The guys behind Medtipster noticed that lots of consumers assumed $4 generic drugs could only be bought at the deep-discount, big-box retailers. But they knew lots of smaller mom-and-pop shops also offered them.

"Nobody knew about them," says Bruce Liebowitz, COO of Medtipster. "All of the talk was centered on Walmart."

That led to the creation of Medtipster. Think of it as a Google for locating the nearest outlet for $4 generic drugs. Enter in what type of medication you're looking for, and the website will direct you to the least expensive retailer.

The 8-month-old start-up went live online a month ago and has since added two more people to its payroll, for a total of six. The Troy-based firm hopes to expand this cost comparator website into the dental, chiropractic, and vision sectors.

"I think within the next year for sure," Liebowitz says. "We move at Internet speed, not brick-and-mortar speed."

He expects Medtipster will start hiring soon after that happens. Most of those new jobs will be in IT and other technical positions.

Source: Bruce Liebowitz, COO of Medtipster
Writer: Jon Zemke

What started as just another high school robotics project could turn into a career-molding discovery for three Royal Oak High School students.

Freshmen Gordon Stein, Max Schultz, and Julia Stavale built an autonomous robot that detects and locates landmines. It won the top award at the 10th annual World Robofest Championship at Lawrence Technological University this spring, and a $1,000 development grant from the Joint Center for Robotics at the Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center in Warren.

The students are filing for a patent for the robot called "Seeker" and are working in the rent-free office space of one parent's firm, Clawson-based Art/Design Group.

"They will be refining it over the next several months," says Joel Stein, father of Gordon Stein, who helped guide the team.

Stein challenged the Homemade Titanium Expos team to work on a project that not only exhibited their robotic expertise but tackled a humanitarian problem. They chose to focus on defusing landmines, (70 people are injured or killed every day by landmines) and researched patents to see what was out there.

The Homemade Titanium Expos came up with an inexpensive vehicle robot that can be used to find some of the 100 million landmines buried in 70 different countries. Seeker cost $148 to build and weighs five pounds, light enough not to set off most landmines. It uses a metal detector sensor to find the mines and marks the spot with a fluorescent dye.

Source: Joel Stein, parental supervisor of Homemade Titanium Expos and Lawrence Technological University
Writer: Jon Zemke

Engineers Mark Zagata and Bill Riley didn't wait for the automotive industry to change their lives. Instead they took the initiative and started ZagataRiley a little more than two years ago.

"The motivation was to go out and try something before something bad happened to you and you weren't prepared," says Mark Zagata, the firm's president.

The Livonia-based start-up specializes in design, engineering, and manufacturing of top-notch parts for motor sports, such as race cars or motorcycles.

"People find us if they have problems that aren't solved by regular engineering," Zagata says.

More people have found the company as a place to work themselves. The company now has five employees, including one recent hire specializing in carbon fiber composites. It moved into its own space and is currently renovating it for future growth.

ZagataRiley has enjoyed "moderate growth," according to Zagata. He expects the business to double or even triple within the next year or two. That could lead to another 2-4 hires; maybe even people looking for a little change from the local automotive industry.

Source: Mark Zagata, president of ZagataRiley
Writer: Jon Zemke

The head of one of Metro Detroit's fastest-growing companies is one of the finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in the Central Great Lakes region.

Mark Symonds serves as the president and CEO of Plex Systems, an enterprise resource planning software and website services company. The software lets manufacturers in the automotive, defense and life sciences industries work more efficiently.

Plex Systems, formerly Plexus Systems, grew its revenue by 33 percent in 2008 by adding 52 new customers. The Auburn Hills-based firm also expanded its payroll from 98 employees in 2006 to 128 today. It hopes to add another 20-40 people this year.

"That I was selected as a finalist is actually recognition of what the team at Plex Systems has achieved," Symonds says. "Every day our staff exhibits the commitment to excellence and the perseverance that are the true hallmarks of entrepreneurship. I accomplish very little on my own. It is the hard work of all the people at Plex that make us successful."

