Weekly Rewind: Ann Arbor’s Business News Recap

Upcoming Events

• February 22: Positive Links Speaker Series: The Person You Mean to Be

• March 9: Desai Accelerator Demo Day

• March 11: Opening the Conversation: The Traverse Connect 2021 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Summit

View a full list of upcoming events.

COVID-19 Response Efforts

• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announces nearly 6,000 small businesses across Michigan awarded $52.5 million through Michigan Small Business Survival Grant Program

• Ann Arbor SPARK and the Washtenaw Office for Community Economic Development are sponsoring Renew Your Business, a WCC program helping Ypsi-area women, minority, and veteran entrepreneurs creatively weather COVID-19.

• EntryPoint released an update on how the business community is doing during the COVID-19 economic crisis. Some takeaways:
  • Hospitality/hotels/restaurant revenues are down more than 40 percent compared to the prior year.
  • The vast majority of companies that applied for a PPP loan have received it at this point.
  • Over 25 percent plan to continue working virtually after the pandemic.
  • They’re optimistic about the future.
  • The best way for people to support is by doing some word of mouth sharing about local businesses they enjoy.

Regional Updates

• New job commitments and investment from Navitas and Home Point Financial

• Ann Arbor moves up 13 spots in the Milken Institute’s best cities rankings “Housing affordability” and “broadband access” were added as new index criteria this year. Full report here.

• University of Michigan-sponsored research projects have added $5.9B to the economy since 2002.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem News

• Emily Drier of tech[Inclusive] discusses working in tech amidst the increased need for tech during the pandemic. Emily was one of our original speakers at Tech Talk.

• A new episode of It Takes Money featuring Skip Simms who interviews David Brophy, Director of the Office for the Study of Private Equity Finance, University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

• Tetra Therapeutics sold to Japanese pharmaceutical firm. Tetra was part of SPARK’s pre-seed fund.

• Inside Clinc: The Conversational AI Startup Facing a Serious Growth Spurt in 2021

Mobility Matters

• American Center for Mobility Receives First License for AV Testing Software

• Michigan corporations look to venture funds once again
  • Venture capital firm taps auto execs to scout mobility startups
  • Masco launches $50 million venture fund subsidiary

• U.S. airlines carried about 60 percent fewer passengers in 2020 compared with 2019, according to Department of Transportation data released last Tuesday.

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