News

Kors Engineering is swimming against the conventional wisdom tide, working to make manufacturing a bigger part of the tech company.

The Waterford-based business specializes in systems integration and automation for manufacturers and other industrial facilities. It has spent the last year growing the manufacturing integration side of the business and setting the stage for the big revenue jump in 2013.

"We wouldn't be surprised if our number of customers doubled this year," says Tony Kaczmarek, president of Kors Engineering.

Kors Engineering now services customers in a wide range of manufacturing sectors, including metalforming, hide-processing, food packaging, chrome plating, forging and driveline systems production facilities. Today, a total of 43 plants leverage Kors' PleXML tool to integrate programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and other plant floor systems in order to automate processes and capture and share production data. More than 1,300 work centers are integrated through Kors’ PleXML tool, with 30 percent located outside of the United States.

Kors Engineering currently employs a dozen people and is looking to expand that staff soon. "We are definitely looking at hiring 1-2 people this year," Kaczmarek says.

Source: Tony Kaczmarek, president of Kors Engineering
Writer: Jon Zemke

Downtown Ann Arbor-based re:group recently found itself in need of more expertise to meet its clients needs. So the company hired it, bringing three new people onto its staff.

The digital marketing company has clients in a broad range of industries, ranging from bio-tech to retail. To help meet their demands, re:group hired a client services director and an expert in franchise businesses. It's staff currently stands at 22 people and a couple of interns.

"It's really expanded," says Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group. "We had a majority of it here but we needed a few more people to shore it up."

Jernigan expects re:group to go after more franchise business this year. The firm has already attracted the likes of Domino's Pizza and is aiming to bring on more national and regional franchises as clients. Re:group has already hired on a new employee or two to help spur that growth.

"It will help us be able to take on more franchise clients," Jernigan says.

Source: Carey Jernigan, vice president of development for re:group
Writer: Jon Zemke

GalaxE. Solutions, with stateside offices in Detroit and New Jersey and several more all over the world, is currently working with Mayor Dave Bing and the City of Detroit to provide technology to mini police stations in community centers throughout the city.
 
"One of the challenges Detroit faces is safety," says Tim Bryan, GalaxE. Solutions CEO. "People need to feel safe. The degree to which the city makes people feel safe is the barometer (by which we judge its resurgence)."
 
The city has been actively deploying "mini police stations" throughout the city at community centers, which the city already owns. "It gives citizens more opportunity to interact with police and have more access to them," says Bryan. But the community centers lacked the technology capacity and connectivity to connect these satellite stations to the police network, so the city contacted GalaxE. Solutions and asked if they could help make these mini police stations functional.
 
"We are a big advocate of public-private partnerships," says Bryan, "and certainly for public safety. When that opportunity presented itself we made the decision to donate hardware, software and our own expertise to deploy these mini police stations. This is part of GalaxE.'s ongoing commitment to help in any way we can to help Detroit turn around."
 
Citing "major players" like Dan Gilbert, who is helping change the city’s landscape for businesses interested in setting up shop here, Bryan says that "there is something going on in Detroit that is extremely unique and powerful. The interaction of public and private entities working together for the benefit of the city -- we think that’s an excellent way to cure some of the ills in Detroit and we’re extremely happy at GalaxE. to provide what we can."
 
There are currently six mini police stations already deployed with eight more remaining. GalaxE. will support all of them.
 
Source: Tim Bryan, GalaxE. Solutions CEO
Writer: Nicole Rupersburg

Exo Dynamics just secured $15,000 in seed capital and plans to use it to move into a new home in University of Michigan's North Campus Research Complex.

Exo Dynamics is leveraging the PhD work of a University of Michigan student to developing an electro-mechanical back brace for medical professionals. The back brace focuses on preventing injury and reducing pain without decreasing mobility. The team of five people is developing a second prototype and hopes to commercialize the device in early 2014.

The 1-year-old start-up scored the $15,000 from the Michigan Business Challenge which is sponsored through the university's Ross School of Business. The company won the $10,000 Pryor-Hale Runner up award and the $5,000 Williamson Award for Outstanding Business & Engineering Team.

"It was a fantastic experience," says Maren Bean, chief medical officer and co-founder of Exo Dynamics. "We got to meet a lot of great student entrepreneurs and some local entrepreneurs and investors. They gave us a lot of feedback on our business plan."

Source: Maren Bean, chief medical officer and co-founder of Exo Dynamics
Writer: Jon Zemke

RAVE Computer, formerly Rave Computer Association, has been growing its clientele through adding more business with Michigan-based firms. It's a plan that has allowed the Sterling Heights-based company to hire five people over the last year.

"The growth has been in our presence in Michigan," says Rick Darter, president & CEO of RAVE Computer. "It's been phenomenal."

