TechTown Detroit – Business Innovation Incubator

A business innovation incubator in Detroit called TechTown Detroit is finding that there is great interest from start-ups seeking space there.

Start-up activity nationally and specially in Detroit,  seems to be building up strength even though the economy isn’t booming now.

Over 500,000 businesses were launched nationally each month last year, which is the highest level since 2009 and 2010.

Organizations backed by public money are seeking more ways to endorse small-business start-ups to drive economic expansion and produce jobs.

In Michigan and metro Detroit, where the recession cut deep, entrepreneur support groups and networks also have emerged.

A lot of entrepreneurial activity is being noticed as a result to the fact that it’s easier now than it ever has been,” said Alex Southern, an organizer with nonprofit Grow Detroit. ”

Detroit is not an area that has actually fostered much entrepreneurial activity in the past few decades as the middle class was booming due to the automotive industry. Native Michiganders are having to be more innovative about what industries they invest into, where they put their money.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The interest is so intense from start-ups seeking space there that the organization may need to find more to squeeze them all in.
• Entrepreneurs now are more likely to form a business based on a viable idea, increasing the chances the ventures will be successful and longer-lasting.
• In Michigan and metro Detroit, where the recession cut deep, entrepreneur support groups and networks also have emerged

“Detroit is coming back from such a place that it was in a few years ago that I think the excitement level and opportunity, while it’s similar to the rest of the country, is even greater,” Gouvia said. “There’s so much to be done. There’s a lot of opportunity here.”

Original Source:

http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/08/29/start-ups-surge-detroit-us-sluggish-economy/89532114/

 

True North – Detroit’s New Live-Work Community

Two huts are nearly finished on Grand River Avenue on the border of the Woodbridge and Core City neighborhoods, the area has well-kept homes and buildings, empty lots and the quality of many Detroit streets.

A small, colorful village using Quonset huts as its main structures, with half-moon shaped structures. The huts will be living quarters with the goal to create something affordable. The huts vary in size and the walls and roof are made of corrugated steel.

Recently Detroit was recently the first United States of America city to receive the designation of “City of Designs” from UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Detroit Quonset Huts

The empty spaces in Detroit neighborhoods can be transformed using creativity and trained architecture to create community gardens many other community focused structures.

They have such things as utilities, bathrooms, kitchens and security measures and are something that will be integrated into the neighborhood.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The goal is to have the Quonset huts ready for rent by winter.
• Detroit is a great place for the project because the attitude and perception of Quonset huts in larger places like New York or Los Angeles would be much different, due to the density and nature of the cities.
• The community wants to inspire healthy living and inspire inhabitants to design their spaces.

“It’s exciting to be working in Detroit at this particular time,” Chan said. “… It provides an opportunity that’s like an open canvass to do something transformative. For me, it’s very much about public space-making and how to engage communities in arts and culture.”

Original Source:

http://realestate.mlive.com/realestate-news/2016/08/community_of_steel_huts_being.html

Tourist Destinations To Capitalize On Zika-free Vacation

Warnings about the Zika virus started during a slow season for tourism in Florida, however, it did coincide with the time that many travelers were looking to make their plans for vacations.

Hotel chains declined to release figures of percentage of cancellation, but travel agents said although they received many inquiries, only a few people changed plans.

Cities like Las Vegas is benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida. They are seeing a pickup in air and driving traffic traffic in the last couple of months.

The so-called babymoons, trips prior to the arrival of a new child is one of the niche markets that has been most affecte. For destinations with Zika warnings, there has been a significant loss in business.

Some affected areas are rejiggering marketing campaigns, hoping to attract new audiences.

KEYTAKEWAYS

• It’s too early to estimate the economic toll of Zika. There are added health costs, the loss of business and the lack of travel.
• Visitors’ bureaus in some other destinations either said they didn’t have proof of a Zika connection to their growth or were hesitant to speak about the bump, fearing that they might be perceived as gloating in somebody else’s misery.
• James Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, said on a recent earnings call that Las Vegas was benefiting as vacationers book away from Florida.

“Magazines including Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler have been offering “Zika-Free Destination” guides, offering alternative destinations. They include Bermuda, Charleston, South Carolina, San Diego, Palm Springs, Hawaii and Arizona.”

Original Source:

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/travel/2016/08/23/vacation-spots-benefit-travelers-avoid-zika/89215650/

Self-steering, self-accelerating, self-braking car by 2021

Although there is no guarantee that any of the self-driving vehicles will ever work, the customers and companies believes that autonomy is certainly the future.

