by ·Comments Off on Student Playwrights Prepare New Script for Fall Season on Main Stage

by Nic Custer

A group of seven students, led by Lecturer Andrew Morton, are completing a new play to be performed this Fall as part of the UM-Flint Theatre and Dance Department’s main stage season.

The new work fictionalizes the re-opening of the Flint Local 432, an all-ages music venue in downtown Flint.

The students has been meeting regularly in the Innovation Incubator co-working  space, NBC 207, during the Spring term to rework the script which was drafted during a Collective Playwrights Workshop class taught by Morton in Winter 2013.

A first draft of “The Local” was completed for the Winter course and established the basic framework, plot and characters of the play. The show will follow a group of young people forming a band and explores their lives ten years later as the venue reopens.

Nick Hale, a recent graduate working on the project, said collaborative work is interesting because there are parts of the script that everyone agrees need more work but all of the writers have different ideas about what elements need to be changed.

He said that when the group came together after the semester ended, they agreed the second act needed to be completely rewritten.

Morton, who will be directing the completed play, said he hopes to send an updated draft of the script to his costume and scenic designers at the end of June. He said the script will at least be able to answer who the characters are and where it takes place. While the main work will be completed, there will be minor script editing through the first week of rehearsals for the production.

A local band will be selected as the house band for the run of the production.

The Local play will run in repertory with Little Shop of Horrors during the Fall semester. Performances are scheduled for November 8, 10, 16, 22, 23 and 24.

by ·Comments Off on Ten Things to Do in the [IN]

by Nic Custer

The University of Michigan-Flint campus is larger than just UCEN, French Hall and the Murchie Science Buildings. The campus stretches north of the Flint River including the William S. White building and the Northbank Center, which contains the dance studio, University Outreach and the Innovation Incubator, also known as [IN], located on the building’s second floor.

The following is a top ten list of opportunities and activities available Monday through Friday, nine a.m. to five p.m. for students:

Ten.

Use the foam cubes to create a desk, fort, throne, tower, podium and any other cool configuration you can think of for maximum productivity or relaxation.

Nine.

Lounge on the blue couch and watch cable television on the wall-mounted flat screen. The 54” smart television is also connected to the internet and can be used for Skype or just catching up on sports and world news.

Eight.

[IN] has a large reference library of business- related books and magazines available for browsing.

Sections labeled “Sales and Marketing,” “Legal,” “Budget and finance,” “Start ups,” “Leadership and management” and many more cover the full spectrum of business development and document templates.

A selection of current and back issues from various Michigan and business magazines also fill the shelves including: Fast Company, Wired, dBusiness, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Yes!, FCW, Crain’s Detroit Business and Inc.

Seven.

The co-working space, NBK 207, is open to both students and community members. It can hold meetings of between 4 and 24 people and is the perfect downtown location for start up businesses looking to meet with perspective clients in a professional setting. It is also a great place to work with other entrepreneurs and develop the next great idea!

Space may be reserved through the staff working in the incubator.

Six.

Bring your laptop! [IN] offers WiFi through the university’s MWireless and has plenty of Herman Miller ergonomic Caper chairs to help create a productive atmosphere for guests.

Five.

Have a drink! The space also provides a selection of Keurig coffees, hot chocolates and teas, soda pop and a water cooler. Guests are welcome to help themselves to a drink, although there is a suggested donation of .50 cents per item for additional drinks to allow the staff to purchase more items when the stock runs out.

Four.

Stay for a workshop, [IN] provides a free series of business- related workshops during the academic year to support students and the community.

Past workshops have included accounting skills, social innovation, women entrepreneurs and many more topics from speakers with years of experience. Registration is recommended as space is limited.

Three.

[IN] is able to provide a downtown mailing address to student businesses to give them a secure professional setting to receive letters and packages and send mail from.

Two.

One of the most important services the Innovation Incubator offers to start up organizations is business plan development assistance.

Utilizing the business model canvas (taken from the Business Model Generation book by A. Osterwalder and Y. Pigneur, which is available in the reference library) businesses work with [IN] staff to storyboard their target goals, audiences and products allowing them to better realize how to make their business ventures financially successful.

One.

Of course, the best thing for students to do in the incubator is to sign up for free office space and begin their journey towards realizing their business aspirations!

[IN] offers office space on the Northbank Center’s second floor and a huge number of resources and networks to draw from.

All prospective businesses should first fill out the Tell Us Your Bright Idea form, which is sent to the program coordinator, Sara McDonnell. Sara will contact applicants for a one-on-one meeting so the business’s space and technical support needs can be identified.

All students and recent graduates are invited to bring their ideas for a start up and let the Innovation Incubator help them develop the next great product or service.

by ·Comments Off on Design for Good

by Nic Custer

Assistant Professor Ben Gaydos, Visual Arts, led a free, 3-day design for good workshop, May 16- 18. The workshop examined how to re-imagine Flint’s green spaces including Mott Park.

