Education

Coverage of schools from pre-k and kindergarten through higher education, including trade and online classes.

Food Truck grants heat up business plans

By Newsroom

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September 19, 2013

Two metro Detroit food trucks are sharing in state economic development grants meant to support a burgeoning industry in Michigan. The $77,775 in grants awarded by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which predicts food truck businesses will be a $2.7-billion industry by 2017, went to Southfield-based Detroit Pommes Frites and Plain and Fancy Food from Pontiac. With matching grants from each winner, a total of $144,246 is being invested in the 10 food trucks. The grants are part of the 2013 Mobile Cuisine Startup Program, which is designed to help new or growing businesses that "offer easily accessible and unique food options to patrons in public spaces and contribute to the local economy by working with other local businesses and farms. The intent of this program is to assist with community and economic development by increasing pedestrian traffic in downtowns and traditional commercial cores," according to the MEDC announcement of the winners. MEDC president and CEO Michael Finney says "today's grants will help food entrepreneurs from around the state launch their business ideas, grow, and create jobs in Michigan." Other winners included MI Fresh Start in Traverse City, The Organic Gypsy in Kalamazoo, Roaming Harvest in Interlochen, Dia De Los Tacos in Marquette, Taco Now in Flint and Pure F2T in East Lansing. Source: Kathy Fagan, Michigan Economic Development Corp. Writer: Kim North Shine

Latest in Education

Henry Ford Community College’s biotechnology program receives $100,000 grant

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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September 19, 2013

The brains are getting behind technology at the atomic and molecular levels. Excerpt: "HFCC established its Biotechnology Program in 2009. The program prepares students for jobs in the growing industries of the biotechnology field. This grant will allow HFCC's Biotechnology Program to implement nanotechnology and microsystems training, thereby providing students with additional career opportunities and additional pathways into high-skills careers. "Many HFCC students are also considered 'non-traditional' because they are attending college for re-training after having lost their jobs due to the current economic climate in Michigan. This grant provides these students with additional skills that would allow them to return to the workforce and support the growth of nanotechnology-based industries in the region," said Dr. Jolie Stepaniak, HFCC's Biotechnology Program director." More here.

Start-up myNutratek focuses on youth health education

By Newsroom

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Education

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September 19, 2013

A new startup called myNutratek is working to help make health education available and accessible for kids. The Brighton-based company has launched a program that helps students become better educated about how to make healthy choices and live a healthy lifestyle. “There is nothing out there for kids,” says Tim Codd, parent of myNutratek. “There is a brochure and some billboards but there weren’t any options or programs for kids.” Codd started the company when his then 8-year-old daughter was bullied at school for being overweight. He resolved to spend more time with her and help her overcome her obstacles to living a healthy lifestyle. He quickly learned there were limited options for doing that and started myNutratek. The company is currently working with 1,000 kids at Howell Public Schools and a doctors group at Oakwood Health System to help spread its healthy-living gospel. The firm has also had 300 parents of students using its services sign up for the program to keep up with their children. “The kids have become the wellness directors for their families,” Codd says. MyNutratek and its team of five employees and one intern is working with downtown Detroit-based Marketing Associates to refine its growth strategy and prepare for scaling its message to a bigger audience. The firm hopes to expand regionally and across Michigan at first, then set its sights on bigger expansions around the world. Source: Tim Codd, parent of myNutratek Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ink Detroit’s new online store promotes Michigan-made goods

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 12, 2013

Ink Detroit started out as a company focused solely on making shirts and such that express Detroit love, and now the eight-year-old company is spreading its love to the whole of Michigan by turning out a new line of products that show statewide pride. The I Love Michigan line can be found at the newly launched I Love Michigan Shop, the newest addition to www.thegreatlakesstate.com, which was started several years ago by Ink Detroit co-founder Paul Marcial as a marketplace for Michigan businesses. Marcial and Steven Mansour formed Ink Detroit in 2005 with the mission of creating hip and fun graphics for quality t-shirts and other garments and accessories that Motor City natives "can wear proudly like a badge of honor." "It kind of started as a hobby. We were just doing shirts on the side for years. We weren't really pushing it. Then it started growing little by littler and it got to the point where one of us had to leave our job," Marcial recalls. Mansour, who has a background in the garment industry, left his job and is full-time with the ventures. Marcial, a graphic designer and landscape architect, spends countless hours on the start-up. The company's offices and product development are handled from Marcial and Mansour's Royal Oak homes. They have a warehouse in Southfield. After Ink Detroit got rolling, the Michigan pride vibe got stronger, Marcial says. It became clear the buyers were very different. "We did a few Michigan designs before, and they did OK," Marcial says. "When we started a whole separate division that's where it took off." He says a large number of sales are coming from Instagram posts, simple pics like one of his son in a I Love Michigan shirt at the apple orchard last weekend. The next big step for Mansour and Marcial is the launch of a catalog, which is being printed and bound as the pair prepares to approach retailers about stocking their products. Currently about 10 stores sell their goods. Source: Paul Marcial, co-founder Ink Detroit and I Love Michigan Shop Writer: Kim North Shine

Federal grant funds speedier trains between Dearborn and Kalamazoo

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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September 12, 2013

