Not all businesses are original. Many are take-offs of an idea that just didn't work out for someone else. That's the case with the guys behind Mango Languages, who turned an old idea into a fast-growing start-up. And creating jobs left and right in the process.

The four friends behind the Farmington Hills-based firm had been building a web-development firm earlier this decade. Part of their jobs included working on a foreign language learning program. The creator was having difficulty, so two years ago the foursome decided to make their own version and hence Mango Languages was born. Today the company employs 35 people, 60 independent contractors, and two interns.

"We're growing," says Beverly Cornell, marketing and social media director for Mango Languages. "We're adding about 30 developers over the next six months."

Mango Language's primary product helps users master foreign languages. They have been able to get their products in libraries across the U.S., including some of the big ones like the New York and Seattle public libraries.

"About 40 million people in the U.S. have access to Mango Languages for free," Cornell says.

Mango Languages plans to expand its product offering in the next year. That should include the release of its latest product – Mango Basic. The program teaches polite usage of foreign languages.

Source: Beverly Cornell, marketing and social media director for Mango Languages
Writer: Jon Zemke

The collapse of the housing market has destroyed many businesses in Metro Detroit, but it's helping enrich at least one - DartAppraisal.com.

The Troy-based firm has turned that big problem into a big opportunity and is hiring at a torrid pace now. The company had 14 people in early 2008 and now employs 30, plus 6,000 independent contractors and a few summer interns. It expects to hire another 5-7 people before the year ends and 7-14 more in 2010.

"It's been a great year," says Darton Case, president of DartAppraisal.com. "Everything has been hitting for us."

Not that the company was doing too badly during the housing boom either. The online appraisal management firm was able to switch out of the normal appraisal game when the bottom of the housing market fell out. Today it handles refinancing, purchases and foreclosures in big states like Texas.

All of this is from a business that started as a spin-off of Oakland Mortgage in 1989. That company, run by Case's father, is now gone and DartAppraisal.com is growing strong.

"It gave me a place to run and stay out of the my father's hair," Case says.

Source: Darton Case, president of DartAppraisal.com
Writer: Jon Zemke

Securely Yours has some big plans for its second year of business.

The Bloomfield Hills-based firm got its start this spring and is now run by two people with a Rolodex of 25 independent contractors. The company expects to break out in 2010 by upping its employment rolls to 10-15 strong and 50 independent contractors. It hopes to do this by hitting $5-10 million in revenue after doing six figures worth in 2009.

"We feel our business is positioned to take off faster," says Sajay Rai, CEO and founder of Securely Yours.

Rai knows a thing about the information security game in which his start-up is trying to gain traction. The former IBM executive and Ernst & Young partner has spent 32 years in IT and 20 of those in the security aspect of it.

His company focus will be on information security in the higher education, government, and healthcare industries. Rai also wants to expand into the finance and manufacturing sectors. He claims his business can provide solutions that can drop a company's security and IT costs by 25-40 percent.

"The focus on information security has never been greater," Rai says.

Source: Sajay Rai, CEO and founder of Securely Yours
Writer: Jon Zemke

One of Michigan's more innovative forms of supplying seed capital strikes again now that the state's Microloan Fund has made loans to businesses in Ann Arbor and Birmingham.

The four loans total $200,000 and are meant to help the fledgling firms grow their businesses and commercialize new products. The loans, which usually are for about $50,000, are administered by Ann Arbor SPARK and repaid with interest within a couple years. The loans are also normally precursors to investments by angel investors and venture capital.

The recipients include:

Solarflex. The Birmingham-based firm will use the money to commercialize organic solar cells. These cells have the potential to offer greater efficiency and lower cost compared to solar cells currently on the market.

Allinnova. The Ann Arbor-based firm is developing tools for a comprehensive corporate capabilities assessment. Its microloan will be used to commercialize a tool for determining a corporation's capability to be successful in a strategic partnership with another organization.

Procuit. The Ann Arbor-based software-development firm creates educational software engines. Its funding will help support commercialization of HomeschoolAdvantage.com, a product that serves as a dedicated portal for the 2 million home schooled children in North America.

The Whole Brain Group. This Ann Arbor-based firm will use the money to ease the transition from a service-based business model to a product-based business model. Its flagship product is a subscription-based service that provides accreditation services to life science research institutions.

Source: Ann Arbor SPARK
Writer: Jon Zemke

Productions Plus is adding to its business by acquiring a local competitor – The Talent Shop. The new company is Production Plus – The Talent Shop out of Bingham Farms.

"They have been a fine competitor," says Margery Krevsky, president and CEO of Production Plus – The Talent Shop.

The acquisition makes Production Plus one of the premiere talent agencies in the Midwest. It was already on its way up, adding two more jobs to its staff of 46. Of those positions, 32 are located in Metro Detroit. The others are split between offices in Chicago and California.

