The alley is becoming the next promenade in cities like Saline. Saline Main Street, an organization charged with improving the vitality of the downtown, has signed an agreement with the city to spearhead an improvement project in a one-block alley off of Ann Arbor Street, behind the Brecon Grille and Mangiamo Italian Grill on Michigan Avenue. Alley enhancements include replacing a wooden planter with a wrought-iron fence, raising concrete, stringing overhead lighting, adding planters, and installing an entryway feature of a design yet to be determined. The lighting should be in place later this fall, in time for Saline's holiday parade. The restaurants plan to install outdoor seating in the alley when the weather warms next year, according to Rebecca Schneider, the design team leader for Saline Main Street. "It's a wonderful way for us to get more community gathering space, and one of the wonderful things about when you find that space in an alley is that utilizing the space doesn't require closing the street or closing a parking lot, which disrupts commerce and traffic in your downtown," Schneider says. The total project cost is still unknown, says Schneider, due to the expense of overhead lighting and the yet-to-be-determined entryway feature. The city of Saline has contributed $10,000 towards the project. Saline Main Street will raise additional funds as necessary. Saline Main Street will also hold up to six public events a year in the alley. "It's not just outdoor seating for Mangiamo and Brecon Grille, it's also community space which will be utilized for different functions, where we hope to engage all different facets of our city in that space," she adds. Possibilities include wine tastings, art displays, musical performances, and events for children. Source: Rebecca Schneider, Saline Main Street design team leader Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

The Bank of Ann Arbor is branching out with the opening of a new Saline location. A new branch is coming to 179 E. Michigan Avenue, close to Saline's downtown. A mid-December opening is planned, according to Hans Maier, a senior vice president at the bank. The 1,600-square-foot building has been home to branches of various financial institutions since 1968. The bank is capitalizing on Saline's growing residential population. "With the proximity of Saline in our market area, we thought that would be a great location because of the number of Saline customers we already have in our Ellsworth [Road] office," Maier says. Five employees will staff the branch, according to Maier. Source: Hans Maier, senior vice president, Bank of Ann Arbor Writer: Tanya Muzumdar

Cayman Chemical's Ann Arbor office is becoming the happy hunting ground for those looking for a job or internship in southeast Michigan. The bio-tech firm that specializes in providing researchers with bio-chemical tools has had a growing office in Ann Arbor since the 1980s. Today that office is the company's largest with 200 employees and a steady influx of interns. The firm has hired 30 people in the last year and expects to hire more, including from its intern program. "We're hiring about 20 people a year right now," says Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical. "We also hire about 20-25 interns each year. We feel it's a very good way to find potential job candidates." This growth has allowed the company to expand its physical office presence, taking on a third and fourth building on the south side of Ann Arbor. It now occupies three buildings on its campus on Ellsworth Street and a fourth off of State Street that used to be a University of Michigan building. The new buildings will both accommodate its current growth and future expansions. "We know we're growing," Booher says. Source: Chris Booher, vice president of human resources for Cayman Chemical Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Casey Frushour first got a taste of being his own boss while going to college at the University of Michigan. There he worked on freelance graphic design projects while studying art and design at the university. When he graduated he didn't have enough of that sort of work to support himself so he became the in-house graphic designer at a local bio-tech firm. He kept with the freelance gigs during his four years at his day job until it reached a point where he had to decide whether he wanted the job of being his own boss or continue under someone else. "It got to the point where I was making more money with side jobs than I was working full-time," Frushour says. "I just couldn't do the 80-hour work weeks anymore so I went out on my own." That was the beginning of Casey's Head. The Ann Arbor-based graphic design agency has served as Frushour's bread and butter ever since. It has reached a point now where he is starting to feel himself being stretched thin and expects to hire his first staffer within the next year. "It's a matter of finding the right person," Frushour says. Source: Casey Frushour, founder & creative director of Casey's Head Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology is not only a green start-up, but one that helps detect explosive materials. Stick with us for a few more paragraphs. The 2-year-old company launched out of the lab of Theodore Goodson III, a University of Michigan chemistry professor. He first developed a organic material that could help make super capacitors more energy efficient, which led to the creation of the start-up Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology. Now further exploration into the that technology has also led the start-up to realize it can used for the "creation of a remote and safe explosive detection device, which offers an integrated wide-area surveillance solution with relatively high sensitivity and low cost," according to the company's website. The four-person company is still working toward developing the super capacitor and explosive detection angles of the technology. They hope to add on a few more employees next year as it pushes forward with the development of its technology. "I would love to see our personnel triple, at least," says Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology, who is also the wife of Theodore Goodson III. "I would love to see us produce samples for a third party." Source: Stephanie Goodson, president of Wolverine Energy Solutions & Technology Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Local theater depends on the kindness of strangers. The Broadway World theater site has an interview with Performance Network associate artistic director and actress Carla Milarch. There, now, you're not strangers anymore. But they probably could still use a little of your kindness...