In the News

Ann Arbor ranks 6th in online giving

Convio.com Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In 2010 Ann Arbor was number nine. Last year we notched up three spots to take sixth place in the list of the top ten generous cities. This is, in terms of per capita online giving.

Excerpt:

"The report ranks the 273 cities with total population of more than 100,000 based on per capita online giving and total amount donated through Convio’s online marketing and fundraising suites. The average gift size remained steady in 2011 compared to 2010 at $65, as more than $435 million was donated by people who reside in the 273 major cities. The donors in the most generous cities increased their total online contributions by more than 11 percent over 2010.

The 2011 rankings are based on the almost $1.355 billion in total online donations generated through the Convio online marketing and fundraising suite that powers the online efforts of thousands of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations. The current rankings come from donations processed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011."

Read the rest here.

Endowment helps entrepreneurial U-M students to go from idea to biz

AnnArbor.com Wednesday, February 01, 2012

There's little doubt that the university is an incubator for big ideas. But how many of those ideas can be translated into business? And what is the process for doing that? Tim Mayleben, CEO of biotech firm Aastrom Biosciences and former COO of Esperion Therapeutics, decided to help that process along.

Excerpt:

"“There’s this gap between ‘I have this cool idea,’ which is not a business, but it’s a cool idea, it’s a kernel of a business, but how do you transfer into the framework of a business which you could then go do a feasibility study on to see if it’s worth doing?” said Tim Faley, managing director of the Zell Lurie Institute."

Read the rest here.

Why Zingerman's stays in Ann Arbor

Atlantic Cities Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Much has been written of Zingerman's - both locally and nationally. But few have bothered to ask why co-founder Ari Weinzweig chose and continues to choose Ann Arbor as the business's home. Until now.

Excerpt:

"Despite all this fame, you’ve had tussles with the city about expanding the deli.

[Laughs] The town is very engaged, with highly educated and opinionated people. They’re good to sell specialty foods to, and it also means they have opinions about the way things should work. That’s the way it is.

We’ve tried a number of times, and this last time [partners Paul Saginaw and Grace Singleton] had enough fortitude for four years of getting permission. The truth is, I’d say most businesses would have taken the money from Saline (a nearby town) or a mall or a developer and gone there and said, ‘forget it.’

I like the community and I don’t like the idea of not being able to know the people I work with and sell to."

Read the rest here.

Student demand grows SE Michigan's rental landscape

Crain's Detroit Business Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Three of the five top real estate deals in 2011 were in Ann Arbor... and fueled by the student rental market. SE Michigan has long lagged behind other metro areas when it comes to rental options - particularly in downtown setting. But it look like the market is slowly changing.

Excerpt:

"The vacancy rate for apartments in Ann Arbor was 3.6 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to information from Washington, D.C.-based REIS Inc.; compared with 5.4 percent for the region.

That trend follows other sectors of real estate in metro Detroit. Ann Arbor enjoys a vacancy rate that is much lower than in other parts of the region. "

Read the rest here

U-M students' waste-to-energy startup looking to raise $2M

Crain's Detroit Business Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A quartet of University of Michigan students came up with an idea for a bioreactor that could use methane to heat water. After winning several business plan competitions, the founders of ReGenerate are finally being asked to turn their concept into a real-world technology.

Excerpt:

"Having proven adept at winning business plan competitions, it's time for waste-to-energy company ReGenerate Solutions LLC to win some actual customers. The Ann Arbor-based startup, founded by four University of Michigan students, is in the midst of raising a seed round of up to $2 million to move it from proof-of-concept stage to commercialization."

Read the rest of the story here.

POTUS returns to Ann Arbor

The Detroit News Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Maybe it's that he can't get enough Zingerman's. Whatever the reason, Barack Obama will be landing in Ann Arbor to give a speech at U-M, just three days after his State Of The Union speech.

Excerpt:

"This is the president's 10th visit to Michigan since taking office. He was in Michigan in October to visit GM's Orion Assembly plant with the South Korean president and spoke in Detroit on Labor Day.

It will be his second visit to speak at the University of Michigan. In May 2010, he delivered the commencement address at Michigan Stadium, where he urged students to participate in democracy and get all points of view."

Read the rest of the story here.

Former U-M student hosts NPR's "Snap Judgment"

snapjudgment.org Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Before Michigander Glynn Washington created Snap Judgment (and won the Public Radio Talent Quest contest), he was a U-M law school student and a spoken word poet in Detroit. Now, he hosts the weekly story-telling show on National Public Radio (which can be listened to as a podcast). This week his show, entitled Hand Of Fate, features a tale of being a transfer student at U-M.

Check out the show here.

Ypsilanti: Under The Radar

Under The Radar Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Public TV's local travel guide, Under The Radar, makes Ypsilanti its focus, indulging in a little local dining and drink.

Excerpt:

"On this episode of Under The Radar Michigan, we start things off in Ypsilanti at a restaurant that took us so far back in time, lunch was only 40 cents. We also discover some very cool places to live right downtown, and show you a classic tavern that the famous frequent. "

The Ypsilanti / Leland episode is scheduled to be rebroadcast on WTVS, channel 56 in Detroit, Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., Wednesday at 3:30 a.m., and Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Watch the entire episode here (which includes a piece on Leland).

What do community "best of" lists really tell us?

