Ann Arbor

Thixomat hires in Ann Arbor as it rolls out new products

By Newsroom

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March 18, 2009

Thixomat has come up with a product so special that it's about to make the company the exception to the rule.The research-and-development company's M.O. is to create new technologies and license them out. That's not the case with Thixomat's latest product NanoMag, an environmentally friendly process for the production and marketing of high strength, light weight magnesium sheeting with nanometer microstructures."NanoMag is going to by dynamic," says Herb Pritzker, director of marketing of Thixomat. "We're going to market it directly. It can be used anywhere from automotive to military to healthcare."The Ann Arbor-based recently hired a new person, bringing its staff to nine people. Many more could be on the way if Thixomat achieves everything it hopes for with NanoMag. It's gearing up to create a manufacturing facility in the local area, a move that could create a significant number of jobs soon.Source: Herb Pritzker, director of marketing of ThixomatWriter: Jon Zemke

Biotechnology Business Consultants adds to staff

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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March 18, 2009

For a long, long time Ann Arbor's Biotechnology Business Consultants stayed the same size, toiling at the firm's downtown office. Recently the company added a sixth person to ease the load.The company started in 1990 helping biotech start-ups get their feet under them. Today the company has expanded its reach beyond that, working with economic development agencies, like Ann Arbor SPARK.Some of the time their clients will be both the start-up and the business incubator assisting its growth. That has allowed the firm to add more customers both inside and outside of Michigan. "The demand of what we do has grown significantly but the funds to pay for it have been challenged," says Lisa Kurek, managing partner with Biotechnology Business Consultants.But she sees that challenge downsizing as more and more communities focus on economic development to grow their tax base and revitalize their areas. Enough so that she hopes to break with her company's habit of staying small and adding 1-2 more people within the next few years.Source: Lisa Kurek, managing partner with Biotechnology Business ConsultantsWriter: Jon Zemke

Ilium Software creates smart phone applications in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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March 11, 2009

More and more people get hooked on iPhones and Crackberries...er... Blackberries every day, and that's just fine with the folks at Ilium Software.The software company creates applications for those phones. For instance, one of Ilium Software's bread-and-butter programs is its eWallett program. The application encrypts important account numbers, PIN numbers and passwords in the phone, protecting the information while giving its users easy access."That's really been popular over the years and it continues to be," says Ken Morse, CEO of Ilium Software. "We keep on updating it."Most of Ilium Software's applications sell for about $30 a pop, so Morse is confident the economic downturn won't hurt his company's business too much.But the economy is scary enough to give Morse pause when it comes to expansion plans. The firm has jumped from its original two founders a dozen years ago to nine people today, along with the occasional independent contractors and interns. Ilium Software has been able to self-fund that growth over the years. Today it's free of the strings that come with things like venture capital and angel investors and firmly based in Ann Arbor. Morse plans to grow it there as long as smart phones continue to grow in popularity."As the hardware devices so better so do we," Morse says.Source: Ken Morse, CEO of Illium SoftwareWriter: Jon Zemke

AA PharmaSyn provides safe harbor for 10 ex-Pfizerites

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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March 11, 2009

Hundreds of Pfizer workers were looking for a safe port in the storm created by the drug-maker when it closed its Ann Arbor campus in early 2007. One of those safe harbors turned out to be AA PharmaSyn.Helen Lee and Suemin Cheng both left Pfizer just before it closed, to start AA PharmaSyn because they wanted to stay in Ann Arbor. Today the chemistry contract research organization employs 10 people, all of whom once worked at the pharma giant. "We average about 20 years at Pfizer," Lee says. "We like to call ourselves ex-Parke Davis (the company Pfizer bought to establish an Ann Arbor presence) employees."Many of those hires came quickly after the Pfizer closing in 2007. AA PharmaSyn has been busy managing the work it has since then. The company would welcome new employees if the right ones come along, but Lee and Cheng plan to keep it small for the foreseeable future."We'd really like to keep the door open," Lee says. "We'd like to expand but no more than 20 people."Source: Helen Lee and Suemin Cheng, co-founders of AA PharmaSynWriter: Jon Zemke

Arbor Photonics gets VC boost from The Wolverine Fund

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Economic Development

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March 11, 2009

The venture capital continues to pour into Ann Arbor's Arbor Photonics. The latest bucket of cash to fall into the lap of the laser firm comes from The Wolverine Venture Fund, the venture capital firm run by University of Michigan business students.The amount invested has not been made public, but Arbor Photonics has accepted millions of dollars in investments from the Michigan Pre-Seed Fund and the Michigan 21st Century Job Fund since last fall.The money is expected to help build the prototype of the company's first product and hire staff to develop it. Arbor Photonics just hired a new Vice-President of Engineering last month and expects hire more later this year.The University of Michigan spin-off is developing a 3C optical fiber laser for the manufacturing sector. U-M Prof. Almantas Galvanauskas invented the technology that is expected to dramatically improve fiber lasers. The technology is an optical fiber structure called Chirally-Coupled Core Fiber or 3C fiber. The 3C fiber significantly improves the performance of fiber lasers in industrial manufacturing, a $2 billion market that grows about 14 percent annually on average. The company plans to make the product available by 2010 and hopes to hit $50 million in sales within the next six years.The Wolverine Fund is part of the University of Michigan's Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies in the Ross Business School. The fund, the first to be run by students, is worth $3.5 million and has invested in more than 18 companies in industries like information technology, life sciences and alternative energy.Source: University of Michigan and Phillip Amaya, CEO of Arbor PhotonicsWriter: Jon Zemke

