Entrepreneurship

Specialty bike shop expands into larger downtown Ann Arbor storefront

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June 13, 2012

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

Latest in Entrepreneurship

Check out Pure Michigan’s video about building a business in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 6, 2012

We think the grammar in this Pure Michigan - Ann Arbor ad might be a bit better than the last. Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovation, acts as your host and narrator (Along with Paul Krutko, Jan Garfinkle, Michael Miller, Sean Heiney, Patrick Doyle, Mark Sutter) Watch and decide for yourself.

Tech Brewery welcomes new app firm, Ginkgotree

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 6, 2012

The app developers behind PaperDesk, Scott and Lida Hasbrouck, are bringing their latest start-up to Ann Arbor. Ginkgotree is in the process of setting up shop in Tech Brewery where the Hasbroucks plan to take advantage of the community's entrepreneurial momentum and talent base. "It's going to be easy for us to find new talent as we need it," Scott Hasbrouck says. "It's just a great start-up scene." Scott Hasbrouck grew up in Jackson but has been living in Georgia where he has been pursuing a PhD in chemistry at the University of Georgia. He is shelving his PhD ambitions to take on his app business full-time and was attracted by Ann Arbor's growing start-up scene. The virtually based business will bring its staff of three to Ann Arbor over the next month. PaperDesk is a note-taking app built for the education industry. The idea is to replace traditional notebooks used in schools with an efficient in-meeting note-taking app for both educators and students. Ginkgotree will produce an app that address both the education and publishing industries. It is set to launch this fall. "This will be a good solution that helps small publishers in the market grow," Scott Hasbrouck says. Source: Scott Hasbrouck, CEO of Ginkgotree Writer: Jon Zemke

Accuri Cytometers exec forms consulting firm, Tyball Associates

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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June 6, 2012

Jack Ball has enjoyed the success most entrepreneurs dream about. He served as the chief commercialization officer at Accuri Cytometers when the start-up was acquired last year for a reported nine figures. Today Ball is working to help others do the same with his new company, Tyball Associates. The Ann Arbor-based firm specializes in bio-tech consulting. More to the point he helps start-ups get their products over the commercialization hump into sales. "I work with various companies helping them get the product to market," Ball says. Tyball Associates currently employs one person after one year establishing itself in the market. It has clients both in Michigan and on both coasts. Ball expects to double his revenues over the next six months and and hire the company's first employee outside of its founder. "I would need someone who can go in and help implement the strategies to bring the product to market," Ball says. Source: Jack Ball, founder of Tyball Associates Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Breaking Down Barriers: Wesley Taylor

By Natalie Burg

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General

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May 9, 2012

Wesley Taylor says he lives in Ann Arbor but does in Detroit. As an artist-musician-entrepreneur he has found places where the two communities connect ...and others where the barriers need to come down. Given the incredible scope of his work and ambition, Taylor may be just the guy to make that happen.

U-M TechTransfer looks to grow C-Level talent with new mentors

By Newsroom

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Education

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May 9, 2012

Executive leadership in business, commonly referred to as C-level talent, has proven to be one of the more significant bottlenecks in growing Ann Arbor's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The University of Michigan's Office of Tech Transfer is helping loosen the neck on that bottle by adding two new serial entrepreneurs to its mentor-in-residence program. The goal is to have them help close the C-level gap with long-term solutions like building more tech start-ups and coaching the entrepreneurs who capitalize on them. "What we're bringing in is seasoned C-level talent to develop our opportunities," says Ken Nisbet, executive director of University of Michigan Office of Tech Transfer. "They are basically creating new venture with our projects." Bill Brinkerhoff, a U-M alum, and former naval aviator Ken Spenser have become the newest mentors in residence, serving in that capacity for at least the next 12-18 months. The pair will work on a part-time basis with U-M Tech Transfer staff at the university's Venture Accelerator, helping evaluate new start-up opportunities and putting together teams to commercialize them. Brinkerhoff is a former vice president at pharmaceutical firm Esperion, which was acquired by Pfizer in 2004 for $1.3 billion. He also co-founded Cerenis Therapeutics, an Ann Arbor company that created a drug that mimics good cholesterol to treat atherosclerosis. Spenser is a veteran venture capital fundraiser and co-founder of Better Rehab in Ann Arbor. He led the development and sale of the company's first product to Johnson & Johnson. "There are some great people out there, we just don't have the numbers like they have in boston or Palo Alto," says Ken Nisbet, executive director of University of Michigan Office of Tech Transfer. Nisbet acknowledges there isn't a quick fix to tilling the C-level talent gap, but it's work like this that will close it over the next generation with homegrown talent. Source: Ken Nisbet, executive director of University of Michigan Office of Tech Transfer Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

