Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor looks for bicyclist input at meeting tonight

By Newsroom

●

February 18, 2009

Ann Arbor city officials have some big ideas about expanding bicycling options in Tree Town, but they need input from locals first.The city is applying for a Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists. It needs citizen ideas to round out the application, hence the meeting set for 6 p.m. tonight.City officials are going for a large federal grant that will add dozens of miles of bike lanes, trails and sidewalks in the city within a few years instead of a few decades. This award will help secure those funds, worth millions of dollars.The meeting will be held in City Council’s chambers in City Hall, on the second floor of 100 N Fifth Ave. All bicyclists and supporters of alternative transportation are encouraged to come. For information, click here.Source: City of Ann ArborWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s uRefer hires 5, plans to double staff this year

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

February 18, 2009

The future is bright for Ann Arbor-based uRefer right now despite the dark clouds hanging over the economy. The start-up went from three people when it opened for business in October, 2007 to eight employees, two interns and a handful of independent contractors today. The firm hopes to double those numbers by the end of the year as it continues to diversify its client base."January was our best month ever," says Jonn Behrman, president and COO of uRefer. "Things are starting to really take off."Not surprising uRefer specializes in referrals. Behrman points out that lots of companies have referral systems but a vast majority of them don't fully capitalize on them. The main product for uRefer, launched last July, helps companies either set up a referral program or maximize the one it has in place. Either way uRefer gets a piece of the action. Enough that it has already attracted venture capital from McBean Partners. Souce: Jonn Behrman, president and COO of uReferWriter: Jon Zemke

Jackson asks for westward extension of Detroit-Ann Arbor line

By Newsroom

●

Development News

●

February 18, 2009

It's easy to make the southeast Michigan connection when thinking about Detroit and Ann Arbor, but Jackson?Most people wouldn't consider the birthplace of the Republican Party part of the Metro Detroit mix, but Jackson's leaders are lobbying to be let into the game by including it in one of the region's marquee projects - the Detroit-Ann Arbor commuter rail line.Currently the project's first phase, set to become a reality in the fall of 2010, stretches between Ann Arbor and Detroit with stops at Ypsilanti, Metro Airport and Dearborn. That's it for now, according to Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, which is spearheading the project.He added there is talk of extending the line north into Oakland County with stops at Royal Oak, Birmingham/Troy and Pontiac as part of a second phase. SEMCOG is also looking at utilizing Jackson's rail yard as a base for the line, but extending the line to downtown Jackson isn't in the cards, at least not for the project's first phase.Local leaders in Jackson are trying to change that. They argue that if the line uses it rail yard, which would save the project significant money in start-up construction costs, it makes sense to extend the line less than a mile into downtown Jackson's existing train station.Jackson is about 35 miles west of Ann Arbor. Bruce Inosencio, a spokesman for the Jackson Citizens for Economic Growth, points out that section of I-94 that connects the two communities is heavily travelled, making the extension of the line no-brainer."It's very busy. It's very heavily utilized," Inosencio says. "There are a number of companies here in Jackson who have a lot of workers from Washtenaw and Wayne counties."He claims that 61 percent of the 300 employees of one Jackson company --he declined to name it-- live in the Ann Arbor area or east of it, hoping to make skeptics warm to the idea bringing Jackson online with the project.Source: Carmine Palombo, director of transportation programs for the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and Bruce Inosencio, a spokesman for the Jackson Citizens for Economic GrowthWriter: Jon Zemke

Schumaker & Company aims to maximize profits in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

February 18, 2009

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

Ann Arbor makes plans for waterscape public art project

By Newsroom

●

Development News

●

February 18, 2009

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

Greg Peters commits to riches with Cyber Data Solutions

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

February 18, 2009

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

More student housing coming in small doses to Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

February 18, 2009

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

Ann Arbor’s Fry takes lead in e-commerce platform solutions

By Newsroom

●

Entrepreneurship

●

February 18, 2009

Another Ann Arbor-based company has been recognized as a leader and the best in its field.Forrester Research has recognized Fry as a leading e-commerce solutions provider in its Forrester Wave report for the first quarter of 2009. It points out that Fry’s model allows it to highly customize its software for its clients even though the work is being outsourced.It also earned the highest score in the "catalog, product content, and site content management" and "professional services" evaluation categories. It tied as the top scoring company in "site management," "product focus,"and "financial resources to support strategy."Fry helps online retailers that are replacing or rebuilding their e-commerce platforms. The firm does everything from designing to building to hosting the sites. The list of clients includes a variety of businesses, ranging from The Auto Club Group to Crate & Barrel to Whirlpool. The company, a subsidiary of MICROS Systems, employs 300 people in Ann Arbor and has offices across the U.S. in cities like San Francisco.Source: FryWriter: Jon Zemke

Michigan Difference takes in $3.2 billion for U-M

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

February 11, 2009

The Michigan Difference is making quite...er... the difference for the University of Michigan. The endowment fund has so far raised a little more than $3.2 billion. That's more than the university has ever raised before, far surpassing its original goal of $2.5 billion. It's also believed to be most money ever raised by a public university. That puts it on par with Ivy League endowments, which are worth several billion each.U-M started the campaign in 2004 and closed it at the end of last year. About 365,000 people donated to the endowment. That money will go toward student financial aid, new student programs, hire and retain faculty, research and constructing new buildings.The endowment is putting $545 million toward student financial aid, such as 1,969 new endowed scholarships valued at $260 million. It also upped the funding of endowed professorships by 69 percent, and built 22 new structures, including the Ross School of Business, Ford School's Weill Hall and Mott Children's Hospital.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Developer plans to raze blighted Michigan Inn on Ann Arbor’s west side

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

February 11, 2009

A big piece of blight is about to come down on the far west of Ann Arbor, the old Michigan Inn motel.The single-story motel has sat vacant on Jackson Road near I-94 for years. The building is in visible disrepair, its landscaping is overgrown and has been the victim of fire damage in recent years.Ann Arbor-area resident Larry Hiss recently bought the 1968 structure, originally a Ramada Inn, and the four acres it sits on with plans to redevelop it. First thing is to raze the 129-room hotel and restaurant, which is set to happen in mid March or sooner. He also plans to build a yet-to-be-determined development on the acreage in the foreseeable future."We have some different idea from different people," says Larry Hiss, the owner of the Michigan Inn. "We could make it commercial or make part of it residential. There are a lot of ideas right now."The Michigan Economic Growth Authority recently approved $526,000 in tax incentives to redevelop the property. The catch is it has to be a multi-use facility. The new development is also expected to be worth about $28 million.Source: Larry Hiss, owner of the old Michigan InnWriter: Jon Zemke