Innovation + Job News

Charlene Mitchell-Rodgers didn’t put the cape on Mel Farr, but she upgraded it enough to make it fly.

Before Mitchell-Rodgers' Media Consultants firm came along, the superstar car salesman's cape was a mess, attached to his suit with safety pins and shiny on the wrong side. Mitchell-Rodgers added Velcro, made it satin on both sides and then introduced Mel Farr to a new medium.

"I animated him and I got him a better cape," Mitchell-Rodgers says. "We upgraded him."

Mitchell-Rodgers is now upgrading her New Center-based firm. She is now focusing on handling public relations and marketing for small and medium-sized businesses in Metro Detroit, ranging from dentists to car repair shops.

Mitchell-Rodgers got her start as a TV reporter/anchor at TV stations in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Boston. She left the local TV news game in the late 1980s while working for Channel 7 in the golden age of Bill Bonds.

"I know what TV stations and media outlets are looking for and what they're not looking for," Mitchell-Rodgers says.

She recently hired a new employee, and keeps a small stable of independent contractors busy, but her goal is to build business and stay small.

Source: Charlene Mitchell-Rodgers, president of Media Consultants
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Detroit Edison wants its customers to help it meet Michigan’s new alternative energy mandate with its new SolarCurrents program.

The downtown-based utility is offering to pay for 50 percent of the installation costs for a solar energy system through the new pilot program. Businesses and residences are eligible. The program will harness the energy produced through the solar panels and credit part of the energy bill to the customer's bill for 20 years.

The idea is to help Detroit Edison reach the state's new Renewable Power Standard, which calls for 10 percent of their electricity sales come from renewable resources by 2015. Most of that is expected to be generated from wind power, but Detroit Edison and its parent company, DTE Energy, are also looking at solar options.

"It will be a small amount of energy in the big picture," says Len Singer, spokesman for Detroit Edison. "But it's a pilot program and its going to ascertain the role solar energy can play in Michigan."

Detroit Edison estimates a solar energy system for a typical 2,000-square-foot home or business can cost about $18,000 to install. The utility forecasts that as many as 1,500 of its customers will take part in the program. A second phase in the program for bigger solar panels is also being worked on and could be released soon.

For information on SolarCurrents, click here or call (313) 235-4786.

Source: Len Singer, spokesman for Detroit Edison
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Wayne State University’s School of Business Administration is opening three new Business Assistance Centers in the tri-county area this month.

The centers will partner the university's MBA students with businesses. The students will provide business consulting services, such as expertise, insight and manpower. The centers are looking for businesses to participate in the program.

"We're dealing with existing businesses that are having difficulty growing or adjusting to their new environment," says Jeff Stoltman, associate dean for graduate programs and research for the School of Business Administration at Wayne State University.

The centers will be located at Wayne State’s main campus, it’s Oakland County campus and in the Macomb County Administration Building in Mt. Clemens. There the students will provide things like marketing feasibility studies, business strategies and IT support, among other services.

For information, call (313) 577-1932.

Source: Jeff Stoltman, associate dean for graduate programs and research for the School of Business Administration at Wayne State University
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Torya Blanchard has turned a tiny budding business into a growing brand name in Detroit - Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes.

The 31-year-old started off in a 48-square-foot literal hole in the wall between Oslo and the downtown YMCA. Today she has two locations in the city that employ 12 after opening her new location in the Park Shelton Building in Midtown. Blanchard's creperies serve 40 types of crepes with fresh ingredients. Not bad for a French teacher with no business background.

Why did you decide to set up shop in Detroit?
I've lived in Detroit for 30 years, so it made perfect sense to set up shop here. Location will definitely make or break a business. Not only is high traffic important, but it is important to feel at home at your business. Detroit is home for me.

What are some of the advantages to doing business here?
A lot of people are hesitant to open a business in Detroit, so when someone does, people definitely notice. If you are a small shop or restaurant in the Midtown and Downtown areas you will get noticed.  

What do you see in Detroit that other people who live outside the city don't?
Detroit is a very underserved market. I'm not going to say that Detroit doesn't have it's share of problems. That's probably putting things lightly. However, people still choose to live, go to school and work in the city so there is a captive audience.

