Internet

Go-Payroll.com switches to online accounting, hopes to hire 2

By Newsroom

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June 3, 2009

Newspapers aren't the only businesses fighting to make the jump to the Internet age. It seems like accounting software is in a similar boat.Matt Cantillon's accounting software company was known as MPCSoft for 25 years until it made the jump to online and became Go-Payroll.com a few weeks ago. Now it offers its services, such as payroll and billing, through the web with open-source software. It has two payroll service providers and five small businesses using its product."And that's with no marketing," Cantillon says.The Ann Arbor-based company is aiming to have 35-50 regular customers and 4-5 payroll services signed up by the end of the year. That should allow the four-person firm add a couple more this year.Source: Matt Cantillon, owner and CEO of Go-Payroll.comWriter: Jon Zemke

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Free Internet access makes Ann Arbor area coffee shops surrogate offices or libraries

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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May 27, 2009

Not all offices are in office buildings these days. But, heck, if you read Concentrate regularly, you already knew that. Excerpt:A single laptop user might sit at a table meant for four people and surf the Web for hours. The more daring might even sneak in their own food and drinks.Offering free wireless Internet access, Ann Arbor's coffee shops and cafes can sometimes look like surrogate offices or libraries, with more customers staring intently at laptop screens than talking with a friend or drinking a coffee.Laptop users say the attraction is simple: They're trying to study or work and encounter fewer distractions there - no stressed-out colleagues, no televisions to switch on, and no family members to interrupt."I'm pretty productive when I'm working in an environment like this, just because of the fewer distractions," said Tracy Barsheff, who was studying in Espresso Royale on State Street Friday.Read the rest of the story here and when Concentrate's sister publication Metromode reported on this phenomenon two years ago here.

Love Book turns gift for wife into Ann Arbor start-up

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Entrepreneurship

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May 27, 2009

A few years ago, Rob Patterson created a gift for his wife that he hopes will pay dividends for them for years to come.Patterson made a small book that explained why he loved her so much. It was a Christmas gift that meant so much to her that it turned on the CFL over his head."She loved it and thought it was the greatest gift she had ever gotten," Patterson says.That inspired the creation of Love Book last year. The four founders have been perfecting the website that allows people to create customized message books for anybody they care about. It has only been live for a few weeks now."We’re trying to figure out our marketing plan right now," Patterson says.The books can be used for anything from birthdays to anniversaries or other important days. "Pretty much any time you want to give a gift to somebody you love," Patterson says.Love Book is still developing its product. It hopes to hire and create a few spin-off businesses in the future, but right now the foursome just wants to establish their product.Source: Rob Patterson, founder of Love BookWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor VeoProject focuses on growth and partnerships

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Economic Development

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May 27, 2009

Ann Arbor's VeoProject continues to grow as evidenced by its expanding payroll.Ann Arbor-based Bitcarvers, the creators of VeoProject, have increased its employee base to 10 people and are looking to add interns this summer. It hopes to add more employees later this year. "The market for our software has been expanding dramatically over the last year," says John Wyderko, chief technology officer of VeoProject. He adds that southeast Michigan is "a gold mine" for finding quality project managers.VeoProject is a lot like Microsoft Project. It helps users manage projects, tasks and their everyday worklife ...except its done from a website. This allows users to access it from anywhere they can get an Internet connection. In comparison, Microsoft Office is run from a single computer or system. The idea is to make it appealing to business travelers far from their home computing base or telecommuters working from home. Bitcarvers are now incorporating VeoProject with social media outlets, such as Twitter. The idea is to use these programs to help keep projects and their managers on track. Bitcarvers are also working to establish partnerships to help it hit its financial milestones and spur more growth.Source: John Wyderko, chief technology office for VeoProjectWriter: Jon Zemke

Pre-Seed Capital Fund hits three Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti businesses

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Economic Development

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May 20, 2009

Three new businesses in the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti area are about to get by with a little help from their new friend - Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund.White Pine Systems, OcuSciences and RealKidz (all Ann Arbor SPARK-sponsored start-ups) received between $142,000 and $250,000 in seed money. Ann Arbor SPARK administers this money."We hope this acts as an incentive to bring an angel (investor) to the table to make an investment," says Skip Simms, administrator of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund. Ann Arbor-based White Pine Systems will use its $225,000 to further its internet-based medical records service. That service securely stores and manages personal information, such as medical and legal records.University of Michigan spin-off OcuSciences has $250,000 to develop its OcuMet line of ocular metabolic imaging products. The Ann Arbor-based firm’s products allow detection of several diseases through indicators in the eye, several years earlier than current clinical methods.Ypsilanti-based RealKidz, an on-line retailer, plans to use its $142,000 to further its development of of large size kids clothing and social network. RealKidz is a tenant of SPARK East business incubator.The Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, a collaborative effort of Michigan's 15 SmartZones, is an equity investment fund. It receives the same returns as a private third-party investor. Ann Arbor SPARK is one of these SmartZones. Thirty-four companies have received seed money from the fund since its inception.Source: Skip Simms, administrator of the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital FundWriter: Jon Zemke

Local higher-ed institutions highlight entrepreneurship

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Education

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April 29, 2009

Both ends of the higher education spectrum in Washtenaw County are pushing for more entrepreneurs to start businesses here.The University of Michigan's latest effort is a new website dedicated to tracking the university's efforts to spin out more new economy businesses. Washtenaw Community College is also hyping its new Business Resource Center as way to help wanna-be-their-own-bosses chase after their dreams.U-M's Innovation Economy website showcases work underway between prized university research and turning it into job-creating commercial businesses. The website does everything from catalog news reports on these businesses to showing off how many companies were annually spun-off (13 last year)."The website is a way to draw the spotlight to some of the activity that is already underway," says David Lampe, vice president for communications for the University of Michigan.Washtenaw Community College is launching its Business Resource Center from its Bailey Library. There it hopes to help actual and aspiring business owners find information and harness other resources to get their business going. For information, click here or call (734) 973-3429.Source: David Lampe, vice president for communications for the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke

Inner Circle Media adds 3 staff in Ann Arbor, to add 3 more

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Economic Development

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April 29, 2009

The office that houses Inner Circle Media in Ann Arbor isn't just dog-friendly, it's dog-directed.Dr. Norman, a middle-aged beagle-lab mix, serves as the Director of Happiness for the web development firm. He is on the verge of being promoted to CFO – Chief Fun Officer. His new duties would let him oversee the company's seven employees, 2-3 independent contractor and occasional summer intern.Dr. Norman has been at the company since the beginning when Carrie Hensel and Catherine Hayes started the company. Hensel and Hayes both took buyouts when Pfizer bought Parke Davis in the 1990s. They spent a few years freelancing for local web firms before using the buyout money to start Inner Circle Media."Neither of us had any business experience," Hensel says. "The first year was a struggle, but now everything is wonderful."She says that with her tongue slightly in her cheek, but there is a good basis for that statement. Inner Circle Media's revenue has jumped 30 percent in the last two years. It now has clients across Michigan and in far away places like Minnesota. The company just added a new coder, programmer and project manager. One of them is also bringing in another dog to study under Dr. Norman. Inner Circle Media hopes to add another employee and expand its independent contractor base this year. It's counting on another 15-20 percent revenue growth to support this growth, along with the inspiring direction of Dr. Norman.Source: Carrie Hensel, co-founder and managing partner of Inner Circle MediaWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Magic Coast switches to video streaming technology, hopes to weather economy

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Arts & Culture

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April 29, 2009

Magic Coast got its start nearly seven years ago as Terra Land, creating software for automotive suppliers. Today the Ann Arbor-based company provides internal video streaming for corporations. Why the change? The company saw how profitable the new technology was while working on a project for one of the Big 3 and, appropriately, shifted gears."We saw that corporations were using video streaming more and more so we decided to capitalize on it," says Bill Dunning, CEO of Magic Coast. "That really took hold (switching from software development to video streaming) over the last 12 months. All last summer we were ramping up on it."The switch hasn't been without some growing pains. The company started with a couple of people and grew to about 8 recently before downsizing to three and a handful of independent contractors. Magic Coast was bringing in more and more customers ranging from automotive based firms to radio stations, such as WRIF. The downfall of the economy put a hold on a lot of the expansion, so much so that Dunning is hoping for the best when it comes to growth but preparing for the worst."We are prepping for a flat year and hoping for better," Dunning says. "It's hard to really do anything. When we show our system to people, they really like it, but they're putting off all capital projects until the next quarter."Source: Bill Dunning, CEO of Magic CoastWriter: Jon Zemke

Smart Dining sets its table at Ypsilanti SPARK office

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Entrepreneurship

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April 22, 2009

Making a choice about going out to dinner takes lots of information, especially when a group is making that decision. Enter Smart Dining, the company that strives to provide. The downtown Ypsilanti-based firm serves as a resource for local restaurant websites, menus, reviews and discounts. A click on its website can provide easy access to all of this valuable information, making dinner choices easier.Of course it's never as easy as it sounds. The company started off with a partnership with The Ann Arbor News two years ago and lots of immediate promise. Unfortunately, The Ann Arbor News' plans changed. Smart Dining is focused on avoiding that same fate, revamping its website and business model."How do you create an advertising vehicle that isn’t an in-your-face piece of junk mail?" says David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart Dining.Smart Dining's four people are doing this in Ann Arbor SPARK's new East Incubator in downtown Ypsilanti. "It's a fantastic place," Kanaan says. "If you saw what they offer to small businesses it would be stupid to go elsewhere. What they offer is unbeatable."He is taking those vibes and getting ready to go forward on them. He thinks Smart Dining is one year away from hitting on all cylinders and then sky is the limit. "The chance for expansion is infinite," Kanaan says. "It's all about gaining traction in one market and moving onto the next."Source: David Kanaan, president and co-owner of Smart DiningWriter: Jon Zemke

Ann Arbor’s Speedraft moves tool and die industry to internet

By Newsroom

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Economic Development

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April 15, 2009

It takes a lot of creativity to turn something as Rust Beltesque as tool & die manufacturing into a Silicon Valley-style Internet start-up. The type of creativity that comes from the people at Speedraft.The downtown Ann Arbor-based start-up streamlines the traditionally arduous task of manufacturers ordering manufacturing dies. It accomplishes this by putting the whole process on an Internet interface, allowing customers to lock down orders in a fraction of the time and money it used to take."Nobody has ever done what we do," says Tim Stephens, the founder and CEO of Speedraft. "We're the first."Stephens has 23 years of experience in the custom tool & die industry and started Speedraft seven years ago as ToolPax. Today it employs seven people and two interns through Ann Arbor SPARK. Most of that growth came in the last year or two as the start-up started to gain traction in the industry.The company is in the process of trying to raise more capital for expansion. If it can accomplish that it will go on a bit of a hiring spree, bringing on up to a dozen people later this year. Most of those jobs will be in software development."If I can get what's in the pipeline done now, we'll explode," Stephens says.Source: Tim Stephens, founder and CEO of SpeedraftWriter: Jon Zemke