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

Detroit's TechTown can claim another success story now that SpaceForm has spun out of the business incubator and formed a partnership with Welding Solutions.

SpaceForm employed three people before the merger this month. Today it employs seven at its new home in Madison Heights. It also has access to the resources and expertise of the 125 people that work for Welding Solutions.

"It was an ideal way to get access to a lot of experience and infrastructure that exists at Welding Solutions," says Alain Piette, president of SpaceForm.

SpaceForm develops welding technology that is much quicker, more efficient and cost effective than the norm in the manufacturing industry. The Delphi spin-off was also one of TechTown's first tenants when it started in 2005.

"It's a Michigan jewel that unfortunately not too many people know exists," Piette says. "They know where the resources are and they know how to coach entrepreneurs at various levels."

Source: Alain Piette, president of SpaceForm
Writer: Jon Zemke

Detroit's Guffly is gaining traction as it expands its product offerings to meet consumer demand.

The TechTown-based start-up features a new eco-friendly product on its website every day. It also makes a point to find products that have a bit of flair to them. The site launched late last summer and has met with a bit of success since then as people continue to demand some of the products.

"We're calling them out top Guffs because they're our top sellers we're making available," says Kelley Walker, chief interwebs troublemaker for Guffly.

Among those products are tote bags made of old seat belts and cuff links made of Legos. It all comes back to the idea that the green lifestyle needs to invoke a little more style.

The idea came from a couple of students at Bizdom U. They came up with the idea for the name by combining the words good and stuff with an -ly added to the end to make it catchy. The company's two founders are Chanell Scott (chief love distributor for Guffly) and Jordan Contreras (chief strategic friendship ninja for Guffly). They are working to establish the company in its first year and continue to build its network of suppliers.

Source: Kelley Walker, chief interwebs troublemaker for Guffly
Writer: Jon Zemke

David Collins, an Ann Arbor resident and Wayne State University graduate student, was struck with the entrepreneurial bug when he became curious about the amount of energy his own solar hot water heater produced. Since he was already on his way to earning his graduate certificate in alternative energy, his next step was to launch a business, Qisol, that will develop a readily-accessible affordable performance monitor for solar hot water heaters.

An idea is one thing, funding and backing another. His was one of six student companies chosen for WSU's E2 Challenge, housed at TechTown. The program supports Wayne State students in exploring the potential of their own start-up companies and preparing for outside investment.

The student groups that won the challenge received financial support and a summer-long mentoring program to develop their business idea with the help of funding from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Now Collins, who is earning a graduate certificate in alternative energy technology at WSU, is well on his way to launching a business that will make heating water with solar power a more viable, efficient alternative. The program provided Collins with training in marketing, educated him on corporate structure, and provided the backing that made conversations with potential investors and customers possible.

"E2 was wonderful...When I was going out and talking with installers, utility companies, and state representatives, once I told them I had a grant they wanted to listen," says Collins. "Once they knew someone was backing me up, it carried a lot of clout."

Collins now has a prototype of his product and three electrical engineers and two web designers working for him. He submitted an application for a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Department of Energy in September and is currently developing a second prototype. He plans to launch his business in February 2010 and graduate in April.

Source: David Collins, Qisol
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

NextEnergy is bidding on a U.S. Dept. of Energy project that could lead the way to a major wind turbine testing facility near Detroit's Zug Island.

Drive trains for industrial sized wind turbines, not just the normal ones you see on the sides of houses, would be tested there. These turbines are some of the biggest alternative energy generators in the world.

But the plans are far from a done deal, as it faces competition with eight other locations across the U.S. NextEnergy is based out of Detroit's TechTown campus and specializes in the development of alternative energy.

Source: NextEnergy
Writer: Jon Zemke

Southwest Detroit has borne a disproportionate amount of transportation-related environmental burdens for the entire Southeast Michigan region. Why is that? Its proximity to multiple freeways, train tracks, the Ambassador Bridge, and the Detroit River has resulted in a preponderance of transportation infrastructure and the accompanying emissions.

Some good news for the area: the receipt of two Michigan Clean Diesel Recovery and Reinvestment Project grants from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) that total more than $450,000. The money will be used by applicant partners Waterfront Petroleum Terminal Company ($309,913) and Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company ($141,700), both located on the Detroit River, to replace inefficient diesel engines. The grants are funded by the Diesel Emission's Reduction National Program (DERA) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and were facilitated by AKT Peerless Environmental & Energy Services and the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority (DWCPA).

Established in 1993, Waterfront Petroleum Terminal Company is a fuel and energy supplier to electrical utilities, steel producers, road builders, vessels on the Great Lakes, and government clients such as the U.S. Department of Defense and municipal accounts including the City of Detroit. The company also provides downstream distribution services, transportation solutions, consultation, design, equipment, and financing solutions. The DERA grant dollars will go towards replacing propulsion engines, generator sets, and shore pumps with more efficient equipment.

Since its inception in 1928, Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company has been an above-the-waterline shipyard and shipping terminal. It operates two port terminals, one in Ecorse and one in Southwest Detroit, where activities such as truck, rail car, and barge loading and unloading, container stuffing and stripping, securing, cargo sorting, cargo assembling, and short- and long-term storage take place. Nicholson will replace old diesel engines with new ones in order to reduce emissions.

Source: Rebecca Binno-Savage, AKT Peerless
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh