Norman Maclean once wrote, "Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it." Here in Washtenaw County, we see that quote made manifest through The Huron River. As a life source, thread that connects our communities, and recreational destination, we are, in many ways, only just beginning to recognize its importance and potential. Doug Coombe tries to capture all those things in his wonderful photo essay.
Ypsi high school students take a burned out 150 year-old building in Depot Town and use it as an outdoor gallery for Civil War-inspired art. Excerpt: "A public art display created by Ypsilanti High School students was installed Friday morning on the west side of the nearly 150-year-old Thompson Block building in Depot Town. Mary Delcamp, president of the Historic Eastside Neighborhood Association, and her husband John Delcamp, member of the Civil War Reenacting Company E, 17TH Michigan Infantry, came up with the idea. The building served as Union Army barracks during the Civil War. During the war, the basement was used to prepare food, the ground floor was a wagon repair shop and soldiers lived on the second floor and part of the third floor." Read the rest of the story here.
Students from the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University are working together on a start-up that is creating a non-electric thermal warming blanket for premature babies in developing countries called Warmilu. The baby blanket under development at Warmilu, formerly MWrap, can help such babies retain or increase their body heat in order to improve their survival rate. The company quotes estimates that approximately 140 low-birth-weight infants from around the world die every hour from hypothermia-related causes. The blanket helps bridge the gap between the hospital and home-care in places where people live with few resources. U-M students came up with the ideas and soon went to EMU's Apparel, Textiles and Merchandising program where EMU Prof Cathryn Amidei paired the U-M students with EMU students to create the prototype of the blanket. "We took their ideas and made them what they wanted into an actual product," says Ana Maria Barge, an EMU student and prototype designer for Warmilu. The half a dozen people working on Warmilu recently received a $5,750 from the Michigan Clean Energy Venture Challenge to develop the idea. The Ann Arbor-based TechArb accelerator, which helps students with entrepreneurial ventures, provided office space, mentors and a $10,000 grant. Source: Ana Maria Barge, prototype designer for Warmilu and Cathryn Amidei, professor of apparel, textiles and merchandising at Eastern Michigan University Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Arbor Brewing Co is wrapping up one expansion project, has one in a holding pattern, and is keeping its eye on another. The microbrewery is in the final stages of various green renovation projects to its downtown Ann Arbor-based brewpub (Arbor Brewing Co) and its Ypsilanti-based production facility (Corner Brewery), which include high-end sustainability upgrades, like solar panels. There are also plans to open a third brewpub in downtown Fenton, while continuing a franchise expansion in India. All of this growth has added up to seven new jobs at Arbor Brewing Co, growing the entire operation's staff to 75 employees and three interns. The 17-year-old craft brewery's co-founders expect to hire another couple dozen more when their expansion plans come to fruition over the next year or two. "We are anticipating a good year," says Rene Greff, who co-founded Arbor Brewing Co and Corner Brewery with her husband Matt Greff. "It really feels like we're pulling out of the recession." Rene Greff adds the Fenton project "is a crazy opportunity" that wasn't on their radar until recently. She believes the Fenton brewpub will be online within the next year. At the same time the India franchise is in "a holding pattern" because of the country's complex bureaucracy and the uniqueness of the venture. "It's a bureaucratically challenging place in the first place," Rene Greff says. "This is the first wave of brewpubs so no one there knows how to deal with this." She adds she is still hopeful the India brewpub will be able to launch later this year. Source: Rene Greff, co-founder of Arbor Brewing Co and Corner Brewery Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
With the GetDowntown Commuter Challenge coming to an end, what would the quality of life in Washtenaw County be like if it embraced mass transit every month, not just in May? One significant impact of residents embracing the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's (AATA) vision for mass transit in Washtenaw County would mean that everyone in the county could get around, sans car. The AATA has just concluded a final series of meetings to acquaint the public with its five-year transit program, the first stage of the county's 30-year transit master plan completed last year. The most significant aspect of the proposed program, says Michael Benham, AATA's special assistant for strategic planning, "is that every single person in the county has access to the transit system, without a car." The program calls for extended service on the current core Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor network of bus service that would be fed by a series of fixed routes consisting of express bus services in the outlying communities, and also community circulators, small bus networks to transport people within Chelsea, Dexter, and Saline, and link them to express bus routes. The final component is a system of would-be demand responsive services that can bring people from their doors to fixed-route bus stops. Seniors and the disabled would get the added option of door-to-door service anywhere in the county. "Over the next 20 or 30 years there's going to be a more than doubling of the senior population," Benham notes, adding, "We're really trying to focus on either giving people mobility or letting them keep their mobility as they age." Plan execution is contingent on creation of a countywide transit authority. "Over the years, one community after another has come to us and they are basically asking us to sell them transportation on an annual basis," Benham says. The city of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township, and Pittsfield Township have purchase-of-service agreements, subject to the vagaries of municipal funding. "It's not a particularly stable arrangement, and that's why we'd like to go with a countywide authority. A countywide transit authority would have its own funding base so these townships wouldn't have to come to us and buy the service anymore." Funding would also need to be in place. Possibilities include increased fares, a .5-mill countywide transit tax, and bills pending in the state legislature, such as a motor vehicle registration fee applicable to counties with a regional transit authority. When, exactly, the clock could start ticking on the five-year program is the question. "If the funding comes into being within the next six months and if we can get our countywide board pulled together in, say, the next six months, then the service could be operating in a year and a half. But those two ifs are big ifs. I can't stress that enough," Benham says. Source: Michael Benham, special assistant for strategic planning, AATA Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