Financial Times Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Ann Arbor lands on lots of best of lists. Lots and lots of lists. But do they really paint an accurate picture of what it's like to live in or visit our community? This fascinating article gets past the hype.

Excerpt:

"To even begin to understand how these slightly unsettling results are arrived at, we need to understand who compiles them and who they are for. The lists are made by well-travelled academics, researchers and journalists for corporate, media and creative executives on generous expense accounts as well as other academics enjoying grants and stipends. And, of course, by Tyler Brûlé.

Most of these people are profoundly concerned with things like well-designed street furniture, a proliferation of eye-wateringly expensive artisanal retail, boutique hotels with good (English-speaking) service and environmentally friendly mayoral policies. Certainly these are all things which help but they skew the polls to a particular type of European or marginal Pacific city. What they also do is to strip out all the complexity, all the friction and buzz that make big cities what they are."

Read the rest of the story here.

Kids TV show shot in Ann Arbor helped by film incentives

AnnArbor.com Wednesday, January 18, 2012

What do you get when you combine three talented tots and $191K in film incentive support? Ariel, Zoey & Eli Too, a syndicated kids show that reaches millions of cable subscribers.

Excerpt:

"The nationally syndicated weekly children's show features Ariel and Zoey Engelbert, 13 -year-old twins from Ann Arbor, and their 10-year-old brother, Eli. The siblings perform skits, musical numbers and interview special guests. The show is carried nationally on THECOOLTV nationally Monday-Friday at 4:30 p.m. An episode this week—scheduled to be rebroadcast Feb. 1—featured former University of Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr as a special guest.

Locally, the show can be seen on Comcast 296, WOW 102, or digital channel 20.2 over the air from Detroit."

Read the rest of the story here.

Could NHL Winter Classic come to Michigan Stadium?

USA Today Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Big House entered the Guinness Book of World Records last year for attendance when it held The Big Chill, the Michigan - Michigan State hockey game. Could the NHL top that?

Excerpt:

""They play on Jan. 1st. It's a holiday. It's long after our stadium is closed up. Everybody is out of town, and in fact I hope a lot of people are at a bowl game and watching our football team. So there's a lot of complications as it relates to that.

"We're still having conversations, and we'll see if we can work something out. But it's still a work in progress."

Being able to sell alcohol at Michigan Stadium is another issue that would have to be addressed."

Read the rest of the story here.

Seva Opens In Motown

Detroit Free Press Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Motown is going veggie. Or, at least, it's adding a little bit o' Ann Arbor vegetarian cuisine to its restaurant scene. Seva expands into Detroit.

Excerpt:

"Well-timed for everyone's New Year's resolutions to eat healthier, the Detroit edition of Ann Arbor's popular vegetarian restaurant Seva has opened in Midtown.

Owners Jeff and Maren Jackson hoped the serene, airy space at 66 E. Forest -- behind the N'Namdi contemporary art gallery -- would be ready last summer or fall. But inspection delays slowed them down, and they were at last able to do a soft opening Dec. 17."

Read the rest here.

Ann Arbor�s CytoPherx raises largest VC in state since 2009

Crain's Business Detroit Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Want to read a big number? $34 million is a pretty big number, isn't it? That's how much CytoPhrex has raised in venture capital, which pretty much sets the record for 2011. And 2010 for that matter.

Excerpt:

"Ann Arbor-based CytoPherx Inc., a clinical-stage medical device company initially focused on acute kidney failure, announced today that it has raised $34 million in venture capital, the largest round of such funding for a state company since Ann Arbor-based Lycera Corp. raised $36 million in April 2009."

Read the rest here.

Californian vacations in Ann Arbor. In the winter. Really.

GayTravel.com Wednesday, January 11, 2012

It's Winter Break and you're going to school in California and you could pick anywhere in the U.S. to vacation, where do you go? Chances are Ann Arbor isn't going to be high on your list. But in a case of reverse migration that's just what this San Franciscan did. And she wrote about it.

Excerpt:

"This city is centered around the University of Michigan, and epitomizes the comforting quaintness of the Midwest. Inviting coffee shops like Espresso Royale, The Lab, and Comet Coffee color every street with the opportunity to warm up, study up, and get that much-needed caffeine fix (college students, you hear what I’m talking about!). Proof of how adorable these shops are can be found in the fact that I consumed more warm caffeinated beverages the past 3 days than I have in the past 3 months… although that could also be proof of how f-ing cold I was. Also important to note is that worn down San Francisco-bought combat boots are not very waterproof."

Read the rest here.

Downtown geothermal project: Harbinger of greener things to come?

AnnArbor.com Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Even with its big upfront costs, more and more businesses and municipalities are seeing the economic and sustainable virtues of going geothermal. Could the system currently being installed in the Marketplace Building signal a shift in downtown building practices?

Excerpt:

"The geothermal system at the Marketplace Building starts underground in a lot north of Argiero's Restaurant, running under the brick pavement of Detroit Street to reach the building.

Aspects like crossing a public right-of-way with the underground pipes, liability and ongoing maintenance of the pipes under roadways concerned city staff as they researched and finalized the agreements, Harshe said.

The Downtown Development Authority, which funded part of the effort through its Energy Program, also played a role.

“I’m intrigued about its potential to make downtown even more of a sustainable center,” said Susan Pollay, executive director of the DDA."

Read the rest of the story here.