metromode - Job News

New Saab HQ in Royal Oak tops list of MEDC deals

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

An impressive list of companies are investing in Metro Detroit after the latest round of tax deals from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. At the top of that list is a car company moving to Metro Detroit, for a change.

It's now a done deal. Saab Cars North America is setting up its headquarters in Royal Oak. Metromode first reported the pending move to an innovatively renovated office space on the city's north side last fall.

The Swedish automaker is moving into the home of Ronnisch Construction Group, 4327 Delemere Court between 14 Mile and Normandy Roads. Ronnisch turned a dumpy old industrial building overlooking railroad tracks into 13,300 square feet of modern, edgy office space. That attracted Saab, which will invest $2.4 million to move its marketing, sales and product evaluation arms (60 jobs) into the building. The MEDC approved a $1.2 million tax break over five years to give Royal Oak the edge over a competing site on the East Coast.

Among the other job-creating, investment-generating deals announced are:

- Ash Stevens, a life sciences research and development firm, plans to use a $14.9 million investment to expand its Riverview facility and create 60 new jobs. That money, plus the $710,019 state tax credit over seven years that comes with it, will allow the company to continue its research into cancer drugs and other similar markets.

- Materialise USA will invest $12.5 million into its Plymouth facility to create 80 new jobs. The subsidiary of the Belgian-based firm of the same name specializes in three-dimensional medical image processing. It will develop software applications used in surgery and other medical applications at this site instead of another place in Indiana thanks to a $563,119 state tax credit over seven years.

- Auburn Hills-based Oasis Advanced Engineering, a software firm, will use a $1.4 million state tax credit over seven years to expand its military research and development operations. The company will invest $7.5 million to amp up its development of software and embedded electronics for military combat vehicles. It will also establish a production capability for switchable vision blocks for current and future force military vehicles and for the design and fabrication of training devices for the Army and National Guard. The company plans to create 100 new jobs here instead of at a competing site in Florida.

- RECARO North America, an automotive firm, will invest $6 million to consolidate some of its operations from China to Auburn Hills. The MEDC gave a $519,000 state tax credit over five years for the company to retain 69 jobs.

- ADCO Products will create 212 new jobs and invest $17.3 million to consolidate its operations in Leoni Township, which is just east of Jackson. ADCO manufactures sealants and adhesives for the roofing, transportation, construction and solar markets. The company is using its $1.2 million tax credit over five years to further expand into the solar panel market here instead of in Indiana.

- Masco also plans to consolidate the retail and manufacturing operations of its cabinetry arm in Ann Arbor. It's a $20.6 million investment that is expected to create 250 jobs over the next 10 years.

In total, the MEDC announced 13 deals that will help 11 companies grow and another two brownfield construction projects move forward. Those deals are expected to create 2,790 new jobs and spur $742.4 million in new investment across the state.

Source: Michigan Economic Development Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke

Wonderstruck Studios to open in Ford Field

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Wonderstruck Studios plans to set up shop in the Ford Field complex in downtown Detroit.

The digital content studio specializes in creating material for a broad range of film industry niches, such as movies, TV, video games and other forms of media. Much of that content includes animation, graphics, images, and video.

Wonderstruck Studios announced a little more than a year ago that it would open its studio in the old MGM Grand building on the west side of downtown Detroit's Central Business District. That plan, called Detroit Center Studios, called for an $85.9 million investment to create 413 jobs. A $16.9 million state tax credit had also been approved. However, that deal fell through late last year.

Source: Wonderstruck Studios
Writer: Jon Zemke

A123 Systems opens Livonia battery plant, will create thousands of jobs

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A123 Systems is getting geared up for some more investment in Metro Detroit now that it is partnering with Navistar to build lithium-ion batteries in Livonia.

The Massachusetts-based company opens its Livonia lithium-ion battery plant this month and will produce new advancements in automotive electrification technology. This is expected to spur more job growth in the company's facility in Livonia and its research and development center in Ann Arbor.

"A123 expects to create thousands of jobs in Michigan, and the details of those jobs are still being determined," company spokeswoman Kerry Farrell wrote in an email.

A123 Systems will develop battery systems for Navistar's electric vehicle, a commercial truck that is purpose-built to be electric. That means it creates zero tailpipe emissions, while an equivalent diesel-powered vehicle produces as much as 10 tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Its battery pack enables Navistar EV to travel approximately 100 miles on pure electricity before recharging. The battery pack will be capable of a rapid charge rate.

The vehicle is set to launch this summer.