Golden Limo plans to add 5 jobs in Ann Arbor this year

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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March 11, 2009

Ann Arbor's Golden Limo has already gone through its dip in the economy and is now on the upswing looking for new jobs.The luxury limousine service watched a good portion of its business disappear when Pfizer left town and British Airways dropped its contract. But that was then and Golden Limo is poised to recapture that business this year while adding five jobs to its staff of 38 employees and 12 contractors.Even though corporate business is down as the economy continues to tighten and cutbacks become the norm, the American consumer is still finding ways to spend on the finer things in life for those special occasions. It's also trying to break into new territory with its Town & Gown tours, the next one set for Thursday."People are still going to take their vacations. They're still going to get married. They're still going to go to prom," says Sean Duval, CEO and founder of Golden Limo. "They're going to spend that money."And Duval expects to continue making it. He started Golden Limo in 1992 while he was managing a fast-food restaurant in Milan. He got some money together and bought a friend's small limo service as his way of capturing part of the American dream. In fact a little bit of corporate work in the beginning played a key part launching the company."We really took off after we took on Weber's Inn," Duval says. Source: Sean Duval, CEO of Golden LimoWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor, Washtenaw combine data centers in City Hall

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Development News

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March 11, 2009

The Ann Arbor area is becoming a smidge more regional thanks to one less data center. The city and county have combined their data centers into one centralized operation in the Ann Arbor City Hall.Before the move, the county's IT center was located in the basement of the County Administration Building in downtown Ann Arbor. Local officials were worried an unexpected disaster could wipe out the electronic capabilities for all 30 some county departments if tragedy struck, such as a basement flood.So staff moved the county's 120 computer servers to the City Hall. The idea is to provide a safer, more appropriate place for IT infrastructure with room to grow. It will also help save costs. Data centers are notorious energy hogs since all of those servers have to be cooled. Often places where they end up, like basements, are equipped to efficiently handle the job.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

U-M launches major embryonic stem cell research program

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Education

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March 11, 2009

The University of Michigan isn't wasting much time pursuing embryonic stem cell research now that state voters and President Barack Obama have given the green light to such endeavors.The university launched Michigan's first embryonic stem cell research program this week, the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies. The consortium will focus on medical research that could lead to breakthrough treatments and cures for diseases, such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. State voters approved such research in November and Pres. Obama removed the remaining restrictions earlier this week.The stem cell consortium has landed $2 million in funding to start work in U-M's Medical School this spring. University officials hope it will lead to more federal research dollars and attract young talent in science industries.U-M researchers and doctors will utilize the stem cell lines developed at the consortium. The university is also looking at forming partnerships with the state's other major universities, such as Michigan State, Wayne State and Oakland. Stem cells are considered the body's master cells because they replicate endlessly and form the more than 200 cell types of the human body. Embryonic stem cells are derived from fetuses and have been controversial among Pro-Life groups who oppose their use. Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor Greenbelt invites landowners to submit bids

By Newsroom

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Development News

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March 11, 2009

Ann Arbor's Greenbelt Program is starting to aggressively go after protecting more land this year.The city sent out letters to landowners in the Greenbelt, asking them if they want to sell the development rights to their rural acreage. Previously, Greenbelt officials have employed a more take-it-as-it-comes approach, negotiating for land that is already for sale or waiting for landowners to approach them.The Greenbelt program has allocated $5 million to purchase development rights this year through this new solicitation process. Interested sellers can either land a deal quickly by offering the development rights at less than market value or they can go for market value, a tactic that usually necessitates grant funding and longer waits.The Greenbelt purchases development rights to rural land around the city, so it can preserve and protect open space, natural habitats and farms while preventing urban sprawl. That land remains in privately ownership and is often still used for the same rural purposes, such as farming and hunting. In its first years (after voters approved the 0.5 millage in 2003) the Greenbelt Program moved more slowly and methodically. Higher land prices and limited funds also contributed to this approach. However, the Greenbelt Program has been spending more and more lately on the strength of more money collected through the millage and falling land prices. More than 1,000 acres are now protected and many, many more are expected to come under the protection of the Greenbelt as the 30-year millage runs its course. Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor IT companies develop innovative interview process to find truthful employees

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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March 11, 2009

Two Ann Arbor firms find a way to cut through the BS in resumes when they're hiring.Excerpt:Information technology is among the sectors most susceptible to lies by job candidates, according to CareerBuilder.com with some 57 percent of IT hirers report finding resume untruths. That's among the reasons at least two Ann Arbor IT consulting firms have developed innovative interview processes to aid in deciding whether a job candidate would be a good fit for their company.Menlo Innovations and Dynamic Edge conduct multi-layered interview processes to assess candidates' tech skills and communication abilities and to determine whether they'd be a good cultural fit.Traditional interviews, in which job candidates overstate their skills and hirers praise their companies, should be left by the wayside, Menlo CEO Rich Sheridan said."I always describe it as two people lying to each other for a couple hours," said Sheridan, who is speaking at Eastern Michigan University's Ethos Week on March 10.Read the rest of the story here.