — executives passing along only the information deemed "safe" for employee eyes. But that's not the case for the nine companies in Zingerman's Community of Businesses in Ann Arbor.Owners Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw practice open-book management, the business practice of sharing financial and decision-making duties among all employees. "Our employees really get a chance to participate in the business," Weinzweig said. "They are learning how to manage money and how to run a business."Read the rest of the story here.

Putting bicycles in their place in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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January 20, 2010

Dogs and bicycles could soon end up in the same bind with Ann Arbor city officials telling them where they are and are not allowed. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje is pushing for a public conversation about whether or not to allow bicycles on downtown sidewalks. The City Council is currently reviewing the measure. The idea behind the new ordinance is that relegating bike travel to the streets (where bikes are legally on equal footing with automobiles) creates more room for pedestrians and makes room for sidewalk cafes. On the other hand, there are concerns that limiting the scope of where bikes can travel would stunt the growth of bicycle commuters the city has tried so hard to foster.One downtown denizen has a unique viewpoint on this issue – Rene Greff. The Ypsilanti resident is an avid bicyclist and promoter of alternative transportation, pushing for a number of non-auto solutions like replacing some car parking spots with more bike racks. She is also a longtime downtown stakeholder as co-owner of the Arbor Brewing Co. restaurant. Greff is for the proposed ordinance."In a highly pedestrian area having bicycles on the sidewalks is dangerous for both the pedestrians and the bicyclists," Greff says.She adds that most full-time bicyclists (think bicycle commuters and sport riders) already ride almost exclusively on the streets alongside automobiles. Greff would make an exception for children on bikes who are accompanied by a walking parent. However, downtown streets are slow enough that bicyclists that they can safely accommodate riders of all ages, shapes, sizes and levels of experience.Source: Rene Greff, co-owner of Arbor Brewing Co.Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ann Arbor projects stack up on shelf

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 20, 2010

The shelf for downtown Ann Arbor projects is started to get a little crowded. You might have noticed a little bit of controversy surrounding a number of projects slated for downtown in recent years. However, most of those have yet to materialize.X projects have been approved but have yet to break ground in downtown Ann Arbor. Another X are going through the approval process and the city has issued request for proposals for two of its downtown-area parcels. Common sense would seem to dictate that there might be a flood of projects as soon as the economy recovers. However, don't expect to start seeing shovels go into the ground all at once (or any time soon) as banks and the rest of the financial industry continue to lick their wounds from the housing and mortgage meltdowns."The banks were all very burned by real estate," says Stewart Beal, an Ypsilanti-based developer and owner of Beal Properties. "They will be looking for other projects to finance before real estate."Beal is currently trying to get several projects off the ground in Ypsilanti, ranging from small apartment building rehabs to the controversial Thompson Block. He recently put together a list of about 400 banks and financial institutions in the Midwest, sending out an application for a $175,000 loan to rehab a small apartment building near Eastern Michigan University. He got favorable responses from just three and was able to eliminate the rest from consideration within two weeks.He characterizes half of them as out of business or close to it. Another 100 are forbidden from making new construction loans. The rest won't do any sort of construction loan unless the customer is occupying the building. He even points out that the owner of Village Green (a large, well-established company with thousands of assets) is publicly complaining about the lack of credit. That means the projects on downtown's plate could be as far as 10-15 years out instead of the average 2-3 year time span."The strongest owner that has the best product will go first," Beal says. "The second-best owner with the second-best product will go next and so on. Some of these projects will never happen."So then why do developers keep going through the publicly arduous task of navigating NIMBYs and local bureaucracies in the face of such staggering odds? Beal sums it up as simple as a developer needs to develop just like a fish needs to swim. Plus banks won't even talk to a developer without local approval and if they spend this down time laying the ground work, they will be ready to build when the economy recovers."Developers are by nature very optimistic," Beal says.Source: Stewart Beal, owner of Beal PropertiesWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor swims in new microbreweries

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 20, 2010

If you think the selection of local micro-brews is starting to become bigger than that for macro brews, you're not too far from the truth, especially in Ann Arbor.The college town is welcoming its sixth craft brewing establishment with the Wolverine State Brewing Co, making it the municipality with the most microbrews or brewpubs in Michigan. Add in the local craft breweries in the surrounding area and the Ann Arbor area runs away with the title. "Certainly the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area is a great place for Michigan craft beer," says Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild. "I think there is a lot of room for more growth still."The four people behind Wolverine Brewing are looking to capitalize on it. They are turning the warehouse for Big George's old store on Stadium Boulevard (behind Great Lakes Cycling & Fitness) into their microbrew. They'll be turning the old "Scratch and Ding" sale room for Big George into a tap room. There the 3-year-old company, founded by a couple of local students-turned-townies, will focus on trying to create the best microbrew lager in Michigan. "We feel like we can complement all of the great ales you can get at Jolly Pumpkin, Ann Arbor Brewing Co and all of the great brewpubs," says E.T. Crowe, a co-owner of Wolverine Brewing.That sentiment is one of the keys to Ann Arbor's success at foster craft brewing, according to Rene Greff. The co-owner of Ann Arbor's first microbrew, Arbor Brewing Co., says clustering businesses like this allows them to grow off each other. Plus, it helps that Ann Arbor's populace has many of the attributes common with microbrewery consumers, such as high levels of education, lots of disposable income and being well-traveled."Ann Arbor has the perfect demographics for microbreweries," Greff says.Source: Scott Graham, executive director of the Michigan Brewers Guild; says E.T. Crowe, a co-owner of Wolverine State Brewing Co and Rene Greff, co-owner of Arbor Brewing Co.Writer: Jon Zemke

