In the News

Beer cart Fridays and take your dog to work day are now common perks at start-ups, but how many can boast a pinball arcade?

Excerpt:

"Startup Plex Systems has a pinball arcade complete with its own pinball wizard, Michael McDonald. How cool is that?...

Michigan-based Plex recently lured Jason Blessing to be its new CEO. Blessing is a former PeopleSoft and Taleo exec who escaped the clutches of Oracle, twice, when each of his employers was acquired.

Blessing jumped at the CEO job back in his home state. But he says his favorite thing about his new company is the pinball arcade."

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Area economists are backing a much rosier economic outlook for southeast Michigan.

Excerpt:

"The seven-county region of Genesee, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair and Shiawassee will gain more than 76,000 jobs this year through 2015, say University of Michigan economists....

Fulton and Grimes say that the job growth is accompanied by slowly declining unemployment and relatively tame price inflation. The unemployment rate in the region, which has improved each year since 2009, will continue to drop from last year's 9.4 percent clip to 9.1 percent this year, 8.3 percent next year and 7.3 percent in 2015. Inflation will hover around 2 percent or less throughout the forecast horizon."

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A lucky dozen entrepreneurs from Michigan made Forbes' 2013 billionaire roster, with half of them hailing from metro Detroit.

Excerpt:

"And according to Forbes, Franklin businessman Dan Gilbert added more than $1.5 billion to his net worth. Gilbert, who controls about 40 companies led by Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc., is worth $3.5 billion, ranking 384th....

Mike and Marian Ilitch — the Bingham Farms couple who opened pizza chain Little Caesars — saw their net worth unchanged at $2.7 billion, along with family. They rank 527th on the list. They jointly own the Detroit Red Wings, while he owns the Detroit Tigers and she owns the MotorCity Casino Hotel.

Manoj Bhargava, the founder of the 5-hour Energy drink who lives in Farmington Hills, is worth $1.5 billion and is 974 on the list."

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Many sports fans are eschewing typical burgers and brats and going for the tempeh. The Palace of Auburn Hills is delivering on this craving.

Excerpt:

"First came Major League Baseball in 2002, followed by the NFL in 2008. Now, for the first time, thanks to the explosion in vegetarian options at sports venues across the continent, PETA has ranked the top 10 most vegetarian-friendly NBA arenas, and The Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the Detroit Pistons, has grabbed 10th place...To see all the delicious vegetarian offerings, please visit PETA's blog."

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Looks like Detroit might throw its hat in the ring to host the 2024 Olympic Games. What could this high-powered event do for the Detroit region?

Excerpt:

"A letter was recently sent by the U.S. Olympic Committee to Detroit and other cities that "have previously expressed an interest in bidding as well as the cities in the largest 25 U.S. markets."

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The film incentive dollars are back on track. The Michigan Film Office was able to parlay what was just to be a car-building project into a film shoot as well.

Excerpt:

"The Michigan Film Office announced today the feature film Need for Speed has been approved for a film incentive from the state. The DreamWorks Studios’ film chronicles a cross-country journey at impossible speeds and will film in part in Detroit this summer.

In addition to filming in the state, two Michigan businesses – Race Car Replicas in Clinton Township and Technosports Creative of Livonia – are being utilized to build and enhance cars being featured in the film."

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In this piece on NPR, a man from the burbs finds an artisanal Detroit.

Excerpt:

"The corrupt, crime-addled Detroit of Charlie LeDuff's new memoir, Detroit: An American Autopsy, isn't the same city that I left a month ago.

Which is the real Motown, and which is a mirage? Did I imagine the Roaring '20s charm of the up-and-coming groups playing Cliff Bell's Jazz Club in Grand Circus Park? Was the deliciousness of Midtown's Avalon International Bread Company's holiday stollen loaf more fleeting than fixed? Was Corktown's Sugar House bar really just covering up emptiness and destitution behind a false front of bustling occupancy as it celebrated the historical end of prohibition?

It's true that my Detroit experience is different than many others. I'm a lifelong resident of an outer suburb, and I went to a prestigious boarding school that you might remember Eminem making fun of in 8 Mile.

But the Detroit that I know and have come to love is one where lifelong residents and artistic newcomers gather to chat about neighborhood development over a cup of coffee; one where a weeknight open hearing on transit investment and bus schedule rerouting is packed to the edges with urban and suburban commuters alike. It is a city where occupancy in many central neighborhoods is approaching the upper-90th percentile, according to the downtown development booster D:hive."

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Non-profits, here's a chance to put your best face forward. Applications are due by March 22.

