Ann Arbor

DFCU eyes Carpenter Rd. location for new branch in 2015

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November 5, 2014

Ann Arbor is Dearborn-based DFCU Financial's fastest growing market. To keep up, the credit union is looking at Pittsfield Twp. site to replace an existing branch with a larger location that offers more amenities. "It’s a high-traffic intersection, and therefore current and potential members will pass by this corner every day," says DFCU Financial CEO Mark Shobe of the new Carpenter Rd. site. "Its proximity to our current branch is an added bonus for an easy transition for our membership." The proposed branch would be built in place of the now vacant Great Lake Chinese Seafood Restaurant on Carpenter. The one-acre property would include a new 4,600 square foot branch, drive up window and ATM, and include services "to fit our brand promise," says Shobe. DFCU Financial hopes to move forward with the multi-million dollar project in mid- to late-summer next year. Seven to nine full-time employees are expected to work in the new location. Source: Mark Shobe, DFCU Financial Writer: Natalie Burg

Universal Marketing Group hires 75, looks to hire 100 more

By Newsroom

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General

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November 5, 2014

Universal Marketing Group announced the opening of a new call center in Ann Arbor last year with lots of fanfare. The Toledo-based firm promised to creates dozens of jobs and invest millions in Tree Town. One year later it has accomplished a lot of those things. The 11-year-old company has grown the Ann Arbor office (its second location) to 75 people, and it’s in the process of hiring 100 more people. "It's going pretty well," says Kirk Schimmoeller, general manager of Universal Marketing Group. "We are taking on more clients as well as servicing our existing client. We have the new office up and running now." Universal Marketing Group is occupying a large section of the former Border headquarters. It received a $600,000 incentive from the state to open the location with the promise of creating 400 new jobs by 2016. The company currently employs 300 people overall, and plans to have 150-200 employees in Ann Arbor by the end of next year. That hiring is ramping up now because its the beginning of the company’s busy season handling work for retailers and gyms. "Our busy season continue through the first quarter," Schimmoeller says. Source: Kirk Schimmoeller, general manager of Universal Marketing Writer: Jon Zemke

Charlie Engelman at the U of M Museum of Natural History

How Ann Arbor helped launch a next generation explorer

By Patrick Dunn

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General

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November 5, 2014

From a video about squirrels on U-M's diag to a National Geographic grant to film extreme tree-climbing, U-M student Charlie Engelman has turned a video hobby into the start of a career in educational entertainment.

B Young B Fit expands into 4,200 sq. ft location

By Natalie Burg

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Development News

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November 5, 2014

Ann Arbor native and personal trainer Brian Young's B Young B Fit began in a 900-square foot location in 2006 and has been beefing up ever since. In 2010, the member-focused gym grew into a 3,500 square foot location in Glencoe Crossings, and then continued its growth this year by moving to a 4,200 square foot space on Washtenaw Ave. "This new studio is designed with field turf, state of the art equipment, a private yoga studio and all the necessary tools for us to train everyone from the elite athlete to the beginner fitness enthusiast. A former Snap Fitness, the space was ideally suited to BYBF's needs. It also includes outdoor studio space for boot camp classes and other training classes. The BYBF concept is intended focus on personalized fitness and individual progress. In addition to serving individual members, BYBF also works with local businesses on their corporate wellness programs, an initiative Young plans to expand upon in his new space. "We also are growing our Sports Performance programs to work with local high schools for boys and girls in sports," he says. "This is a big passion of mine working directly with athletes as I was once in their shoes." Source: Brian Young, B Young B Fit Writer: Natalie Burg

Cayman Chemical hires 17 as it fills out Ann Arbor offices

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 5, 2014

Interns are an important part of Cayman Chemical's growth. The bio-tech firm has hosted a steady stream of interns over the years and turned a number of its former interns into full-time positions. The Ann Arbor-based company hosted 15 interns over the summer, and has three right now. Over the last year, the company has turned seven into full-time employees making up nearly half of its new hires. And the firm is looking for more. "We are working to hire interns all year," says Christine Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical. "We want to hire five right now." The 34-year-old company provides researchers with bio-chemical tools and research services. It has hired 17 people over the last year, and is currently looking to hire another four people right now. Those new job openings include two entry-level scientists, a regulatory affairs professional, and a facility management professional. Check out its open positions here. That growth puts Cayman Chemical’s staff to 225 employees. A consistent growth in revenue (Booher declined to say how much) has lead to the constant hiring. That has allowed the firm to continue filling up newly acquired space. The company doubled its building count in Ann Arbor to four last year, and recently just opened a new product shipping area. "We have our facilities pretty much full at this time," Booher says. Source: Christine Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Edmunds acquires Tech Brewery’s Carcode SMS

