Ever look at a strange old building and wonder 'what's the story behind that place?' Well, Concentrate is launching a reoccurring series called The Backstory. Writer Patti Smith will delve into arcane, old timey and just plain offbeat facts about Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti's history. First up: The Wolf of Liberty Street
U-M grad Michelle Leach used to design multi-million dollar biomedical devices. Then she realized she wanted her work to have more meaning than an increase in the company's bottom line. So she designed a low cost aquaponics system in hopes of assisting poor farming communities in Central America.
The Whole Brain Group has been adding clients by focusing on itself over the last year. The Ann Arbor-based digital marketing agency has moved into a bigger home, beefed up its technical expertise, added staff, and expanded its services. That cleared the way for it to grow its revenue by 20 percent in 2015 and aim for 30 percent growth in 2016. "We are trying to offer a well-rounded set of services," says Marisa Smith, head brainiac at The Whole Brain Group. "A lot of our clients are growing companies that are looking to scale their growth." The Whole Brain Group has added a number of new clients, including a RV dealership in upstate New York, Arborlight (an Ann Arbor-based lighting startup), and Great Lakes Scrip out of Grand Rapids. That new work has allowed The Whole Brain Group to add two new jobs, expanding its staff to 14 people. The firm moved to a new office near Briarwood Mall and plans to stay put for the next few years. "We are going to stay in our same space because there is room to grow," Smith says. The Whole Brain Group also recently achieved platinum partner status with HubSpot, a digital marketing platform used by businesses around the world. The status is the second to top tier for HubSpot, making The Whole Brain Group only one of two in Michigan to achieve it. "We have attained a certain level of expertise and a number of clients who use that software," Smith says. Source: Marisa Smith, head brainiac at The Whole Brain Group Writer: Jon Zemke
When Michael Forbis thinks about sales he doesn't have to worry about setting sales goals at his startup, Arborlight. "We have shipped more than $100,000 in product in the last four months," Forbis says. "We have a pipeline of $1.3 million in sales opportunities right now. It just keeps growing every single day." Arborlight, which spun out of the University of Michigan, makes a LED light that emits a sun-like light. What the company is branding as a "daylight emulation system" can be used in both residential and commercial settings, imitating sunlight in both color, temperature and even exposure based on the weather or time of day. "Our clients really care about the health and well being of their workers because it impacts their productivity," Forbis says. The 5-year-old startup has hired six people in production, accounting and marketing, among other fields in the last year to help it meet rising demand for its products. "We have tripled in (staff) size over the last year," Forbis says. Arborlight closed on a $1.7 million seed round last spring. It also won the alternative energy category at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, the state's largest business plan competition for startups. The $25,000 in cash prize for winning will go toward Arborlight's efforts to raise a Series A late next year. "We have seen a lot of demand for our product," Forbis says. "We want to take advantage of that opportunity." Arborlight has enjoyed most of its growth with orders from large businesses, including a couple of Fortune 500 companies. It plans to target institutions in the education sector (K-12 schools and universities) in 2016 as it continues to grow. "We think we can hit $4 million in sales," Forbis says. Source: Michael Forbis, CEO of Arborlight Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
How do we know that LLamasoft is burning economic rubber? Well, first, it was named to the Deloitte 2015 Technology Fast 500 for the fourth consecutive year. Second, it's currently looking to add 20 new employees. Excerpt: LLamasoft has been on a relatively fast growth track, according to company officials. It added 75 employees last year and expects to do the same by the end of this year. In each of the last three years, LLamasoft has ranked as the fastest-growing supply chain software company in the Deloitte Fast 500 list of North American technology companies. Read the rest here. The company will hold a career fair from 4-7 p.m. Nov. 19 at its headquarters at 201 S. Main St.
The rush to establish International Baccalaureate schools in Washtenaw is on, with a regionally supported high school in Ypsilanti achieving high marks, a programme in Dexter and, now, Ann Arbor vowing to establish its own program track. But will these efforts complement or compete against each other?
