Local leaders are expecting a sizable turnout of studentpreneurs at the Accelerate Michigan Student Idea Competition, an offshoot of the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition, to vie for $50,000 in prizes. […]
It's a family affair. Pete Bonner didn't just marry into the family business, he helped create it. An early pioneer in the Internet automotive business, he and his in-laws have become successful serial entrepreneurs, finding new (and profitable) ways to connect the Big Three to the web.
It's not hard to see why ImageSoft has been named one of Metro Detroit's Best and Brightest Companies, yet again. The Southfield-based firm has hired nine people over the last year, including two of its former interns. Its staff now stands at 55, including three interns. That's up from a headcount of 45 when we last checked in two years ago. It now has satellite offices in Grand Rapids, Portland, and Raleigh, North Carolina, along with sales staff stationed in Ohio's major C cities (Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus)."We have added quite a few customers," says Rick Wilson, vice president of operations at ImageSoft, a company that specializes in helping local units of government streamline their operations through digitizing paperwork.ImageSoft counts county governments from across Michigan as customers, from Washtenaw to Grand Traverse. It helps clients eliminate the red tape and paperwork that bogs down their systems and services, thereby becoming more efficient and allowing the 14-year-old company to continue to grow. Three more hires are expected over the next six months, and six more in 2011. ImageSoft has also recently moved into office space that is three times bigger than its last office."We're continuing to leverage our existing customer base," Wilson says. We have beefed up our marketing team."Source: Rick Wilson, vice president of operation for ImageSoftWriter: Jon Zemke
Lawrence Technological University's new program, Industry-Sponsored Projects Lab, is a bit of a double-edge sword when it comes to benefits.The lab promises to let local companies utilize the engineering expertise of the university's students to develop, investigate, or test new products. It also pairs Lawrence Tech talent with potential jobs."The students are supposed to do a senior project," says Pavan Muzumdar, engineering entrepreneur in residence at Lawrence Tech. "If we make this an opportunity for local companies then it's a win-win."The lab assigns a team of 3-5 engineering students to do research that can positively impact a company's bottom line. Over the course of a semester, the team works with a faculty mentor on product development for a company. Two firms have already tried out this system and Lawrence Tech wants to broaden its reach this fall."This will have internship elements in it but it will be more in the context of a course," Muzumdar says.Source: Pavan Muzumdar, engineering entrepreneur in residence at Lawrence Technological UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke
Healthcare, an industry long taken for granted in Metro Detroit, is proving to be an increasingly strong job source in Oakland County.The Oakland County Medical Main Street program has attracted $11 million in investment, creating 275 new positions, over the last two years. The latest round comes from Royal Oak Medical Devices. The company plans to spend $2.6 million to expand its medical device design, manufacturing, and distributing operations, a move that is expected to create 26 new jobs over the next few years."In the past we have taken these jobs a little for granted because they were part of our infrastructure," says Maureen Krauss, director of the Dept of Economic Development and Community Affairs at Oakland County.No longer. Oakland County's life sciences industry employs 93,000 people and is projected to create another 45,000 jobs over the next decade, according to a study by the Anderson Economic Group. This industry also has deep roots in the research sectors. Just under 4,900 clinical trials are currently underway in Oakland County -- more than what is taking place in California, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey.Oakland County started its Medical Main Street program in 2008 with the idea of helping fast-track growth in the life sciences industry. "It keeps the talent, assets, and people here," Krauss says. "It's a really strong part of our retention program."Source: Maureen Krauss, director of the Dept of Economic Development and Community Affairs at Oakland CountyWriter: Jon Zemke
