Concentrate - Innovation & Job News

Ann Arbor's Solidica adds 15 positions in two years, looks to create more

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

In a time of war is it any wonder a firm like Ann Arbor's Solidica is going after more military contracts. The wireless sensor development firm has created 15 jobs in the last two years and hopes to do so again in the next two.

Translume's tiny devices create big-paying jobs

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The number of people who work for Ann Arbor's Translume is nearly double the number of years the company has been around, and the glass micro-machining firm hopes to add a few more jobs to that total in the near future.

DesignHub brings website development and jobs to Saline

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

DesignHub is making a name for itself in Saline and helping the small town make a name in the new economy. The website-development-and-marketing firm has grown to four people and hopes to add another job or two sooner rather than later.

Biotechnology Business Consultants helps A2's life sciences start-ups take flight

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

As more and more start-ups look to make names and profits for themselves in the life sciences game, it's firms like Biotechnology Business Consultants that help them take flight. The 18-year-old firm has grown to five people and expects to add another person as it helps more and more businesses grow.

Ann Arbor's Spirit Shop growing at 25 percent a month, hopes to grow payroll

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:17:32 GMT

Spirit Shop is taking one of the older business models (T-shirt making) and putting a modern touch on it by utilizing a way to print fewer of them for less money. It's a formula that's helping it make more money and create more jobs.

Ypsilanti's ISSYS plans to add six jobs in coming year

Mon, 12 May 2008 23:53:21 GMT

The new economy is growing in Ypsilanti, too. Issys has worked its way up to 30 employees in the last dozen years and hopes to add six more by the end of this year.

Procuit improves employee learning, plans to triple staff

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

While company after company is trying to teach its industry a thing or two on how to make money, Ann Arbor's Procuit is trying to make it's dough by making sure the lesson is learned. The training-retention firm hopes to double its growth and triple its staff within the next year.

Sentinel Technologies plans to add 5-8 jobs in Ann Arbor by next year

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Sentinely Technologies has big plans for Ann Arbor. The IT firm based in the Chicago area hopes its new Tree Town office will reach $5 million in sales this year, double that next year --all while creating 5 to 8 new jobs in the same time frame.

Co-founder buys back Esperion Therapeutics from Pfizer, lines up $22.75 million in VC

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Esperion Therapeutics lives again in Ann Arbor now that one of its co-founders and a gaggle of venture capital companies have spent $22.75 million to buy it back from Pfizer.

SpamStopsHere going forward with sales expansion and job creation

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

SpamStopsHere is moving full speed ahead. The Ann Arbor buisiness' revenues have steadily grown and it hopes to hire another 10 to 12 people this year.

Ypsilanti's InterClean to clean up on profits, expand staff

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

InterClean Equipment is moving forward, ringing up sales, expanding it presence and creating new jobs. The Ypsilanti-based company hopes to hire 10-20 more people.

Feds invests 32m in U-M crash-warning system

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Vehicular collisions could become a thing of the past if the University of Michigan has anything to do about it. The university just received the green light and millions more in federal funding to finish work developing an early-warning system to help prevent car crashes.

Ypsilanti-based RMS plans for expansion, add up to 20 jobs

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

RMS has locations throughout the U.S., including a new one in Ypsilanti. The company hopes to expand and add jobs as they spread into nearby markets.

$1 million in venture capital heads for Accord Biomaterials

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

More venture capital money is landing in Ann Arbor. A trio of local VC firms are investing $1 million into Tree Town-based Accord Biomaterials' latest innovation.

KISS to revolutionize Internet auto auctions for dealerships

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Buying a car is never easy, but the folks behind KISS Auto Auction hope to at least streamline that process with its new auto-auction website for dealerships. The founders expect the idea to catch on nationwide while creating jobs locally.

GreenView Data turns one-year project into big sales, and jobs

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

An old idea is still a good one and is still going strong, making money and jobs in Ann Arbor. GreenView Data's Vedit editing program is still scoring sales and creating jobs, expecting to bring on another person or two later this year.

MichBio creates new institute to increase opportunities for research, funding

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

MichBio is looking to take the lead in the state's life sciences industry with its new MichBio Institute. The new institute will help focus the state's life sciences efforts in regards to education, training and research.

Former Pfizer workers find new home at U-M

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The fallout from Pfizer closing its Ann Arbor campus isn't falling very far. A bakers dozen of the company's top scientists have taken research jobs at the University of Michigan while many more have landed at local companies, formed their own start-ups or are finding their way into U-M as students, staff and faculty.

Cummins-Barnard becomes HDR, creates energy jobs

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Alternative energy maybe a hot topic in Michigan but it's also an avenue that is helping HDR create jobs in Ann Arbor. What was once Cummins-Barnard energy consultants was recently acquired by HDR but still plans to stay in Ann Arbor and create up to 15 jobs this year.

A123 Systems triples in size, to hire more engineers

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

A123Systems is making a statement in the hybrid-automotive world. The company that develops the lithium battery for the Chevy Volt has tripled in size this year and looks to add more jobs to its Livonia and Ann Arbor offices.

Online Technologies looks to become data storage bank to the world

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Storing data is allowing Online Technologies to build up some jobs in Ann Arbor. The data-storage start-up has just hired three, has two jobs open and plans to bring on another two or three people by the end of the year.

Radius Garden revolutionizes garden tools, to sprout jobs

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Digging in the dirt will be a little less painful for gardeners and a little more pleasurable for Ann Arbor's Radius Garden. The start-up has enjoyed 300% annual growth since it introduced it revolutionary new garden tools in 2004 and expects to hire a few people in the near future.

Lumen Christi Church Design growing faster than expected

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Someone must be smiling down on the Ann Arbor area because the region is blessed with a multitude of start-ups. Take Lumen Christi Church Design, specializing in old-school, cathedral-style church interiors. The two-person accidental start-up's work is taking off across the nation and hopes to hire a person or two in the not-too-distant future.

Digital Edge to help MI start-ups network, expand

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Putting the right local entrepreneur in the right place in the right time. That's what Digital Edge is trying to do in Michigan by creating the equivalent of Facebook for local new economy start-ups.

NextGen Sciences develops drugs, jobs in Ann Arbor

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Research is a hotbed for business in Ann Arbor and NextGen Sciences is taking advantage of it. The drug research firm has been growing between 10 to 15 percent each year since its founding in 2001 and expects to create up to 15 jobs within the next year.

K-Space to expand into new Dexter facility, looks to add 2-3 positions

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ann Arbor company k-Space may specialize in helping make electronics more efficient and therefore smaller, but it's looking to expand. The firm is getting ready to move to Dexter in May and add two or three new jobs this year.

Dynamic Edge expands in Ann Arbor, looks to hire 6 this year

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Dynamic Edge maybe opening up new offices across the U.S., but the Ann Arbor-based IT firm plans to stay put and hire another six people this year.

U-M opens newer, bigger nanotechnology research lab

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The University of Michigan is already considered essential to the state's economic future, but it's upping the ante by opening a newly renovated and expanded nanotechnology research facility that is expected to increase the estimated $500 million the old facility already contributed to the state's economy.

Venture Michigan makes major VC investment in A2's North Coast

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Developing the north coast of venture capital took another step forward recently when the Venture Michigan Fund invested an undisclosed sum in the North Coast Technology Investors venture capital firm. North Coast becomes the latest Ann Arbor-based firm to receive money from the fund.

Rosebud Solutions to stay, expand in Ann Arbor

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Some businesses stay, some go over time. Rosebud Solutions not only came to Ann Arbor, it plans to stay for a long time and add more jobs locally as it expands.