Business Section

Men wielding chainsaws plunging them into big blocks of ice, sending a spray of frozen mist skyward – that’ll make The Chronicle stop and watch … for longer than a Stopped.Watched. item. Out in front of Bella Ciao on Liberty Street just east of Ashley, Andrew Hoeffner and Andrew Dickinson were enjoying a minor difference of opinion about how to proceed with the carving, which the restaurant had commissioned. But the chainsaw slice had been made and there was pretty much no turning back.

Hoeffner, who’s a sophomore at the University of Michigan, and in his second year of carving for the Michigan Ice Carving Team, said that they’d already adjusted the planned design somewhat: They’d started with the idea of making the letters of “Bella Ciao” raised relief, but switched to carving the outlines into the ice. [Full Story]

If you didn’t know that Thursday evening’s reception and book signing for “Domino’s Farms” by Bertie Bonnell was a special event, here’s a clue: Tom Monaghan’s dog, Sasha, got a bath for the occasion.

More than 100 people attended the reception at Domino’s Farms to mark the publication of the book, which is being distributed by the University of Michigan Press. It tells the story of how Monaghan conceived of and built the landmark office park, inspired by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style.  [Full Story]

On Thursday morning, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority’s Lois Crawford was at Blake Transit Center spreading the word about the new fare boxes, which are scheduled to appear on AATA buses starting Feb. 6.

In addition to introducing riders to the new fare boxes, Crawford was distributing written information about the fare increase proposal and alerting bus riders who were waiting inside Blake to the ways they could give their feedback on the proposed rate hike, which would see the base fare climbing from $1 to $1.50 over the next two years.

Crawford had  one of the Odyssey model boxes manufactured by GFI Genfare on hand,  and powered up for inspection. The green-backlit message screen on the box read: “THANKS 4 RIDING AATA. WELCOME.” [Full Story]

At noon on Tuesday, around 50 people gathered in the space at 118 S. Main St. to evaluate its potential as a place for coworking by independent operators. Coworking includes income-earning activity that ranges from people working solo in physical proximity with other independent workers, to collaboration with some of them on a single project – without belonging to a common business concern.

But it wasn’t just the physical space that people were keen to see (over a free catered lunch). They also wanted to know what Michael Kessler had in mind for the actual space-use agreements. Kessler has an arrangement with Ed Shaffran, who owns the Goodyear Building which houses the potential coworking space.

So what people wanted to know from Kessler on Tuesday was: What do you get, and how much does it cost? And what Kessler wanted to know from attendees was: Would you actually use this space, and how much would you pay? [Full Story]

Maite Zubia lifts a cookie with her fork, a cookie she’s just dipped in slippery melted chocolate. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” she asks. “It’s simple, but it’s beautiful.”

She’s in the basement of an Eighth Avenue home on Ann Arbor’s Old West Side, which is also set up as a commercial kitchen, showing The Chronicle how she makes these traditional South American cookies, called alfajores. She’s also telling the story of how she’s growing her business, Maitelates: “It’s been a story of support.” [Full Story]

If you’re one of the many Prius owners in Ann Arbor and enjoy lording your environmental sensitivity over other drivers on the road, look in the rear-view mirror. The Big Three are unveiling new concepts and new plans to put some of the most environmentally sensitive vehicles out to market, meaning Prius owners may have to trade in for a Chevy, Ford or a Chrysler if they want to continue to hold the automotive moral high ground.

New model announcements made at this year’s Detroit Auto Show (also known as the North American International Auto Show in deference no doubt to the NAFTA agreement so loved by the UAW) were prolific, despite a pall created in the wake of December’s brutal and sometimes embarrassing executive testimony in Washington D.C. Most of the green news generated came out of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, who all tried their best to put on a positive face as U.S. auto sales continue their free-fall. [Full Story]

If anyone doubted that Red Hot Lovers had a following, the large sign taped to its front window makes that clear: “We Miss You Red Hots – Come Back Soon!” But those fans have nowhere to go: The East University eatery known for its hot dogs and waffle cheese fries closed just before the University of Michigan’s holiday break last year, and hasn’t yet reopened.

A handwritten sign taped on the inside of the front window states: “We will be re-opening A.S.A.P. Don’t give up on us.” [Full Story]

Following the directive from councilmembers during a regular meeting, as well as at a city council budget retreat, to update the most recent study of a city income tax for Ann Arbor, the 2004 Ann Arbor Income Tax Study has been disseminated by Tom Crawford, chief financial officer for the city of Ann Arbor. But the 2004 study was by no means the first such effort to analyze the impact of a city income tax on Ann Arbor.

