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Akadeum Life Sciences scores $1M in investment

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Economic Development

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October 14, 2015

Akadeum Life Sciences has landed seven figures worth of seed capital thanks to recently announced $1 million seed round for the Ann Arbor-based life sciences startup. "It will help us build out our team," says Brandon McNaughton, CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences. The 1-year-old startup spun out of the University of Michigan by developing a platform that helps researchers prepare research and diagnostic samples faster and more efficiently. The buoyancy-activated cell sorting technology uses tiny floating spheres, which Akadeum is describing as "microbubbles," to acquire target cells from biological samples. Check out a video describing it here. "Our product goes into biological samples, like blood, and pulls out specific cells to improve research diagnostics," McNaughton says. "We do that using microbubbles." Akadeum Life Sciences raised $150,000 from Michigan eLab, an Ann Arbor-based venture capital firm, last year to kick start development. Michigan eLab led this latest $1 million seed round. Detroit Innovate, Invest Michigan, and University of Michigan MINTS also participated in the round. Akadeum Life Sciences plans to raise a Series A next year. Michigan eLab has pushed Akadeum Life Sciences to adapt lean startup methods, which is not normal practices for life sciences startups. That means Akadeum Life Sciences iteratively built its products to meet the needs of its users, working directly with them to develop products that address their specific problems. The startup is currently selling its technology to pharmaceutical and biotech firms, along with teams from research universities. Akadeum Life Sciences currently employs four people, but McNaughton expects that number to grow over the next year. The startup plans to build out its sales and business development team as it grows. Source: Brandon McNaughton, CEO of Akadeum Life Sciences Writer: Jon Zemke

Saline-based Imetris to launch HR management software

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Economic Development

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October 14, 2015

Imetris is expanding beyond its normal IT work to launch a new software platform later this year. The Saline-based company has been working on a human resources management software platform for small businesses. It would track recruiting and hiring efforts, helping companies streamline the process. The first module for it is nearly done and the company is preparing for a launch later this year or early next year. "We are testing it within the company right now," says Chandru Acharya, president of Imetris. "We will be offering it to a select few customers and take it from there." He adds that Imetris first became interested in building a HR management software platform after noticing there was a growing demand for it among small- and medium-sized businesses. He also noticed there wasn’t much in the market to satisfy that demand. "There are not many products our there," Acharya says. Imetris' core business consists of tech services in IT and data management, specifically managing data storage area devices for large corporations. Its revenue has grown 8 percent over the last year, mostly from work from new clients. That allowed the company to hire 10 people, expanding its staff to 110 people. Source: Chandru Acharya, president of Imetris Writer: Jon Zemke

Davis Row plans to bring townhouses near downtown Ann Arbor

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Community Development

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October 14, 2015

More housing is coming to Ann Arbor's downtown area, but this latest development isn't a high-rise. Maven Development plans to build a small row of townhouses just south of downtown Ann Arbor. The development, called Davis Row, will bring four high-end townhouses to the for-sale market next year. "There is a need for housing downtown," says Dan Williams, principal of Maven Development, and Ann Arbor-based real-estate development firm. "This allows people to have a house near downtown and not be in a high-rise." Davis Row will consist of four townhouses, each consisting of three bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms on the 300 block of West Davis Street. They will replace two rental houses that will be razed. Two of the townhouses will measure out 1,900 square feet and the other two will come to 2,100 square feet. Williams says they will be built in an arts & crafts-style architecture. Construction on Davis Row is set to begin in late November or early December. Williams estimates it will take 9-10 months to complete construction. The townhouses will be priced between high $500,000s and mid $600,000s. Two of them have already been reserved. Source: Dan Williams, principal of Maven Development Writer: Jon Zemke

Spencer hits crowdfunding goal, plans to open next week

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General

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October 14, 2015

There is good news for Spencer, a new restaurant in Ann Arbor, and its future customers. The eatery recently surpassed its crowdfunding goal of $30,000 with about a week to spare. The restaurant and cheese bar is also set to open its doors for lunch service on Wednesday. "That gets us going and gets people in the door," says Steven Hall, co-owner of Spencer. Hall and Abby Olitzky, they are recently engaged, started experimenting with restauranting a few years ago. They gained some recognition with a pop-up called Central Provisions. They switched the name to Spencer last year because another restaurant in Maine opened with the name Central Provisions. Spencer is set to open in downtown Ann Arbor at 113 E Liberty in a 1,200 square foot space that sits 50 people. They are opening with lunch service first to start generating some revenue. The liquor license approval is a little ways behind but should be done by the end of this fall. Hall and Olitzky launched a crowdfunding campaign to help put this all together with a goal of raising $30,000. Its now at $32,000 with six days left as of Tuesday afternoon. Hall points out people can still give to help offset the administrative costs Kickstarter charges and other things and still claim the prizes for contributing. More importantly it helps with exposure. "Every person who gives is one more person that is reading about us," Hall says. Source: Steven Hall, co-owner of Spencer Writer: Jon Zemke

Pedestrian deaths indicate a need to rethink street design

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Community Development

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October 14, 2015

In Dallas, a city councilman is arguing that we need to stop blaming pedestrian deaths on pedestrians and start looking at how we design or streets. Excerpt: "“Blame the pedestrian all you want,” he says. “You’re just going to end up with more fatalities.” Kingston says that in his central Dallas district there are more people walking and riding bicycles all the time. “It’s the result of urbanization,” he says. “We’re simply having more conflicts with motor traffic.” Street design, however, is not necessarily keeping up with that reality. People often cross mid-block because crosswalks are too far apart. Drivers often travel in excess of the speed limit. Lighting is sometimes inadequate." Read the rest here.

Q LTD transforms contractors to employees to fill out staff

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Economic Development

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October 7, 2015

Rounding out a creative team with independent contractors has been a popular strategy for boutique firms trying to find a balance between adapting to a flimsy economic recovery and staffing up for projects. Q LTD is moving beyond that practice, hiring the last of its 1099 workers to become full-time team members this fall. The digital strategy firm has been growing incrementally for years now and making this last handful of hires was the right move for its growing amount of work. "For us it's a nice, normal pace of growth," says Christine Golus, managing director of Q LTD. Paul Koch, a creative strategist for Q LTD adds, "Our goal is controlled steady growth." The downtown Ann Arbor-based firm has hired four people over the last year, including the two former independent contractors. It now has a staff of 14 employees and one intern. "All of the people are working full-time," Golus says. And working on a number of projects. Q LTD has helped human resources at the University of Michigan design a new website. It also put together conference programs from the American Dental Association. Currently, Q LTD is working on a website redesign for The Kresge Foundation. "The work indicates we will need that many more people," Golus says. "It's why we are hiring them on." Source: Christine Golus, managing director of Q LTD, and Paul Koch, a creative strategist for Q LTD Writer: Jon Zemke

Library of Congress work helps power re:group’s growth

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Economic Development

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October 7, 2015

Soon web surfers will be able to go to the website for the Library of Congress and click on the retail catalog for its e-commerce platform. They'll be able look for the work of re:group, but perhaps can't find the products from the downtown Ann Arbor-based firm at first glance? They will be able to take a step back and look at the whole catalog. Then they can can see it. The 12-year-old digital marketing agency recently created the online retail catalog for the Library of Congress, which should go live later this fall. Its part of a bump in work from some big names, which include Taubman, the global retail development firm based in metro Detroit. The Tilted Kilt, a national restaurant franchisee, also named re:group as its agency of record. That work has added up to a 5 percent bump in revenues for re:group, which has allowed the company to hire four people in the last year, expanding its staff to 34 employees. "We'd like to grow 10 percent," says Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group. "It's a little more than we did last year but we don't want to grow too rapidly. We don't want to disrupt the service we are giving our clients." Much of that growth has come from referrals. It is also coming from re:group's work with franchise businesses. It has steadily grown its business bringing on more and more franchisee clients, like the Tilted Kilt. That is why it's continuing to host a quarterly conference, Franchise Business Update, for franchises in Ann Arbor with the next one happening next week in downtown. Source: Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

First Martin set to finish downtown Ann Arbor hotel this month

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Development News

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October 7, 2015

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the new Residence Inn by Marriott in downtown Ann Arbor. The developer, First Martin, expects the hotel to open for business before the end of this month. "We're almost done," says Darren McKinnon, vice president of First Martin. "We hope to take in our first residents in a few days." The Ann Arbor-based development company is building the first name-brand hotel in downtown Ann Arbor in more than a generation. The hotel is going up at 120 W Huron at the corner of Ashley and Huron Streets. It's occupying a former vacant lot and Greyhound bus depot. The bus depot's historic facade and signage has been integrated into building but the actual Greyhound station has moved. The 6-story structure is a mixed-use development with 5,800 square feet of ground floor commercial space that stretches along Huron Avenue between the bus depot facade to Ashley Street. The building will house two Zip Car spots and have access to the 800-space Ann & Ashley Parking Garage. The Residence Inn by Marriott will feature 110 rooms and other various hotel amenities, like conference rooms and an exercise area. Each of hotel room is built out for patrons who are looking for a place to have an extended stay while they are in Ann Arbor. "Every room is a suite with a kitchenette and a pull-out couch," McKinnon says. "There is also a free breakfast." Source: Darren McKinnon, vice president of First Martin Writer: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor Builders plans for rare sub-division inside freeway loop

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Development News

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October 7, 2015

Building single-family home sub-divisions is nothing new in the Ann Arbor area. Building one inside the loop of freeways that make up the city's defacto borders is rare. Ann Arbor Builders is working to pull off the development with its Banyan Court project. The custom-home building firm plans to turn a nearly 3-acre lot on the city's southwest side into a 10-home sub-division over the next year. The lot, located on South Maple Road between Jade Court and Country Village Court, used to house an old ranch house that is now razed. "There aren't too many parcels like this left," says Alex de Parry, developer of Banyan Court. Ann Arbor Builders plans to build a cul-de-sac straight back from the road and then build the 10 single-family houses off of that street, which will be named Banyan Court. The houses will range in size from a 1,600-square-foot ranch to a 2,200-square-foot two-story house. All of them will be made in a craftsman-style architecture, which de Parry says will match the surrounding area. "We try to build according to what is on either side," de Parry says. "That's what we did here. We want to blend into the neighborhood, not stand out." Ann Arbor Builders plans to sell the houses for $350,00 to $450,000 each. It has already taken a couple of reservations for them and will build them out to for individual buyers as they put deposits down. Plans call for construction to take about a year starting next spring as long as the city signs off on the planned-unit development. "We hope to have approval by January," de Parry says. Source: Alex de Parry, developer of Banyan Court Writer: Jon Zemke

How planning engineers stifle criticism

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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October 7, 2015

There is always a war between what is safe and what is efficient, what is best and what is affordable. So, how does the average citizen confront planning decisions that are skewed in favor of one over the other? Understanding the rhetorical landscape helps. Excerpt: "Engineers commonly play off budget and safety against each other, as if they are two dependent variables on a sliding scale. You can spend more and get more safety or you can spend less and get less safety….the choice is yours. ... The notion that we are not able to design streets that are safe unless we have bloated budgets is false. That it is widely believed within the engineering profession anyway reveals a lack of innovation and a certain level of myopic comfort engineers wrongly enjoy. Read the rest here.