What was once Patient Provider Communications is now Eloquence Communications, and a number of new business options have come at the same time as the Ann Arbor-based firm’s new name. The health-care startup has developed a nurse-call system through an innovative healthcare communication technology. This platform is called Eloquence, which prompted the 5-year-old company to change its name to match it. Eloquence Communications has raised more than $2 million to develop this platform. It has recently completed the product-development phase, received an issued patent and has filed for two more. "We have a lot of options," says Lance Patak, CEO of Eloquence Communications. "And they are accumulating very quickly." Patak points out that a competitor in Eloquence Communications’ space was recently acquired, prompting a lot of attention to his firm. It is now exploring a variety of options from acquisitions to strategic partnership to Beta test sites. Patak expects to secure a Beta test site or two before the end of the summer. "We have two partners that are more than willing to provide a Beta site," Patak says. Eloquence Communications has hired three replacement employees over the last year and is in the process of making a fourth hire. Source: Lance Patak, CEO of Eloquence Communications Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

The Java Hope Project has a hard nut to crack, helping chronically unemployed women become self-sufficient through entrepreneurship. The Ypsilanti-based non-profit helps women escape poverty through a 3-month training course that takes them from unemployment to running their own coffee stand that could gross as much as $100,000 annually. It sounds like a good idea on paper. Maybe even easy. It's anything but in reality. "I have to go back and do what the parents didn't teach them to do, like being self-sufficient and believing in themselves," says Brenda Moore, executive director of the Java Hope Project. The Java Hope Project has been working with women at Coalition on Temporary Shelter (COTS) in Detroit for the past year. The program has had 63 participants. So far three of them of stuck through it, built up professional skills and used them to land jobs. It's a step in a long process that Moore hopes to get a couple of them running their own coffee cart in the next year. "We have to make sure they have the wherewithal to manage the cart," Moore says. The program teaches the women, often single mothers, the need for professionalism in the workplace. It also teaches the basic of running a small business in the hope that entrepreneurship will help them break the cycle of poverty. The Java Hope Project has recently been approved to become an apprentice program by the U.S. Dept of Labor. Moore is exploring the option of partnering with a large local organization or two to grow its reach later this year. "I think the program will get better with that umbrella over it," Moore says. "It will strengthen the program." Source: Brenda Moore, executive director of the Java Hope Project Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Last fall, Stewart Thornhill stepped into the role of executive director of the Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, which is part of the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business. His big idea is to intiate a Silicon Valley-style business accelerator.   Excerpt: "The accelerator will be modeled on Y Combinator, Techstars, Launchpad LA. The perfect company to enter an accelerator is the one that is quarter-baked. You want it to be half-baked before it's really in a position to get that early, seed or angel investor money. But if companies try to go for that early investor too early, they're going to fail or they're going to have to give up so much of their company because of the wildly risky nature of it that it's often not worth doing. We often find that students who incubate ideas, whether in a formal incubator or just in their dorm room, often get to the point where they finish their degree, they'd love to be able to take it to that next stage, but they have to go get a job. They've got student loans, they have to pay rent, buy groceries." Read the rest here.

While we have never understood the vitriole drivers express toward cyclists (other than they selfishly don't want to share the road and might have to pay more attention to what they're doing), the notion that more change means more friction and therefore it's a sign that things are changing is a provocative one. Excerpt: "The most thoughtful response, in the current case, came from Carl Alviani, writing in Medium. Alviani traces the source of much driver contempt toward cyclists to a basic cognitive bias called the fundamental attribution error—basically, a tendency to attribute behavior to personality or disposition, rather than a situation or environment. So, cyclists think they're above the law because that's how they are; not, cyclists occasionally make poor riding decisions because the road network wasn't designed with them in mind." Read the rest of the story here.