Source: Kerry Farrell, spokeswoman for A123 Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions grows staff to 6, plans to hire more

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mark Hagerty didn't run away when he saw a perfect storm coming. He ran toward it, and ended up creating Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions.

The Commerce Township-based firm specializes in installing and connecting alternative energy systems, such as solar panels and wind turbines. It was a perfect fit for Hagerty, who had long been involved and invested in alternative energy companies before starting Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions two years ago.

"I saw a perfect storm coming together from the legislation being passed to the increase in education," Hagerty says. "In every dynamic it was beginning to look like the way to go."

The company has gone from Hagerty alone to six employees and 35 independent contractors today. Most of that expansion took place in the last year. He hopes to hire a project manager soon and a few more later this year to help with the increased workload. Most of Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions's work revolves around tying solar panels into the electrical grid.

Hagerty is also seeing two distinct yet significantly different customers emerge.
The first group is the environmentalist crowd, while the second is the world-is-about-to-end survivalist crowd. One wants to improve the environment and the other wants to be self-sufficient if and when the worst happens. Regardless, both sides want their solar panels and wind turbines.

"I see the off-grid, stand-alone systems growing," Hagerty says. "I see storage systems like batteries growing, too."

Source: Mark Hagerty, president of the Michigan Solar & Wind Power Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Birmingham goes for Google Fiber Community project

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A handful of Michigan cities are lining up to become one of Google's first fiber communities, and now Birmingham is throwing its hat into the ring for a chance at free ultra-fast broadband access to the Internet.

"We're always looking for ways to enhance our services for our residents," says Tara Maguire, GIS coordinator for the city of Birmingham. "This is a good opportunity for them. It also offers some economic development opportunities."

Google plans to provide ultra high-speed broadband internet to area residents and businesses in one or more cities of its choosing. The Google Fiber program will provide technology that can pump up Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today. Think 1 gigabit per second Internet speeds for between 50,000 and 500,000 people.

Birmingham officials see this as not only a way of enhancing local creative and high-tech businesses, but also attracting more that want to take advantage of this new technology. Google is letting people nominate their cities to become part of the experimental program. Birmingham has already created a Facebook page to help rally local support.

Other Michigan municipalities are making a go at the Google Fiber program, including Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and East Lansing. Ann Arbor was one of the first cities to announce its candidacy for the program and has since garnered the support of the University of Michigan and neighboring Ypsilanti.

Source: Tara Maguire, GIS coordinator for the city of Birmingham
Writer: Jon Zemke

ecoSTORE USA creates 30 jobs, expects to hire more

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Lyne Appel Downing used to be a hippie, an ultra-health-conscious diehards. In her later years, however, she drifted away from the ethos. But now she's back on track thanks to a little inspiration from her daughter's new business ecoSTORE USA.

"I thought, 'This is what I want for my family,'" Appel Downing says. "It's perfect."

The West Bloomfield-based business specializes in selling eco-friendly, plant-based household cleaning products that are as effective as the leading supermarket brands. It went from Appel Downing and a partner three years ago to about 35 employees and the occasional intern today.

The company employs mostly in Metro Detroit. It hired half a dozen people last year and expects to hire anywhere from six to 20 more this year.

"I've got people all over the place," Appel Downing says. "We have people in Chicago and New York."

The company got its start three years ago and actually saw its products hit the shelves about a year ago. The products come from ecostore NZ, as in New Zealand. That company got its start 15 years ago with an ethos of organic growing and healthy living. It has since thrived, helping spur its North American spin off in Michigan.

Source: Lyne Appel Downing, vice president of operations for ecoSTORE USA
Writer: Jon Zemke

Karmanos Cancer Center expands into Monroe, Toledo

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Detroit-based Karmanos Cancer Center is spreading its wings into the Monroe and Toledo markets with its new Monroe Cancer Center.

Karmanos, which is based next to the Detroit Medical Center campus in Midtown, is partnering with Mercy Memorial Hospital of Monroe and ProMedica Health System of Toledo to make this happen.

"The Monroe area doesn't have any sort of comprehensive cancer facility at all," says Mary Short, vice president of the Karmanos Cancer Center. "People who live there have to travel quite a ways for care."

The partnership broke ground this week on the new cancer center at 800 Stewart Road, near the campus of Mercy Memorial Hospital. They plan to create a world-renowned cancer treatment facility in Monroe, the first integrated cancer center in the area offering medical and radiation oncology services under one roof.

The $5 million project will allow for the delivery of individualized cancer therapy, the latest protocols for medical oncology, and advanced technology for radiation oncology. The facility will include physician offices and offer laboratory and other oncology-related services.

