In The News

Free Internet access makes Ann Arbor area coffee shops surrogate offices or libraries

By Newsroom

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May 27, 2009

Not all offices are in office buildings these days. But, heck, if you read Concentrate regularly, you already knew that. Excerpt:A single laptop user might sit at a table meant for four people and surf the Web for hours. The more daring might even sneak in their own food and drinks.Offering free wireless Internet access, Ann Arbor's coffee shops and cafes can sometimes look like surrogate offices or libraries, with more customers staring intently at laptop screens than talking with a friend or drinking a coffee.Laptop users say the attraction is simple: They're trying to study or work and encounter fewer distractions there - no stressed-out colleagues, no televisions to switch on, and no family members to interrupt."I'm pretty productive when I'm working in an environment like this, just because of the fewer distractions," said Tracy Barsheff, who was studying in Espresso Royale on State Street Friday.Read the rest of the story here and when Concentrate's sister publication Metromode reported on this phenomenon two years ago here.

Latest in In The News

Creating an entrepreneurial community in Chelsea

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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May 27, 2009

Entrepreneurs are starting to get a helping hand in Chelsea with business counseling and resource assistance.Excerpt:The Chelsea area has long been a place where aspiring artists, industrious farmers and small businesses prosper, but a group of somewhat unlikely partners might help improve the success rates among these groups or those thinking of starting a business. The Chelsea District Library, The Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce, The Food System Economic Partnership (FESP), The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) - Region 12, and Washtenaw Community College (WCC) have all come together to offer business counseling, business research services and resource assistance - all for free at the Chelsea District Library."The library is already the place people go for information," says Bill Harmer, head adult services librarian. "It's such a natural fit to extend our service more directly to the small business community." Read the rest of the story here.

Jeff Daniels earns first Tony nomination

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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May 27, 2009

Is there a piece of acting hardware that Jeff Daniels hasn’t won yet? Apparently so. But maybe things are about to change.Excerpt:Add a new headliner to Jeff Daniels' already lengthy and impressive resume.The Chelsea native received his first Tony nomination earlier this month for his performance on Broadway in Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage." In fact, all four leads of the popular and critically acclaimed play received Tony nominations. Daniels and Jame Gandolfini (Sopranos) will contend for the Best Actor in a play award while leading ladies Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden vie for Best Actress.In all, "God of Carnage" was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play."I was stunned," Daniels said. "You have no control over this kind of thing. To be honest, we thought there was no way they would nominate all four of us, so I pretty much reconciled myself to celebrate someone else. Maybe be a presenter. The morning of the announcements, I tuned in. One after another, our names were called. Then for Director. Then for Best Play. Turns out, it's unprecedented in Broadway history. First time ever, four actors for the same play have all been nominated in the Best Actor and Actress categories."Read the rest of the story here.

Local art exhibit explores what it means to lose a home

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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May 27, 2009

Ann Arbor once again pushes the boundaries of local art, incorporating timely themes and the uncomfortable truth.Excerpt:On the floor, a suitcase sits overflowing.Family photos, pots and pans and books pour out around it. For Dexter resident and artist Christy Kelly-Bentgen, who filled and painted the suitcase for an Ann Arbor art exhibit, it represents the emotional experience for many Americans who have lost their home in the last year."When we were kids, we'd say, 'If your house was burning down, what things would you take?" Kelly-Bentgen said. "And that's the idea of what's happening."It's one of several pieces of art included in an exhibit this month called "Home: Loving It, Losing It, Leaving it." The Michigan Chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art chose to feature the art exhibit at the University of Michigan's Duderstadt Center to explore the feelings behind losing a home for many reasons, not least of all the current housing crisis.Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor and Warren: A Tale of Two Economies

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 27, 2009

Ann Arbor is once again held up as the example of the direction that Michigan needs to point its economy.Excerpt:ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan's economy is the worst in the country, dragged down by its dependency on an ailing auto industry. But in a lab at Accio Energy in Ann Arbor, engineers Dawn White and David Carmein are driving in a different direction.They have built what they call an "aerovoltaic" device, a two-inch loop of piping that generates electricity -- without moving blades or turbines -- when air flows through it. The engineers' next step: linking a series of these loops into screens that they see eventually generating wind electricity where windmills are too big, dangerous or noisy to go.Innovative companies like Accio are common in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, where a highly educated population has created a burgeoning economy, and a street-corner conversation can develop into a company and create jobs.Michigan's economic future rests on making the state look more like Ann Arbor, and less like Warren, 50 miles to the northeast, where factory buildings and warehouses built on the riches of the Big Three auto makers bear signs saying they are "priced to sell." The latest blow came earlier this month, when Chrysler LLC shut down its two plants in Warren as part of its bankruptcy filing.Read the rest of the story here.

