Economic Development

Good eats, smart people in Ann Arbor

By Newsroom

●

January 21, 2010

Most of us already know this... but it's so much nicer when other people say it.Excerpt:Lobster bisque at a walk-up hot dog stand sold me on Ann Arbor, Michigan. Good chance of finding other surprising combinations, I figured, when this bisque tasted great.Clearly this is a university town with a big medical complex but it's also homey, tasty, talented and unpretentious.Nice personality for a visit. My notion panned out in nearby Ypsilanti, Chelsea and Dexter too but Ann Arbor is the place to start. Detroit's only 35 miles to the northeast but that city-in-massive-automotive change wasn't my focus.Fine food, superb art in museums, galleries and cooperatives, beguiling book stores, active theaters and music scenes along with lively main streets defined this southeastern Michigan city of 114,000 people for me on a blustery December visit.Read the entire article here.

Latest in Economic Development

Lower Cass Corridor retail, restaurant scene poised to blossom

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 21, 2010

The last remnants of the old, infamous Cass Corridor are about to be swept away by Joel Landy, a longtime local developer with a vision.Excerpt:Cass Avenue south of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard is slowly gaining momentum as a commercial corridor ... and current businesses in the district -- including Canine to Five, Mantra, Showcase Collectibles and the Burton Theatre at the Burton School -- may very well be getting some neighbors if developer Joel Landy has anything to do with it. He has purchased the buildings that housed the Charlotte Lounge, Chung's, the Gold Dollar, and the Chinese On-Leong Assoc. and has plans to renovate them into viable structures and then lease them.Landy, whose other projects in the area include the Addison Building and the Burton, is currently meeting with funders and potential tenants, including restaurateurs, for the buildings. "There is a tremendous interest in retail, and I'm willing to work with new business owners," he says, adding wryly, "I'm like a business incubator not funded by any government agency."Read the rest of the story here.

Visit the Plymouth Ice Festival without visiting the Plymouth Ice Festival

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

January 21, 2010

Need parking? Looking for nuts? Need to find a specific shop? And all during the Plymouth Ice Festival? Just check it out through 3DPlymouth. Heck, even if you don't want to go you can check it out through this site. Excerpt: Plymouth-based Luna Tech Designs announced this week an interactive virtual globe for this year's Plymouth Ice Festival. The virtual globe application, or LunaGlobe, immerses visitors on the Plymouth Ice Festival Web site in a 3-D virtual version of the ice festival, giving them interactive opportunities to explore and discover the festival events, avoid likely parking and traffic problems, know where to find those irresistible roasted almonds, as well as locate participating shops and restaurants in the area. Take a look at www.3DPlymouth.com.Read the entire article here.

Automation Alley gets $395K for International Biz Center

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 21, 2010

Automation Alley is moving forward with plans to build an International Business Center in Troy, now that Uncle Sam is helping foot the bill.The economic development agency recently received a $394,800 federal earmark for the project. That's on top of the $285,000 in federal funds it received for the project last year.The new center will be an expansion of Automation Alley's current offices in Troy. It will serve as a soft landings center for international businesses looking to do business in Metro Detroit. Detroit's TechTown business incubator already has employed such a program successfully.The new addition will feature new technologies that will make it easier for foreign companies to do business here, such as holding virtual meetings. Planning for the project has begun.Source: Automation AlleyWriter: Jon Zemke

A few bold ideas for Michigan’s travel industry

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

January 21, 2010

Michigan has a lot to offer a tourist. Beaches, fishing, hunting, skiing, golfing, wineries, we could go on and on. But, with that said, what can we do to improve not the "what to do" but the actual cash flow? Well, the Freep asked for a few suggestions.A few of the suggestions:• Ban cars. Put Mackinac Island, Frankenmuth, and Greenfield Village in charge of absolutely everything. New slogan: "Pure 19th-Century Michigan."• Build the world's tallest 7-star hotel, or possibly a duplicate of the Great Pyramid, along I-75.• Move Cedar Point to Monroe.Read the entire article here.

