Pound & Mooney Casting gets speaking role in state's new film economy
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
For years, Kathy Mooney made it a point
to find a place in any movie filmed in Michigan, making her a
local expert at the extra and role-actor field.
Her phone
started ringing off the hook when the state passed its generous film
incentives earlier this year. Same thing with her long-time friend Janet Pound who is also an expert in that field.
That turned on the CFL over their
heads, inspiring them to turn their passion into a full-fledged casting
company this past April -- Mooney & Pound Casting.
"We both had been working in this business for many years," Mooney says. "We have known each other for a long time, too."
The
Madison Heights-based firm helps major film companies find local
actors. Those actors try out for small parts in the movies. They
usually consist of walk-ons and small speaking roles. Pound &
Mooney Casting has put local actors in major films like Clint
Eastwood's Gran Torino and made-for-TV movies like Prayers for Bobby.
Right
now the company only employs the founders, however, it gives work to
about half a dozen independent contractors and an occasional intern.
But Mooney sees a bright future for the company as the film industry
continues to grow in Michigan.
"We only expect it to grow," Mooney says. "We hear there are a lot of movies coming to Michigan next year."
Source: Kathy Mooney, partner with Pound & Mooney Casting
Writer: Jon Zemke
Basso Design Group looks to double staff within a year
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
Most people are inspired to start their
own business by the success of others. Gregory Basso and Dan
Santonocito were inspired by the failed efforts of others.
The
two worked for a dotcom start-up in the early 2000s that crashed and
burned spectacularly despite $8 million in funding. Then they witnessed
endless examples of shoddy marketing and branding on the Internet and
knew they had to do something better.
"We basically saw how not to run a business," Basso says.
Thus Basso Design Group
was formed five years ago. The Troy-based marketing firm has since
skyrocketed in growth. It went from just its two co-founders to a staff
of 10, two interns and a couple of independent contractors today. Six
of those employees were added within the last year.
Basso has
doubled its revenue each year in the last few years. The last two years
have been the company's strongest and it expects to continue that
success in the near future. Basso expects to hire another 10 people
within the next year.
"We want to make sure anything that walked out of our doors is top quality," Basso says.
It can do this by lassoing a variety of diverse firms. They range from KraftMaid (the cabinetmaker) to the Detroit Historical Society.
Basso Design Group specializes in helping firms that want to upgrade
their image, usually through new economy mediums like the Internet and
interactive media presentations.
Source: Gregory Basso, president of Basso Design Group
Writer: Jon Zemke
New Horizons in Livonia takes over Cleveland, Chicago markets
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
In 1992, the first franchise of the New Horizons Computer Learning Center started in Metro Detroit. Today the Livonia-based firm controls the Michigan, Cleveland and Chicago markets.
Buying
the Chicago and Cleveland franchises allowed the company (technically
called New Horizons Great Lakes Holding) to bring another 60 people
under its wing. The firm already had a very successful business in
Michigan, so its leaders thought it could work the same magic in
Chicago and Cleveland.
"Our staff in Michigan is pretty tenured
and felt it could stretch a little," says Mark McManus, CEO of New
Horizons Computer Learning Center of Michigan. "The timing was right
and the opportunity was there."
The company is planning for
moderate growth in the next year, but McManus says it could add another
10-20 people to its staff of 250 by the end of next year.
New
Horizons Computer Learning Center provides learning solutions for
information technology, PC desktop applications, project management and
business skills training. It has nine facilities in Livonia, Troy, East
Lansing, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Flint in Michigan. The other three
are in Chicago, Rosemont, Illinois, and Cleveland.
Source:
Mark McManus, CEO of New Horizons Computer Learning Center and Tom
Pelon, vice president of sales & operations for New Horizons
Computer Learning Center
Writer: Jon Zemke
MDOT accelerates smart car research in Oakland County
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
The birthplace for the next generation of smart car is in Oakland County, along Telegraph Road to be exact.
That's where the Michigan Department of Transportation
will test out new technologies of next-generation vehicle safety and
mobility applications. MDOT will activate between 20 and 30 wireless
radios to broadcast basic traffic signal information.
The brains
behind this experiment want to use the radios to develop
inter-connected smart-car technologies that could one day prevent
crashes, improve mobility and fuel efficiency. The plan is to allow
future smart cars to 'talk' to radio stations on the road and even
other vehicles.
MDOT is partnering with the Michigan International Speedway
in Jackson County to use and market its racetrack to agencies that
manufacture and develop these connected vehicle technologies.
MDOT's
research into smart-car and smart-road technology is expected to play a
key role in creating new jobs locally and a better quality of life for
commuters.
Source: Michigan Department of Transportation
Writer: Jon Zemke
U-M Dearborn campaign raises $45 million for improvements
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
It's not exactly the $3.1 billion that its sister college just raised, but the University of Michigan-Dearborn raised
more than $45 million in its most recent capital campaign. That amount
is the most any of the university's capital campaigns have ever
garnered. To achieve it, U-M Dearborn took in gifts from more than
11,000 donors, including alumni, faculty and staff and other campus
supporters since 2004.
The capital campaign will help support
student opportunities, strengthen academic programs and enhance the
university’s partnerships. About $10 million is designated to provide
scholarships to students, including the Alumni Legacy Scholarship which raised more than $500,000.
About
35 percent of $45 million came from corporate donors, such as Ford, DTE
Energy and General Motors Foundation. The Ford Motor Company Fund gave
more than $750,000.
Source: University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
RobotParade set to stroll through Lawrence Tech on Saturday
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
Robots aren't exactly taking over Lawrence Technological University, but they will be parading through the Southfield-based school's campus like they own the place Saturday.
Lawrence
Tech will host the third annual Thanksgiving RoboParade between 9:30
a.m. and noon. The parade will consist of robot floats made by middle
and high school students from across Michigan, following a mock
Woodward Avenue parade route.
Students operating the robots are coming from the likes of University of Detroit Jesuit,
the Roeper School, United Christian School in Garden City, ACE in
Livonia, Digital Arts and Sciences Academy and Macomb Christian Schools.
The
idea behind the event is to help interest a new generation of students
in robotics and computer programming. To see what last year's
RoboParade looked like, click here.
The
free indoor autonomous robot demonstration will take place in the Buell
Management Building cafeteria, 21000 West Ten Mile Road.
Source: Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke
GREEN SPACE: Program links local food to local schools
Source: metromode, 11/20/2008
As more and more people embrace the locavore movement, it makes sense to introduce it to a young and impressionable audience -- especially when they are captive.
I'm not talking jailbirds here, but schoolkids.
Which is why the news that the Food System Economic Partnership in Southeast Michigan will receive $40,000 to support the expansion of its Farm to Schools lunch program from the Kellogg Foundation is so great.
Last
year was the pilot program for Farm to Schools, and it worked with
multiple schools in Chelsea and Ann Arbor as well as one in Dearborn.
This year, they will spread more into Wayne County and out to Jackson.
"Farm to Schools is a win-win for
students and farmers and the community," says FSEP's executive
director, Jennifer Fike. "We are promoting farmers being able to keep
farming in this region and allowing them another avenue to sell what
they produce; for the students, eating food tends to taste better when
it's fresher and it's healthier; and it's cutting down on greenhouse
gas emissions."
The pilot year
helped the organization work through the challenges -- like outsourced
food service providers and working with distributors -- of getting
fresh local food into schools, says Fike. She points out that
seasonality can also be an issue, but that Michigan products like apple
sauce, canned beans and whole grains can be worked into menus in the
winter months.
Food to Schools also works on
educating students by bringing in local farmers explain to then where
their food is coming from. Hint: That banana was not grown in Michigan,
Johnny.
Kellogg is funding Food to Schools via its People and
Land (PAL) initiative -- part of its efforts to increase regional
collaboration and promote Michigan prosperity in the emerging
knowledge-based economy.
Source: Jennifer Fike, FSEP
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
NPower turns rise in tech assessments into New Center jobs
Source: Model D, 11/20/2008
One Detroit non-profit is carving out it's own niche by helping to make other non-profits more efficient.
Excerpt:
Npower Michigan is turning new business into a few new hires at its headquarters in the Youthville building in New Center.
The non-profit spun out of Microsoft performs tech assessments for other non-profits. The idea is to find inexpensive ways so these community organizations can work more efficiently. Npower Michigan is sort of the Great Lakes State chapter of the larger Npower non-profit.
Npower Michigan is set to do 114 technology assessments in the later half of this year. That's three times as many assessments it did for Michigan non-profits in 2008 fiscal year.
Read the rest of the story here.