Entrepreneurship

Ann Arbor OccuSciences plans to go from 5 to 25-30 employees by 2010

By Newsroom

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October 15, 2008

OccuSciences plans to start conducting clinical trails on its new diabetes early detection technology in November.If the tests go as expected the Ann Arbor-based start-up expects to go on a hiring binge within the next two years. The 1-year-old firm predicts a jump from its current staff of five people to 15 by the beginning of 2010. That could jump again to 25-30 people by the end of 2010.OccuSciences is a University of Michigan spin-off created by professors Dr. Victor Elner and Howard Petty. It's main product is a technology that assesses metabolic stress in the retina of a human eye. Put simply, it scans an eye to detect whether the patient has diseases like diabetes or glaucoma. "Our test measures how the actual cells and tissues are doing," says Matt Field, business manager with OccuSciences.This allows optometrists to see if someone has (or is at risk of developing) diabetes or glaucoma 10-15 years before it can be detected through traditional testing. And it can be done as quickly and easily as a traditional eye test.Right now, OccuSciences is using a $150,000 grant to develop a prototype of the technology. It plans to conduct testing through the latter part of this year, all of next year and into 2010. It hopes to begin commercialization (and job creation) soon after.Source: Matt Field, business manager with OccuSciencesWriter: Jon Zemke

Latest in Entrepreneurship

Pacific Rim expands into old Ehnis & Sons space in downtown Ann Arbor

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Development News

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October 15, 2008

The old Ennis & Sons storefront in downtown Ann Arbor is about to undergo a dramatic transformation now that the Pacific Rim By Kana plans to take over the space.Ennis & Sons spent nearly a century selling work boots and clothes at 116 W. Liberty St. before closing up two years ago. University of Michigan architects Tom Buresh and Danelle Guthrie bought the late 19th Century structure shortly after and turned the upper floors into a home.The ground floor storefront stayed empty until Duc Tang (pronounced Duke Tan) recently agreed to expand his pan-Asian restaurant into the space. The change promises to be striking, turning the home of blue-collar uniform essentials, such as Red Wing boots and Carhartt jackets into the modern, Far East-inspired decor that of Pacific Rim.The 1,500-square-foot restaurant will nearly double its space, adding more dinning space, a bar and a private dining room in the 1,400 square foot Ennis & Sons storefront. "I always felt the restaurant was incomplete without those elements," Tang says. "We've gotten a lot of requests for a private dining area."The 7-year-old restaurant has enjoyed a good bit of success recently in the face of a tough economy. Pacific Rim recently logged its best two weekends of business, and Tang expect that to continue once the restaurant is enlarged.He plans to start construction later this month and have it finished by early next year.Source: Duc Tang, chef and owner of Pacific Rim By KanaWriter: Jon Zemke

Design Sense, Local Logic

By Kim Shine North

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Arts & Culture

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October 8, 2008

Build it and they will come. Proving that the Internet makes all things global, 32-year old entrepreneur Shana Victor has turned her passion for the funky and frivolous into a million dollar local business with a decidely personal touch.

Ann Arbor SPARK gears up for entrepreneurial boot camp

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Entrepreneurship

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October 8, 2008

The applications are in and Ann Arbor SPARK is looking to firm up the commitments to its 14th Entrepreneurial Boot Camp this month.The entrepreneurial boot camp is a unique combination of hands-on learning and one-on-one mentoring facilitated by SPARK. It squeezes three months worth of learning curve into an intensive two-day business planning and preparation event. The point is to help early stage technology businesses refine their business concepts. That will help them attract additional funding and resources. Mobatech, a cell-phone software firm, won the last boot camp. It won a $5,000 initial engagement at the Ann Arbor SPARK Business Accelerator.This fall's boot camp will feature 15 teams made up of two people each. The boot camp will be held between the evening of Oct. 31 and the morning of Nov. 2. For information, click here.Look for Concentrate's first person account of the process later in November!Source: Ann Arbor SPARKWriter: Jon Zemke

The 9th Xchange becomes big fish in Ann Arbor’s pond

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Entrepreneurship

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October 8, 2008

The 9th Xchange was founded in Florida, but it opened up an office in Ann Arbor two years ago looking for more room to grow. But not too much. "We like being a big fish in a small pond," says John Bonaccorso, CEO of The 9th Xchange.The Michigan Economic Development Corporation reached out to Bonaccorso a few years ago about expanding in Michigan. Bonaccorso liked the idea of thumbing his nose at conventional wisdom and decided to grow his business in Michigan. In particular, he was attracted to the talent in Ann Arbor."The most important thing was the amount of technical people there," Bonaccorso says.It has since grown its offices in Ann Arbor SPARK to 15 people of the firm's 40 employees. Bonaccorso expects to double the number of people each year to complement the firm's expected 100 percent annual growth.The 9th Xchange creates a market for used intellectual property. So if a firm is finished using a piece of software it needed for a project, it can resell it. The 9th Xchange makes sure the original creators still get their fair share of royalties.Source: John Bonaccorso, CEO of The 9th XchangeWriter: Jon Zemke

