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| Evan Cunningham |
(248) 644-6700 |
(248) 219-6325 |
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Macomb County is putting info into the Cloud. So is Rochester Hills. And Sterling Heights. U-M has launched Google Apps for Education, to service their 90,000 students and faculty. Online technology isn't just a fad, it's become an economic strategy for cutting municipal budgets. Excerpt: "Robert Ferrari, director of digital strategy for Michigan Municipal League, said information technology upgrades are a big investment for cash-strapped jurisdictions. "They have to buy servers, backup and hardware, where with the cloud you can kind of rent or pay on a monthly basis. You don't have the cost of having to update that infrastructure to stay current. That's what the big boys are for — the AT&Ts, the Googles, the Microsofts — to provide that support," Ferrari said." Read the rest here.
In 2004 Pamela Laity and her husband cashed in their savings and 401k's to launch TechniMed, a medical billing company. The risk was big but the timing couldn't have been better. With big changes in private and public insurance billing practices, the Laitys have turned their gamble into success and expansion, becoming the newest member of Troy's Next Wave business incubator.
A couple of brothers are turning a passion into Reink Media Group. Blain and Brandon Reinkensmeyer co-founded the Troy-based online media company that specializes in day trading investing three years ago. Today, it's their full-time job. Reink Media Group owns and operates StockBrokers.com, StockTradingToGo.com, TraderMike.net. The brothers claim the websites attract 100,000 unique visitors per month and another 250,000 page views per month. It has a subscription list of 18,000 people. "We have seen some big traffic spikes," Brandon says. Reink Media Group originally got its start when Blain became fascinated in the stock market in college. He left after his freshman year and began day trading, which led to his own personal trading blog, www.StockTradingToGo.com. That evolved into an objective rating service that monitors other traders and firms offering stock trading advice. "There was a need for someone to create an unbiased rating system for brokers," Blain says. That became www.TradeWiser.com. Last year, the brothers bought the URL www.StockBrokers.com for $185,000 to better brand their rating service. "All of last year was focused on brand identity and getting traction," Blain says. Brandon, who has a degree in finance, was working in commercial real-estate for a student-housing company when Blain approached him about coming on with his media company three years ago. Last year it became so big that Brandon left his day job to focus solely on Reink Media Group's websites. "It just kind of blossomed from there," Brandon says. Source: Blain and Brandon Reinkensmeyer, co-founders of Reink Media Group Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
There's an old saying: A rising tide lifts all boats. Recognizing this, a Plymouth florist has decided to give back to the community that supported her shop during the recession. Excerpt: "Lori Morrison has been selling flowers for three decades in Plymouth, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit whose name it once shared with a brand of automobiles that has since ceased production. The struggling auto industry gave way to a struggling Michigan, where nearly 15 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line. Wanting to give back to the people who have kept her flower shop running in these financially trying times, Morrison came up with something called a "Good Job Bouquet," a simple reminder that someone in the Detroit area still cares." Read the rest here.
A Massachusetts-based venture capital firm is looking to set up an office in Metro Detroit, thanks to an investment from the Venture Michigan Fund II. The Venture Michigan Fund II, a fund of funds that in invests in other venture capital funds, made an undisclosed investment in Flagship Ventures Fund IV. Flagship Ventures is a 12-year-old venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It manages more than $900 million in capital and has invested in a number of successful startups, such as Joule Unlimited, Acceleron Pharma, and Accuri Cytometers. "It's a larger fund," says Sean O'Donnell, vice president of Credit Suisse's Michigan office. "It really speaks to the quality of investors and historical success stories that they have seen in Michigan." Flagship Ventures makes investments in early stage startups in three principal business sectors: therapeutics, medical technologies, and sustainability/clean technology. It is currently looking to staff a satellite office in Metro Detroit. O'Donnell says that office will probably be located in Ann Arbor, where there is a growing cluster of venture capital activity. "They're in the process of selecting the individual to staff that office," O'Donnell says. Credit Suisse co-manages the Venture Michigan Fund II. The fund invests in venture capital funds targeting seed and early stage capital Michigan companies in a wide variety of high growth, emerging industries. These include advanced manufacturing, health care and life sciences, information technology, alternative energy, and homeland security and defense. Venture capital fund managers participating in the Venture Michigan Fund II will be required to invest at least as much in Michigan-based companies as they receive in capital commitments from Venture Michigan Fund II. Source: Sean O'Donnell, vice president of Credit Suisse's Michigan office Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
The University of Michigan Health System is opening a health care center in Northville Township, calling it an "area of growth and vitality in Michigan." The $39-million project was approved in January. The opening date for the center, which will be located near 7 Mile and Haggerty roads, will come sometime in 2014. It will be near the Livonia Center for Specialty Care, creating something of a heath care complex. The new center will be 100,000 square feet of doctors' offices and specialized practices for adults and children. While exact plans won't start to be laid out until March, there is expected to be a musculoskeletal program for advanced care of bones, joints and muscles. In addition, radiology services, infusion treatments for cancer and non-cancer patients, and other medical services are planned. The idea is to make care more convenient and closer to home for patients treated at U-M's hospitals in Ann Arbor and also to extend the U-M health system's reach into southeast Michigan. Source: Shantell Kirkendoll, senior public relations representative, University of Michigan Health System Writer: Kim North Shine
