Clik here to view.
Renee DeMarco
From new hires and promotions to industry awards, here's a roundup of achievements by businesses and individuals in the greater Ann Arbor area:
• Renee DeMarco was recently named president and CEO of Community Driven Credit Union. DeMarco was previously president/CEO of CapCom Credit Union in Lansing. CDCU, which has offices in Ypsilanti and Romeo, serves members in Washtenaw, Macomb and Lapeer counties.
• Plante Moran, PLLC, one of the nation’s largest certified public accounting and business advisory firms, announces the election of four new partners in Southeast Michigan, including one in the Ann Arbor area. Nathan Buchalski is based in the Ann Arbor office and is the leader of the tax solutions practice at Plante Moran.
• In the newly-published book “A Fly-By-Wire Architecture for Multi-Threaded Windows Apps: How to Write Complex but Reliable Windows Applications Quickly," software engineer and Ann Arbor resident Will Warner shares his strategies for developing Microsoft Windows applications. Warner calls the architecture “fly-by-wire” because it is modeled after systems whose components are interconnected not directly but by a network over which the components communicate using messages. Warner makes use of the fly-by-wire organization within Windows applications themselves. The book is available for sale by amazon.com.
• Theodore G. Coutilish, associate vice president of marketing for Eastern Michigan University, and his wife, Mary Beth Langan, were recognized with the Halstead-Bresnahan Family Award at the 13th annual International Fragile X Conference in Miami, Fla. July 27. The award recognizes those who make a profound difference to families affected by Fragile X Syndrome, the most common known genetic cause of autism or autism spectrum disorders. FXS symptoms include a range from learning disabilities to more severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities. Delays in speech and language development are common, as are a variety of physical and behavioral characteristics. FXS is also the FXS is caused by a “full mutation” of the FMR1 gene. Coutilish and his wife live in Grosse Pointe.
• Briarwood Mall will host “Fashion’s Night Out,” a celebration of style and beauty created by Vogue magazine, from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 6 in Center Court. Models from John Robert Powers will showcase looks from Macy’s, Aeropostale, Coldwater Creek, Eddie Bauer, Francesca's Collections, GAP, White House Black Market and more. Hoda Salameh, fashion editor for Styleline Magazine, will serve as the emcee. As part of Fashion’s Night Out, guests can vote in a Fashion Cake Decorating Contest. All of the cakes will be auctioned off, with proceeds benefitting the Simon Youth Foundation, a nonprofit that supports at-risk students.
• Ellen Terpening has been named the new executive director for the Lamaze Family Center Ann Arbor. Lamaze Family Center Ann Arbor is a nonprofit organization founded in 1967; it promotes the well-being of the family and the concept of family-centered care from pregnancy to preschool.
• United Bank & Trust recently promoted Ronald King to community banking officer. King will oversee United’s Manchester banking office location managing consumer and small business client relationships. In related news from United Bank & Trust, Kelly A. Myers, managing partner for Myers & Myers PLLC, has been added to the UB&T Washtenaw market community board of directors. Additionally, the bank's first full service banking office in Livingston County was opened in early August, located at 205 W. Grand River Ave. in Brighton. United Bank & Trust is a community-based financial services company located in Washtenaw, Lenawee, Livingston and Monroe Counties in Michigan.
• Ann Arbor-based ForeSee, a provider of customer experience analytics, recently announced that ForeSee's Senior Director of Mobile, Media and Entertainment Eric Feinberg has been elected to the board of directors for the Digital Analytics Association, formerly the Web Analytics Association.
• Four Michigan companies have received a combined total of $200,000 through the Michigan Microloan Fund Program this past quarter, including two companies based in Ann Arbor. The companies received the funding to support commercialization of their core products. Electric Field Solutions of Ann Arbor will design, assemble and sell Charge Tracker, a technology capable of locating electric charge buildup on objects located tens of feet away from it. EFS is using the microloan funds to modify its electric field sensor to be used in industrial applications. Seelio, formerly truApp Inc., based in Ann Arbor, is a site for college students to distinguish themselves through an online portfolio of work and connect with companies. The microloan funds Seelio's beta launch, and served as a bridge to the company's recently closed seed funding round.
• First Automotive Works, a Chinese vehicle manufacturer of passenger cars, commercial trucks, and buses, has approved SmithGroupJJR’s final design plans for a new 422,400-square meter (4.5-million square foot) research and development center in the Changchun Automotive Industry Development Zone in Changchun, Jilin, China. SmithGroupJJR has offices around the world, including one in Ann Arbor.
• In a competition of marketing materials for local economic development companies, Ann Arbor SPARK was awarded a first place win for its 2011 Annual Report designed by Wagner Design Associates, a marketing and advertising firm based in Ann Arbor. The win came in the category of “print marketing materials” for populations between 100,001 and 500,000. Linda Fitzgerald of Ann Arbor-based Fitzgerald Communications LLC contributed copywriting, editing and consulting services to the report. The competition was sponsored by the Michigan Economic Developers Association, an organization whose objective is to lead Michigan’s economic development through education, networking and advocacy on economic development.
Email items for People & Achievements to business@annarbor.com. Sign up for the weekly Business Review email newsletter here.