Source: Don Kline, AATA Writer: Natalie Burg

Source: Cheryl Saam, Gallup Canoe Livery Writer: Natalie Burg

Stout Systems prides itself on being a picky employer. The Ann Arbor-based staffing firm bills the technical talent it places in jobs as having survived a tough screening process. "We won't send a candidate out on an interview who hasn't gone through that screening process," says John Stout, CEO of Stout Systems. "We are pretty quality driven from that standpoint." That sort of reputation has allowed Stout Systems to grow both its core staff and the number of people it's putting into IT and software jobs. The 20-year-old company has helped fill 40 positions in other companies over the last year and added five people to its own core staff, which stands at 12. Driving that hiring spree is growth in its revenue, which is up 10 percent over the last year. Stout says that made 2012 his company's best growth year ever. Increased demand from manufacturing and engineering firms made that possible. "We have seen a lot of demand for those sectors," Stout says. Source: John Stout, CEO of Stout Systems Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The last 12 months have been more than a little eventful for Epsilon Imaging. The Ann Arbor-based start-up launched its principal product called Stress Echo, an ultrasound for cardiac imaging that quantitatively measures the strength and weakness of the heart's muscles. It now has 12 installations of this technology in hospitals across the country and is looking to ramp up that number even more. Epsilon Imaging is also gearing up to launch its second product later this month, a cardio oncology application. The technology allows doctors to see if cancer medications are negatively impacting the heart early in the process. "The people who undergo treatment, some will have their heart come under attack from the medication," says Eric Sieczka, president of Epsilon Imaging. "The problem is you won't notice that until 8-9 months later." The firm has hired two people over the last year, expanding its staff to 12. Its two recent hires include a director of sales and a software developer. Sieczka also expects to begin fundraising for a Series B round of seed capital worth approximately $5 million, which would double its Series A funding from a few years ago. "This has been a pretty exciting year for us," Sieczka says. Source: Eric Sieczka, president of Epsilon Imaging Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

SimuQuest is looking to become more of a product company instead of a software firm. The Ann Arbor-based software firm develops mathematical models for software creation. These tools enable a shift from manual coding to the automatic generation of software from mathematical algorithms. The company's special sauce lies in providing the final step to enable generation of fully integrated software, making the solution a viable reality for its clients. "It's powerful in the sense of understanding a system and debugging it," says John Mills, president & CEO of SimuQuest. SimuQuest currently has three product lines that deal with data management. It has worked on major enhancements on two of them. Parts of those products help users visualize their data and how it can best be harnessed. "The management of data has become really horrendous and a huge headache," Mills says. That has added up to SimuQuest's revenue going up slightly over the last year. It has also hired one more person, expanding its staff to seven employees. Mills says those hiring numbers could have been higher. "We would have aded more people if we could find the people we need," Mills says. "It's very, very hard to find (software) developers today." Source: John Mills, president & CEO of SimuQuest Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Ann Arborites' record setting year of bus usage (up 6.6% year over year) puts it among top metros in the nation for increased mass transit usage. Excerpt: "When Ann Arbor, Michigan, advertising executive Al McWilliams finished high school in the late 1990s, he made a vow.He swore he would "never, ever again" commute to work by car, "no matter what I was doing in life." ...Flash-forward to the present. McWilliams, now 32, either walks or rides the bus to his office every day, making his way to the back of the Route 5 bus, where he'll find a window seat and maybe enjoy a nice book... McWilliams represents a growing segment of America that has embraced public transit from coast to coast in communities like Seattle, Dallas, Nashville and Los Angeles." More here.

PBS picks up fork and glass on a whirl through Chelsea's culinary and distillery scene. Excerpt: On this episode of Under The Radar Michigan, we're in charming Chelsea for a café that really cares about the planet. We'll also meet the actual hair of the dog … eat at a Common Grille that's not so common … and find out where all those little blue boxes come from. More here.