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in the Motor City?
I think it's a big misconception that it takes a lot of money to start a business. Keep things simple and avoid taking out loans. Start things off small.

If you could change one thing about Detroit, what would it be?
I would consolidate the areas that need costly city services and demo blighted neighborhoods. I would restructure and group vacant land as high incentive/low tax development agricultural districts. The effect being cutting the cost of city government and turning turning blighted neighborhoods into farmland. Detroit is too big for it's own good.

Source: Torya Blanchard, owner of Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

FutureNet Group already has its normal business trifecta going for it in the last year, signing new contracts in the engineering, construction and IT sectors. Now the west side-based firm is branching out into alternative energy to help fuel its growth.

FutureNet Group has added five people since the last time we checked in with the company early last year, bringing its total head count to 50. That growth in staff is attributed to the firm signing some long-term contracts in its three bread-and-butter areas.

"We are on our way," says Jay Mehta, vice president of FutureNet Group. "If everything goes as we’re expecting in the next 4-5 months we will double our growth."

The firm is working on a new alternative energy subsidiary. That new division specializes in getting energy from both solar and water sources. "That will be our target for this year," Mehta says.

Source: Jay Mehta, vice president of FutureNet Group
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Wayne State University wants local actors to nail their auditions.

The university's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts is offering two workshops on how to audition for films this fall.

"It is important to us that when films come to town we don't look like a bunch of amateurs," says Laurie Meeker, who is a former president of the Detroit branch of the Screen Actors Guild and leading the workshops. "We want to make the talent pool in Michigan to look as professional as possible."

Students will perform mock auditions and get coaching from professional actors. The idea is the one-on-one training will help actors sidestep any problems that are common knowledge to professionals.

"If you can't get through the audition, you're not going to make it to the set," Meeker says.

The workshops run for 10 hours over four consecutive Saturdays. The first workshop takes place in September, the second in October. The workshop costs $195. For information, contact David Romas at ac2942@wayne.edu or (313) 577-5448.

Source: Laurie Meeker, former president of the Detroit branch of the Screen Actors Guild
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The University of Detroit Mercy is expanding its nursing program to add a doctoral option for nurses to the university's curriculum.

U-D Mercy's School of Nursing is partnering with Madonna University in Livonia to develop the doctoral degree, splitting a $750,000 grant to make it happen. The idea is to create more nurses with doctorates to teach even more undergraduate nursing students, helping relieve the burgeoning nursing shortage.

Both universities have had undergraduate nursing schools since the 1940s. The Catholic universities added masters options in the 1980s and 1990s. Madonna just started its doctoral program this spring and U-D Mercy plans to start its doctoral program next year.

"This will be a nice blend to move the profession forward, especially as we move into an era of aging population and chronic illness," says Patricia Rouen, professor of nursing at U-D Mercy and co-chair of the university's doctoral nursing program.

Wayne State University has also recently nailed down $285,000 in federal funding to start its own distance learning curriculum for its nursing programs. The new curriculum will focus on psychiatric and public health fields of nursing. This will be the only graduate-level, distance-learning program in Michigan.

Source: Wayne State University and Patricia Rouen, professor of nursing at University of Detroit Mercy
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

A lot people who ride the bus in the city do so because they don't have any other choice. Mark Nickita isn't one of those people.

The Birmingham resident (he grew up in Warrendale) is one of the co-founders of Archive DS, an architecture firm based in the Guardian Building downtown that employs seven people. The 45-year-old often rides the Woodward bus to and from work for his daily commute in the metropolis he loves to call home.

Why did you decide to set up shop in Detroit?
It was never an option. It is the only place to be. I wanted to be in the big city, the center, the most unique, historically valued place in the state. The place with the best architecture (in the realm of NYC and Chicago) and where the "feel" is the closest to the cities of the world that I have traveled to. No other place in the state can give you that. Surely not anywhere in the suburbs.

What are some of the advantages to doing business here?
Credibility, location, accessibility, convenience, activity just to name a few. When I talk to people out of the region or nationally, there is a level of credibility that we are in Detroit. Having the name of an unknown suburb under my business name doesn't carry much weight to people in other parts of the country or world. The name Detroit is known globally -- even more than the Michigan title. Many don't realize this.

