Talent: some have to work at it, some are just natural-born. Jewelry designer Audrey Wong Chung, whose baubles line the gift bags of Oscar nominees and Dancing With The Stars performers, is the latter. A computer science grad and former guest actress on The Cosby Show, Audrey is jewel outfitter to the stars, and she runs worldwide operations supplying her pieces to national retail brands.
A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation shows some impressive numbers from southeast Michigan's budding entrepreneurial ecosystem, spearheaded by the efforts of regional business accelerators like Ann Arbor SPARK. Jobs created, more than 1,000. Cash invested in local start-ups by local business accelerators, $18 million. Number of start-ups that have received portions of that pool of money, 339. Amount of seed capital start-ups have been able to leverage thanks to these investments, $101.2 million."We've come back," says Skip Simms, vice president of entrepreneurial business development for Ann Arbor SPARK. "People are feeling better in general. The private sector in general is more aware of the opportunities in our state -- opportunities that provide good investment return for their capital."The Kauffman Foundation study, conducted in the first half of 2010, also identifies the strengths for the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan, which is composed of TechTown, Automation Alley, Macomb-OU INCubator and Ann Arbor SPARK. Among those strengths are maximizing and growing relationships with local universities, such as the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, and providing mentoring for entrepreneurs.Ann Arbor SPARK has been able to claim a number of profitable exits as strengths, several of which have come after the study completion. Some of those include high-profile acquisitions of Mobiata, Adaptive Materials, and Accuri Cytometers."The entrepreneurial activity and opportunity has grown a lot in the last few years," Simms says.Source: Skip Simms, vice president of entrepreneurial business development for Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Enlighten got its start in 1983 as one of the first digital interactive agencies, marketing products for major brands like Microsoft and Lotus. That was 27 years ago. Since then it has evolved with technology, expanding to the Internet in 1995 and mobile media recently. Today the Ann Arbor-based company continues to build on that initial success, bumping its revenue up 10 percent over the last year. It has also added another 10 people to its staff of 100 employees, plus five interns and independent contractors. Enlighten's latest venture came from its policy of allowing employees to set aside some time to focus on side projects they like. Three separate employees came to management with the idea of WhatWasThere.com, a project that combines historic photographs of buildings with current ones to create a fascinating collage of past and present."When the second person told me, I said, 'Have you been speaking to Laurel?'" says Steve Glauberman, CEO of Enlighten. "This was just too bizarre."Enlighten's founder is pushing forward with the project even though a revenue stream for it has not been found. Glauberman sees big potential down the road in controlling a database of historic photos, many of which are offered up by people trying to relive a small piece of the past. And if it doesn't pan out to be profitable, WhatWasThere.com promises to be a big employee morale booster and another way to attract talent to a company that looks to enjoy double-digit revenue growth for the next three years."It's a great project and it's great for the world," Glauberman says. "Our employees love it and they can say, 'Hey, I worked on WhatWasThere.com."Source: Steve Glauberman, CEO of EnlightenWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The story of SimuQuest is a testament to the idea of "I can do it better." When it came to developing mathematical models for software creation, the company's founder, John Mills, decided he could do it one better than his former employer. Today he is preparing for a significant growth spurt after taking on the marketing efforts for his Ann Arbor-based firm.SimuQuest creates algorithms that enable software to be automatically generated from mathematical models. The company's special sauce lies in providing the final step to make this solution a viable reality for clients, such as manufacturers."I see this paradigm taking off," Mills says. "We have really been pushing some unique ideas."Which means SimuQuest has been faring well. The nearly 10-year-old company has added two people over the last two years, expanding its staff to six employees and a handful of independent contractors. It has also pushed its revenue from $600,000 to $850,000 last year and expects to cross the $1 million mark in 2011. Helping this along is the ability of Mills and his team to sell their product. Mills has undertaken sales training and plans to launch a digital marketing campaign this year with a number of new tools, such as a fresh website. He expects these efforts to double the company's income by the end of next year.Source: John Mills, president & CEO of SimuQuestWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Ann Arbor has gotten off the gold standard when it comes to achieving the loftiest level of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. LEED Platinum