The Talent Shop's print, commercial, and film sectors are expected to beef up the new firm's capabilities. The big emphasis will be on taking advantage of Michigan's emerging film industry.

"We're capitalizing on the film incentives," Krevsky says.

Source: Margery Krevsky, president and CEO of Production Plus – The Talent Shop
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

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 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

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

An old successful name is creating some new jobs in the Ann Arbor/Plymouth area.

Excerpt:

Back again for the first time, Esperion is getting its heart rate up as it begins its first clinical trial.

The former Ann Arbor-based firm that now calls Ann Arbor SPARK's Michigan Life Science & Innovation Center in Plymouth home started its first clinical Phase I clinical study since Pfizer spun the company back to its original founder last spring.

Read the rest of the story here.

North American Bancard continues its growth, adding 50 new employees this year and moving into a bigger and better headquarters in Troy this month.

About 300 people and 5-10 interns work at its new $25 million headquarters at the corner of Stephenson Highway and 14 Mile Road. That rate of growth is expected to continue next year as the firm continues to fill out its new 105,000 square feet of space.

"We're continually growing, so it's pretty steady," says Danielle Crane, director of human resources at North American Bancard.

The firm, founded in 1992, is a leader in the electronic payments industry. It creates credit card e-commerce technology, both hardware and software. If you swipe your debit or credit card, then there is a good chance you're using North American Bancard products.

North American Bancard processes more than $5 billion annually from 90,000 active customers as of 2008. It recently received a $21.5 million tax credit over 12 years to create 1,500 new jobs in the state.

Source: Danielle Crane, director of human resources at North American Bancard
Writer: Jon Zemke

Plex Systems can now count all of the ways it's going to grow - six million ways, in fact.

That's how much venture capital the Auburn Hills-based firm received earlier this week. A combination of private-equity firm Apax Partners, company management, and founding investors made the investment so the firm can build its customer base, expand its product development and accelerate sales and marketing efforts.

Plex Systems has watched its recurring revenue grow 34 percent in the first nine months of this year compared to 2008. Total revenue is up 14 percent over the comparable period from last year. The company has expanded into new industries, such as food and beverage processing, aerospace and defense manufacturing, and medical device manufacturing. It also grew its position within automotive manufacturing.

"That's been pretty average for the last 2-3 years in a row," says Patrick Fetterman, vice president of marketing for Plex Systems.

The company employs 135 people and eight student co-ops from Lawrence Technological and Kettering universities. It has hired about 15-20 people so far this year and expects to continue to hire next year. It is preparing for an initial public offering in the next 2-3 years.

Plex Systems creates enterprise resource planning software that lets manufacturers work more efficiently and provide the same services on a website. It's widely used in the automotive, defense, life sciences, and food and beverage industries. Plex Systems competitors include the likes of Microsoft, Oracle, and the European SAP.

Source: Patrick Fetterman, vice president of marketing for Plex Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

Unity Studios has landed its first major outside tenant now that WAR Entertainment is moving its operations to its new studio in Allen Park.

The formerly Pittsburgh-based firm is packing up shop and moving to Unity Studios this week. The move will mean five new jobs at first and more once the film and TV production company begins its production schedule next year.

"Things just clicked," says Eric Cedo, spokesman for Unity Studios. "They saw opportunities to grow their business here in Michigan."

WAR Entertainment was founded by former Detroit Piston Dale Davis. The company found Unity Studios after its name came out on the top of a Google search for the words "film studio Michigan."

Unity Studios is in the first stages of transforming about 100 acres into a film studio space. The first phase calls for renovating a 600,000-square-foot building to add four feature-size sound stages on 10 acres. Each of the sound stages measures out at 25,000 square feet. Work on the first of those stages is set to begin later this month.

The building will also house the Lifton Institute of Media Skills and room for production support vendors. The Lifton Institute started offering classes earlier this fall.

The second and third phases include developing the 64 acres into Unity Village, a tourist destination with housing, retail, and complimentary commercial business. The whole project is worth $146 million.

Source: Eric Cedo, spokesman for Unity Studios
Writer: Jon Zemke

In a shrinking industry, K&F Electronics continues to grow.

The Fraser-based firm has added five new jobs (for a total of 28) since its last acquisition earlier this summer. That allowed the company to up its production from a four-day shift to a five-day shift plus overtime.

K&F Electronics is buying another firm, H and L Electronics of Atlanta. It hopes to double its sales with this latest acquisition and continue to grow. Another acquisition could be in the firm's future before the year is out.

"The weirdest thing is I have people who have 100 people and want me to buy them," says Rick Kincaid, president of K&F Electronics.

