Coverage of projects, big and small, and the people who create them, which promote the economic health of a community, including manufacturing, retail, office, and hospitality developments.
Quick, we say: Frankfurters, men's fashion, and locally made mustard. What's the first thing that comes to mind? Should be Charley Marcuse. A true Metro Detroit original, this singing hotdog vendor at Tiger Stadium (and budding entrepreneur) embodies the indomitably funky spirit of our region. The mustard's tasty too!
Automotive worker refugees have found a new home in alternative energy with their start-up, Applied Energy Technology. The 1-year-old business based in Clinton Township got its start when the automotive world took a dive recently. A small group of friends who did everything from engineering to manufacturing decided to put their skills to work creating rack systems for solar panels."It made a lot of sense to us," says Craig Winn, president & CEO of Applied Energy Technology. "We know automotive product development and energy."Today the company employs 12 designers of solar rack systems and another 10 people at a manufacturing plant. It also has a couple of independent contractors and summer interns. It expects to double its staff within the next year on the expectation that the solar industry will continue to grow for the foreseeable future."We survived the crisis," Winn says. "Now is the time when the people who will prosper in the next economy start doing things."Source: Craig Winn, president & CEO of Applied Energy TechnologyWriter: Jon Zemke
American CyberSystems, an Atlanta-based IT firm, has picked Rochester Hills as the home of its new subsidiary, HireGenics.HireGenics will have a staff of five people in Metro Detroit and expects to add to it in the near future. American CyberSystems, which employs about 1,000 across the U.S., choose Metro Detroit for its "wealth of knowledge" in the software and IT industries, according to Charles Halash, executive vice president for sales & marketing for HireGenics."We're going to create jobs not only here in Michigan but on a national basis," he says.HireGenics will specializes in workforce compliance, risk mitigation, payroll services, and related consolidated payments. Its HGComply software makes sure each service provider or contingent worker is properly vetted with the necessary documentation and compliant with all governmental regulations and guidelines. The software can provide repeatable and auditable results.Halash and Barry Olson, both Metro Detroiters, will lead the new subsidiary. The two of them have more than 55 years of experience in payroll technology and workforce management systems.Source: Charles Halash, executive vice president for sales & marketing for HireGenicsWriter: Jon Zemke
A year and a half ago, Danotek Motion Technologies made the shift to wind turbine technology and hasn't looked back.Since then it has moved from Ann Arbor to a bigger facility in Canton and gone on a hiring spree. The 50-person company has doubled its staff in the last 18 months and expects to hire more. Don Naab, president & CEO of Danotek Motion Technologies, says his company is on "the cusp of significant growth.""We're in a hiring mode," Naab says. "I have something like 15 positions I need to fill this year." Those positions are mostly engineering jobs. Naab expects to add another 15-20 people in 2011.Danotek Motion Technologies got its start in the automotive industry in 2001, but switched to wind turbines after a significant infusion of venture capital from the likes of Silicon Valley-based Khosla Ventures and San Francisco-based CMEA. Today the company makes the larger generators for the big wind turbines. Its current operations are designed to produce 4,000 of those generators annually. Source: Don Naab, president & CEO of Danotek Motion TechnologiesWriter: Jon Zemke
For a long time, most Design Systems work revolved around the automotive industry. However, the Farmington Hills-based company is crediting a lot of its recent growth toward its efforts to broaden its customer base."We've been diversifying," Schneider says. "That's been our big push."The 27-year-old company provides and manages engineering and integration software for a number of industrial customers. Five years ago, a vast majority of those were automotive-based. Since then, especially in the last couple of years, the company has been targeting more defense, heavy equipment, and aerospace customers. They now make up about 10-15 percent of Design Systems' client base.Diversification and increased business from automotive clients has allowed Design Systems to make 30 hires in the last year. It now employs 150 people and a few independent contractors and co-op students. More hires are expected.Source: John Schneider, manager of business development for Design SystemsWriter: Jon Zemke
