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.
Flagship Air looks to take off from Ann Arbor Airport
Source: Concentrate, 11/20/2008
Flying options are about to grow in Metro Detroit as Ann Arbor gets ready to welcome its first airline.
Excerpt:
Tim Patton didn’t start out wanting to
create a local airline but that's just what the veteran entrepreneur
ended up doing with Flagship Private Air.
"It really started as a personal passion," Patton says.
The chairman and CEO of Patton Holdings (based out of Domino's Farms)
bought a private plane a few years ago for his health-care company. He
often needed to go to small, out-of-the-way places like Hershey,
Pennsylvania, for business, places that were prohibitively expensive to
fly commercially out of Detroit's Metro Airport.
He wasn't
alone. Plenty of local business people found flying either too
expensive or too time inefficient using major airlines. And then the
CFL went off over Patton's head.
"There is no one else doing this here in Ann Arbor," Patton says. "Why not make a business out of this?"
Read the rest of the story here.
EDF Ventures invests in downtown Ann Arbor, creates new fund
Source: Concentrate, 11/20/2008
One of Ann Arbor's emerging venture capital firms is getting ready to grow a little bigger.
Excerpt:
In a small, old house on the northern edge of Ann Arbor's downtown is one of the big players in Michigan's new economy – EDF Ventures.
The venture capital firm invests in numerous early-stage health care
companies. Today it has about $170 million worth of assets under
management. About a third of those are based in Michigan. Its latest
investment, for example, is in Grand Valley State-based TransCorp, a
start-up that develops surgical instruments and implants.
Read the rest of the story here.
Integration Systems Management grows to 12 people, hopes to hire more
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
Faris Alami has been a serial entrepreneur for almost as long as he could count money. He started his own T-shirt business as a teen and now runs Integration Systems Management in Madison Heights.
"I have always had a business since I was 18," Alami says.
Integration Systems Management specializes in marketing, information security and cultural/diversity training and services to small and mid-sized companies. It went from just Alami two years ago to 12 people today including independent contractors. The firm is also looking into starting an internship program.
ISS has expanded its client list to 12 firms, helping boost its revenue by 30 percent in the last year. Alami hopes to add a few more clients and hire a few more people in 2009 to help his growing company.
"We have done more work in October and November than all year last year," Alami says.
And that business is coming almost entirely from referrals. It's prompting Integration Systems Management to look at opening an office in downtown Detroit.
"All three areas (in marketing, information security and cultural/diversity training) are growing," Alami says. "They haven't gone down yet. I am looking forward to 2009."
Source: Faris Alami, president and CEO of Integration Systems Management
Writer: Jon Zemke
Magro International expands in Rochester, plans to add more people
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
A little bit of new economy biz has come to downtown Rochester in the form of Magro International.
The
3-year-old firm specializes in creating Internet marketing strategy for
small- to medium-sized businesses. Magro helps its clients understand
and manage their online presence. They also offer a lot of
bread-and-butter Internet services, such as website building and
hosting.
"We're really a one-stop shop for Internet services," says Leonard Magro, founder and president of Magro International.
It's
a philosophy that has worked well for Magro. It doubled its revenue in
its second year and has been up 30 percent in the last year. That has
allowed the firm to build itself up to three full-time employees, a
couple of independent contractors and the occasional intern.
Magro
hopes to continue that growth, but also wants to pace itself. The
company wants to grow, but be able to sustain that growth...
which means look for a couple more jobs in the near future.
"If we continue to grow at this rate, we'll need more people and even more space," Magro says.
Source: Leonard Magro, founder and president of Magro International
Writer: Jon Zemke
Biomin International brings water purification to the world
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
Joseph P. Cool has been all around the
world. His career at the U.S. Department of Defense took him to just
about every corner imaginable, ranging from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria.
He is now putting all of those years of experience into helping Biomin International
spread its product around the globe. The Oak Park-based firm makes a
product, Organoclay, which helps take impurities like oil out of water.
"In some areas of the world people are running out of drinkable water," Cool says.
That
may seem like a distant idea here in the heart of the Great Lakes, but
it's a reality in places like the United Arab Emirates where Biomin
hopes to start marketing its product. The United Arab Emirates is one
of the Middle East's richest oil-producing countries. It’s also
fresh-water poor, which is why Cool thinks its market is ripe for
Biomin's products.
