Not all businesses are original. Many are take-offs of an idea that just didn't work out for someone else. That's the case with the guys behind Mango Languages, who turned an old idea into a fast-growing start-up. And creating jobs left and right in the process.

The four friends behind the Farmington Hills-based firm had been building a web-development firm earlier this decade. Part of their jobs included working on a foreign language learning program. The creator was having difficulty, so two years ago the foursome decided to make their own version and hence Mango Languages was born. Today the company employs 35 people, 60 independent contractors, and two interns.

"We're growing," says Beverly Cornell, marketing and social media director for Mango Languages. "We're adding about 30 developers over the next six months."

Mango Language's primary product helps users master foreign languages. They have been able to get their products in libraries across the U.S., including some of the big ones like the New York and Seattle public libraries.

"About 40 million people in the U.S. have access to Mango Languages for free," Cornell says.

Mango Languages plans to expand its product offering in the next year. That should include the release of its latest product – Mango Basic. The program teaches polite usage of foreign languages.

Source: Beverly Cornell, marketing and social media director for Mango Languages
Writer: Jon Zemke

The collapse of the housing market has destroyed many businesses in Metro Detroit, but it's helping enrich at least one - DartAppraisal.com.

The Troy-based firm has turned that big problem into a big opportunity and is hiring at a torrid pace now. The company had 14 people in early 2008 and now employs 30, plus 6,000 independent contractors and a few summer interns. It expects to hire another 5-7 people before the year ends and 7-14 more in 2010.

"It's been a great year," says Darton Case, president of DartAppraisal.com. "Everything has been hitting for us."

Not that the company was doing too badly during the housing boom either. The online appraisal management firm was able to switch out of the normal appraisal game when the bottom of the housing market fell out. Today it handles refinancing, purchases and foreclosures in big states like Texas.

All of this is from a business that started as a spin-off of Oakland Mortgage in 1989. That company, run by Case's father, is now gone and DartAppraisal.com is growing strong.

"It gave me a place to run and stay out of the my father's hair," Case says.

Source: Darton Case, president of DartAppraisal.com
Writer: Jon Zemke

Securely Yours has some big plans for its second year of business.

The Bloomfield Hills-based firm got its start this spring and is now run by two people with a Rolodex of 25 independent contractors. The company expects to break out in 2010 by upping its employment rolls to 10-15 strong and 50 independent contractors. It hopes to do this by hitting $5-10 million in revenue after doing six figures worth in 2009.

"We feel our business is positioned to take off faster," says Sajay Rai, CEO and founder of Securely Yours.

Rai knows a thing about the information security game in which his start-up is trying to gain traction. The former IBM executive and Ernst & Young partner has spent 32 years in IT and 20 of those in the security aspect of it.

His company focus will be on information security in the higher education, government, and healthcare industries. Rai also wants to expand into the finance and manufacturing sectors. He claims his business can provide solutions that can drop a company's security and IT costs by 25-40 percent.

"The focus on information security has never been greater," Rai says.

Source: Sajay Rai, CEO and founder of Securely Yours
Writer: Jon Zemke

One of Michigan's more innovative forms of supplying seed capital strikes again now that the state's Microloan Fund has made loans to businesses in Ann Arbor and Birmingham.

The four loans total $200,000 and are meant to help the fledgling firms grow their businesses and commercialize new products. The loans, which usually are for about $50,000, are administered by Ann Arbor SPARK and repaid with interest within a couple years. The loans are also normally precursors to investments by angel investors and venture capital.

The recipients include:

Solarflex. The Birmingham-based firm will use the money to commercialize organic solar cells. These cells have the potential to offer greater efficiency and lower cost compared to solar cells currently on the market.

Allinnova. The Ann Arbor-based firm is developing tools for a comprehensive corporate capabilities assessment. Its microloan will be used to commercialize a tool for determining a corporation's capability to be successful in a strategic partnership with another organization.

Procuit. The Ann Arbor-based software-development firm creates educational software engines. Its funding will help support commercialization of HomeschoolAdvantage.com, a product that serves as a dedicated portal for the 2 million home schooled children in North America.

The Whole Brain Group. This Ann Arbor-based firm will use the money to ease the transition from a service-based business model to a product-based business model. Its flagship product is a subscription-based service that provides accreditation services to life science research institutions.

Source: Ann Arbor SPARK
Writer: Jon Zemke

Productions Plus is adding to its business by acquiring a local competitor – The Talent Shop. The new company is Production Plus – The Talent Shop out of Bingham Farms.