The Entrepreneur of the Year Award recognizes outstanding business people who are leading dynamic businesses that are growing at a fast pace. The winner will be announced at a gala at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn on June 11.

Source: Mark Symonds, president and CEO of Plex Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

A trio of recent college graduates is going all Silicon Valley on Metro Detroit with their new website, BongoTones.com.

Grads from the University of Michigan (David Pakhchanian and Nareg Sagherian) and the University of Toronto (Soheil Banifatemi) launched BongoTones last fall as an easier way for cell phone users to get more custom multimedia applications. They operate the company virtually, but are in the process of setting up a base in Royal Oak or even TechTown.

"We are inquiring about relocating closer to the city of Detroit, since most of the opportunities and our immediate connections are based there," Sagherian says.

The trio began the start-up as an easier way to get content to cell phones and to allow artists to build awareness of their work. Today its Beta platform delivers 15,000 user-generated ringtones with an easy search function. It also allows bands and musicians to convert their original music into ringtones.

All of this is available for free. The BongoTones trio is working with users, advertisers, and carriers to create revenue streams.

Source: Nareg Sagherian, co-founder of BongoTones
Writer: Jon Zemke

Macomb County continues to find new ways to work more county money into the small businesses of its local economy.

Its court system started a program that paid jurors on the spot and allowed them to spend it in downtown Mt. Clemens while waiting to be called to court earlier this year. Now the county has found a way to help its local farmers, by helping local seniors to eat more nutritionally.

The new Senior Project FRESH program offers coupons to income-eligible senior (at least 60 years old) residents of Macomb County. The coupons can be used for discounts on unprocessed, locally grown fruits and vegetables from local farmers markets.
 
"We're trying to help Michigan farmers and in turn help seniors with nutritional value," says Robin Auten, spokeswoman for Macomb County's Senior Project FRESH.

The program is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Michigan Office of Services to the Aging, and local donations. The coupons are expected to help more than 300 local seniors this year.

So far, the response has been so great that Auten's voicemail says that interested parties may have to wait for a return call. Other local municipalities, such as Detroit, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, also employ similar programs for people using Bridge cards or WIC coupons at local farmers markets.

Seniors who qualify for Senior Project FRESH coupons, which expire October 31, will get 20, good for $2 off purchases in Macomb County. For information, call Robin Auten at 586-466-8725.

Source: Robin Auten, spokeswoman for Macomb County's Senior Project FRESH
Writer: Jon Zemke

Hopefully, you'll be headed to a sunny beach or a cozy cabin at some point this summer. Perfect time to catch up on US Weekly and a good ol' fashioned who dunnit. It's not a bad time to grab a tome that will put some thoughts in your head about the world we live in, too. Here are some recommendations.

World Made by Hand, by Howard James Kunstler. This novel imagines a "post-oil" America set in the near future in Northern New York after a series of bombs render the government, freeway system and industry pretty much out for the count.

Imagining 100% local food production, the absence of fuel of any kind -- even bicycles are extinct because there's no rubber to make or patch tires -- is pretty radical. And it forces the reader to imagine just how self-sufficient they might be in a similar situation. Kunstler's pretty much the master of post-apocalyptic imaginings. Awesome read.

Better Off, by Eric Brende. Brende, an MIT grad, and his wife make a pact to live off the grid for 18 months. They move to an un-named town inahabited by some Mennonites, some Amish and some outliers like themselves and delve into farming and associated tasks with tons of heart.

It's a really interesting topic, but Brende's writing can be a bit over-romantic for my tastes. It's worth getting past that if the topic grabs you, though.

Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times, by Steve Solomon. If you are feeling inspired by all this self-sufficiency, a good place to head is to this helpful guide. Its goal is reasonable backyard production with less intensive work. You know, the way Grandma used to do it.