Gaydos alongside designer Marc O’Brien and Julia Yezbick, a Harvard doctoral student in Anthropology, met with students and community members at the [IN] co-working space, 207 NBC.  Gaydos, O’Brien and Yezbick all met in Richmond, Virginia and have collaborated on various projects in the past.

The Mott Park Neighborhood Association and Flint Ward 6 Artist in Residence Eric Hinds worked directly with the design for good group as they examined local design challenges and sought out sustainable solutions. The workshop culminated in a community barbecue in the park.

The workshop began by discussing anthropological research techniques, such as ethnographies, which are descriptions of customs and cultures.

Hands on activities included stream-of-consciousness group writing and two word mash ups in the co-working space.

“We all believe that art and design can be used to create change, but we believe that there are certain best practices that need to be employed in order to have positive outcomes,” Gaydos commented.

 

by ·Comments Off on [IN] Student Business Trying to Make Big Mark on Music Industry

by Nic Custer

Aleah Moses, songwriter and producer, has been building her portfolio writing and producing more than 50 songs with independent musicians. She creates both full songs and instrumentals depending on the job.

Moses Music, her start-up company in NBC suite 206, has mostly worked with out of state musicians in a variety of different genres. Moses said clients primarily want pop songs but she is proficient in creating hip hop, rap, R&B, and alternative pop (similar to the sound of Taylor Swift). She said working with smaller artists is a good way to advertise her work.

A junior majoring in Business Administration, Moses would like to expand her company to work with major label artists and do larger commercial work. While she didn’t write or produce a song until after she was 18 years old, Moses has been playing piano by ear since she was 8 and played the clarinet in middle school.

She said that as a female producer, she is also an activist for other women. Women get looked over in music for a lot of things, she said. Part of her mission is to let other people, specifically girls, know that they can make it as producers and songwriters too.

Her Northbank Center office recently had soundproofing installed and she uses the space as her primary recording studio.

She said it was definitely a blessing to have her own office in the Student Innovation Incubator where she can meet clients, that isn’t her home or other less conveinent spaces.

The beauty of being a musician in the 21st century, she said, is that you don’t have to fly in to another city just to record with other musicians. It can be done from anywhere.

Moses charges a standard overall product cost for the music and a percentage of the ownership rights.

She said she would be a good person for artists to work with because she is very open to different music styles and not boxed in by one specific genre. She also does music for advertising commercials.

“I like being the medium, I can do what I want to do without the attention or the limelight. I like my privacy,” Moses mused.

Moses created her website herself. Visit www.lovemosesmusic.com for more information.

by ·Comments Off on Our Home Transitional Wins Start-Up Business Award

563531_391180014313509_1364912815_nby Nic Custer

Our Home Transitional, a housing and social services business for female veterans located in the University of Michigan-Flint’s Innovation Incubator, has won the 2013 eTEAM Spark Award.

The eTEAM Spark award recognizes the “determination, vision, identified market, growth potential, and setting and achieving business goals” by a newer business.

To qualify for a eTEAM Spark award a business must be less than two years old and have partnered with an eTEAM member organization among other criteria.

The award, which includes a plaque, was given to ten start-up businesses around Flint and Genesee County. These included Consolidated Barber Shop, 107 W. Kearsley St., Healthy Dollar, 138 W. First St., New Thought Movement of Davison, and Our Home Transitional, 432 N. Saginaw St., Suite 207.

Joyce Hitchye, OHT volunteer grant writer, accepted the award on behalf of Executive Director Carrie Miller.

She said, “I have just recently met Carrie through our BEST Project Leadership Program, but her energy and her honest vigor to see the single female homeless veteran housing come to fruition has greatly inspired me.”

Our Home Transitional was presented the award Feb. 28 at the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce 2013 Jumpstart Entrepreneur Conference.

The conference was held at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center in Grand Blanc. Dave Zilko, vice chairman of Garden Fresh Gourmet, was the keynote speaker. There were two breakout sessions where attendees could choose between subjects like tax planning, government contracts vs. grants, 21st century marketing and legal structures.

Sherry Hayden, of the Innovation Incubator, originally nominated the start-up business for the award.

by ·Comments Off on UM-Flint Student Business Working With Female Veterans

by Nic Custer

Carrie Miller, founder and executive director of Our Home Transitional, didn’t have answers for the “20 questions about your business” online form when she applied for a space in UM-Flint’s Innovation Incubator.

But Miller, a senior studying psychology, and her business have come a long way in the past year.

Her business offers female veterans housing assistance and connects them with social services like job training. She returned home to Flint in 2010 with a strong desire to work with struggling women and children.

