Royal Oak

Breast cancer survivor launches bio-tech startup, re-Contour

By Newsroom

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November 6, 2014

Julie Hyde-Edwards is a breast cancer survivor and an entrepreneur, and those two things are joined at the hip for her. The Royal Oak resident was working as a graphic designer for a financial services firm when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She lost her job midway through fighting her illness, and ended up going through a double mastectomy, which required removing large amounts of tissue from each breast. But she survived. She innovated a new technology. And now she is working on commercializing it with her own startup, re-Contour. "I was learning that there were stages of this that were problematic, so I tried to fix it myself," Hyde-Edwards says. Re-Contour's technology is a type of surgical dressing that improves the aesthetic look of the breast and nipple, helping it avoid flattening and encourages healing after a mastectomy. The re-Contour dressing cover the breast mound, with no contact on the nipple area – providing a safe space around the newly created nipple and preventing clothes from applying pressure to it. Mastectomies routinely leave large scars on the survivor, and nipple loss after the procedure is not uncommon. Many women struggle with the physical changes that occur after a mastectomy. "It looks like someone took a machete and tried to cut you in half," Hyde-Edwards says. "It's pretty hard to look at." Hyde-Edwards is currently working with Dr. Kenneth Shaheen, section head of plastic surgery at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, on commercializing the technology. Re-Contour received a patent for its dressing in April and it recently took first place in the Growth category (worth $13,900) at the Entrepreneur-YOU business and pitch plan competition at Walsh College in Troy. Re-Contour has been working with a variety of local economic accelerators, such as TechTown in Detroit and the Macomb-OU INCubator in Sterling Heights, but isn't directly enrolled in any specific incubator program. "We're hoping to produce this product within a year," Hyde-Edwards says. Source: Julie Hyde-Edwards, founder & CEO of re-Contour Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Siren PR doubles staffing on record revenue increase

By Newsroom

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General

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November 6, 2014

Siren PR, the little public relations firm that could, is doing exactly that these days. And by that we mean adding staff. The Royal Oak-based PR agency is looking to hire an account executive. More info on the opening here. That hire will mean the boutique public relations agency will have doubled the size of its staff over the last year with two new hires. "We feel that this is the time for us to grow," says Adela Piper, co-founder of Siren PR. "We are growing. We have clients in the pipeline and we need more personnel to better serve them." Piper and Lindsey Walenga launched Siren PR two years ago from their homes in Oakland County. Their first clients consisted mainly of nonprofits, such as OLSHA. Today the firm handles work for a broader range of organizations, businesses like Detroit Bikes, and schools like Pontiac Academy for Excellence. The company is projecting 36-percent revenue growth this year. "We have already made more (revenue) this year than we did last year," Piper says. "We're right on track." Source: Adela Piper, co-founder of Siren PR Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Farmington Hills-based ReapSo launches 2.0 version of app

By Newsroom

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General

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October 23, 2014

Mobile startup ReapSo is launching the 2.0 version of its brand-advocacy app this fall. The Farmington Hills-based company’s platform connects fans with the brands. It encourages its users to "WIN. VOTE. SAVE." so they can win prizes, voice their opinion and save money. Check out a video on it here. The new version is focused on making those connections on broadcast mediums. "We have expanded the 2.0 version to go after TV and radio channels with enhanced digital strategies," says Bill Wildern, co-founder & CEO of ReapSo. He adds, "You can get audience pulse with immediate feedback. They can send that out via social media." ReapSo has grown its staff to seven employees. It is focusing on establishing the 2.0 version of its app across the U.S. this year and next. "We want to grow the value proposition," Wildern says. Source: Bill Wildern, co-founder & CEO of ReapSo Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Royal Oak’s Bastone Brewery wins national award at Great American Beer Festival

By Newsroom

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Arts and Culture

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October 9, 2014

Bastone Brewery has a new award on tap: Small Brewpub and Small Brewpub Brewery of the Year. Excerpt: "The award is given to a brewery that produced fewer than 750 barrels in 2013; more than 1,300 total breweries were entered in the Great American Beer Festival competition; 23 competed in the Small Brewpub category. The 10-year-old brewery, at 419 S. Main St., also was recognized for two beers: Thor’s Hammer in the Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale category; and Private Stock #472 in the Wood- and Barrel-Aged category. The two beers are not yet available." More here.

Met 13 – Royal Oak apartments rehabbed into “upscale urban flats”

By Newsroom

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Arts and Culture

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October 2, 2014

A 1950's-era apartment building near Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak has been rehabbed into what the developer describes as "upscale urban flats." Metropolitan 13, or Met13, is located at 4000 W. 13 Mile Road. The 40-unit project offers completely renovated two-bedroom units and services and amenities meant for urban professionals who don't spend much time at home but want a living space that feels fashionable and comfortable and is close to the places they work and play. Met13 offers free Wi-Fi, an outdoor living room and round-the-clock services. For developer Jeffrey Kaftan, president of Kaftan Communities, the renovation represents a lifestyle- and design-focused way to see the leasing market. "We really see the Metropolitan brand as a confluence of design and living," he says. "You can find a number of examples in the marketplace where design has been brought to products like cars and watches, but there are not many examples of that in rental housing. We’re trying to bring that to the forefront in the urban flat rental market in the metro Detroit area. Young professionals are asking for a living environment that gives them the opportunity to express their individual sense of style and the Metropolitan brand’s urban flats do that beautifully." Kaftan is nephew to Sheldon Kaftan, who in 1960 moved into an apartment at what is now Met13. Kaftan Communities invests in and rehabs residential and commercial properties throughout metro Detroit. Source: Sue Voyles, Logos Communication Writer: Kim North Shine

