Technology & Innovation

Coverage of innovative research, development and deployment of technology and technological advance, including hardware, software and software as service.

Troy-based Autobike partners with Grand Rapids TerraTrike

By Newsroom

●

Arts & Culture

●

March 27, 2014

Autobike, the young company from Troy that's reworked and refined automatic shifting technology for bicycles, is going into business with TerraTrike, a Grand Rapids manufacturer of recumbent trikes. The partnership gives Autobike a whole new market for its technology that appeals to both techies who love gadgets and cyclists who just want an easy ride. Techies get a ride that's constantly being analyzed for when to shift by a tiny little electronic brain along with a smartphone app and bluetooth synching. Easy riders get a ride without ever having to shift a gear themselves. TerraTrike's product combined with Autobike's technology adds up to the world's first smart trike, the companies say. The new high-tech model, part of the TerraTrike's Rover line, debuts within weeks. TerraTrike and Autobike, which builds and sells its own bikes with its automatic shifters, have customers around the country, and they expect sales to increase after the release of the smart trike. Source: Autobike Writer: Kim North Shine

Latest in Technology & Innovation

Wheels for Workers creates car-repair career paths

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

March 27, 2014

Greg Szczesny knows what it's like to be without a vehicle when you absolutely need one. The Allen Park resident lost his job in 2009 and car trouble didn't do anything but help him in his search for employment. "I realized how important it was was to have reliable transportation and how difficult it was to maintain it," Szczesny says. That experience helped inspire him to start Wheels for Workers, a new non-profit focused on helping at-risk youth find careers through car repair. The non-profit, which Szczesny hopes to move to Detroit later this year, teaches teens how to become automotive mechanics while providing hands-on experience in auto repair. Check out a video about the non-profit here. Szczesny first pitched the idea at last year's Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge, an event focused on triple-bottom-line business creation and growth, and received warm reviews from the judges. He has since worked with Michigan Corps to refine the idea. He also recently finished the BUILD program at downtown Detroit-based D:hive to create a strategic plan. Wheels for Workers has also received a $2,400 grant from State Farm Insurance. Szczesny plans to re-enter the non-profit in this year’s Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge as a new venture and then in Hatch Detroit to help raise more seed capital, along with other grant money. "There is a lot of grant money out there for job training," Szczesny says. Source: Greg Szczesny, managing director & founder of Wheels for Workers Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Carbon Media Group hires 30, expands outdoor-related digital content focus

By Newsroom

●

Health

●

March 27, 2014

Carbon Media Group is not trying to keep its growth slow and steady. The digital media firm is in the midst of taking a couple of big steps forward. The Bingham Farms-based company has hired 30 people since the beginning of 2013, more than doubling its staff to 56 employees. It is looking to add some interns this summer. Many of the new jobs included positions in software development, account management, business development, sales, content writing and editing. "We're getting ready for a big growth year in 2014," says Hyaat Chaudhary, CEO of Carbon Media Group. For most of its first seven years, Carbon Media Group focused on digital advertising. Think banner ads, aimed at outdoors enthusiasts. It has since expanded its scope to include agriculture and action sports, like snowboarding or rock climbing. It is now working to become the largest digital content producer for the outdoor sporting world. "It's really a growth in the breadth of the business," Chaudhary says. Carbon Media Group now helps coordinate advertising and content creation for more than 600 websites for fans of the outdoors, agriculture and action sports/events/activities. It also has an extensive network of outdoor-related YouTube channels and its own CarbonTV outlet for online videos about the outdoors. That expansion has allowed Carbon Media Group to grow its revenue by 33 percent in 2013. It is on track to hit its goal of 60-percent revenue growth this year, an expansion that should allow the firm to continuing hiring at a brisk pace. Source: Hyaat Chaudhary, CEO of Carbon Media Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