StartGarden Sows the Seeds of Entrepreneurship

By J. Bennett Rylah

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Economic Development

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May 2, 2012

From ArtPrize to the seed accelerator Momentum to the web business incubator Pomegranate Studios, Grand Rapids-based Rick Devos has created an impressive farm team of entrepreneurial enterprises focused on strengthening Michigan's economic ecosystem. His latest creation, StartGarden, gets both professionals and the public behind projects with the potential to blossom into successful businesses.

Tilian Farm Development Center doubles acreage & farmer headcount

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Arts & Culture

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April 11, 2012

Aspiring farmers all too typically locked out out of the profession by high land costs are gaining ground via the Tilian Farm Development Center, one of the country's scant few farm incubator programs. The center, located at 4400 Pontiac Trail in Ann Arbor Township, was launched in September of 2010 with a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation grant. The first three tenants – Seeley Farm, Green Things Farm, and Bending Sickle Community Farm – started in the spring of 2011. Two more – Meristem and Honest Eats Farms – are new this spring. All are vegetable farms, except for Bending Sickle, which is a livestock operation. "They're all folks with farm experience who had a hurdle to starting their own farm, which was securing land and having resources," says Andrea Ridgard, Tilian's farm incubator program manager. "What the incubator does is provide them with [rent-free] land for two years and a group of mentors and opportunities to connect with the community and set up their accounts and all of that in this community so when they do move onto their own land, they're already established in this area." The center leases land from the township at the rate of $1 per year; its acreage more than doubled, from 16 acres last year to 44 currently, Ridgard says. Also new this year is a farmer residency program, which rotates farmers through two-year stays on the land. The program is supported by the Tilian Residency CSA, Tilian's community-supported agriculture program. Ridgard says, "The farmers will change and the incubator farms will change, but the land will be there and hopefully until we're no longer needed, until there's enough farms here to feed our community, we'll be doing this." A volunteer hoop house building event for the public will be held at the center from 8-6 p.m. on April 14. Food grown there will serve incubator farms on the property. More information is available here. Source: Andrea Ridgard, farm incubator program manager, Tilian Farm Development Center Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Johnny women’s boutique to open in Ann Arbor’s Nickel’s Arcade

By Tanya Muzumdar

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Arts & Culture

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April 11, 2012

Best-dressed ladies will soon have another place to pick up new threads in Ann Arbor. On April 23, Johnny, a new women's fashion and accessories boutique, will be opening just across the hall from its sister store, Wendy, in Nickel's Arcade. The stores are co-owned by their namesakes, Johnny Vaughn and Wendy Chapman. Coming off Wendy's successful first year in operation, the partners will be devoting about 90% of the new 300-square-foot space to their best-selling line, Comfy U.S.A. Accessories will fill the remainder. The 500-square-foot Wendy, the only boutique in Ann Arbor to carry Eileen Fisher and the only one in Michigan to carry the Barbour line of coats, will continue mixing up its styles. "It gives all kinds of options to expand lines, carry local [designers], bring in high-end stuff, whatever we want to do," says co-owner Johnny Vaughn. Wendy currently has five employees. The new space will bring that total up to eight between both shops. Online sales will also begin within 60 days, Vaughn says. When Nickels Arcade, which dates from 1918, first opened, "that was where all the special high-end boutiques in Ann Arbor were," Vaughn says. "This was where the shopping happened and so now trying to reclaim that history is important as well." Could the arcade once again become Ann Arbor's Fifth Avenue? Vaughn laughs, "We can dream. One day, one day!" Source: Johnny Vaughn, co-owner, Wendy and Johnny boutiques Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Story slam for entrepreneurs draws a business-minded crowd

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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April 4, 2012

So, we previewed Entre-Slam in last week's issue of Concentrate. Here's a take on the evening - it's competitors and winners. Excerpt: "One by one, the nine entrepreneurs came to the microphone to enthrall the audience with their experience of doing things radically different from the norm. Such a scene would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. But in the aftermath of the deep recession and the near-collapse of the auto industry, the entrepreneurial bug has infected a growing number of Michiganders." Read the rest of the story here.