Altair Engineering took a major step forward with its plans to grow Ilumisys this week with the purchase of a 136,000-square-foot building in Troy that will become the new headquarters for the LED lights subsidiary.Altair Engineering employs about 1,400 people worldwide, including 500 at its Troy world headquarters. Of those, seven work directly at Ilumisys, but Altair Engineering expects to grow staffing to 200 within the next three years. The new building is expected to facilitate all of Illumisys' operations and growth and then some."The facility is much larger than we intended to purchase," says Mike Kidder, vice president of corporate marketing for Altair Engineering. "But it's in an ideal location for us."The new facility is on Indusco Court and sits on nearly nine acres. Altair Engineering expects to renovate it over the next year so it can house Ilumisys' headquarters, R&D, and manufacturing operations. There will be some space left over when all of the work is said and done."We're still brainstorming what we want to do with the extra space," Kidder says.Source: Mike Kidder, vice president of corporate marketing for Altair EngineeringWriter: Jon Zemke
Troy's zferral is Metro Detroit, international, and virtual-based, all at the same time. The North Woodward Tech Incubator-housed start-up has founders and programmers here and in Poland who constantly work over Skype to build their new business."We're definitely growing," says Jeff Epstein, co-founder of zferral. "I expect to add some staff here in Michigan soon."zferral allows entrepreneurs to scale their business by crowd-sourcing sales and marketing. The technology allows them to create and manage their custom affiliate and referral programs from a single dashboard. The company launched earlier this summer and has attracted close to 300 customers. Epstein started working on another online advertising project at the North Woodward Tech Incubator earlier this year. That venture went in one direction, and he went in another."I decided to focus on this full-time and it has really paid off," Epstein says.Source: Jeff Epstein, co-founder of zferralWriter: Jon Zemke
Attorneys Ralph Safford and Donald Baker had hit the top of their profession in the late 1990s, making partner in prominent local law firms and aspiring to serve Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial economy. Problem was, their firms didn't share that sentiment; accordingly the pair decided to break out and start Safford & Baker, a law firm geared towards entrepreneurs.The Bloomfield Hills-based practice got its start in 2000 and has since grown to four employees. It serves start-ups and entrepreneurs almost exclusively, representing and consulting with dozens of them across southeast Michigan. The firm has been able to carve a niche by molding its practice to suit client needs."The traditional law firm isn't built to serve entrepreneurs," says Matt Bower, an attorney with Safford & Baker. "Typical legal bills are too high for start-ups that want to stay lean and watch their capital."Safford & Baker accommodates by keeping overhead low and offering reasonable quotes. It offers flat fees so new companies will be certain on costs. Plus, the three lawyers love the positive aspects of the practice and can avoid the drudgery of bankruptcy law or litigation."It's just fun to watch entrepreneurs get something started and to be a part of that," Bower says.Source: Matt Bower, an attorney with Safford & BakerWriter: Jon Zemke
Last week was a healthy one for Beringea and its Michigan-based portfolio. The state's largest venture capital firm invested in a smart phone accessory company and received subsequent backup for one of its previous green-tech investments in Ann Arbor-based Sakti3. GM Ventures, the VC arm of General Motors, led a $4.2 million investment round in Sakti3, contributing $3.2 million. Beringea had funded the University of Michigan spin-off earlier this year along with Silicon Valley-based Khosla Ventures. "We're really pleased," says Jeff Bocan, managing director of Beringea. "It's excellent validation. They're moving forward at a fast pace. Faster than we expected."The Farmington Hills-based company also made an unspecified infusion into mophie from its InvestMichigan! Growth Capital Fund. Mophie is a Paw Paw-based company that designs and manufactures accessories for smart phones. One of its principal products is a protective case that improves the battery lives of iPhones. Beringea's investment is expected to help fund development of future products and also bolster the company's marketing efforts."We're excited about a lot of what they're doing," Bocan says. "They're making smart phones more useful."Source: Jeff Bocan, managing director of BeringeaWriter: Jon Zemke
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