Karmanos employs about 1,000 people, mostly in Detroit's greater downtown area. It has 23 open positions for everything from nurses to laboratory technicians.

"We're always looking for people," Short says.

Source: Mary Short, vice president of the Karmanos Cancer Center
Writer: Jon Zemke

WSU's Ligon Research Center of Vision lands $1M grant

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Things are becoming a bit clearer for Wayne State University's Kresge Eye Institute, but a $1 million grant will do that.

The Dryer Foundation awarded a $1 million grant to the Ligon Research Center of Vision at the institute last week. The interest from the new endowment will allow the center to hire more staff to help fight blindness and other vision problems.

"We have plans to recruit a researcher who will focus on disease of the retna and fighting blindness research," says Erika Walker, director of development at the Kresge Eye Institute. Walker quarterbacked the grant application.

The Dryer Foundation is named after banking industry executive Edward Dryer and his wife, Ellen. They were lifelong residents of Detroit. Edward Dryer suddenly lost his sight while traveling on business in New York, which resulted in the loss of his job. His wife helped him follow the market by reading him The Wall Street Journal and other financial publications. That allowed Dryer to begin investing in the stock market, where his investments grew.

The couple died 11 years ago. The foundation was established from their estate. It now has a mission to aid people who have limited sight and to aid research for the prevention of blindness.

Source: Erika Walker, director of development at the Kresge Eye Institute
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: Explore how Green is Lean on March 25

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The green that's on the mind of most businesses is money. And that's fair -- we do live in a capitalist society, after all. But a non-profit organization, Green is Lean, is working to bridge the gap -- both real and perceived -- between pocketbook green and environmental green.

GIL is hosting a conference on Thursday, March 25 that will showcase solutions for real-life practice to integrate the principles of Green (reduce, reuse, recycle) and Lean (value creation, waste elimination) methodologies and technologies -- with the eye ultimately on the bottom line.

Discussion topics include green and lean integration issues and the supply chain, what best-in-class supply chain and retail companies are doing, and implications for the global supply chain. Case studies from an architecture firm and a grocery store will be shared.

The conference will be held at Cleary University's Johnson Center from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is $150. Call 800-682-664 or visit greenislean.org for more information.

Sources: Amanda Chaborek, Cleary University and Norma Simmons, Green is Lean
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Adaptive Materials' $4.7M military contract leads to Ann Arbor job creation

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Adaptive Materials is adapting quite well to the military industrial complex. Its latest $4.7 million army contract is propelling a new round of hiring for the Ann Arbor-based start-up.

Excerpt:

Military contracts are proving profitable for growing Adaptive Materials, allowing the Ann Arbor-based start-up to expand its capacity and staff.

The innovative fuel cell firm just signed a $4.7 million contract with the U.S. Army to supply its signature fuel cells. That contract could grow to be worth $5.6 million and another significant multi-million dollar military contract is expected to be announced this spring. So far the company has scored $44 million worth of defense contracts. That will equal about 70 percent of its business in the first and second quarters of this year.

"Military has always been a key piece of our business plan," says Michelle Crumm, chief business officer for Adaptive Materials. "That will continue for us. It's a key piece of the puzzle."

Read the rest of the story here.

North American Bancard uses interns to fill future jobs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

North American Bancard isn't looking to only hire members of Metro Detroit's existing work force, it wants to create its own, too.

The Troy-based firm is turning its internship program into a talent pool from which it is beginning to draw heavily. The company is looking to fill out a dozen internships this year, including a couple for web development and nearly half a dozen for php application development. More information on those internships here.

"We've had really good success with our interns," says Deb Fonseca, corporate recruiter for North American Bancard. "We either hire them or extend the internship for another 12 weeks."

The electronic payment company currently employs 325 people in Troy. It expects to hire 60 more this year as part of a plan to create 1,500 new jobs over the next decade. A sizeable portion of those new hires will come from the firm's internship program, which is expected to expand rapidly over the next few years.

"We're growing incredibly fast," Fonseca says. "This is a great environment for interns."

North American Bancard, founded in 1992, creates the hardware and software shoppers use to swipe debit and credit cards. The Michigan Economic Development Corp recently gave the company a $21.5 million tax credit over 12 years so it would focus its expansion efforts in Metro Detroit.

Source: Deb Fonseca, corporate recruiter for North American Bancard
Writer: Jon Zemke

Retail 3 opens doors in Troy with 52 new jobs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Troy-based Retail 3 has three focuses when it comes to building businesses � retail strategy, retail activation, and retail metrics. It's where the new advertising firm's name comes from.

