Ann Arbor

U-M plans to upgrade East Quad, lab space, utility tunnels

The University of Michigan has OKed more upgrades for the school's campus, including millions of dollars in projects for the university's dorms, laboratories, hospital and utility tunnels.The university plans to spend $2.1 million renovating the 11,300-square-foot auditorium in East Quad. The venue, built in 1970, is used for for musical and theatrical petformances, and for poetry readings. The work will improve the facility's technology, lighting, stage, seats and architectural finishes. A vertical lift and second fire exit will also be added to make the auditorium compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and safety codes. Work is set to begin this fall.About $6.6 million will be spent fixing the university's tunnel system. Those tunnels house things like electric lines and water pipes. About 600 feet of tunnels and 125 feet of pipes will be replaces, starting this fall.Another $1.2 million will be spent modernizing the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Building. Approximately 8,300 gross square feet of existing student laboratory will be reconfigured into three new research laboratories for faculty and students. Work is also set to start this fall.Not to be left out, the University of Michigan Hospital will receive $3.25 million in upgrades for its air-conditioning system. That project is slated to begin in the spring of 2010.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Small Company Innovation Program helps U-M reach out to small biz

The University of Michigan is reaching out to small businesses to see if there is a way they can help each other through partnerships in the university's Small Company Innovation Program.The idea behind the pilot program is to let the university's College of Engineering work with local small businesses on research projects. It basically would open the university's faculty and student resources to these businesses. To make it financially feasible, the university will match $30,000 of support and waive indirect costs for five projects. This will support the work of a member of the university faculty and one graduate student research assistant. For information about the program, click here. Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Washtenaw-area land trusts protect 1,072 acres in 2008

It's not like developers are stockpiling land right now, but local land trusts and preservation programs in Washtenaw County are still working hard to sock away more natural rural space.These nine organizations have helped put 1,072 acres out of reach of future development last year. It turns out that 2008 is the third consecutive year that more than 1,000 acres of farms, natural areas and open space have been preserved. So far 10,533 acres total have been marked for preservation.These programs include Ann Arbor's Greenbelt, the Raisin Valley Land Trust, Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy, and Washtenaw Land Trust, among other similar organizations surrounding Ann Arbor. These organizations often buy the land's development rights so it can remain private property but not turn into another dreaded sub division. Source: Washtenaw Land TrustWriter: Jon Zemke

Arboretum Ventures raises $73 million for latest fund

Ann Arbor is becoming, more and more, Michigan's venture capital capitol, proof of which is clearly visibly at Arboretum Ventures.The Ann Arbor-based firm recently closed out its latest investment fund worth $73 million. This fund is triple the size of Arboretum's first, which was worth $24 million. Managing Directors Jan Garfinkle and Tim Petersen will manage the money with the help of five other employees.Garfinkle and Petersen were able to recruit some high-profile investors, including Chris Rizik. The co-founder of Ardesta is now the CEO of the Detroit Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, which invested $5 million into Arboretum's latest fund."Arboretum Ventures is one of the brightest young venture capital firms in the nation, and one that has shown that great investment and company-building opportunities exist in the Midwest," Rizik says.The difference between Arboretum and Renaissance is that Arboretum invests in early stage private companies in the healthcare and life science industries. Reniassance (which has offices in both downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor) is a fund for venture capital funds.Arboretum focuses on medical device, diagnostic and healthcare information technology companies. Although most of these companies are in the Midwest, Arboretum does make investments across the nation. It has made 17 investments so far. Some of its success stories include Ann Arbor's HealthMedia, which was acquired for a hefty sum by corporate behemoth Johnson & Johnson last year. Another is Detroit-based Asterand, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange. Source: Arboretum VenturesWriter: Jon Zemke