As for accessibility -- there are always options. I can drive or take the bus to work -- as I do most of the time. People from throughout the region can get to downtown rather easily -- it is central and extensively connected.

Plus, we work with creative people, most of whom are located downtown or along the Woodward Corridor. We are directly connected. As for activity and convenience -- I have options everywhere. And I can walk to them all. Numerous restaurants, cafes, lofts, YMCA, parks, waterfront, post office, Secretary of State, etc. are all within a 10-minute walk from my office. Where else?

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in the Motor City?
Come to the real place to be. It's a big city with the greatest physical assets. Just go in the Guardian Building for coffee and then have lunch at Campus Martius -- done!

If you could change one thing about Detroit, what would it be?
I would like to see the city and the people of the region believe in themselves. We are great. We just don't believe it. Go to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte and numerous other "popular cities" and you will find that they are places with a fraction of the physical value of Detroit. We lack many things, especially economically at the moment, but this "place" is better than most. Appreciate it!

Source: Mark Nickita, principal and co-founder of Archive DS
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Sterling Services saw it coming a decade ago. Just about all of the work the Hamtramck-based firm handled back then was centered on the automotive industry. Since then the liquid-mixing firm has broadened its scope and plans to become a player in the local biodiesel game.

"We diversified our product lines into other industries and revenue streams," says Jason Eddleston, vice president of operations for Sterling Services.

Bio-diesel is one of Sterling Services' main targets. It plans to expand its plant space so it can handle and mix more blends of biodiesel later this year. Right now biodiesel accounts for 10 percent of Sterling Services' business. Eddleston expects biodiesel will account for as much as a quarter to a third within the next year.

Sterling Services is also looking at getting into or expanding its presence in other eco-friendly products, such as ethanol. It's currently applying for a state grant for auto suppliers to help ease and speed up this transition.

Source: Jason Eddleston, vice president of operations for Sterling Services
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

Detroit is about to get another website all about, you guessed it, Detroit. Bill Stacy is getting ready to launch dodetroit.com next week as away of connecting people with the fun, exciting and positive things going on in the city.

"We wanted to create something that was just Detroit and portrayed it in a positive light," says Stacy, editor in chief of dodetroit.com.

Stacey and six other people including freelancers and interns have been working on the website from the Russell Industrial Center all summer. They plan to hold six launching parties with food, drink and live music all around the city when it launches next week.

The weekly newsletter will let people know what is going on, along with listing useful information about things like apartments, lofts, schools and libraries. Stacy plans to do this without having dodetroit.com overdose on advertising. The website will have two banner ads on the top and bottom of the site as a way of funding the operation.

"That's all," Stacy says. "It will never expand beyond that."

Source: Bill Stacy, editor in chief of dodetroit.com
Writer: Jon Zemke
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DTE Energy is tearing apart more than 1,000 old refrigerators it has collected this summer as a way of making Metro Detroit more energy efficient.

The downtown Detroit-based utility started its own version of Cash for Clunkers earlier this summer but focused it on old appliances instead of cars. Old appliances, especially those old refrigerators keeping beers cold in the garage, are lacking when it comes to energy efficiency -- to put it nicely. Older refrigerators often use three times as much electricity compared to newer models.

The appliance recycling program offers DTE Energy's customers $50 for their old refrigerators and freezers. DTE even hauls them away for free. The check arrives in the mail 4-6 weeks later.

"If you call us to pick up one of those and have a working airconditioner or dehumidifer, you can give it to us and we'll give you $20," says Eileen Dixon, spokeswoman for DTE Energy.

These appliances are shipped to DTE Energy's new facility in Livonia where they are dismantled and properly disposed. About 30,000 old refrigerators and freezers are expected to be taken apart there, creating 20 new jobs over the next three years.

To schedule pick up of a refrigerator or freezer, call (866) 796-0512 or click here. visit the company's Web site.

Source: Eileen Dixon, spokeswoman for DTE Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke
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Fashion isn't one of the first things that comes to mind when looking at the Russell Industrial Center's rough and raw attributes, but it's something that the Detroit Sewing Spot is bringing to the old factory.

