UM-Dearborn's
Michigan Innovation Index stabilizes After a fall of more than
12 points in the previous quarter as the credit crunch made economic
innovation very difficult to finance, innovative economic activity in
Michigan was roughly unchanged in the first quarter of 2009, according
to the “innovation index” compiled by scholars at the University
of Michigan-Dearborn College of Business. “Looking ahead, preliminary
indications are that innovative activity began to recover in the second
quarter of 2009,” according to Lee Redding, associate professor
of business economics and director of the Innovation Index at the UM-Dearborn
College of Business, predicting growth in the second quarter based on
strong renewed interest in loans from the federal Small Business Administration.
More.
First
responder software writer releases new version For the first time, a new
nationwide database is giving incident commanders who supervise large
scale emergencies -- whether it be a fire, EMS, police or combined event
-- complete confidence in knowing who is assisting in the efforts, regardless
of which department each is from. Ann Arbor-based OnSite ERT, developers
of a portable and rapidly deployable system used for tracking and monitoring
emergency responders, have now released OnSite ERT Central that is changing
multi-agency response coordination during emergencies. OnSite ERT Central
allows users to automatically track emergency responders from multiple
agencies that show up to assist in the combined efforts. More.
Trivalent
Group launches new disaster recovery software
Grandville-based Trivalent Group, one of
Michigan’s largest technology firms, has launched BIAsurvivor,
a new disaster recovery tool. The Web-based software collects and houses
the system and business information necessary for recovery in the event
of a disaster. The flexible interface allows clients to efficiently
store, update and change disaster recovery information. Easy to learn
and use, the software contains sample documents and forms, generates
reports, publishes and distributes the plan, provides users with documentation
and instructions and supports multiple locations. It also provides various
individuals simultaneous access to the application and company data
from remote locations with an Internet connection. More.
Gas Station
TV gets new deal with NBC Universal NBC Everywhere, the out-of-home
unit of NBC Universal and Oak Park-based Gas Station TV Monday announced
a new and exclusive content relationship to provide NBCU programming
to gas stations and convenience stores across the country. Beginning
Monday, Aug. 31, NBCU content will be seen by more than 30 million viewers
each month during their routine visits to the pump. This strategic partnership
combines content from NBCU, with the leader in the gas space, GSTV,
to provide Nielsen-confirmed metrics to advertising clients, give consumers
the best content and technology and help c-stores promote and increase
their sales. Previously, GSTV used news and entertainment content from
CBS. More.
AVID
e-commerce clients' recent results hint at turnaround Those looking for signs
of an improving economy should look over in Buchanan in southwest Michigan.
AVID Commerce, an Internet and e-commerce consultancy, reported strong
sales gains over the past two months for its e-commerce clients offering
home furnishings-related products. The combined sales data for this
sub-group showed June sales nearly flat compared to May with a 5.2 percent
increase, but with subsequent sales gains of 33.9 percent in July and
81.1 percent in August. “While the sample size is small, the sales
trend for our clients serving the housing market is especially interesting
in view of the recent improvements in housing starts, existing home
sales and consumer confidence,” said Stephen Antisdel, managing
director of AVID Commerce. More.
Karmanos,
two hospitals bring advanced cancer care to Monroe
Two hospital systems and one cancer
center are joining forces to bring improved cancer services to Monroe.
Mercy Memorial Hospital System of Monroe, ProMedica Health System of
Toledo and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit have announced
a joint venture agreement to create Monroe Cancer Center LLC. A groundbreaking
for the new cancer center is expected to take place by early 2010, with
the opening about a year earlier. The center will be located at 800
Stewart Road, part of the 110 acres owned by Memorial Hospital system,
about a mile-and-a-half from the hospital campus. The 10,000 square-foot
center will include medical and radiation oncology. More.
Michigan
company introduces foldaway pediatric exam table Pediatric Wildlife Care
Tables, an innovative design solution from CND Products LLC, provides
the answer to an age-old problem for doctors, nurses and healthcare
professionals. Constantly in need of an efficient work surface while
seeing patients, medical professionals have long relied on bulky rolling
computer tables to temporarily stow files, laptops, fluid bags, equipment
and the like. Pediatric Wildlife Care Tables, which affix to existing
surfaces and can be stowed flat with one hand, finally eliminate freestanding
tables that contribute to room congestion and disinfection challenges.
More.