Thrillist eats up Detroit’s hottest new restaurants

By Newsroom

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Arts and Culture

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September 25, 2014

A slew of new restaurants in Detroit and its close-in neighbors makes Thrillist's menu of must-eats. Excerpt: "Royal Oak By contrast, absolutely nothing about DROUGHT -- or its devotees -- will make you think "hot mess". Because, you know, healthy. The newest DROUGHT cold-pressed raw juice retail location has opened in Royal Oak, to be followed by its fifth spot in Birmingham next month... Ferndale Boogie Fever, the quintessential nightclub for all Detroit-area phallus-themed bachelorette parties, has closed. Long live Boogie Fever. In its place, the owners have opened Twisted Tavern, a restaurant in front and party in the back (with Twist Night Club). They're billing it as a from-scratch small plates tavern (think polenta fries and pork belly flatbreads), but some questions remain, including: now where will all the cougars coug? And the dudes who try to prey on sad, single bridesmaids, only to end up cougar food? This is a delicate ecosystem!" More here.

Douglas Communications Group exemplifies new age in local media

By Newsroom

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General

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September 25, 2014

Sharlan Douglas has become a prime example of what it often means to be working in media in the 21st century. The Royal Oak resident has a career in local media that includes stints at WKBD TV as a promotion coordinator and a vice president of marketing & development for Metropolitan Center for High Technology, TechTown's predecessor from the 1980s/90s. Today she is the owner of her own boutique public relations firm, Douglas Communications Group, a partner in a wine-tasting staffing company, and a recently elected member of the Royal Oak City Commission. "I enjoy having the ability to control my work," Douglas says. That means working from home with her one-woman PR firm. Today she handles a number of local clients, her largest being Carlisle/Wortman Associates. She handles a lot of the owned media for the Ann Arbor-based planning firm, such as producing content for blogs, newsletters, and trade show materials. One of the current projects is helping create awareness of how populations in local communities are aging and what that means to their areas. She is doing similar work for the LGBT Older Adult Coalition, which has partners like Affirmations in Ferndale and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. "How do you respond to that shifting?" Douglas says. Douglas was recently elected to a seat on the Royal Oak City Commission. She had served on the city's planning commission for nine years prior and is an active member of the Michigan Association of Planning. She is also a partner in Professional Pours, a staffing agency for wine sampling in grocery stores. Think of the people with a small table that ask shoppers if they would like to try a taste of a new wine. Professional Pours finds the people making the pitch. "I am doing more and more work for Professional Pours," Douglas says. Source: Sharlan Douglas, owner of Douglas Communications Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

What AirBNB taught us about how metro Detroit sees itself

By Natalie Burg

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General

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September 18, 2014

You can learn a lot about a community by listening to the way its residents sell it. So, we here at Metromode decided to dig into AirBNB and analyze what metro Detroiters talk about when they talk about themselves. What we found is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Brazilian immigrants launch pastry biz, Doce Brigadeiro

By Newsroom

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Entrepreneurship

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August 21, 2014

A couple of Brazilian immigrants are making a go of it in entrepreneurship, launching their own pastry business with the help of the Blackstone LaunchPad at Walsh College. Doce Brigadeiro specializes in Brazilian handmade gourmet sweets. The main pastry is the popular treat called a brigadeiro. The main ingredients consist of condensed milk, cream and chocolate. Twenty-one flavors are on offer, including mint, toffee, lemon zest and sea salt caramel, as well as milk, dark and white chocolate. "I love to do Brazilian desserts," says Danielle Cecconi, co-founder of Doce Brigadeiro. "It's something I would do every month." Cecconi recently received her MBA from Walsh College where she leveraged the services of the Blackstone LaunchPad program, which teaches the basics of business to aspiring entrepreneurs. Cecconi and her friend, Marina Kapordelis, started selling brigadeiros to friends and family under the Doce Brigadeiro brand this spring. The Royal Oak-based business is now looking for its own kitchen space to make its sweets, and eventually wants to open up a storefront in a local downtown like Ann Arbor or Birmingham in the not-too-distant future. "We're hoping to get a lot of Christmas orders this year," Cecconi says. Source: Danielle Cecconi, co-founder of Doce Brigadeiro Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Siren PR adds to staff as revenue more than doubles

By Newsroom

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General

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August 7, 2014

Every year is a growth year at Siren PR, or at least so far for the young public relations firm. The Royal Oak-based company launched a little more than two years ago handling work for Metro Detroit non-profits, such as OLHSA. The company has gone from revenues of $75,000 in 2012 to nearly $200,000 last year. It is on pace to easily surpass $200,000 in revenue this year. "We have grown every month since we started," says Lindsey Walenga, co-founder of Siren PR. That has meant the need for more woman power. The two co-founders hired their first employee last September. That person took another job this month but not before Siren PR made another hire. The company probably isn't done adding to its head count this year. "We will probably be expanding to four in the near future," Walenga says. Siren PR has made its mark so far taking on clients with a social purpose, or as Walenga put it, "A mission they can believe in." For OLHSA that’s helping local people find the help and social services they need to succeed. A recent addition is Detroit Bikes, which is working to bring manufacturing back to Detroit by becoming the largest bicycle manufacturer in the U.S. "I'd love to be representing more for-profit companies that have a community purpose," Walenga says. Source: Lindsey Walenga, co-founder of Siren PR Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.