Milan

Washtenaw Cty acquires more land for Natural Areas Preservation Program

Washtenaw County is continuing with its purchase of properties for its Natural Areas Preservation Program (NAPP). Some of the recent deals have resulted in contiguous tracts of 100 acres or more. Last November, with a 151-acre purchase in Lima Township, the county established Trinkle Marsh at Easton Farm. The cost was $725,000, or $4,800 an acre. "The real key feature is a marsh that has some open water and it's really a very, very popular spot for birds, not only during summer but especially during spring and fall migration," says Tom Freeman, coordinator of Washtenaw County's Natural Areas Preservation Program. The preserve will be opened later this year with trails and birder-style overlooks with blinds. In December, the county bought 19 acres for $123,500, $6,500 an acre, in York Township just outside the city of Milan from the Schrock family. The areas will be called the Shrock Family Sanctuary and will be added to the 80-acre Draper-Houston Meadows Preserve. The parcel fronts along the Saline River, a tributary to the River Raisin, and will have trails. And just last week, the county purchased a conservation easement on a 100-acre plot in Superior Township. This was done in partnership with Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy, which will own the land. The total cost was about $700,000, or $7,000 an acre. The Ann Arbor Greenbelt is contributing towards the conservancy's expense, according to Freeman. "In that case it becomes part of a very, very large collection of property in Superior Township that is part of the Superior Greenway. We're well over 1,000 acres in terms of protected land in that area." And in partnership with Ann Arbor Township and the Ann Arbor Greenbelt, the county is acquiring 23 acres from J.A. Bloch and Company for about $163,000, or $7,100 an acre. The plot is on the northern boundary of Ann Arbor Township, in close proximity to the Northfield Woods Preserve. "We're hoping through this acquisition and another that's also pending, but probably much later this year, that we'll have connected about 100 acres and be able to connect them all with trails," Freeman says. As of the end of 2011, the NAPP program has protected just over 2,200 acres. The county has 19 nature preserves that are open to the public. Source: Tom Freeman, coordinator of Washtenaw County's Natural Areas Preservation Program Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Plans are cooking for a commercial kitchen incubator

Innovation is spreading to the kitchen, with incentives both financial and social. Washtenaw County officials and other area organizations are assessing the potential for a commercial kitchen incubator to open in the county. The project, which is in the early planning and needs assessment phase, has a triumvirate of goals: to provide jobs training for chronically unemployed people in the foods and agri-business sector; to improve the low income population's access to healthy, locally-grown foods; and to support food business development. "The local food industry is a growing industry, and a lot of people are making their own products in their basements and kitchens and so forth," says Tony VanDerworp, project manager for Washtenaw County's Office of Community and Economic Development. "We could not only help train some of our residents in various jobs in the food sector but also help grow companies through this project." Potential tenants are being surveyed to assess the regional demand for such a facility. That demand would dictate the size of any potential facility, from an existing 600 square-foot church kitchen to a 15,000 square-foot building. "We envision enough kitchen space to accommodate several tenants," VanDerworp says. A specific location is still to be determined, but could possibly be on the eastern side of the county in order to provide easier access to lower-income residents lacking transportation, he says. A nominal rent will be charged to tenants, who will also get business support services. "Their goal might be to sell at the farmers market, their goal might be to start a business, their goal might be to start a product line or a catering company," VanDerworp notes. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners has set up a task force with representatives from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor SPARK and others. Various funding sources, which could be a mix of philanthropy and grants, including federal workforce development monies for worker training, are under consideration. After the tenant survey is reviewed, larger institutions and food prep companies will be surveyed as to their demand for trained workers. "This is all the due diligence kind of things you would do, with an added twist that we're going to delve very deeply into how we can train and place people. That's our main goal," says VanDerworp. A go or no-go decision will be made by early summer, he adds. Source: Tony VanDerworp, project manager for Washtenaw County's Office of Community and Economic Development Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Smart meters coming online for DTE customers in Washtenaw County