RAVE Computer works in modeling, simulation and visualization work. It is the anchor tenant of the Macomb-OU INCubator, allowing it to focus on growing its business with firms based not only in the Great Lakes state but in the defense industry. A few years ago, about 3 percent of the company's customer base came from Michigan. Now it's well into the double digits.

The firm now employs 40 people and one intern. Its new hires work in areas that focus on government contracting expertise, product development and marketing. Darter expects to keep hiring in 2013.

"We will continue to hire a strong presence in the defense industry," Darter says. "I see a large portion of our growth being in the commercial sector right here in Michigan."

Source: Rick Darter, president & CEO of RAVE Computer
Writer: Jon Zemke

Monarch Antenna is off to a fast start in 2013, winning the top prize at the Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest's ACE business plan competition last week.

The Ann Arbor-based start-up took home first place in the Emerging Company category and $5,000 in seed capital with it. The company is developing next-generation antenna technology and was able to translate the science behind the new technology into why its a promising investment.

"We have been carving out mind space with the industry players," says Randy Dence, CEO of Monarch Antenna. "We need working capital and working engineers right now."

The 5-year-old company was spun out of Michigan State University. The technology alters the electronic properties of an antenna so it can maximize signal quality. It started out in 2007 with grant money from NASA and the U.S. military to create its first applications for a space suit belt and a flak vest. Today it's working toward creating revenue through producing the antenna technology in medical devices, military applications and smart phones. It counts Automation Alley as one of its early investors.

Monarch Antenna currently employs four people and the occasional intern. The company is working on building prototypes of the technology, raising seed capital and looking for strategic investors. Dence has been focusing on product development and clarifying the message about its potential.

"My goal is to be mentioned in the top two or three companies in the tunable antenna space," Dence says.

Source: Randy Dence, CEO of Monarch Antenna
Writer: Jon Zemke

Valentine Vodka, the award-winning spirit that's hand-crafted in Ferndale and sold in 1,500-plus stores in Michigan, Illinois and Tennessee, is now distilling gin, a long and carefully-developed spirit that company founder and head-crafter Rifino Valentine describes "as something I'm so proud of."

Liberator Gin, so named in keeping with the company's support of Detroit (in this case, the city's role in turning out B-24 Liberators), was released last week. It'll land on shelves in Illinois in about a week, Valentine says.

The newest liquor in the lineup can be had in the Valentine Vodka tasting room at 161 Vester St. in Ferndale, or bought in stores. It'll give metro Detroit a ride on the gin wagon that's been moving across the country.

"Gin is kind of a niche product, at least in Michigan right now. On the coasts, New York, San Francisco, and now Chicago, gin is really making a big resurgence. There are gin bars and they're a big deal," says Valentine.

Developing a gin as special as the vodka was a year-plus-long process. Research and development consisted of blind tastings against every sort of store-bought gin, with the tasters being friends and family. Those findings sent Valentine and his colleagues back and forth to the distillery and manufacturing facility in Ferndale, where they fine-tuned the tastes and aromas by tweaking the process over and over until they hit on a profile that set theirs apart.

For the flavor, "What I tried to do with this thing was change that taste that people say is like chewing on pine trees," he says. "The main ingredient in gin is juniper berries, so I wanted a gin that doesn't just smack you in the face with juniper…It has a soft juniper nose and then it just doesn't stop at juniper…It picks up coriander and cardamom, and the real unique thing about this gin…is the nice soft cinnamon finish."

At the tasting room connected to the facility, the gin is already a hit, and it's dispelling some myths -- and bad memories -- about the liquor.

"A lot of people in our tasting room are like, 'No, no, no, I don't like gin'. They they taste it, and they're like, 'Oh my god, I can't believe it,' " Valentine says. "Everybody's got their story about gin, why they don't like it. But there's a big difference between bottom-tier and top-tier gins."

Though the tasting room, which is attached to the manufacturing facility, is packed on weekends, Valentine has no plans to expand. He has to save any extra room to make the liquor, and he's adding new equipment to do that.

Make you want some?

With expectations that the Liberator gin will take off as the five-year-old Valentine Vodka has, Valentine is planning to add another manufacturing facility.

Rifino recently hired a full-time distilling apprentice, and more hires will come within months.

"We're at one of those stages where we're growing so fast I'm trying to be real conscious of managing our growth…At some point relatively soon we're going to expand to another facility that's just dedicated to manufacturing. At that point, for sure, there will be hiring, relatively soon, in the next year or two."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Rifino Valentine, founder, Valentine Vodka and Liberator Gin

People often joke that technology designed to make our lives easier too often has the opposite effect. BraveSoft sees that as an opportunity to grow its bottom line in downtown Ann Arbor.

