From the Chair
Since SPARK’s inception, our role provides an opportunity to hear what’s on the minds of community leaders – Where are the opportunities? What are the challenges? How can we better collaborate and partner? Where do businesses and job seekers need day-to-day and long-term support?
As Ann Arbor SPARK began refreshing its strategic plan this year, those questions were at the heart of the process. Partners from the private, public, and academic sectors worked collaboratively with our staff and board leadership to determine the needs of our community and define SPARK’s role in driving and supporting the region’s success.
Throughout our conversations, themes emerged around sustainability, equity, and inclusion. We revised our strategic plan to support these areas while building on our strengths. Our plan reflects our expanded role in supporting our downtown areas—
for instance, helping Main Street businesses in Brighton improve their reach, sales,
and marketing—while driving sustainability and equity within our communities.
The process affirmed recent SPARK initiatives that propel us on this journey. Last year, we launched a DEI series to help startups grow with a focus on inclusivity. SPARK also worked with federal and state partners to secure grants for high-speed internet in the eastern part of Washtenaw County. We continue to be a strong partner for the city’s A2Zero initiative that focuses on innovation to achieve carbon neutrality.
As the region’s needs and priorities evolve, we recognize we have a uniquely strong foundation to support the emerging priorities. We can build on what already makes Ann Arbor a destination for innovators, creatives, and change-makers that ties our community together and positions us for collective success.
At SPARK, our focus remains on innovation. Our strategic plan guides us toward advancing sustainability and equity for our region and helps drive the economic growth that will allow us to achieve it. This differentiates and inspires us, and we look forward to continuing our progress this year, together.
Sincerely,
David Ruud
CHAIR OF THE BOARD, ANN ARBOR SPARK
From the President and CEO
Without a doubt during my tenure as SPARK’s CEO, the last two years have been the most difficult, but also among the most impactful. Our exceptional team was asked to deploy critical resources for our community when and where it was needed most, and we have grown both our service offerings and events. While modifying and expanding elements of our work, we maintained support for entrepreneurs and continued to attract growing businesses to the region. Our work continues to result in new opportunities for investments, jobs, partnerships, and collaborations in the Ann Arbor region.
In this year’s annual report, we have chosen to specifically tell the stories of companies that were once small startups in our SPARK Innovation Centers that have been able to attract incredible amounts of investment funding illustrating how an idea can scale to tens and hundreds of jobs. The report also highlights initiatives like the A2GO autonomous shuttle in downtown Ann Arbor that involved a coalition of partners working together to demonstrate how new technologies can have a positive social impact on the broader community.
During this past year, we also completed an update to our strategic plan. The staff and our board recognize that the changes wrought by the pandemic require us to be nimble and responsive with our programming to make sure we continue to have the maximum impact. This means building on our strengths and working to fill new gaps that have emerged so that our region’s growing prosperity continues and is shared more broadly with all our residents. During today’s meeting, we will be sharing the updated plan’s vision for sustained economic growth that enables our community to have the resources to meet our aspirations for environmental sustainability and equity across Washtenaw and Livingston counties.
I am proud that Ann Arbor is held in esteem by our peer areas of innovation around the world. We are a model of how the right support at the right time can help startups thrive. We are a living lab where new technologies are not only nurtured but proven. We successfully blend world-class amenities with growing businesses across a range of industries in our downtown areas to create a thriving ecosystem. For all our challenges, we have been able to continuously create ample opportunities for prosperity.
We are happy to meet with all of you at today’s annual meeting luncheon again in person and share our collective success and hopes for the future. Economic development is a team sport. Without the financial support and organizational commitment of stakeholders and partners like you we could not do this important work. Thank you.
Regards,
Paul Krutko
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ANN ARBOR SPARK
Part of what makes our services possible is funding provided by The Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone LDFA, which provides capital to commercialize technologies developed locally. LDFA grows these companies in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, funded by the State of Michigan.