Wireless
Giant to open more BlackBerry stores with airport retailer Madison Heights-based Wireless
Giant and Jacksonville, Fla.-based InMotion Entertainment have joined
together to develop and operate additional "BlackBerry from Wireless
Giant" retail stores in select transportation centers, including
major airports and rail stations across the United States. The stores
will exclusively sell BlackBerry products and services. InMotion Entertainment's
primary responsibilities will include site selection, lease negotiations,
and location development. Wireless Giant will provide specialized training,
BlackBerry smartphones and accessories, as well as concept development,
marketing and operational guidance. More.
Thomas
Kienbaum is partner and co-founder,
Kienbaum Opperwall Hardy & Pelton in Birmingham. Kienbaum
has more than 40 years’ experience representing employers
in significant labor and employment disputes. His background
includes traditional labor matters, employment class actions,
as well as individual plaintiff litigation. During the 1980s,
he defended several major Michigan employers against what were
then the first massive employment discrimination class actions
in the federal courts. During the 1990s, he helped shape the
Michigan state courts’ approach to class action certification.
More recently, he has represented employers in retiree health
care class actions, resulting in a modification of the liability
standard previously set by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit. He has lectured on class action and other trial
subjects for the National Employment Law Institute and Institute
of Continuing Legal Education. Kienbaum served as president
of the State Bar of Michigan, the Metropolitan Detroit Bar Association,
and the Barrister’s Association. He is vice chair of the
Michigan Attorney Discipline Board. Named in “Best Lawyers”
since its inception and Lawyer of the Year by Michigan Lawyers
Weekly in 2003, he is also a Fellow of the College of Labor
and Employment Lawyers. Read
more.
Do you know
a business, professional or community leader whom you think
deserves being honored as a Leader and Innovator?
Click here to nominate them.
KVCC students to build new wind turbine
from scratch
As students for decades have taken automotive courses
to design, build and repair their own cars, so are their modern contemporaries
concentrating on what many see as the nation’s energy future --
wind turbines.
Designing a wind turbine, fabricating its components,
assembling the power-generating unit, and making certain it produces
electricity constitutes the mission of a new course this fall at Kalamazoo
Valley Community College.
With no technical prerequisites or prior knowledge
of computer-aided drafting, machining, welding or electrical technology
needed, the eight-credit, multidisciplinary offering (Mach 282) with
a lecture-lab format is open to 18 enrollees on a first-come, first-served
basis.
Lectures are slated for Mondays and Wednesdays from 3 to 4: 20 p.m.
while lab sessions are booked for Mondays and Wednesdays from 8 to 10
a.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. All will be held in the college’s
technical wing on the Texas Township campus, in the shadow of the 145-foot
turbine that has been generating electricity since early March.
The 2009 fall semester at KVCC begins Tuesday, Sept.
8, and ends Monday, Dec. 21.
The course will also be offered in the 2010 winter
semester that begins on Monday, Jan. 11.
Note: For
information on how you can sponsor content in the Blue Box, contact
Jeff Lasser at (248) 455-7319 or
jeff.lasser@cbsradio.com.
THE WORLD IN TECH
Jobless
and homeless, blogger scores Elle job Six months ago, Brianna
Karp found herself living in an old truck and camper she inherited after
the suicide of a father she barely knew. On Monday, her life became
a 21st century fairytale when she turned her blog about homelessness
into a plum internship for the fashion bible Elle magazine. This is
a story about love and Twitter, hope and the relative safety of a Wal-mart
parking lot. Bri is our star, but there's also Matt, her trans-Atlantic
boyfriend who found her on the streets of Orange County, Calif., as
she wrote about her predicament at girlsguidetohomelessness.com. More.
Mickey,
meet Spidey: Disney to swallow up Marvel One
of the great cultural icons of my childhood is being swept up by the
Mouse. Marvel Entertainment -- which us incipient rebels of the 1960s
loved because its superheroes weren't so, well, perfect --
is being purchased by Walt Disney Co. for $4 billion, bringing characters
such as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and
"Toy Story." The surprise cash-and-stock deal sent Spidey
senses tingling in the comic book world. It could lead to new rides,
movies, action figures and other outlets for Marvel's 5,000 characters,
although Marvel already was aggressively licensing its properties for
such uses. The deal won't have benefits right away, and Disney stock
sank on the news. Disney expects a short-term profit hit, and Marvel
characters from X-Men to Daredevil are locked up in deals with other
movie studios and theme parks. More.
