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University tech transfer offices bridge gap between academia and commerce

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Community Development

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December 11, 2014

In Michigan's growing tech economy, there's no doubt that many of the innovators are coming from the halls and labs of academia. But how to get from concept to commercialization? Excerpt: "Coming up with a technological breakthrough is a feather in a university researcher's cap.  But taking that brilliant notion, and forming a profitable business, involves another degree of difficulty. So professors and other researchers who want to turn their intellectual gifts into gold will probably need a little help along the way.  "It takes more than a great idea," said Paul Riser Jr., managing director of technology-based entrepreneurship for Detroit business incubator  TechTown. "Professors sometimes are great technologists or great engineers and sometimes they don't have the know-how, from a business perspective." The place to start may be the university's technology transfer office." More here. 

Quinn Law Group diversifies clientele, adds 6 positions

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General

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December 11, 2014

Quinn Law Group has experienced a lot of growth in the last few years, attracting more customers and adding new employees at the intellectual property law firm. The reason why can be summed up in one sentence. "It has been through diversification," says Chris Quinn, president of Quinn Law Group. The Novi-based law firm got its start in 2002 with Chris handling work for one automotive industry firm. That work helped Quinn Law Group grow in its early years but Quinn knew it needed more. Today it has grown to handle work for a number of companies around the world from a wide variety of industries. For instance, Quinn Law Group does intellectual property work for Nike’s golf line. It is also doing an increasing amount of work for tech firms, including automotive engineering firms. That has prompted Quinn Law Group to add to its staff and upgrade its software systems. "We are continually positioning ourselves for growth because we seem to have a steady growth of clients," Quinn says. Quinn Law Group has hired five people over the last year, expanding its staff to 25 people. Its new hires include two attorneys and three support staff. It is also looking to hire another patent attorney right now. Quinn expects to hire 4-7 people in 2015 to keep up with demand for his firm’s services. He attributes a big part of Quinn Law Firm's success to not relying on billable hours to get a job done. The firm deals instead with quality of work, a feature he believes sets it apart. "Our only requirement of our staff is to do high-quality work," Quinn says. Source: Chris Quinn, president of Quinn Law Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Somerset Collection CityLoft expands pop-up retail in Detroit

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Community Development

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December 11, 2014

Troy's Somerset Collection is expanding its temporary urban outpost to fill the shopping bags of Detroit's growing population of professionals.  Excerpt: "The Somerset Collection CityLoft opened what Somerset representatives are calling a bigger, better location in the First National Building in downtown Detroit Wednesday morning... Linda McIntosh, marketing director for the Somerset Collection, said this year, Somerset is sticking around downtown for a longer period of time and will offer a wider selection of goods from more vendors than they've hosted in the past... The collection of retailers should help turn Detroit into a destination for those who would typically jet out to Troy, Novi or Livonia to to their holiday shopping." More here.

Slow’s Bar-B-Q to expand to downtown Pontiac

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Arts & Culture

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December 11, 2014

Detroit's celebrated Slows Bar-B-Q, which hit restaurant gold in Detroit years before today's restaurant boom rolled in, will open a location in downtown Pontiac, where reinvestment and rebirth are once again becoming part of the local lexicon. The Pontiac Slows will be connected to the Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, a $20-million redevelopment of a historic building that will bring national shows and live theater and stage acts back to the city. With Slows as its exclusive partner, the theater will offer the unusual combo of arts and culture and barbecue joint. Slows Pontiac, on Saginaw St., will be 6,500 square feet and have a street-side entrance for the public and a theater entrance for show-goers. Slows will also cater events at the theater, which will be run by the nonprofit Encore Performing Arts Center and Bill Lee, former vice president of Celebrity Events Group and vice president of sales and marketing at Olympia Entertainment, Inc. Construction will begin in early 2015. Opening date will coincide with the theater opening in late 2015. Slows has an exclusivity agreement with the theater so that it will be the only Slows location in Oakland County, says Kyle Westberg, CEO of West Construction Services, one of Pontiac's main developers with projects such as the at-capacity Lafayette Place Lofts and Lafayette Market. Slow's owners want to be a part of a Pontiac's comeback. They see it, as they did their first restaurant in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, as a way to run a business and also help the community. “We chose Pontiac as the site of our first metro Detroit expansion for the same reasons we chose Corktown. It’s an underserved community with a defined identity and potential for an exciting evolution,” Slows Bar-B-Q co-owner Phil Cooley says. “We are excited to become part of the neighborhood and serve up great tasting Slows Bar-B-Q to the folks who live, work in, and visit Pontiac.” Westberg says Slows, along with numerous large and small projects, from the opening of small tech businesses to multi-million-dollar improvements by GM and St. Joseph's Hospital, may be the tipping point to making downtown Pontiac become a destination again. "I've been watching Slows's business model for quite a few years, and what was fascinating to me was their thought processes on economic development and working with the community and helping the community prosper and move forward," Westberg says. "That philosophy meets right up with the philosophies we have here in Pontiac." Source: Kyle Westberg, CEO, West Construction Services; Phil Cooley, Slows Bar-B-Q co-owner Writer: Kim North Shine

