Coverage of those starting up businesses and community resources to help them thrive.
When Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson called for the creation of Medical Main Street, a concerted effort to bring life science and medical technology companies to Oakland County and Southeastern Michigan in 2008, four companies pledged what then seemed like a hefty fund: $5.2 million.
Beaumont Medical Center in Macomb Township will get a new imaging center and the cardiac center at Beaumont Hospital in Troy gets a new name through a $4 million gift from the Wayne and Joan Webber Foundation.The gift funds the construction and renovations of the Wayne & Joan Webber Imaging Center, as well as an open MRI, the first of its kind in the Beaumont system. The cardiac care center at Beaumont Hospital, Troy, which opened in September, will be named the Wayne and Joan Webber Cardiac Progressive Care Center.Duane Mezwa, the corporate chair of diagnostic radiology for the Beaumont system, was especially excited about the new open MRI. He says the open magnet system is good for patients who are claustrophobic, and may not be able to lie in they typical tight cylindrical MRI machine. It's also good for children, whose parents can now lie next to them and hold their hand, reducing the chances they'll need to be anesthetized for the procedure; and for overweight patients, who have more room to be comfortable.The new machine also has a higher magnet strength, which creates better images, and is better for the feet and other bony structures. "For the right patient, we want to make sure to get them on the right scanner," he says.The hospital appreciates the donation, he says, especially during the economic downturn when money for additional equipment is limited. The system was one of the first in the state to have digital mammography, which also came about through a philanthropic donation."To get a donation like this is really, really fortunate," he points out. "It helps us out tremendously. The money allows us to give patients cutting-edge technology."The Wayne & Joan Webber Imaging Center is scheduled to open in 2011. The cardiac center is a 12-bed inpatient unit for cardiac patients, staffed by highly trained nurses and doctors who specialize in cardiac care.Wayne and Joan Webber are from Clinton Township. Other beneficiaries of their foundation include the Webber Cancer Center at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital; the DIA Wayne and Joan Webber Education Wing; the University Yes Academy Wayne; and John Webber 90-90-90 School in Detroit.Source: Duane Mezwa, corporate chair of diagnostic radiology for the Beaumont Hospital SystemWriter: Kristin Lukowski
Angott Medical Products is a start-up with a very personal story.Paul Angott, the president of the Bloomfield-based firm, came up with the idea of a new breast cancer screening machine about 20 years ago when his mother first developed breast cancer. Her death a few years ago prompted the serial entrepreneur to make that new device a reality through Angott Medical Products."It was a painful and horrible death for her," Angott says. "She fought breast cancer for 20 years."Angott Medical Products' breast cancer screener is a non-invasive and radiation-free device that is simple enough that it doesn't require a highly trained specialist to interpret the results. He has secured 40 patents and raised $1.5 million to develop the device. He hopes to finish the first prototype by the first quarter of 2011 and have it on the market by the second quarter of 2012.The 3-year-old firm employs a team of about a dozen people. That team recently made the semi-finals of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. Angott hopes to get even further in it next year."We thought we did really well," Angott says. "We hoped to make the Top 10 but there was some stiff competition."Source: Paul Angott, president of Angott Medical ProductsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
West Bloomfield-based developer Jeff Surnow is tackling another project, now that he's about wrapped up the renovation of the old Birmingham post office.His next project is a former Birmingham schools administration building, at 550 Mills St. He's not quite as far along with that building -- after receiving site plan approval from the city, he then goes through the planning stages, and expects that will take a little bit of time. He's also looking for tenants to commit to moving in.The older buildings are a little harder to convert energy efficiency, Surnow says, but he'd like to do more of them when the economy picks up. "We're taking old structures and giving them the modern, green technology to bring them up to date," he says.Surnow would like to make some of the same improvements in the old school administration building that he did in the former post office -- new heating, high-efficiency and low-energy lights, additional insulation, skylights, and more.Source: Jeff Surnow, The Surnow CompanyWriter: Kristin Lukowski
A handful of automotive deals from the Michigan Economic Development Corp are expected to lead to the creation of 383 jobs in Metro Detroit over the next five years.These deals with Otto Bock Polyurethane Technologies, Piston Automotive, and Ring Screw will create mostly manufacturing jobs in Rochester Hills, Redford Township, and Sterling Heights, respectively. They will also invest $33.4 million to make these deals possible. In return the MEDC granted the three companies a combined $2.435 million in state tax incentives. The deals break down as:Otto Bock Polyurethane Technologies specializes in orthopedic applications and special polyurethane applications in the automotive and furniture industries. It will sink $13.3 million into a Rochester Hills facility that will produce polyurethane parts. This investment is expected to create 98 jobs. The German-based company was also considering a site in Pennsylvania. Piston Automotive, a tier one automotive supplier, will invest $15 million into expanding its Redford plant so it can manufacture chassis and electric batteries. The project is expected to create 135 jobs in Metro Detroit instead of a competing site in Kentucky. Ring Screw, a subsidiary of Acument Global Technologies, will spend $5.1 million on expanding its facilities in Sterling Heights, Fenton, and Grand Blanc, while retaining its Michigan headquarters. These facilities will produce mechanical fastening products and services for transportation markets and create 150 jobs. Ring Screw was also looking at expanding in Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Mexico.Source: Michigan Economic Development CorpWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