"It's the best time to start a company like this," says Harold Kobakof, president of Retail 3. "Retail has never been tougher than it is right now and every dollar needs to be maximized."

The new company has a staff of 52, many of whom come from BBDO Worldwide, the former ad house for Chrysler. It hopes to grow its staff as the company establishes itself as a national advertising firm.

Retail 3 uses a proprietary system to analyze the productivity of every marketing effort. The idea is to identify what drives traffic and advertising and how to best maximize the profit potential each represents.

"We make a connection between the message, the medium and the sale," says Kobakof.

Source: Harold Kobakof, president of Retail 3
Writer: Jon Zemke

Oakland INCubator plans to create microloan fund

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Ann Arbor SPARK isn't going to be the only economic development agency with a microloan fund, now that Oakland University's INCubator is taking steps to create its own.

"During the spring and summer months we will be forming the microloan fund and seeking interested investors to initiate that fund," says David Spencer, executive director of the Oakland University INCubator. "As soon as that fund is fully formed we will be seeking candidates interested in participating with this new program."

Right now it's working out an agreement with the Rochester Downtown Development Authority. After that is finalized, the INCubator will begin fundraising efforts with a goal of raising $300,000-$400,000 in private sector cash. The Rochester DDA might also choose to match a portion of this fund up to $100,000. Spencer also stresses that the INCubator will not begin taking applications for loans until the fund is formed and an announcement saying as much is made.

After the money is raised the INCUbator will identify key emerging sectors to target with the money, such as Medical Mainstreet. It could also identify retail businesses that would be attractive to bring to downtown Rochester that currently don't exist.

Microloan funds make loans from between a few thousand to tens of thousands dollars to small businesses, usually of the new economy kind. Ann Arbor SPARK administers Michigan's Microloan Fund, plus a few geared specifically for Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor businesses.

The INCubator's microloan fund will provide loans from $5,000 to $50,000 to entrepreneurs, early stage ventures, and growth companies in an effort to attract more new companies to the northern Oakland County area. Organizers anticipate the loan fund will be available in the next 12-18 months.

The $1.5 million Michigan Microloan Fund Program is made up of three distinct microloan funds, including the Eastern Washtenaw Microloan Fund ($225,000), Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund ($1 million), and the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Local Development Financing Authority ($275,000). The Michigan Microloan Fund Program, which is administered by Ann Arbor SPARK, has distributed $911,500 to 23 companies since last year.

Source: Oakland University and David Spencer, executive director of the Oakland University INCubator
Writer: Jon Zemke

Automation Alley partners in education program to create 3,000 defense jobs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Automation Alley is helping Metro Detroit capitalize on its re-emerging defense sector by spearheading a new education program that promises to create a retooled local workforce in the defense industry.

The Southeast Michigan Educational Partnership Program is a collaboration between the Oakland County Technology Business Association, the Defense Acquisition University, and a number of local colleges, universities, and area defense organizations. It's focusing on college students, disabled veterans, and unemployed workers. It's expected to help create 3,000 new jobs in southeast Michigan over the next five years.

"The graduates will be able to apply for jobs at defense contractors, the Dept of Defense, and other federal agencies across the U.S.," says Carl Hayden, associate dean of academics for the Midwest Region of the Defense Acquisition University.

It will specialize in technical areas, such as contracting; life cycle logistics, systems planning, R&D, and financial management, among many others. For information, contact Automation Alley�s Resource Center at (800) 427-5100 or info@automationalley.com.

Source: Automation Alley and Carl Hayden, associate dean of academics for the Midwest Region of the Defense Acquisition University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Troy's ilumisys sets sights on expansion of LED market

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Troy-based ilumisys sees some big future gains for its lighting products, especially the growing LED market.

The subsidiary of Altair Engineering expects to hire as many as 200 people over the next five years as the LED light movement gains traction. LED lights are the ultra-energy-efficient lights that are seen as the next generation of lighting and eventual replacement of fluorescent tube lights, like CFLs.

"It can safely be assumed that LEDs can take 10 percent of the fluorescent tube market," says David Simon, president of ilumisys. "That becomes a very large number."

That market checks in at about $10 billion, and LEDs are seen as the primary successor to it. So much so that ilumisys is increasingly drawing on its parent company's resources to meet its demand, stepping up its research and development efforts by 50 percent in 2009.

"Many, many people from Altair Engineering contribute to ilumisys," Simon says. "This is one of the advantages of being part of a global company."

