Brendan Cavender
From new hires and promotions to industry awards, here’s a roundup of achievements by businesses and individuals in the greater Ann Arbor area:
• Colliers International Ann Arbor broker Brendan Cavender has been awarded a 2012 Commercial Board of Realtors “Leader of the Pack” Award. Cavender has been involved with 175 deals in Ann Arbor, including the sale of the 65,000-square-foot former Ann Arbor News building, the lease of 48,000 square feet of space to Barracuda Networks, involvement in a 227,000-square-foot mixed-use project in downtown Ann Arbor and 11 other downtown Ann Arbor building sales.
• John Jachna has been promoted to director of asset management, residential real estate for property management firm McKinley. Jachna spent the previous three years as an asset management director. McKinley, headquartered in Ann Arbor, is an owner and manager of multifamily real estate.
• Tim Hortons signed a deal in October to open in a revamped Shell gas station on Ann Arbor-Saline Road. A grand opening celebration including a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Oct. 25. Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje was in attendance to cut the red ribbon.
• Kimberly Schmitt of Kimberly Schmitt Photography in Milan has earned the Certified Professional Photographer designation from the Professional Photographic Certification Commission. The Professional Photographic Certification Commission currently recognizes less than 2,000 Certified Professional Photographers worldwide.
• The Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association recently named Gerald Ford of Ann Arbor, as the 2012 Paratransit and Contracting Driver of the Year, honored for a focus on safety and customer satisfaction. TLPA officials said Ford has an "unblemished" driving record at Select Ride Inc., where he has been a driver for more than five years. Ford accepted the award Oct. 28 at the TLPA’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
• Busch’s Fresh Food Market locations around Washtenaw County will kick off the Season of Sharing holiday food drive Nov. 12, continuing through Nov. 21. During this time, customers can purchase pre-made “Ready to Go” food donation bags filled with items to be given to a family in need or drop off non-perishable food in the food drive bin located in each store. Alternately, customers can make a contribution of any amount at the Busch’s checkout registers or purchase $5 gift cards for produce and $10 gift cards for meat. Additionally, customers can donate their bottle return slips. Four Washtenaw County Busch’s Markets are participating: Ann Arbor - Main Street store, 2240 S. Main St.; Ann Arbor - Green Road store, 2020 Green Road; Dexter store, 7080 Dexter-Ann Arbor Road; Saline store, 565 E. Michigan Ave. Busch’s, a Michigan-owned chain of markets, has been participating in similar food drives for more than 20 years. Food Gatherers is the food rescue program and food bank for Washtenaw County.
• Toyota Technical Center, a division of Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America Inc., was slated in late October to celebrate Toyota’s 35th anniversary with team members and executives at locations in Michigan, Arizona and California. Toyota Technical Center has been the driving force behind Toyota's North American engineering and research and development activities since 1977. Headquartered in Michigan, TTC has R&D facilities in Ann Arbor, Saline, Plymouth and Livonia. To mark the 35th anniversary, TTC Team Members selected 10 nonprofit organizations in their communities, and Toyota is donating a total of $35,000 to these agencies. Additionally, TTC donated a total of $12,500 to the six fire departments that serve their communities. Michigan recipients of those donations included 826Michigan, Ele’s Place and Girls on the Run in Ann Arbor and Growing Hope and Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti.
• The Milan Area Chamber of Commerce nominating committee is seeking potential candidates for the 2012 Business of the Year, Youth of the Year and Community Service Awards. The business of the year must have been in business for at least three years, has to have made improvements to the business in that time, and has to have made donations to Milan community charitable efforts in the form of money or services. Nomination forms can be obtained by email at info@milanchamber.org or by calling the chamber office and leaving a message at 734-439-7932.
• In late October, University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman announced the intended appointment of Dr. John Z. Ayanian as the first director of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. Beginning in November, he will work with those members to develop IHPI's potential as one of the nation's powerhouses of health services research, health care policy development and new ideas in health care delivery. Ayanian is currently a professor of medicine and of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, a professor in health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health and a practicing primary care physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
• Fair Food Network, a national nonprofit organization, based in Ann Arbor and dedicated to sustainable food systems, received a $100,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation, the independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman. The award to Fair Food Network honored the nonprofit for providing greater access to affordable, local produce for low income shoppers through our Double Up Food Bucks program. The Double Up Food Bucks Program encourages low-income consumers to use their federal food assistance benefits to purchase nutritious, locally-grown fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets across the state of Michigan.
• More than 3,000 residents of Washtenaw County Oct. 27 participated in the American Cancer Society’s MakingStrides Against Breast Cancer walk. The event raised more than $283,000 to fund breast cancer research and support programs.
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