Entrepreneurship

Coverage of those starting up businesses and community resources to help them thrive.

Ann Arbor’s Magic Coast switches to video streaming technology, hopes to weather economy

By Newsroom

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April 29, 2009

Magic Coast got its start nearly seven years ago as Terra Land, creating software for automotive suppliers. Today the Ann Arbor-based company provides internal video streaming for corporations. Why the change? The company saw how profitable the new technology was while working on a project for one of the Big 3 and, appropriately, shifted gears."We saw that corporations were using video streaming more and more so we decided to capitalize on it," says Bill Dunning, CEO of Magic Coast. "That really took hold (switching from software development to video streaming) over the last 12 months. All last summer we were ramping up on it."The switch hasn't been without some growing pains. The company started with a couple of people and grew to about 8 recently before downsizing to three and a handful of independent contractors. Magic Coast was bringing in more and more customers ranging from automotive based firms to radio stations, such as WRIF. The downfall of the economy put a hold on a lot of the expansion, so much so that Dunning is hoping for the best when it comes to growth but preparing for the worst."We are prepping for a flat year and hoping for better," Dunning says. "It's hard to really do anything. When we show our system to people, they really like it, but they're putting off all capital projects until the next quarter."Source: Bill Dunning, CEO of Magic CoastWriter: Jon Zemke

Latest in Entrepreneurship

Ann Arbor entices entrepreneurs

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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April 22, 2009

It's looking more and more like Ann Arbor is the center of Michigan's economic reinvention. About time the rest of the state caught on.Excerpt:That charming college town feel hasn't disappeared, but these days Ann Arbor is evolving into something much more important for the future of Michigan.Forces long in the making are transforming the city and its surrounding area into a hub for start-up companies and venture capital. If trends continue, experts predict Ann Arbor could become a key economic driver for the state."Ann Arbor is the poster child for the Michigan of the future," Charles Ballard, an economics professor at Michigan State University, said this year.Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor-area companies lead venture capital deals in first quarter

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 22, 2009

The silver lining to the latest venture capital cloud is in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:Ann Arbor-area companies led the venture capital deals completed in Michigan in the first quarter, although deals across the state and nation were down overall the National Venture Capital Association reported today.According to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association that was based on data provided by Thomson Reuters, there were 10 deals worth about $8.44 million in the state in the first quarter.Read the rest of the story here.

Smart Dining sets its table at Ypsilanti SPARK office

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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April 22, 2009

Making a choice about going out to dinner takes lots of information, especially when a group is making that decision. Enter Smart Dining, the company that strives to provide. The downtown Ypsilanti-based firm serves as a resource for local restaurant websites, menus, reviews and discounts. A click on its website can provide easy access to all of this valuable information, making dinner choices easier.Of course it's never as easy as it sounds. The company started off with a partnership with The Ann Arbor News two years ago and lots of immediate promise. Unfortunately, The Ann Arbor News' plans changed. Smart Dining is focused on avoiding that same fate, revamping its website and business model."How do you create an advertising vehicle that isn’t an in-your-face piece of junk mail?" says David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart Dining.Smart Dining's four people are doing this in Ann Arbor SPARK's new East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti. "It's a fantastic place," Kanaan says. "If you saw what they offer to small businesses it would be stupid to go elsewhere. What they offer is unbeatable."He is taking those vibes and getting ready to go forward on them. He thinks Smart Dining is one year away from hitting on all cylinders and then sky is the limit. "The chance for expansion is infinite," Kanaan says. "It's all about gaining traction in one market and moving onto the next."Source: David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart DiningWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor Velocity Investment Partners invests in itself

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 22, 2009

Kaci Sicheneder always wanted to call the shots, be her own boss, own her business. Velocity Investment Partners in the Ann Arbor looks like that dream come true.The financial planner used to work for an independent broker dealer before striking out on her own 16 months ago. Her own firm lets her build her own base of investors without kicking some back to a brand name far away. It also lets her be perfectly honest with her clients."There is just open advice," Sicheneder says. "There is no incentive to put them in one product or another."She has since grown her client base by 70 percent since starting out on her own. She hopes to double that client base within the next year. Doing that will let her hire a full-time assistant and hopefully an office manager, too. Source: Kaci Sicheneder, financial planner with Velocity Investment PartnersWriter: Jon Zemke