BraveSoft specializes in database management and business intelligence technology, both of which allows its customers to better harness their data and makes their business more efficient. As computing becomes more complicated to become more efficient, services from firms like BraveSoft become more in demand.

"It has increased the need for companies to increase the analytics of their data," says Tom Wood, president & co-founder of BraveSoft. "That has increased business for us."

The 9-year-old company now employs 42, with about 60 percent of that number working out of Ann Arbor. The company has hired seven people over the last year and expects to add another 10 people in 2013. It currently has five open positions.

"Companies are trying to become more efficient so the need for companies like ours will never run out," Wood says.

Source: Tom Wood, president & co-founder of BraveSoft
Writer: Jon Zemke

TechTown is partnering with Bizdom and Invest Detroit to create the Detroit Technology Exchange, an initiative focused on the development of talent, technology, deal flow and cutting-edge startups.

Making it possible is a $1 million grant from the state's Michigan Strategic Fund. The grant, which will be disbursed over a two-year period, is aimed at leveraging existing economic development investments from organizations like the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan to continue the development of Detroit's new economy.

"These power partnerships are what is going to move us forward," says Leslie Smith, CEO of TechTown. "We have to come together collectively to think about the macro problems and tackle them."

The Detroit Technology Exchange consists of four programs geared toward talent retention/attraction, exploiting disruptive technologies, creating robust deal flow, and supporting the early stage startups. The four programs include:

• Integrated Ecosystem Services: This program will institute practices like monthly portfolio reviews to identify opportunities for collaboration and critical marketing and design assistance for companies. The idea is to fill the gaps in the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem and help participating firms attract investment.

• Launch Detroit: A summer boot camp for aspiring entrepreneurs in college (both graduate and undergraduate) that want to launch tech startups. The 10-week program will provide a stipend to participants and work to connect them with the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem. It aims to encourage young talent interested in technology to either remain in Detroit or move to the region.

• D-Venture: This executive-in-residence program will bring selected entrepreneurial-minded professionals to Detroit to create startups out of underutilized or underdeveloped intellectual property. Each participant develops a business plan, acts as CEO, raises seed capital, and receives an annualized salary for six months to one year.

• Detroit Technology Exchange Fellows: This fellowship program will insert individuals into the Motor City's entrepreneurial service organizations and startups. The plan is to infuse high-quality, mid-level talent to Detroit's entrepreneurial ecosystem. It will provide six fellows with an annualized salary over two years.

"More (talent) is better," Smith says. "Sometimes I think we're afraid of more. I think more is better. We are nowhere near having too much talent in the region."

Source: Leslie Smith, CEO of TechTown
Writer: Jon Zemke

Avicenna Medical Systems has high hopes for its partnership with the VA Hospital in Ann Arbor, which is currently using its technology platform, AviTracks.

The technology enabled its users to better manage treatment of their chronic diseases from home. It's aimed at people who utilize blood thinners or monitor cardiac rhythms. The idea is to lessen the information burden on health-care IT systems, freeing healthcare staff to maximize time with patients and employ best practices for treatment.

"It helps monitor patient information," says Frank Pelosi, chief medical officer of Avicenna Medical Systems.

The VA Hospital in Ann Arbor is not alone in testing out AviTracks. The technology, spun out of the University of Michigan in 2006, is also being used in seven different divisions in the University of Michigan Health System. A team of four people currently works on Avicenna Medical Solutions.

"There is a lot of potential to spread the technology throughout the region, as well as other areas," Pelosi says.

Source: Frank Pelosi, chief medical officer of Avicenna Medical Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

Out-of-state venture capital firm Flagship Ventures is close to signing a lease for a office in downtown Ann Arbor and expects to open its doors later this month.

The Massachusetts-based VC hired a recent graduate from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business to head up the office. Flagship Ventures was one of the investors in Accuri Cytometers, an Ann Arbor-based start-up recently acquired for nearly $300 million, and is looking to duplicate that success with similar investments in the local healthcare arena.

To make that happen it has hired Dr. Michael Johnson, a recent MBA graduate from U-M and fellow at the university's Medical Innovation Center. He helped co-found Converge Medical Technologies last year and has worked extensively with venture capital at the Ross School of Business.

"I had the background in what they wanted to do and I was on the ground here," Dr. Johnson says. "I had already worked at the Wolverine Venture Fund. It was a great fit a lot of reasons."

Flagship Ventures has received investments from the Venture Michigan Fund II and the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund. It has an active investment in Tangent Medical Technologies and is looking to make more investments in local start-ups this year. Dr. Johnson points out that Flagship Ventures specializes in early stage investments but is also open to later-stage investments.