The circuit board manufacturer is one of only a few hundred such companies still left in a quickly consolidating industry. Kincaid is only looking to acquire firms right now and bring more work to his native Metro Detroit.

Source: Rick Kincaid, president of K&F Electronics
Writer: Jon Zemke

It's been a long, winding journey for Liberty Center One, a journey that's not only continuing but picking up speed.

The Pleasant Ridge-based firm started out a dozen years ago focusing on automotive marketing. As the firm grew, it made increasing use of Internet hosting services, and then moved in that direction by buying Ann Arbor-based Web Elite.

"That was really the impetus for us to get into the hosting business," says Tim Mullahy, general manager of Liberty Center One.

Today the firm is hitting its stride with its new data center in Royal Oak, which has allowed the firm to grow to 30-35 people and another 20 or so independent contractors. Mullahy expects the firm to hire more people in 2010.

"We're pretty hopeful IT spending will be back up," Mullahy says. "We think there is some pent up demand."

One encouraging sign is the growth it has seen so far this year. The firm has been able to double its sales in the last six months and has experienced more revenue growth this year compared to 2008.

Source: Tim Mullahy, general manager of Liberty Center One
Writer: Jon Zemke

There are half a dozen people who continue to ply their entrepreneurial hopes and dreams in a perpetual start-up called BrightonIdeas.com.

Bill Stumphauzer is the de facto sun of a little entrepreneurial universe where people try to make their visions come to life in their spare time while they work their 9-5 jobs. The South Lyon resident works as a director of infotainment at Sirius XM. Another member is a product engineer for Ford, and another is a retired legal counsel for a company.

"While we all have these 9-5 jobs we all have in the back of our minds the idea that we would like to run our own business," Stumphauzer says. "We all hold onto that idealistic dream of being our own boss."

The company started a decade ago with the idea of creating a virtual wardrobe website. That idea crashed and burned but they were back at it with a flying toy called the Stingray. That made it to the New York Toy Show before failing.

"That one looked the most like it was going to take off," Stumphauzer says.

Other ideas have come and gone over time, but the group is unfazed. It's still working on the next big idea that will make the business viable.

Source: Bill Stumphauzer, founder of BrightonIdeas.com
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Detroit's Guffly is gaining traction as it expands its product offerings to meet consumer demand.

The TechTown-based start-up features a new eco-friendly product on its website every day. It also makes a point to find products that have a bit of flair to them. The site launched late last summer and has met with a bit of success since then as people continue to demand some of the products.

"We're calling them out top Guffs because they're our top sellers we're making available," says Kelley Walker, chief interwebs troublemaker for Guffly.

Among those products are tote bags made of old seat belts and cuff links made of Legos. It all comes back to the idea that the green lifestyle needs to invoke a little more style.

The idea came from a couple of students at Bizdom U. They came up with the idea for the name by combining the words good and stuff with an -ly added to the end to make it catchy. The company's two founders are Chanell Scott (chief love distributor for Guffly) and Jordan Contreras (chief strategic friendship ninja for Guffly). They are working to establish the company in its first year and continue to build its network of suppliers.

Source: Kelley Walker, chief interwebs troublemaker for Guffly
Writer: Jon Zemke

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

Ann Arbor's re:group is doing anything but as it continues its steady growth in the college town's downtown.

Excerpt:

Ann Arbor's re:group deals with a lot of new economy business model like brand development and social media, but it depends on an old school business model to grow its own business.

The downtown-based firm focuses on growing its client base and existing business relationships. That led to landing a number of new clients (the latest is Health Plus of Michigan), pumping up its revenue 10 percent over last year as well as adding two people to its staff of 20 (and an intern).

Read the rest of the story here.

Mercedes-Benz Hybrid is one step closer to setting up a research-and-development center at the Redford Township facilities of its parent company, Daimler AG, now that local officials have approved a tax exemption for the expansion.

Mercedes-Benz Hybrid plans to create the R&D center at the Detroit Diesel campus, where it will develop and maintain a line of conventional and alternative propulsion powertrain systems. Think hybrid and electric-vehicle systems. Daimler is planning to consolidate a lot of its resources, talent, and expertise at its Detroit Diesel campus.

"We looked at several locations inside and outside of Michigan," says Judy Brunson, operations officer for Mercedes-Benz Hybrid.

The new $2.3 million R&D center is expected to have a staff about 100 people strong, mostly in the engineering and other highly technical fields. Those workers will be responsible for developing conventional and alternative propulsion powertrains and components including EMotors, power electronics, and supporting software technology.

"We're looking to bring a highly skilled technical workforces to southeast Michigan," Brunson says.

Source: Judy Brunson, operations officer for Mercedes-Benz Hybrid
Writer: Jon Zemke