The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History, by William Ashworth. This book came out in 1987, but it's still relevant. The water system we live amidst is fascinating and, for my money, underrated. This book looks at how the lakes have been exploited over the centuries and the effects that has had on wildlife and water volume.

Happy reading!

Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

TechTown is prepping for a big growth spurt within the next three years.

Excerpt:

TechTown has some ambitious goals for expansion and a big check to back it up.

Right now the business incubator just south of New Center serves as the home to 90 some start-ups in old auto-factory buildings converted into state-of-the-art office space and laboratories. The latest plan calls for a rapid expansion of its campus to facilitate between 400-500 start-ups within the next three years.

"We are the launching pad for innovation and the knowledge economy," says Jay Noren, president of Wayne State University.

Read the rest of the story here.

After a decade of successes, Ghostly International, the hipper-than-hip record label, continues to haunt the Ann Arbor's business scene.

Excerpt:

Ten years ago this August, the idea behind Ghostly International was only a dream for Sam Valenti, a dream that the University of Michigan student incubated in his dorm room in Couzens Hall.

Today it's an internationally recognized electronic and ambient music label that supplies paychecks for six employees, a handful of independent contractors, and numerous musical artists. It continues to grow, moving into places like retail stores and iPhone applications.

"We've tried to move with the times," Valenti says. "Obviously, the record industry was in tumult or recession before the country was."

Read the rest of the story here.

Ann Arbor's Nanosystems is turning their foam innovations into big bucks, and cornering the surf board market while they're at it. Not bad for a company in a land-locked state.

Excerpt:

The products from John Nanos' company Nanosystems find themselves in the oddest places, ranging from surfboards to ear plugs to big, nasty, bleeding wounds.

Nanos, a University of Michigan graduate, took his experience in specialty foams nearly four years ago and created his own company that specializes in the organic versions of these foams. Today that company employs four people, three independent contractors and an intern.

Read the rest of the story here.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. has ambitious plans for growth and now a nice, fat tax incentive to make sure it happens here in Metro Detroit.

The Warren-based firm employs 1,625 people across nine states, with a little more than 800 working in Southeast Michigan. It plans to add another 432 jobs within the next seven years now that it has a $2.7 million state tax credit and $172,305 tax abatement from the city of Warren.

"It's a pivotal part of us growing here," says Rion Needs, president and CEO of Asset Acceptance.

Most of those hires should take place within the next year or two. About 80-90 of these jobs are expected to be created within between July and December. The company also considered making this $8.1 million expansion in Ohio and elsewhere.

"We could grow in any one of those (states it already has already set up shop) and other states we don't have a presence in," Needs says. "We are committed to growing."

Asset Acceptance is a specialty financial services company that purchases and collects charged-off consumer debt. It plans to expand on its existing core competencies in Warren while building analytical and technical capabilities to fuel future growth.

Source: Rion Needs, president and CEO of Asset Acceptance Capital Corp.
Writer: Jon Zemke

The Oakland University business incubator, OU INCubator, is getting some respect now that one of its clients, iTrack, is in line for some large tax breaks from the state.

DC Equities decided to create iTrack to help further its development of LPTS (Local Positioning and Tracking System) system. The system allows first responders to rapidly construct a network capable of providing positioning for autonomous robotic vehicles and personnel tracking.

The partnership plans to invest $700,000 into the project and will receive a $210,000 state tax credit. The investment is expected to create 35 jobs and keep the start-up in Oakland County.

"The tax incentive facilitate the investment," says Jerry Atkinson, CEO of iTrack.

The investment allows iTrack to finish the development of its technology, which is expect to happen in 2010. Atkinson says most of the job creation will take place at the end of next year when the product hits the market.

DC Equities, also known as Grindstone Capital, is an investment entity specializing in high-tech companies. It has a stake in Royal Oak Industries, a 350-person company (250 employed in Michigan) which supplies precision machine components and sub-assemblies for everything from heavy truck to high-performance engines.