"They have been a fine competitor," says Margery Krevsky, president and CEO of Production Plus – The Talent Shop.

The acquisition makes Production Plus one of the premiere talent agencies in the Midwest. It was already on its way up, adding two more jobs to its staff of 46. Of those positions, 32 are located in Metro Detroit. The others are split between offices in Chicago and California.

The Talent Shop's print, commercial, and film sectors are expected to beef up the new firm's capabilities. The big emphasis will be on taking advantage of Michigan's emerging film industry.

"We're capitalizing on the film incentives," Krevsky says.

Source: Margery Krevsky, president and CEO of Production Plus – The Talent Shop
Writer: Jon Zemke

The Russell Industrial Center has already established itself as the center of entrepreneurship in Detroit, and now it's trying to stake a similar claim in the film industry.

The factory-turned-studio space near the corner of I-75 near Grand Boulevard is already home to hundreds of small businesses and artists who occupy small studios at dirt cheap prices in a place with few rules and obligations. The film industry is starting to recognize that reality and take advantage of it.

"Now we're seeing people shooting movies like it's an actual movie studio," says Eric Novak, leasing agent for the Russell Industrial Center.

The Russell Industrial Center has traditionally served as the home studio for independent movies and some commercial work. That has changed with Michigan's new film incentives. Two Tier 1 films, which cost more than $1 million to make, have shot there this month and more are on the way.

The movies are Crave and Vanishing on Seventh Street. Their decision whether or not to use the Russell Industrial Center doesn't make or break the facility's budget, but it does add another two percent in revenue.

"It's a nice two percent to put back into our infrastructure like fixing the elevator or updating the lighting," Novak says.

Source: Eric Novak, leasing agent for the Russell Industrial Center
Writer: Jon Zemke

Tekisha Lee used to work in advertising for one of the big agencies, handling ads for a major branch of the military.

"I saw an economic opportunity because of the minority market," Lee says. "A lot of the corporations don't pick up the minority brands but I know there are a lot of opportunities there."

That led to the creation of the Diversity Emploment & Education Network Management a year ago. It specializes in multicultural employee candidates and has found a home in Detroit's TechTown business incubator. It now employs five people and 2-3 independent contractors. It hopes to add 15 more next year.

One of its products in development is DiverseNote, which is similar to a combination of Monster.com and LinkedIn for minorities. It is also creating a version of that website, DiverseNote Green, that centers around sustainability-based jobs.

"We want to add a lot of engineering individuals in the alternative energy industry," Lee says.

Source: Tekisha Lee, founder and CEO of Diversity Emploment & Education Network
Writer: Jon Zemke

Every year, it gets easier to impart the holidays with an air of sustainability -- which is something that Green Space is certainly thankful for. So, in the spirit of the most food-oriented holiday, let us suggest some options from which to purvey your Thanksgiving feast.

In her story "The Omnivore's Detroit", Model D's managing editor Clare Ramsey explores several options for obtaining local, organic turkeys for her family's dinner last Thanksgiving. She ended up scoring at Roeske Farms in Hartland, about an hour  northwest of Detroit, near M-59 and US 23, but also found Sunshine Meadows Farm in Ortonville and Harnois Farms near Pinckney.


Concentrate ran a similar story for those who live in Washtenaw County.

Eastern Market and the Royal Oak Farmers Market boast plenty of locally-grown produce that will remind you that celebration of the harvest bounty is truly at the root of this November holiday.

In other news, the Lions game on the 26th will be a carbon-neutral event. For the third year in a row, the Lions are partnering with TechTown-based Carbon Credit Environmental Services (CCES) and the Greening of Detroit to plant 650 trees in Detroit that will negate the 466 tons of carbon dioxide emitted by travel to and from the game as well as energy used at the stadium.

To get around, consider The Night Move. Thanksgiving Eve, the green shuttle will run its regular weekend route between Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Downtown Detroit from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. as well as a free shuttle for The Night Before Thanksgiving party at the Roostertail (from the Red Wings game at Joe Louis, Fishbones in St. Clair Shores, and Excalibur in Grosse Pointe Park). There's also a Night Move shuttle running to and from the Thursday Lions game, but it's already sold out.

Thanks for reading Green Space!

Sources: Monica Tabares, Greening of Detroit and Jennifer Harlan, The Night Move
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh