Innovation & Job News

Kauffman Foundation sets up shop in TechTown

metromode Thursday, December 03, 2009

The Kauffman Foundation is consolidating its commitment to growing a new entrepreneurial ecosystem in Detroit.

The Kansas City, Mo-based foundation has opened up a satellite office in the TechTown business incubator in Detroit's New Center neighborhood. The new office will employ a staff of 3-5 people and focus on the foundation's Urban Entrepreneurial Partnership program.

"It's a vibrant area," says Lena Rodriguez, director of development for the Urban Entrepreneurial Partnership program. "There is a lot of activity there with a lot of innovation going on."

The program is being renamed to UEP Detroit 150, a reference to the program's mission of helping 150 of Detroit's displaced minority auto suppliers retool and diversify into other industries like biotech and military.

The Kauffman Foundation is partnering with the New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan and TechTown to create more than 1,200 new start-ups in Detroit within the next three years. TechTown is planning on a rapid expansion of its campus in the shadow of the Fisher Building to accommodate all of these new firms.

Source: Lena Rodriguez, director of development for the Urban Entrepreneurial Partnership and TechTown
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: U-M's Graham Institute launches intensive research to shape a sustainable Detroit

metromode Thursday, December 03, 2009

Ann Arbor, meet Detroit.

Yes, the University of Michigan has had a physical presence in Detroit for several years at its Detroit Center, but its Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute is preparing to take on a multi-year Integrated Assessment (IA) of the city.

Translation: Teams of researchers engaging with policy-makers, community groups, and other educational institutions.

John Callewaert, the IA program director for the Graham Institute, explains that the process is designed to handle "wicked problems", particularly challenging issues -- such as climate change -- that "are things we might not necessarily 'solve,' " he explains. "But we can make some good progress, come up with some policy options, an action plan to move forward."

So the three-year-old Graham Institute is taking on sustainability in Detroit in that spirit. Callewaert says the city was a natural fit for in-depth research and policy recommendations precisely because there are "a lot of people working in Detroit...now seemed like a really good time." The Detroit IA will work to build on previous efforts such as last year's SDAT.

Some of the issues to be considered will be right-sizing, open space usage, transportation, and green energy generation. Callewaert estimates that six teams will be funded, meaning that at least a dozen faculty will be spending time in the D. Ann Arbor will remain the home campus, but he anticipates the Detroit Center being used for IA meetings and larger events.

The IA endeavor kicks off on Monday, Dec. 14 with two brain-storming sessions (one at 3:30 p.m., the second at 6:30 p.m. Register here by Dec. 10.) to be held at the aforementioned Detroit Center at 3663 Woodward Ave. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Source: John Callewaert, UM Graham Institute
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

More movies shoot in Russell Industrial Center

metromode Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Russell Industrial Center has already established itself as the center of entrepreneurship in Detroit, and now it's trying to stake a similar claim in the film industry.

The factory-turned-studio space near the corner of I-75 near Grand Boulevard is already home to hundreds of small businesses and artists who occupy small studios at dirt cheap prices in a place with few rules and obligations. The film industry is starting to recognize that reality and take advantage of it.

"Now we're seeing people shooting movies like it's an actual movie studio," says Eric Novak, leasing agent for the Russell Industrial Center.

The Russell Industrial Center has traditionally served as the home studio for independent movies and some commercial work. That has changed with Michigan's new film incentives. Two Tier 1 films, which cost more than $1 million to make, have shot there this month and more are on the way.

The movies are Crave and Vanishing on Seventh Street. Their decision whether or not to use the Russell Industrial Center doesn't make or break the facility's budget, but it does add another two percent in revenue.

"It's a nice two percent to put back into our infrastructure like fixing the elevator or updating the lighting," Novak says.

Source: Eric Novak, leasing agent for the Russell Industrial Center
Writer: Jon Zemke

DEEN creates jobs in Detroit's TechTown

metromode Thursday, November 19, 2009

Tekisha Lee used to work in advertising for one of the big agencies, handling ads for a major branch of the military.

"I saw an economic opportunity because of the minority market," Lee says. "A lot of the corporations don't pick up the minority brands but I know there are a lot of opportunities there."