Source: Jerry Atkinson, CEO of iTrack
Writer: Jon Zemke

While St. Clair Shores-based Energy Components Group hopes to capitalize on a $20 million investment in alternative energy and create 250 jobs within five years, it knows it's going to open up a new facility and hire about 20-30 by this fall.

"There is a lot of talent in Michigan," says Rich Pirrotta, COO of Energy Components Group. "There are a lot of good things that come from using the automotive talent here."

Pirrotta hopes to hire some of that talent soon thanks to an approximately $2 million tax credit over seven years from the state. The Michigan Economic Development Corp also hopes to provide an employee training grant of up to $250,000 through the Economic Development Job Training program.

That money helped the fledgling start-up choose to stay here instead of moving to another location in New Mexico, closer to its customers. Right now its handful of employees have almost closed on a manufacturing and research and development facility in St. Clair, where it will make precision machine components for alternative energy.

Source: Rich Pirrotta, COO of Energy Components Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

Detroit exports range from cars to sports stars to crime novels. Add crime movies to the list, with the soon-to-be released movie Street Boss.

The film is centered around reputed Detroit mafia kingpin Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, an alleged gangster rumored to be in on the Hoffa disappearance. The film is an adaptation of former-FBI-agent-turned-author Phil Kerby’s book of Giacalone and takes place in Saginaw.

Bierlein Entertainment shot the movie in 23 days on location in Saginaw, employing a crew ranging between 55-60 people. The shot included well-known Hollywood actors, such as Nick Turturro of "NYPD Blue" and Vincent Pastore of the "Sopranos."

"They were impressed we could do the movie in Michigan," says Lance Kawas, director of Street Boss.

The movie is currently being sold and is expected to be released later this year. Bierlein Entertainment is also planning to shoot two more movies in Michigan soon. They include the mystery Restitution and drama John Smith.

"We hope to start shooting this year and next," Kawas says.

Source: Lance Kawas, director of Street Boss
Writer: Jon Zemke

The three partners behind Grosse Pointe Today are ready to launch the new online news site all the way to the 1950s, and that's a good thing.

Local long-time journalists Ben Burns, Nancy Nall Derringer and Sheila Young Tomkowiak want to take the webzine back to a time when new sources were locally owned, operated and focused. To them, that's the 1950s before corporate greed started to erode the quality and effectiveness of community newspapers.

The fledgling website (started in April) hopes to parlay that local-centric philosophy into a non-profit business model that will allow it to become what local newspapers used to be to the community. That includes offering space for wedding announcements and obituaries for free.

"We think we will become the definitive information source for the Grosse Pointes and the east side of Detroit," says Ben Burns, publisher of Grosse Pointe Today and former executive editor of The Detroit News.

Right now that includes a lot of people working sans paycheck, to start. The three partners, advertising staff, 15-20 professional journalists and another 15-20 interns all contribute to the publication. The long-term goal is to establish the website enough to pay everyone the same way that the quickly-disappearing local community newspapers used to.

Burns hopes to establish the website within the next year or two and look toward expansion when it has reached a sustainable level. So far, it's off to a good start.

"We're getting more hits on our site now than we expected," Burns says.

Source: Ben Burns, publisher of Grosse Pointe Today
Writer: Jon Zemke

Most people know of Daniel Cherrin, the principal for North Coast Strategies and Cherrin Law Group, not so much from what his businesses have done as much as by what he has done.

Daniel Cherrin, president of both Royal Oak-based firms, in his recent role as the press secretary for former Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrell, was the point person for questions about the city.

The Michigan State Law School graduate served as a lobbyist for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. before starting his own firms. Now his client list ranges from the city of Windsor, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, Wayne State School of Medicine, and Fritz Enterprises in Trenton. All of his work deals with law, public relations, and government relations.

"I took the blue ocean strategy approach and took on the three areas with two companies," Cherrin says, explaining he has two companies because he can't bring non-law related work into his law practice.

