Trubiquity buys German EDI software maker
Rochester Hills-based Trubiquity Wednesday announced it had acquired the assets and business operations of Mosaic Software AG. Based in Meckenheim, Germany, Mosaic Software AG is a provider of commercial electronic data interchange software products for customers in the retail, manufacturing and finance markets. Offering an EDI-trade portal (web and classic EDI) for customers and installed EDI software and consulting services for business-process optimization (EDI, SCM and ECR), Mosaic Software AG product offerings allow organizations to connect and collaborate across a variety of industries and business functions. More.
X-Rite quarterly sales at high end of outlook
Kentwood-based X-Rite Inc. Wednesday reported preliminary second quarter sales results in the range of $71.5 million to $72.5 million. That compares to sales of $72 million in the second quarter of 2007. X-Rite also said that it "continued making progress in managing working capital," making all scheduled payments to lenders on time. Final results will be made available in the company’s earnings release and call scheduled for Aug. 6. More.
ForeSee creates benchmark for food, beverage Web sites
Ann Arbor-based ForeSee Results Wednesday announced the creation of a benchmark for customer satisfaction with food and beverage Web sites, which will allow clients to measure the performance of their site against an average of their industry peers. ForeSee Results uses the methodology of the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index to help companies determine which specific Web site changes will increase sales, loyalty, and return on investment. The ACSI has been scientifically linked to future financial performance and even stock prices. More.
Gift positions UM as leader in analyzing public health risk
The University of Michigan Risk Science Center has announced a $5 million gift from U-M graduates Charles and Rita Gelman of Ann Arbor that will position the University to become the nation's premier comprehensive resource for assessing, quantifying and communicating risks to public health. The Michigan Risk Science Center, established in 2003, draws on expertise from across campus and outside the University, bringing multidisciplinary skills to the study of the diverse health hazards that people face. While other centers specialize in either risk assessment (evaluating risks), risk exposure (quantifying the amount of an exposure) or risk communications (explaining risks), Michigan's risk center is the only one that focuses on all three. More.
State launches consumer resource Web site
Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm Wednesday unveiled a new feature on the state government Web site designed to provide consumers with information they can use to help them save money. The new page is at www.michigan.gov/savemoney and offers information on stretching a dollar everywhere from gasoline to groceries. More.
A Troy-based tech conglomerate is taking advantage of Michigan's ongoing economic transformation to grow.
Marty Tibbitts, Founder of BOSSdev, puts it this way: "The benefit of being here in Michigan is that there are a lot of hardworking, brilliant people here who are really good at project management, and a great number of them are hungry for opportunities."
Entrepreneur-inventor Marty Tibbitts started what's becoming a tech empire with Back Office Support Systems Inc. in St. Clair Shores, a provider of back-end management and billing systems for telecommunications providers.
Then came BOSSdev, an interactive company that bought the assets of a company called Offshore Creations, which offered offshore software development services from the Ukraine.
Today, BOSSdev operates in software development in three cities in the Ukraine, with about 140 employees. Their services are sold by a sales organization of 12 people in the United States.
BOSSdev now offers:
* Interactive Services, which includes creative work in Web site development, Flash, rich media and social networking. Included is a lot of work in what used to be called "advergaming," which O'Green now calls "branded Flash games."
* Public safety, through a subsidiary called ETS Development Group LLC of Albuquerque, N.M., which offers jail management systems and software, a product developed for a customer by the team in the Ukraine which BOSSdev eventually decided to commercialize.
* Visual collaboration, through a new product that's just been released, called Spinscape. O'Green said the product will let users collaborate in real time, brainstorm, product-manage, organize and more, including the ability to add e-mail, text, music, pictures and video to the mix.
* "Deep code" .Net development for a variety of clients.
The company has just taken 16,000 square feet of gorgeous office space at 700 Tower Drive in Troy as its new headquarters. So far about 20 people work there. The company will retain its 6,000-square-foot BOSS space in St. Clair Shores.
O'Green said he believes the company will continue to grow rapidly thanks to Spinscape, and in the creative work of developing social media and online virtual world applications.
The company also rents server space from Ann Arbor-based Online Technologies Corp.
Tibbitts, a human biology graduate of Stanford University who worked as a stockbroker for several years before creating and launching his companies, is a member of the Young Presidents Organization and TEC Detroit and recently was named a “40 Under 40” honoree by Crain’s Detroit Business.
O'Green, for his part, has more than 20 years of experience as a financial services executive. Prior to joining BOSSdev, he led Volkswagen of America's North American business strategy initiatives. Before that he was president of VW's North American finance companies. O’Green has also held executive positions with two of Michigan’s largest marketing firms where he integrated brand-building marketing programs, product launches, event marketing, meetings, press events, video and film. He has a bachelor's degree in history from Michigan State University and a law degree from the University of Detroit.
Note: For information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact Dan Keelan at (248) 455-7380 or dkeelan@cbs.com.
Casino fund donates to Detroit's TechTown
Wayne State University's TechTown technology park in Detroit has received a grant for $625,882 in May from the Casino Development Fund. The funds will allow TechTown to bring more companies into its Detroit-Based Initiative business growth program. The funds are part of a multiyear, multimillion dollar grant allocated by the Detroit City Council and administered by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. The funds were awarded to TechTown to support programs focusing on growing new businesses, particularly those started by women and minorities. More.
