Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor DDA looking for input on future of William Street

By Newsroom

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February 29, 2012

Travel from Main Street to Fifth... or, heck, Ashley and Division, and you'll see a lot of parking lots. Multi-story, underground, surface parking, even the DTE employee lot, the landscape dominant aesthetic is one built for cars, not human beings. The DDA is hoping to find a way to better link the activities on State Street to the activities on Main Street. Business owners, employees, residents and leaders are asked to weigh in with their thoughts and ideas. Take the survey HERE. DDA officials are hoping to receive 1,000+ responses and will work to integrate the community into the process through public meetings, webinars and a speakers series. To stay informed about the Connecting William Street initiative, go to www.connectingwilliamstreet.com, or follow the DDA on Facebook. The next Leadership and Outreach Committee meeting is March 26, 2:30 p.m. at the DDA's offices at 150 S. Fifth Ave.

The insensitive Ann Arbor male revealed!

By Newsroom

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Health

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February 29, 2012

What do Pompano Beach, FL, Roanoke, VA, and West Hollywood, CA have in common? They are home to touchy-feely, sensitive males who embrace "proper" moral conduct. Or so says Dr. Helen Fisher, chief scientific advisor to Chemistry.com. So where does Ann Arbor, the supposedly single-dom wonderland of educated dating, fall? Dead last. That's right, we're a community filled with brainy but jerky cavemen who laugh at movies like The Notebook or Terms Of Endearment. Mind you, Concentrate has no scientific evidence to back any of this up. Just the good word of the relationship geniuses at Chemistry.com. Excerpt: "To help single women find a man with some tender loving care, Chemistry.com has tapped its unparalleled data on the personality types of American singles to locate the cities with the highest concentrations of compassionate, sensitive single men. Chemistry.com's data has revealed that the most sensitive men in America can be found in cities that are also popular vacation destinations, with Pompano Beach, FL, Roanoke, VA, and West Hollywood, CA claiming the top three spots. Whereas Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is known as a big college sports town, has ranked the least likely city to find a sensitive man." Read the rest HERE.

NYC VC Founder sizes up Ann Arbor’s entrepeneurial prospects

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 29, 2012

Roger Ehrenberg, managing partner of IA Ventures, returned to his alma mater to present at the Ann Arbor New Tech Meetup. He offers up his observations and impressions of Ann Arbor's entrepreneurial ecosystem - its virtues and short-comings. Excerpt: "One thing I noticed at Michigan is how developed and entrepreneurial its Office of Technology Transfer is relative to many of its peers. My sense is that because of Ann Arbor’s physical location (a land-locked jewel of innovation), it has had to be incredibly scrappy and experimental in order to achieve its goals. There simply aren’t the deep network effects that exist in San Francisco/Silicon Valley, New York/Silicon Alley or Boston/Cambridge. And while it is still early in the game, they have done a great job cultivating relationships across the University and working closely with the departments to get technology successfully spun-out from the School (kudos to Wes Huffstutter for greasing the wheels of cross-institutional progress). But the fact that “tech transfer” at Michigan doesn’t conjure up thoughts of the usual hard-to-work-with, inflexible bureaucracy is a tribute to what they’ve accomplished in the past decade. Other schools have much to learn from Michigan’s progress." Read the rest here.

The mystery of the Bob and Betty Beyster Bubbler

By Newsroom

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Education

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February 29, 2012

It's not exactly up there with Big Foot or the Bermuda Triangle but Ann Arbor has a mystery that attracted the attention of the newshounds at FOX News: a hot tub appeared, then disappeared atop a new a U-M building. I can almost hear the creepy, otherworldly music. Excerpt: "Initially reported by the Michigan Daily campus newspaper, the hot tub first was noticed Saturday, had visitors and was gone by Monday night. "People were kind of flabbergasted," Crang said. "It was obviously unexpected. It was pretty creative and now it's gone. It left a buzz in its wake." Despite its short stay, students called the hot tub the Bob and Betty Beyster Bubbler after the couple who donated $15 million to the school. The building is named after them." Read the rest of the story here.

Apogee Insights Group tackles intellectual property

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 29, 2012

Intellectual property. It's a buzzphrase that garners a lot of attention in the new economy in the same way phrases like data mining and aggregate information do. A new Ann Arbor-based consulting firm, Apogee Insights Group, looks to capitalize on this trend of helping entities make the most of their intellectual property. "We see a definite need for helping companies and government entities maximize the value of their intellectual property," says Dan Arbour, partner with Apogee Insights Group. The company got its start two months ago when five partners decided to go in together. The small group offers consulting services to not only people who want to maximize their intellectual property, but also to groups that want to acquire or sell it. Apogee Insights Group currently employs its five partners and an intern. It's looking to immediately add three interns in the social media, business model analyst and research analyst sectors. They will have an opportunity to turn their internships into full-time jobs. "We will be picking the best and the brightest to move them into the firm long-term," Arbour says. "We see ourselves growing to 10 partners and 20 employees." Source: Dan Arbour, partner with Apogee Insights Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Molecular Imaging scores $9.9M VC round, plans to hire 18