In 1997, a similar effort was undertaken by the University of Michigan School of Public Policy. Chronicle reader and Stopped.Watched. correspondent Vivienne Armentrout lent her perfect-bound copy of that 73-page document to The Chronicle, which we’ve scanned and converted to a 4 MB .pdf file: [1997 Ann Arbor Income Tax Study]. [Full Story]

The gathering on Wednesday evening at the Ann Arbor Community Center to discuss a proposed affordable housing development had been publicized as a 2-hour long “community design charrette.” But the 35 or more immediate neighbors and other interested parties who attended the meeting filled a bit more than the first hour asking questions that addressed the topic of the developer’s motives, the projects’ consistency with the mission of the non-profit partner on the proposal (Avalon Housing) and the conformance of the project to the city’s various planning documents.

Architect Damian Farrell was eventually given the chance to project live images from his design software onto the wall, and manipulate them to illustrate changes that had been made as a result of the previous two charrettes. But the ensuing conversation on design elements was also interspersed with concerns about topics from the first hour.

Two and a half hours into the meeting, a man stood and said: “I am homeless.” He’d heard people pick at the project, he said, but he hadn’t heard anyone ask this question about it: “What can we do to help?” It was more than three and a half hours after the meeting started when the last of the post-charrette conversational pods headed out the door.

By Jan. 21, the project team hopes to be able to submit responses to any of the city planning staff’s concerns expressed after the project’s initial review, which began after the project was submitted in December. Near North could come before the city’s planning commission as early as Feb. 19. [Full Story]

On Tuesday of this week, the totter returned to action after a long period of inactivity. We reprised a theme with some previous history on the totter: real-time parking data. This time around, the live-data feed on parking space availability, which is streamed to the web by Ann Arbor’s Downtown Development Authority, has been piped into a telephone system.

The guy who did that: Fred Posner. [Full Story]

At Ann Arbor city council’s recent budget retreat, during a priority-setting exercise in which councilmembers went around the table naming a top priority for them in the coming year, Leigh Greden said he wanted to see a thorough assessment of the possibility of a city income tax. Councilmember Stephen Rapundalo had made a request at the Jan. 5 city council meeting that staff dust off the 2004 income tax study and begin to update it with current information.  Tom Crawford, chief financial officer for the city of Ann Arbor, has now disseminated the 2004 Ann Arbor city income tax study [2.5 MB .pdf]. [Full Story]

Although the punishments for those who apply graffiti would remain intact, the impact of a proposed new anti-graffiti ordinance on property owners would be lessened under a revised version of the law. The original version of the proposed anti-graffiti ordinance was approved by council at its first reading at the Dec. 15 city council meeting, which advanced it along in the usual process to a public hearing and second reading, scheduled for council’s Jan. 20 meeting.

Since that December meeting, sponsors of the new ordinance (which include councilmembers Margie Teall, Carsten Hohnke, Leigh Greden, and Christopher Taylor) have met with various business owners, the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Development Authority, and city staff, which resulted  in changes to the proposed ordinance. [Full Story]

Downtown Development Authority Board (Jan. 7, 2009) The Main Street Area Association had hoped for a year-long delay in the parking rate increases that were approved by the DDA board at its Nov. 5 meeting. But after discussing that possibility – and the borrowing of $3.65 million from the TIF fund that the year’s delay would require – the board left their original proposal intact. However, it will not be put before city council for final approval on Jan. 20, as originally planned.

Instead, the rate hike, which is part of the same packet of materials as the Fifth Avenue underground parking garage project, will be placed on the agenda for the second council meeting in February. The board settled on this delay when mayor of the city of Ann Arbor, John Hieftje (who serves on the DDA board in that capacity) announced that the council’s budget and finance committee had indicated a preference to see that packet delayed until February. Hieftje warned that if it were placed on the Jan. 20 agenda, it would simply be postponed by city council. [Full Story]

On VoipTechChat.com Fred Posner has summarized how he spent part of yesterday morning: devising a way to get real-time parking information for Ann Arbor over the phone. Try it yourself: dial (212) 937-7844 and then press 6. Do it now. (This is a prototype).  [Source]

City Council Meeting (Jan. 5, 2009, Part I) At a meeting where dozens of citizens have gathered to take a turn speaking their piece at a public hearing, it is somewhat odd to hear an elected public official declare: “The problem is the speaker.”

