Daily Dash - June, 12, 2007

June 12 , 2008

The Latest Business Headlines from WWJ Newsradio 950

Record MGM Grand Revenue | Nearly $53 million in revenue for May 2008 was the largest amount ever collected by a Detroit casino, Crain's Detroit Business reports.| Story

Sour Economy Hits Hospitals | After several years of growing surpluses, several large hospitals in the Metro Detroit area had declines in 2007, The Detroit News reports.| Story

Ford Exec Wants Hybrid Funds | A Ford executive is urging the government to make a greater commitment to the development of plug-in hybrids in the United States. | Story

Buddy System Finds GM Workers | A company spokesman says many openings left vacant by departing employees will be filled through referrals by current workers. | Story

Pulte, Other Builders Fined | The Bloomfield Hills-based firm and three other homebuilders will pay $4.3 million in fines for failing to control runoff at construction sites. | Story

Stocks Plunge | The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at its lowest level since the Bear Stearns rescue, as financials neared their lowest ebb of the credit crisis. | Story

IT Help Close to Home

If you’ve ever had to call an IT specialist on an 800 number to solve a problem you’re having with your computer, there’s a good chance the person on the other end of the line has been talking to you from another part of the world. More...

UM BIOLOGICAL STATION CELEBRATES 100 YEARS OF DOING 21ST-CENTURY RESEARCH

A Michigan scientific institution is turning 100 years old this month. But its mission is as relevant now as it was when it was founded.

The University of Michigan Biological Station in Pellston is a research campus dedicated to education and research in field biology and related environmental sciences. Its goal: to produce biologically knowledgeable graduates who are prepared to understand, deal with and solve environmental problems.

Over the years, the station has done that by combining research and education, with a focus on tackling the most crucial environmental issues. Its efforts over the past century have resulted in more than 2,700 journal articles, book chapters, textbooks and monographs, 220 dissertations and theses and 3,600 undergraduate research papers, the university says.
More...

Detroit Renaissance Launches Creative Economy Initiative

Detroit Renaissance has launched an initiative to grow the region’s creative economy. Along with a new Web site, the new brand identity “Detroit Make It Here” was unveiled Wednesday in front of crowd of 200 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

The initiative is one of of six outlined in the Road to Renaissance, a set of specific strategies to transform the economy in Detroit and Southeast Michigan..

“We all know that we have a breadth of creative assets here in our region and this effort will not only build on these assets but allow us to let the rest of the world know this is a great place to locate a creative business," said Detroit Renaissance President, Doug Rothwell. More...

UM LIFE SCIENCES INSTITUTE BRIDGES 'VALLEY OF DEATH' WITH NEW FUND: The University of Michigan's Life Sciences Institute is launching a novel program to shepherd promising biomedical discoveries from the lab bench to the marketplace. Called the Innovation Partnership, it uses philanthropic gifts to bridge the critical funding gap -- known to biomedical researchers and venture capitalists as the Valley of Death -- between laboratory discovery and commercialization. More...

ONCOMINE KEY TO MAJOR PROSTATE CANCER DISCOVERY: Ann Arbor-based Compendia Bioscience Inc., a provider of cancer profiling data and analysis tools, has announced the central role of its flagship product Oncomine in the discovery and identification of a gene, called SPINK1, as a key new therapeutic target and biomarker for prostate cancer. More...

JOHNSON CONTROLS PART OF PLUG-IN HYBRID TEST FLEET: Johnson Controls Inc. is part of a consortium that will test a fleet of 20 Ford Escape plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. With its automotive headquarters in Plymouth, Johnson Controls is supplying lithium-ion batteries for the test fleet intended to examine the future of PHEVs as part of a complete vehicle, home and grid energy system. More...

DETROIT CAREER FAIR THURSDAY: About 400 jobs will be up for grabs as the city of Detroit holds a career fair on Thursday. The 2nd Annual Spring into Action Career Fair will take place today, June 12, at Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center, Wayne Hall, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. More than 10 City of Detroit departments and 35 employer partners will participate. More...

MICHIGAN SCIENTISTS LAND ON YOUTUBE: You'll find everything from skate-boarding dogs to bad karaoke on YouTube. Now, you can add dancing scientists to the list. The "Perrigo Dancing Scientists'' video was shot at a Perrigo lab in Michigan. The under two-minute clip uses a mix of actors and actual scientists. Company officials say they want to convince job hunters the drug maker is a hip, fun place to work. More...

WORLDWIDE AUTOMOTIVE REPORT PODCAST: Ford is about to announce a very important new product, the Flex Crossover.

Note: While the Daily Dash editor, James Melton, is on vacation, this is 'The Dash Lite.' James will return along with your complete Daily Dash newsletter on Monday, June 16.