One phrase came to mind when summing up the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition -- the future. The new event showed off start-ups that organizers hope will be the future long-term leaders in Michigan's new economy to what they hope will be future near-term investors. The event was held in the University of Michigan's new North Campus Research Complex and featured Michigan's future governor as its keynote speaker. Future Michigan Economic Development Corp head Michael Finney even hinted at bigger prizes for the next Accelerate Michigan competition in the not-too-distant future."We're looking forward," Finney said during his remarks at the event. "We're looking at where we're going to go in the next 3-4 years in this state."The potential of those next few years looked pretty good on stage last Saturday when the 10 finalists made their pitches. Metro Detroit had a healthy contingent among them, including Southfield's Innovating Surgical Solutions, Madison Heights/Ann Arbor's Gravikor, and a number of firms from Ann Arbor. Bloomfield Hills-based ENRG Power Systems, Troy-based MatchRX, and Farmington Hills-based CSquared Innovations each won $25,000 in the Advanced Transportation, Information Technology, and Next Gen Manufacturing categories, respectively.Kalamazoo-based Armune BioScience (a U-M spin-off) and Arbor Photonics of Ann Arbor took first ($500,000) and second ($150,000) places. Four start-ups from U-M students swept the student competition and its $60,000 in prizes. In addition to the prize money, most of the entrants raved about the exposure to potential investors that the Accelerate Michigan competition provided. To many of them it was an opportunity to expect a brighter future for their start-ups."We have a very bright future," Gov.-elect Snyder said during his speech. "We just need to execute now."Sources: Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition; Michael Finney, former CEO & president of Ann Arbor SPARK and current head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp; and Rick Snyder, governor-elect of MichiganWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Plasan Carbon Composites plans to move its R&D facilities from its Vermont home to Wixom, thanks in part to a $697,000 state tax credit from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.The manufacturer of carbon composite automotive components plans to invest $3.2 million to open a Customer and Technical Development Center in Wixom. The investment is expected to create 42 jobs in Metro Detroit over the next five years instead of a competing site in Tennessee. About 25 of those jobs will be created over the next year.The new facility will house R&D, product development, application engineering, and sales, along with program and business development operations. The automotive supplier also choose Metro Detroit in order to be closer to its customers, allowing for more integrated development and shorter development and implantation cycles. Plasan Carbon Composites plans to invest approximately $3.2 million in the project. Source: Michigan Economic Development CorpWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Eco Products has a solar product that doesn't generate electricity or warm water. It helps keep warm houses warm in the winter and cool houses cool in the summer.3S SOLAR BLOCK is a coating that can go on windows. It permits the light through but helps keep the heat in (or out, depending on which way it's facing). The coating is so clear that it doesn't obstruct the view from the glass. Eco Products is in the later stages of commercializing it after spending most of its short existence developing 3S SOLAR BLOCK."That process took two years and an awful lot of money," says Tom Carmichael, CEO of Eco Products.The Royal Oak-based company has already lined up some distributors in the window and skylight markets. It expects to hit $3.5-$4 million in sales by the end of 2011, which should allow it to expand its staff of four people. Eco Products also rode the success of 3S SOLAR BLOCK to the semifinals of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition.Source: Tom Carmichael, CEO of Eco ProductsWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Alden Zecha left Ann Arbor this weekend impressed not only with the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, but the unity its organizers displayed.The CFO and strategist made the elevator pitch for Massachusetts-based Sproxil during the finals of the $1 million business plan competition. When all was said and done, Zecha was pleasantly surprised by how well the Business Accelerator Network for Southeast Michigan (Ann Arbor SPARK, Automation Alley, TechTown and the Macomb-OU INCubator) worked together to make it all happen. "That is fairly unusual," Zecha says. "Usually those competitions are put together by a single entity, frequently an academic institution. (At those competitions) I wouldn't normally see any animosity between organizations. I see a lot of autonomous organizations that are competing with each other."Sproxil won the $10,000 People's Choice award for its drug-intelligence software. The winners of the grand-prize ($500,000) would have to agree to move to Michigan. Sproxil and its staff of four were ready to do that had they won, but will remain in Massachusetts for now. The $500,000 would have justified the costs of moving, Zecha says.Source: Alden Zecha, CFO & strategist for SproxilWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Our food chain is appearing in the spotlight more and more often these days, whether it's in big picture products like Food, Inc. or local community gardens in urban areas like Detroit. The technology that makes that food chain stretch is also becoming more and more important and one local tech firm is getting a little recognition for it. Food Logistics recently named Auburn Hills-based Plex Systems as one of the 100 technology and solution providers that help food processors and manufacturers and food service distributors.Check out the list here.
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