Birmingham’s Griffin Claw Brewing adds bottle spirit sales

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Arts & Culture

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December 11, 2014

Griffin Claw Brewing Company is now in the business of selling bottled vodka, gin and rum from its taproom in Birmingham. Earlier this year the brewery, which has made its name in craft beer, added liquors to the menu. Bottled sales were the next step. The lineup: Griffin Claw Grain Vodka, Griffin Claw Potato Vodka, Griffin Claw Botanical Gin and Griffin Claw Black Strap Rum sell for $20 each and can be purchased inside the taproom. The brewery will also be releasing KRUPNIK, a polish style honey liqueur in a 750ml bottle, for $20, for the holiday season as well as its popular Oblivious Wheat Wine in a 22-oz. wax-dipped bomber bottle for $17. Griffin Claw biergarten and taproom are at 575 S. Eton St. The 12,000-square-foot operation in the city's Rail District includes a brewing system, distillery, and distribution operation. Source, Jaclyn Robinson, JT Marketing Group Writer: Kim North Shine

Ypsi fave Rocket Candy bringing sweets & fun to downtown Ferndale

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Arts & Culture

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December 11, 2014

After eight years of selling candy -- and fun, really -- from its downtown Ypsilanti store, The Rocket is expanding to Ferndale and opening a second location. The Rocket Candy & Novelties opens at 23147 Woodward Ave. this Friday, and the store will be stocked with confections, packaged and bulk, and colorful, crazy, funky and retro toys, cards, t-shirts and other novelties like Archie McFee collection from Seattle and Lip Shit lip balm. The locally-made t-shirts, like the Ypsi store, will include designs that give a shout out to Ferndale, Detroit and Michigan. The 2,600-square-foot store is located in a new building near 9 Mile and the owners, Eli Morrissey and Paul Balcom, see Ferndale's fun and eclectic mix of businesses as a good fit for their bacon toys, wasabi gum balls, popsicle and Sharknado ornaments. There's an eddy entrepreneurial mix here," he says. "We feel it's very similar to Ypsi, and this is just a good place for us to be." They opened the Ypsi store in 2006 as a way to "bring life to downtown. We wanted to open a store that would draw people in," says Morrissey. "I guess it started off as an idealistic notion, and it's worked out," he says. "The nice thing about expanding is it creates new jobs here and at our Ypsi store." Source: Eli Morrissey, co-owner, The Rocket Writer: Kim North Shine

Highest bidder to push demolition button on OCC building in Southfield

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Arts & Culture

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December 11, 2014

Oakland Community College's investment in property in Southfield is kicking off with an unusual fundraiser. The college's foundation, which raises money to support students and school projects, is offering the highest bidder the opportunity to push the button on the demolition of a 17-story building, North Park Plaza. OCC purchased the 42-year-old, 340,000-square-foot property earlier this year. As of Wednesday the bidding was at $8,000. No date has been set for construction of a future site nor any firm plans made of what will replace the building, but Southfield is the fastest growing of OCC's five campuses. OCC is the largest community college campus in Michigan and the 25th largest in the nation. Source: Margarita Wagerson, spokesperson Oakland Community College Writer: Kim North Shine

