Ann Arbor

U-M prof explains what all those Super Bowl ads really meant

By Newsroom

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February 8, 2012

University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor Christie Nordhielm watches Super Bowl ads a little differently than the rest of us. Yes, the polar bears and Star Wars jokes and Dorito gags are a $3.5 million hoot, but they also reveal a little bit about what's going on in our economy. Beer and beverage ads have gone down. Auto ads have gone up. Hmmm. More importantly, who spent their money well and who threw millions away? Excerpt: "Super Bowl advertising can be viewed as a sort of bellwether, Nordhielm says. "The rise in automotive advertising is a signal that the auto industry is back, and quite possibly that the economy is turning around." Watch the video here.

Ann Arbor’s Craft Cocktail Comeback

By Richard Retyi

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General

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February 8, 2012

Why order a vodka tonic when you can have The Last Word? Or, better, a drink recipe that's created on site and with locally sourced ingredients? Custom cocktails (aka "mixology") have come to Ann Arbor and fans of unique libations are embracing the trio of downtown venues that sling more than just beer and shots.

U-M Solar Car movie premiere tonight at Michigan Theater

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 8, 2012

We've written about U-M's solar car team before. Now, you can watch their efforts on the glorious silver screen. Tonight at 7 p.m. the documentary, Racing With The Sun, will be screening at the Michigan Theater. Members of the Solar Car Team will be on hand to answer questions afterward. Best of all, it's free! Excerpt: "Students from disciplines across campus put their heart and soul into the October 2011 race that included a smoldering brush fire and wind-shearing road trains. Quantum placed third behind teams from Japan and The Netherlands. It wasn’t the first-place finish they were hoping for, but no other U.S. team has had back-to-back top-three World Solar Challenge finishes." Read the rest here.

Yo Mama Packed It! turns time crunches into fresh eats

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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February 1, 2012

The student-led start-ups that have the best chance of success are those that become fixtures in the local startup scene. The co-founders of the likes of Are You a Human and ReGenerate (both started by University of Michigan students and winners of multiple business plan competitions) became regulars in the local business plan scene. They are now landing big seed capital rounds and preparing for growth. The latest U-M start-up to make begin making that impression is Yo Mama Packed It!. The five-month-old start-up is the brainchild of Jessica Lai (a masters of public health student) and Emily Potter (a recent graduate with a masters degree in space systems engineering), which was inspired while the two were hustling to study at U-M. The start-up provides fresh, healthy and affordable meals for students who are too rushed to cook and keep up with class. "It's mostly from personal experience of rushing from class to class every day and not having the time to make food or the resources to go out for food," Lai says. Yo Mama Packed It! recently won the Michigan Business Model Competition, created by U-M's School of Information's SI-Create organization and held at a recent A2 New Tech Meetup. It also won an award at Entrepalooza Symposium and was a semi-finalist in the student portion of last fall's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Yo Mama Packed It! is still developing its business model, using friends and fellow students as test subjects. It hopes to roll out its business later this year while partnering with other local craft-food businesses. "If someone makes really good cookies, I would love to have them in our lunch," Lai says. Source: Jessica Lai, co-founder of Yo Mama Packed It! Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A2Awesome makes first $1,000 grant to bike-powered veggie grow rack

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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February 1, 2012

A2Awesome, the Ann Arbor chapter of the Boston-based Awesome Foundation, has awarded its first grant worth $1,000. A2Awesome gave the thousand dollars cash in a brown paper bag to Ann Arbor-resident Nathan Ayers. He will use the money to build two bike-powered vegetable grow racks that will be used in a science class he teaches in Ann Arbor and Detroit. The idea is to create a closed-loop system to demonstrate the principles of permaculture -- a design and engineering philosophy based on ecology, which has as its objective the creation of sustainable food, energy and community infrastructure systems. Ayers' proposal was the winner of 20 applications submitted for the first round of funding. A2Awesome aims to provide streamlined seed funding for creative projects that will bring surprise, delight and joy to the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti community. A2Awesome plans to make one $1,000 grant a month for the foreseeable future. "We anticipate the applications to go way up," says Mark Maynard, dean of awesome for A2Awesome. "With this award we have set the tone for what we want to do." While the Ayers bicycle-grow project is creative and helps push the envelope, A2Awesome isn't limiting itself to those types of projects. It is open to more traditional ideas as long as they result in the same thing, awesomeness. "We're open to everything," Maynard says. "The project just needs to be awesome." For more information, click here. (Full disclosure: Jeff Meyers, Concentrate's managing editor, is on the board of A2Awesome) Source: Mark Maynard, dean of awesome for A2Awesome Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ix Innovations scores investment from Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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February 1, 2012

