This point cannot be labored enough: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office affirmed Detroit's growing manufacturing and knowledge economy by opening its first-ever satellite location in Detroit. Metromode examines the U.S.P.T.O's activities in the region, and what its presence means for the area's economy.
Any one who picks up an issue of HOUR Detroit immediately notices the photography, images that lovingly capture both the energy of today and the vibrancy of our past. George Bulanda, the magazine's managing editor, has just released The Way It Was, Part 2, a collection that captures Detroit between 1869 and 1980. Metromode chats with George about the pictures he chose and why.
While utilities often target energy efficiency programs directly towards easier-to-reach individual residential customers, multifamily housing properties have typically been slow adopters. But those programs are out there. In 2010 DTE Energy outfitted almost 38,000 apartments and other multi-family housing properties with CFL bulbs, faucet aerators, and low-flow showerheads. And through the end of 2011, Consumers Energy is offering a no-charge energy assessment and rebate program for multifamily properties at least five units in size that are serviced by Consumers Energy. The Consumers Energy Savings Solutions program is offering free energy assessments of lighting, heating, cooling, and water heating systems in common areas, as well as complimentary installations of CFLs, energy-efficient showerheads, and faucet aerators in individual living quarters. Rebates include, among other things: $1.50 per lightbulb change, $18 for a furnace tune-up, and $75 per water heater replacement. "Owners and managers will see an overhead savings as well as savings for their tenants' utility bills because tenants typically pay for their electric," says Thomas Glendening, program manager for multifamily at ICF International, the contractor for Consumers Energy efficiency programs. There's also room for inventiveness in energy savings options. "Folks can come to the table with custom energy-efficiency ideas, and as long as they can show us savings through calculations that we can all agree upon, we rebate for a portion of the energy that's saved," Glendening says. The utility is offering incentives up to $100,000 on the gas side and up to $25,000 on the electric side per facility. Total funds available under the program are capped, Glendening says, so property owners and managers should apply well before year-end. Source: Thomas Glendening, program manager for multifamily at ICF International; DTE Energy Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
Ben Sharkey leads a truly 3D life. A designer at visualization tech firm Real Time Technology, he moonlights as a honey-smooth jazz vocalist. Okay, so he sings on the side, you say. Still, how many part time jazz singers do you know that boast YouTube fans in the hundreds of thousands?
A recent Knight Foundation study found that social offerings top the list of concerns for Metro Detroiters. Justin Jacobs answers that study with the question: "Got game?" From basketball to softball to kickball, his sports and rec company Come Play Detroit is becoming the go-to social organization for local young professionals. Next up? The world's largest dodgeball game.
All the world's a stage for Tim Kochenderfer. Literally. When he's not producing the nightly news for Channel 7 Action News, he's penning his next stage play. With 17 published titles under his belt and more on the way, this Emmy-award winning producer has become a mainstay in school theaters around the globe.
Jim Miller is restless... In that fingers-in-many-pies sorta way. Not only is he Metro Detroit's go-to guy for marketing and PR as a member of Franco's Leadership Team, he's also a children's book author. As Nikka Costa sings, "everybody got their something".
Why go to the hockey rink when you can bring the hockey rink to you? Game Courts of Michigan not only creates courts and rinks for schools, parks and gyms but also for residential backyards. And business is growing!
From Berkley to Romeo to Ann Arbor, Metro Detroit is all about All Hallow's Eve. And we're not talking about the commercial scare factories and creepy corn mazes that dot SE Michigan's landscape. These are homegrown, neighborhood efforts that turn quiet residential streets into a free-to-see Halloween hullabaloo.
Metro Detroit's indie rock labels aren't after gold and glory (though both would be nice). They're pressing vinyl, booking shows, and producing CDs because the local music community is what sustains and inspires them. This is lo-fi entrepreneurship with heart, a real rock effort to seed the ground with Motown's next generation of bands.
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