Source: David Simon, president of ilumisys
Writer: Jon Zemke

Team Detroit diversifies client base; up to 60 job openings

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Nearly four years ago, seven advertising companies under the Ford banner combined into one super advertising agency � Team Detroit. Today, that consolidated entity is diversifying its clients and hiring.

The Dearborn-based firm that started with Ford now counts the likes of Scott's Miracle Gro, Bell Helicopter, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as its clients. It added six new clients in 2009 and has 50-60 open positions today.

"We wanted to do a different business model of advertising," says George Rogers, president and CEO of Team Detroit. "We created a grocery store of advertising options where everyone works together."

That includes people from well-known names like J Walter Thompson making up a staff of 1,100 people. Today, that staff is helping Team Detroit further diversify its client base and making Ford more globally active in places, like Europe, Asia, and South America.

Source: George Rogers, president and CEO of Team Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

DTE Energy signs $18M solar energy contract

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

DTE Energy is taking another step toward reaching Michigan's new Renewable Portfolio Standard for alternative energy, now that it's getting ready to install a whole bunch of solar panels.

Detroit Edison, a subsidiary of the downtown Detroit-based firm, has signed an $18 million contract with Novi-based Nova Consultants. The two will work with the utility's SolarCurrents renewable energy program to create three megawatts of new solar panels in southeast Michigan over the next year.

Nova will analyze the feasibility, design, and installation of photovoltaic solar systems on the roofs of both Detroit Edison-owned buildings and those of its customers. Think large industrial buildings.

"We're in the beginning stages of a number of different solar projects," says Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy.

The RPS requires that 10 percent of the utility's power generation come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2015. DTE Energy has acquired easements on 75,000 acres of land in Huron County in Michigan's Thumb region for development of large-scale wind farms. The company also has two solar energy pilot projects that could produce about 20 megawatts of power.

Source: Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke

Stunt3 Multimedia hires 6, plans to hire more

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Stunt3 Multimedia might be working on a film about the little leagues, but it's starting to line up some big league hits.

The downtown Detroit-based start-up is finishing a promising documentary about Little League Baseball and is getting ready to take on an even larger project about it this year. All of this work has allowed the company, which works out of the Ford Building, to hire six people, bring on an intern, and give work to two independent contractors. The company hopes to double or even triple its employee staff of seven people within the next two years.

Brian Kruger started the company a year and a half ago after he sustained a profitable exit from another company he started in 2002. Stunt3 Multimedia focuses on motion picture production, film restoration, and online media software.

The company has spent the last eight months working on The Girl in Centerfield, a full-length documentary about Carol King and how she became the first girl to play Little League Baseball in 1973. It is looking at either taking the film through the festival circuit or selling it to a premium cable TV channel, such as HBO.

"We're planning for a June 1st release date," says Kruger, who serves at Stunt3 Multimedia's president and CEO. "It's 90 percent done."

The company is also planning to film a series of 5-10 minute vignettes about famous Little League players for ESPN this summer. The series would focus on people who might be legends in the Little League world but didn't necessarily latch on to professional sports.

Stunt3 Multimedia is also trying to bring film restoration (both traditional and digital film) work to Detroit. The industry, which is mainly based in India at present, could lead to 100-200 new jobs at the company if it can pull off its plans to make that happen.

Source: Brian Kruger, president and CEO of Stunt3 Multimedia
Writer: Jon Zemke

U-M, WSU lead new transportation consortium

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Transportation has been getting people to their jobs in Michigan for a century, and a new University Research Consortium program wants to reinvent that business model so people in Metro Detroit have better ways to access paying opportunities.

Excerpt:

If there is one thing Ann Arbor knows, it's research. And if there's one thing Metro Detroit knows, it's transportation. The two areas are combining these two strengths to create Transforming Transportation: Economies & Communities.

The University Research Corridor's new program promotes multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research that supports industry, community, and government policy-making and planning. The University of Michigan and Wayne State University will lead the charge with this new effort that hopes to serve as a nerve center for transportation innovation in the regional, state, national, and global economies.

"It's an idea whose time has come," says Allen Batteau, an anthropologist who heads Wayne State's Institute for Information Technology and Culture.

Read the rest of the story here.

MEDC tax breaks equal $804M of new investment in Michigan

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Metro Detroit continues to take more than its fair share of state tax credits to help grow local businesses.

