To establish a true startup culture, Ann Arbor needs more than just a SPARK. It needs incubator, research and co-working spaces that can accommodate a growing and wide variety of needs and disciplines. Mark Smith hopes to address that with his ambitious plan to build an entrepreneurial campus on the outskirts of the city.
A lot of companies pay lip service to the idea of product innovation and aesthetics but Ann Arbor-based Leon Speakers walks the talk, using art and music as a source of inspiration. One has only to step inside its newly expanded complex to understand the depth of its commitment. Concentrate's Jon Zemke and Doug Coombe did just that.
The annual Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition may sometimes seem like a line-up of the usual startup suspects, but in actuality it's seeding the ground for more and wider business interests and, more importantly, investment.
The former Leopold Brothers building on S. Main St. is the kind of space that takes imagination and moxie to make work. Enter New York City-based software firm Hooklogic, which decided to abandon plans to outsource its programming and set up shop in Ann Arbor, turning a light industrial space into a workplace for new economy talent.
With advances in the medical device industry, Ann Arbor is proving to be more than just a place for entrepreneurial innovation and growth, it's producing startups that are helping to shape the future of the human body.
In today's economy, finding a job is challenge enough. Now try finding one at age 45. Or 55. And in a different field. Where do you start? How do you present decades of work experience to an industry unfamiliar with your skill set? Shifting Gears is a career-transition program for mid-to-late-career professionals looking for a second act.
The staff at White Pine Systems is in transition. Normally that's not a sign of good things, but it is for the Ann Arbor-based company . The software firm has made a handful of hires from its own ranks in the last year, bringing on a new CTO and a few web developers. "We've gone from more part-time contributors to full-time people," says Doug Dormer, founder & CEO of White Pine Systems. The 8-year-old company’s technology specializing in sharing information between health-care providers. The idea is to streamline the healthcare system (primarily in the behavioral health and traditional healthcare) by making closely guarded personal information readily available to the people who need to see it in a timely fashion. White Pine Systems has been able to bring on more work with existing clients and land a few new ones. It’s adding new modules beyond its normal behavioral health which also is expanding its workload. "It's a combination of the market is getting good with regulations, our work is being recognized, and our marketing efforts are working," Dormer says. Source: Doug Dormer, founder & CEO of White Pine Systems Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Olark is a Silicon Valley-style startup that didn't raise venture capital, isn't run by Stanford and MIT grads, calls Ann Arbor its home and has employees scattered across the country... heck, the globe. And yet it's grown exponentially over the last three years. How does it do it? Funny you should ask...
A text book definition of serial entrepreneur might very well include a picture of Tim Schaden. From Quiznos to Reservision to Fluency Media, this Ann Arborite has got business creation in his genes. With his Internet marketing firm Fluency, Shaden sees a growth in talent and healthcare clients as the inevitable path to even greater success.
States known for tech innovation and new economy success have shed their old school non-compete contracts to attract the best and brightest talent while fostering greater cross pollination of ideas and inventions. So with all the noise Michigan is making about creating a 21st-century economy why are we clinging to a 20th-century business practice?
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