Ann Arbor

Is Ann Arbor one of America’s most literate cities?

If you're reading this then you're part of the reason Ann Arbor is considered one of the world's most literate cities.Excerpt:No list of America's Most Literate Cities would be complete without Ann Arbor.Or would it?A recent study ranked Seattle and Minneapolis as tied for first place on the literacy list. Ann Arbor - a city that finds itself near the top of all kinds of lists - wasn't ranked.But there's a reason. The literacy list, published since 2003, only ranks cities with populations above 250,000. Detroit is the highest ranked Michigan city at 51st, just ahead of Newark, N.J.Many local book experts say Ann Arbor could hold its own against any metro city.Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor SPARK’s Finney: Tech economy can grow

Growth isn’t exactly the easiest thing to achieve right now but Ann Arbor SPARK's Michael Finney thinks that's precisely what Ann Arbor's tech economy will do.Excerpt:The lack of access to credit threatens the short-term health of Ann Arbor's startup business community, but Ann Arbor SPARK CEO Michael Finney believes the region's tech economy can still grow in 2009. Finney said he expects there to continue to be significant opportunity to generate "high-value, knowledge-intensive jobs" in "innovation-based sectors" such as information technology, clinical services and medical devices.Read the rest of the story here and what other local leaders see for the Ann Arbor-area economy here.

High-tech boost seen for region as U-M buys Pfizer property

A2 Hosting takes off in Ann Arbor, hopes to hire 5 this year

Five years ago Bryan Muthig and a business partner started A2 Hosting with the idea that website hosting was a good idea. It turned out to be a darned good decision. The firm, based out of Ann Arbor's southeast side, now employs 17 people. Some of them telecommute but they're all located in southeast Michigan. "Most of our growth has come in the last 2-3 years," says Muthig, the president and CEO of A2 Hosting. "We were at four people three years ago."The firm hopes to hire five people this year after enjoying 40 percent revenue growth. That's because it hosts the likes of Ubuntugeek.com, 43folders.com and the blog for a famous U.S. politician.Muthig expects to continue that growth and take on more sites as time passes. He is even looking into getting into design and applications development."Assuming the world doesn't fall into chaos," Muthig says.Source: Bryan Muthig, president and CEO of A2 HostingWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Arboretum Ventures becomes state’s leading VC fund

Michigan Technology and Research Institute plans to hire

It didn't scare Michael Bleavins when Pfizer pulled up stakes in Ann Arbor two years ago. It actually reaffirmed that he had made the right decision.The former Pfizer scientist was just starting the Michigan Technology and Research Institute with three of his colleagues when the news broke. Today their start-up is debuting new products, employs seven and could hire another 1-3 people this year."We wanted to stay in the area," Bleavins says. "It's an area we believe in so we wanted to make a go of it."The institute does laboratory work and drug-research consulting. Its latest offering is DNA testing for human clinical trials. It has signed two companies to contracts for its services and hopes to land another 3-4 more this year.That would allow the firm to at least hire one more researcher, if not more. A lot of these sorts of hires turn out to be old co-workers or friends that Bleavin and his co-founders want to work with for the foreseeable future, or at least until Pfizer comes back.Source: Michael Bleavins, co-founder of the Michigan Technology and Research InstituteWriter: Jon Zemke

ForeSee Results expands in Ann Arbor, plans to hire 30-60

ForeSee Results isn't suffering from survivor syndrome, but people would understand why if the Ann Arbor-based came down with a case of it.As the economy continues its downward spiral, ForeSee Results continues to enjoy success and grow. "We've been growing at a pretty significant rate in the last couple of years despite the economy," says Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results.The 7-year-old company is moving to bigger spaces on the city's north side, expanding from 15,000 to 40,000 square feet. It needs to after hiring about 50 people last year to create a staff of 140, 85 of which work in Ann Arbor. Freed expects to hire another 30-60 this year.The website-information firm captures "voice of customer" feedback and uses it to measure customer satisfaction for the likes of as Kohler, Citibank and Ameriprise. It uses uses the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index to find out the satisfaction of website visitors and pinpoint opportunities to improve the site.ForeSee Results is doing it so well that it's experience double-digit revenue growth, a trend it expects to continue this year whichever way the economy turns.Source: Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee ResultsWriter: Jon Zemke

Single Source Procurement steps into Pfizer’s wake, opens Ann Arbor office

Bob Engster is picking up the pieces left behind by Pfizer and making quite the nice chunk of change.The Kalamazoo resident founded Single Source Procurement in 2003 after Pfizer bought Upjohn. It was the corporation's move that left Engster looking for a new job, so he created his own. He was Single Source Procurement's only employee those first few years, helping small companies and start-ups save money whenever they bought, stored or fixed biotech and life sciences equipment. Today he oversees a staff of six in Kalamazoo and plans to open an Ann Arbor office with three employees later this month. It's looking for instrument repair people right now.Engster's company has discovered that there is a demand for his services in places where Pfizer has pulled up stakes and left a wake of start-ups, such as Ann Arbor, Holland and Kalamazoo."We kind of follow Pfizer," Engster says. "We have a lot of opportunities in Michigan."Most start-ups or small companies have to pay high prices for bio-tech equipment. Single Source Procurement leverages the vendors by buying in bulk for a large number of these small firms. It also does stockroom management and helps fix these bio-tech instruments. That usually works out to about 30 percent savings for the companies and another company created in Michigan.Source: Bob Engster, CEO and founder of Single Source ProcurementWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor, Music Town

The Internet mantra has long been you can work from anywhere. And A-list talent agency Fleming Artists is proof positive that even Ann Arbor can compete with the likes of L.A. and New York. Representing everyone from Ani DiFranco and Tom Paxton to Jeff Daniels and My Dear Disco, Fleming has been looking after world-class musicians for almost 30 years.