Innovation + Job News

Waiting for the doctor might seem like a long time, but it's pretty short in Detroit.

Excerpt:

Detroiters may have to wait to get an appointment with a new doctor, but much less than people in 13 other major cities, according to a survey released today.

The annual survey by Merritt Hawkins & Associates, an Irving, Texas, nation physicians’ search and consulting firm, found Detroit had the second best times of 15 cities surveyed. Only Atlanta did better.

Read the rest of the Detroit Free Press story here.read on…

Putting on one of North America’s top techno festivals isn't a one-man or even a one-company show. That's why Paxahau plans to employ 378 people to make this year’s Movement possible.

That number crosses a lot of lines, including 75 production and staffers, 100 security personnel, 80 bartenders and food vendors, 23 ticket takers/sellers and 100 artists/entourages. And then are the people aren't really being paid, such as the 20 interns from Northwood University and 150 volunteers who will serve as everything from greeters to runners.

"Our goal by involving them (the interns) is they get acclimated to Detroit and involved," says James Canning, a spokesman for Movement.

That's just for Memorial Day weekend. Paxahau is expanding the festival's brand internationally, forming a partnership in Italy to create Movement Torino. "It's sort of a year-round push for Movement," Canning says.

The home grown version is doing quite well so far. Ticket sales are up significantly with 1,789 weekend passes sold as of the end of April, compared to 838 in 2008. VIP pass sales are also up over last year.

Source: James Canning, spokesman for Movement
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The first of what is hoped to be many Franklin wind turbines has been installed on Wayne State University’s campus.

Franklin Wind Energy Group is using the university’s Engineering Technology Building in Midtown as the base for the 30-foot wind turbine. The Franklin-based start-up was founded by David Koyle, an adjunct professor of engineering at Wayne State.

The 5kW Franklin Vertical Axis Wind Turbine will produce electricity for the building’s computer lab. Students and faculty will monitor its production and use it as a learning tool. The turbine can take wind from any direction, operates at low RPM with no vibration, and emits little noise

“It’s an excellent opportunity to study real-time wind energy,” Koyle says.

They will also study how it reacts to certain aspects of its environment, such as its close proximity to the Lodge Freeway and surrounding buildings.

Source: David Koyle, president of Franklin Wind Energy Group
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The Kendra Law Firm isn’t a new economy firm by nature but many of TechTown’s new economy firms would have a much harder time without it.

The 7-year-old company provides all of the advice and work that makes all of the legal mumbo jumbo read less like Greek and more like English for the business incubator’s start-ups.

"It's really helping the entrepreneurs set up the company," says Gary Kendra, president and founder of Kendra Law Firm.

He knows what he's talking about. He served as the lead legal beagle for Ann Arbor-based start-up Genomic Solutions. He helped shepherd it through the incubation process until it went public in 2000. A few years later he was on his own, starting Kendra Law Firm.

The TechTown-based firm employs three people, including a paralegal who is a Wayne State University law student. He hopes to hire a few more people in the next year or two. "As TechTown grows, I hope to help fuel that growth," Kendra says.

Source: Gary Kendra, president and founder of Kendra Law Firm
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The people behind The Stratton Prize scholarship have some big ideas for it, including making it bigger in both reach and dollars.

The annual scholarship, sponsored by Birmingham-based The Stratton Foundation, awards $2,000 to a College for Creative Studies student studying digital media art and technology. The winner must integrate art with virtual world technology and create computer rendered video, known as machinima.

The first winner was a Detroit Renaissance High School graduate who created a video using lyrics and music composed by Liz Larin, owner of Bona Dea Music. Her video can be seen here.

This year the foundation is looking at letting applicants focus on visualizing poetry. "It may be different than what we had in 2009," says Douglas Stratton, president of The Stratton Foundation. "We're working on it. Sky is the limit on creativity."

The foundation is also looking at extending the scholarship to Michigan State University, which has its own machinima club. If that happens, the amount awarded each year would increase, perhaps even double, Stratton says.

Source: Douglas Stratton, president of The Stratton Foundation
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

Kerry Doman isn't the only reason After 5 Detroit is so youth oriented. The 27-year-old isn't only the founder and CEO of the almost-3-year-old start-up geared toward enhancing the social lives of young pros in Detroit, but she also employs 5-7 college interns and a healthy stable of independent contractors.

Her success with After 5 Detroit has resulted in a spin-off (Connect After 5) and a number of corporate copycats. Not bad for a Detroiter who found her way back to the Motor City from the Windy City.

Why did you decide to set up shop in Detroit?
In September 2005, I moved back to Detroit after being away for five years -- first at college, and then living and working in Chicago. When I returned, I found that I pretty much had to start from scratch in terms of learning my way around town and meeting new friends. It was harder than it needed to be. I realized that there was a real need and an exciting opportunity to connect young people to each other and to the community more quickly and positively, whether they are moving into town for the first time, are returning after college or work experience elsewhere, or have lived here forever. And that is how After 5 Detroit was born.

