InPore Technologies Wins SmartZone Award
InPore Technologies was presented the first SmartZone Award at the GLEQ Awards Banquet recently. InPore Technologies was selected for the strength of its business plan, the industry, technical and entrepreneurial experience of its management team, and its ability to raise funds. The Smart Zone Award is sponsored by the Michigan SmartZones, funded through the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and administered by Ann Arbor SPARK. It was created to benefit... [Read More...]
Ann Arbor on the 5 Great Places to Retire List
In a CNNMoney.com feature article, the renowned Fortune Magazine named Ann Arbor as one of its “Five Great Places to Retire.” Fortune implores readers to enjoy the stable economy and seize advantage of the decreased home prices. Based on the criteria of low cost of living, culture, tax rates, and health care, the city of Ann Arbor is lauded for its “world-class healthcare” and eventful college-town lifestyle. Read More →
Ann Arbor Ranked #4 Best City for Families
Parenting Magazine’s July issue included an article that ranked Ann Arbor the 4th best city for families. Described as “smallish yet sophisticated,” Ann Arbor is praised for it’s outstanding educational system with $17,140 spent per student on education and a 94% high school graduation rate. The article also recognizes that 64% of Ann Arbor residents have accomplished four or more years of college. Families can also enjoy the... [Read More...]
Grand River and NanoBio in USA Today and BioSpace
Last week we blogged that Grand River and NanoBio both received MEGA tax credits on June 15th. We are thrilled to announce that both companies received national news coverage when USA Today and BioSpace both wrote about these great new Michigan companies on Friday, June 18th. Read More →
Ann Arbor Green Fair Continues A2Fiber Momentum
The tenth annual Ann Arbor Green Fair took place on Friday, June 11th along Main Street. SPARK attended the event in hopes to maintain and increase community support, interest and awareness of the A2Fiber campaign. The A2Fiber campaign is the community organized initiative created when applying to be chosen by Google to place high speed fiber cables around the city for faster internet. SPARK teamed up with the University of Michigan and the... [Read More...]
Two Ann Arbor Companies Receive MEGA Tax Credits
NanoBio Corporation and Grand River Inc. received high-tech, five year MEGA tax credits on June 15th. Both companies were approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the State of Michigan. NanoBio is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing products for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. They are committing to investing more than $1.4 million to expand its current... [Read More...]
4 Companies Receive Michigan Microloan Funding
The Michigan Microloan Fund Program recently awarded four Michigan Companies a combined total of $122,000. Akervall Technologies, Blaze Medical Devices, Ellison Corp. and Waste Water Heat Transfers Systems all received the funding to support commercialization of their core products. Akervall Technologies are based in Ann Arbor and have developed the Protech Dent™ mouth guard. Blaze Medical Devices is also based in Ann Arbor and is developing... [Read More...]
Mobile Sign Language Wins EIC Pitch Competion
Mobile Sign Language Systems CEO, Jason Gilbert took home the prize at the Eastside Innovation Campus Business Pitch Competition on June 4th. Mobile Sign Language Systems has developed smartphone software that translates spoken English into a video of sign language in real time. The software is designed to help deaf people, who often struggle to communicate with their counterparts in the hearing world, most of whom do not know sign language. Jason... [Read More...]
The SPARK Team is Growing
Valerie Christofferson was recently promoted from staff accountant to business development manager. SPARK hired C.J. Lee as a business development manager and Emily Heintz as SPARK’s new staff accountant. C.J. Lee joins Valerie on the business development team. Prior to joining Ann Arbor SPARK, C.J. served on the communications and policy team for the Rick Snyder for Michigan Committee where he was responsible for communications reporting... [Read More...]
SPARK Wins Midwest Collaboration Award
At the 2010 Midwest Collaboration Awards, as presented by the Midwest Technology leaders, Ann Arbor SPARK was honored for its collaboration with the Michigan Life Science and Innovation Center (MLSIC). The award identifies, creates, supports, and honors impacting partnerships between Midwest companies and local individuals/groups benefitting the technology community. The award was a result of SPARK’s work on vital entrepreneurial programs... [Read More...]