In context, though, that made perfect sense Monday night, because the speaker in question was the one spewing static in the council chamber’s sound system, used by CTN to record the proceedings.

As previously reported in The Chronicle, Monday’s council meeting resulted in a 0-10 vote for the City Place planned unit development (PUD) application. The public hearing on the matter, plus deliberations on a possible postponement, followed by discussion of the substantive issues, took up the majority of the meeting, which lasted until around 11:30 p.m [Full Story]

Ann Arbor City Council Sunday caucus (Jan. 4, 2009): Sunday night’s regular caucus focused on development issues: (i) a proposed PUD, City Place, to be built along Fifth Avenue, and (ii) redevelopment proposals for the city-owned property at 415 W. Washington. The caucus was bookended by remarks from representatives from two of the design teams for the 415 W. Washington, Peter Allen and Peter Pollack. [Full Story]

The Earth Times posts a press release from Borders Group that announces a new CEO and other management changes at the beleaguered Ann Arbor-based bookstore chain. Ron Marshall, founder of the private equity firm Wildridge Capital Management, has replaced George Jones as president and CEO. Jones had been in that job since July 2006. In a statement, Borders board chairman Larry Pollock says: “Progress has been made by Borders Group over recent quarters within the challenging economy to reduce debt, improve cash flow, cut expenses, enhance inventory productivity and improve margins, but it is imperative that the company more aggressively attack these initiatives to address its long-term future.” Borders also reported a double-digit sales decline for the holiday period ending … [Full Story]

We take this occasion to address some technical issues related to commenting on Chronicle articles, prompted by a bad outcome this past weekend. In general, everyone’s very first comment is held in a moderation queue – this helps cut down on spam. Time lag for approval of a first comment ranges from instantaneous (if it’s seen “live” as it comes through) to a few hours. After logging one successful comment, subsequent comments should appear with no editorial intervention. [Full Story]

Back in early September, only a week or so after we launched The Ann Arbor Chronicle, I trekked up to Lansing to meet with our locally elected state legislators. Man, I had grand plans. I’ve never found a good resource for learning about what our state lawmakers are doing, and I thought The Chronicle could be that resource.

The women I met with could not have been more gracious. The three state representatives – Pam Byrnes, Alma Wheeler Smith and Rebekah Warren – work in adjacent offices in a building with spectacular views of the capitol across the street. I met some of their staff, and talked with each about their goals and priorities for the year. Liz Brater, the state senator who represents Ann Arbor, gave me a tour of the Senate chambers. And I wrapped up the day by joining Rebekah Warren and Alma Wheeler Smith while the House was in its afternoon session (their desks sit next to each other on the House floor, but not because Alma is Rebekah’s mother-in-law). I even acquired a press pass for the rest of the year, which involved filling out some forms and getting my picture taken. [Full Story]

On Saturday, TeacherPatti posted a Tweet about the upcoming closing of Bello Vino Marketplace, and on Monday The Chronicle took the #2 AATA bus to the Plymouth Mall store to check things out. If you didn’t already know the grocery was set to close on Jan. 15, the empty or thinly-stocked shelves would be your first clue. Or you might notice the grim-faced employees – one of them told The Chronicle that they were informed of the decision on Friday, the day after Christmas. “It was kind of a slap in the face,” she said. [Full Story]

It was late on a Saturday night earlier this month when the Google alert showed up in my inbox: “Editor’s column: The Ann Arbor News is changing; you can help us,” by Ed Petykiewicz.

At last, I thought, Ed has finally written a column about what’s happening at The News. That’s great! So I clicked on the link, and pulled up … a blank page on MLive.

I groaned – the mess that is MLive strikes again! – and I put my head in my hands: This technical glitch reflects so much of what’s wrong with the News’ business model, and shows how far they have to go in addressing this and all the other challenges they face. Maybe, I thought, Ed’s column will confront some of these realities. I’d just have to wait for the newsprint version on Sunday morning to read it. [Full Story]

Many of the 15 or so people gathered in the downtown Ann Arbor library on Tuesday night were clearly neighbors. There were handshakes, waves, nods of greetings and, in at least one case, the delivery of a Christmas gift. And as the meeting unfolded, it also became clear that these people had another common bond: Opposition, or at least strong skepticism, to a revived apartment project called The Madison.

Developer Jeff Helminski and Newcombe Clark of Bluestone Realty plan to resubmit a scaled-down version of The Madison to the city on Dec. 29, and were holding this meeting to tell neighbors about their new plans and to get feedback on the project. Located on East Madison between South Fourth and Fifth avenues, the original proposal called for a 14-story building with 161 units. This new one has four stories, with 60 units.