Covansys
employee's brother-in-law to repay insider trading profits A Chattanooga psychiatrist
accused of insider trading in a complaint involving the former Covansys
Corp. has agreed to pay about $770,000 in a Securities and Exchange
Commission complaint. The SEC said in a statement Monday that Dr. Sarath
B. Gangavarapu agreed to pay a civil penalty of $361,762 and "his
ill-gotten gains" of the same amount, plus interest of $46,408.
The SEC said Gangavarapu bought shares of the IT company based on telephone
conversations with a sister who was married to a Covansys executive
officer, just before the Farmington Hills company's purchase by Computer
Sciences Corp. in April 2007. Neither Gangavarpu, his attorney Leigh
Roadman, nor a spokesman for the Falls Church, Va.-based CSC answered
telephone messages seeking comment Monday. More.
Beatles,
Stones, Super Mario: Game industry hopes for a big fall With
a little help from the Beatles, Super Mario and price cuts from Sony
and Microsoft, the slumping video game industry is hoping for a sales
resurrection this fall. The season gets a late-summer start Tuesday,
with the release of "Guitar Hero 5," a game featuring music
from the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and other popular bands. Then on Sept.
9 comes the launch of "The Beatles: Rock Band," which marks
the rock icons' debut in a video game. Video game industry analysts
are cautiously optimistic that 2009 will end on a higher note than it
began, not just because of the music games but blockbusters like Nintendo's
upcoming remake of the classic "Super Mario Bros." for the
Wii and Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2." More.
Stocks:
Wall Street ends strong month with bout of selling
Stocks fell in light trading Monday
after a 6.7 percent plunge in China's main stock market sent a wave
of selling around the world and added to concerns that stocks have rocketed
too high, too fast since hitting 12-year lows in March. The Standard
& Poor's 500 index rose 3.4 percent in August for its sixth straight
monthly gain, advancing despite some periodic choppy trading as investors
fretted about an economic recovery. It is up 50.9 percent since early
March, the best six-month run since 1938. Monday's trading followed
a pattern seen several times during August, with U.S. stocks falling
alongside other world markets after China's Shanghai exchange slid on
uneasiness about that country's economy. If China is struggling, its
problems could affect the recoveries in other countries including the
United States. More.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)
fell 2.92 points or 0.1 percent to 2,017.98. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average ($INDU)
rose 3.32 points or less than 0.1 percent to 9,509.28. The Philadelphia
Semiconductor Index ($SOX)
fell 2.35 points or 0.8 percent to 298.95. The Morgan Stanley High Tech
35 Index (MSH)
fell 3.24 points or 0.6 percent to 502.22. The NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical
Index (DRG)
rose 0.36 points or 0.1 percent to 285.37. The NYSE Arca Biotech Index
(BTK)
rose 4.66 points or 0.5 percent to 883.84. Finally, the Standard & Poor's
500 (SPX)
fell 0.56 points or 0.1 percent to 1,125.57.
All contents copyright
2009 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio & Eye logo
trademarked and copyright 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license.
All Rights Reserved. Written and edited by Matt Roush, Technology Editor,
WWJ Newsradio 950, Detroit. GLITR may contain material from the Associated
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E-Mail Story
Print Story
.gif)
One
of the great cultural icons of my childhood is being swept up by the
Mouse. Marvel Entertainment -- which us incipient rebels of the 1960s
loved because its superheroes weren't so, well, perfect --
is being purchased by Walt Disney Co. for $4 billion, bringing characters
such as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and
"Toy Story." The surprise cash-and-stock deal sent Spidey
senses tingling in the comic book world. It could lead to new rides,
movies, action figures and other outlets for Marvel's 5,000 characters,
although Marvel already was aggressively licensing its properties for
such uses. The deal won't have benefits right away, and Disney stock
sank on the news. Disney expects a short-term profit hit, and Marvel
characters from X-Men to Daredevil are locked up in deals with other
movie studios and theme parks. 
With
a little help from the Beatles, Super Mario and price cuts from Sony
and Microsoft, the slumping video game industry is hoping for a sales
resurrection this fall. The season gets a late-summer start Tuesday,
with the release of "Guitar Hero 5," a game featuring music
from the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and other popular bands. Then on Sept.
9 comes the launch of "The Beatles: Rock Band," which marks
the rock icons' debut in a video game. Video game industry analysts
are cautiously optimistic that 2009 will end on a higher note than it
began, not just because of the music games but blockbusters like Nintendo's
upcoming remake of the classic "Super Mario Bros." for the
Wii and Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2." 