That led to the creation of the Diversity Emploment & Education Network Management (DEEN) a year ago. It specializes in multicultural employee candidates and has found a home in Detroit's TechTown business incubator. It now employs five people and 2-3 independent contractors. It hopes to add 15 more next year.

One of its products in development is DiverseNote, which is similar to a combination of Monster.com and LinkedIn for minorities. It is also creating a version of that website, DiverseNote Green, that centers around sustainability-based jobs.

"We want to add a lot of engineering individuals in the alternative energy industry," Lee says.

Source: Tekisha Lee, founder and CEO of Diversity Emploment & Education Network
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: Give thanks for increasing number of green options in SE Michigan

metromode Thursday, November 19, 2009

Every year, it gets easier to impart the holidays with an air of sustainability -- which is something that Green Space is certainly thankful for. So, in the spirit of the most food-oriented holiday, let us suggest some options from which to purvey your Thanksgiving feast.

In her story "The Omnivore's Detroit", Model D's managing editor Clare Ramsey explores several options for obtaining local, organic turkeys for her family's dinner last Thanksgiving. She ended up scoring at Roeske Farms in Hartland, about an hour northwest of Detroit, near M-59 and US 23, but also found Sunshine Meadows Farm in Ortonville and Harnois Farms near Pinckney.

Concentrate ran a similar story for those who live in Washtenaw County.

Eastern Market and the Royal Oak Farmers Market boast plenty of locally-grown produce that will remind you that celebration of the harvest bounty is truly at the root of this November holiday.

In other news, the Lions game on the 26th will be a carbon-neutral event. For the third year in a row, the Lions are partnering with TechTown-based Carbon Credit Environmental Services (CCES) and the Greening of Detroit to plant 650 trees in Detroit that will negate the 466 tons of carbon dioxide emitted by travel to and from the game as well as energy used at the stadium.

To get around, consider The Night Move. Thanksgiving Eve, the green shuttle will run its regular weekend route between Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Downtown Detroit from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. as well as a free shuttle for The Night Before Thanksgiving party at the Roostertail (from the Red Wings game at Joe Louis, Fishbones in St. Clair Shores, and Excalibur in Grosse Pointe Park). There's also a Night Move shuttle running to and from the Thursday Lions game, but it's already sold out.

Thanks for reading Green Space!

Sources: Monica Tabares, Greening of Detroit and Jennifer Harlan, The Night Move
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

SpaceForm spins out of TechTown into new partnership

metromode Thursday, November 12, 2009

Detroit's TechTown can claim another success story now that SpaceForm has spun out of the business incubator and formed a partnership with Welding Solutions.

SpaceForm employed three people before the merger this month. Today it employs seven at its new home in Madison Heights. It also has access to the resources and expertise of the 125 people that work for Welding Solutions.

"It was an ideal way to get access to a lot of experience and infrastructure that exists at Welding Solutions," says Alain Piette, president of SpaceForm.

SpaceForm develops welding technology that is much quicker, more efficient and cost effective than the norm in the manufacturing industry. The Delphi spin-off was also one of TechTown's first tenants when it started in 2005.

"It's a Michigan jewel that unfortunately not too many people know exists," Piette says. "They know where the resources are and they know how to coach entrepreneurs at various levels."

Source: Alain Piette, president of SpaceForm
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: WSU grad student launching co. to develop solar water heater monitor

metromode Thursday, November 12, 2009

David Collins, an Ann Arbor resident and Wayne State University graduate student, was struck with the entrepreneurial bug when he became curious about the amount of energy his own solar hot water heater produced. Since he was already on his way to earning his graduate certificate in alternative energy, his next step was to launch a business, Qisol, that will develop a readily-accessible affordable performance monitor for solar hot water heaters.

An idea is one thing, funding and backing another. His was one of six student companies chosen for WSU's E2 Challenge, housed at TechTown. The program supports Wayne State students in exploring the potential of their own start-up companies and preparing for outside investment.