5 reasons why Ypsilanti’s business community isn’t dead

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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May 20, 2009

The demise of Ypsilanti and its business community has been greatly exaggerate... if not tired and droll.Excerpt:Ypsilanti's business community has long been dogged by high-profile criminal incidents, a multitude of misperceptions and, yes, a university that historically didn't care.That's changing.On Friday I was stunned to see hundreds of community members and business people gather to celebrate the opening of Ann Arbor SPARK's new business incubator on Michigan Avenue in downtown Ypsilanti.It finally feels like the city has legitimate momentum. Here's my top 5 reasons why Ypsilanti's business community isn't dead:Read the rest of the story here, about SPARK East's opening here and about Ypsilanti's Small Business Person of the Year here.

GM places bet on Ann Arbor’s Sakti3 for battery production

By Newsroom

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Education

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May 20, 2009

Chapter 11 or not, Ann Arbor's Sakti3 has found a big backer in GM.Excerpt:Michigan is ahead of the battery curve. That's no less obvious than with the University of Michigan's Ann Marie Sastry, CEO of Ann Arbor vehicle battery startup Sakti3. Sastry's next-generation lithium-ion battery manufacturing technology has become a magnet for auto companies, investors and politicians.Which is why General Motors' endorsement of Sakti3's $15 million federal energy grant application all but a deal clincher for the firm. As GM rushes to meet the expectations of President Barack Obama's auto task force, the firm is being pressured to focus its future on alternative propulsion vehicles. That means GM's support of the Sakti3 application could be seen as an important piece to GM's restructuring. "GM strongly supports this particular application for DOE stimulus dollars," said Bob Kruse, GM's Chevrolet Volt guru and executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries.Sakti3 has secured $15 million in capital and is pursuing a matching $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate its expansion plans.Read the rest of the story here.

Firms boost bottom line with leased controllers

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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May 20, 2009

Need someone to balance your book quickly? Ann Arbor-based start-up Just in Time CFO Solution has the answer.Excerpt:When Jim Nader bought Plumb's Inc., an eight-store grocery chain in west Michigan, two years ago, its long-term financial projections seemed logical. But, in a rapidly changing business environment, the plan crumbled and the company needed assistance to chart a new course. Lacking funds to hire a full-time chief financial officer, Nader turned to Mike Rodocker of Just in Time CFO Solutions LLC in Ann Arbor. The company offers part-time chief financial officers to help firms figure out their financial standing, find out where they can cut costs, create new sales and profit goals and get on the path to achieving those objectives. "When we started out, we had a long-term plan but times have changed and we didn't understand what options were available," Nader said. "We weren't as good as we thought we should be in the financial area of our company." Read the rest of the story here.

Lofty living in Ann Arbor: Students move into new upscale apartment buildings

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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May 20, 2009

Student living continues to climb higher in Ann Arbor in more ways than one.Excerpt:For University of Michigan student Devon Porter, living in 4Eleven Lofts is cheaper than what she paid for a single room in the Vera Baits residence hall last year - plus, it's got great views of downtown Ann Arbor and comes with a flat-screen TV.Fellow U-M student Matt Coleman said his new digs in Zaragon Place beat his fraternity house by a mile. He can see the Big House from his two-level, six-bedroom unit that's got Italian cabinets, a rubber floor and new stainless steel appliances.Welcome to the new realm of upscale student-living in Ann Arbor.Read the rest of the story here and more stories on green building here, here and here.

Partnering for an innovation economy: Great Lakes region is not too big to fail

By Newsroom

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Education

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May 20, 2009

Nothing is too big fail. Not Michigan. Not the Great Lakes Region. Not the U.S., according to the University of Michigan's vice president for research.Excerpt:Michigan isn't too big too fail. That's the economic philosophy that Stephen Forrest, University of Michigan's vice president for research, believes is crucial to adopt."As a matter of fact, the Great Lakes region is not too big to fail. As a matter of fact, the United States is not too big to fail," Forrest said. "And we have to live with that fact. I like to say we live in times of scary opportunities. We simply aren't too big to fail."Setting the U.S. apart from the rest of the world are great ideas, access to capital and a tolerance for failure, he said at the "Partnership for an Innovation Economy," a May 11 event sponsored by U-M and the Michigan Business Review. Adapting to change, then, is paramount. Michigan is facing 12.6 percent unemployment, but California is about a percentage point behind now."Every economic advantage that you can imagine is portable," Forrest said. "Everything that we do here somebody can do elsewhere."Read the rest of the story here.