Entrepreneurship

Flagship Air looks to take off from Ann Arbor Airport

By Newsroom

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November 19, 2008

Tim Patton didn’t start out wanting to create a local airline but that's just what the veteran entrepreneur ended up doing with Flagship Private Air."It really started as a personal passion," Patton says.The chairman and CEO of Patton Holdings (based out of Domino Farms) bought a private plane a few years ago for his health-care company. He often needed to go to small, out-of-the-way places like Hershey, Pennsylvania, for business, places that were prohibitively expensive to fly commercially out of Detroit's Metro Airport.He wasn't alone. Plenty of local business people found flying either too expensive or too time inefficient using major airlines. And then the CFL went off over Patton's head."There is no one else doing this here in Ann Arbor," Patton says. "Why not make a business out of this?"Flagship Private Air is set to take off in early December. It has a handful of turbo-prop planes ready to fly from Ann Arbor's Airport to 47 locations throughout the continental U.S., but mainly focused on the Midwest. The chartered planes can carry private parties within 250 miles. Prices are usually kept under $1,000 per person with a minimum of two people. The company can also cater the flights food from Zingerman's as well as set up hotel or rental car reservations. And Patton plans to expand his business to summer resorts in northern cities, like Traverse City or Mackinac Island. The idea of hiring out a small plane for a few people at a reasonable price makes it worthwhile to local business people, especially those concerned with time efficiency. For instance, customers don't have to drive far, go through extensive security checks or fly at the whim of notoriously late airlines.The planes can be rented out on a per trip basis or customer can buy blocks of time at a discount. Flagship even allows clients to become fractional owners in a plane. Think of it like a private-plane timeshare.Patton has high hopes for Flagship Private Air as Ann Arbor's new economy business sector grows in both size and prominence.Source: Tim Patton, chairman and CEO of Patton HoldingsWriter: Jon Zemke

Latest in Entrepreneurship

NeuroNexus Technologies lands VC money, looking to hire 7

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 12, 2008

NeuroNexus Technologies' products may look to get into people's brains but the Ann Arbor-based start-up is definitely in its investors' heads. The firm has just lined up $2 million in venture capital, including $1 million from Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund. The investment is expected to expand the company's employee base from 16 to 23 within the next few years. NeuroNexus designs state-of-the-art microscale neural interface products for research and clinical treatment of chronic neurological disorders. That's fancy prospectus talk for a company that creates technology that can monitor brain function and stimulate neurological functions. It can also be used to deliver treatments.The 4-year-old company is now self-sustaining and experiencing high growth. Well, growth fast enough to go from three unpaid personnel to a staff of 17 today. The company's revenues doubled between 2005 and 2007, and it is expected to double again this year.NeuroNexus is focusing its growth on four areas – research products, clinical products, engineering and manufacturing and innovation and IP development. Source: Michigan Economic Development CorporationWriter: Jon Zemke

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services plans to double staff in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 12, 2008

In the bowels of Ann Arbor SPARK's downtown building is a company composed of a happy little band of Pfizer refugees who are not only trying to make it, they're beginning to make it big. Say hello to Velesco Pharmaceutical Services, a firm started by ex-Pfizerites Gerry Cox and David Barnes. The two worked at Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus until the pharma giant decided not to work there anymore. The move prompted Cox and Barnes to round up a few of their co-workers and begin Velesco earlier this year. Today their company stands six people strong. "We saw a real opportunity to provide high-quality pharmaceutical consulting services to companies," says Cox, who is now Velesco's Chief Operating Officer.The firm has taken on a number of clients in Michigan, and is now aiming for out of state contracts. Recognizing that most of the big pharmaceutical companies are located on the coasts, Velesco has aimed its focus east and west but remains committed to the Mid West. If all goes as planned, it expects to double the number of employees by the end of year. Source: Gerry Cox, chief operating officer for Velesco Pharmaceutical ServicesWriter: Jon Zemke

Video Motawi Tileworks

By Keith Jefferies

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Arts & Culture

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November 12, 2008

They made it with their own two hands! Karim and Nawal Motawi turned their handmade tile into a handmade business that employs nearly 30 local artisans. Mixing old world craft skills with modern manufacturing techniques, this Ann Arbor-based company brings in $2.5 million in annual revenues and has developed a devoted client base.