Southeast Michigan companies have taken in $25 million worth of state tax credits awarded through the Michigan Economic Development Corp to leverage $107.4 million worth of investment. That means an expectation of creating 1,594 jobs locally. The whole announcement means 5,749 jobs and more than $804 million in new investment in Michigan.

The pick of the local litter is the wooing of Techno SemiChem to move its headquarters to Northville instead of South Korea. That $31.1 million investment will mean that 279 people will be conducting research and development and pilot production efforts to produce electrolyte for advanced lithium ion battery cells. The state gave $3.2 million in tax breaks over seven years to broker the deal.

Another new economy coup is to convince CIBER to spend $8 million to establish a development center in Southfield instead of in Florida. The IT firm plans to service its clients in the government, finance, and manufacturing sectors with 700 new jobs. The state is giving $10.1 million in tax credits over seven years, and Southfield is chipping in another $1.2 million in tax abatements.

This latest announcement also includes deals for some of the region's old economy manufacturing sectors. Advanced Integrated Tooling Solutions is investing $13.3 million to manufacture equipment for commercial, retail, and military aircraft in Chesterfield Township. It's a move that will create 275 jobs from a tax credit valued at $3.2 million. ALTe, an automotive supplier of battery powertrain systems, will spend $51.3 million to open an assembly facility in Auburn Hills, creating 305 jobs thanks to an $8.4 million tax credit over eight years. Katcon USA, an automotive supplier of catalytic converters and exhaust systems, will also sink $3.7 million into a new technical center in Auburn Hills. That means 35 new jobs from a $534,633 tax credit.

Source: Michigan Economic Development Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke

Beringea invests $1.25M in Eagle Rock, plans more deals

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Beringea continues to make investments in growing businesses at a time when seed capital commands a high premium.

The Farmington Hills-based firm has made a $1.25 million investment in Eagle Rock Entertainment, which has offices in both North America and Europe. Beringea also is planning to spread more seed capital this year and soon.

"We have several deals with signed term sheets and we are expecting to close in the next few months," says Andrea Wilmes, director of marketing and communications for Beringea.

The venture capital firm has offices in London and Los Angeles. It commands tens of millions of dollars of investment cash in the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

Beringea employs 21 people. Its Farmington Hills office has eight staffers and a few summer interns.

Source: Andrea Wilmes, director of marketing and communications for Beringea
Writer: Jon Zemke

Patti Engineering hires 4, plans to add 10-15 more

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

After largely holding its ground for the last year, Patti Engineering is taking significant steps toward serious growth.

The Auburn Hills-based firm has made four hires within the last year, allowing it to keep its employee count at around 30 over the last year. It has also opened a new office in Massachusetts to take advantage of growing business prospects in the northeast section of the U.S.

The company has big plans for 2010 and 2011. It expects to hire another 10-15 people over the next two years. It also is looking at opening another satellite office later this year.

"We are really diversifying our offerings to other industries," says Sam Hoff, president of Patti Engineering.

That means continuing to move the 19-year-old company from its traditional automotive base to other sectors, such as energy and wastewater treatment and the food and distribution industries. The company is making an aggressive Internet marketing push, too, to help grow its business.

Husband-and-wife team Patti and Sam Hoff started Patti Engineering in 1991 after Sam left his job and had trouble finding another. One colleague didn't have room for Sam on his business' staff, but offered to use Sam's services if he started his own company.

Source: Sam Hoff, president of Patti Engineering
Writer: Jon Zemke

Huntington Bank to make $360M in small business loans

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Those local companies looking for some seed capital to finance their growth should go knocking on Huntington Bank's door.

The Columbus-based bank plans to make $360 million in loans available to small businesses in Metro Detroit. That will mean about 2,500 more businesses can receive capital infusions over the next three years; not to mention the creation of a few more local banking jobs.

"It could be more than that," says Maureen Brown, a spokeswoman for Huntington Bank. "We are anticipating at least that number."

The loans will be made to small businesses with annual revenues of $15 million or less. It's part of the bank's plan to bump up commercial loans at a time when seed capital is a highly sought-after commodity.

Huntington Bank plans to lend $4 billion to small businesses over the next three years in its 11 markets in Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky. This cash infusion is also expected to help create 150 new jobs at the bank over that time period.

The bank will make $1.2 billion in loans this year, which is a 45 percent increase over 2009. It expects to do another $1.2 billion in loans in 2011, and then $1.5 billion in 2012.

"We expect that by the end there will be more demand for that," Brown says.

Source: Maureen Brown, a spokeswoman for Huntington Bank
Writer: Jon Zemke

Buy Michigan Now launches TV show, preps iPhone app

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Buy Michigan Now is diversifying its efforts to spread the gospel of buying local by launching a TV show and getting ready to release an iPhone application.