in whole home remodeling projects is the new black. In fact, Tree Town has one of the highest concentrations of such homes in the U.S. According to the U.S. Green Building Council. As of mid-March 2011 only 27 LEED Platinum remodeled homes exist in the nation and three are in Ann Arbor. And a fourth may soon be added to that list. All four homes have had the same Ann Arbor-based architect-builder team of Architectural Resource and Meadowlark Builders. Their latest collaboration, Sora House, a mid-century modern built in 1959, is undergoing a complete revamp and is scheduled for completion by June 21. Features include a building thermal envelope system design that uses a new technique of putting insulation on the exterior of the wall assembly; a geothermal heating and cooling system; and rain water harvesting.The home also had a large living room sunk two steps below the first floor – impractical for the aging or disabled. "One of the core concepts of deep green design is the idea of long life and loose fit," explains Michael Klements, principal of Architectural Resource. "And by that we mean that it's not a very green strategy to build a super high-performance home if you've built into that home obsolescence in terms of its usability due to physical constraints." Klement also points to the home's new standing seamed metal roof, which reduces cooling loads in the house due to its high solar reflectivity aspect. In the future, solar energy collecting devices, be they for hot water or electricity, can be added to the roof with a special clip system that won't affect its water-shedding performance."Deep green" design is a term coined by Klements and Doug Selby, principal of Meadowlark Builders. Selby thinks you've entered the deep green realm "when you start getting to that point where you're cutting the energy use of a home by 70 or 80 percent..."Take the 3,400-square-foot Sora House*. "It's going to heat and cool on average for $52 a month. That blows people's minds... But who says a house is not supposed to do that?" Klements argues.Sources: Michael Klements, principal of Architectural Resource; Doug Selby, principal of Meadowlark BuildersWriter: Tanya Muzumdar* On Sunday, April 3, the public is invited to tour the in-progress Sora House, 1045 Chestnut Street in Ann Arbor. The event is free, but registration is required.
It's hard to find the silver lining in a major ecological disaster like last summer's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but one candidate to flash a little glint of silver is Impact Everyday.The University of Michigan student-led start-up was created by a handful of young people frustrated with the response to that disaster. Their vision is to channel the energy from that anger into something more positive."There is a groundswell of people who want to create change, just like there was a groundswell of outrage from the BP oil spill," says Adam Carver, founder of Impact Everyday.The 1-year-old start-up has created a funding mechanism that aggregates consumer credit card reward points to finance local renewable energy projects. The idea is to make a difference through everyday activity. Carver and his team of eight, all U-M graduate and undergrad students, have already won $10,000 in seed capital from a third-place finish in this year's Michigan Clean Energy Prize competition. The team plans to make a deep dive into the project this summer and have 50,000 cardholders helping to finance 5-10 visible alternative energy projects within the next year."We're hoping to have the credit card available by this fall," Carver says. "We're accepting proposals for renewable energy projects now."Source: Adam Carver, founder of Impact EverydayWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Plugging Manchester, Michigan into a series of unscientific small-town observations, it's clear the village is the perfect Dairy Queen kind of burg. Manchester's intimate (pop. 2,234, per a 2009 American Community Survey estimate), but not too bitty-sized populace supports a 19th-century downtown, a millpond, potential filmmaking activity (HBO recently scouted it for a mini-series based on the book Undaunted Courage), and, of course, a '50s-era DQ. In short, it's the kind of community which the street-side ice cream syndicate seems to find irresistible. "We are pleased that we are a quaint small town because back in the 1960s the village did make an effort to preserve its Italianate downtown architecture and not have strip malls and the classic fast food restaurants, those types of things, come into downtown," says Ray Berg, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. While its vintage air evokes time at a stand-still, Manchester is now the focus of a streetscape project, similar to those already underway by its Washtenaw County brethren – Ypsilanti's being the latest example. As an add-on to this year's rebuilding of M-52, a new downtown streetscape is tentatively set to be laid in 2012. The project will cost approximately $750,000 and is funded through a transportation enhancement grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation, says Village Manager Jeff Wallace. Upgrades include new streetlights, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, trash receptacles, three or four seating areas with benches and shrubbery, and brick paver accents. Officials are also working with Consumers Energy and a couple of manufacturers