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Your report for
Thursday, November 5, 2009
MichBio
Expo draws more than 500 to Kalamazoo
 More
than 500 people gathered this week for the MichBio Expo, the
annual celebration of all things life science sponsored by MichBio,
the state's life science industry association. The event, which
moves around the state and this year landed in Kalamazoo, kicked
off Tuesday with a career day for high schoolers hosted by Western
Michigan University, and detailed presentation from 15 promising
life sciences startups. A "hot innovations" emerging
technologies session kicked off Wednesday's formal agenda, followed
by breakouts on topics ranging from risk analysis in research
and development, new clinical trial requirements from the United
States Food and Drug Administration, intellectual property protection,
the medical device supply chain, new drug research laboratory
gear and more. More.
Notes
From MichBio 2009
I cornered MichBio
president and CEO Stephen Rapundalo and asked him what, if anything,
scares his membership about the health care reform bills now
bouncing through Congress. More.
State
grants support manufacturing, wind energy
Gov. Jennifer M.
Granholm Wednesday announced grants totaling $1.04 million to
the city of Greenville and the village of Sheridan to support
local manufacturing expansions and more than 100 new jobs. State
officials also announced an $112,928 grant that will support
an expansion into wind energy by agricultural supplier Johnson
System Inc. in Marshall. The grants are made available by the
Michigan Economic Development Corp. with funds provided by the
federal Community Development Block Grant program. More.
GR's
DVS launches production company
DVS, a Grand Rapids
media duplication and asset management company, said this week
that it had launched a new production company, DVS Creative,
to meet customer demand. “Production management services
have been an offering of DVS for many years," aid DVS Creative
manager Mike Kren. "However, with the paramount growth
we recently experienced, the only solution was to launch a separate
division with staff to focus on video production, editing, DVD
& CD authoring, and video encoding and compression.”
More.
'Hybrid'
molecules show promise against Alzheimer's
One of the many mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like
snippets called amyloid-beta peptides, which clump together
to form plaques in the brain, may cause cell death, leading
to the disease's devastating symptoms of memory loss and other
mental difficulties. In order to answer that key question and
develop new approaches to preventing the damage, scientists
must first understand how amyloid-beta forms the telltale clumps.
University of Michigan researchers have developed new molecular
tools that can be used to investigate the process. The molecules
also hold promise in Alzheimer's disease treatment. More.
Plymouth
business incubator offers free space
705 South Main, Plymouth’s
premiere business incubator and class A office space, said this
week that it is accepting proposals for free office leases.
This opportunity is extended to start up ventures that have
a great product or service but lack the capital to secure office
space. More.
New
technology from DartAppraisal.com
Troy-based DartAppraisal.com, an independent provider of residential
real estate valuations, Wednesday announced an updated version
of its DartExpress system to ensure compliance with all Federal
Housing Administration mortgagee letters related to valuations.
The technology updates come in advance of the FHA policy changes
which will take effect Jan. 1, allowing mortgage brokers, lenders
and appraisers an early advantage in compliance. More.
Liberty
Center One offers free data center consultation
The Pleasant Ridge-based
data center provider Liberty Center One Wednesday announced
free consultation related to data center and server migration.
The company said many businesses are re-examining their data
storage and management strategies, due to everything from outdated
infrastructure to inefficient legacy systems to an escalating
cost of operations. More.
THE
WORLD IN TECH
Review:
Motorola's Droid is a serious smart phone
 Since
its debut in 2007, millions of people have gravitated toward
Apple's iPhone, wooed by its sleek hardware, simple user interface
and abundance of applications. Other smart phone makers have
been trying since then to dispel the notion that the iPhone
is the be-all and end-all of mobile gadgets. The latest push
comes from Verizon Wireless and Motorola, whose Droid is a good
alternative for those seeking a feature-packed smart phone with
a full keyboard and strong wireless service. The Droid stands
out from the crowd of iPhone wannabes with a slim but weighty
body, noticeably angular look and large touch screen. More.
Cisco
forecasts growth for first time in downturn...
Cisco
Systems Inc. is forecasting revenue growth for the first time
in a year, offering further evidence that orders are rising
again after passing what CEO John Chambers called a "tipping
point" in the downturn this summer. The world's No. 1 maker
of computer-networking gear said Wednesday that given the brightening
conditions, it will start to hire more employees after laying
off workers over the past year. Cisco's work force has shrunk
by about 3,500 over the past four quarters to about 63,800,
mostly from layoffs but also from early retirement offers and
attrition. Chambers said during a conference call with analysts
that the hiring will be "very targeted" and focused
on new markets. More.
...but
Microsoft lays off 800 worldwide
Microsoft Corp.
says it is cutting 800 more jobs. That's in addition to the
5,000 layoffs it announced in January. Lou Gellos, a Microsoft
spokesman, said Wednesday the cuts are being made in offices
around the globe. He would not say what specific product groups
or job types are affected. Gellos also says Microsoft had already
let nearly all of the 5,000 go, in what was the company's first-ever
widespread layoffs. Microsoft also said in January it would
continue to hire in key areas such as Web search. More.
New
York joins the antitrust effort against Intel
 The
legal challenges to Intel Corp.'s sales tactics mounted Wednesday
as New York's attorney general accused the world's biggest computer
chip maker of using "illegal threats and collusion"
to dominate. In filing a federal antitrust lawsuit, Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo accused Intel of using its market prowess
to "rule with an iron fist." Intel's chips act as
the "brains" of 80 percent of the world's personal
computers. Cuomo said Intel paid billions of dollars in kickbacks
to computer manufacturers and retaliated against those that
did too much business with Intel's competitors, namely Advanced
Micro Devices Inc. More.
Stocks
give up gains in final hour, finish mixed
A late-day slump
left stocks mixed Wednesday as investors couldn't hold on to
their optimism after the Federal Reserve gave an encouraging
assessment of the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average,
up more than 150 points after the Fed described the economy
as showing more signs of recovery, closed up 30. Broader indexes
were narrowly mixed. Stocks could get a lift Thursday from Cisco
Systems Inc., which reported posted better quarterly earnings
and sales than expected after the closing bell. Analysts couldn't
point to any one reason why stocks gave up their gains late
Wednesday, although some said the market is nervous as the release
of the government's October jobs report on Friday approaches.
More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
fell 1.8 points or 0.1 percent to 2,055.52. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU)
rose 30.23 points or 0.3 percent to 9,802.14. The Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index ($SOX)
rose 1.83 points or 0.6 percent to 295.31. The Morgan Stanley
High Tech 35 Index (MSH)
rose 1 point even or 0.2 percent to 522.26. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical
Index (DRG)
rose 3.38 points or 1.2 percent to 288.59. The NYSE Arca Biotech
Index (BTK)
fell 14.96 points or 1.7 percent to 859.31. Finally, the Standard
& Poor's 500 (SPX)
rose 1.09 points or 0.1 percent to 1,046.5.
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