Innovation & Job News

LogiCoul Solutions spent its first couple of years trying to gain traction for its battery enhancement technology in Massachusetts. The 4-year-old start-up began to pick up speed last year when it switched its focus market from mobile devices to automotive and made the move to the Macomb-OU INCubator.

That shift brought three jobs to Sterling Heights and brighter prospects for the firm. Its team notes the difference in how Metro Detroit's business community is more collaborative and helpful as a significant reason for its optimism.

"If people here can't help you, they point you in the right direction," says David Stout, executive vice president of LogiCoul Solutions.

LogiCoul Solutions is developing technology that sends electromagnetic waves to a battery, which lowers resistance and creates more useful energy. The bottom line is a longer-lasting and more energy-efficient battery. The company won the Emerging Business award at the 2011 Great Lakes Entrepreneur's Quest business plan competition, an experience that played a significant role in attracting the business to Michigan.

LogiCoul Solutions also recently received $9,872 from the Business Accelerator Fund of the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center. That seed capital will help the business do more testing on its technology.

"If we get the results we expect to get, we think our technology will be in automobiles within a few years," Stout says.

Source: David Stout, executive vice president of LogiCoul Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

AIM Computer Solutions' bread and butter has always been its technology, but the Fraser-based business is seeing a significant amount of growth thanks to its expertise.

The 18-year-old business develops ERP software for small to medium-sized repetitive manufacturers. Think automotive suppliers and other manufacturers. Now AIM Computer Solutions is expanding its offerings with a growing caseload of consulting work for its customers.

"We're doing a lot of consulting work these days," says Jerry Czernel, vice president of operations for AIM Computer Solutions. "That's a significant growth area for us."

Consulting work is up 50 percent for the firm, which has hired one person over the last year, expanding its staff to 18 people. That consulting work helps manufacturers meet new mandates in logistics.

It is also helping those manufacturers expand on their core competencies. Many of the automotive manufacturers continue to diversify into other industries, including medical devices, aerospace and defense.

Source: Jerry Czernel, vice president of operations for AIM Computer Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Patriot Services isn't just about growing its own business. The founders of the homeland security firm, who are active members of the U.S. military who recently served tours in Afghanistan, are also helping improve the economic prospects of fellow veterans.

The Commerce Township-based firm recently brought an unemployed Iraq War veteran onto its staff. That opportunity led to the veteran starting his own security and self-defense business called Sol-Tac, thanks to Patriot Services mentorship.

"I am continuing to mentor him to this day," says Stephen Potter, president and co-founder of Patriot Services and a colonel with the U.S. Army.

Patriot Services has also been growing its own safety consulting business, hiring four people in 2011. It recently landed a statewide contract to provide security assessments for schools in West Virginia, and is looking at adding to its client base of schools in Michigan. Potter expects that sort of growth to continue for small businesses like his in 2013.

"There is an increased focus on connecting small businesses and government contracts," Potter says. "That's going to help businesses like Patriot Services."

Source: Stephen Potter, president of Patriot Services
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The demand for more bandwidth and expertise in the IT and data management industries has risen sharply with the economy, which is good news for a business like DataFactZ.

The Northville-based firm specializes in data-warehousing and IT services. Its revenue has spiked 30 percent, enabling it to hire 110 people over the last year. It now has a staff of 500 employees and a few interns. It is currently looking to hire another 10 people.

"We had tremendous growth last year," says Sridhar Kodati, vice president of DataFactZ. "We added many clients, like Meijer.

This is helping good companies like DataFactZ that are in the right place at the right time to grow exponentially. Kodati expects to notch another 30-40 percent  growth this year as the company continues to attract more clients and staff.

"The trend has been increasing day by day," Kodati says. "The industry needs more resources, so a lot of companies are looking to us."

Source: Sridhar Kodati, vice president of DataFactZ
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

When Search Optics went looking for a place to set up shop in the eastern half of the U.S. to take advantage of the automotive Internet marketing space, no place made as much sense as Metro Detroit.

"The people in Detroit are intrinsically tuned to what's going on in the automotive industry," says Christian Fuller, executive vice president of Search Optics. "Everybody bleeds a little oil here."

The San Diego-based company now has more workers in its growing downtown Ferndale office than its west coast home and Toronto satellite office. Search Optics opened its office in downtown Ferndale two years ago and it now has 55 employees and a couple of interns there.

It has hired more than 30 people over the last year, prompting it to expand its space. It currently operates out of the first floor of a loft-style office and is building out the second floor of the building to accommodate its growing staff. Fuller expects the Detroit office to grow to 100 people within the next year.

"In the last year we have almost doubled our business," Fuller says. "We have been absolutely elated with the quality of people who have filled positions here in Detroit."

Source: Christian Fuller, executive vice president of Search Optics
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Downtown Mt. Clemens is welcoming another new economy tech firm as eyeWyre Software Studios makes the move from Shelby Township to the seat of Macomb County.

The 13-year-old firm is moving into an old firehouse (circa 1908) that has been newly refurbished into a creative office space. The company is bringing nine employees and an intern with it. It had looked at other downtown spaces across the region, including Royal Oak, Ferndale and Detroit, but saw downtown Mt. Clemens as the best fit.