Big changes are coming to Arbor Brewing Co as the ownership plans to mark its 20th anniversary with a comprehensive face-lift of the brewpub.The microbrewery plans to revamp its bar, dining room seating, entryway, kitchen, and bathrooms in an effort to modernize the establishment and make it more accessible. The restaurant has also promoted one of its employees to executive chef and plans to launch a new menu when it reopens early next year. "We're doing a lot," says Rene Greff, who co-founded Arbor Brewing Co with her husband Matt Greff. When all the dust settles patrons will notice the changes right away, and throughout the eatery. The entryway will be reconfigured so the door is on the side of the entry vestibule. The bar will also be redesigned into a U shape by removing a faux wall behind the existing bar. The new bar will be able to accommodate more seating and make it easier for people to move through the dinning area. "It's going to make it a more pleasant entrance," Greff says. "It's also going to make it a more pleasant experience for the people at the bar." The connection between the main dinning room and game room will be enlarged by removing parts of the wall and a few booths. The downstairs bathrooms will also be renovated. The Greffs also plans to repaint the interior, tear out the old carpet, do some improvements to the kitchen, and upgrade the lighting. The $200,000 renovation will keep the overall capacity (210 people) and seating (150 people) neutral because of the larger bar and loss of some booths. Work is expected to begin January 4th in the basement. The whole brewpub will shut down for two weeks on January 11th. The new menu will debut when it reopens, featuring vegetarian- and vegan-friendly fare made from scratch inspired by a recent menu revamp at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti, which the Greffs also own. "I like to think of it as gastropub meets food truck," Greff says. "It's still pub fare but with more interesting ingredients." Source: Rene Greff, co-founder of Arbor Brewing Co Writer: Jon Zemke
A new mid-rise apartment building is heading for the greater downtown Ann Arbor area. The Residences at 615 South Main will replace three commercial buildings on the 600 block of South Main with a six-story apartment building. Plans have recently been submitted to the city and the approval process is expected to go on through this winter. The development would go up across the street from 618 South Main, another mid-rise apartment building that opened earlier this year. The Residences at 615 S Main would feature ground floor commercial space and 245 units, including townhomes, micro-studios (less than 400 square feet), studios, two-bedroom, three-bedroom, four-bedroom, and five bedroom units. "We probably have the most diverse collection of housing for any development in the city," says Brad Moore, president of J Bradley Moore & Associates, which is the co-architect on the project. About 51 percent of the units are comprised of the studios, micro studios and townhomes. The larger bedroom-count units only account for a handful of units. The townhomes will feature two bedrooms and a flex space for a potential work-from-home business. Moore says the development isn’t targeting any one specific demographic. "Anybody who wants to live close to downtown," Moore says. "We imagine the micro studios will be popular with people who work downtown and want to live close to downtown without paying a lot of money." The development will also feature one floor of underground parking of about 180 parking spots. It will also have 5,000 square feet of commercial space where the builders plan to incorporate an 19th Century buggy factory into the overall development. The current businesses that occupy the commercial space The Residences at 615 South Main will replace will also be given an opportunity to reopen in the new building. "It's possible some of the tenants from the existing buildings could locate into the new buildings," Moore says. The development is currently scheduled to go before the city's Design Review Board later this month. The approval process is expected to take the rest of this winter and possibly go into the spring. A construction timeline is roughly set for 14-18 months. Source: Brad Moore, president of J Bradley Moore & Associates Writer: Jon Zemke
HealPay is locking down clients from a broad variety of industries, and the Ann Arbor-based startup has plans to pursue the biggest ones next year. The tech startup's platform helps bill collectors increase their accounts receiving by enabling users to pay what they owe faster and more efficiently. It started off by helping creditors collect debts owed through its Settlement mobile app. Now it is expanding to a broader range of billing agencies, such as landlords. "We have widened our scope to include family law firms and bankruptcy attorneys," says Erick Bzovi, CEO of HealPay. "We have expanded more horizontally." Which has allowed it to spike its revenue and number of clients. HealPay currently does about $10 million in transactions a month, which is double its amount from last year. It is also enjoying a consistent 10 percent bump in transaction per month. That growth has allowed the company to hire two software engineers, expanding its staff to six employees and a couple of independent contractors. HealPay is also looking for an intern. Bzovi expects those numbers to spike even harder next year. HealPay is currently in talks with municipalities and utilities to handle billing for them as the startup continues to go after larger and larger clients. "We are slowly getting into new verticals," Bzovi says. "Anybody who does billing would fit." Source: Erick Bzovi, CEO of HealPay Writer: Jon Zemke
When Steve Schwartz went up to collect the ceremonial $100,000 check for taking second place at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition last week, he was surprised but not shocked. The CTO of Genomenon didn’t expect to win big, but he knew the Ann Arbor-based startup’s team has a lot of potential when it comes to the fight against cancer. "We all know someone in our lives who has been impacted by cancer," Schwartz says. "We're all passionate about it." Genomenon is a life sciences company developing a technology platform focused on personalized medicine with simplified genome interpretation software. The University of Michigan spinout's platform tackles the challenges of analyzing DNA sequencing data, including gathering, organizing and interpreting the results. This is process is called tertiary analysis and typically requires extensive manual review that can be frustratingly inefficient and error-prone. Genomenon’s software accelerates tertiary analysis so it can treat patients and publish findings faster. The 1-year-old startup’s team of seven has built out the product and has begun introducing it to its first paying customers. A larger product roll-out is planned for next year. "We are now in the process of raising a seed round," Schwartz says. "This (the Accelerate Michigan win for $100,000) is a nice little bump for our seed round." Five other Ann Arbor-based startups, all of which receive help from Ann Arbor SPARK, also walked away from Accelerate Michigan with $25,000 in prize money. Those include Akervall Technologies (winning the advanced materials category), Arborlight (alternative energy), FlexDex (medical device), Workit Health (IT), and PicoSpray (Advanced manufacturing). Accelerate Michigan is Michigan's biggest business plan competition. It awards more than $1 million in prizes each year. Ann Arbor-based startups normally dominate the winners circle each year. Source: Steve Schwartz, CTO of Genomenon Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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