Nobody really knows what this technology race mean for the brands of automakers, which have been rooted in performance, excitement, emotion, consumers’ self-images and safety.

It is too early to know whether the rides in autonomous cars will cost more than those with a driver.

Some big players are working towards the new technologies. Uber announced its Pittsburgh project than it acquired Otto, a 90-person start-up that has developed self-driving truck technology.

General Motors has a some of self-driving Chevrolet Bolts in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Ariz.

Volvo’s tie-up with Uber one example of a car manufacturer partnering with the ride-sharing giant. Toyota has made an unspecified investment in Uber. GM is committed to putting autonomous Bolts in Lyft fleets, but hasit is not clear when that will happen.

These cars won’t be sold at dealerships for personal use.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In the largest mega-cities, owning, operating and parking a privately owned vehicle will be prohibitively expensive and inconvenient in gridlocked traffic.
• Ford pledges a self-steering, self-accelerating, self-braking car by 2021.
• The new vocabulary includes artificial intelligence, algorithms, sensors, micro-cameras, Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), radar and 3D mapping as much as horsepower or torque.

“All the major automakers can see that their business model based around simply building a vehicle and selling it for a profit may not sustain them in the second half of this century,” said Ian Riches, director of automotive practice at Strategy Analytics in London. “Unless they do something they’re almost guaranteed to fail.”

Original Source: http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2016/08/21/uber–lyft-gm-pittsburgh-autonomous-vehicles-self-driving-autos-equal-profits/88944036/

Small Companies – The Real Winners

Entrepreneurs are driven by different reasons and not just profit.  The desire to do a better job and serve the market better.

Many main aim is to create employment, give the opportunity to other to work and bring up their families, pay the rent send the kids to college.

The real gold medalists are the entrepreneurs that are out there, creating something new, taking the challenges of running a small business, working many hours and building something that they believe is better than what is out there.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• In real life and in real business — especially small business — there are many winners, even if you’re not No. 1.
• Knowing you could serve the market better — improve the product, give better service, cut costs, treat employees more fairly — is very motivating.
• There’s justifiable pride in building a business big enough to give other people work so they can feed their families, go to school or pay their rent.

“Watching the Olympics, you’re left with the idea that if you don’t win gold, you haven’t accomplished anything. The media covers business much the same as sports: Whose stock is highest; whose company is being acquired for the most money; who has the biggest market share?  It’s often viewed as a game: There’s one winner and lots of losers.”

Original source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/abrams/2016/08/17/abrams-small-businesses-have-already-won-gold/88832052/

Big Companies Trying to Ease Health Care Costs

The portion of employers offering high-deductible health plans next year — 84 percent — is essentially unchanged from 2016, according to the NBGH report. So is the percentage of companies offering high-deductible plans — 35 percent — as the only choice for workers and families.

• a moderate increase compared with historical trends that nevertheless far outpaces growth in the economy
• new kinds of spending are driving health cost increases
• approaches include shifting drug coverage to large pharmacy benefit firms, which can deploy better buying power against the manufacturers

“Employers are changing tactics to address the trend, slowing the shift to worker cost sharing and instead offering video or telephone links to doctors, scrutinizing specialty-drug costs and steering patients to hospitals with records of lower costs and better results.”

Original Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/personal-finance/2016/08/14/health-care-costs-large-employers/88729636/

2016 Hatch Detroit Entrepreneurship Program

Comerica Bank’s investment in the 2016 Hatch Detroit entrepreneurship program has increased.

The annual contest is an opportunity for a business owner to win a $50,000 grant to open a retail business in Detroit, Highland Park or Hamtramck.

The prize includes a grant for branding and logo design from advertising agency Team Detroit and a package of technical, accounting and legal support.

2016 Comerica Hatch Detroit grant

Hatch Detroit was started in 2011 to attract new retailers to vacant storefronts in Detroit neighborhoods.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The public is encouraged to vote on their favorite business concept now through Aug. 18.
• With more than 150 applications submitted to this year’s contest, it’s clear that Detroit is a destination for small businesses
• The winner of the grant is often, but not always, a food-related business.

“A family bakery in Highland Park, sushi restaurant in Corktown and a wine bar in the Grandmont Rosedale neighborhood are just a few of the 10 business ideas are vying for the 2016 Comerica Hatch Detroit grant.”

Original Source: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/people/2016/08/12/hatch-detroit-semi-finalists-announced/88638682/