Mongolian BBQ, salon, bakery set up shop in Ypsilanti

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Community Development

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October 8, 2008

The kitchen for downtown Ypsilanti's new Mongolian BBQ has been installed, and is yet another sign of how businesses are flocking to the city's downtown and Depot Town districts.J Neil's Mongolian Grille will occupy most of the ground floor of the Kresge Building, one of downtown's first loft conversions. That restaurant is set to open by the end of the month."We're very excited about it," says Eric Maurer, an Ypsilanti developer in charge of the building.The Keystone Martini Bar, which will occupy the basement of 200 W Michigan Ave., is set to open up later this year. Maurer is also rehabbing the Mack & Mack building in downtown, which will house Ann Arbor SPARK's East Incubator for small business. That space is expected to be done by the end of the year with lofts above it finished by next summer.Also joining this retail round up is the Thomas Blondi Salon on 36 N Huron St. It will occupy the ground floor of an old 19th Century hotel that most recently served as the home to a dance studio. Dwight Thomas, the salon's owner, expects to have the 1,800 square feet ready to go by the first week of November. "I wanted to be in the heart of Ypsilanti," Thomas says. "I wanted to give back to Ypsilanti, which is where I grew up."Next door the Old World Bakery is also holding its ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday morning. The bakery moved into the space earlier this year to take advantage of the up-and-coming business district dominated by small businesses in downtown.Source: Eric Maurer, co-owner of Mauerer Management and Dwight Thomas, owner of Thomas Blondi SalonWriter: Jon Zemke

Ypsilanti’s RealKidz takes its first steps into the marketplace

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Entrepreneurship

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October 1, 2008

Ypsilanti start-up RealKidz has gotten past the crawling stage and begun to walk on its own two feet.Excerpt:Bit by bit, slowly but steadily, RealKidz is making progress.The Ypsilanti start-up company that sells clothes for plus-size young girls has signed up four independent sales consultants in Michigan. It has also raised $150,000 from angel investors. And its new back-to-school line of clothes finally arrived early this month."We have the product," Merrill Guerra, RealKidz's CEO and founder, said while trying to market her company's clothes during a women's business meeting in Novi earlier this month. "Now we need the funds to push it into the marketplace because nobody knows about us."Read the rest of story here.

Evigia adds 8 people, plans to triple staff

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Community Development

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October 1, 2008

Ann Arbor-based Evigia Systems has big plans for its radio frequency ID tags, which should lead to greater local expansion."What we want to do to radio frequency ID tags is what has been done to cell phones," says Karl Ma, vice president of marketing for Evigia Systems. "We want to make them lighter, cheaper and smaller."The company started with one person in 2004 and has grown to 14 people today. Most of that growth has occurred in the last year as it added eight jobs. That expansion is expected to continue in the near future, with Ma foreseeing the firm's staff tripling.Key to that growth is landing a major contract, which Evigia hints will occur soon. The firm is partnering with "a well-known name brand" firm that Ma declined to name. He expects that partnership will be key in attracting the U.S. Department of Defense to the tune of $430-$480 million. Only a few other companies are competing for the contract and Ma sees Evigia as the company to beat. If all goes well, it will mean $100 million more in revenue and the addition of 70-100 people. A big bump in business for this small Ann Arbor start-up.Source: Karl Ma, vice president of marketing for Evigia SystemsWriter: Jon Zemke

SPARK start-up Ruby Skills looks to push web development envelope

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Entrepreneurship

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October 1, 2008

Lance Carlson doesn't just want to think outside of the box. He wants to stay completely away from the box. As a matter of fact, he doesn't want anything to do with the box.It is why he started Ruby Skills six months ago. The Ann Arbor SPARK-based business specializes in developing web applications that push the envelope, creating edgier web-based designs that Carlson felt he couldn't do within the confines of someone else's company."I enjoy starting businesses," Carlson says. "I don't enjoy following other people's dreams because often I don't agree with a particular approach. I want to try it my way."To him that means working with freedom-loving entrepreneurs and start-up companies. That's good because its where most web-development firms start at first. So far Ruby Skills is doing just that by creating the likes of eipon.com, which is now in its Beta version.Doing this sort of work has allowed Ruby Skills to grow to three full-time employees and another 3-4 contractors. These people are focused on consolidating gains from the company's first clients and building its reputation.While Ruby Skills wants and intends to add more people, it's No. 1 focus is on building its reputation right now. Carlson spends a lot of his time marketing and networking his start-up in order to land new and future clients."Once it's finished, sky is the limit after that," Carlson says.Source: Lance Carlson, president of Ruby SkillsWriter: Jon Zemke

Chelsea’s International Discovery Sourcing Consultants grows to 9 people

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Entrepreneurship

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October 1, 2008

In the wake of disaster, some people stare into the abyss and see doom, others see opportunity. Mark Creswell saw opportunity when Pfizer closed its Ann Arbor campus early last year."There was a tremendous amount of talent displaced," Creswell says.That led him to create International Discovery Sourcing Consultants. The Chelsea-based company focuses on helping start-up companies get off the ground, especially bio-tech and pharmaceutical companies.IDSC started with Creswell as its sole employee 18 months ago and now employs nine people. The firm hopes to add another 15-18 people within the next two years and build new office space in downtown Chelsea to house them.IDSC's growth is attributed to its increasing number of clients. It started with just a handful and now has nearly 30, including the likes of Velcura Therapeutics. Yet more are expected in the near future.Source: Mark Creswell, president and CEO of International Discovery Sourcing ConsultantsWriter: Jon Zemke