A 135-mile stretch of railway that runs from Dearborn to Kalamazoo will undergo $9 million in improvements to prepare it for a 110-mph regional commuter rail service between Detroit and Chicago. The federal TIGER grant announced this week is one of several meant to create jobs and improve mass transit infrastructure in the Midwest and across the country. The Michigan Department of Transportation will oversee the project. The Midwest High Speed Rail Service will run on an AMTRAK line that will eventually provide higher-rate service on a Pontiac and Ann Arbor line through Michigan, to Chicago and other parts of Illinois and Indiana. “These transformational TIGER projects are the best argument for investment in our transportation infrastructure,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement announcing a total of $474 million in grants. “Together, they support President Obama’s call to ensure a stronger transportation system for future generations by repairing existing infrastructure, connecting people to new jobs and opportunities, and contributing to our nation’s economic growth.” In Dearborn, where an intermodal passenger rail station is to open in mid-2014 on Michigan Avenue near Brady, mass transit improvements are seen as a way to "draw more visitors, businesses and residents" and "support the city's largest institutions and their employees: Ford, U-M Dearborn and The Henry Ford: America's Greatest History Attraction," says Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly. Source: Nick Schirripa, spokesperson, Michigan Department of Transportation Writer: Kim North Shine

Kidpreneur brings entrepreneurship education to tweens

By Newsroom

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Education

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September 12, 2013

Thanh Tran is of the belief that more people would pursue entrepreneurship the earlier they start making money with their own business. It’s why he's launching an entrepreneurial education company for tweens, called Kidpreneur. “We want them to be able to start that early,” Tran says. “That’s why we pick that niche of ages between eight and 13 years old.” Kidpreneur’s 9-week classes will provide a start-up environment for young people at the offices of Digital Roots in the historic WaterWheel Centre in Northville. Students will learn the basics of building a business through new technology, such as building their own server for Minecraft, a video game where users can placing blocks to build anything they imagine. “We want to give them a place where they can build their business idea into a reality,” Tran says. Tran, a serial tech entrepreneur, plans to keep the classes to about four students to one teacher. They will also be divided into skill levels, such as beginner, intermediate and expert. The company plans to start its first class on Sept. 21. It currently employs four people. Source: Thanh Tran, founder of Kidpreneur Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ferndale-based Valentine Vodka steps into more out-of-state markets

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 22, 2013

Valentine Distilling Co. in Ferndale is now distributing to stores in New York and preparing to go into Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Connecticut while a Detroit Red Wing has come on board as brand manager. Rifino Valentine, owner and operator of the business, says Eddie Mio, former Red Wing, assistant GM for the Phoenix Coyotes and a part of hockey great Wayne Gretzky's Gretzky Estates Winery, will use his experience to guide Valentine through growth that's been on a steep incline since opening in 2009. With the three new states and the District of Columbia as new markets, Valentine's product line, which includes Liberator Gin and Woodward Whiskey, will be sold now in seven states. Connecticut will come online in September and Maryland and D.C. will follow in October, he says. The distillery, which also has a tasting room on Vester Street in Ferndale, brought in a new still earlier this week to keep up with production, Valentine says. Valentine Vodka has won national and international awards since the first bottle was filled four years ago. The tasting room opened in 2011 and nearly 2,000 stores in several states stores now sell the vodka made in small batches in downtown Ferndale. Writer: Kim North Shine Source: Rifino Valentine, founder, Valentine Vodka

Happy’s Pizza chain rolls out new pub concept

By Newsroom

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Arts & Culture

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August 22, 2013

Happy's Pizza has opened a new pub-style restaurant in West Bloomfield as it explores moving from a mostly take-out, small dine-in establishment to a full-service sports bar and family restaurant. The nearly month-old Happy's Pizza and Pub opened at 7170 Orchard Lake Road and is more than 4,000 square feet filled with over 40 TVs, two of which are projection, screens, and seats for 246. "If someone wants to watch a Lions game, a Tigers game, a Red Wings game, this is the place to do it," General Manager Bobby Dalou says. And, he says, Happy's promotes a family restaurant by offering a menu that can feed four for $20. The menu includes ribs, chicken and seafood. The new pub and restaurant was originally a Happy's Pizza. It expanded into an adjoining business next door and was renovated to include a large restaurant inside and an outdoor patio with room-size windows opening between the two, says Dalou. "It's a good vibe, a good feel." The first Happy's Pizza and Pub opened in Mt. Pleasant in March and has been a success. The company was founded in 1996 by Happy Asker, with the first pizza store in northeast Detroit. It has grown to more than 100 locations. "We were mostly a come-in, come-out [eatery]. We wanted to try something different," Dalou says. "So far it's working out great."

LTU receives $40M software grant & kudos in Princeton Review

By Newsroom

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Community Development

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August 15, 2013

It's a double whammy of good things for LTU: a major software grant and a naming to the Princeton Review's "Best of the Midwest" list. Excerpts: "Lawrence Technological University has received an in-kind software grant with a commercial value of $40 million from Siemens PLM Software. It is one of the largest in-kind grants in the university’s history. The in-kind grant gives LTU students access to the same technology that companies around the world use every day to develop innovative products that are engineered for manufacturability in a wide variety of industries including automotive, aerospace, defense, machinery, medical, high-tech, electronics and many more." And... "Lawrence Tech was among the 155 colleges in the 12-state Midwest Region and 643 colleges overall – representing 25 percent of the nation’s 2,500 four-year colleges – selected for the “2014 Best Colleges: Region by Region” list... According to the Princeton Review, Lawrence Tech is a university armed with a great local and a growing national reputation. In the survey, students reported the university manages to feel “like one big family.” Undergrads value that LTU promotes both “theory and practice” and “hands-on experience." More here and here.

The Case For Regional Mass Transit: A Q&A with John Hertel

By Jeff Meyers

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Arts & Culture

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August 15, 2013

Last year, after 24 times at bat, proponents for a regional transit plan for metro Detroit finally got the legislature to support their efforts. Last week John Hertel, the head of SMART, was selected to be CEO of the newly formed Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Metromode gets the skinny on why he thinks bus rapid transit is the solution we've been waiting for and how he'll make the case to taxpayers to fund it.