The University of Michigan's TechArb and Center for Entrepreneurship are fostering a new class of student entrepreneurs, from a food truck operation to a note-taking app developer to a maker of unmanned aerial vehicles. As such, these young founders are deciding between business, books -- or both.
Slow food firm The Brinery is growing fast in Ann Arbor via sales of its fermented vegetables and an expansion of its small staff. The Brinery specializes in making sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and tempeh. The company's founder has been making them from his home for years and is now looking for a commercial space to begin producing his wares en masse. "I was looking for something to do that was artisan-related and entrepreneurial," says David Klingenberger, owner of The Brinery. "It's a niche. I use all Michigan-made ingredients and I have been able to make a go of it." The Brinery is now the official sauerkraut provider for Zingerman's and has lined up a customer base of 45 grocery stores and restaurants in Michigan. That has allowed Klingenberger to hire three people over the last year and begin looking for a permanent place to do business. "We have grown by leaps and bounds," Klingenberger says. "We have doubled our sales in every year of our existence." Source: David Klingenberger, owner of The Brinery Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
For years, Catherine Juon has been known as half of the core team at Pure Visibility. Today she is known as the HWIC of her own company, Beyond Startup. Juon has been running and growing companies for 15 years, most recently at Pure Visibility, where she is leaving on good terms with co-founder Linda Girard. Beyond Startup will specialize in helping growing young companies hit their second stage in stride. "I would love to help businesses go through these growth stages and find these resources quicker than we did," Juon says. Juon has been a fan of Small Giants, a tome heralded for helping small businesses become great instead of just bigger. She hopes to help local companies grow in similar ways, and points to examples like Zingerman's as proof that it can happen. "They have grown organically by doing what felt right to them," Juon says. The Saline resident points out that many of the small business-building resources in the region are focused more on helping entrepreneurs take their first steps instead of learning how to run. She plans to make Beyond Startup about the latter stages that help businesses grow and hire, sometime exponentially. "A lot of the assistance out there is focused on the initial start-up stage," Juon says. "But there is a day when you grow enough that everything you set up at the beginning is more complicated." Source: Catherine Juon, founder of Beyond Startup Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship and School of Education are partnering to bring a more entrepreneurial mindset to Teach For America's Detroit teachers. The new partnership will help 20 Master's of Urban Pedagogy students at U-M who are also working as teachers in Detroit for Teach for America think more like small business owners when they return to their classroom this fall. The idea is that a start-up mentality will help bring innovation and problem-solving to urban classrooms. "The entrepreneurial mindset is how do you approach problems with limited resources and drive change," says Moses Lee, assistant director for student ventures at the university's Center for Entrepreneurship. Typical problems for Teach For America teachers range from poor communication within the school to lack of parental participation to chronic truancy. The new partnership at U-M will provide a week-long workshop that will focus on the ideas behind social entrepreneurship, such as how to identify problems, assess needs, solicit feedback from customers, solve problems in creative ways and execute a solution with limited resources. "We're hoping the teachers will feel empowered to bring these methods to Detroit," Lee says. "We hope they will be inspired to try new things. Source: Moses Lee, assistant director for student ventures at the University of Michigan's Center for Entrepreneurship Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Doug Rimatzki knows what it's like to work for big corporations in the bio-tech and life science sectors. Now Rimatzki is helping other Ann Arbor-based entrepreneurs figure out what its like to be their bosses with his own company, EntreMentor. Rimatzki is working with the University of Michigan's Office of Tech Transfer to help develop bio-tech firms, specifically those in the medical device sector. His brand-spanking-new start-up is the vehicle for that, and also an outlet for Rimatzki's own entrepreneurial ambitions. "I thought I would give it a shot for a while and see how it goes," Rimatzki says. "More than anything else I want to see these companies I am helping grow." EntreMentor is currently working with a handful of bio-tech clients that are trying to commercialize technology developed at the University of Michigan. Rimatzki expects to grow his client portfolio in his firm's first year, and add an employee or two. "I hope to bring on some additional consultants," Rimatzki says. "I have some people in mind." Source: Doug Rimatzki, director of EntreMentor Writer: Jon Zemke
