Alex Milshteyn
From new hires and promotions to industry awards, here's a roundup of achievements by businesses and individuals in the greater Ann Arbor area:
• Alex Milshteyn, associate broker and top company salesperson for Ann Arbor-based Edward Surovell Realtors, was named Realtor of the Year for 2012 by the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors. The announcement was made Sept. 13 at the board’s general membership meeting.
• ArborMetrix, Inc., an Ann Arbor-based healthcare analytics and software company specializing in the measurement of hospital and specialty-based care, Sept. 13 announced that it the company named Greg Giltrow as vice president of sales and client service. Giltrow will oversee the company's sales and customer service strategies.
• The Best Lawyers in America 2013 included 45 attorneys with Bodman PLC, and of those, several were from the Ann Arbor office of Bodman. Those attorneys and their practice specialties are Harvey W. Berman (construction), Timothy R. Damschroder (corporate/mergers and acquisitions), Sandra Sorini Elser (real estate), Alan N. Harris (commercial litigation, including intellectual property and patent litigation, and trademark), Susan M. Kornfield (copyright; intellectual property and patent litigation, technology and trademark), Randolph S. Perry (corporate, nonprofit, tax) and James J. Walsh (commercial litigation). The attorney listings are based on a peer-review survey.
• The Saline Area Chamber of Commerce recently announced this year's recipients of the Business Enterprise Awards. The awards recognize established, successful firms that have exhibited exemplary business practices and have an excellent reputation for service to the community. Community participation and peer recognition are also components of the program. Honorees are selected by the Saline Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, with nominations taken from the entire Saline area community. This year the award in the 21-or-more employees category goes to Iott Insurance Agency Inc., owned by Brian Iott. The award recipient in the smaller category of 20-or-fewer employees is Stonebridge Golf Club, owned by Doug Mervis and Jim Roland. Representatives from the two businesses will be honored at a gala event Oct. 11.
• Brickman, a landscaping firm based in Canton, on Sept. 14 celebrated its Founders Day, a time when the company's branches take time to thank and give back to the communities that employees live in. This year, for Founder's Day, Brickman teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and Toyota to rejuvenate a home on South Miami Street in Ypsilanti. The home remodeling was sponsored by Toyota and landscape was provided by The Brickman Group. At the end of project, Brickman officials also presented a new lawnmower to the new homeowners.
• This spring, Dr. Stacey Myint, along with her husband Sean, opened Myint Family Chiropractic at 7200 Dan Hoey Road in Dexter. The Myints reside in Ypsilanti.
• Infinity Contact Inc., an integrated contact company dedicated to helping clients acquire and retain customers, in early September announced plans to create 50 sales positions in Ann Arbor immediately, scaling up to 200 full-time positions. These new positions will support Infinity Contact’s new client, an internet search engine provider. Infinity Contact is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Schiff Hardin LLP/Ann Arbor partners Gregory L. Curtner, Frederick R. Juckniess and Robert J. Wierenga were voted 2012 Michigan Super Lawyers in the “antitrust litigation” category. Additionally, partner Kimberly K. Kefalas was named a 2012 Michigan Rising Star in the “antitrust litigation” category - the only Rising Star named to that category.
• Molly Maid, the national home cleaning franchise, recently appointed Meg Roberts to the role of president. Molly Maid is headquartered in Ann Arbor.
• The American Trucking Association's Safety Management Council announced its 2012 award winners at its annual conference in mid-September, and the award for National Safety Director of the Year went to Bob Petrancosta of Con-way Freight in Ann Arbor.
• Two University of Michigan scientists — Emily Falk and Allen Liu — are recipients of the 2012 National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award. Falk, an assistant professor of communication studies who also hold joint appointments at the Institute for Social Research and in the Department of Psychology, and Liu, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, were among 51 researchers to receive the honor. Read more about Falk's work at http://cn.isr.umich.edu. More information about Liu's work is available at http://liulab.engin.umich.edu/liulab/home.
• The Humane Society of Huron Valley in Ann Arbor will be recognized for its no-kill commitment at a Michigan Pet Fund Alliance conference Friday and Saturday in Lansing. HSHV will receive the award in the "outstanding large shelter" category.
• Ann Arbor-based ProQuest has been named in the 2012 InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. ProQuest is best known for its creation of information and technology tools that support research.
• Three young physician-scientists have been appointed to the Emerging Scholars Program at the University of Michigan's A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. The Emerging Scholars Program was created to support and encourage early-career physician-scientists whose laboratory work aims to translate basic research into new treatments for disease. The new Taubman Emerging Scholars are: Dr. Katherine Gallagher, assistant professor of surgery, who studies impaired wound healing in diabetes patients, particularly the role of inflammation and immune cell function; Dr. Alon Kahana, assistant professor and Helmut F. Stern Career Development Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, who studies the use of stem cells to regenerate eye tissue lost to injury or disease; and Dr. Parag Patil, assistant professor of neurosurgery, anesthesiology and biomedical engineering, who studies the use of deep-brain stimulation to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases.
• Spry Publishing, an Ann Arbor-based publisher of health-related books and media, announced in early September that it hired Gene Kucinski as director of new business development.
• At a Safety Research Forum Sept. 12, Toyota announced that it has teamed up with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to conduct a major new study of 5,600 teens and adults. Results of the Teen Driver Distraction Study commissioned by the Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center in July 2012 will be released incrementally as data is analyzed. This scientific study is based on a national telephone survey of newly licensed drivers between ages 16 to 18 and parents of drivers in the same age group. The study will examine teen attitudes toward frequently discussed risks, such as texting and driving, to help identify effective recommendations to keep teen drivers safe.
• Ann Arbor-based accounting firm Weidmayer, Schneider & Raham CPAs celebrates its 65th anniversary this year.
• Carlisle/Wortman Associates, based in Ann Arbor, is one of five professional planning firms chosen by the Aerotropolis Development Corp. to help the agency market potential development and redevelopment sites and properties throughout the Aerotropolis region. The ADC is a public-private economic development agency with the ability to work directly with businesses interested in locating within the area surrounding I-94 and I-275, between Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run Airport, in Wayne and Washtenaw counties.
• In related news from Carlisle/Wortman, the firm announced that three staff professionals have recently earned new credentials in planning and zoning. Associate Sally Elmiger passed the Certified Green Professional and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Neighborhood Development Accredited Professional exams, Planner Lucie Fortin passed the American Institute of Certified Planners exam, and Planner Laura Kreps has passed the Zoning Administrator Certification exam offered by the Planning & Zoning Center at Michigan State University.
• Two physician groups have joined the University of Michigan Health System in choosing a system to securely access electronic health data, contributing to a regional and national effort to enhance clinical exchange between health providers. UMHS partners IHA Health Services Corp,, an Ann Arbor-based multi-specialty group practice, and Huron Valley Physicians Association, have announced they will also join the non-profit Great Lakes Health Information Exchange. Participation in GLHIE will allow physicians to ultimately have secure, real-time access to health and demographic information for new patients, helping prevent medical errors and avoid test duplications. Partner providers will be able to receive data on patients from multiple sources, including different hospitals the patient has visited.
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