Why go out for a great meal when you can create one yourself? Why eavesdrop on strangers at the next table when you can sit next to them and strike up a conversation? Underground breakfast salons, supper clubs, and soup making meet-ups are using locally produced foods to create great meals ...and a sense of community.
The folk's behind Bearclaw Coffee have gotten really creative with their financing so they can continue to expand their growing business.Excerpt:When she needed investors to help grow her Bearclaw Coffee Co. franchise, Debi Scroggins looked to the Middle East.The founder of the Ann Arbor-based coffee company has recruited nearly a dozen Iranians -- with more to follow -- to open mobile coffee carts in the United States at $180,000 a pop."These are candidates who are cash-ready," Scroggins said. "I've had so many candidates (in the United States) who have $30,000 to put down and cannot get financing because they lost their home equity and they lost their 401(k) and, oh, by the way, their credit has nicks in it."Read the rest of the story here.
The Chelsea commuter bus is about to enter its second year of life and with some significant changes to help improve ridership.The commuter bus runs between Chelsea's Arctic Coliseum and downtown Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan four times a day. The idea is to provide a cost-effective and sustainable form of transportation for downtown and university workers who lives outside of the city. The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority received a $195,000 federal grant for the service in 2008 for a two-year pilot.AATA plans to makes some significant changes this year to help beef up ridership levels that have been below expectations. Among those are switching to AATA buses (they had been using Indian Trail buses) that will come with Wi-Fi capability. AATA also plans to lower the prices for passengers.Thirty-day passes used to go for $125 will now cost $99 as of June 1. Ten-ride passes will be available for $40 and one-way tickets wll for $5 cash. University of Michigan Employees and downtown employees who participate in the go!Pass program can purchase 30-day passes for even less.For more information on the route, click here for the Facebook page patrons of the bus have created.Source: Mary Stasiak, spokeswoman for the Ann Arbor Transportation AuthorityWriter: Jon Zemke
Music. Art. Theater. Kids. Chelsea Center For The Arts has turned a former Catholic school into a community hub that brings creativity and expression to residents of every age. Check it out!
The marquee business Chelsea is known for is growing. Chelsea Milling Co. is investing $5 million to expand its facilities.The 105-year-old firm, known for making Jiffy Mix, employs 310 people in downtown Chelsea and another 14 in Marshall. It added 10 people last year and hopes to continue hiring in 2010. It's expanding its presence in Chelsea to accommodate this growth. It's building a pilot plant that will connect its corporate offices and main production facility. It is also upgrading its research and development facility."We wanted to get a good feel for how our products would play in the real world," says Jack Kennedy, vice president and general manager for Chelsea Milling Co. "We wanted that intermediate step."Currently new Jiffy Mix products go straight from the R&D oven to full production. Adding the pilot plant allows the company to do some smaller test runs on the products before investing large amounts of cash into a costly full production. Right now the expansion is about 70 percent complete. Kennedy expects his employees to occupy the new addition by the end of May. Source: Jack Kennedy, vice president and general manager for Chelsea Milling Co.Writer: Jon Zemke
There are citizens and then there are members of your community that are like a force of nature. Meet the Ortbrings, Chelsea's über neighbors. Not only do they run a successful local advertising and marketing firm, they also bring new meaning to the phrase civic engagement.
Along with a recap of this week's six FilterD selections, editor Jeff Meyers opens the new year with some good news about local arts and culture organizations.
The Legacy Land Conservancy finished 2009 strong but expects to easily out flex that performance early this year.The conservancy --think of it as the non-profit greenbelt for Washtenaw and Jackson counties-- closed five deals in the closing weeks of 2009. That means a little less than 200 acres of woods, farms and wild areas are now protected from development because the conservancy controls their development rights."We have projecting moving forward now," says Susan Lackey, executive director of the Legacy Land Conservancy, formerly the Washtenaw Land Trust. "In the first quarter or half of 2010 we expect to make or exceed that number."Those deals will protect high-priority acreage, meaning property that is farmland, near the Huron River or near the Pinckney and Waterloo recreation areas.Source: Susan Lackey, executive director of the Legacy Land ConservancyWriter: Jon Zemke
A small group of people did what they do best at Chelsea's Pierce Creek Elementary School. They made it better.A group of school staff, students and parents helped bring new life to a seven-acre wetland behind the school at Old U.S. 12 and Freer Road. They rebuilt the 500-yard walking path, added some infrastructure for recreation and education, and helped refresh the marshland around it.The school was built in 1997, leaving the wetland behind. Then school volunteers created the walking trail and took measures to preserve the wetland around it. Unfortunately it fell into disrepair until a group of volunteers reclaimed it this year."Over time there hasn't been a lot of development of it," says Lucy Stieber, principal of Pierce Creek Elementary School.The group added a platform for the school's 380 students to take water samples and installed a few benches and bird boxes along the trail. A $5,000 grant from Lowe's made the project possible.Source: Lucy Stieber, principal of Pierce Creek Elementary SchoolWriter: Jon Zemke
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