Ann Arbor

Longtime U-M historian, professor Sidney Fine dies

One of the University of Michigan's most famous historians/professors, Sidney Fine, has gone into the history books.Excerpt:Historian Sidney Fine, who is believed to have had the longest active teaching career in University of Michigan history, died Tuesday at Heartland Healthcare Center in Ann Arbor. He was 88.Mr. Fine earned his PhD in American history at U-M and then taught there for 53 years, retiring in 2001 at age 80.Over his half-century of lecturing, he taught more than 26,000 students.In fourth grade, he announced that he was going to be a history professor; decades later, Mr. Fine taught a 20th-Century history class that was one of the most popular ones at U-M.When he turned 70, the academic inspired Lansing legislators to abolish mandatory retirement for tenured professors at Michigan universities and colleges."Sidney Fine was one of the best-known members of the history department, an amazingly productive and distinguished researcher and an outstanding teacher," said Terrence McDonald, dean of the U-M College of Literature, Science and the Arts.Read the rest of the story here.

Location scout talks about Michigan’s Hollywood close up

Detroit is known as the Paris of the Midwest, but could Washtenaw County become the Hollywood of the 'Great Flyover'?Excerpt:Michigan's subsidy for filmmakers has been a great success, as evidenced by California's passage earlier this year of its own $500 million tax incentive to retain productions that have been fleeing the Golden State for places like the Great Lakes State.A 42 percent refund for in-state spending is a difficult lure to resist, but Innocence Production Inc.'s George Constas says it's only a start.Constas is a location scout for the Ann Arbor based production company. He is largely why places like Dexter, Chelsea, Jackson, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti were included in the roster of locations around mid and eastern Michigan.Read the rest of the story here and the YpsiNews' April Fools story about the porn industry setting up shop in Ypsilanti here.

Former regent Phil Power sells U-M students on entrepreneurship

What’s next for Ann Arbor’s Percent for Art Program?

It took a few years but Ann Arbor got its Percent for Art Program. Now comes the hard part - successfully implementing it.The city recently hired Katherine Talcott to administer the program. Its first big test will be applying it to the construction of the City Hall expansion this year. The new program mandates that at least one percent of the construction budget for public project be put aside for public art installation."The goal is to ensure that arts and culture are an integral part of city vision and planning," Talcott says.Talcott and the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission are set to announce a public forum on the City Hall public art projects later this month. The Annual Public Art Plan, which will set priorities for this year and next, will be released in June.The big project is the proposed rain garden for City Hall. The work will combine both art and sustainability, two of Ann Arbor's favorite pet causes. It will be designed by Herbert Dreiseitl, a world renowned artist and urban planner. The rain garden for the City Hall expansion will be the most visible piece of art in the project.Source: Katherine Talcott, administrator for Ann Arbor's Percent for Art ProgramWriter: Jon Zemke

Xoran Technologies moves into bigger HQ in Ann Arbor

Bigger is better for Ann Arbor's Xoran Technologies. At least, when it comes to workplaces.The portable CAT scan company just upgraded its facilities, moving from a 20,000-square-foot home on Ann Arbor’s north side to a 45,000-square-foot space in Tech Park facility on South State Street. Xoran Technologies also has an option of expanding into even more space during the lease."We're definitely expanding in our area," says Susie Vestevich, manager of public relations and corporate communication for Xoran TechnologiesThe company got its start eight years ago and has created about 60 jobs during that time. It recently hired five new people and expects to fill more spots later this year. The growth is expected to continue, allowing Xoran Technologies to eventually fill all of its new space.Source: Susie Vestevich, manager of public relations and corporate communication for Xoran TechnologiesWriter: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ann Arbor’s Federal Building in line for green upgrades

The feds are starting to green their buildings and one of the first to undergo these environmentally friendly updates is Ann Arbor’s Federal Building.The downtown structure on Liberty between Fourth and Fifth streets will receive $2.4 million in improvements, including advanced water and electricity meters. A new green roof is also a possibility.The money is coming from the Federal Stimulus bill and is being administered by the U.S. General Services Administration. $5.5 billion has been designated for federal buildings throughout the country.Repeated calls to agency over several days to find out further details were not returned.Source: U.S. General Services AdministrationWriter: Jon Zemke