on new streetlighting options, Wallace adds. "We're leaning towards LED [lighting]."The village has also received a commitment letter from Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation to contribute funding towards a two-mile walk and bike path that will bridge the Manchester Millpond and run along the village-owned abandoned rail bed through the heart of Manchester. Cost estimates run about $800,000, Berg says. Preliminary engineering, design work, final approval, and the addressing of public comments from village residents is next at hand. "The key thing is that we're not going to be utilizing village tax revenues for it," he notes. "The village basically contributes the land that it owns, and then from thereon project teams will pull together funding from a variety of sources that sponsor shared-use paths." Possibilities include a grant from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, and community fundraising, Berg says. He anticipates the path work could start in 2012.Source: Ray Berg, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce; Jeff Wallace, Manchester village managerWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
Adeona Pharmaceuticals recently received a $409,426 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to further the development of its drug Trimesta, a move that has capped a year of growth for the Ann Arbor-based staff and business."It's a vote of confidence in our work on Trimesta," says Dr. James Kuo, CEO of Adeona Pharmaceuticals. He adds that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is the pre-eminent non-profit geared toward fighting multiple sclerosis. Adeona Pharmaceuticals has already received a $5 million grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, along with another $1.1 million in funds for the clinical trials of Trimesta. So far the clinical trial for the oral drug is 85 percent enrolled and is expected to fill completely later this year. A handful of executives have been added to the staff of about a dozen people over the last year. They include a new vice president of finance, vice president of research & development, and a director of communications. The 8-year-old company specializes in drugs that address problems in the central nervous system, such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. It commonly licenses these drugs at the clinical stage to large pharmaceutical companies. Source: Dr. James Kuo, CEO of Adeona PharmaceuticalsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
A 10-block stretch of W. and E. Cross Street in downtown Ypsilanti is about to get the shoots of a new tree canopy and other niceties in a streetscape enhancement project that has just broken ground. The $1 million project plan includes about 80 new trees, the city's first LED streetlights, replacement of old asphalt, stamped concrete crosswalks, rain gardens, and traffic bump-outs in Depot Town, according to Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDA. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) committed $760,000 in funding, the source of which was a federal interstate transportation enhancement authority (ISTEA) grant. The city contributed $100,000 and the DDA just over $80,000. "It's a big face-lift and it's just going to make that whole stretch of Cross Street look a lot better and actually flow a lot better," Colbeck says. "When we approve the crosswalks it's going to make it a lot safer for pedestrians too."The work should be largely complete by June's end. Tree planting will occur this fall, and in deference to arborists' best practice will consist of four different tree varieties. Thus if blight affects one type of tree, it won't take down all the others on the street. And even with new lights, the peek at Ypsilanti from outer space will be a shade bit dimmer. To go with upgrades at Eastern Michigan University's campus, the fixtures are dark-sky compliant – meaning the light is focused downward and won't bleed into the sky. "It was very important to Eastern because they have the observatory on campus and you lose a lot of the effects of the observatory when you have the light escaping upwards," he explains. The only section of Cross Street not under the revamp's umbrella is the part from Huron Street through the bridge. The city is working with MDOT on obtaining separate funds for that improvement, a costly one, says Colbeck.Source: Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDAWriter: Tanya Muzumdar
Delta's in-flight magazine SKY features U-M alum Sunjay Gupta waxing poetic about his favorite street: Main Street in Ann Arbor. Though the good doctor could use a refresher course on Tree Town's geography (Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum are listed as features), it's nice to know we hold a special place in his heart.Excerpt:"The food scene is a highlight for Gupta, who says there are plenty of great mom-and-pop restaurants to compete with the chains. “The names keep changing,” he says, “but there’s always great Korean, a dozen sports bars, ice cream, whatever you want.”“The Ark is one of those great small concert venues,” Gupta says. The noted music hall supports folk and roots music: “It is the kind of place where the Indigo Girls will go to play for a night. Wynton Marsalis and his brother Branford put on a great show there."Read the rest of the story here.
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