Climate Technologies develops new way of cutting pollution emissions

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Economic Development

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December 4, 2014

Climate Technologies has reinvented itself in recent years as a company that works in both the automotive and green-tech sectors. Today the Farmington Hills-based company is growing at a healthy clip while it continues to develop both ends of its business. Its revenue is up 15 percent in the last year, enabling it to hire another engineer in that time. It now employs six people. "It's the rebounding of the automotive industry primarily," says Walt Zimmerman, CEO of Climate Technologies. The 44-year-old company got its start providing temperature and humidity-control services for the automotive suppliers. The rebounding automotive industry has helped beef up that business. It has also gotten work from larger organizations, such as hospitals and universities. Climate Technologies has also been developing a new way of cutting pollution emissions. The climate-control technology captures toxic gases and concentrates them so they can be used in things like fuel cells. It's now working on a next-generation version that integrates natural gas into the mix to make it more efficient. "It's a large step forward," Zimmerman says. "It makes the technology appealing to people with pollution-control issues." Source: Walt Zimmerman, CEO of Climate Technologies Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Construction starts in Dearborn for state’s first Artspace community

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Arts & Culture

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December 4, 2014

Construction on City Hall Artspace Lofts, a live, work & sell artists community in Dearborn, will begin this month. The sale of the property, the former Dearborn City Hall, will be complete this week after closing. Artspace is a national organization that builds residential-retail community, art-based developments around the country. The Dearborn Artspace is the first in Michigan. Supporters of the project, from city officials to private developers, see it as a positive economic development locally. And they see it potentially as a regional draw for art-seekers and artists from any artistic genre to hone and sell the things they make or services they offer. The nearly $17 million development at 13615 Michigan Ave. will include about 45 residential lofts with commercial spaces and public spaces -- indoors and out. Painters, dancers, and furniture makers could set up shop or home at City Hall Artspace Lofts. Artspace's motto is "Building better communities through the arts." The Monahan Company is the general contractor on the project and the first phase of construction will include the demolition this month of the parking garage behind the old City Hall. Dearborn's city offices have been consolidated in a building down the street from the older, more historic city hall. Construction will be fully underway in January, says Heidi Kurtze, vice president of property development for the Minneapolis-based Artspace. During construction there will be information sessions and meetings to inform artists and commercial retailers about the project, she says. "Artspace is thrilled to be working in Dearborn and converting the iconic City Hall into a thriving creative center for the arts," says Kurtze. Source: Heidi Kurtze, vice president of property development, Artspace Writer: Kim North Shine

Dragonmead Brewery expands with new brewing system

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Community Development

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December 4, 2014

Dragonmead Microbrewery  has expanded its brewing system, filling up the entire 11,000-square foot facility where it brews award-winning beers -- and ales and mead -- in Warren. The facility at 14600 E. 11 Mile Road includes a 1,000-square-foot tap room that sells dozens of beers on tap and serves food from nearby Lazybones Smokehouse. By installing a smaller batch brewing system, the expansion allows the brewery to not only keep up with overall demand but to offer the variety Dragonmead faithfuls expect, says Larry Channel, a founding member of the microbrewery, which began in 1997. “Having the variety system in place and producing again will allow us to once again offer over 40 different styles of beer on tap at our taproom here in Warren,” says Jennifer Locher, pub manager for Dragonmead. “The variety will be in place in time for the holidays.” The latest expansion follows the addition last year of a 20-barrel brew house. This year the company is introducing a seasonal line of products in both bottles and draught: Oktoberfest, Devil’s Knight Pumpkin Ale, Jul Øl, a Norwegian Spiced Christmas Ale and St. Nicole’s Weizenbock. Sin Eater, a high-gravity Dark Belgian Ale, is soon to be released in bottles as a year-round product. Sin Eater is currently available in the Tap Room in Warren. Source: Larry Channel, founding member of Dragonmead Microbrewery Writer: Kim North Shine