New Enterprise Forum names Healthmedia founder as Entrepreneur of the Year

Ann Arbor makes plans for waterscape public art project

Leave it to Ann Arbor to find a way to fuse two of the community's favorite pet causes - sustainability and public art.Local officials are putting the finishing touches on the main piece of public art for the City Hall expansion, which also looks to play a significant part in the building's sustainability. The work of art, a key piece of the project's LEED application, is a rain garden designed by Herbert Dreiseitl, who was commissioned by the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission.Dreiseitl is a world renowned artist and urban planner who specializes in integrating drab things like storm water into sexy subjects such as public art. His rain garden for the City Hall expansion will be the most visible piece of art in the project.The rain garden will also go a long ways toward satisfying Ann Arbor's new "Percent for Art" ordinance for new public buildings. The ordinance calls for projects to dedicate 1 percent of the project's budget for public art. Similar policies have been used for decades in other cities, such as New York and Portland.In December, AAPAC Chair, Margaret Parker, presented the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission’s (AAPAC) 2009 Annual Public Art Plan to City Council. One of AAPAC’s 2009 priorities includes the installation of interior and exterior artwork at the Ann Arbor Municipal Center.Source: Margaret Parker, chair of the Ann Arbor Public Art CommissionWriter: Jon Zemke

Schumaker & Company aims to maximize profits in Ann Arbor

Schumaker & Company started in the most cliched of ways. The Ann Arbor IT firm's founder, Dennis and Pat Schumaker, thought they could do their jobs better if they were their own bosses.And so Schumaker & Company was born in 1985. Today the company employs eight people, about half dozen independent contractors and two interns. It has grown steadily in recent years and the husband-and-wife team hope their company will continue that steady growth."I've had dramatic growth in the past and dramatic crashes, so I would just like to keep growing steadily," Dennis Schumaker says. "It's easy to grow revenue but I want to grow profits."The company specializes in IT work and even does some consulting work for clients across the country. (Further background extension from website)Source: Dennis Schumaker, vice president of Schumaker & CompanyWriter: Jon Zemke

More student housing coming in small doses to Ann Arbor

Another single-family-home-turned-student-rental house is about to bite the dust to make way for a small-yet-denser building in Ann Arbor.A developer plans to raze 930 Church to and replace it with a small apartment building geared toward student rentals. Gone will be the 2,000-square-foot house. Coming soon is a 7,800-square-foot apartment building with four units.This is part of a trend in the student ghetto tenements that surround the University of Michigan. More and more century-old, single-family homes with no chance of returning to their intended use are either being enlarged or torn down to allow for bigger buildings. This is happening just as developers are lining up to build student-rental high-rises adjacent to campus or in downtown. These vertical developments are expected to shrink the reach of the ever-expanding student ghetto and take pressure off traditional single family neighborhoods.The development at 930 Church is located at the northeast corner of the intersection with Oakland Avenue. The house there now has been around since 1913 and used to house up to six tenants. It is now vacant.The new building will have three apartments with six bedrooms and another unit with three bedrooms. It will also have six parking space and another 14 covered places for bicyclists to lock up their wheels on the north side of the property. The building will also have a green roof and is designed with a modern, minimal, square design.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Greg Peters commits to riches with Cyber Data Solutions

Greg Peters has one of the cooler business titles around. Not only is he the owner of Cyber Data Solutions, he's also the "Super Hero in Residence". But with the title came responsibility. Or commitment. As the Ann Arbor resident puts it: it required committing to the goal of becoming rich. Peters started what has become a successful website-design firm in 1994 as a way to make some extra cash in his spare time, while he worked full-time at the University of Michigan. He quit that job to focus on Cyber Data Solutions in 2007 after reading the "Secrets of the Millionaire Mind."He points out that the book says, 'Poor people want to be rich. Rich people commit to being rich.'"That crystallized this in my mind," Peters says. "I had been doing this on weekends and night, but I was going to commit to this."It's a decision that is paying off. Peters doesn't make cold calls to drum up business. Instead he calls three people every day to search out business leads, which has allowed him to slowly but steadily grow his firm.He has now reached the point where he has to decide what type of company he wants Cyber Data Solutions to become one day. Will it be one where he oversees employees or one where he only takes on enough work that he can handle? Whether he decides to hire someone full time or bring on an independent contractor, it's clear that even super heroes need help once in a while.Source: Greg Peters, owner and super hero in residence of Cyber Data SolutonsWriter: Jon Zemke