Summary: new transit options to Detroit Metro Airport, new retail and housing in downtown Detroit, Zingerman’s gets national recognition, Wayne State and companies of Wayne State faculty grow.
AATA offers service to Detroit Metro Airport-The Ann Arbor News
Finding ways to get from Ann Arbor to Detroit Metro Airport is about to become a little easier - and cheaper.
Michigan Flyer Inc., an East Lansing-based shuttle bus company, will offer a new service from Ann Arbor to Metro Airport starting Oct. 1.
It will be the only regular route service from the city to the airport, although other companies offer door-to-door, shared-ride and cab services.
A one-way fare for the new, nonstop service will be $10 through Dec. 31- then the rate increases to $15, a company spokeswoman said.
That appears to be the lowest price for a regular shuttle service to the airport from Ann Arbor, although the Michigan Student Assembly offers University of Michigan students a $10 fare - during U-M breaks only - with some fares offered at $7.
If the routes from Lansing in Jackson stop in Ann Arbor does this mean that there is now regular transit service between Lansing and Ann Arbor? You could already get from Jackson to Ann Arbor three times a day by riding Amtrak. Maybe there is a market for carless people in Lansing who want to make a day trip to Ann Arbor? You already see people doing that from Jackson. Doesn’t this also show that there does exist a market of people who want regular transit service from Ann Arbor to the airport? Especially if it’s cheaper than $25 one-way. Just imagine if it was five dollars each way to take a train from Ann Arbor to the airport that it becomes competitive with even the cheapest parking rates for air travel that’s longer than one day.
[via MLive.com]
About 200 ex-Pfizer workers find new jobs in Ann Arbor-so far
Gradual growth in Ann Arbor’s life science industry is already mitigating the impact of Pfizer’s closing in 2008, with 10 percent of the 2,100 affected workers finding new jobs in the region.
Plans for additional hiring means that another 100 to 150 could be hired by local firms before the end of the year, according to forecasts.
[via MLive.com]
Downtown Detroit businesses open, expand
DETROIT — From the outside, the faded brick and graffiti-sprayed building on Gratiot Avenue across from Eastern Market stands as another ghostly reminder of Detroit’s once-bustling commercial past.
But inside, the same team that put Corktown on the culinary map with Slows Bar BQ has been busy renovating the old Detroit Candy Co. building into four upscale lofts. Brothers Ryan and Phil Cooley are taking the same great pains in design and decor that they did with Slows, creating a clean, modern feel with interesting elements such as Brazilian cherry wood from a sustainable farm and handrails crafted by local metal workers.
“Detroit is filling up with interesting, creative young people — not all of them want to live in a hovel. It’s probably time to start giving Detroiters more credit.” Ryan Cooley said.
The Cooleys are not alone in either their outlook or their efforts.
If these lofts are anything like Slow’s they will be a highly sought after boutique living option in the Eastern Market where some of the current lofts are definitely on the “raw” side of things.
[via DetNews.com]
Bon Appetit gives nod to Zingerman’s-The Ann Arbor News
Ann Arbor’s Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw will receive Bon Appetit magazine’s lifetime achievement award in a ceremony in New York next week.
Announced in the October issue of the magazine, the award recognizes the impact the co-founders of Zingerman’s have had on the way America eats.
[via MLive.com]
Wayne State to get millions for engineering department
DETROIT (AP) A consortium of companies will give millions of dollars worth of software and equipment to Wayne State’s engineering department.
The Detroit News reports the gift will help graduates land high-tech jobs in the auto industry and elsewhere.
[via MLive.com]
Tech firm keeps growing
Rapid Global Business Solutions Inc. has completed one phase of its expansion with the opening of its new headquarters in Madison Heights and is now preparing for the next. Nanua Singh, a Wayne State University professor, founded RGBSI in Troy 10 years ago.
It has already hired 100 new employees since January and expects to hire 30 to 40 more employees by the end of 2007, said Madhav Komaragiri, the company’s director of business development.
[via Oakland Press]
A new business district in Detroit could spell hope across Michigan
In a first for Michigan, business property owners in southwest Detroit have approved a business improvement zone, calling for a special tax on themselves to pay for such services as extra security, cleanup, marketing and parking.
The move, meant to draw shoppers and diners, is expected to prompt other areas to follow suit. Many civic leaders consider such a district crucial, at some point, to downtown Detroit’s continued revival.
[via Detroit Free Press]
Parisian stores only in Metro
LIVONIA — Metro Detroit quietly gained a piece of regional retail identity Tuesday, albeit small and by default.
Parisian department stores are now Metro Detroit’s own; none exist in any other city in the nation. The stores are in Livonia’s Laurel Park Place mall and the Village of Rochester Hills outdoor center. A third will open in October in The Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township.
[via DetNews.com]
Global pharmaceutical co. locates branch in Ann Arbor, wants to hire 50 Pfizer employees
A Maryland-based global pharmaceutical company, United BioSource Co., has opened an Ann Arbor branch in order to snatch up some displaced Pfizer workers. There are plans to hire up to 50 in the next two years.
Company general manager John Oates said United BioSource has already hired 13 people locally, 11 of them former Pfizer workers.
[via Metromode Media]