Excerpt:

"Impact48's goal is to bring together the Detroit region's most talented design professionals to donate their time for 48 hours to help one lucky non-profit to collectively create a new exciting brand."

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USA Today is calling out Metro Detroit as one of the leader dogs in using pets in the social services realm.

Excerpt:

"Because of Henry -- a gentlemanly, chocolate-and-white Portuguese waterdog -- once-silent autistic students at Novi High School now have a voice.

A Doberman pinscher named Tuesday is credited with helping 11 former servicemen graduate last week from Redford District Court's first Veterans Court...

Michigan is among a growing number of states where dogs are moving into courts, schools, prisons and juvenile facilities on the heels of new research that shows the emotional and physical benefits of dog-person contact, particularly for people in pain or in trouble."

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Oakland County recently visited Dubai to seek investments in its life sciences industry – and not just from Middle East countries, but globally.

Excerpt:

"[Deputy Oakland County Executive Matthew Gibb], who represented Oakland County’s Medical Main Street Network during the trip, said the purpose of his visit was to promote the region as a hot spot for foreign investors in the life sciences industry...

The county has a wide array of established foreign investors with 872 foreign-owned corporations representing 37 countries. Japan has the most significant presence with 272 Japanese-owned companies in the county, the highest such concentration in the Midwest, Gibb said."

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In earlier times, Lake Orion's location in the hinterlands of northern Oakland County made it a weekend retreat in the era when people took to the healing waters. Its bath house was just named to the National Register of Historic Places.

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When it comes to innovation in the spirits business, micro distilleries are the new hot. And Michigan is leading the nation in this re-birth of an industry, not least because of Ferndale's Valentine Distilling Co.

Excerpt:

"The dream of Valentine Distilling Co., it turns out, wasn’t so farfetched. Starting a microbrewery would’ve been easier (nearly anyone can make beer in a bathtub), not to mention way less of a hassle with the feds. Still, Detroit was a distillery hotbed before Prohibition.

Today, just a short distance away in Lansing, Michigan State University runs the only artisan distillery program in the country, teaching people all over the world how to craft fine liquors. Michigan, in fact, has been at the forefront of the national micro-distillery renaissance in the last couple of years, and Professor Kris Berglund, a chemical engineer who runs MSU’s program, says there's a good reason for that.

"Between fruit, grains, and root crops, we have very diverse agriculture here," he says. "Micro-distilling really exploits that, and there’s quite a bit of room for growth in the industry."

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You know you've scored when suspenders savant Larry King props up your product! The New York Times also picked up this story.

Excerpt:

"When considering celebrities famous for sporting suspenders, none come to mind more quickly than veteran newsman and broadcaster, Larry King. King, 80, who claims to own at least 150 pairs of suspenders, has signed-on to lend his specific fashion notoriety to a partnership with Southfield, Mich.-based HoldUp Suspender Company...

"Wearing a pair of suspenders has long been a part of my life and style," said King. "I look forward to partnering with the Hold Up Suspender Company to bring additional awareness of their unique and innovative product lines and why suspenders should become a part of every man's wardrobe."

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Once again, the film credits are rolling with renewed energy. This time, it's a new national series that will give screen time to Detroit and its surrrounds.

Excerpt:

"...Set in Detroit, the series starts with a crime that will alter a detective’s life forever.   The pilot for the series was filmed in Detroit in September.   Filming on the nine additional episodes is expected to begin in Detroit this spring and run through the end of summer.

Low Winter Sun is a co-production between Endemol Studios and AMC Studios. Chris Mundy (Criminal Minds, Cold Case) wrote the pilot and serves as show runner and executive producer.   Cast includes Mark Strong (Sherlock Holmes and Zero Dark Thirty) and Lennie James (The Walking Dead, Jericho)...

The project was awarded an incentive of $7,544,611 and expects to hire 245 Michigan workers with a full time equivalent of 148 jobs."

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Tech talent in Metro Detroit bests that in many other regions of the country, according to a recent study.

Excerpt:

"The report “From Rust to Resurgence: Detroit’s Regional Technology Economy,” compiled by East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group, analyzed the Greater Detroit Area’s standing as a tech hub compared with 14 other regions in the U.S. and eight smaller Midwest regions.

Of those regions analyzed nationwide, the Greater Detroit region was first in several categories, including the total number of people working in architectural and engineering occupations, the number of engineering and engineering tech degrees completed in the area, and the amount of employees in the advanced automotive sector.

 The Greater Detroit area was fifth overall in tech industry employment with 210,984 jobs and fourth in percentage of total employment within the tech industry at 12.9 percent."

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