Source: Dr. Michael Johnson, head of Ann Arbor office for Flagship Ventures
Writer: Jon Zemke

The folks behind Challenge Detroit are looking to build on the talent attraction/retention initiative's initial success by repeating it this year.

Challenge Detroit brings in a couple dozen recent college graduates to Detroit each year, giving them jobs and coordinating opportunities for them to live, work and play in the city. The nonprofit pairs the fellows from each class with local employers and provides them with a living stipend. Last year it welcomed 29 fellows that work for the likes of Compuware and Quicken Loans. This year it plans to bring in another 30 young people as part of its second class.

"It's a manageable number for us," says Deirdre Greene Groves, executive director of Challenge Detroit. "It's a number that allows a greater sense of comradery in the group. They can still get to know each other."

Challenge Detroit is part of a growing number of talent initiatives that looks to bring more recent college graduates to Detroit by matching them with jobs. Organizations like Teach for America and Venture for America pair dozens of young people with positions in local schools and startups, respectively.

Challenge Detroit pairs these graduates with jobs at a number of larger corporations, nonprofits and institutions, providing them with a living stipend of $500 per month. It asks in return that the participants live, play and volunteer in the city. This year, Challenge Detroit is working to make sure its participants more fully capitalize on its experiences.

"We want to make sure we are giving a great benefit to our partners," Greene Groves says. "How can we spend a couple more weeks on them?"

Challenge Detroit is currently accepting applications for its 2012-13 class, which are due by March 3. For information, click here.

Source: Deirdre Greene Groves, executive director of Challenge Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke

David Mamo once worked as an electrical contractor at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford. It was a job that required everyone to leave their camera phones at the door due to corporate espionage concerns. Mamo found a middle ground and turned it into a business, PICpatch.

"It (cell phones that happen to have cameras in them) is an important tool," says Mamo, president of PICpatch. "There needed to be a solution to take your camera phone to work."

PICpatch is small red sticker users can put over the lense of their camera phone. The patch makes sure any photo, accidental or otherwise, becomes a red screen. It has a residue-free adhesive and becomes crumpled and easily detectable if it has been removed and reapplied.

Mamo created the prototype of PICpatch about five years ago and shortly after General Motors became his first customer. Today it has 200 customers, including some of the world's largest corporations. Sales have doubled each year and Mamo notes that "half of our customers are abroad."

The Milford-based company now has a team of seven people after adding one new person over the last year. That team is now working on a new iteration of its sticker technology called PICpatch Chaperone Seals, a small strip that parents and chaperones can put on the hotel room doors of children to make sure they stay put. Many adults do this with masking tape but Mamo notes its is easily defeatable and PICpatch Chaperone Seals will solve those inadequacies. The product launched a few months ago and Mamo expects it to gain traction this year.

Source: David Mamo, president of PICpatch
Writer: Jon Zemke

Fusion Coolant Systems recently secured an investment from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, wrapping up a $600,000 angel round. The Detroit-based startup is also looking at conducting a Series A fundraising round worth $1 million that could wrap up by next year.

"We're not in a fundraising mode right now," says Tom Gross, CEO of Fusion Coolant Systems. "We're on a friend-raising mode right now."

The nearly 4-year-old company makes an environmentally friendly cutting fluid for industrial uses that help improve cutting tools performance while reducing the wear. Fusion Coolant Systems technology could eliminate the toxic cutting fluids that are standard today in sectors like aerospace and automotive. Its products are used by the like of General Electric, Ford, Masco and Boeing.

Fusion Coolant Systems moved last year to the manufacturing center at Focus: HOPE on Detroit's West Side, where it now employs seven people after hiring an engineer and sales manager over the last year. Gross hopes to hire 3-4 more people and hit sales of $1 million within the next year.

"We're already in the market now," Gross says. "We're looking to accelerate."

Source: Tom Gross, CEO of Fusion Coolant Systems
Writer: Jon Zemke

H2bid watched its user base expand significantly in 2012, allowing the Midtown-based Internet start-up to expand its team to 20 people with the addition of three new hires.

The 7-year-old company provides e-procurement services for water utilities. Its software helps these water utilities bid out projects over the Internet, helping ensure they get the best deal in the most cost-effective manner.

"It (the jump in usership) reflects the adaptation of the technology in this area," says Glenn Oliver, CEO of H2bid who formerly worked for the Detroit Board of Water Commissioners in the late 1990s. "People are getting more and more into using online resources for project bidding.

H2bid is also working to expand the connectivity between companies that bid on these sorts of infrastructure projects and the subcontractors that do the work. The firm is also starting to take on more bidding for projects in Canada.

"We are starting to grow globally," Oliver says.

Source: Glenn Oliver, CEO of H2bid
Writer: Jon Zemke