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 29, 2012

The newly independent Molecular Imaging is gearing up to significantly scale its business, thanks in large part to a $9.9 million round of venture capital. Molecular Imaging has been hiring almost as fast as it has been raising seed capital. The Ann Arbor-based business has hired eight people since last spring, expanding its workforce to 22 employees. The company's five-year plan calls for it to employ more than 200 people. "Our plan by the end of this year is to be in the neighborhood of 40 employees," says Tom Ludlam, president & CEO of Molecular Imaging. Molecular Imaging provides in vivo pre-clinical imaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical devices industries. It was founded in Ann Arbor in 2003, acquired in 2008, and then spun back out last April thanks to a $7 million venture capital investment. This venture capital round has been capped off by a $2.5 million investment from Farmington Hills-based Beringea, which is co-managing the $185 million InvestMichigan! Growth Capital Fund. "By the end of 2011, early 2012 we had the business back up to the same volume as it was when negotiations began," Ludlam says. "We hope to have the business at 50 percent above that baseline this year." Source: Tom Ludlam, president & CEO of Molecular Imaging Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arbor Advises the White House

By Nicole Rupersburg

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General

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February 29, 2012

It's hardly a surprise that the University of Michigan is considered a world-class institution with deep political connections. But with the urgent concerns of today's economic policies, the Obama Administration, in particular, has reached out to Ann Arbor for guidance, expertise, and advice.

Converge Medical Tech develops new brain function monitor

By Newsroom

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Education

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February 29, 2012

Converge Medical Technologies is developing one of the latest and greatest technologies coming out of the University of Michigan, a monitor that tracks brain function in real-time for anesthesiologists. The brand-spanking new start-up is composed of six team members, including four co-founders, from U-M. The company recently took the runner-up place (worth $10,000 in cash) at the Michigan Business Challenge at the Ross School of Business. The start-up hopes to leverage this win for more exposure and to grow its team. "Going forward we will look to add some members, such as an experienced CEO," says Michael Johnson, co-founder of Converge Medical Technologies. The medical device company has developed a rough prototype of its technology, which is based on a study conducted by a U-M anesthesiologist. The team hopes to have a beta version of its prototype done by this summer and have its final version complete by the end of this year. It's forecasting its first sales by 2015. In the meantime it will work to raise funds through more business competitions, grants and equity investments. Source: Michael Johnson, co-founder of Converge Medical Technologies Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Google Ventures signs on with Duo Security’s latest $5M VC round

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 29, 2012

Duo Security has wrapped up its latest round of fundraising and has signed on a big-name investor, Google Ventures. Google Ventures, the venture capital arm of Google, led the Series A round of venture capital worth $5 million. It was joined by True Ventures and downtown Ann Arbor-based VC, Resonant Venture Partners. These new funds will help Duo Security grow its team as it works to increase the breadth and reach of its software. "We're expanding the team to roles beyond engineering," says Brian Kelly, senior product marketing manager and one of Duo Security's recent hires. He adds that the new jobs created will include marketing and sales positions. Duo Security, which calls the Tech Brewery home, is developing an authentication platform for mobile devices that helps users prevent identity and data theft. This two-factor authentication service provides an interactive secondary login through an intuitive web interface. The two-year-old Ann Arbor-based start-up was originally launched as Scio Security. It was co-founded by Dug Song, one of Ann Arbor's up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs, and Jon Oberheide, who recently completed his PhD in computer science from the University of Michigan. The company raised an initial seed round worth $1 million a little more than a year ago from True Ventures and Resonant Venture Partners. Source: Brian Kelly, senior product marketing manager for Duo Security Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Beal, Inc. launches CityFARM to focus on urban agriculture

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 22, 2012

CityFARM, the latest start-up launched from Beal Inc., has a dual purpose: create more urban gardens and help alleviate hunger in Metro Detroit. The Ann Arbor-based social entrepreneurial venture specializes in designing, building and maintaining urban gardens. The start-up has a couple of projects in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area and is aiming to have 25 under its belt by the end of the year. "Organic urban gardening can make a real difference in communities, both in the environment and job development," says Lauren Maloney, farming genius & business manager for CityFARM. CityFARM's first project is the Adams Street Farm, a demonstration garden in downtown Ypsilanti. CityFARM will install a new garden bed at the Adams Street Farm for every new client it adds this year. The garden will feature 2,000 square feet of growing space, which could allow for up to 6,000 pounds of food production. "All of the food produced there will be donated to Food Gatherers," Maloney says. CityFARM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Beal Inc and employs three people. Maloney is about to graduate from the University of Michigan this spring with a masters degree in conservation biology. CityFARM is offering urban farming internships for this spring and summer. For information, contact Maloney at lmaloney@WeAreCityFARM.com. Source: Lauren Maloney, farming genius & business manager for CityFARM Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.