The University of Michigan moved from 10th to 6th in the rank of higher education institutions with the most students studying abroad between 2012 ans 2013. This represented a 15-percent increase, with 2, 365 students studying overseas (for academic credit) On the flipside, U-M dropped three ranks for schools that host international students. You can check out all the stats here. Kind of like baseball, ain't it?
MedHub is one of those business that reliably hires. It doesn't go through a huge growth spurt hiring dozens at a time, nor does it go years without adding staff. Each year the healthcare software firm creates a few jobs as it moves forward. Those numbers are starting to accelerate. The 13-year-old firm now stands at 13 people after hiring six over the last year. Those new hires include software developers and support staff. "We'll probably hire another six this year. Minimum," says Peter Orr, president of MedHub. MedHub's software platform helps teaching hospitals better manage their medical residents by improving communication, collaboration and tracking of the about to be newly minted doctors. It also helps ensure the hospitals maximize Medicare reimbursements. It is currently being used by a number of brand name teaching hospitals, such as Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, along with the health systems at Stanford and Duke universities. MedHub recently on boarded UCLA and George Washington’s hospitals, and is planning to bring on more soon. "Our pipeline is full all the way through next year," Orr says. MedHub moved from Ann Arbor to downtown Dexter last year. It took over the circa-1899 Old Grain Mill at 3515 Broad Street, redeveloping it into a space for technologists. The company is now filling out that space nicely with its new hires. MedHub is also working to add more healthcare education institutions to its client list, such as nursing schools. "We're starting to get into that more aggressively," Orr says. Source: Peter Orr, president of MedHub Writer: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor's library system gets five stars with regard to circulation and services. How about we construct a downtown building that honors that sterling reputation? Excerpt: "For the seventh straight year, the library system has earned a five-star ranking in the Library Journal's yearly Index of Public Library Services. " Read the rest here.
Flexfoil, a company that's no stranger to Concentrate, is having their flexible flap design flight tested by none other than NASA. How cool is that? Excerpt: "The flap design is a variable geometry airfoil system called FlexFoil, which was designed and built by Ann Arbor, Michigan-based FlexSys Inc. The FlexFoil has already been installed and the first flight-test has been completed on a Gulfstream III test airplane." Read the rest here.
Third time turned out to be the charm for SkySpecs. It took the Ann Arbor-based drone startup three tries at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition before it won it all and a hefty payday to go with it. SkySpecs first participated in Accelerate Michigan's student competition in 2012 when the startup was being launched by some University of Michigan students. It took third place in the student portion that year. It came back again in 2013 and made the semifinals of Accelerate Michigan. This year it went all the way and took home $500,000 in seed capital. "The biggest things for us is it's going to really accelerate our product development," says Danny Ellis, CEO of SkySpecs. "It will enable us to do what we need to do to get our project out into the world and hire more people." SkySpecs is developing aerial drones that use artificial intelligence to inspect infrastructure in dangerous locations, such as the blade of wind turbines. It's WingMan platform allows the aircraft to hover near an object without fear of hitting it. Check out a demonstration company’s WingMan technology here. SkySpecs has hired two people (business development and computer programer) over the last year, expanding its staff to nine employees. Those nine people are currently working in New York City at the Techstars incubator. The company plans to wrap up its tour there and return to Michigan by February when it hopes to have 10 prototypes working in the field. "We thought (Techstars) was going to help us to take it to the next level," Ellis says. "They have the right network and the right skill set." Source: Danny Ellis, CEO of SkySpecs Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Did you know we rank third among Michigan's economic regions but 241st among the nations top 382 metro areas? Check out The Bridge's thumbnail analysis of Ann Arbor's economy and enlighten yourself! Read it here.