n the first week of July, the founders of the underground Bona Sera Supper Club will be daylighting with a new brick and mortar eatery, the Bona Sera Café. The two women are putting the proceeds of a $1,000 grant from micro-philanthropy group A2Awesome toward its opening in the Mix Marketplace at 200 W. Washington St. in downtown Ypsilanti. "It was getting to the point where we had a pretty high demand for our dinners, and finding venues with commercial kitchens was getting harder and harder," says Bad Fairy, chef and co-founder of Bona Sera Supper Club. The chefs go by the pseudonyms of "Bad Fairy" and "Wonder Woman" because health department regulations require those serving meals to over 70 persons to use licensed kitchen facilities. The underground dinners attract about 60-75 people, on average. "We figured, we enjoy doing it and if we could get the café going we'd have a great place to actually work in a licensed kitchen and get our dinners done. And we just love cooking. It's an opportunity to cook full-time," she adds. Bona Sera Café will have 40-50 seats and be open from about 11-9, Tuesday through Saturday. Sunday hours are being considered. Two or three people will be hired to start with. The menu will have many of the supper club faves: Tom yum shrimp and grits, flatbreads, antipasto, Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, soup, fresh pastas. The cafe is breaking bread with a lot of other new and revamped restaurants in Ypsi's downtown. "Beezy's is just around the corner, and we love Beezy's. There also appears to be a lot of activity on that block of Michigan." She adds Red Rock Downtown Barbecue and the redone Wolverine Deli to the list. And Ypsi is flexible in terms of allowable culinary business venues. Bad Fairy wants to keep the option for a food truck on the table, and thus considered Ann Arbor, but the city has "some pretty heavy restrictions on things like vended food," she says. "We checked with Ann Arbor, and Ann Arbor nixed it." The Bona Sera Cafe's opening doesn't mean sundown for the eponymous supper club. Bad Fairy says the clandestine dinners, the proceeds of which go to various local charities, will still be held at least quarterly. Source: Bad Fairy, chef and co-founder, Bona Sera Supper Club and Bona Sera Café Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
All you need for a walkable downtown is a healthy density of bricks and mortar - and the right pair of kicks. Sole Source, a provider of custom-made orthopedic shoes, is now open for walk-ins at 50 N. Huron St. in downtown Ypsilanti. The storefront carries the Dr. Comfort product line, orthotics, socks and compression wear, and deals in odd shoe sizes. Diabetics, who commonly have foot problems, have an especial need for shoes with custom inserts, says owner Annette Bottum. Bottum considered Ann Arbor, but felt that less congested, and less expensive, Ypsilanti was the better option for her shop. "I wanted to be at street level. I wanted to be where people are," she says. "And I think it's a really cute little town, and honestly I was looking for cheap rent on the street." Bottum is the sole employee, but may hire interns at a later date, she says. Source: Annette Bottum, owner, Sole Source Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
After four and a half years, urban farm plot and office have finally been united at Growing Hope, the urban farming and gardening educational non-profit, and manager of the Ypsilanti Farmers Market. Earlier this spring, Growing Hope moved into its new headquarters at 922 W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti. Previously, the non-profit's urban farm and storage had been situated on the headquarters property, while its offices were located elsewhere. The new headquarters, a 1,500-square-foot 1931 house, has been fully remodeled using green features such as geothermal heating and cooling and a patio built of six tons of blue and green recycled crushed bottle glass. A 3,000-square-foot hoop house sits on the 1.44-acre site, whose quarter-acre urban garden produces over one ton of food a year. The property also has a commercially certified kitchen, tool lending library, and meeting and classroom space. Growing Hope employs 12 staffers year-round. In the summer, interns swell those ranks to 18-20. "We're kind of a major employer in the area as well," says Growing Hope Executive Director Amanda Edmonds. And with its location just four blocks west of downtown, "We feel like we're a new part of a gateway, kind of the entranceway to downtown Ypsi; Ypsi in general has really revitalized this stretch," Edmonds says. "And we have gotten a lot of feedback from neighbors and other people in the community who have seen our investment in really revitalizing this section of Michigan Avenue." Source: Amanda Edmonds, Growing Hope executive director Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
With apologies to Law And Order... In the Ypsilanti high school justice system, the students are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the plaintiff, who mounts a case for their issue; and the student jury, which hands down the verdict. This is their story. Excerpt: "Students at two Ypsilanti high schools now have the opportunity to decide each other’s fate when violating school policy. Cooley Law School and Dean Joan Vestrand have partnered with the Ypsilanti Public Schools to create the Ypsilanti High School Student Court." Read the rest here.
Logic Solutions has acquired Quantum Compliance Systems, capping off a year of growth that has included 20 new hires for the software firm. Based in Ann Arbor, Logic Solutions specializes in custom strategy and development of mobile and web applications. Quantum Compliance Systems, which calls Ypsilanti home, develops software that embeds sustainable environmental, health and safety practices into a company's daily operations. The two software companies have been partnering on projects for several years before this acquisition. "Quantum offered a software product that was exceptional but needed some updating," says Angela Kujava, director of marketing for Logic Solutions. "They wanted a new web portal and a mobile app. We have worked with them for years before so it just made sense." Logic Solutions employs 200 people around the world, including 40 at its Ann Arbor headquarters and another 10 across the U.S. It has brought on 20 new people to its team over the last year, including the five people at Quantum Compliance Systems who will be folded into the Ann Arbor office. "We're hiring people almost every month," Kujava says. "The hiring we're doing in the U.S. is for leadership positions." Source: Angela Kujava, director of marketing for Logic Solutions Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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