That’s still too large for some. [Full Story]

So you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet? Here are three stops you can make – hitting four locally owned businesses – to help wrap up your 2008 gift-giving list.

Sweet Gem Confections, Morgan & York

When The Chronicle dropped by the Sweet Gem Confections kitchen recently, owner Nancy Biehn had covered her working table with an army of truffles, lined up like they were ready to march into someone’s mouth – which, eventually, they were. At any given time, Biehn makes about 16 different types of these chocolate bites of decadence, including seasonal flavors like eggnog and chestnut rum for the holidays.

She sells these chocolates at Morgan & York – her business is tucked into the corner of that Packard Road store – or you can order online. They’re also available at Arbor Farms and Zingerman’s Next Door. [Full Story]

The shop was located in a poorly maintained old brick building on Chicago’s south side. It housed the typical uneven dusty shelves overloaded with books that spilled over into various small alcoves.

To an antiquarian book collector it was the perfect spot, much like a trout fisherman finding just the right pool on a bedrock bottom of the North Fork. I asked the store owner the location of books on early American History published prior to 1900. She tried to appear interested in helping me but she wasn’t. Her gig was first edition modern literature and her brain cells were filled with Margaret Atwood. [Full Story]

On Thursday evening, the second floor of Cottage Inn Pizza on William Street in downtown Ann Arbor was cram-packed with geeks and non-geeks alike. But it seemed like mostly geeks – propeller heads, techies, code-freaks, whatever term of endearment you prefer. They were there for ArbCamp 2008, a gathering meant to stimulate discussions around topics mutually agreed upon, on the fly at the event, and to promote connections in the tech community that might prove constructive. If the breaking news of the day – UM’s purchase of the old Pfizer site to establish a medical research hub – represents a big box approach to economic development, then ArbCamp 2008 is a grass-roots approach. [Full Story]

Word about the University of Michigan’s plans to buy the former Pfizer research site had leaked out much earlier in the day, but UM regents waited until the end of their regular Thursday afternoon meeting before making it formal: The university will spend $108 million to buy the roughly 174-acre Plymouth Road complex, with plans to transform it into a major medical and scientific research hub. In the long term, university officials hope to add 2,000 jobs to the local economy over 10 years. But in the short term, the deal will take millions of dollars off the tax rolls for local governments at a time when they’re already anticipating budget shortfalls. [Full Story]

UPDATE to our previous article: Just after 4 p.m. we received a call from Mike Klein of Online Technologies Corp., who said that OTC is offering a free month of website and email service to anyone affected by the IAS situation. They also are offering free co-location of servers for a month, if necessary. OTC, with offices at Avis Farms, has received dozens of calls from people seeking help, Klein said: “They can’t afford downtime.” To contact OTC, call 734-213-2020 and press 2 for sales.

Websites for several local institutions – including the AATA and Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation – were disabled Monday in the wake of business problems suffered by IAS, a local Internet company that’s been evicted from its office in the Lowertown area.

The NEW Center, a group that provides support services to local nonprofits, received calls from several people on Tuesday who were searching for alternatives to get their websites up again, said Linh Song, a NEW Center technology manager. Song is director of NEW’s npServ program, which helps nonprofits manage their information technology services.

The timing of this outage – which in some cases affected email service as well – was especially difficult for nonprofits, given that it has occurred during the height of the giving season, when groups typically see their largest year-end donations and await word on grant applications. You want to be as responsive as possible – you don’t want to worry about whether your email works, Song said. [Full Story]

We are extremely grateful to the people who advertise with The Chronicle – they are the reason we’re able to do what we do. We hope our readers take note of them, too, especially if you’re a subscriber to our RSS feeds and don’t get to see their ads on our site. You can find our complete list of advertisers here.

Some of them – the Washtenaw Drain Commission, for example, or the Ann Arbor Public Schools – aren’t in the business of selling gifts in the traditional sense. But many are, and we’d encourage you to consider spending some of your holiday dollars in their shops. To that end, here’s a quick roundup of some of the things you’ll find at these local businesses. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor is considered a regional hub for food system entrepreneurship. Along with an incredible diversity of grocery and restaurant businesses, Ann Arbor attracts a large collection of emerging ventures. As an agricultural innovation counselor with the Michigan State University Product Center, I help entrepreneurs get their products to market, and I’d like to highlight some of these ventures to provide insights into both entrepreneurship and the potential of developing our local food system. [Full Story]