The student groups that won the challenge received financial support and a summer-long mentoring program to develop their business idea with the help of funding from the Michigan Initiative for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Now Collins, who is earning a graduate certificate in alternative energy technology at WSU, is well on his way to launching a business that will make heating water with solar power a more viable, efficient alternative. The program provided Collins with training in marketing, educated him on corporate structure, and provided the backing that made conversations with potential investors and customers possible.

"E2 was wonderful...When I was going out and talking with installers, utility companies, and state representatives, once I told them I had a grant they wanted to listen," says Collins. "Once they knew someone was backing me up, it carried a lot of clout."

Collins now has a prototype of his product and three electrical engineers and two web designers working for him. He submitted an application for a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the Department of Energy in September and is currently developing a second prototype. He plans to launch his business in February 2010 and graduate in April.

Source: David Collins, Qisol
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

NextEnergy bids on wind turbine testing facility project

metromode Thursday, November 05, 2009

NextEnergy is bidding on a U.S. Dept. of Energy project that could lead the way to a major wind turbine testing facility near Detroit's Zug Island.

Drive trains for industrial sized wind turbines, not just the normal ones you see on the sides of houses, would be tested there. These turbines are some of the biggest alternative energy generators in the world.

But the plans are far from a done deal, as it faces competition with eight other locations across the U.S. NextEnergy is based out of Detroit's TechTown campus and specializes in the development of alternative energy.

Source: NextEnergy
Writer: Jon Zemke

GREEN SPACE: Detroit riverfront companies receive $450,000 in federal cleanup dollars

metromode Thursday, November 05, 2009

Southwest Detroit has borne a disproportionate amount of transportation-related environmental burdens for the entire Southeast Michigan region. Why is that? Its proximity to multiple freeways, train tracks, the Ambassador Bridge, and the Detroit River has resulted in a preponderance of transportation infrastructure and the accompanying emissions.

Some good news for the area: the receipt of two Michigan Clean Diesel Recovery and Reinvestment Project grants from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) that total more than $450,000. The money will be used by applicant partners Waterfront Petroleum Terminal Company ($309,913) and Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company ($141,700), both located on the Detroit River, to replace inefficient diesel engines. The grants are funded by the Diesel Emission's Reduction National Program (DERA) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and were facilitated by AKT Peerless Environmental & Energy Services and the Detroit Wayne County Port Authority (DWCPA).

Established in 1993, Waterfront Petroleum Terminal Company is a fuel and energy supplier to electrical utilities, steel producers, road builders, vessels on the Great Lakes, and government clients such as the U.S. Department of Defense and municipal accounts including the City of Detroit. The company also provides downstream distribution services, transportation solutions, consultation, design, equipment, and financing solutions. The DERA grant dollars will go towards replacing propulsion engines, generator sets, and shore pumps with more efficient equipment.

Since its inception in 1928, Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company has been an above-the-waterline shipyard and shipping terminal. It operates two port terminals, one in Ecorse and one in Southwest Detroit, where activities such as truck, rail car, and barge loading and unloading, container stuffing and stripping, securing, cargo sorting, cargo assembling, and short- and long-term storage take place. Nicholson will replace old diesel engines with new ones in order to reduce emissions.

Source: Rebecca Binno-Savage, AKT Peerless
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

MEDC approves brownfield projects, expected to create 1,500 jobs

metromode Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation approved 10 brownfield projects that are expected to create 1,500 jobs and help seven companies invest $254 million.

The projects include the normal automotive-centric projects and an IT center development in Detroit. The idea behind the tax credits is to turn some of the state's brown fields into viable commercial spaces available for investment and job creation. Michigan's definition of brown fields ranges from polluted land to obsolete buildings.

The Metro Detroit projects include:

Ohio Module Manufacturing Co. taking over ArvinMeritor's Southwest Detroit plant, saving 200 jobs that manufacture complete chassis modules for the Jeep Wrangler. The Toledo-based company plans to invest $21.4 million into the facility.
Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions plans to spend $7.3 million to open a new IT center in the Motor City. That deal is expected to create 437 jobs.
Williams International expects to invest $12 million to update its Commerce Township facility so it can build small gas turbine engines for military, industrial, and commercial aircraft applications
The transformation of the old Ford Wixom plant received a big boost with $137 million in tax credits over 20 years. Clairvoyant Energy Solar Panel Manufacturing and Xtreme Power plan to turn the facility into an alternative energy manufacturing base that will create 3,250 jobs as part of an $856 million project.