Ix Innovations has landed an unspecified investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund as part of a larger seed round it raised over the last year. The new cash infusion has allowed the Tech Brewery-based startup to bolster its staff of three people.. "Prior to that we had one software engineer on a 1099 basis," says Ian Dailey, CEO of Ix Innovations. "After that we were able to hire that person and bring on two other people." Ix Innovations is commercializing the PocketPico, a portable, USB-powered picoammeter that can be used as a stand-alone instrument or connected to a PC. Dailey expects to get the PocketPico into user hands later this year, allowing it to ramp up production by the end of 2012. Ix Innovations is also working on a couple more products that would complement the PocketPico. Dailey hopes the further development of those products will grow its bottom line and the size of the company. "More hands on deck," Dailey says. "That is where we would like to be (by the end of the year)." Source: Ian Dailey, CEO of Ix Innovations Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A2 businesses can now go green via property tax assessments

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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February 1, 2012

As an alternative to potentially high-interest bank loans, Ann Arbor's Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program – through which the city finances qualifying energy efficiency and alternative energy installations at commercial properties via bond issues – is now underway. Ann Arbor is the first community in Michigan to have a PACE program in effect. Projects in the range of $10,000 to $350,000 per property owner are allowable and include such items as energy analysis; insulation and weather sealing; lighting and lighting controls; heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and controls, door and window replacements; solar photovoltaic panels; wind turbines; ground source heat pumps; and combined heat and power systems. Owners then repay the loans through special property tax assessments over several years. No formal applications have been received yet, but the city is working with three owners whose applications are imminent and also plans on working with several other interested parties this month, says Wendy Barrott, CEC staff member and Ann Arbor's community energy coordinator. "The Clean Energy Coalition, under contract with the city of Ann Arbor, is out there talking to property owners, business owners, people who already have their energy audits in hand – anyone who would benefit from this program," Barrott says. "We're making a one-on-one outreach to them." Property owners must have an energy audit done, at their own cost, as part of the application process. A previous audit will waive that requirement in certain cases. Owners may choose to have the audit expense rolled into the assessment. Four million dollars will be made available over the next six months, and the city has committed to bond up to $10 million over the next year, says Barrott. Should demand over the next six months exceed the $4 million available, "...I'm sure the city will probably re-examine the need and adjust the program to meet the demand." Also in the pipeline is a possible residential PACE program. That legislation is currently working its way through the Federal Housing Administration, a requirement before adoption at the state level. "I know that there is a commitment on behalf of the city to form a coalition and seek to get residential [PACE], then add it to Michigan's enabling legislation," Barrott explains. "That's coming. It's not resolved yet at the federal level, but we are watching that closely so we can work on it at the state level when it's appropriate." Source: Wendy Barrott, CEC staff member and community energy coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