Afia’s founders come home to Ann Arbor and create jobs

By Newsroom

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Education

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April 22, 2009

There is a bit of the Prodigal Son in the story behind Afia. The Ann Arbor-based firm was founded by two former roommates at the University of Michigan majoring in computer engineering. One went off to Chicago after school while the other stayed in Ann Arbor, working with start-ups.Jeremy Nelson (start-ups) started volunteering at a homeless shelters, which led to a job at the Washtenaw County Health Department. Christopher Akerley (Chicago) grew tired of doing work for heartless hedge funds and decided to come back to Ann Arbor to be his own boss.Nelson and Akerley started Afia (Swahili for "help") with the idea making health records for mental health more accessible to agencies and companies providing treatment. They're first customer was Washtenaw County in October of 2007. Well, Afia's best laid plan shifted and morphed, but in a good way."We have really turned into a consulting firm," Nelson says.That means they help mental health agencies and companies select, strategize and implement what type of medical record systems to use. They do this without pride or prejudice toward the product."In the medical health field there is not a lot of expertise so they rely on the vendors," Nelson says.Right now Afia has seven employees and customers mainly in Michigan. It’s looking to expand into other states, like Utah and Louisiana. It hopes to be in five more state within two years while hopefully adding 3-5 new people. Good work for both of these sons of Ann Arbor.Source: Jeremy Nelson, CEO of AfiaWriter: Jon Zemke

MASTERMIND: Al McWilliams

By Daniel Johnson

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Arts & Culture

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April 22, 2009

Forget Nike, Al McWilliams is really the 'Just Do It' guy. From pro cyclist to all media mini emporer, the founder of Quack! Media has gotten his fingers into every nook and cranny of media content. Music, magazines, movies and marketing are his company's domains and he has no shortage of ideas and opinions about how to make them grow.

Photo Essay: New Biz In A Bad Economy

By Dave Lewinski and Jeff Meyers

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Arts & Culture

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April 22, 2009

In case you hadn't noticed, it's bad out there. And yet, there are always those bold souls who pull on their waders and get down into it. Concentrate's resident View Master, Dave Lewinski, takes snaps of six businesses who've opened in the last six months and found success.

Entrepreneur profile: Michael Coster of Ann Arbor’s Lumen Christi Church Design

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 15, 2009

The Ann Arbor resident holds a bachelors of music education from Otterbein College and served four years in a Franciscan monastery. Coster doesn't have a heavy business background, but that hasn't stopped him from starting an increasingly popular church design business.Describe your business in two sentences or less?Lumen Christi Church Design works to design, create and renovate Catholic churches to make them reverent places of prayer. We design, build, create, acquire, coordinate and do whatever it takes for each specific project.Why did you decide to set up shop in Ann Arbor?Simple answer - it's where I live!What are some of the advantages to doing business here?One of our greatest promoters are the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who have their motherhouse convent in Ann Arbor. Our first project was theirs, and we have become their unofficial chapel designers (and they continue to grow and spread across the country, so they keep us busy)! They are also very well known in the Catholic community, so they've been the connection to many of our other clients.What do you see in Ann Arbor that other people who live outside the area don't?The shadow of the University is everywhere in Ann Arbor.What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in Ann Arbor?Be ready for demanding clientele who can be quite particular. Also, be ready for hefty taxes.If you could change one thing about Ann Arbor, what would it be?Honestly, a more conservative community.Source: Michael Coster, co-founder of Lumen Christi Church DesignWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Speedraft moves tool and die industry to internet

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 15, 2009

It takes a lot of creativity to turn something as Rust Beltesque as tool & die manufacturing into a Silicon Valley-style Internet start-up. The type of creativity that comes from the people at Speedraft.The downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up streamlines the traditionally arduous task of manufacturers ordering manufacturing dies. It accomplishes this by putting the whole process on an Internet interface, allowing customers to lock down orders in a fraction of the time and money it used to take."Nobody has ever done what we do," says Tim Stephens, the founder and CEO of Speedraft. "We're the first."Stephens has 23 years of experience in the custom tool & die industry and started Speedraft seven years ago as ToolPax. Today it employs seven people and two interns through Ann Arbor SPARK. Most of that growth came in the last year or two as the start-up started to gain traction in the industry.The company is in the process of trying to raise more capital for expansion. If it can accomplish that it will go on a bit of a hiring spree, bringing on up to a dozen people later this year. Most of those jobs will be in software development."If I can get what's in the pipeline done now, we'll explode," Stephens says.Source: Tim Stephens, founder and CEO of SpeedraftWriter: Jon Zemke