How attractive is Ann Arbor's economy these days? Attractive enough that banks from Michigan's thumb region are setting up shop here and looking for a piece of the action. Northstar Bank, which is based in Bad Axe, is opening up a loan office and banking branch in Ann Arbor this summer. So far it has resulted in five hires in the area and the full presence is expected to be eight or nine people within the next year. "We feel it's an area that is continuing to grow," says John Wilkins, senior vice president & group manager for Northstar Bank. "It's a good fit because of the employees available and the market." Northstar Bank will offer both private banking services and commercial loans in the area. The bank's first five employees are its loan team. The rest will come from opening up its own bank branch later this year. "We're going to start with a loan-production office," Wilkins says. "It's a good fit because of the employees available and the market." Source: John Wilkins, senior vice president & group manager for Northstar Bank Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

DIIME is working on technology that could help healthcare professionals in third-world countries save patients' lives by reusing their own blood when receiving care. The start-up is specifically looking at creating technology to save the lives of mothers and children by putting a lid on hemorrhaging of blood during childbirth. "We are focusing on maternal and infant healthcare because that's what we saw the most in Africa," says Gillian Henker, president of DIIME. DIIME got its start as an undergraduate engineering project at the University of Michigan. That project became DIIME and its principal technology, Hemafuse, that helps recycle a patient's blood so it can used again by that patient. "This can be up to half of their blood volume," Henker says. "We're talking liters of blood." The Ypsilanti-based start-up and its three co-founders and two interns recently took third place, worth $5,000, in the Emerging Company category of the Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge. It is putting that money toward the seed round it is raising. The start-up hopes to raise $600,000 to go toward clinical studies. It has already conducted two pre-clinical studies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University and received positive results. Source: Gillian Henker, president of DIIME Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The nations' hospitals are trying to clean themselves of the consequences of poor hand washing by giving technology developed by Ann Arbor's Biovigil a dry run. Excerpt: "Health experts say poor hand cleanliness is a factor in hospital-borne infections that kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta estimates that one of every 20 patients in U.S. hospitals gets a hospital-acquired infection each year... Since last year, SSM St. Mary’s Health Center in the St. Louis suburb of Richmond Heights, Mo., has been the test site for a system developed by Biovigil Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich. A flashing light on a badge turns green when hands are clean, red if they’re not. It also tracks each hand-cleaning opportunity — the successes and the failures." More here.

When it comes to thinking on your feet, it's hard to top Spontaneous Art, the Ann Arbor performance trio getting national recognition for streetside antics. Catch the show clip and an interview with Ypsi blogger Mark Maynard here.  And check out Concentrate's interview with the group here.

Source: Ken Nemec, American Broach Writer: Natalie Burg

NewFoundry is a new company; a combination of a branding agency, Lingo Definition + Design, with local mobile app and software engineers. NewFoundry now specializes in bringing marketing and technology ideas from the napkin to reality. The nearly 1-year-old company aims to serve as the one-stop shop for the development of its customers' ideas. "We realized there is a real gap in the market place for this type of company," says Scott Hauman, partner & chief strategy officer of NewFoundry. "We like to call ourselves an idea manufacturing company." NewFoundry has now grown to 12 employees and plans to hit 20 people within the next year. It also recently moved into extra space at the Grafaktri building on North Main Street overlooking the Huron River. NewFoundry is also looking at transitioning to shifting more of its revenue to the technology it creates for itself. The firm's revenue is currently split 70 percent from clients and 30 percent from its own products. Hauman would like to flip those percentages over the next year. "We want to be launching our own products," he says, adding his firm has three mobile apps it plans to launch later this month. NewFoundry has also been selected as a Beta tester for Google Glass. Hauman expects to pick up the technology and begin experimenting with it later this week. Source: Scott Hauman, partner & chief strategy officer of NewFoundry Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.