Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor SPARK fasttracks 12 local companies

By Newsroom

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November 19, 2008

Ann Arbor SPARK's 2008 FastTrack reads like a who's who of innovative Ann Arbor-area start-ups.There are media darlings like Menlo Innovations and up-and-comers like LLamasoft. All in all, the 12 are companies any other Michigan community would sell the farm (and the cow and the tractor) to attract to their backyard.Washtenaw County's 'Gleaming Dozen' were recognized for their outstanding business successes. And that's during normal economic circumstance. They get an extra attaboy for surviving the current economic climate.Companies that were recognized must be headquartered in Washtenaw County, have at least $100,000 gross revenue and average 20 percent growth for three years running.One-year recipients include LLamasoft, Saline Lectronics and University Bancorp. The list of two-year companies reads like ForeSee Results, Latitude Consulting Group and Shepherd Advisors.AKASHA, Adaptive Materials, Online Technologies Corporation and Soft-Link International received three-year FastTrack. And at the top of the list, four-year FastTrack: HealthMedia and Menlo Innovations.Source: Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon Zemke

Phire Branding catches fire, hopes to hire more

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 19, 2008

For Jim Hume, the question isn't why does he run his business in Ann Arbor? For the principal of Phire Branding Company it's more like why wouldn't he?"Ann Arbor is obviously the center of growth in Michigan," Hume says. "There is a lot going on here."Which helps to explain why Phire Branding is doing so well. Hume started the firm that, wait for it, specializes in branding in 2004 with one other person. Today it employs 10 people and the occasional intern or independent contractor. Of those, four were added in the last two years.They have been able to do that thanks to 20 percent growth in its revenue. Its client list demonstrates diversity (Masco, Kraft and the University of Michigan), always a good sign in rough economic times. Phire Branding has landed these firms by staying flexible and constantly diversifying their client base. The firm hopes to focus on website creation and digital marketing in the future as it aims to keep its growth at the current pace.Source: Jim Hume, principal of Phire Branding CompanyWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor digital marketing firm Ingenex builds search-optimized profiles

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 12, 2008

Ann Arbor's Ingenex is building up its profile by building profiles for others on sites like LinkedIn.Excerpt:In a nod to the increasing importance of leveraging search engine optimization to improve the visibility of professional social networking profiles, an Ann Arbor digital marketing firm is offering to build profiles for a fee. Ingenex Digital Marketing has created a new service, the Web site SocialHarbor.com, where individuals and companies can create profiles. The company then offers to harvest profile information provided by clients on Social Harbor and created a search engine optimized profile on sites like LinkedIn and AboutUs.org.Ingenex CEO Derek Mehraban said the service offers "an incredible instant search engine optimization boost" for professionals in fields such as accounting and law, where improved Web visibility can mean additional clients."So many people, they know they should be on LinkedIn, but they don't know how to do it," he said.Read the rest of the story here.

Braun Farm development rights to be sold to city, township of Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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November 12, 2008

More land comes into the Ann Arbor Greenbelt, this time with a little back story. Excerpt: The city of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Township have struck a deal to purchase the development rights to the 285-acre Charles and Catherine Braun farm, north of the city. The farm, located on the west side of Whitmore Lake Road, south of Joy Road, has long been eyed by leaders in both communities who want to preserve the open space along the scenic two-lane road. A federal grant through the Farm and Ranchland Protection Program will be used to pay more than $1.4 million toward the appraised price of about $4 million. The two communities will split the balance, plus closing and related costs. The city's share will come from its greenbelt program; the township's from a land-preservation tax. The property was at the heart of a plan to build 1,300 Ann Arbor homes - a project, dubbed Colt Farms, a number of years ago. Read the rest of the story here.

U-M prof says blogging, social connections around for decades

By Newsroom

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Education

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November 12, 2008

Blogging isn’t some sort of new fangled trend developed in the last couple of years. University of Michigan Prof. Paul Resnick explains how it has been around for decades.Excerpt:About 185 million blogs are being tracked around the world by one estimate. Blogging - both amateur and professional - has become a cultural phenomenon.Paul Resnick, a professor with the University of Michigan School of Information, has expertise in social computing and social networks.Q: When did blogging first become recognized?A: Before the name "blogs" existed, people were updating their Web page with the latest little item they had. There were a few people who had e-mail newsletters they had with what today we would consider blog entries. That was 1988 or sometime around that.It happened first with e-mail distribution lists. Then people had Web pages. When it really took off and became available to a lot of people is when software tools came out. That was tools like WordPress or services that you can create a blog like blogger.com. Now, creating a new blog entry is filling out a form. You don't have to do anything about Web design. That opened it up to people who had a whole lot to say but aren't computer people.Read the rest of the story here and how Ann Arbor's ProQuest launched a new website here.