Right now, it's just him and the occasional independent contractor. He is still a registered lobbyist in Washington, D.C. and Canada. He also does work in Lansing and is hoping to bring in more businesses looking to navigate the tricky waters of government -- and hopefully bring a person or two to help him.

"I would love to develop enough business to grow and add people to Michigan," Cherrin says.

Source: Daniel Cherrin, president of North Coast Strategies and Cherrin Law Group
Writer: Jon Zemke

In a short couple of weeks, one of the country's largest and most successful conferences on green initiatives is coming to Detroit for the first time. The Greening the Heartland Conference, hosted and co-sponsored by the Engineering Society of Detroit and the U.S. Green Building Council Detroit Chapter, will be held from May 31 to June 2 at Cobo Center.

One of the highlights of the conference is a keynote speech by David Suzuki, world-renowned environmental activist and science broadcaster, who will address the topic of "Economics, Energy and Ecology: Putting them Back Together." 

The conference will have four tracks:

• Economic Revitalization
• Public Policy & Resource Management
• Regional Best Management Practices
• Transportation & Technology

Its theme is "ABILITY" -- by illustrating sustainability practices that lead to multiple benefits. Industries represented will include green building, architecture, engineering, automotive, planning, landscape design, contracting, urban design, energy generation and transmission, agricultural production, interior design, building operations, and government offices.

Some of the stand-out sessions with a local angle include: "The Greenest Building Is...The One That is Already Built" (Amen!) by Quinn Evans principal Carl Elefante; "Growing Solar in Michigan: Ann Arbor's Solar America Cities Partnership" by Andre Brix of Ann Arbor's energy programs; and "Brown is the New Green" by Michael Momenee of Mannik & Smith -- a talk on brownfields opportunities.

The conference also offers attendees the chance to tour the Kresge Foundation's Platinum LEED facility and the Ford Rouge Center.

Organizers are expecting approximately 1,000 attendees.

Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

Diversifying Metro Detroit's economy also appears to mean diversifying the customer base of automotive suppliers.

Excerpt:

The New Economy Initiative announced plans in TechTown on Monday to help minority-owned automotive suppliers make the transition to other industries, such as aerospace, defense and alternative energy.

The New Economy Initiative is partnering with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to create the 3-year program. The New Economy Initiative is making $9.25 million in direct cash investment available while the Kauffman Foundation will provide expertise to help the transition, such as staff, materials and its FastTrac and Urban Entrepreneurship Partnership programs.

About $5 million of the $9.25 million will go toward the development of TechTown while another $3 million is designated for the Urban Entrepreneurship Partnership program. Another $1.25 million will go toward Shorebank Enterprises Detroit to establish and manage the Detroit Business Innovation Development Fund.

"This should be North America's laboratory for innovation," says David Egner, interim director for the New Economy Initiative.

Read the rest of the story here.

The people behind Essen Instruments decided to not go west and instead create jobs here in Ann Arbor.

Excerpt:

It would have been easy for Ann Arbor-based Essen Instruments to skip town. Many of its customers are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area. And there's more venture capital that could help the promising start-up to grow.

"There were a lot of things that were pulling us toward California," says Brad Naegle, a spokesman for Essen Instruments.

The 10-year-old firm decided to stick to its roots and expand in Michigan while taking advantage of a $490,940 tax credit over seven years from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. That will allow the life sciences company to invest $3 million in Ann Arbor while creating 43 new jobs over five years.

Read the rest of the story here.

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services is setting up a presence in Michigan's two big brain centers, Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo.

Excerpt:

Velesco Pharmaceutical Services is making another big investment in two of Michigan’s smartest college towns, Ann Arbor and Kalamazoo.

The Ann Arbor-based firm will utilize a $431,536 state tax credit over seven years to expand its laboratory space in the Ann Arbor area and open a new production facility in Kalamazoo. The $2 million investment is expected to create up to 35 jobs by 2014.

"This is a tremendous help for us to position us for success," says Gerry Cox, COO of Velesco Pharmaceutical Services.

Read the rest of the story here.