The Michigan Manufacturers Association (MMA) is proud to announce Jim Richards of Fowlerville-based Total Security Solutions as the 2018 recipient of the John G. Thodis Michigan Manufacturer of the Year Award. A prestigious honor since 1981, the award is named after MMA’s longest-serving president and honors the important, positive and tangible contributions individual manufacturers make …
In the spring of 2018, the PocketNest team had the great pleasure of participating in Ann Arbor SPARK’s Entrepreneur Boot Camp program. It was a valuable experience, and we became part of the SPARK Boot Camp community at the perfect time in our startup journey. We didn’t know what to expect coming in. We had …
The Project Podcast shares the behind-the-scenes story of a company’s relocation or expansion program. In episode #52, co-hosts Andy Levine and Patience Fairbrother from Development Counsellors International (DCI) interview Bobby Bell, KLA-Tencor chief strategy officer and Phil Santer, Ann Arbor SPARK senior vice president and chief of staff. Interested in learning more? Check out The …
Business attraction projects of this scale require a significant amount of coordinated effort, from organizing in-market tours and conversations to providing critical data and insights. Ann Arbor SPARK was honored to work with the University of Michigan, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), and KLA-Tencor’s designated site selection firm, Deloitte, throughout the process. Initial Outreach In …
In 1993, Doug Rothwell moved to Michigan to lead the newly minted Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Today, Doug serves as president and CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan (BLM) — an organization that authored the _Plan for a Stronger Michigan_, a playbook for economic growth. Listen in as Doug and Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK …
PlanetM awarded grants to HAAS Alert, Humanising Autonomy and RoadBotics to launch pilots that address real-world transportation challenges throughout Michigan as part of the PlanetM Startup Grant program. One of the first of its kind, the PlanetM Pilot Grants provide mobility startups funds to deploy and validate their technologies in Michigan. “The PlanetM Pilot Grants …
As reported in VentureBeat, Ann Arbor-based cybersecurity startup Censys recently announced that it has raised a $2.6 million seed round led by GV and Greylock. Censys is an information security software company levering technology originally developed as a University of Michigan research project led by J. Alex Halderman, Zakir Durumeric, and David Adrian — now Censys’ …
The annual eCities study conducted by researchers at iLabs, University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Center for Innovation recognizes communities for their successes and efforts in contributing to Michigan’s entrepreneurial growth and economic development. Ann Arbor SPARK congratulates the following communities within our service area: eCities 2018 5-Star Communities Livingston County City of Brighton Genoa Township Green Oak Township …
What are Opportunity Zones? In the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the U.S. Congress established a new economic development tool to encourage development in low- to moderate-income census tracts by providing preferential tax treatment to investments made in these areas. The legislation created “opportunity zones” and “opportunity funds” as investment tools to filter funds …
The Industrial Facilities Exemption (also known as PA 198, IFT, or Industrial Facilities Tax) remains one of the most commonly-used economic development tools available to local governments in Michigan. This tool provides a 50 percent property tax abatement on new real and personal property investments for up to 12 years. Only certain types of businesses …
The Greater Ann Arbor Region is a collaborative partnership of six counties working together to serve growing businesses that are seeking a destination for relocation or expansion.