Arbor Photonics lands $3 million investment, plans to create 136 jobs

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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November 5, 2008

Arbor Photonics is making the most of its $3 million infusion, laying out plans to create 136 new jobs within the next few years. The Ann Arbor-based firm recently received $1.5 million from Michigan's 21st Century Jobs Fund. That money will complement another $1.5 million from private investors. The 136 new jobs will be quite the jump in employment for the University of Michigan spin-off. As of today only two people work at the start-up. U-M Prof. Almantas Galvanuaskas invented a new way to dramatically improve fiber lasers. Arbor Photonics was created last year to commercialize this technology. The technology is an optical fiber structure called Chirally-Coupled Core Fiber or 3C fiber. The 3C fiber significantly improves the performance of fiber lasers in industrial manufacturing, a $2 billion market that grows about 14 percent annually on average. About $400,000 in venture capital was invested in the Arbor Photonics last fall. That money allowed the company to hire a CEO and director of business development and recruit other key personnel. The plan is to hit $50 million in sales within the next six years. The company hopes to expand its employee base to 136 by 2014. But for now Arbor Photonics plans to invest the $3 million it just received into further product development over the next year. Source: Michigan Economic Development Corporation Writer: Jon Zemke

Scuba fans dive into fun career with Ann Arbor store

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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October 29, 2008

Some Ann Arbor residents are following their dream, no matter how deep underwater it takes them. Excerpt: For many years Dave and Rachael Kasper split time between jobs in the corporate world and their passion for scuba diving. After moving back to Ann Arbor in 1996, the couple opened Huron Scuba out of their home, but continued to work: Dave as a lawyer and Rachael as an engineer at General Motors. But by 1999, the Kaspers had a watershed moment. "We started with three students lined up on our living room couch with an old-fashioned overhead projector," Rachael Kasper said. "It got to the point where our students asked us, 'Why are you taking us to other dive shops to buy equipment? Why don't you guys have a dive shop?'" Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor’s Sungrace Software to add 6 people over next 6 months

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 22, 2008

The Sungrace name a family name. Sorta. Actually, it's a name Makarand Nalgirkar knows almost as intimately as his own.His father started the first Sungrace company (an engineering firm) in India several years ago. Nalgirkar and his brother started another Sungrace firm in India in 1997. Three years ago Nalgirkar started Sungrace Software in Ann Arbor.Today the company has grown its employee base to four people. It expects to add another six people within the next six months as capitalizes on some impressive quarterly growth statistics."The first quarter of this year was the best quarter we ever had," Nalgirkar says.That’s after the firm's revenue grew 200 percent in its first year and 60 percent the following year. It averages about 25 percent growth each quarter.Sungrace Software has been able to accomplish this by focusing on the quality of its product. It develops engineering software for everything but plans, trains and automobiles -- some of the most competitive areas for engineering firms. Sungrace’s software focuses on areas like architecture and the energy industry. Nalgirkar expects his firm to firm up its gains within the next year and build on them. In his eyes the company’s focus will be on continuing what it does best.Source: Makarand Nalgirkar, president and CEO of Sungrace SoftwareWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Torrey Path plans to open data center

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 22, 2008

Torrey Path, the 1-year-old start-up, is off to a good start in Ann Arbor. The firm employs five full-time staffers, four people part-time and the occasional intern. It also just opened an office in California.Peter Dresslar started the firm after doing a stint as a consultant at a local pharmaceutical company. He discovered processes and designed software that can aggregate bio data easily and efficiently for research managers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields.The process has turned the firm to into an almost overnight success. Torrey Path counts three of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies as clients and hopes to expand its customer base to the low teens by 2010. But before that, Dresslar expects to break the $1 million revenue mark next year."We're at a point where our solutions are at a Beta stage, which makes it much easier to sell," Dresslar says.Which, of course, means more expansion for Torrey Path. The company plans to create a data center within the next year. It's currently looking at locations in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.Which will mean will mean another 5-15 jobs for the selected spot. Go Blue!Source: Peter Dresslar, founder and CEO of Torrey PathWriter: Jon Zemke

Entrepreneurial executives getting a close look in state

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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October 22, 2008

Ann Arbor isn't just attracting innovative new businesses, but the entrepreneurs who create them.Excerpt:Kris Aalto had years of biomedical and management experience under her belt when she took a job at a local venture capital firm last October.The Tecumseh resident's new position: executive-in-residence at Ann Arbor-based Arboretum Ventures. For about a year, her main focus was to find the right startup company for the venture firm to invest in.Her focus also was finding the right fit for herself."You have to be scrappy to find your fit, but there are so many interesting projects in Ann Arbor, which really drew me to the area," Aalto said.Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor start-up Boomdash expands its reach

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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October 22, 2008

The Detroit Free Press' chronicling of Ann Arbor start-up Boomdash continues. Excerpt: When Cesar Nerys launched his Ann Arbor start-up company Boomdash LLC this spring, he didn't factor hurricanes into the list of potential pitfalls. But last month, the veteran entrepreneur remained glued to the TV screen as first Hurricane Gustav and later Ike churned toward the gulf coast. The first market for the search engine marketing firm just happens to be New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La. Gustav and an outer band of storms caused by Ike wound up delaying by almost four weeks a Boomdash sales training course for 15 employees at Sunshine Pages, a telephone directory publisher that's selling Boomdash's product. Read the rest of the story here.