Steve Dickinson and Mike McCowan didn't have to come back to Metro Detroit, but they did, and consequently created a thriving small business in Novi.

The Michigan State University graduates had jobs in Chicago and Connecticut when they came back to start Amistee six years ago. Today the duct-cleaning firm has taken advantage of a market both saw as under served in Michigan, a place the Livonia native longed to return to.

"We both love Detroit," says Dickinson, co-owner of Amistee, which is short for: A Mike and Steve corporation.

The company now employs 10 people after hiring four more this year. It plans to hire another five next year as it capitalizes on its growing sales. Dickinson says sales have doubled in the last year, mostly thanks to the company's customer service.

"It's pretty basic," Dickinson says. "You treat people the way you want to be treated."

Source: Steve Dickinson, co-owner of Amistee
Writer: Jon Zemke

Oakland County is using cyberspace methods to get more real people voting in the next election cycle.

Its latest innovation is to send out an email reminder to voters two weeks before elections and then again on election days. The reminder will also include a bevy of other information voters can use to make the process easier.

"It's kind of like an electronic post-it note," says Ruth Johnson, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.

The emails will be sent out before all local, school, state, and federal elections and will link to the clerk's website. The site will feature a list of candidates and ballot proposals, campaign finance reports, polling locations, and instructional videos for using voting machines.

It will also feature a new election reporting system that reveals results in real time. Also included will be information on voter registration and on how to become a poll worker, and a link to the state's Voter Information Center.

"This is just one more tool in the tool box," Johnson says.

For information on these new systems, click here.

Source: Ruth Johnson, Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds
Writer: Jon Zemke

Paragon Leadership International, a Novi-based corporate coaching and training outfit, is launching Epprentice, where rising leaders put their minds together to solve energy and food issues in the state of Michigan -- and have the opportunity to have their ideas judged by some of the area's top executives in that field.

On October 1, the Food Epprentice Experience will be held, focusing on food safety, nutrition, and the agriculture economy. On October 15, the Environment and Energy Epprentice Experience will take on energy efficiency, sustainability, alternative energy, and energy economy. Two teams will take on a challenge in each given topic -- such as designing a social media plan for the WARM Training Center -- which will be judged by top names in the field. The winning teams will be feted. "We're working on some high visibility recognition," says Paragon's Diane Ring.

Ring says Paragon was motivated to develop Epprentice to take action on what the group sees as "challenges to our region." As an example she cites DTE Energy, a client since the firm's inception in 2001, which has a mandate to develop alternative energy while still having to deliver electricity on the grid it currently operates. It is onto issues like this that Paragon is hoping that Epprentice can shed light.

Ring expects Epprentice days to be "high energy, very busy, very intense days" with much "innovation, imagination and collaboration." Find out more here.

Source: Diane Ring, Paragon
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Novi-based ITC Holdings is expanding on its Green Power Express program with a new partnership.

It has reached an agreement with MDU Resources Group to help transmit the source of alternative energy (think wind farms in the Dakotas) to Michigan. North Dakota-based MDU plans to help ITC Holdings invest in its Green Power Express and secure approvals for it.

The Green Power Express program plans to grow a transmission network grid between sparsely populated wind farms in the upper Midwest to the region's population centers, like Metro Detroit. ITC Holdings is working to establish about 3,000 miles of extra high-voltage power lines at a cost ranging from $10-$12 billion. The Green Power Express is expected to transmit 20,000 megawatts of alternative energy, about as much as 7-9 coal plants produce.

ITC Holdings specializes in electricity transmission. Think of the huge power lines that supply electricity across the state. It has been investing in upgrading Michigan's power grid in recent years.

Source: ITC Holdings
Writer: Jon Zemke

During these tough economic times, many companies and organizations bring out the long-term statistics from the past several years to put themselves in a better light. Oakland County can fall back on both the long- and short-term statistics.

The county released a report that shows not only has it taken in about $2.4 billion worth of investment over the last five years, it did well in June, with $748 million in investment.

Most of that comes from General Motors' plans for a $650 million Orion Township plant, which will build smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. However, that leaves about another $100 million that the county was able to attract in the midst of one of the toughest economies in generations.

Oakland County has had more than $2.4 billion worth of business investment in the past five years, giving residents a reason to be optimistic about its future during the most difficult economic challenge in its history, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said recently.

"We had our best month ever during one of the worst times ever," Oakland County Executive L Brooks Patterson said in a press release. "We've withstood all of the body blows and we're still standing."

More of the $2.4 billion came from emerging sectors based in the new economy ($1.3 billion), compared to traditional business sectors, like automotive manufacturing. Oakland County created its Emerging Sectors program five years ago to help diversify its economy and make up for lost manufacturing jobs.

Source: Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke

The money from all of those MacBooks, iPods and iPhones you see in coffee shops and classrooms isn't just going into Steve Jobs' pockets. Macprofessionals is getting its fair share and then some.

The Novi-based firm got its start in 2000, providing support for the growing contingent of Mac users. Today it employs 53 people and about 8-10 independent contractors on a consistent basis. That's up from 43 employees at the beginning of the year and it expects to hire up to five more people by year-end.

The firm, which is currently on the Edward Lowe Foundation's Michigan 50 Companies to Watch list, also recorded 25 percent revenue growth last year and expects to post a similar number next year.

"It's been growth year after year," says Maria Eby, finance controller for Macprofessionals. "A lot of companies are coming to us now."

It has been riding the Mac popularity wave and its own wave of good word-of-mouth marketing. Macprofessionals plans to focus on education this year as more schools get federal funding to provide computers and other electronics.

Source: Maria Eby, finance controller for Macprofessionals
Writer: Jon Zemke

The green jobs are starting to trickle into Michigan now that Patrick Energy Services is expanding its presence in Metro Detroit.

The spin-off of Patrick Engineering specializes in energy systems for everything from smart-grid technology to alternative energy. The company currently employs 60 people in its Livonia office. It is in the process of moving to a larger office in Novi, where it plans to add 20-30 new jobs within the next few years.

"We took a good look at Michigan and decided to expand here instead of elsewhere," says John Adamson, director of business development for Patrick Energy Services.

One of the company's focuses will be on wind energy; specifically, helping to connect wind turbines to the grid. It hopes to expand into other parts of the wind farm sector as it continues to grow.

Sources: John Adamson, director of business development for Patrick Energy Services and Chuck Albrecht, vice president of Patrick Energy Services
Writer: Jon Zemke

Second verse same as the first. Thru-U.com has opened a Novi office and plans to expand its staff there.

"We'll be adding people to the Detroit market as we expand," says Brent Krahn, senior sales executive for Thru-U.com.

The company, based in Ireland, creates online technical and safety training for engineers, technicians and operators. It uses a three-phase learning model of content delivery, learning evaluations and skills practice that utilizes interactive simulators.

It sees Michigan's automotive and manufacturing sectors as a target-rich environment to expand. Thru-U.com opened its office in Novi last fall and currently employs one person there; however, it plans to expand by at least two people this year.

Source: Brent Krahn, senior sales executive for Thru-U.com
Writer: Jon Zemke