The firm is also aiming for other regions around the world that have similar situations, such as the Caribbean and Africa.
Biomin
is 20 years old, has five employees and owns a factory in Oak Park.
However, Cool expects their expansion to the far corners of the world
will help create employment both there and back home in Metro Detroit.
That could mean another 5-10 jobs here in the next few years.
Source: Joseph P. Cool, international business development/export director for Biomin International
Writer: Jon Zemke
Michigan's new economy grows, creates jobs, says Automation Alley report
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
We've all heard the news from the auto
industry, and most of it ain't good. However, some positive news
is dribbling out about southeast Michigan's efforts to develop its new
economy.
Automation Alley's
Fourth Annual Technology Industry Report states that even while the
auto industry retreats, Metro Detroit's new economy is moving forward
at a rapid clip.
"In spite of the fact the entire automotive
industry has declined, Southeast Michigan still has one of the highest
concentration of technology jobs in America," said Ken Rogers,
executive director of Automation Alley. "Our workforce makes us
incredibly unique, and it will lead the region and state out of these
difficult times. Talent, I believe, is the next economic development
arena over infrastructure - and we've got the talent required to take
the region into a new economy."
The numbers are encouraging.
Employment in the life sciences sector grew by 13.2 percent between
2005 and 2006, while wages in that industry increased 4 percent to an
average of $97,000. The overall technology sector grew 2 percent in the
same timeframe.
Small businesses in southeast Michigan also
received $38 million in research and development projects in 2006.
Those 97 awards are up from the previous year. Student enrollment
numbers in southeast Michigan were also up 335 students in graduate
studies in science and engineering.
Source: Automation Alley
Writer: Jon Zemke
Assistive Technology of Mich blends engineering and med tech for profits
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
Ghassan "Gus" Souri loved engineering in
college. He also loved the medical field. While most people choose one
or the other passion to pursue as a career, Souri decided to take the
road less traveled and combined the two.
That led to the creation of Assistive Technology of Michigan
in 1999. The Novi-based firm helps businesses and public organizations
make their buildings barrier free to people with disabilities.
That
goes beyond the stereotypical ramps for people in wheelchairs. It can
mean creating computer workstations that are accessible to people with
disabilities in places like libraries.
"This was a happy marriage of the two," Souri says.
And
a happy business for Souri. Although he is the main employee for it, he
also farms out work to local independent contractors from time to time.
Assistive
Technology of Michigan has grown 30 percent in the last year. It has
been able to do that by working with the likes of the Michigan
Rehabilitation Service Agency. Even with this growth, Souri wants to
diversify his business into areas like integrating voice-recognition
systems and perhaps even hire some help.
Source: Ghassan "Gus" Souri, owner and rehabilitation engineer of Assistive Technology of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke
UM-Dearborn receives $100,000 computer gift, scholarship endowment
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
As the holiday season starts to roll in, the University of Michigan-Dearborn
is accepting some pretty generous gifts. They include $100,000 in
computer hardware, software and accessories and another $350,000 for a
U-M Dearborn student scholarship fund.
Pillar Data Systems,
which specializes in network storage systems, gave the $100,000 in
computer hardware, software and accessories to the university's College of Engineering and Computer Science. The gift will greatly enhance U-M Deaborn's computing capacities.
"The central element of the gift, a piece of hardware called the Pillar Axiom 500,
is being used to support our distance-learning programs, research
projects by our faculty and student projects in our school," says
Subrata Sengupta, a dean of the U-M Dearborn's College of Engineering and Computer Science.
The
Pillar Axiom 500 consolidates multiple tiers of applications and data
onto a single storage platform. That means its ideal for organizations
with large-scale data centers like the U-M Dearborn. The gift also
includes operating software and related accessories.
John Junge,
once a student at the U-M Dearborn in the 1960s, has given $350,000 to
create the Junge Family Endowed Scholarship Fund. That money will go
toward students pursuing engineering degrees at the U-M Dearborn,
particularly those from the Jackson area where Junge grew up.