"I truly believe that people want to support Michigan businesses," says Lisa Diggs, founder of Buy Michigan Now. "I just want to make it easier for them to do that."

The Livonia-based website is combination chamber of commerce and census for Michigan's companies. It catalogs the state's businesses and tries to drive more people toward in-state products. It's based on the old idea that spending money at area small businesses makes a profound positive economic impact on local communities.

Novi-based Digital 10 Network is working with Buy Michigan Now to develop television programming that highlights Michigan-based companies. The Buy Michigan Now segment will run as part of a 30-minute programming loop airing in more than 100 Secretary of State offices beginning in April.

The website will also offer an iPhone app. More than 700 people are testing out the alpha version, which directs people toward Michigan-based businesses. The beta version is expected to be released to the general public in April.

Buy Michigan Now is also still trying to catalog every business that calls the state home in its Michigan Blue Pages directory. It's also encouraging visitors to take a pledge to spend more of their dollars in-state. So far, 4,171 visitors have taken it, up from 1,300 in late 2008.

Source: Lisa Diggs, founder of Buy Michigan Now
Writer: Jon Zemke

Intern in Michigan site attracts 10,000 students; more growth ahead

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Intern in Michigan is looking to focus on two things in its second year � increasing participation and improving the technology that facilitates said participation. The bottom line is to not only staunch Michigan's brain drain but to also attract the next generation of workers to local employers.

"It's a very savvy strategy for them to attract top talent," says Britany Affolter-Caine, director of Intern in Michigan.

The Detroit Regional Chamber initiative has attracted 10,000 students and nearly 900 employers to its website. So far more than 500 internships have been listed and/or posted on the site.

And that's from using the first generation of software. Intern in Michigan plans to upgrade its software this year so it can build individual websites for companies that want to post internships. These sites would explain what the companies are all about and what they offer.

It's part of a tech outreach program the chamber is pushing. The idea is to make it easier for local businesses to utilize the site and bring on more interns.

"So it can truly handle the capability of 25,000 internship applications within five years," Affolter-Caine says.

The chamber is also launching a new pilot program this spring called D.E.T. for Discover, Engage, Transform. The program will educate interns on how and why Michigan, particularly Metro Detroit, is the ideal place for them to stay. It will give the interns a better understanding and knowledge of the region, while allowing them to network with more professionals outside of their workplace and make contacts in other fields.

Source: Britany Affolter-Caine, director of Intern in Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

Detroit's Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes targets new shops

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One of downtown Detroit's favorite small businesses is spreading its wings not only across the Metro Detroit region but across the Midwest.

Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes is opening up a new location in Toledo and building out a new space in Grosse Pointe. The Detroit-based creperie is also looking at opening in a few other spots in southeast Michigan and even other major metro areas in the Midwest, such as Chicago. This latest burst of expansion is expected to grow the company's payroll from eight people today to 24 by the end of the year.

Expanding in today's tight credit market is no easy feat for small businesses. Torya Blanchard, Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes' founder and owner, says she is accomplishing this by taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to her. For instance, Blanchard says the Toledo location, which is near the University of Toledo, was formerly a café, making the expansion inexpensive.

"It's a lot of hard work and good luck," Blanchard says. "You need to keep your nose to the grindstone and make rational decisions."

She adds that she is expanding the creperie in the Park Shelton building (next to the DIA) in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood from 900 to 1,700 square feet. The original small stand in downtown Detroit next to Oslo is closed for good while Blanchard focuses her business on sit-down spaces.

"I feel very nostalgic for that location. It's my baby," Blanchard says. "But it takes as much work as a sit-down location. I hope someone else can use that location as a place to get their start now."

Source: Torya Blanchard, owner of Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes
Writer: Jon Zemke

Michigan Future secures $13M for Detroit schools

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Michigan Future is bringing a 21st Century education to more high school students in Metro Detroit with its new Michigan Future Schools initiative.

The Ann Arbor-based think tank has lined up $13 million in grants from four local foundations to get the initiative off the ground. The principal goal of the new initiative is to "figure out how to connect urban high school students to the economy of the future," according to a blog post written by Michigan Future's president and co-founder Lou Glazer.

The effort will target creating new, small high schools in the city of Detroit and its surrounding suburbs. Previous local priorities of who runs the schools and where they're located will take a back seat to establishing schools that provide a high-quality education.