If Metro Detroit's economy is turning a corner, then chances are it's going to be first apparent in the numbers from its new economy programs, like Oakland County's Emerging Sectors. The signs are looking good.The business attraction and retention program for Oakland County has helped facilitate $194 million in new investment and create about 5,900 new jobs through June. That's enough to surpass total numbers in both categories for all of 2009. County officials expect similar growth for the rest of this year."It's certainly a great trend," says Maureen Krauss, director of economic development and community affairs for Oakland County. "So many projects that were on hold last year are back on track again."The Emerging Sectors program began in 2004 with plans to diversify the county's economy and replace vanishing manufacturing jobs. It helps international companies looking to expand their North American operations and local firms based in the new economy. Some of the recent investments include WABCO Reman Services of Rochester Hills investing $6 million and creating 228 new jobs; Southfield's Direct Sourcing spending $2 million to create 100 new jobs and retain 80 others; and EcoStore USA (Auburn Hills) putting $2.5 million towards the creation of 30 new jobs and the retention of three more. These and more made up the investment for June alone.Source: Maureen Krauss, director of economic development and community affairs for Oakland CountyWriter: Jon Zemke
When the economy collapsed almost two years ago, the Detroit Trading Company didn't go down with it. Instead it tweaked its business model, allowing it to adapt to the rapidly changing market and set the stage for some significant growth.The Southfield-based business developed a technology that gathered, analyzed, and organized Internet sales leads for car dealers. Prior to 2008, the six-year-old company sold them on an open exchange. After the financial markets collapsed and credit lines froze, its good subprime leads were no longer in demand. The company then switched to selling its best leads with the best credit scores to dealer groups who signed on for the service."There was no point in buying a lead from someone with average credit when they can't get a loan," says Pete Bonner, senior vice president of Detroit Trading Company.This eliminated the open market model that depended on volume, rendering several hundreds of thousands of leads worthless. However, the segment with high credit scores was gold in an auto market desperate for buyers. "All leads are not created equal," Bonner says.The company has been able to maintain its profitability and its staff of 13 through the recent turbulent waters. It plans to hire 3-4 people within the next year, including a new salesperson and a new programmer.Source: Pete Bonner, senior vice president of Detroit Trading CompanyWriter: Jon Zemke
Lots of local small businesses are benefiting from the latest round of awards handed out by the Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards.The Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest hosted a business plan competition for start-ups that gave out $250,000 in awards to local entrepreneurs looking for a leg up. The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards recognizes established entrepreneurs who have exemplified themselves and their businesses.Margery Krevsky, CEO of Bingham Farms-based Productions Plus - The Talent Shop, was one of the 10 winners of the Ernst & Young award and one of the four from Metro Detroit. She compares it to the top awards her talent agency deals with, such as the Tony and Academy awards."It's the best you can get," Krevsky says. "It brings credibility and it substantiates my team. One person can't do this. It takes a team."Other local winners of the Ernst & Young award are John Rakolta, CEO of Detroit-based Walbridge; Pete Lazic, president of New Hudson-based Michigan Automatic Turning and Mindy Fynke, president of Southfield-based Employee Health Insurance. The Great Lake Entrepreneur's Quest also awarded $250,000 worth of prizes in its recent statewide business plan competition. Among those prizes were free business development services from Automation Alley, Ann Arbor SPARK and the Michigan SmartZoneSM Network.Southeast Michigan swept the top spots in the Best of Biotech Awards. Royal Oak-based Innovative Surgical Solutions received $40,000 for first place. It is developing a fast, safe, effective surgeon-driven nerve monitoring system for minimally invasive surgical procedures. Second place and $25,000 went to Bloomfield Hills-based Angott Medical Products, which is working on a multi-modality breast cancer test with higher sensitivity and positive predictive value than clinical breast exams. Tangent Medical Technologies of Ann Arbor took third place and $10,000 for its work addressing health and safety shortcomings of existing peripheral intravenous fluid/medication delivery systems.Source: Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest, Ernst & Young and Margery Krevsky, CEO of Productions Plus - The Talent ShopWriter: Jon Zemke
