Alternative energy maybe a hot topic in Michigan but it's also an avenue that is helping HDR create jobs in Ann Arbor. What was once Cummins-Barnard energy consultants was recently acquired by HDR but still plans to stay in Ann Arbor and create up to 15 jobs this year.
Someone must be smiling down on the Ann Arbor area because the region is blessed with a multitude of start-ups. Take Lumen Christi Church Design, specializing in old-school, cathedral-style church interiors. The two-person accidental start-up's work is taking off across the nation and hopes to hire a person or two in the not-too-distant future.
Digging in the dirt will be a little less painful for gardeners and a little more pleasurable for Ann Arbor's Radius Garden. The start-up has enjoyed 300% annual growth since it introduced it revolutionary new garden tools in 2004 and expects to hire a few people in the near future.
A123Systems is making a statement in the hybrid-automotive world. The company that develops the lithium battery for the Chevy Volt has tripled in size this year and looks to add more jobs to its Livonia and Ann Arbor offices.
Storing data is allowing Online Technologies to build up some jobs in Ann Arbor. The data-storage start-up has just hired three, has two jobs open and plans to bring on another two or three people by the end of the year.
Ann Arbor company k-Space may specialize in helping make electronics more efficient and therefore smaller, but it's looking to expand. The firm is getting ready to move to Dexter in May and add two or three new jobs this year.
Dynamic Edge maybe opening up new offices across the U.S., but the Ann Arbor-based IT firm plans to stay put and hire another six people this year.
Research is a hotbed for business in Ann Arbor and NextGen Sciences is taking advantage of it. The drug research firm has been growing between 10 to 15 percent each year since its founding in 2001 and expects to create up to 15 jobs within the next year.
Developing the north coast of venture capital took another step forward recently when the Venture Michigan Fund invested an undisclosed sum in the North Coast Technology Investors venture capital firm. North Coast becomes the latest Ann Arbor-based firm to receive money from the fund.
The University of Michigan is already considered essential to the state's economic future, but it's upping the ante by opening a newly renovated and expanded nanotechnology research facility that is expected to increase the estimated $500 million the old facility already contributed to the state's economy.
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