Bill-shocked electric and gas utility customers who are trying to cut their energy consumption 30 days after the fact will be a relic of the past. As part of its ongoing SmartCurrents program, DTE Energy will be installing another 450,000 advanced electric meters and gas modules (smart meters), with 120,000 of those destined for Washtenaw County. The cost of the installation is $66 million, according to Scott Simons, a DTE Energy spokesperson. The meters are being installed in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Ypsilanti Township this month. Dexter, Dexter Township, and Scio Township will see theirs starting in April, followed by Saline, Saline Township, Superior Township, and Whitmore Lake in May. Installations in Chelsea, Milan, Manchester, and York Township will begin in June. With the new technology, meters will be read remotely and power outages trackable down to the individual meter. It also allows for customers to track their daily energy consumption. "Customers will be able to see their individual energy usage online and make usage decisions with that information," Simons says in an email. "They can also choose to purchase in-home displays and programmable thermostats, and even appliances, that work with the meter." Source: Scott Simons, DTE Energy spokesperson Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Washtenaw County focus of $1M Pure Michigan campaign

Washtenaw County will play host to a bigger suitcase contingency of leisure and business travelers, with some of those visitors possibly choosing to stay and do business in the region, if the new $1 million Pure Michigan national advertising campaign has its way. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)'s Pure Michigan initiative is putting $500,000 towards the campaign, which is being matched by a collective $500,000 put forth by the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the Ypsilanti Area CVB, and Ann Arbor SPARK. The effort, to be called, "Sense of Place" is a first-time pilot program to combine support for both tourism and economic development, the only area in the state being considered for this combination, according to Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Area CVB. "Like tourism marketing, economic development attracts attention to what Ann Arbor has to offer, and creates demand for Ann Arbor as a destination; both are about people: Tourists, visitors, students, families, business owners, job-seekers," Donna Doleman, Ann Arbor SPARK's vice president of marketing and talent, says in a statement.  "Businesses want to locate in a desirable location where they can hire and attract workers, including those who would relocate for a job. This new marketing partnership allows us to scale and amplify our economic development and business attraction efforts." The campaign follows a three-year partnership between the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti CVBs and Travel Michigan to promote the area to other Midwestern cities. "We're partnered as a regional partner with Travel Michigan promoting the Ann Arbor area as a tourist destination in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, which are three of the state's regional markets. And it's been very successful for us. We've seen strong results for Washtenaw County and we feel this is the natural path for moving forward," Kerr says. "This pilot program gives us the opportunity to reach a much larger audience than we've reached previously with our regional campaigns," she adds. The campaign is to consist of a national ad running on cable television, articles on the Michigan.org website, press tours for journalists, and a promotional video residing on michiganadvantage.org. And subject to negotiations with HGTV, a House Hunters episode featuring a family's search for a house in the Ann Arbor area will air in June. A firm campaign launch date has not been determined yet, but Kerr expects more details to be available later in March. In 2010, out of 83 Michigan counties, Kerr says Washtenaw County ranked number 5 and 7 in business and leisure travel spending, respectively. Travel spending in the county totaled about $595 million. Of that, business travel was $223 million and leisure travel $372 million. According to metrics released by the Pure Michigan campaign, $3.29 is returned in sales tax for every $1 spent on advertising. Kerr says Pure Michigan is "probably the number one tourism campaign in the country, definitely the number one tourism website in the country as well. So we're not just a $1 million national campaign, but very much a part of the overall state's national campaign for Pure Michigan." Sources: Mary Kerr, president of the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau; Donna Doleman, vice president of marketing and talent, Ann Arbor SPARK Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Three-million dollar project planned for downtown Milan

Downtown Milan may be seeing a $3 million, three-story retail and residential development on one of the city's oldest blocks if one developer and business owner's plans pan out.David Snyder's plan has the blessing of city officials, but there are still details to be worked out, including transferring ownership of the property, which is a foreclosure, and finding a major tenant.Still everyone is proceeding with the goal of starting renovations this summer. They are helping Snyder, an Ypsilanti resident who is co-owner of the popular Milan Bakery, obtain local, state and federal tax credits, grants and abatements to restore the early 1890s-era building on Main and Wabash streets. The anchor of the building is the Milan Bakery, which Snyder co-owns with nephew Jamey Snyder. The bakery, which does a thriving business with locals and has a food contract with the University of Michigan, has already expanded and will expand again.There is a push to find a large restaurant to move into a 5,000-square-foot space near the bakery, giving Milan a destination business for locals and residents in the neighboring community. There is also room for other retail establishments to fill in the buildings on the block, with the upper floors being used for rental apartments. Snyder says the impetus of his investment is keeping the family bakery a success, but he would also like to see Milan become a downtown Main Street draw similar to Chelsea and other nearby communities.Source: David Snyder, president, Main & Wabash LLC Writer: Kim North Shine

