A look back on this week’s economic development headlines, announcements, and other share-worthy news from the Ann Arbor region.
Ann Arbor SPARK and Swisher Commercial co-hosted a successful Commercial Real Estate Symposium. The latest Ann Arbor real estate vacancy report was released, along with a good discussion on the regional economy by Don Grimes. Download the Presentation or Request the Report.
Ann Arbor SPARK is at CES this week checking in on the startups and discussions around mobility technology. A range of companies and partners are there, including the University of Michigan, Intvo, Passive Bolt (winner of the CES 2020 Innovation Award in the Smart Home Category), Aisin AW, PlanetM, and others. Related: After 2019’s reality check, what’s ahead for driverless cars in 2020?
Ann Arbor SPARK helped Fifth Eye discover some space to sublet from Millendo Therapeutics with this feedback: “We would not have found our unique office space solution if not for SPARK’s suggestion. Thank you.”
Entrepreneurship Updates
Applied Dynamics (ADI) announces a signed memorandum of understanding with the Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica (ITA) in Brazil to collaborate on the development and test of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and advanced aeroelastic structures technology, using industrial realtime Linux servers and the ADEPT Framework.
Deadline Reminder! Applications are open now through the end of January for Pitch@WCC.
The first SPARK.ed of 2020 kicked off at the SPARK East Innovation Center on Wednesday. This series of workshops is an exclusive perk for SPARK clients. The first workshop of the year featured Ashley Lee from Kendra Law. Ashley presented an overview of what constitutes intellectual property (IP) and how it is protected. Want to become a SPARK Incubator Network client? Fill out Let us know you’re interested.
Regional Updates
New nonstop bus service to run between Detroit and Ann Arbor. The service would be operated by Michigan Flyer and run from Grand Circus Park in Detroit to Fourth Avenue at William Street in Ann Arbor. Riders would pay $12 one way, or $10 for advanced booking and $6 for seniors and people with disabilities.
Vijay Sankaran, the CIO at TD Ameritrade, reflects on the future of 2020: “It’s sometimes surprising to people that I, as the CIO of a large, tech-driven organization, don’t live in Silicon Valley, or even New York. I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and that’s where TD Ameritrade has built our tech and innovation hub. Having a tech hub in Ann Arbor has allowed us to recruit top tech talent from the University of Michigan. But there’s another, harder-to-define advantage to being here: The perspective and experience we bring to our technology is a little different. Now, that’s not to denigrate our colleagues in those more on-the-beaten-path locales, but when each of us brings our diverse perspectives and experiences to our work, the output is better.”