U-M launches Venture Shaping Program to turn ideas into startups

By Newsroom

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Education

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February 1, 2012

Business ideas don't always make profitable businesses. A new program at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business hopes to make that transition more commonplace in Ann Arbor. U-M is launching the Mayleben Family Venture Shaping Program through the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The new program is being funded by a gift from Aastrom Biosciences president & CEO Tim Mayleben (a U-M graduate) and his wife, Dawn Mayleben. The grant program will teach student teams from across the University how to transform identified opportunities into businesses. "It takes an idea and transforms it into a business structure," says Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. "We see a lot of ideas." The U-M Venture Shaping Program will provide teams of student entrepreneurs with guidance from faculty while going through a three-part process. That process includes directed discovery, value system synthesis, and profiting from capabilities framework evaluation. The idea is to prove that the startup meets a validated market need and will provide a cash prize so they can take the business to the next level. Breaking through that key wall of building a business (taking it from an idea to a reality) is the major constraint that has been identified by U-M officials. The Venture Shaping Program hopes to help 25 student-led business each year. "We see it as the big bottleneck in the process," Faley says. "We're happy to have a program to handle that program." Source: Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell-Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Buses, bikes catch up to cars as a way to get to work in Ann Arbor

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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February 1, 2012

Buses, bikes, and plain old-fashioned feet are upending the solo-passenger car as the only route to work in Ann Arbor, as shown by a recent survey of about 250 employers and 275 employees released by getDowntown. The study was funded by the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. The most significant finding, says Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntown, was "Seventy percent, the overwhelming majority of employers ... said it was very or somewhat important to have a variety of transportation options, not just parking, to attract high-quality workers and customers." Additionally, about a quarter of businesses with 20 or more employees indicated that the availability of the go!pass, a downtown employer-funded unlimited-use transit pass for employees, was a factor in their choice of a downtown office location. go!pass usage in 2011 was 28% higher than in 2009, with 11% of respondents commuting regularly by bus and another 29% occasionally using buses, according to getDowntown. Cycling also saw a significant bump from 2009, with 6% of those surveyed reporting regular bike commutes, up from 2% in 2009. While seemingly small, that's pretty large compared to most communities nationwide, Shore says. "And if you go off the 2000 census numbers that say there's about 10,000 employees downtown, 6% of 10,000 employees is a lot of bike commuters." The winter bike commuting workshops held earlier in the season were also a success, according to Shore, with well-attended workshops and that portion of getDowntown's website attracting over 1,000 hits in a few months. getDowntown will use the survey findings to help the AATA tailor its transit master plan and will also continue to advocate for more bike lanes, Shore says. The survey also reinforced "the value of downtown living," Shore notes. Of employees within a half-mile to two-mile radius from work, 52% are walking, 18% are biking, and only 22% are driving. At two to four miles, 32% are driving and 33% are busing it. Within four to 10 miles, though, 74% are still driving solo. getDowntown will be focusing on this group in particular, she says. "That's potentially a distance where using the bus actually might be not so hard." Source: Nancy Shore, executive director of getDowntown Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Clean Energy Coalition launches online green products store

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Development News

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February 1, 2012

With the opening of its online Clean Energy Outlet, the Clean Energy Coalition (CEC) now has a new line of energy-efficient products available to complement the services and programming it offers to communities all over Michigan. "We're working with well over 40 communities across the state right now and we see a real need for business owners and for residential customers, whether they're renters or homeowners, to break down the barriers to access to these products and be able to get them into their businesses and their living spaces quicker and easier," says Joshua Brugeman, division manager at the Clean Energy Coalition. On offer are CFL and LED lightbulbs, shower heads, water aerators, and a variety of other efficiency products. The CEC carries a more specialized selection than what's available at big-box retailers. And you don't have to push the cart for miles with the blind faith that that 6-watt LED you need is in aisle 14. "The real advantage is that everything's in one location, whereas when you go to Lowe's and Home Depot it's scattered throughout the store and they're often hard to find if you're trying to complete your comprehensive energy project at home," says Brugeman. Home energy monitors utilizing real time web-based tracking of energy use are a more tailored type of item that the outlet carries, he adds. "By being able to see that information in real time people tend to make behavioral changes right away because they have that instant feedback loop." Brugeman says CEC is in the process of adding a brick-and-mortar component to its online store to help further its focus on building a Michigan-based clientele. Source: Joshua Brugeman, division manager, Clean Energy Coalition Writer: Tanya Muzumdar