Washtenaw County’s 6.8% pop. growth counters state’s regional decline

Population trends in Washtenaw County are moving at crosscurrents with much of the region represented by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). Collectively over the last decade, the seven-county area lost 2.7% of its population, or 128,625 people, while Washtenaw County gained 22,021 residents, for a 6.8% increase, according to the 2010 U.S. Census figures. That growth rate was second only to that seen in Livingston County, which saw a 15.1% jump in residents."Washtenaw County has the advantage with the universities, and some of the other businesses...the economy is already more diversified than other parts of the region, and that is probably the biggest reason that Washtenaw County did better than the rest of the region," says Paul Tait, executive director of SEMCOG.The county's two largest cities posted flat to declining numbers, with headcounts in Ann Arbor dropping .1% and Ypsilanti losing 12.6%. Much of the growth was in the townships and outlying communities, with the village of Dexter's 74% rise as the standout exception. The cities of Milan, Chelsea, and Saline gained 23%, 12.4% and 9.7%, respectively."These are good numbers for Washtenaw County," Tait says. But maintenance and enhancement of the county's core infrastructure is still of concern. Tait points to U.S. 23, slated by the Michigan Department of Transportation for a major rebuild and widening - a project that will probably not be daylighted, for now. "We're driving more fuel efficient cars, and in part because of the economy, we're not driving as much. We're driving alternative fueled vehicles, hybrids and electric vehicles, so we're not getting the gas tax money that we need to again, even maintain what we've got." Tait still calls the 6.8% rise "fairly sustainable growth". And that figure is lower than the overall U.S. population growth, a remarkable 9.7% over the decade. Much of that, he says, was due to immigration to the south and southwest to fill entry-level jobs not necessarily requiring a college degree. The Census Bureau will be releasing educational demographic data this fall. By comparison, Tait says, "when you look at immigration in our region, it tends to be much more highly educated people with advanced degrees."Source: Paul Tait, executive director of SEMCOGWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Women’s Exchange of Washtenaw wins SBA champion award

Women's Exchange of Washtenaw is making room on its shelf for a new award and room in its ranks for a new chapter or two.The U.S. Small Business Administration will present the non-profit's co-founders, Carrie Hensel and Debra Power, with the "U.S. Small Business Administration’s Michigan Women in Business Champion of the Year for 2010" award later this week. That will come as the duo make preparations to grow the organization across the state in the near future."We think we have found something very unique and special and we want to share it," Power says.Women's Exchange of Washtenaw was founded two years ago as a place for businesswomen to network and create new business opportunities, generate referrals and find work. It now has a database of 800 women who partake in the organization. Women's Exchange of Washtenaw is not a membership organization, which allows participants the freedom to pay as they go.Hensel and Powers have enjoyed quite a bit of success with this model, creating an open and engaging environment for entrepreneurs without a Y chromosome. They expect to try and spread this model into the Lansing market later this year.Women's Exchange of Washtenaw will host the Women's Exchange of Washtenaw Forum 10 on May 21 at Kensington Court, 610 Hilton Blvd in Ann Arbor. The all-day event will feature regional speakers, workshops, breakout sessions and networking activities to engage the business community and work through the common issues women business leaders face in their efforts to grow and improve their companies. The event costs $75 before May 1 and $95 after. For information, click here.Source: Debra Power, co-founder of Women's Exchange of WashtenawWriter: Jon Zemke

Washtenaw County invests $3M in trail network expansion

Legacy Land Conservancy expects big year in 2010 for green belts

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