U-M regents set to approve Crisler Arena renovations

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 20, 2010

University of Michigan Athletic Director Bill Martin has overseen a number of major athletic building improvements in Ann Arbor, the centerpiece being the almost-complete renovation of Michigan Stadium.He's about to put another huge undertaking into motion before he steps aside. The university's Board of Regents will consider approving the renovation plans for Crisler Arena Thursday. The $20 million project is the first significant improvement to the facility since it was built 40 years ago.The first phase will repair Crisler's roof, electrical, plumbing and air handling systems. It will also replace the seats in the lower bowl. That will also for more seating for people with disabilities and add hand rails, among other related improvements. The university's Athletic Dept. is paying for the renovations.The project is designed by TMP Architecture, assisted by Sink Combs Dethlefs, and is set to begin next year. Those firms also designed the new $23.2 million Basketball Player Development Center, which is set to be completed in 2011. Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Greenhills School renovation to complete 1st phase in spring

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 20, 2010

Work on the first phase of Ann Arbor's Greenhills School expansion continues to moves along slowly but steadily, with a new finish date set for this spring.The private school is going for LEED Gold Certification, the second highest ranking in the system, as it renovates and expands it school on the city's east side by Geddes Road and U.S. 23. Among the big ticket items is a geothermal heating-and-cooling system.The first phase of the Greenhills School project is creating two new biology labs, a greenhouse, a college counseling center and three new classrooms. The price tag clocks in at about $3 million. The second and third phases, another $3 million in work, include new space for the school's chemistry, physics and middle school science programs, along with other renovations and additions.All phases will equal 10,000 square feet of new classroom and lab space to the rear of the main building. It will also renovate about 40 percent of the existing school of 500-plus students. A webcam of the work can be seen here.Source: Margarite Fourcroy, spokeswoman for Greenhills SchoolWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M plans to set global sustainability pace with assessment

By Newsroom

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Development News

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January 20, 2010

The University of Michigan is hoping to set a global precedent for sustainability with a new study on campus operations.The year-long comprehensive study will tackle the devil in the details of the university's consumption of resources, which encompasses more than 80,000 staff and students in 580 buildings. The idea is find every place the university can create efficiencies in its resource consumption."We're not aware of a campus of this size that is attempting such a comprehensive analysis," says Don Scavia, special counsel to the president on sustainability and director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute. He is also a professor civil and environmental engineering at the university's School of Natural Resources.The multi-layered analysis is expected to set the stage for the long-term behavioral changes. The Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute and the Office of Campus Sustainability will engage teams of faculty, staff and students in the integrated assessment in a coordinated process to gather data, capture a multitude of perspectives, promote buy-in and draw on deep technical expertise.During the study, university stakeholders are be encouraged to contribute ideas through town hall meetings and online. The first meeting will be held between 4-5:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 in the Michigan League Ballroom. For information, click here. Source: Don Scavia, special counsel to the president on sustainability and director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability InstituteWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s RPM Ventures closes $60M fund

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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January 13, 2010

Ann Arbor's venture capital community is showing signs of renewed strength after RPM Ventures announced the closing of its second fund.The downtown Ann Arbor-based firm's fund is worth $60 million in funding commitments from individuals and organizations. That money is used to invest in promising companies, many of which are start-ups based locally, such as Arbor Photonics and Mobious Microsystems."We've already deployed a portion of it," says Marc Weiser, managing director of RPM Ventures.The 9-year-old company employs four people and an occasional intern. It also keeps a stable of outside advisors at the ready. It didn't hire anyone last year but expects to add 1-3 people in 2010. It makes an average of 2-4 investments per year."When we find a great deal we go for it," Weiser says.Source: Marc Weiser, managing director of RPM VenturesWriter: Jon Zemke

NIGHT & DAY: A Good Start

By Jeff Meyers

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Kids and Education

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January 13, 2010

Along with a recap of this week's six FilterD selections, editor Jeff Meyers opens the new year with some good news about local arts and culture organizations.

Ann Arbor ranked as second smartest college town

By Newsroom

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Healthy Communities

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January 13, 2010

Hear that? That's the sound of Ann Arbor's ego getting bigger as another publication ranks it as one of the smartest places to live in the U.S.Excerpt:In 1902, the Michigan Wolverines football team beat the pants off Stanford, 49-0, in the first Rose Bowl. Unlike with some other football-centric colleges, Ann Arbor has become a bastion of the arts and activism.Read the rest of the story here.