Two sisters, Rosedale Park-resident Lisa Benning Caston and old Redford-resident Deborah Edgar, started the enterprise this summer and are now reaping the benefits of setting up shop in Detroit's organic creativity beehive.

"It's a nice space," Edgar says. "It has a creative atmosphere that has opened up a lot of avenues for us."

Both women own their own fashion companies, LBCDesign (Caston) and DebStyle (Edgar), that they ran out of their homes for years. There they did everything from custom jobs to fashion shows. Then they came to the Russell Industrial Center, gained a little more professional respect for having an office and freedom to do what they need to do with it.

"They let you do what you need to do," Caston says. "There aren't many restrictions."

Source: Lisa Benning Caston and Deborah Edgar, partners in Detroit Sewing Spot
Writer: Jon Zemke
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Erick Novack isn't an entrepreneur, but it's hard to find a new business owner in Detroit who doesn't know him.

The 35-year-old West Village resident is the operations manager for the Russell Industrial Center. That means he brings in and sets up the hundreds of small businesses, start-ups and artists who have flocked to the old Rust Belt factory turned organic business incubator. His phone is constantly ringing from people with big dreams of starting, or moving, a small business in Detroit. It puts Novack in the unique position of knowing what start-ups in Detroit are looking for and need.

Describe your business in two sentences or less:
I am the operations manager for Russell Industrial Center, the fastest growing small business haven and artist community in the Midwest.

Why did you decide to set up shop in Detroit?
We purchased the building in 2003 before it was to be shut down. At the time there were 30 tenants, 10 of which were small business and/or commercial artists. We decided to continue the natural occurrence which took place in the old factory. We designed small spaces that enabled small businesses, start-up companies, artists and any other innovative entrepreneur to have an office or operation at an affordable cost.

What are some of the advantages to doing business here?
Square footage price for office and work space is very affordable. Also, Detroit is in an excellent location to ship products worldwide and being in the middle of the map it is a conducive place to centralize your business on a national level.

What do you see in Detroit that other people who live outside the city don't?
Architecture, new developments with affordable rates (housing and commerical), a fantastic artist culture and community. So many institutions that are world class like the DIA, Detroit Zoo and countless modern art galleries or museums. Oh, and the library ain't half bad either.

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in the Motor City?
Come see me first. If I don't have the space you need, I will help you find it.

If you could change one thing about Detroit, what would it be?
I think most would say the transit system, and for others it would be the accountability of city officials. I personally believe any city or any place for that matter is what you make of it.

Source: Eric Novack, operations manager of the Russell Industrial Center
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The Detroit Zen Center is known for its ultra-green complex in Hamtramck and expansion into organic food and urban farming. It's not as well known that the Buddhist temple supports itself by having a hand in a number of green projects across Metro Detroit.

Today the Detroit Zen Center's green building operation employs three full-time Buddhist monks, four local contractors and five student volunteers.

"The more we did the more we got into green building and sustainability," says Hillary Moga, director of the Detroit Zen Center.
 
It takes on or has a hand in about 20 green projects a year. Those include consulting on a Buddhist temple in California, the Mt. Zion church on Gratiot Avenue and the green roof installation on the Hanna House in Midtown.

The Detroit Zen Center has become so well known that it can be a little picky about its projects. Now it refrains from taking green new construction building in the suburbs, instead focusing on renovations in the city. This new business course jives better with the Buddhist philosophy to which the Detroit Zen Center subscribes. "One of the important things we look at is renovating existing structures and reclaiming existing materials," Moga says.

Source: Hillary Moga, director of the Detroit Zen Center
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The Russell Industrial Center is just the next logical step for Nicole Adams' business – Nicole Adams Photography.

The East side resident is a self-taught photographer. She has been developing and growing her business from her home for the last decade, focusing on things like portraits, weddings and events. She needed more and more professioal space, however. "I was just ready to take my business to the next level," Adams says.

She is paying about $650 a month on a month-to-month lease for 1,500 square feet. That same price would get her only 500 square feet elsewhere in Metro Detroit and at least a year-long lease. Adams says she enjoys the old industrial feel of the Russell Industrial Center and the new economy enthusiasm from the hundreds of small businesses that call it home.

Source: Nicole Adams, owner of Nicole Adams Photography
Writer: Jon Zemke
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