GLITR Thursday, July 9, 2009

Your report for Thursday, July 9, 2009

NanoBio raises $10 million in venture capital
Ann Arbor-based NanoBio Corp. said Wednesday that it had closed a $22 million Series B financing round after securing an additional $10 million from NanoBio's majority shareholder, New York City-based Perseus L.L.C., and Venture Investors of Madison, Wis. The company said the funds will support clinical trials and ongoing operations through early 2011. NanoBio announced the first $12 million in Series B financing in February. To date, NanoBio has received more than $90 million in equity and grant funding to support the development of the company’s anti-infective products and nanoemulsion-based vaccines. More.

Greenview Data launches new hosted e-mail archiving
The Ann Arbor developers of the industry-leading antispam system SpamStopsHere now offer a simple, affordable service that goes beyond backup with in-the-cloud, searchable archiving for disaster recovery, compliance and peace of mind. Ann Arbor-based Greenview Data Inc., a provider of e-mail security and filtering systems, announced Wednesday the immediate availability of its new RestorEmail in-the-cloud e-mail archiving system. RestorEmail provides convenient, ongoing archival storage and real-time retrieval access for vital e-mail data to ensure business continuity, regulatory compliance and protection against catastrophic loss of e-mail data in the event of a disaster, all at an affordable price starting at just $1 per user per month. More.

Online Tech offers free switchover for Rackspace clients
Ann Arbor-based Online Tech Inc. is responding to reports of more power outages at hosting provider Rackspace -- a free transition to Online Tech servers instead. Online Tech says it's waiving the setup and first month fee for all Rackspace customers that upgrade to Online Tech's data centers. Online Tech focuses on high availability applications with three SAS-70 audited data centers sitting across two separate power grids and redundant fiber for automatic failover. More.

Bad links in Leaders and Innovators, Rave Computer item
We're back to the bad old days with a couple of bum links in this week's issues. First, Tuesday's Lawrence Technological University - Grant Thornton Leaders and Innovators honoree, David Mielke, had a bum link, but now it's working, at www.ltu.edu/leaders, so go look. Also linked bumly was Wednesday's story on a new headquarters for Rave Computer in Sterling Heights. Here's the right link: http://www.wwj.com/pages/4745196.php.

Lawrence Tech, Skillman Foundation help biz on Detroit's east side
Economists searching for the “green shoots” of a resurgent economy need look no further than the Osborn community on Detroit’s east side to find new businesses that are capitalizing on a renewed interest in agriculture and landscaping. Leslie Huffman of Vandalia Gardens and Edith Floyd of Farming In The City both hope to bring “the country to the city” by providing fresh, locally grown produce while also educating the public on healthy food choices. Kevin Bingham started his new business, Singing Tree, to keep trees healthy and recycle wood from trees that can’t be saved. All three entrepreneurs are graduates of the Osborn Microenterprise and Entrepreneur Program that was launched in the fall of 2007 More.

Spartan Stores launch Buy Michigan campaign in stores, online

While the average American meal may not travel 1,500 miles to your plate after all, in times like these, it makes sense to buy local when you can.

Grand Rapids-based Spartan Stores is making that easier, with a new campaign called Michigan's Best.

Launched online and in stores Wednesday, the campaign offers a list of more than 2,400 grocery items, from apples to zucchini, that are grown or made in Michigan, from Acme to Zeeland, by more than 40 companies, from Absopure to ... Yoplait. (Sorry, no Z.)

And it's more than just food -- there are also hair care products, wines, bird food and pain relievers on the list.

Simply put, buying local Michigan made products is a simple and healthy way to boost the state's economy. In fact, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture, if each family in Michigan started spending $10 per week of their grocery bill on Michigan products, we would keep more than $37 million in Michigan, each week. Buying local keeps Michigan residents employed, and gives consumers fresher products that require less transportation spending.

The campaign will include in-store specials, signs and recipes at 99 corporate-owned Family Fare, D&W, Felpausch, Glen's and VG's stores throughout Michigan.

More from the Great Lakes IT Report.