Metro Detroit companies took the vast majority of the latest round of job-creating tax deals from the Michigan Economic Development Corp, which means $327 million in new investments and 805 new jobs in the next few years.The tax breaks span a number of different sectors, including traditional automotive in Redford Township, new age tech companies in Southfield, along with Internet and bio-tech firms in Ann Arbor. All of them worked through local and state economic development agencies to come up with the best solution to expand their businesses in southeast Michigan."They both did a very good job of helping us understand the benefits of growing here in Ann Arbor," says Scott Robertson, managing partner of Grand River, which plans to invest $1 million into expanding its Ann Arbor office.The biggest investments are coming from automotive firms. Detroit Diesel, a heavy-duty diesel engine manufacturer, plans to invest $194 million to expand its Redford Township operations. That investment will preserve 1,900 jobs at the facility. Making this possible is a state tax credit valued at $56.8 million over 11 years and a smaller tax abatement from Redford Township. Fisher & Company, an automotive seat component supplier, chose to invest $14.8 million in its St. Clair Shores and Sterling Heights facilities. A $778,358 state tax abatement over seven years is expected to save 189 jobs and help spur the creation of up to 138 more. Both automotive suppliers chose their Metro Detroit facilities over competing sites in Mexico.WABCO North America, a tier-one supplier to the commercial vehicle industry, plans to invest $6.2 million to create a new division in Rochester Hills, a move that will create up to 274 new jobs. It received a state tax credit of $1 million over five years and the city of Rochester Hills is also considering a tax credit. Troy-based Witzenmann, a manufacturer of flexible metallic components, expects to invest $13.1 million to expand its Troy presence. The project is expected to create 75 direct jobs thanks to a 10-year tax credit worth $325,354.Five technology companies in Metro Detroit also came away with tax credits. They include:- National Logistics Management, a Landstar subsidiary specializing in supply-chain logistics technology, plans to invest $12.5 million in its Southfield facilities. The company expects to retain 122 jobs and create another 163 thanks to a $2.7 million state tax credit over five years. - Dearborn-based Nexcess.net, a web-hosting firm, will create 42 jobs over the next six years by investing $4.2 million to convert a building in Southfield into a data center for Web hosting and software development. It received a state tax credit valued at $202,081 to entice it to choose Michigan over Indiana and Illinois.- SPX Corporation, a Warren-based infrastructure tech firm, will spend the next five years investing $402,000 to create 34 new jobs. The firm will provide support to automotive companies launching plug-in electric vehicles. The MEDC gave it a $377,672 state tax credit and the city of Warren is considering a $10,000 abatement.- Ann Arbor-based NanoBio, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in vaccines, plans to invest $1.4 million in its expansion plans that will create 32 new jobs. It received a state tax credit of $434,378 over five years and the city of Ann Arbor is considering a tax abatement of $800,000 over that same period.- Grand River, an e-commerce company based in Ann Arbor, plans to create 48 new jobs through a $1 million investment in its facilities over the next five years. It had been considering a competing site in Wisconsin when a $361,376 state tax credit help convince it to stay in Michigan. Source: Scott Robertson, managing partner of Grand River, and the Michigan Economic Development CorpWriter: Jon Zemke
Two local new economy firms recorded big sales over the last week with venture capital firm Beringea notching a profitable exit and TechTeam Global selling one of its subsidiaries for eight figures.Farmington Hills-based Beringea sold its stake in Plum Baby to Darwin Private Equity, but representatives declined to disclose the terms beyond saying the deal concluded a profitable venture. Beringea, Michigan's largest venture capital firm.The premium organic baby food purveyor was founded in 2006 by former chef and Susie Willis, a mother of three. It pioneered the premium baby food sector in the United Kingdom and has witnessed dramatic year-on-year growth. Beringea invested in the company in 2007.Southfield-based TechTeam Global also recorded a profitable exit of sorts, selling its government solutions subsidiary, TechTeam Government Solutions, to Jacobs Engineering Group for $59 million. With more than 3,000 employees worldwide, TechTeam Global provides IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing services. Source: Beringea and TechTeam GlobalWriter: Jon Zemke
Our Partners