Entrepreneur profile: Yan Ness of Ann Arbor’s Online Tech

Yan Ness, 46, is the man behind the magic that keeps Online Tech hiring. The Ann Arbor-based firm has 15 employees and 12 independent contractors. It recently hired two people and plans to hire another 2-4 this year.Ness, a 1985 University of Michigan alumni with a BS in Computer Science, is a serial entrepreneur living just outside of Ann Arbor. He helped co-found Company Crafters and has built and sold two other companies - WorkWell and Systems and Software Group.Describe your business in two sentences or less?We provide a secure, reliable, scalable network of data centers to house our clients' servers, some of which we manage. Clients use us for high availability large scale hosting, or disaster recovery for their production data center.Why did you decide to set up shop in Ann Arbor?Grew up here, family, great talent, midwest values with a global perspective. Recently supportive (thanks Spark!) of commercial ventures.What are some of the advantages to doing business here?It's cold in Michigan (good for data centers). Lower costs. More win-win attitude.What do you see in Ann Arbor that other people who live outside the area don't?Brains, global perspective, lots of entrepreneurial experience.What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in Ann Arbor?Don't put your office downtown. The city doesn't want you there.If you could change one thing about Ann Arbor, what would it be?Lower the taxes. Better fiscal prudence from the political leaders and support for commercial activity.Source: Yan Ness, CEO of Online TechWriter: Jon ZemkeAre you a Washtenaw County business owner and want to stand in Concentrate's entrepreneur spotlight or know of someone who should? If so, send an email to Jon Zemke at jmzemke@gmail.com

Ypsilanti’s SPARK East incubator receives $250,000 in grant funding

Ann Arbor SPARK's East incubator in Ypsilanti landed a little bit of green ($250,000) from the Michigan Strategic Fund.The Strategic Fund's money comes from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the state. The money is supposed to help get the fledgling incubator off the ground."It will help us with the operating costs for the facility," says Michael Finney, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK. "It will cover a little bit of everything."Ann Arbor SPARK opened its third incubator in downtown Ypsilanti earlier this year. There are now four companies in its 8,000 square feet facing Michigan Avenue, next to Bombadill’s Cafe.The incubator offers two conference rooms, utilities, high-speed Internet, copiers and convenient parking for its tenants. It also provides expert business support from Ann Arbor SPARK and provides numerous opportunities to network with other new economy entrepreneurs. For information on leasing space click here or send an email to shamar@annarborusa.org or call (734) 527-9171.Source: Michael Finney, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M start-ups Ikanos Power, Husk Insulation take Clean Energy Prizes

Two University of Michigan start-ups recently made the Ann Arbor area proud, taking the two runner-up slots in the inaugural Clean Energy Prize.Ikanos Power and Husk Insulation took home nearly a quarter of the $100,000 prize pool - a competition geared toward alternative-energy start-ups, which was sponsored by the University of Michigan and DTE Energy. They plan to use that combined $24,500 to further research into their products.Husk Insulation tries to convert plant-based agricultural waste into high-grade insulation that is a fraction of the thickness of conventional insulation for the refrigeration industry. Ikanos Power creates efficient, portable and fuel-flexible electric power generators that could be used on vehicles such as military tanks and tractor-trailers.Ikanos is made up of five principals. They include two serial entrepreneurs from the U-M Business School and three chemical engineering PhDs."It's a good blend of the business and engineering schools," Townsend says.Ikanos (Greek for efficient) Power is trying to raise money right now to further its research and create a prototype. The product is still several years away from becoming reality, but it has a huge upside, according to Townsend."This is huge," Townsend says. "We’re looking at a $50 billion market. We’re talking about taking the fire out of the combustible engine when it comes to fossil fuels. That’s huge."Source: Jason Townsend, CEO of Ikanos Power and the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke