3.7 Designs web consultancy looks at Midwestern expansion

For years, 3.7 Designs focused on website creation and increasing companies' Internet presence. Today, the downtown Ann Arbor-based consultancy is gaining traction by taking a more comprehensive view of its clients' Web needs.The 5-year-old company now focuses on how its Internet solutions can work more cohesively with a client's brand or marketing campaign. "It's more ongoing and focused on strategy than just visuals and function," says Ross Johnson, CEO, designer, and janitor for 3.7 Designs.That new approach and rise in consulting work has allowed 3.7 Designs to hire one employee and two independent contractors. That rounds out its staff to three employees, two interns, and two independent contractors. It hopes to add two more hires in early 2011 as more companies come on board. "There has been a huge upswing," Johnson says.This growth is also part of a plan to expand the clientele outside of Metro Detroit. It is aiming at growing in more Midwestern markets, including across Michigan and into Ohio, Indiana, and Canada.Source: Ross Johnson, CEO, designer, and janitor of 3.7 DesignsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Logic Solutions moves to mobile apps, adds 10 positions

Logic Solutions is on the move, largely thanks to the software firm's pursuit of opportunities in mobile applications.Early this year the 15-year-old firm bid on three mobile application projects. That number has shot up to 15 currently. Logic Solutions isn't scoring all of those projects, but it's hitting enough to allow for the hiring of 10 people in the last year. It hopes to add at least five more positions to its staff of 140 in 2011."The company is growing by leaps and bounds," says Bruce Richardson, COO of Logic Solutions. "We just hired five people."Logic Solutions is based in Ann Arbor and has offices in Dearborn and China, with the bulk of its staff overseas. The company is now focusing an increasing amount of its manpower on developing mobile applications for other companies. It does have that capability to serve consumers, but that is not a focus for now. Richardson expects this new demand for mobile applications will allow Logic Solutions to grow its revenue by at least 20 percent in 2011.Source: Bruce Richardson, COO of Logic SolutionsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Silicon Valley transplant founds start-up Staxup

It all started with a XXX. Brendan Doms had just moved to Ann Arbor from Silicon Valley last spring and needed a cost-effective-yet-reliable Internet connection for his laptop. The options were plentiful but the system that provided feedback on them wasn't as dynamic. That led the young serial entrepreneur to start working on Staxup."I saw a lot of room for improvement," Doms says. "So I just took my idea and made it."Staxup creates a rating system for a variety of products and topics, showing how certain products stack up to similar choices. The new Ann Arbor-based website provides a quick, visual alternative to reading product reviews using aggregated web info. Think of it as sort of a Kayak for product reviews.Doms got the website up and running earlier this fall. He is focusing on a viral marketing campaign of search engine optimization and social media to promote it over the next year. He hopes to harness advertising and referral sales to places like Amazon to create enough revenue to make it a self-sustaining business. If that plan works out, he expects Staxup to make its first hire in 2011.Source: Brendan Doms, founder of StaxupWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor’s Old Lonesome Sound

Detroit has Motown. Seattle has grunge. Brooklyn has chamber pop. The Ann Arbor area has become ground zero for a new folk music movement, attracting both topnotch bands and rabid fans. Neofolk, folk-noir, alt-folk, indie folk rock... whatever you call it, it sounds damn good to us.

Ann Arbor’s Dug Song calls for grassroots entrepreneurial support; Xconomy listens

Michigan Attackers: Washington Post lauds U-M hacker team

Hackers haven't only become a good thing at the University of Michigan, their exploits are now fodder for a string of good headlines about Ann Arbor and how its techies are protecting democracy.Excerpt:Last month, the District conducted an Internet voting experiment that resulted in a team from the University of Michigan infiltrating election computers so completely that they were able to modify every ballot cast and all election outcomes without ever leaving their offices. They also retrieved the username and password for every eligible overseas voter who had signed up to participate. The team even defended the system against attackers from China and Iran. More than any other event in recent years, this test illustrates the extreme national security danger of Internet voting.Read the rest of the story here and more about U-M hackers at Yahoo's HackU competition here.

Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti bus fleet to get 10 more hybrids

The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority will be getting a seven-figure boost to help purchase 10 new hybrid electric buses for its fleet.TheRide will receive $1,697,350 from the U.S. Dept of Transportation (DOT), to purchase new buses next year. Congressman John D. Dingell (D-Dearborn) made the announcement last week; this grant comes through the Clean Fuels Bus and Bus Facilities Program.The 10 new hybrid electric vehicles will raise the number of hybrids in the fleet to 41 out of a total of 78 buses. That could make for significant savings: In its first two years of operating with hybrid vehicles, TheRide saved more than 100,000 gallons of fuel and $270,000 in fuel costs, a 30 percent savings.This isn't the first time TheRide, which has bus routes through the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and surrounding townships, has invested in environmentally friendly buses: In the 1980s and '90s, the bus fleet was converted to a clean diesel system, and has used ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel since 2002. It began converting its fleet to hybrid electric buses three years ago.This funding announcement is the latest in a string of transportation-related grants recently announced, including $1 million for improvements to the Blake Transit Center in downtown Ann Arbor, $13.9 million for reconstruction of bridges on Stadium Boulevard, and $150 million to develop a high-speed corridor between Kalamazoo and Dearborn.Source: Ann Arbor Transportation Authority; office of Congressman John DingellWriter: Kristin Lukowski

Ann Arbor’s Clarity Quest Marketing adds Connecticut office, to expand nationwide

Clarity Quest Marketing has always been known as a company that can get the word out about techie startups. Now the downtown Ann Arbor-based firm is adding all things healthcare to that description.The 9-year-old marketing agency has traditionally done work for tech and bio-tech firms, but is now growing its customer base to include medical practices and physicians groups. The move is a logical one considering Clarity Quest Marketing's president, Christine Slocumb, is married to a doctor."It's a way to diversify," Slocumb says. "The healthcare industry doesn't go through as many ups and downs in hard times."Clarity Quest Marketing is growing now that the hard times are subsiding. The company has hired three people over the last year, expanding its staff to 12 employees, 10 independent contractors, and an occasional intern. About five of those employees are in the Ann Arbor office, with the rest spread between its Seattle location and the new office in Connecticut. The company expects to add another 3-5 positions over the next year as it continues its U.S. expansion."We're growing here to cover the entire country," Slocumb says.Source: Christine Slocumb, president of Clarity Quest MarketingWriter: Jon Zemke

Manufacturing The Future

While much of the world may be going virtual, most businesses still have to make stuff. Putting together teams of engineering and business students, U-M's Tauber Institute plays matchmaker for companies that are looking to improve their manufacturing process. It's a partnership that provides students with a valuable skill set and saves participating firms up to millions of dollars.