Junge
came to the U-M Dearborn his senior year to finish his engineering
degree so he could take advantage of the school's co-op program with
Ford. That led to a job and a career. He now runs All-Star,
which provides management and operations service to government and
military facilities. It employs more than 1,000 employees in 18 states
and Germany.
Source: University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke
GREEN SPACE: National consultants converge to design a 'leaner, greener' Detroit
Source: metromode, 11/13/2008
Over the Halloween weekend, sustainability experts from around the country joined with local architects, planners and other interested parties in Midtown Detroit for an SDAT, or Sustainable Design Assessment Team, charette.
A sobering aspect of each and every discussion was the understanding that Detroit will continue to shrink -- down to about 500,000 or 600,000 residents by 2025. So what to do with an extra 88 square miles of land?
First, let's look at the core 50 square miles of livable space. It would be developed as a series of densely populated urban villages, each with housing, recreation, entertainment and work opportunities, each linked to each other and the downtown, or urban core.
From this base, SDAT worked at making policy and design recommendations in five areas, all of which fed into one another as well as the urban villages concept: community development, transportation and transit, open space, economic development and local food systems and community gardens.
Some points of note: many ideas centered on one of the city's greatest assets, the Detroit River -- for example, "blueways" were discussed as a mode of transportation; the importance of incorporating wind turbines into Detroit's energy system was stressed; Eastern Market was lauded as "the best farmers market in the country" by Edwin Marty, the executive director of Jones Valley Urban Farm in Alabama; reduction of energy costs for individuals was stressed as a method of creating wealth; and local food production within each urban village node was recommended.
A serious lack of jobs was examined -- and a strategy was developed for the creation of 75,000 over 10 years by leveraging new green industries as well as existing employment leaders like health care.
Next step: implementation. Local SDAT leaders will begin working with organizations and institutions to move its strategies forward. Funding from Kresge Foundation has been secured to undergo this process.
A tall task with a promising start.
For more info about SDAT, check out Zachary and Associate's website or contact Zachary at 313-831-6100 or WARM Training Center at 313-894-1030.
Source: Diane VanBuren Jones, WARM
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
Hamtramck Citizen branches out into website development
Source: Model D, 11/13/2008
Paper is out and the Internet is in, even in Hamtramck.
Excerpt:
Medow & Mayberry News Corp., the company that owns venerable The
Hamtramck Citizen, is branching its business plan out into the World
Wide Web.
It recently retained two web developers after they redesigned and upgraded The Citizen's Web site.
The 10-person company, which also owns the Farmington and Livonia
gazettes, suspects it may continue hiring in the near future.
"We're expanding the company because being in the print business is
extremely difficult at the moment," says Dan Medow, president and
publisher of Medow & Mayberry News Corp.
Read the rest of the story here.
NanoBio adds 12 people in two years, looks to hire more
Source: Concentrate, 11/13/2008
NanoBio has been growing at a rapid clip
in the last two years, taking on ex-Pfizer employees and getting ready
to license its products.
Excerpt:
What does $30 million buy a start-up these days? If it's NanoBio it’s a dozen new employees (including seven Pfizer refugees) and a couple of products very close to commercialization.
The Ann Arbor-based firm received $30 million in private equity from
Perseus in 2006. That allowed the spin-off from the University of
Michigan's Center for Biological Nanotechnology to expand its staff to
20 employees and three interns.
"We pretty much doubled in size right away," says John Coffey, vice president of business development for NanoBio.
Read the rest of the story here.
Velesco Pharmaceutical Services looks to double staff in Ann Arbor
Source: Concentrate, 11/13/2008
Velesco Pharmaceutical Services may be starting from the Ann Arbor SPARK wetlab but it has its eyes on higher places.
Excerpt:
In
the bowels of Ann Arbor SPARK's wetlab incubator building on Huron
Parkway is a company composed of a happy little band of Pfizer refugees
who are not only trying to make it, they're beginning to make it big.
Say hello to Velesco Pharmaceutical Services,
a firm started by ex-Pfizerites Gerry Cox and David Barnes. The two
worked at Pfizer's Ann Arbor campus until the pharma giant decided not
to work there anymore.
The move prompted Cox and Barnes to
round up a few of their co-workers and begin Velesco earlier this year.
Today their company stands six people strong.
Read the rest of the story here.