MetroPCS teams up with Pistons, Billups
Dallas-based MetroPCS Communications Inc., the provider of unlimited, flat-rate wireless services, announced it had teamed up with NBA star and Detroit Piston Chauncey Billups. MetroPCS will be using Chauncey’s image in upcoming promotions, as well as television public service announcements. Also, MetroPCS is sponsoring the Pistons overall. More.
Neogen selected for Russell 2000 Index
Lansing-based Neogen Corp. has been selected for the Russell 2000 Index. This occurred as Russell reconstituted its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes. Neogen has been a member of Russell's Microcap Index since 2005. The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. This select group includes approximately 10 percent of all publicly traded companies in the United States with market capitalization ranging from $167 million to $2.7 billion. More.
THE WORLD IN TECH
Tesla Motors to stay in California after tax break
The company that built the first mass-produced, all-electric car will keep its manufacturing plant in California, thanks to a new state tax break. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer worked out the deal for Tesla Motors Inc. after learning that the Silicon Valley-based company intended to build its second-generation vehicle in New Mexico. The financial break, announced Monday, allows Tesla to avoid paying state sales tax on equipment it buys to build its Model S. That will save the company 7 percent to 9 percent on each purchase. The five-passenger sedan is expected to cost about $60,000 and will be able to travel 225 miles between charges to its electric engine. More.
Police want u 2 fight crime w/ txt msgs
Police in the 1970s urged citizens to "drop a dime" in a pay phone to report crimes anonymously. Now in an increasing number of cities, tipsters are being invited to use their thumbs - to identify criminals using text messages. Police hope the idea helps recruit teens and 20-somethings who wouldn't normally dial a Crime Stoppers hot line to share information with authorities. "If somebody hears Johnny is going to bring a gun to school, hopefully they'll text that in," said Sgt. Brian Bernardi of the Louisville, Ky., Metro Police Department, which rolled out its text-message tip line in June. Departments in Boston and Cincinnati started accepting anonymous text tips about a year ago. Since then, more than 100 communities have taken similar steps or plan to do so. More.
US, EU near pact on protecting privacy
The European Union and the United States are close to agreeing on how to protect personal and private data while still letting law enforcement officials share information to combat organized crime and terrorism. Eighteen months of closed-door talks between European and American officials have already led to agreement on key principles for data-sharing, according to Jonathan Faull, director of the European Commission's justice and interior affairs department. Faull told reporters Wednesday that formal talks could begin later this year with a final binding deal reached in 2009. More.
Report: Fiber Internet growth outpaces table
For the first time, more people around the world are signing up for fiber-optic broadband service than for cable Internet service, according to a British research firm. Fiber providers added 4.2 million customers in the first quarter, while 2.5 million customers signed up for cable modems, according to a report released Wednesday by Point Topic. The bulk of the new fiber subscribers are in China, where 2.5 million signed up, for a total of 16.7 million. The U.S. is in fourth place after Japan and Korea. Point Topic counted 303,000 new U.S. fiber customers, for a total of 2.6 million. More.
Stocks: Yahoo gains fail to stop selloff in technology shares
Despite a positive early start, technology stocks took a beating Wednesday from a broad market sell-off that pushed most of the sector into the red by the closing bell. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) fell 53.51 points or 2.3 percent to 2,251.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 166.75 points or 1.5 percent, to 11,215.51. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell 8.03 points or 2.2 percent to 358.01 and the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 8.61 points or 1.5 percent to 549.93. The Amex Pharmaceutical Index ($DRG) rose 0.98 points or 0.3 percent to 294.48, while the Amex Biotech Index (BTK) fell 4.75 points or 0.6 percent to 743.74. The S&P 500 ($SPX) declined 23.39 points, or 1.8 percent, to finish at 1,261.52. It's not officially in a bear market, but it might as well be. Equity markets are plunging in response to surging crude-oil prices and deteriorating housing values," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer, Harris Private Bank. Crude futures closed at a record high of $143.57 a barrel, up $2.60, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit an intraday record of $144.15 in electronic trade on Globex. August gold closed at $946.50 an ounce, up $2 for the session to mark a fresh two-and-a-half-month high. Illustrating ongoing stress in the nation's housing market as well as general economic weakness, the American Bankers Association reported delinquency rates for home-equity lines of credit and bank cards climbed during the first quarter. The Commerce Department reported orders for U.S.-made factory goods gained by 0.6 percent in May, with the overall number roughly in line with expectations. The ADP employment index data, which found private-sector firms in the U.S. shed 79,000 jobs in June, the largest decline since November 2002.
Matt's Favorites
First, a production note: your Great Lakes IT Report will not be published on Friday, July 4 in observance of the Independence Day holiday. (If you're headed for the fireworks on the beach in Frankfort -- see you there!) Now, just a smidge of local leftovers: Michigan State University's Land Policy Institute is working on a bunch of new-economy initiatives; and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences in Ann Arbor will run a new military robotics group. Elsewhere: Microsoft and Yahoo shares rise on a report of new talks; Microsoft will start selling Office to consumers as a service for $70 a year; a new study suggests many dial-up users don't really want broadband, thank you; California's hands-free cell phone law goes into effect; the Justice Department is investigating the Yahoo-Google deal; the flat panel explosion has some folks worried that we're running out of the rare earth elements used to make them; and Earth itself emits ear-piercing chirps and screams at certain frequencies. (It's all about the solar wind hitting our magnetosphere.)
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