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in the Motor City?
Detroit is a city that is built on personal relationships. It is a big city with a small town heart. The community is very supportive of people who are trying to make a difference. If you take the time to get to know people and work with them, doing business in Detroit can be very fun and rewarding.

What do you see in Detroit that other people who live outside the city don't?
I see people who are resilient and who love their city despite its ups and downs. Unlike more transient cities like Chicago, most of the young people who live and work in Detroit are here for the long haul so they really do want to get engaged in the community.

If you could change one thing about Detroit, what would it be?
If we could truly come together as a metropolitan community and develop a positive, constructive vision of the future, it would be incredibly powerful. We certainly know how to roll up our sleeves and work hard, but we have to set aside the divisions and finger-pointing and decide our future course.

Source: Kerry Doman, CEO and founder of After 5 Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

Records aren't old in Detroit. They’re vintage, and so is the business that makes them.

Excerpt:

Detroit -- If ever a National Register of Historic, Cool, Hard-core, 20th-Century Machinery is created, Archer Record Pressing would be a landmark.

Archer is one of the last companies in the world still making vinyl records -- a technology the corporate music industry decided to banish four decades ago.

Read the rest of The Detroit News story here.read on…

A reality TV show on -- parking? -- is coming to Detroit. Sounds weird, but they should have no shortage of footage.

Excerpt:

With a unanimous Detroit City Council vote Tuesday, the hit A&E cable network series "Parking Wars" is coming to Detroit.

"It is reality TV," Councilman Kwame Kenyatta said about the unvarnished nature of the weekly series, which chronicles the work of ticket officers, tow operators, booters and police officers on film. "The people of Detroit know Detroit is on showcase."

Read the rest of the Detroit Free Press story here.read on…

One of Detroit's dubious honors is being the only city among the 30 largest in the nation to lack a curbside recycling program. Baby steps are being taken to remedy that by the city: a pilot curbside program has been launched in Rosedale Park and the Cadieux/Warren area of the East Side.

The curbside program, being a pilot, is testing two methods of pickup to see what works and what doesn't. The 15,000 East Side households will receive an 18-gallon bin that will picked up weekly, while Rosedale's 15,000 households get a container the size of a standard city-issued trash bin that will get picked up twice a month. The neighborhoods were chosen because they "both have strong block clubs and community organizations," says Matt Naimi of Recy-Clean, the company contracted to operate the program.

For the rest, Recycle Here! monthly mobile drop-off locations continue. That schedule is as follows:

• 1st Saturdays: Eastern Market
• 2nd Saturdays: Corktown, Farwell Rec Center, Indian Village
• 3rd Saturdays: Palmer Park, Gradmont Rosedale, Lafayette Park
• 4th Saturdays: Creekside, Clark Park, Boston Edison

Additionally, drop-off at Recycle Here! headquarters at 1331 Holden continues on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Information about times, locations and what can be recycled can be found here.

Source: Matt Naimi, Recy-Clean
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

read on…

GiftZip.com is moving its marketing division to downtown Detroit and bringing a couple of employees with it. They will set up shop in part of the third floor office space in the Iodent Building, just above Centaur Bar.

GiftZip.com is just the type of creative, new economy start-up Detroit’s leaders want staking a claim in what they envision as Detroit’s Creative Corridor. The 6-month-old start-up specializes in providing and sending a large variety of gift cards primarily over the Internet.

A group of college students from Michigan State University got started on the business while taking a supply chain class. They saw a number of inefficiencies in the gift card industry and believe there is a lot of room for profit for the company that eliminates those inefficiencies.

"The company is run by a bunch of college students," says Sam Hogg, CEO of GiftZip.com. "They're the best people for this because the marketing is done virally."

The guys behind GiftZip.com decided to set up shop in Detroit because of the number of amenities and resources the Motor City offers. For instance, they now have easy access to Metro Airport and other start-ups run by young people.

GiftZip.com plans to open a wedding registry application in May and come out with a version 2.0 of its website later this summer. The company is also looking at creating Facebook and iPhone applications this fall.

"I have a feeling we’re going to grow quite a bit," Hogg says. "Our growth is only limited by how many people find out about us."

Source: Sam Hogg, CEO of GiftZip.com
Writer: Jon Zemkeread on…

The cities of Detroit and Farmington Hills are teaming up with Isreali-based Miya to test new technology that could bring big efficiencies to Detroit’s water system.

The technology is sort of a smart-grid type of application, but designed for water systems. Water systems the world around lose potable water to leakage. This can be quite costly because the water is treated. Treated water is costly to produce because of the energy and resources used to make it potable.

“It has the potential to save us a lot of money if it’s a success,” says Pamela Turner, interim director of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department.

The technology has been deployed elsewhere around the world, but Detroit is the first U.S. city to employ it. The pilot project will focus on Farmington Hills and start toward the end of the year. It should take 6-12 months to execute. Other suburbs could use it if it proves effective.

Source: Pamela Turner, interim director of the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

Compuware subsidiary Covisint has signed a deal with the American Medical Association to provide 240,000 doctors with information from things like health records electronically.