"We are a very creative company," says Matt Chartier, president & director of product development for eyeWyre Software Studios. "We want to have an urban experience and a cool environment. ... We saw a lot of new things happening here. This new growth was pretty cool for us."

The software company offers both consulting and software services for everything from desktop to mobile platforms. It has also produced its own software and tech products, including robotics and micro-controller simulators and games for the desktop and mobile platforms.

Mobile has become a growing part of eyeWyre Software Studios' business. It has hired three people over the last year, and they have all been software engineers.

Source: Matt Chartier, president & director of product development for eyeWyre Software Studios
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

A Madison Heights-based start-up believes it has a new way to harness large amounts of new capital for the non-profit world.

TerraYebo's MyInchofTheEarth.com is a micro-funding site for nonprofits that enables users to claim any virtual inch of the earth or ocean, share why that place is important, and choose a nonprofit that either supports the preservation of that place or a nonprofit that does good in the world. The idea is to let people's life experiences at different institutions (such as their alma mater) or places (a national park) prompt them to give small amounts to non-profits that fund them.

"Our philosophy is a little bit of money from a lot of people can change the direction of the world," says Dan Glisky, president of TerraYebo. "It allows a user to own their own experience and it inspires people to give. When organizers send mail it doesn't really inspire people to give."

Organizations that have already signed up for MyInchofTheEarth.com as a fundraising platform include The National Park Foundation, CURE International, VH1 Save the Music, Veterans of Foreign War Foundation and The Pink Fund.

"We're solving a major issue for a lot of non-profits in how they get funded," Glisky says. He adds that TerraYebo's platform is "going to allow non-profits to get sustainable funding."

The 3-year-old company has recently doubled its staff to four people, including adding Glisky to its executive team. Previously he served as the CEO and co-founder of Digital 10 Media, a digital-out-of-home media company. Glisky will oversee the national rollout of MyInchofTheEarth.com, which is currently going through a soft launch.

Source: Dan Glisky, president of TerraYebo
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Green Arrow Enterprises will turn four in June, and the Auburn Hills-based company has its sights set on growing its reach outside of Michigan.

The staffing company deals mostly in placing high-end tech professionals in engineering, design and IT jobs. It has also expanded into a little light industrial and skilled labor work. The company has placed 13 people in full-time jobs over the last year and another 45 in contract work.

"We expect more growth, just looking at the growth patterns in the market in automotive and transportation," says Wayne Montour, president & owner of Green Arrow Enterprises. "We're trying to get into healthcare. I just see so much growth here."

Green Arrow Enterprises has raised its revenue from $3 million last year to an expectation of $4 million or $5 million in 2013. All of that work is coming from business in the Great Lakes State. Montour expects to expand in Indiana later this year and is eyeing markets in the southern U.S.

Source: Wayne Montour, president & owner of Green Owner Enterprises
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Macomb-OU INCubator has landed a couple of large grants this year, totaling to a bit more than $1.2 million in new funding.

The business accelerator based in Sterling Heights has won a $500,000 marketing grant from the state of Michigan to help get the word out about its entrepreneurial efforts. It has also scored a $776,000 federal grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to help get more local companies involved in the defense and homeland security industries.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency grant is meant to help encourage more Metro Detroit companies to engage the growing defense sector in Macomb County. The grant helps pay for educational programs, such as showing them how to clear the federal hurdles to compete for defense contracts. It is also looking to set up a $350,000 matching funds program for companies looking to raise seed capital.

"We want to help some people with some matching awards," says Larry Herriman, director of Michigan's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Matching Funds program. "We want to sweeten the pot."

The Michigan Economic Development Corp also awarded a $500,000 grant to the Macomb-OU INCubator. The money will allow the business accelerator to provide entrepreneurial resources, capital, and provide more assistance and access to Oakland University resources and the student internship program.

It will also beef up program offerings to small business clients, such as the Lunch and Launch series, Fireside Chats (where successful entrepreneurs tell their stories), an Executives-in-Residence program, business advisory boards and a monthly Capital Raise Meetup.

Source: Larry Herriman, director of Michigan's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Matching Funds program
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

GSTV, the downtown Birmingham-based company that brought us TVs on gas pumps, is expanding into the mobile space with its new spinoff, Dmedia.

Dmedia will serve as a sister company of GSTV (formerly Gas Station TV), providing a built-in marketing partner to reach consumers and drive app interaction. The spin-off got started last fall with a handful of GSTV employees eager to take on the mobile space, leveraging their media experiences, technology and previous client relations.

"GSTV is the support system," says Carly Gordon, director of business operations for Dmedia. "It's the spark that helped us get started in the mobile space."

Dmedia currently has a staff of five people and expects to grow this year. It currently has four job openings: for director of business development, communications professionals, and web developers. It is currently working on making three custom apps for businesses. The apps under construction include,:BigNoiz (a local music and concert discovery app), Chitney (a customizable offer delivery platform) and gogo (a location-aware point of interaction app).

"Right now the long-term plan is to do these three apps really well and take that to the next level," Gordon says. "We want to grow with them."

