Ann Arbor

Cayman Chemical hires 30 for Ann Arbor office

By Newsroom

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October 17, 2012

Cayman Chemical's Ann Arbor office is becoming the happy hunting ground for those looking for a job or internship in southeast Michigan. The bio-tech firm that specializes in providing researchers with bio-chemical tools has had a growing office in Ann Arbor since the 1980s. Today that office is the company's largest with 200 employees and a steady influx of interns. The firm has hired 30 people in the last year and expects to hire more, including from its intern program. "We're hiring about 20 people a year right now," says Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical. "We also hire about 20-25 interns each year. We feel it's a very good way to find potential job candidates." This growth has allowed the company to expand its physical office presence, taking on a third and fourth building on the south side of Ann Arbor. It now occupies three buildings on its campus on Ellsworth Street and a fourth off of State Street that used to be a University of Michigan building. The new buildings will both accommodate its current growth and future expansions. "We know we're growing," Booher says. Source: Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Perich Advertising & Design adds 7 as it grows digital team

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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October 17, 2012

Perich Advertising & Design is beefing up its digital presence now that is has been hiring more web programers, software developers and other similar professionals. The Ann Arbor-based advertising firm has hired seven people over the last year, expanding its staff to 31, along with a handful of interns at any given time. Those new hires will be handling both traditional and new media projects. "It's a little bit of everything," says Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design. "Staying on top of everything digital is very important to us." He adds that his company's growth is coming evenly from both traditional and digital revenue sources. The 25-year-old company got its start handling more traditional work, such as TV and radio. It has moved more and more into the digital spectrum as the Internet has grown and taken a more prominent position in the advertising world. Making that transition to handling both ends of the advertising spectrum has allowed Perich Advertising & Design to continue to grow throughout the years. "We're going to project a steady growth," says Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design. "We're going to keep doing it the same way we have done it all this year." Source: Ernie Perich, president & creative director of Perich Advertising & Design Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Wolverine Energy finds second niche in explosives detection

By Newsroom

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Education

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October 17, 2012

Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology is not only a green start-up, but one that helps detect explosive materials. Stick with us for a few more paragraphs. The 2-year-old company launched out of the lab of Theodore Goodson III, a University of Michigan chemistry professor. He first developed a organic material that could help make super capacitors more energy efficient, which led to the creation of the start-up Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology. Now further exploration into the that technology has also led the start-up to realize it can used for the "creation of a remote and safe explosive detection device, which offers an integrated wide-area surveillance solution with relatively high sensitivity and low cost," according to the company's website. The four-person company is still working toward developing the super capacitor and explosive detection angles of the technology. They hope to add on a few more employees next year as it pushes forward with the development of its technology. "I would love to see our personnel triple, at least," says Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology, who is also the wife of Theodore Goodson III. "I would love to see us produce samples for a third party." Source: Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

By night, downtown A2 parking lot becomes Bill’s Beer Garden

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Arts & Culture

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October 17, 2012

The parking lot behind Ann Arbor's Downtown Home & Garden, which is arguably as scenic as parking lots get, is getting its own scene. Bill's Beer Garden opens there on October 18, next to Mark's Carts outdoor food court. Patrons may bring food from the carts into the garden. It's "the combination of the location, the existence of [Mark' Carts] and the incredible Michigan craft beer industry all kind of coming together, and I think we're going to produce a very nice operation, a very nice place where people will want to come to and want to be," says owner Bill Zolkowski. A beer shed modeled after a Parisian news stand now sits in the lot. A pavilion with a permanent roof, radiant heat, and seating has been built on either side of the greenhouse to the rear of the garden store at 210 S. Ashley St. Bill's Beer Garden will be open from 5-11 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 4-9 p.m. on Sundays, until December 2. It will re-open on St. Patrick's Day 2013, Zolkowski says. He plans to hire 8-12 staffpersons. It can seat 160 people at tables on the pavilion and classic open-air beer garden benches. "You're very likely to be sitting next to someone you don't know and end up in a conversation with people, interactions with people that you did not come in with and you didn't anticipate when you walked in the front gate. And that really has been almost a trademark of classic beer gardens, and we want to replicate that..." Zolkowki says. "We'll expand the community, give the community a space with which to come and to hang out. We think it's going to work real well in a city like Ann Arbor." Source: Bill Zolkowski, owner of Bill's Beer Garden Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

From Mani To Mexico

By Natalie Burg

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General

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October 17, 2012

Long seen as a Bermuda Triangle for businesses, Mani Osteria has transformed the downtown corner of Liberty and Division into an Ann Arbor hotspot. Now, owner Adam Baru is adding another eatery right next door. Concentrate's Natalie Burg gets the lowdown on the restaurateur who has worked with not one, but two iron chefs.

Craiglist rolls out mapping app, Ann Arbor a test city

By Newsroom

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General

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October 17, 2012

It's impressive for our college town to be mentioned in the same breath as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Craiglist is testing their mapping feature in several communities and we are one of them. Excerpt: "Ann Arbor joins Los Angeles and the Bay Area as a testing ground for Craiglist’s newest feature according to a report on thenextweb.com. The new application will allow apartment hunters to use a map view to find apartments in specific neighborhoods or areas." Read the rest here.

Colleen O'Brien and Tiffany Cho at Ozone House in Ypsilanti

WorkZone Helps Youth Get Ready For Employment

By Patrick Dunn

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General

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October 17, 2012

Finding work in today's job market is tough enough. For at-risk teens, it can seem impossible. WorkZone, a program created and run by Ozone House, helps young adults to develop job-seeking skills and hone them through training and paid internships.

Jason Frenzel at an Adopt-A-Stream meeting for the Huron River Watershed Counci

Green Drinks Mixes Cocktails With Conscience

By Tanya Muzumdar

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General

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October 10, 2012

How about adding a little sustainability to your happy hour? Once a month green-minded folks gather in an Ypsi pub or Ann Arbor bar to unwind with drinks and talk eco policy and business. The event is called Green Drinks and it's part of a worldwide social trend.

Concentrate Speaker Event: Food Cart Culture

By Concentrate Staff

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Arts & Culture

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October 10, 2012

San Francisco, Austin, Portland, OR... and now Ann Arbor. Food carts have been attributed with creating entrepreneurial opportunities for their owners and revitalizing neighborhoods. Concentrate's Speaker Series has invited Mark Hodesh, some of the vendors at Mark's Carts, a food writer and a food cart researcher to talk about this innovative dining trend and what it means for the communities they're in. Sign up now for TOMORROW's event.

Xiao Yuan at the Newt Loken Training Center

Expats In Ann Arbor

By Richard Retyi

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General

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October 10, 2012

Ann Arbor is home to a surprising number of foreign-born expatriates. More than ten percent actually. So who better than another expat to chat with them about their experiences living here in the U.S.? Canadian Richard Retyi gets the story.