UM, Biotech groups hail passage of Proposal 2

By Newsroom

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Education

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November 12, 2008

Michigan has now joined a large and growing list of states that have liberalized its stem cell research regulations. It's a move many are praising as a job creator for the Great Lakes state. Excerpt: University of Michigan officials Wednesday expressed support for voters' passage of Proposal 2, the amendment to the Michigan Constitution that allows new embryonic stem cell lines to be derived from embryos that have been created for fertility treatment purposes. The embryos affected by the amendment would otherwise be discarded, unless donated with informed consent. Proposal 2, approved by voters in the Nov. 4 general election, overturns a 1978 Michigan law that prohibited creation of new stem cell lines from discarded embryos. The amendment will take effect Dec. 19. Prior to passage of Proposal 2, Michigan has been one of the most restrictive states in the country with respect to embryonic stem cell research. "The passage of Proposal 2 by Michigan voters signals an exciting new era for scientific research and innovation in our state," said UM president Mary Sue Coleman. "By expanding research with the creation of new embryonic stem cells, University of Michigan scientists can broaden their pursuit of therapies and cures for medical disorders that touch the lives of thousands of Michigan families." Read the rest of the story here.

Publisher Edwards Brothers small but steady

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 12, 2008

A business doesn’t have to be part of the University of Michigan or the auto industry to be considered a legacy industry in Ann Arbor.Excerpt:Ann Arbor-based Edwards Brothers Inc. isn't part of the automotive industry, connected to the University of Michigan, or involved in the high-tech industry.So even though the company has a big sign outside its headquarters on State Street in Ann Arbor, company President and CEO John Edwards said many people are barely aware of the company's existence."We're not auto, we're not part of the 'U,' so we are sort of this invisible thing," Edwards said. "That's OK. I'm not complaining -- it's just kind of the nature of the business."For Edwards, "the business" is a fourth-generation publishing company founded in 1893. Edwards Brothers has survived the Great Depression and many technological advances that have changed the way books are made.Read the rest of the story here.

Accuri Cytometers takes in $15 million in VC, expects to hire 88

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 12, 2008

Venture capital is almost always a good thing. In the case of Ann Arbor's Accuri Cytometers, it's good to the tune of $15 million in cash and 88 new jobs. That $15 million was recently topped with $1.9 million from Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund. All of that money is expected to nearly quadruple the three year-old biotechnology firm's employee base of 32 people. And the company hopes to grow its manufacturing facility in Ann Arbor soon.Accuri Cytometers specializes in making the cytomer systems that measure T-cell counts (among other things), which is an instrumental tool in tracking and treating diseases like AIDS and cancer. It is a research field with lots of room to grow in both the near and long term.The University of Michigan spin-off is shipping instruments to its first customers in the U.S., and anticipates $3.5 million in sales this year. Revenues are expected to grow to $42 million in 2010. Its annual addressable market potential is somewhere between $363 million and $625 million.Source: Michigan Economic Development CorporationWriter: Jon Zemke

Phase 1 of The Courtyards complete at U-M’s North Campus

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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November 12, 2008

Education Realty Trust is moving along with its dorm project on the University of Michigan's North Campus – The Courtyards. The firm just finished building the first phase of the 319-unit development this fall and expects to complete the entire project next summer.Students have moved into the first 103 apartments in the first phase. Another 216 apartments will come on line when the rest of the project is done. The development is located on Plymouth Road near Broadway Street immediately adjacent to North Campus. It's only a few blocks away from U-M's colleges of Engineering and Architecture and the schools of Art and Music.The dorm will feature apartments that have as few as one bedroom and one bathroom and as many as four bedrooms and four bathrooms. They will be in a series of three- and five-story buildings. The apartments are fully-furnished and are equipped with full-sized kitchens, granite countertops, in-unit washers and dryers, over-sized windows, high-speed Internet access and 90 channels of satellite television, among other amenities. There will also be recreational facilities, study and meeting rooms, a music practice room with a piano, an outdoor badminton court and a mini movie theater.Source: Bob Hetherington, spokesman for Education Realty TrustWriter: Jon Zemke

Photo Essay: Nickels Arcade

By David Lewinski

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Community Development

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November 12, 2008

It's a small slice of European urbanity in downtown Ann Arbor. Historic Nickels Arcade is the one-of-a-kind home to more than a dozen local businesses, some of which have been around for nearly a century. Concentrate introduces you to the people who work beneath its glass-top ceiling every day.