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Versus Technology sells location system to VA medical center
Traverse City-based Versus Technology Inc. announced Wednesday that the St. Louis, Mo. Veterans Affairs Medical Center had selected Enterprise Vision, a real-time location information system developed by Versus. Specifically, the St. Louis VAMC, a two-division, tertiary care facility with over 200 hospital beds, will deploy VISion: Clinic in its outpatient eye clinic and VISion: Perioperative Suite in its operating room for automated patient tracking. More.

New Web site for child care provider
DesignHub Creates New Web Site for Bemis Farms: DesignHub Inc., a Saline-based creative services and marketing firm, has designed and developed a new Web site for Bemis Farms Childcare and Preschool, also headquartered in Saline. The Web site describes the play-based programs that Bemis Farms offers for children as young as six weeks old at its main facility on Bemis Road. More.

Walloon Lake firm seeks grants, investors in biorefinery
Walloon Lake-based Gas Technologies LLC said this week that it is seeking a Department of Energy grant to build a large-scale integrated biorefinery. The idea of the plant is to produce fuels and other cellulosic materials with zero carbon footprint, using a variety of source inputs, including algae. Breidenstein said those who are interested in the entire design concept and summary of the technology, should e-mail him at walterb@gastechno.com. More.

THE WORLD IN TECH

Gartner: Tech spending to drop 6 percent this year
Research firm Gartner says worldwide spending on technology products and services is on track to decline 6 percent this year. Gartner Inc. said Tuesday it expects tech spending to fall to $3.2 trillion this year, down from $3.4 trillion in 2008. The drop is steeper than the 3.8 percent decline Gartner had projected for the year in March. The decline is due to the economic turmoil and the rising value of the U.S. dollar against most currencies. That means purchases made in other currencies translate into fewer dollars for U.S. tech companies. A recovery is expected in 2010. More.

U.S. officials eye North Korea in cyber attack
U.S. authorities on Wednesday eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly. The powerful attack that targeted dozens of government and private sites underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such multipronged assaults. While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption. More. (Oh, and here's how a denial of service attack works.)

Windows 7 is on sale. Should you buy it now?
Microsoft Corp.'s next installment of Windows doesn't launch until October, but deep discounts on some versions are available through Saturday if you want to pre-order. Before pouncing on this deal, make sure it's right for your PC. There are plenty of reasons why you'd want Windows 7. It appears to be more stable - less prone to crashes - than previous versions of Windows. It's less annoying than Vista, which could deluge users with security warnings and other nagging reminders. Windows 7 has a cleaner, simpler interface. One thing that isn't simple about Windows 7 is the flavors it comes in. Microsoft said it tried to keep the options easy, but that didn't happen. More.

T. Boone Pickens' wind power plan blows away
T. Boone Pickens, the conservative Texas oilman who became the unlikely face of energy reform efforts during the 2008 presidential campaign, has announced that he will not move forward with plans to build the world's largest wind farm in his home state. Pickens' company's spokesman cited "the collapse of the capital markets" and "the steep downturn of natural gas prices" as the reason for the decision, as the Washington Post reports. (Pickens also cited a lack of transmission lines.) The spokesman insisted that "Boone still remains committed and focused on developing wind energy in the United States." More.

Stocks: Dismal employment numbers push markets lower
Stocks finished mostly lower after zigzagging for much of the day Wednesday. A mixed outlook on the economy from the International Monetary Fund and falling commodity prices added to the downbeat mood. That tone could improve Thursday thanks to a narrower-than-expected loss from Alcoa Inc., which ushered in the second quarter earnings season after the closing bell Wednesday. The aluminum producer's shares rose 6 percent in after-hours trading. Traders also will also be watching retail sales figures coming out Thursday to see if slippage in consumer confidence translated into a weaker take at cash registers. More. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) lost 41.23 points or 2.3 percent to 1,746.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) fell 161.27 points or 1.9 percent to 8,163.6. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ($SOX) fell 7.51 points or 2.9 percent to 252.73. The Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index (MSH) fell 11.14 points or 2.5 percent to 429.85. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index (DRG) fell 2.39 points or 0.9 percent to 257.66. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index (BTK) fell 13.26 points or 2 percent to 646.13. Finally, the Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) fell 17.69 points or 2 percent to 881.03.

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