The beer barrels are gone, and now a think tank has moved into the walk-out basement of a circa-1894 building that formerly housed the Northern Brewery. The Forge, a new collaborative workspace open for user groups, events, and other mind-sharing purposes, has opened at 1327 Jones Drive in Ann Arbor, also home to Tech Brewery. The Forge is also the first office space for Pillar Technology, a Brighton, Mich.-based tech consultancy that employs 45 in Michigan, 45 in Ohio, and another 30-40 in six states around the U.S., according to Pillar Technology CEO Bob Myers. "We have more work than we have people, so we could probably add anywhere from 20-30 people if we could find the talent," Myers says, adding, "So there'll be a lot of training and instruction and community events where we're helping people to learn how to do IT and put them to work." The roughly 4,000 square-foot space can field about 30-40 workers. The company renovated the interior from scratch, installing windows, a stairwell, a kitchen area, enclosing the walls, and furnishing it with big screen TVs and collaborative-style furniture made by Steelcase. There is no charge to use the facility, "but there's gotta be a purpose. You've gotta be in here trying to accomplish something to advance the cause ... that's what the only requirement is," Myers says. The cause being? "The cause is innovation and bringing innovation to the area, creating jobs, helping people to figure out what constraints are real and which ones are perceived, and breaking those off. Innovation and incubation, really a place to go where you can learn and fail and it's okay. Just to really better yourself." Source: Bob Myers, CEO, Pillar Technology Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
The Internet has started to shift the music industry's top-down corporate record label control toward indie artists who can deliver their own music to the masses. But what about t-shirts, posters, and other fan-demanded merchandise? Enter local start-up Whiplash, which provides shipping, fulfillment and logistics for small sellers of every stripe.
Instead of Belgian waffles at 217 S. Fourth Ave. in downtown Ann Arbor, it'll be eye candy in the form of bikes from Italian, Swiss, and American companies on offer at the new Transition Rack bike shop. A previous deal to open a waffle shop in the space fell through, making room for the specialty bikes to move in. Majority owner Will Jurkowski, who has been running Transition Rack from a lower-level space below Afternoon Delight on E. Liberty St. since January, is more than doubling his shop size with the new location. The store specializes in triathlon, road, and cyclocross bikes made by BMC, Colnago, and Quintana Roo, as well as shoes, helmets, gloves, and other accessories. The shop also has a fitting studio and large repair area. It's open Monday through Saturday to start; Sunday hours may be added, Jurkowski will likely hire more staff, but is still determining needs. "We want it to be a welcoming atmosphere, [where] anyone can come and learn about bikes, whether they're a beginner or they're experienced ... We all had help when we began doing triathlon and cycling, and that we'd like to pass that along to everyone else who is interested," Jurkowski says. Source: Will Jurkowski, owner, Transition Rack Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
Patrons of the Wolverine State Brewing Co. can drink to a newly completed addition this fall. In November 2010, the microbrewer moved into a warehouse formerly occupied by Big George's Home Appliance Mart. Work has just begun on the addition of another 3,500 square feet to the existing 6,400-square-foot brewery, a 50% expansion of space. The lager-only microbrewer will be bumping back into extra warehouse room at its facility at 2019 W. Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor. The new addition will be evenly split between more production space and a taproom expansion, according to E.T. Crowe, the company's marketing director. The project is in response to sales growth of 400% growth in wholesale and 40% in the taproom, according to the company. The production side of the expansion will add new offices, a mill room, more storage, and a more efficient pickup system for wholesale distributors, and will make room for more fermenters. Fermentation capacity has tripled since the brewery opened, Crowe says. In August, the microbrewer will add a third bottling: "Wolverine Amber Lager". In October, "Massacre", a bourbon barrel-aged imperial dark lager, will be released. The rest of the expansion will consist of an overflow tap room available for private rentals. It will have its own bar, a staging area for caterers, and separate entrance. Restrooms will also be reconfigured. Crowe has been fielding weekly requests to rent the existing taproom, which went into the decision to add a room available for rent. "We have so many regulars and so many people who expect to come during open hours, I don't anticipate ever wanting to close the taproom for any private party, unless the president rolls into town and needs a beer, you know what I mean?" She hopes to have the overflow taproom open in September: "Football season is the goal." Source: E.T. Crowe, marketing director, Wolverine State Brewing Co. Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
It's an electric scooter showroom. And a book store. And a place for social events. The Detroit Scooter Salon and Taiwan Bookstore in Ypsilanti is truly a destination unto itself, redefining the notion of what it means to create a "third place" in your community.
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