Deb Jones
• Bank of Ann Arbor has hired Deborah Jones as vice president and business development officer in its trust and investment management group. She has more than 25 years of experience in the financial service industry. Jones and her family reside in Ann Arbor.
• The law firm of Miller Canfield recently announced that two employees in the Ann Arbor office have been elected principals. Lisa C. Hagan, a member of the Public Finance Group, was promoted from associate to principal. She resides in Brighton. Kimberly L. Scott, a member of the Litigation and Trial Group, was promoted from associate to principal. She resides in Ann Arbor.
• Feb. 16 marked 30 years since Bud Bishar purchased Ann Arbor appliance store Big George's from "Big George" Simon. Bishar had previously served as vice president of the company, located on the city's West Side, for 14 years. Bud's sons Mark and Ramsey Bishar are co-owners of the store today.
• Manpower Inc. of SE Michigan has achieved the Gold Seal of Approval for health care staffing services certification from The Joint Commission. Manpower, Inc. of SE Michigan, a staffing company serving Washtenaw and Monroe Counties, underwent an on-site review of its compliance with national standards that assess how staffing firms determine the qualifications and competency of their staff, how they place their staff, and how they monitor staff’s performance. The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States.
• Mechanical Simulation Corp., a developer of vehicle dynamics simulation tools headquartered in Ann Arbor, recently announced an agency agreement with Xitadel CAE Technologies India Private Limited. Xitadel, based in Jayanagar Bangalore Kamataka, India, will represent Mechanical Simulation products in India, including CarSim, TruckSim and BikeSim, which simulate the performance of cars, trucks, motorcycles and specialty vehicles.
• Ann Arbor-based healthcare consulting firm Chi Solutions Inc. has hired Toni Theisen as managing consultant and Carmen Leschuk as business development specialist.
• Brixmor Property Group recently announced a 1,036-square-foot Miracle Ear recently opened at Maple Village shopping center, located on the northeast corner of Maple Road and Jackson Road in Ann Arbor. Brixmor is the owner of Maple Village and was represented by Brian Mychajluk with Brixmor.
• Huron Valley Ambulance has received re-accreditation by the national Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services for its compliance with national standards of excellence.
• U.S. News & World Report recently released the Best Graduate Schools 2014 rankings online, and the University of Michigan was in the top 10 schools in the law school category. For more information about the Best Graduate Schools rankings, visit www.usnews.com/grad.
• Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed Cynthia Fenske of Ann Arbor to the Michigan Board of Nursing. The 23-member board establishes qualifications for nurse licensure, approves standards for nurse education programs and takes disciplinary action against licensees when necessary. Fenske is a lecturer for the University of Michigan’s School of Nursing acute, critical and long-term care programs. She also serves as contingent staff in the employee education department at St. Joseph Mercy Health System.
• The Hartwell Foundation of Memphis, Tenn. awarded three University of Michigan researchers with a three-year, $884,165 grant for their investigation into "knifeless" surgery for the treatment of the pediatric heart defect, hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The researchers are Charles Cain, Richard A Auhll Professor of Engineering and 2007 Hartwell Investigator; Dr. Gabe Owens, assistant professor of pediatric cardiology; and Zhen Xu, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. The grant recipients will work to gather pre-clinical data in preparation for a human clinical trial on infants with HLHS.
• Employees of the Gold Star Mortgage Financial Group in Ann Arbor have responded to an appeal from the American Red Cross by signing up to donate blood and asking the community to come to donation event. During an appeal inside the company, 45 Gold Star employees signed up to become donors. Additionally, residents from the greater Ann Arbor area are invited to join the Gold Star campaign and donate blood from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday, April 5. Area residents interested in participating in the blood donation campaign may call 800-201-5626 for more information.
• California Pizza Kitchen has introduced a new beverage lineup, comprised of wine flights, new craft beer offerings and a "Diet Pepsi Mixology" program. Additionally, CPK will rename the “Apple Martini” to the “St. Pat-tini” for St. Patrick’s Day weekend March 15-17. CPK is a restaurant franchise with locations across Michigan, including one inside Ann Arbor's Briarwood Mall.
• Con-way Freight, an Ann Arbor-based less-than-truckload carrier and subsidiary of Con-way Inc., dedicated a new service center facility March 7 in Laredo, Texas.
• Diane Mukkala, head of school at Daycroft Montessori School of Ann Arbor, was elected to the executive committee of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States. ISACS members include more than 230 independent schools from 13 Midwest states.
• Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza recently opened its first store in Thailand, in the heart of Bangkok.
• The University of Michigan and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel have established a research partnership to develop renewable technologies. A memorandum of understanding to establish the partnership was signed in early March by U-M Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest and BGU Vice President and Dean for Research and Development Moti Herskowitz. Each university has pledged half of the $1 million that will jump-start the three-year program. At U-M, the funding is provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the U-M Energy Institute. The partnership aims to solve challenges in the areas of advanced vehicle fuels, solar energy and thermoelectric materials, which convert heat to electricity. Beginning in March, collaborative faculty teams can apply for grants to start projects in one of these three areas.
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