After sending in her 20 questions to the Incubator, she met with Danny Bledsoe, a military veteran and business coach who was working with [IN]. He suggested she serve returning veterans as they transition to civilian life. She agreed and Bledsoe has since joined Our Home Transitional’s five-person board of directors. The board is made up of UM-Flint students and faculty.

Our Home Transitional is in the process of purchasing their first home for veterans. It is a 3-storey, ten-bedroom house, north of campus, which is owned by another nonprofit. Besides cosmetic repairs, the house is ready to be lived in. Miller needs to raise $20,000, which is more than 35% of the house’s cost in order to qualify for a Veterans Administration grant, which could cover the other 65% of the price. Our Home is working directly with the Detroit Veterans Administration on the project.

In addition to a GoFundMe page, Our Home has a couple of grant writers applying to both the C.S. Mott and Ruth Mott foundations in order to raise the $20,000 down payment. One of the grant writers is a female veteran.

The house will be a large space to fill so the business is also looking for donations of furniture in addition to money. In the mean time, Our Home could also use a donated storage unit for the furniture it already has.

The Genesee County Land Bank has told Our Home Transitional that they would be willing to donate future homes that aren’t being planned for rehabilitation.

Miller is appreciative of the support she gets from the Incubator. She said that the workshops, business coaching and office space in NBK 206 have been huge helps.

“The Incubator’s been a huge support system for me. We have board meetings in the co-working space every month,” she said.

Miller has had family members serve in the armed forces including her sister who in Desert Storm. She said Michigan is 53rd in providing benefits to veterans, dead last behind other states and U.S. territories. This is because most veterans who returned to the state used to just get a job at GM, now without any substantial jobs, many more people are applying for their benefits including current service men and women but also Vietnam and even Korean war vets. Miller said the current backlog of 375,000 applications takes two years to process.

The business is very rewarding for Miller who has two daughters, 6 and 16 years old. She said her teenager is very proud of her and has even written reports for school about what her mom is doing.

Visit www.ourhometransitional.org or http://www.facebook.com/OurHomeTransitional for more information.

by ·Comments Off on Winners of the Moving On Up Video Pitch Contest

The Holiday Inn Gateway was the setting December 1 for Boost Mid-Michigan, a regional conference of business entrepreneurs. The consortium connects university- and business community-based ventures with support resources and capital, and is funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation. In these gatherings throughout Mid-Michigan, local entrepreneurs are prepared to successfully present their ventures to investor audiences. Consultants, coaches and entrepreneurial support professionals help participants prepare a three-minute investor pitch, and a few will be selected to present  to private investors from BlueWater Angels and Great Lakes Angels in January.

Investors listened to 20 presentations, including those by Flint-based student entrepreneurs Suyash Joshi of www.pricechecklist.com, Jose Aliaga of Aliaga Development, and Casey Schaaf of Ecodev Engineering. These entrepreneurs also participated in Moving On Up, a business concept competition hosted by Launch at the University of Michigan-Flint. Student entrepreneurs used short videos to present their ideas to investors. The competition was funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation, the Michigan Initiative for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Michigan University Commercialization Initiative.

The winners of the Moving On Up Video Pitch competition:

Overall Winner: $2,000

EcoDev Engineering, Casey Schaaf – Moving On Up Grand Champion

 

Campus Winners: $250

Easy Saver Card, The CEO Club – Lawrence Tech Campus Champion

PC Power, Tyler Farrar & Mike Ellenbaas – Kettering Campus Champion

Epic Technology Solutions, Paul Knific & Eric Knific – UM-Flint Campus Champion

Student Business Concept, Ryan Robinson – Baker College Campus Champion

Capto Video, Jon Chema – Mott Community College Campus Champion

 

Category Winners: $100

FCC Program, GASC Entrepreneur Class – K-12 Class Social Entrepreneurship Champion

BMP Landscaping, Matt Patterson – K-12 Student Business Champion

FlintCollegeConnection.com, GASC III – K-12 Class Business Concept Champion

LivLuxMag, Corey Stokes & Donyale Walton – Creative Economy Business Champion

Special Needs Day Care Concept, Renee Barnes – Service Economy Business Champion

The Stand-Up Economist, UM-Flint Economics Club – Collegiate Club Champion

Aliaga Development, Jose Aliaga – International Business Concept Champion

Youth of Tomorrow, Marc Alexander – Social Entrepreneurship Champion

Change Your World, Angela Simone – On-Line Social Entrepreneurship Champion

UM-Flint Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby – Special Judges Award

Both Boost Mid-Michigan and Moving On Up were designed to nurture an entrepreneurial culture in mid-Michigan.  Launch received dozens of videos from aspiring entrepreneurs with some very good ideas. The angel investors who viewed these videos and heard other business pitches are serious about helping these creative people thrive here in mid-Michigan.