The partnership is part of the recent trend to digitize health records and other similar information. The idea is it will create significant efficiencies that will lead to cheaper-but-better healthcare. It will do this with the help of a number of avenues, such as utilizing easily searchable electronic health records.

The AMA plans to do some pilot tests of a number of physician groups and then take the program national.

Source: Covisint
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

EXT Life Sciences is coming toward the end of the tunnel when it comes to commercializing its first product.

The TechTown-based firm is developing a drug that could turn out to be a powerful yet versatile anti-oxidant. The drug, a spin-off of Wayne State University research, works sort of like a smart missile that neutralizes production of harmful oxidants without affecting other parts of the cell.

EXT Life Sciences is in its third round of finance fundraising. It hopes to lock down the rest of the money it needs to finish commercializing its product this year.

"The sooner the better, but it’s hard to find fundraising in this market," says John I. Tesija, secretary treasurer of EXT Life Sciences.

A staff expansion could be in order for the start-up when it lands that money. Right now the firm employs two people on top of the handful of partners and the occasional intern.

Source: John I. Tesija, secretary treasurer of EXT Life Sciences
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

Keith Zendler is one of those serial entrepreneurs Metro Detroit's political class consistently fawns over in press releases. The 43-year-old started a couple of recycling companies and is now launching social networking and traffic management ventures.

His latest enterprise is Peoplemovers, which he started out of Boston Edison home in 2003. The four-person firm focuses on making connections in the community outreach arena. It recently hired one person and hopes to hire 10 more in the next year.

Describe your business in two sentences or less?
Peoplemovers is an online technology company that builds, promotes and operates "community networking" websites for non-profit organizations, universities, businesses, religious congregations, associations, cities and other institutions seeking to create stronger communities.

Why did you decide to set up shop in Detroit?
Detroit is "ground-zero" when it comes to the need for a stronger and healthier community. If we can be successful in Detroit at connecting all of a community's people, organizations and resources using scalable technology, we will be able to replicate the same impact internationally. Plus, it’s where I live, and I want to play a role in helping the people and businesses of this city be great.

What are some of the advantages to doing business here?
The people here are all very passionate about rebuilding our city and tend to really stick together. The culture here is terrific if you know where to go. And for me, living and connecting with so many wonderful adults and children who live in the older neighborhoods has been tremendously rewarding.

What do you see in Detroit that other people who live outside the city don't?
The diversity of the people here is our greatest asset and my life has been positively impacted as I’ve built relationships here ... especially those at the "grassroots" level. It can be challenging at times and, yes, even a bit dangerous living here but, at the same time, I wouldn't have it any other way. I have seen how building simple relationships as we start to mingle as equals has really opened up new positive dialogues I don’t think most outside of Detroit can believe are happening. I am still amazed by how much we really think alike and how we all want the same things.

What advice would you give to someone who was thinking about opening a business in the Motor City?
Get connected! About 13 years ago, I opened a recycling plant in Detroit without any real relationships here and it was a disaster. The crime, low-skilled workforce and lack of leadership support just about killed us. We lost over $1 million in 3 years, and I swore when we closed the plant and moved out in 1999 that I would never do business in Detroit again. Fortunately, my path would bring me right back here as a resident since 2003 and now as a businessman.

This time around, there are so many more resources available to someone who wants to start a business in Detroit and in Michigan in general. For instance, we have been working with the Detroit Micro-Enterprise Fund at TechTown and have received a small but crucial grant to advance our business. We just moved to TechTown and I can say that the resources available there are a steal. I wish I had them 20 years ago when I started my recycling companies. As an "experienced entrepreneur", I have no hesitation in saying that anyone seeking to start a business -- especially in Detroit -- needs to get connected to the folks at TechTown. The relationships there are priceless.

If you could change one thing about Detroit, what would it be?
I have a lot to say on this but if there was one thing, I would change our system for assessing property taxes to mirror what is done in the commercial real estate world. Instead of assessing taxes for support of our services based on assessed "value," which is in a free-fall right now, taxes would be based on the area of each parcel in square feet, regardless of "value." Common city services would be paid for in the same way "common area maintenance" costs are handled smoothly by the business real estate world. This might sound like a little technicality, but the way taxes are done throughout the county really punishes investment by homeowners and businesses, especially in urban centers like Detroit. This would immediately make Detroit a high-tech destination for any companies that had lots of expensive equipment -- they wouldn’t be penalized for this --  that needed more skilled labor like the kind we have in our auto plants. There are many other benefits but let your readers chew on this for a bit and let me know what they say. (Send feedback here.)

Source: Keith Zendler, CEO and president of Peoplemovers
Writer: Jon Zemke
read on…

Record numbers of money men (and women) flooded Midtown for Credit Suisse's venture capital conference.

Excerpt:

New York-based Credit Suisse brought its third annual Private Equity Conference on Small and Emerging Managers and In-State Investments to Detroit and the company said the event Monday and Tuesday set an attendance record of more than 350.

That topped attendance at the first two such events, held in Houston and Los Angeles.

Read the rest of the Great Lakes IT Report story here.read on…