Farmington Hills promotes green building incentives

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 21, 2010

Federal stimulus funds are making Farmington Hills a more sustainable community. The city is offering green building and sustainability incentives for local residents and businesses."We know we can't do it by ourselves," says Nate Geinzer, management assistant for the city of Farmington Hills. The city's new Energy Efficiency Incentive Program is trying to reduce fossil fuel emissions and total energy use by creating more energy efficiency in the building, transportation, and other sectors.The program is designed to empower residents and businesses to make informed decisions regarding energy efficiency improvements through a comprehensive energy audit. It will provide cash incentives to those interested in conducting the audits or installing eligible energy efficient or renewable energy products in existing buildings. Think Energy Star appliances, solar panels, insulation, and everything else that makes someone want to hug a tree.It will also provide an extra incentive to individuals putting off needed improvements due to financial or other reasons, and expand the market for advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy technology.For information on the program, call the Farmington Hills Green Efforts Committee or the Farmington Hills Building Division at 248-871-2450 or click here.Source: Nate Geinzer, management assistant for the city of Farmington HillsWriter: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ann Arbor projects stack up on shelf

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 21, 2010

Ann Arbor may be generating a lot of buzz with its big downtown developments on the boards, but don't expect them to go all in the ground at once.Excerpt:The shelf for downtown Ann Arbor projects is started to get a little crowded. You might have noticed a bit of controversy surrounding a number of projects slated for downtown in recent years. However, most of those have yet to materialize.Seven major projects have been approved but have yet to break ground in the downtown Ann Arbor area. Another two are going through the approval process and the city has issued request for proposals for two of its downtown-area parcels. Common sense would seem to dictate that there might be a flood of projects as soon as the economy recovers. However, don't expect to start seeing shovels go into the ground all at once (or any time soon) as banks and the rest of the financial industry continue to lick their wounds from the housing and mortgage meltdowns."The banks were all very burned by real estate," says Stewart Beal, an Ypsilanti-based developer and owner of Beal Properties. "They will be looking for other projects to finance before real estate."Read the rest of the story here.

The Armory For Democracy Goes Suburban

By Constance Crump

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 14, 2010

War is hell. It's also very profitable for some Metro Detroit suburbs. Billions of dollars in defense contracts are pouring into communities like Troy, Sterling Heights, Warren and Ann Arbor, and the companies there are finding new jobs for auto engineers who are willing to adapt.

LED lightmaker Relume Technologies receives seven-figure VC investment

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 14, 2010

Jeff Bocan sees a storm a brewin'. It's why his company, Beringea, decided to make a seven-figure investment in Oxford-based Relume Technologies, a maker of LED lights. That storm is a combination of LEDs, maturing technology, and federal money."A perfect storm has come onto the horizon, and it's about to hit," says Bocan, managing director of Beringea.The Oxford-based firm makes LED lights for street lampposts and parking garages. LED lights are expected to be the future of lighting, using as little as 10 percent of the electricity used by incandescent bulbs. Think CFL bulbs on steroids when it comes to energy efficiency and durability. Bocan says LED light technology is becoming affordable to the general public and local governments. That paired with large amounts of federal stimulus cash geared toward creating energy efficiency means the potential for big profit margins."It's a very visible pro-green thing that a politician or a municipality can take on," Bocan says.Relume has also developed a smart-grid technology that can allow users to dim street lights or cause others along a certain road to flash to highlight an exit route in an emergency. It can also tell its users when a light is malfunctioning.Beringea is a venture capital firm based out of Farmington Hills. Source: Jeff Bocan, managing director of BeringeaWriter: Jon Zemke

S3 Entertainment opens film studio in Madison Heights

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

January 14, 2010

While many other film studio projects battle for financial footing, S3 Entertainment Group is opening up its film studio in Madison Heights.S3 Studios is opening up in a former hardware store distribution center in Madison Heights. It was used for the production of the recently released Youth in Revolt and will serve as the studio for six other films this year.The 25,000 square-foot facility has a stage with a minimum height of 30 feet, and also comes outfitted with 10,000 square feet of furnished office space. It also features post-production facilities, a state-of-the-art screening room and camera support rooms on-site."It's the perfect recipe for filming," says Jeff Spilman, managing partner with S3 Entertainment Group.He expects the studio will need an administrative staff of 30 full-time personnel, and between 150-300 jobs when filming occurs. S3 Entertainment Group also plans to include its film institute on-site so students can get real-world experience while learning the ins and outs of the film industry.Source: Jeff Spilman, managing partner with S3 Entertainment GroupWriter: Jon Zemke