ALC Hosted Telecommunications adapts to stay competitive

By Newsroom

●

General

●

March 27, 2014

Making a go of it in the telecommunications field is not an easy play these days, which is what’s keeping the team at ALC Hosted Telecommunications on its toes. "It's a competitive market," says Bettyanne Molitor, president & co-owner of ALC Hosted Telecommunications. "You are competing against services that are free so you have to be clever about what you're offering." The Chesterfield Township-based company specializes in providing hosted telecommunication services for businesses. Think audio, video, and web conferencing, hosted auto-dialing, and marketing-on-hold services. ALC Hosted Telecommunications recently added a conference call interface with the ability to dial out and invite participants into a conference call. Molitor started the business with her husband after being a stay-at-home mom for a number of years. She thought about the idea of re-entering the workforce as someone else’s employee but soon talked herself into re-entering as someone’s boss. "The idea of going to work for someone else after not doing that for years wasn't appealing to me," Molitor says. "So I decided to go into business for myself." It proved to be a good choice. Molitor and her husband have built ALC Hosted Telecommunications’ team up to four people and have continued to grow the firm's revenue despite the tough competition through client retention. Source: Bettyanne Molitor, president & co-owner of ALC Hosted Telecommunications Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Walsh College launches online program for aspiring entrepreneurs

By Newsroom

●

Education

●

March 27, 2014

Walsh College has always prided itself on being a friend of small business through education, but now its Troy campus is trying to make that help easier to access. The Walsh Institute is debuting its new Business Launch program, an online guide focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs to turn their business dreams into reality. "We took everything we do and centralized it," says Tara R Miceli, director of Walsh Institute. "We put it online and put it out there." Business Launch can walk budding businesspersons through the steps of growing their ideas and give them access to Walsh College's resources, mentors and faculty. The idea is to streamline the business-creation process so new entrepreneurs go through less of a learning curve. It costs $195 per idea to use the program, which includes filling out a questionnaire and receiving customized feedback. Users of the program will have access to a variety of business resources, including articles, blogs and case studies featuring small- and family-owned business success stories. "It just makes more sense," Miceli says. "We want to give the real-time answers to what a business needs at that time." Source: Tara R Miceli, director of Walsh Institute Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Atlantic Cities catches wind of Detroit Drone’s new technology

By Newsroom

●

Community Development

●

March 27, 2014

Much more than a fly-by-night operation, Detroit Drone has some neat new technology that could become a powerful force in public service. Excerpt: "When government officials in Detroit gathered to celebrate the demolition of the Brewster-Douglass housing projects downtown last week, they were joined by a few drones. One belonged to Harry Arnold, a local drone enthusiast who's turned his long-held interests in videography and radio-controlled helicopters into a marketable service (he runs the company Detroit Drone now).... He wants drones to become part of the typical fire-fighting experience, capturing images humans can't get near and providing ground commanders an aerial view they otherwise wouldn't have. Just last week, Arnold was invited out to film a hazmat training session in the city, showing response crews what it would be like to have an extra layer of technology in the case of something like a chemical fire. Arnold is optimistic his vision will become reality soon. "It's a technology that can have a public service," he says. "It has a chance to save lives." More here.

Walsh College scores $100K investment fund for students

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

March 20, 2014

Business students at Walsh College in Troy have six figures to play with now that a former member of the school’s faculty has started a new investment fund there. Leon LaBrecque, a former professor and department chair of finance and economics at Walsh College and managing partner and founder of LJPR, is giving $100,000 to start the Michigan Alpha Project. The student-run investment portfolio will focus on investing in publicly traded companies based in Michigan. LeBrecque says he choose to donate $100,000 at first because “it seemed like enough to make the students interested,” and he is helping raise more money to expand the fund. "We're trying to shoot for $1 million by the end of the year," LaBrecque says. The Michigan Alpha Project will be run by two student teams per quarter. One team will make the investments and manage the fund while a second team manages a shadow fund. The results from both teams are compared each quarter. The teams can range in size from five to nine students. The students will use Walsh College’s newly created finance lab to analyze markets and make investment choices. The 1,400 square-foot space features 24 work stations, 12 Bloomberg terminals, lab projectors, a white board, and an interactive market wall with live feeds for market indexes, global currency movements, current commodity prices, bond prices and NASDAQ, NYSE and Watchlist feeds. "It gives the students enough to get their fingernails dirty," says John Moore, professor of finance and economics at Walsh College. "It's different when you are investing real money." Source: John Moore, professor of finance and economics at Walsh College and Leon LaBrecque, managing partner and founder of LJPR Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Talascend staffing firm gets new COO