"It's al about the kids," Glazer says. "What matters to me, and I assume everybody else, is the quality of the school not the form of governance."

Michigan Future Schools has made a commitment to its funders that revolves around the number 85. That means Michigan Future is aiming for at least an 85 percent high school graduation rate, with 85 percent of those graduates enrolling in college and 85 percent of those enrollees earning a college degree.

The students targeted are both economically disadvantaged and minority students in the central city and its inner-ring suburbs. Each new school, which must take students from the city of Detroit, is expected to handle up to 500 students. So far seven new schools have been funded. The goal is to create 35 new high schools in eight years. That means the effort could reach 17,500 kids annually.

"It's a big number," Glazer says. "The whole purpose is to do this on a big enough scale that it changes the system."

Source: Lou Glazer, president and co-founder of Michigan Future
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: Goodwill's Green Works focuses on eco-friendly asset recovery, job creation

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit has spun off Green Works, Inc. as a new Detroit-based wholly owned subsidiary. The company offers environmentally friendly asset recovery services and is the first stand-alone free enterprise venture undertaken by Goodwill. The company�s long-term plans include providing asset recovery and reclamation services to other Michigan utility companies, municipalities, and manufacturing and industrial companies.

Specific examples of Green Works services include: the extraction and processing of mineral oils drained from retired DTE transformers, which then get sent to a DTE Energy facility to be reused as fuel; and the processing of the metal resources in transformers, power lines and other assets to their purest form for recycling or resale. Green Works has been providing these asset recovery services to DTE in-house since 1942, "long before green was ever a word," says Lindsay Chalmers, Goodwill's vice president of business development. "None of these materials are ever going to hit a landfill. This is the highest example of asset recovery possible."

When DTE decided about a year ago to focus on its core business of providing electricity, Goodwill jumped on the opportunity to grow a service into a business. "The real advantage to Southeast Michigan is that we can take this (service) into other segments of the market, to a broad base of businesses, while creating jobs," says Chalmers. Green Works currently employs 45, five of which are brand-new hires.

Green Works' earnings, which are projected to be $4 million this year, will go to Goodwill Industries to support its mission to educate and train Metro Detroiters who face employment challenges and to help those individuals earn job opportunities. Chalmers explains that the organization is a social enterprise, which he describes as, "the place where the private sector meets the world of non profits. We're leveraging the power of business to provide community benefits." Half of Goodwill's operations are funded by businesses that the organization runs; Green Works is the first that will operate under its own 501(c)3.

Green Works is located in the newly-refurbished 94,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by Detroit Heading at 6421 Lynch Road on Detroit's east side. Future plans being considered include turning the facility into a single stream recycling facility.

Source: Lindsay Chalmers, Goodwill Industries
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

U-M student start-ups take $98K from Michigan Business Challenge

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

With banks tightening credit lines and angel investors few and far between, local student-run start-ups are turning toward another source for seed capital � business plan competitions. The recent one at the University of Michigan recently shelled out nearly $100,000.

Excerpt:

More seed capital is creeping into the coffers of local start-ups now that the Michigan Business Challenge has awarded nearly $100,000 to student-led start-ups from the University of Michigan.

The Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the U-M Ross School of Business awarded the grants to these new economy-based start-ups for excellence in new business plans and concepts. Eighty-five teams competed for the grants with a couple dozen walking away with money. That's a new record for the competition that is now in its fourth year.

Read the rest of the story here.

Paper Street Motors opens biz incubator in Ferndale

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

What was once a home to Metro Detroit's old economy is about to become a breeding center for its new economy. That home is Paper Street Motors.

Andy Didorosi, 23, is turning a 20,000-square-foot warehouse into a small business incubator. The idea, started and perfected by the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, is to provide the ground floor for entrepreneurs by providing big spaces at small prices.

"We can do things that we wouldn't be able to do normally because we have these big, hulking warehouses," Didorosi says. "And it's cheap enough that you can rent space and do something with tip money."

The Ferndale resident was looking for a new home for his race car business when he stumbled upon the vacant warehouse at 1151 Jarvis, just southeast of the inner-ring suburb's downtown. He planned to take it on with some friends and then realized he needed more friends, so he decided to turn the building into a business.

It costs $175 a month and up for office space and $300 a month and up for warehouse space. Didorosi took the name for the incubator from the movie Fight Club and plans to give the space a retro style.

"We're going for a vintage factory style," Didorosi says. "We're installing big red letters above it like in the old factories. It's sort of retro cool."

Source: Andy Didorosi, owner of Paper Street Motors
Writer: Jon Zemke