Source: Carly Gordon, director of business operations for Dmedia
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Gongos continues its 22-year tradition of steady growth, expanding its operations with a new division this year, despite taking a serious blow.

The Auburn Hills-based market research firm is launching O2 Integrated, a division of the company that it's billing as "a consultative unit dedicated to fusing enterprise data and primary research to reshape customer-centric decision making for Global 1000 companies." Put simply, O2 Integrated is Gongos' plunge into data analytics marketing. The difference, Gongos president & CEO Camille Nicita points out, is O2 Integrated helps its clients see through the plethora of white noise in the growing world of information.

"We see it as decision intelligence versus big data," Nicita says.

Gongos, formerly Gongos Research, itself has grown over the last, expanding its revenues by 4 percent and hiring eight new people. That number isn't as high as Gongos' normal growth gains but it's also the number that followed after its founder, CEO and driving force, John Gongos, died suddenly of metastatic melanoma at age 51 last summer.

But the company is rallying. It now has a staff of 108 people and is getting ready to welcome seven new interns this summer. Nicita expects O2 Integrated to continue to drive the company's continued growth this year and beyond.

"We feel O2 Integrated is a huge opportunity for talent expansion," Nicita says.

Source: Camille Nicita, president & CEO of Gongos
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

When Nathan Oakes launched his energy and mechanical services firm Range Gen two years ago, he looked at only one space to base it out of, the Macomb-OU INCubator.

The Sterling Heights-based incubator helps companies and organizations with large automotive fleets become more fuel efficient and operate in a more optimal manner. The Macomb-OU INCubator's deep contacts and resources in Metro Detroit's defense and homeland security sectors provided the prime platform for Range Gen's launch. The company is now preparing for a significant scale-up this year.

"It is really in a class of its own," says Oakes, president & CEO of Range Gen. "There isn't one organization that is doing the type of work that is being done at the Macomb-OU INCubator."

Range Gen now employs 14 people and is getting ready to welcome a handful of interns (its first batch) this spring from Oakland University. It has hired 10 people in the last year and expects that number to grow exponentially in 2013.

"We are turning the corner, so to speak," Oakes says. "With Diesel at $4.15 a gallon, our services are in high demand. ... We are growing pretty quickly. We believe in the next 100 days we will have 200 bodies (120 permanent jobs, 80 temporary positions). We are close to signing a couple of big clients."

Source: Nathan Oakes, president & CEO of Range Gen
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Lady Jane's has grown up from its humble beginnings in St. Clair Shores seven years ago and now has its sights set on becoming a national brand for hair cuts.

"Our growth has been pretty brisk," says Tim McCollum, president & COO of Lady Jane's. "Last year we opened 13 new stores."

The Troy-based business bills itself as the place for haircuts for men and now has 43 company-owned locations in seven states. Its four most recent openings are in Michigan (two stores), Ohio and North Carolina. It is planning 10 new stores this year and hopes to be in every state within the next decade.

McCollum plans to slow down the company's overall growth this year so it can better focus on its core product and creating efficiencies in the business. The firm currently has 20 employees at its corporate headquarters after hiring seven in the last year. Each retail location has a staff of 20-30 people.

"If it's just growth, growth, growth and you don't focus on the product, you can become obsolete pretty quick," McCollum says.

Source: Tim McCollum, president & COO of Lady Jane's
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Four friends worked in the marketing world of Metro Detroit's automotive sector for years and years and then decided they wanted something more. So they started Driven Ferndale eight years ago and haven't looked back.

"We saw the need to break off and build a better mouse trap," says Kevin Woods, one of the co-founders and COO of Driven Ferndale.

The Ferndale-based business prides itself on being a boutique marketing agency with the capability of doing the big things that the major players do. Its secret sauce is its nimbleness and creativity, which has allowed it to grow its bottom line by 20 percent this year. The company has also hired four people over the last 12 months, expanding its staff to 20 employees and three interns.

"We have been taking on bigger agencies more effectively," Woods says, comparing his small business to a local credit union taking on a national bank.

Driven Ferndale has done that well in 2012, signing a few national accounts, including Super Stroke, a putter grip for golfers. Woods expects his company to continue to sign more clients with a national reach this year, which should help his firm double its business.

Source: Kevin Woods, COO of Driven Ferndale
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Adela Piper and Lindsey Walenda knew they were going to be choosy when they launched their public relations firm Siren PR. Those sorts of high standards are a cornerstone of their business plan.

The friend had worked for years in communications for OLHSA, one of Oakland County's largest non-profits. They struck out on their own last year and now OLSHA is one of their top clients. The core missions of their small business/non-profit clients motivate Piper and Walenda.

"We get exceptionally invested in our clients," Piper says. "We take care to make sure we work with clients that do very good work. What we choose to get behind is something we have been very careful when choosing."

The two person-company works virtually from the co-founders' homes in Royal Oak. Piper and Walenda are looking to grow their client base, carefully of course, this year and find the right live-work balance.

"We want to have clients that get us motivated to work everyday but still give us time to live our lives," Piper says.

Source: Adela Piper, co-founder of Siren PR
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.