Construction has begun on a loft and retail project that is the largest construction development in downtown Pontiac in 30 years. The building of Lafayette Place Lofts, a project of Pontiac-based West Construction Services, began last week at the site of the prominent and shuttered Sears department store on Saginaw, Lafayette and Perry streets, a part of the city's historic commercial district. The completion date is set for December, possibly sooner, says Kyle Westberg, owner of West Construction Services. The 46 upscale-style, affordably-priced units will be spread over two and three floors taking up 80,000 square feet. They will sit atop two 10,000-square-foot businesses on the ground floor -- Anytime Fitness, a fitness center that will be a first for the city, and, Lafayette Market, a fresh food market and cafe. There will be 31 indoor parking spaces. The project is a historic preservation and will include energy efficiency measures such as geothermal and photovoltaic power as well as the use of recycled and sustainable materials. The $19.8-million project is funded in part by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program through the Michigan Land Bank and also through New Markets tax credits from the Michigan Magnet Fund. "Lafayette Place Lofts multi-use development is a game-changer for downtown Pontiac, bringing great new living, working and shopping opportunities," Oakland County Treasurer and Michigan Land Bank Board Chairman Andy Meisner says in a statement detailing the project. Magnet Fund Chief Business Development Officer Al Bogdan describes the lofts as "an innovative project that will stimulate Pontiac's downtown with new businesses and new residents." KeyBank Community Development Lending, which is providing bridge financing, compliments the project for its affordability and plan to improve the health of local residents. West says he, investors and local officials see this as a great time to invest in downtown Pontiac as dozens of companies from individually-owned to corporate-run have moved in or stepped up business. A number of other programs by local community and business development organizations are seeing success in the city, and investments in mass transit and by local health systems are bringing positive change to a town that's gone broke and been taken over by the state. He says there's much for potential residents to be attracted to. "From this location, you can get to about seven counties in a 45 minute-drive…We can hit 3 1/2 to 4 million people," West says. "We love the idea of being so centralized...not only to the freeways, but the buses, the train from the new transit center, and the bike path...You can reach hundreds of miles of bike path from downtown if you want…When you add in the architectural fabric we have, the historic nature we have, the walkable downtown…there is a lot here." An important aspect, he says, was bringing amenities not found in the city to both residents and employees. "...For the [60,000 residents, and] the employees -- probably 20,000 -- there is no fitness center. And the fresh food market and cafe downtown, that is something we don't have," West says. "We took a healthful, holistic approach to this development. We hope we're building a catalyst for other development to come to town." Source: Kyle West, owner, West Construction Services Writer: Kim North Shine
More money is coming into Michigan's venture capital game, thanks to multi-million-dollar matches from the new Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund. "The Michigan Venture Match Fund will help foster the success of innovative companies with the potential for high growth in Michigan by investing in the most promising, nationally competitive, commercialization opportunities," Kathy Fagan, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., wrote in an email. The Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund will bridge early stage investment rounds, matching investments from venture capital funds with roots in Michigan. The fund will consider tech investments worth a minimum of $700,000 and a maximum of $3 million. The match will be at least $350,000 and no more than $500,000. Applicants for the Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund will have to secure qualified venture investments. They will also undergo a peer-review of the startup's business plan. The idea is to attract venture funds to invest in Michigan's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and to help mitigate the risk to local venture capital funds that invest in state-based startups. Source: Kathy Fagan, spokeswoman for the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
Relume Technologies has closed a venture capital round worth $7 million, with Beringea leading the round. The Farmington Hills-based venture capital firm, the largest in Michigan, will invest $3.2 million of the $7 million into the LED light maker. Silicon Valley-based Western Technology Investment also joined the Series D financing round with a few other existing investors. "We're trying to build on the strong momentum we have built from our last investment," says Jeff Bocan, managing director of Beringea. Relume Technologies specializes in manufacturing LED lights and smart grid technology. The lights are the Holy Grail of energy efficient lighting. They are being widely adopted across the country, including in several municipalities in Metro Detroit. Among those more publicized locales are the downtowns of Ann Arbor and Detroit. The Oxford-based firm's innovative technology is used in municipal lighting, commercial signage, outdoor advertising, transportation, and U.S. military applications. Its smart grid technology is also used in similar places, ensuring lights are on or using excess energy when no one is using them. "We're really excited about the opportunities in front of us," Bocan says. "We have a really strong team and the technology is being adopted by the market." Source: Jeff Bocan, managing director of Beringea Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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