By Newsroom

●

General

●

March 20, 2014

The leadership team at Talascend is growing as the Troy-based staffing firm adds a new COO. Andrea Hopkey arrived this month with 20 years of staffing industry experience, working in the engineering/construction, manufacturing, telecommunications, IT/technical, chemical, and oil and gas industries. She has worked at Adecco, and most recently as president responsible for all aspects of the business at Allstates Technical Services. "She has a tremendous amount of staffing experience with some major players," says Jason Dawson, executive vice president of global administration for Talascend. "She has expertise in places we are growing, such as oil and gas." Talascend got its start in 1946 as Modern Engineering. It specialized mainly in engineering and design work early in its life but has transitioned mostly to staffing in recent years. The company employs about 150 core staff after making some new hires of recruiters and other positions in the last year. It routinely places 3,000 people in contract staffing jobs around the world, however, most of its staffing work is U.S.-based. Dawson still sees U.S.-based work as the firm’s biggest growth spot. Talascend has experienced double-digit growth since the end of the Great Recession, and Dawson doesn’t see why that streak would stop anytime soon. "We see '14 already growing again," Dawson says. Source: Jason Dawson, executive vice president of global administration at Talascend Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Michigan First Credit Union aims to add 17 jobs

By Newsroom

●

General

●

March 20, 2014

Michigan First Credit Union is in the process of hiring another 17 people right now, including a new spokester for its Young & Free Michigan program. The Lathrup Village-based credit union currently employs 247 people across six stand-alone branches, plus three more in Meijer stores. It is replacing a branch on Gratiot Avenue, which is expected to open this fall. Michigan First Credit Union has hired 17 people over the last year. Its new positions range from IT professionals to branch operations. For information on those jobs, click here. Among the new positions is the credit union’s spokester job for its Young & Free Michigan program. The 3-year-old program employs one college student for a year, making the person the credit union’s spokester. The spokester engages local college students through social media, community events, blog posts and online videos. The idea is to encourage smart financial behavior and help attract more young people to the credit union. "The year goes by so fast," says Vicky Goldwater, young & free Michigan spokester for Michigan First Credit Union. She worked as a waitress and studied communications at Macomb Community College before taking the position. "The experience was awesome." Michigan First Credit Union is taking applications for this year's spokester. The position comes with paid gas and insurance. Applicants are expected to make a video when applying. More info can be found here. "Have fun with the video," Goldwater says. "Be yourself." Michigan First Credit Union has about 94,300 members in Michigan, which is up more than 4,000 since the beginning of 2013. It has added $30 million in assets in the last year, totaling $674 million. Source: Vicky Goldwater, young & free Michigan spokester for Michigan First Credit Union Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

EcoMotors acquires Katech, plans to add personnel

By Newsroom

●

Economic Development

●

March 20, 2014

EcoMotors has acquired engine-manufacturer Katech, a move that will help the Allen Park-based startup accelerate development of its green-engine technology. Katech, which calls Clinton Township home, has made a name for itself over its 35 years for pushing the envelope when it comes to developing the latest in engine and powertrain technology. “The company has a great reputation,” says Tony Mannarino, the new CEO of Katech. “There are some really skilled people here.” EcoMotors launched in 2008 with the idea of reinventing the internal combustible engine to be more energy efficient and cleaner. It's developing an opposed-piston, opposed-cylinder engine that is smaller and lighter than conventional engines. It also has about half of the components of traditional engines. EcoMotors is a venture-backed startup with investment from Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates and Braemar Energy Ventures. The acquisition of Katech will allow for EcoMotors to research, test and build its engine technology. Katech will also keep doing business with its existing clients and flesh out its operations. Katech employs 18 people and is looking to add interns. It expects to hire another five people this year. “We expect to add another shift to operate at capacity,” Mannarino says. Source: Tony Mannarino, CEO of Katech Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.