When you consider what it takes to make your favorite microbrew, there's no getting around the fact that it is an energy- and resource-intensive process. Metromode checks in with our most green-minded breweries and what they're doing to make a more sustainable beer.
Metro Detroit communities struggle with the legacies of the past, the demands of the present, and the needs of the future. Some do a good job of balancing those concerns. Others, not so much. Our newest series points to the good and bad choices local communities make and what we can learn from them. In the cross-hairs this month: Ann Arbor and Grosse Pointe.
Eleven startups took home cash prizes at last week's Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition and each one of them is based in southeast Michigan. While Ann Arbor-based firms took home the lion's share of the winnings, companies based in Metro Detroit also won some of the category awards worth $25,000 apiece. Those winners included Wixom-based SurClean (Product and Service category), Plymouth-based Beet Analytics Technology (Manufacturing), and Detroit-based Inventev (Advanced Transportation). Ann Arbor-based firms SkySpecs (drone technology) and Cribspot (online platform for off-campus housing) took the top two spots worth $500,000 and $100,000, respectively. Ann Arbor startups also took six of the nine category wins. More info on those here. Accelerate Michigan is an annual business plan competition held in downtown Detroit. It aims to promote and grow the cream of the crop of startups based in Michigan or looking to move to the Great Lakes state. Its $1 million in prize money and services also serves as a motivational tool to push startups closer to investment and commercialization. "It's a very good learning process," says David Wang, CEO of Beet Analytics Technology. "I have never prepared so much for a 10-minute pitch process." Beet Analytics Technology provides diagnostic and analytical tools that accelerate problem solving in complex manufacturing and automation operations. Its software improves problem identification and reduces production downtime so the user can optimize productivity gains. SurClean is developing a laser-based technology that replaces the harmful chemicals, media blasting, and other abrasives typically used in the removal of paint and other coatings from aircraft, vessels, and bridges undergoing maintenance. Its technology uses a laser beam to disintegrate and remove paint and other coatings like rust from substrate in a cost-effective, safe, energy-efficient and earth-friendly way. Inventev is creating a hybrid-electric system for commercial trucks. The technology is a new transmission architecture that allows electric machines to operate other aspects of the trucks, such as the hydraulic lift. That way the truck's diesel engines don't need to idle while they dump their load. Source: David Wang, CEO of Beet Analytics Technology Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
From creative ways of raising revenue to forming partnerships, nonprofits are becoming more entrepreneurial in order to sustain themselves into the next generation. Area nonprofit leaders share the ways and means by which the social sector is becoming more like the business sector.
The auto industry has rebounded but the ad industry is in a state of flux. So what does that mean for metro Detroit firms? Metromode sits down with Team Detroit's Toby Barlow to get his thoughts on where things are, where they're headed, and how local agencies fit in.
Throw a stone in the air and you're bound to hit a resale, recycling, reuse or junk shop. But which places offer the best trash-to-treasure odds? Metromode takes you on the nickel tour of the region's top upcycling destinations.
Feeling a bit like you're doing the same old, same old in metro Detroit? Looking for something a tad less obvious to do or see? Metromode's Nicole Rupersburg gives you the down low on places, events and venues that are off the beaten path, under the radar, or just plain under-appreciated.
"Make new friends and keep the old..." is more than just a nice sentiment, it can be a smart business strategy. Pairing the energy and creativity of young entrepreneurs with the experience and contacts of elder business leaders has proven to be a powerful tool for several metro Detroit firms.
DFCU Financial, Michigan's largest credit union, is opening a new branch in Plymouth. Ground was broken in late August on a 4,583-square-foot facility that will open in the first quarter of 2015 at Ann Arbor Road and Main Street. The branch will be the 25th for the credit union that formed in 1950, started by seven Ford Motor Co. engineering employees. President and CEO Mark Shobe says the Plymouth location will serve more than 4,000 families. The branch, which will sit on about one acre of land, will have two drive-through teller lanes, a drive up ATM and full services inside. DFCU currently has branches in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Lansing. Source: Peggy Richard, spokesperson, DFCU Financial Writer: Kim North Shine
Some clubs are created to exclude. Some clubs are created to nurture. Fermenta is a Michigan collective devoted to helping women craft brewers find their feet in an industry otherwise dominated by men.
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