Cribspot announced raising a $660,000 seed round a little more than a month ago. Add another six figures to that number after its win at the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. The Ann Arbor-based startup, it also has an office in downtown Detroit, took second place at Michigan's pre-eminent business plan competition. That showing comes with $100,000 in seed capital the startup can use in the best way it sees fit. "We want to add more features that cater more toward landlords," says Jason Okrasinski, co-founder & CEO of Cribspot. "We also want to have a larger footprint across the country." The 1-year-old startup and recent Bizdom graduate is creating an online portal that creates one central website for off-campus housing in higher education. The co-founders, mostly University of Michigan students, recognized that finding off-campus houses is an exercise of searching craigslist ads and signs on the sides of buildings. Cribspot offers a central location where students and landlords can come together to find/offer/manage student housing. Cribspot landed $660,000 in seed capital early this fall with the round led by Huron River Ventures. It plans to put most of the $100,000 it won at the Accelerate Michigan competition to hiring another software engineer, expanding its staff to six full-time employees and four interns. It is also looking to expand into an other few university markets (it’s currently in 15) including Wayne State University and the University of Detroit Mercy. Source: Jason Okrasinski, co-founder & CEO of Cribspot Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
After a decade working in insurance repair, Mark Dixson says he understands a side of the insurance business many agents haven't experienced firsthand: clients who are not properly covered. Now that he's an agent himself, and opening his first Ann Arbor office, he says that is a quality that sets him apart. "I've dealt with so many clients in the past who were under-insured. I wanted to think about those clients and bring the the kind of policy they need," says Dixson, whose The Dixson Agency is slated to open by the end of December. "When a client is paying a premium, they want to make sure all of their property is covered." Often, he says, people don't realize until after a flood or sewage break that they didn't have the coverage they thought they had. That is something he hopes to address when opening his office, which is tentatively planned for a 500 square foot space in South State Street Commons. "We're here to stay in the Ann Arbor area, and we're bringing some value for clients," Dixson say "We're just happy to be in Ann Arbor." The Dixson Agency has been operating for about a year from a location in Canton. Dixson plans to hire two staff members to help operate his new Ann Arbor office. Source: Mark Dixson, The Dixson Agency Writer: Natalie Burg
Three years ago Caelynx made all of its money from its engineering consulting and staffing services. By next year its only going to get about half of its bottom line from those sources. The other half, from its rapidly growing software platform. "Software is continuing to be the major growth area," says Hans Steiner, director of business development for Caelynx. "All areas are growing but software is leading it." The Ann Arbor-based company's computer-aided engineering platform works as a simulation platform for the company. "This allows them to test it virtually so they can see if it performs," Steiner says. Caelynx recently notched another 20 percent revenue growth year, making it the sixth consecutive year to do it. Ann Arbor SPARK has now recognized Caelynx as one of its FastTrack award winners for exponential revenue growth. Caelynx has also hired one person in the U.S. and three for its Romania office over the last year. It now has a staff of 12 people in the U.S. and six in Romania. The company also recently moved from Ann Arbor's southside to a new office just north of downtown near the Amtrak train station. "It's smaller but it's the right size for us," Steiner says. Source: Hans Steiner, director of business development for Caelynx Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The Ann Arbor branch of Saginaw-based accounting, audit, tax and business consulting firm Yeo & Yeo is now the company's second largest with about 25 employees and a brand new office that is 2.5 times the size of their original location. "We are outgrowing our previous location," says Kimberlee Kelley, director of marketing for Yeo & Yeo. "Last year we merged with a firm in Southgate, Hungerford & Co. We wanted to bring some staff from that office into one office so we could make a stronger foundation of resources for our clients." Between the merger with the Southgate company and their own growth, the Ann Arbor staff has more than doubled in size over the past year, even as some Southgate employees remained in a satellite office in the metro Detroit office. Such growth attracted the firm to a 10,000 square foot space less than a mile from their former location on E. Eisenhower. "It's not too far from our current office, so it's convenient for our clients," Kelley says. "We're happy to be able to grow and expand in the Ann Arbor area. It's been an ideal location for us." Construction began on the new space in July and included a complete remodel of the office. The firm moved in on Oct. 31. Source: Kimberlee Kelley, Yeo & Yeo Writer: Natalie Burg
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