Source: Michigan Economic Development Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke

Feds, DTE Energy plan to invest $168M into Metro Detroit Smart Grid

metromode Thursday, October 29, 2009

Metro Detroit's smart grid is getting smarter now that it's about to receive a major investment.

The federal government has pledged $84 million in stimulus dollars to the project and DTE Energy and its partners plan to match that number.

"This is just for next year and 2011," says Scott Simons, a spokesman for DTE Energy.

The money will go toward DTE's SmartCurrents program, which will install advanced meters to allow the Detroit-based firm's employees to read and control them remotely. These meters are already being installed in Bloomfield Township and Grosse Ile.

About 700,000 of these meters will be installed over the next two years. The plan is to eventually change them all out over the next five years.

Source: Scott Simons, spokesman for DTE Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke

LA-based Paradise Valley Investment Group invests in Detroit housing

Model D Thursday, October 29, 2009

Investors from LA are finding a couple of different ways to invest their money in Detroit.

Excerpt:

West Coast money is starting to have a little impact on tackling Detroit's blight problem, turning liabilities into assets.

The Paradise Valley Investment Group has rehabbed about 20 foreclosed homes in the Motor City, turning them into viable rental housing. That also translates into homes for 70 people and thousands of dollars the city doesn't have to spend on demolition. Oh, and there are the bakers' dozen jobs created to rebuild these homes, along with another 10 jobs to make these home energy efficient/environmentally friendly.

"Our sole focus is in Detroit," says Robin Scovill, CEO of Paradise Valley Investment Group and a resident of Los Angeles. "That's where we're investing and it's the only place we're investing."

Read the rest of the story here.

Ford, Wayne State partner for MBA entrepreneur fellowship

metromode Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wayne State University and Ford are teaming up to offer a once-in-a-graduating-class opportunity by offering a year-long paid fellowship with Dearborn's biggest automaker.

Ford will allow one Wayne State MBA student or graduate to spend a year at its Global Technologies subsidiary as part of the university's Adams Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program. There the student will work with Ford's intellectual property to see what can be commercialized, spun off, or licensed.

"It provides a really unique opportunity for one of the outstanding MBA graduates to participate in a robust entrepreneurial experience," says Terry Cross, executive in residence at Wayne State University's School of Business.

Funding for the fellowship will be provided by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

Source: Terry Cross, executive in residence at Wayne State University's School of Business
Writer: Jon Zemke

Detroit set to host 2010 World Stem Cell Summit

metromode Thursday, October 22, 2009

Michigan's Big Three in higher education will host the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit in Detroit next fall.

Michigan's University Research Corridor (University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University) brought the event here. The idea is to help spur more investment and innovation in this growing sector of the state's economy.

"It's very important for our state to be recognized on a national level," says Eva Feldman, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan. "We can be at the forefront of stem cell research, thanks to the passage of Proposal 2."

Feldman also quarterbacks the stem cell research efforts at U-M. She says Michigan is starting to be recognized as an "emerging power" in this game now that Proposal 2 legalized embryonic stem cell research in the state.

The summit, organized by the non-profit Genetics Policy Institute, is expected to attract more than 1,200 stakeholders in the stem cell industry from more than 30 countries. The idea is to foster collaborations, economic development, technology transfer, commercialization, private investment, philanthropy, and just good old networking. Previous host cities include Houston, Boston, Baltimore, and Madison, Wis.

The conference will take place Oct. 4-6, 2010, at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit.

Source: Eva Feldman, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan
Writer: Jon Zemke

'Stick It In Detroit' finds home filming in the city

Model D Thursday, October 22, 2009

No, the crew filming the locally grown independent film Stick It In Detroit didn't tell the Motor City where to stick it.

Excerpt:

The creators behind the new movie Stick It In Detroit weren't stuck in the Motor City but were glad to be here.

"There is no way we could have possibly made this film anywhere else," says Robert Phelps, writer, director and actor in Stick It In Detroit.

Read the rest of the story here.

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