Ann Arbor SPARK’s a2TECH360 is a week of events celebrating Ann Arbor’s spirit of innovation through experiences, conversations, and connections that strengthen and expand the region’s vibrant ecosystem. The events are tailored to a variety of interests and audiences, including entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, businesses, academic institutions, non-profits, job seekers, and the general public.
Our Tech Homecoming event connects talented professionals with Ann Arbor and its vibrant tech ecosystem, which has produced hundreds of startups and billions in enterprise value in the past five years.
We are what entrepreneurs need to hit the ground running.
Ann Arbor SPARK launched a new Inclusive Workplace Series that provides free training and guidance to growing companies who want to incorporate various aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion as they grow and develop their business.
Mountain Pass Solutions, a human capital management firm founded in 2013, optimizes complex hiring, performance evaluation, and personnel management workflows. Fueling its incredible 140 percent growth last year was several new, high-visibility clients and funding from InvestDetroit. Mountain Pass Solutions, a University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships spinout, has been a client of SPARK East since 2014.
Throdle, a digital platform for car enthusiasts and automotive businesses, secured first-round seed funding that included investment from SPARKcapital, Gibbs City Investments, and Pathfinders Partners. Ensuring its continued growth, the Best of Boot Camp winners also established marquee auto industry partners for marketing and co-promotion.
LoanSense, whose technology reduces student loan payments so borrowers can save money for a home, won $50,000 at the information technology competition of Invest360 and an additional $50,000 from People’s Choice award.
Embracing Ann Arbor as a living lab for advancing innovations, May Mobility, SPARK, and Mcity launched A2GO, a new autonomous vehicle shuttle service. The shuttles operate using self-driving technology and connect destinations all around the city. A2GO also includes a test of !important Safety’s technology that helps predict accidents between pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and vehicles, to trigger brakes before a collision occurs. Another of the project’s partners was 4M, Ann Arbor’s first co-living townhomes that offer coworking and mobility solutions to their members. The project data will help 4M plan upcoming real estate projects and developments.
Workit Health continues its phenomenal growth, investing $14.8 million and creating up to 530 high-skill, high-paying jobs over five years. The company also raised $118 million last year.
Nexient which currently employs nearly 500 people, expanded its footprint again — this time purchasing a facility in Scio Township. Nexient will invest $12.45 million in renovations and create 100 new jobs at its new location.
Navitas Systems is located in Pittsfield Township, with a 48,000-square-foot R&D, engineering, and manufacturing center, and a 100,0000-square-foot lithium battery systems manufacturing center. To accommodate its continued growth, Navitas announced it will invest $3.36 million to expand in Scio Township where it will house its commercial battery manufacturing, additional engineering resources, office space, and 100+ new employees.
Homepoint, which located its headquarters in Ann Arbor in 2018, has quickly grown into the third-largest wholesale mortgage lender in the country. Due to its continued rapid growth, the company is investing $3.7 million to add an operations center in Ann Arbor and create 155 new jobs.
Last year, SPARK worked with the U.S. Economic Development Administration to secure a $2.4 million broadband grant to add nearly 20 miles of underground fiber optic cable that will connect downtown Ann Arbor and downtown Ypsilanti. The Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Corridor Fiber Optic Backbone project, matched by $600,000 in local funding, aims to create public broadband infrastructure that tech companies, the cities, and businesses can utilize for innovative products, affordable and reliable broadband, and company location.
Our work helps attract high tech companies and knowledge workers, fueling economic growth and prosperity.
Thanks to the LDFA, Ann Arbor SPARK’s marketing team provides direct services to startups. These services — which would normally be cost-prohibitive to early stage companies — include branding, website development, social media strategy, public relations, and other promotional materials. In 2021, the dedicated entrepreneurial marketing team delivered 275+ engagements with 57 of the startup companies working with SPARK.
Business owners asked for more opportunities to deepen their expertise on specific skills, so we launched a new educational series, Accelerating Company Excellence (ACE). ACE helps small business owners learn from experts in finance, sales, marketing, and accounting. SPARK hosted 13 ACE events in its inaugural year of the program.
Through speaking opportunities and product demos, Ann Arbor was once again represented on a global stage at SXSW, which was back in-person this year. With support from LDFA and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, we were able to showcase stand-out companies from our region, including Fly Money Games, ImagineChat!, May Mobility, Reaction Technologies, and Refraction AI.
From left to right:
Laura Berarducci, Joshua Thompson, Margarita Hernandez, Marcia Gebarowski, Erin Wiley, Kailee Moretto, Liz Perpich, Kayla Oderah, Ben Ernst, Phil Santer, Kirsten Lyman, Alison Beatty, Jennifer Olmstead, Nick Joblonski, Alex West, Denise Murray, Kristine Nash-Wong, Tami Salisbury, Bill Mayer, Skip Simms, Carly Toaz, Lisa Bies, Charlotte Dillard, Lauren DeVries, Mike Flanagan, Johnathon Crace, Melissa Sheldon, Lindsay Thomas, Jenn Queen, Vicki Joling, Komal Doshi, Paul Krutko
The City of Brighton and the Brighton Downtown Development Authority partnered with Ann Arbor SPARK to attract, grow, and retain Main Street businesses in the downtown area. Most notably, the team developed the Main Street Showcase mobile app to create a unified platform for marketing, advertising, promotion, and communication across the DDA area.
Since 2015, FT Techno of America (FTTA) has operated an automotive vehicle evaluation center on proving grounds spanning approximately 950 acres in Handy Township. In 2021, FTTA invested in an expansion, constructing a 1.4 mile handling course, as well as an area of special surfaces for evaluating vehicle ride comfort, noise, harshness, and vibration.
A joint effort between SPARK and the Greater Area Brighton Chamber of Commerce, the Manufacturing Collaborative is a group of nine employers that meet regularly to share data and ideas to create a pipeline of talent for critical jobs in the county. Last year, the program expanded when Brighton-based Work Skills Corporation created a curriculum using virtual reality and computer-based online training methods to expedite workforce training for skilled trades positions.
Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors
Arboretum Ventures
Bodman PLC
Butzel Long Attorneys and Counselors
Chelsea State Bank
Comerica Bank
Consumer’s Energy Foundation
Cunningham-Limp
Domino’s Farms Corporation
Fifth Third Bank
Ford Motor Company
GDI Infotech, Inc.
Honigman LLP
IBM Watson Health
IMRA America, Inc.
ITC Michigan
Menlo Innovations LLC
NSF International
Old National Bank
Oxford Companies
Rehmann
Reinhart Realtors
Rudolph Libbe Group
SI Company
Thomson Reuters
University of Michigan Credit Union
Eastern Michigan University
University of Michigan
Washtenaw Community College
Ann Arbor Charter Township
Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority
Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Local Development Finance Authority
City of Ann Arbor
City of Brighton
City of Chelsea
City of Dexter
City of Saline
City of Ypsilanti
EDC of Livingston County
Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Michigan SBDC
Michigan Works! Southeast
Pittsfield Township
Scio Township
Washtenaw County
Ypsilanti Township
Mountain Pass Solutions, a human capital management firm founded in 2013, optimizes complex hiring, performance evaluation, and personnel management workflows. Fueling its incredible 140 percent growth last year was several new, high-visibility clients and funding from InvestDetroit. Mountain Pass Solutions, a University of Michigan Innovation Partnerships spinout, has been a client of SPARK East since 2014.
Throdle, a digital platform for car enthusiasts and automotive businesses, secured first-round seed funding that included investment from SPARKcapital, Gibbs City Investments, and Pathfinders Partners. Ensuring its continued growth, the Best of Boot Camp winners also established marquee auto industry partners for marketing and co-promotion.
LoanSense, whose technology reduces student loan payments so borrowers can save money for a home, won $50,000 at the information technology competition of Invest360 and an additional $50,000 from People’s Choice award.