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 5, 2014

Automotive website Edmunds has acquired Ann Arbor-based Carcode SMS, making the mobile startup the firm's first acquisition. Carcode SMS created a website plugin that allows consumers to text automotive dealership staff and inquire about a specific car. The software assigns local cell phone numbers to dealerships so mobile shoppers can text them and provides the dealership with an app that allows staff to respond and manage conversations in a compliant environment. Edmunds plans to launch this technology across its dealership network, providing CarCode SMS for free to both dealers and consumers. "More and more traffic is going through the dealerships mobile websites," says Steve Schwartz, co-founder of Carcode SMS. The Tech Brewery-based got its starts a couple of years ago creating mobile technology for automotive dealerships that leveraged QR codes. The three-person team pivoted a year ago to focus on the text-message conversations platform. It won the 2014 Edmund Hackomotive contest last spring. That was the first contact Carcode SMS had with Edmunds, which led to an invitation to participate in the company’s newly formed startup accelerator program last summer. It also led to a spike in the startup’s revenues thanks to dozens of new dealerships signing up for its . "We ended up generating revenue very quickly after the hackomotive competition," Schwartz says. It ended with the acquisition. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schwartz and one of the other co-founders are leaving the company while Carcode SMS' CEO takes on a role with Edmunds. Source: Steve Schwartz, co-founder of Carcode SMS Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

DotMine Day Planners relaunches on consumer demand

By Newsroom

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General

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November 5, 2014

Sarah Nicoli left the corporate world more than a decade ago to start her own firm, DotMine Day Planners. These days she is relaunching the company after realizing there is demand for good, old-fashioned, paper-and-pen day planners from a core group of her old customers. "I just got an email today from a woman who placed an order," Nicoli says. The Ann Arbor resident worked in product development at Proctor & Gamble before launching DotMine Day Planners in 1999. She built up the company until last year when she choose to focus on digital versions. That's when she realized her core customer group still really liked the feel of in-hand planner. "People emailed us saying last year was the worst year for them without their paper planner," Nicoli says. Now DotMine Day Planners is relaunching its product and rebuilding its relationships with retailers. It has rebuilt its team to seven people and has added a marketing person recently. Nicoli plans to keep rebuilding her good business through the rest of next year. Source: Sarah Nicoli, president of DotMine Day Planners Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

RetroSense Therapeutics scores FDA orphan status

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 5, 2014

RetroSense Therapeutics hit a significant milestone when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration granted the Ann Arbor-based startup an orphan designation for its lead technology. Orphan status for a biopharmaceutical company is actually much better than it sounds. It gives the company bureaucratic cover to continue keep pushing forward its commercialization efforts by helping protect its rights to its research. "It's a form of intellectual property identification," says Sean Ainsworth, CEO of RetroSense Therapeutics. "That's a key part of it." The 4-year-old startup is developing a novel gene therapy to restore vision in retinal degenerative diseases, using technology licensed from Wayne State University. RetroSense Therapeutics' platform extracts a new gene from blue-green algae that helps make cells more photo sensitive. The company plans to apply this gene to human cells to regenerate photo receptors in the retina. The FDA Orphan designation is intended to support the development of medicines and technologies that diagnose, treat or prevent rare diseases and conditions that impact 200,000 people or fewer in the U.S. It serves as an incentive for their development by designating a seven-year period of market exclusivity following FDA approval, along with certain tax credits for clinical testing expenses. "It gives us the chance to demonstrate efficacy," Ainsworth says. "We expect to see that in our stage one clinical study." RetroSense Therapeutics employs four people. It is in the process of wrapping up some of its pre-clinical testing and plans to launch clinical tests in 2015. Source: Sean Ainsworth, CEO of RetroSense Therapeutics Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Clean Energy Coalition begins consulting across U.S.

By Newsroom

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Innovation News

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November 5, 2014

The Clean Energy Coalition wrapped up a number of sustainability projects over the last year, and got started on a few more. All of them added up to a broader reach for the Ann Arbor-based non-profit. The Clean Energy Coalition got its start in 2005 with the idea of helping spreading green practices across Michigan. Those have ranged from improving fuel-efficiency to making homes more energy efficient to promoting alternative methods of transportation. For instance, it teamed up with the city of Ann Arbor and Zingerman's on a pilot program to help make the employees of those organizations implement more energy efficient practices. That program wrapped up earlier this year but was not renewed by DTE Energy. The Clean Energy Coalition also wrapped up its Michigan Greenfleets program. The four-year, $42 million initiative worked to bring better fuel efficiencies to local government vehicles, such as introducing vehicles that run on natural gas or hybrid technology or installing electric charging stations. "We saw about 1.5 million gallon reduction of petroleum usage each year since we implemented the program," says Sean Reed, executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition. The Clean Energy Coalition also launched ArborBike this year. The bike-share program has locations across downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan’s campus. ArborBike will have 14 stations with 125 bikes when it's fully deployed next spring. "Right now the system is at about half capacity," Reed says. All of these wins have led to a demand for the Clean Energy Coalition’s consulting services. It's working with the EPA's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and targeting other similar opportunities across the U.S. this year and in 2015. The Clean Energy Coalition currently employs 15 employees and a handful of interns. It has made a couple of replacement hires over the last year. Source: Sean Reed, executive director of the Clean Energy Coalition Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor in top 10 for construction job growth

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 5, 2014

Look at all the giant cranes around town and it should be little surprise that Ann Arbor is a destination for construction employment. In this case we're seventh on the list. Excerpt: "In addition to being the home of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is also number 7 on our list of top cities for job growth in construction. From August 2013 to August 2014, the Tree Town had a total construction job growth of 18.4 percent. Though job growth in construction is strong, the University of Michigan remains the city’s largest employer. The city is also a regional hub for technology, biotechnology, health services, research and manufacturing." Read the rest of the list here.