A Grand Rapids favorite that has been popping up across Michigan will soon make an appearance in downtown Ann Arbor. BarFly Ventures, the firm behind more than one popular Grand Rapids bar recently announced their fifth HopCat location will open at 311-315 Maynard Ave. The $2 million investment in the former Borders space will result 140 new local jobs.   "Ann Arbor is such a great town for dining, entertainment and culture, it was a really logical fit," says Chris Knape, marketing and communications director for Barfly Ventures. "We think that adding HopCat to the mix will add to the excitement downtown."  Just when Ann Arborites though they'd seen it all, HopCat will offer the largest draft system in the city with 100 varieties of craft beer on tap. A year after opening in East Lansing, work will soon begin on the 8,600 square foot space. But visitors to other HopCat locations shouldn't expect to see a cookie cutter remake. "We're going to completely gut the space and add a unique design to it," says Knape. "Whenever we open a new location, each place feels different. Ann Arbor is going to feel a lot different from the location in East Lansing, just like East Lansing feels different from Grand Rapids." The Ann Arbor HopCat is expected to open in January of 2015.   Source: Chris Knape, HopCat Writer: Natalie Burg

The life of a longtime Ann Arbor establishment is getting extended and refreshed with the reopening of the Blue Front on Packard under new ownership and a new look. Ann Arbor native Adam Gottschalk opened his completely renovated version of the beer store last week after receiving a hot tip about the business opportunity just five months ago from his father.  "It's been kind of a weird and very quick journey," says Gottschalk, whose parents manage the residential units above the store. "My dad said, 'Blue Front closed, why don't you move back and open up your own store? You have to decide by Monday.'" Gottschalk was already following his passion for beer working for a beer retailer in Chicago, so it didn't take much for he and his wife to make the decision to take the leap. Since then, the approximately 1,500 square foot building has been totally renovated, including new floors, walls, ceilings, coolers and more.  "People are always saying, 'I used to come in there all the time,'" Gottschalk says. "We want it to be that again. We're trying to bring back that neighborhood feel." Along with that cozy aesthetic, the new Blue Front offers about 600 different beers and 150 wines. Gottschalk hopes to eventually expand his wine selection more, as well as offer weekly beer tastings in the shop. He recently hired his first employee, and expects to hire one to two additional staff members in the future.  Source: Adam Gottschalk, Blue Front Writer: Natalie Burg

Even though The Brinery can be described as a slow-food startup, fast would be a better word to describe the Ann Arbor-based firm's growth. The 4-year-old company’s sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and tempeh can be found in close to 100 stores in Michigan and Chicago. The Brinery has taken on two outside distributors over the last year after relying on self-distribution at local businesses and farmers markets. "We have pretty much doubled sales since last year," says David Klingenberger, founder of The Brinery. "Every year we have come close to doubling our sales." Helping make that possible is moving to a bigger production facility. Klingenberger started The Brinery by making sauerkraut in his home. This February he moved his business to the Washtenaw Food Hub, a new facility that helps provide support to local farmers and food companies to become economically and environmentally sustainable. "We're the anchor tenant there," Klingenberger says. And it's filling out that space quickly. The Brinery's team now stands at a dozen people, which is up from four a year ago. Klingenberger expects the numbers for his business (sales and staff) to keep growing as he aims to open up in markets in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois over the next year. Source: David Klingenberger, founder of The Brinery Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Augment Ventures is off to a fast start for 2014, making two investments in clean-tech startups and laying the groundwork to make a couple more before the end of the year. "Our portfolio is up to five startups right now," says Sonali Vijayavargiya, founder & managing director of Augment Ventures. Vijayavargiya launched the venture capital firm out of Ann Arbor nearly three years ago. Augment Ventures specializes in making early investments in startups in the clean-tech/sustainability sector. Its most notable investment so far is in downtown Ann Arbor-based logistics tech firm LLamasoft in 2012. Augment Ventures has made two investments so far this year. Both firms, Revolights and Lumenetix, are based in California. Lumenetix designs, manufactures and sells UL recognized color tunable LED light engines for fixture manufacturers. It is currently working with one of the Big 3 (Vijayavargiya declined to say which one) to integrate its products in the automotive sector. Revolights is working to bring new lighting solutions to bicyclists. "They're trying to bring 360-degree visibility to commuter bikers," Vijayavargiya says. She adds, "we are very excited about both (startups)." Augment Ventures has also added a couple of people to its team this year, expanding it to five people. That staff is working to nail down a couple more investments before the end of this year. "We are actively doing due diligence with five opportunities," Vijayavargiya says. "Two of those firms are Michigan-based." Source: Sonali Vijayavargiya, founder & managing director of Augment Ventures Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.