The following is a list of achievements by businesses and individuals in the Ann Arbor area:

• The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation announced May 27 that it will hire Neel Hajra, currently CEO of Nonprofit Enterprises at Work (NEW), to fill a new position: chief operating officer and vice president for community investment. Phil D’Anieri, AAACF’s current program director, recently announced that he will be leaving the Community Foundation to take a teaching position at the University of Michigan and to consult in the nonprofit sector.

• Washtenaw Community College has named Stuart T. Blacklaw as its new vice president for instruction, a position formerly filled by vice president Roger Palay, who returns to the classroom this fall. Blacklaw was formerly dean of curriculum and program development for Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y. He will begin his WCC assignment in August.

• DesignHub Inc., a creative services and marketing firm based in Saline, will provide the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research with a coordinated set of marketing materials for CAR’s 45th annual Management Briefing Seminars, to be held Aug. 2-5 in Traverse City. CAR has selected DesignHub to produce brochures, mailers, ads for print and online media, conference signage, PowerPoint templates for presentations and the cover and tabs for the session book for the attendees’ day-to-day reference during the event. The Management Briefing Seminars are widely recognized as the automotive industry’s premier executive conference, and this year, more than 1,000 industry leaders are expected to attend.

• Cleary University, a business university with campuses in Ann Arbor and Howell, has partnered with Genisys Credit Union to offer tuition grants specifically designated for the employees and members of the credit union. Genisys Credit Union is based in Michigan with branches in several Oakland County locations and in Ypsilanti.

• Huron Valley Ambulance honored several residents of Washtenaw County at an awards dinner on May 19. The HVA Board of Trustees bestowed their highest award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, on Jude Huetteman of Ann Arbor. An HVA board member for 19 years, the trustees said Huetteman devoted her life to health care advocacy, trying to bring health care access and cost-effective health care to those in need for most of her professional life. HVA also presented their Heart Safe Organization Award to Malloy Inc. of Ann Arbor. This award, which HVA created in 2008, recognizes businesses or other organizations that create a “heart safe” environment, including having automated external defibrillators in all buildings and staff trained in CPR in all buildings. Additionally, HVA also honored local residents with Life Saving Awards for their heroism in two other rescues. Earlier this year, Dr. David Brown, a University of Michigan plastic surgeon and an Ann Arbor resident, along with bystander Joe Gill of Erie, received an award for rescuing a woman whose van veered off I-94 into a drainage pond. Sgt. Chris Proudlock, an officer with the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Police Department and an Ypsilanti resident, rescued Nancy Stratos and her two dogs from the rain-swollen current of the Huron River at Hudson Mills Metropark near Dexter in 2009.

• American Medical Technologists will award Marc F. Derenthal of Ann Arbor the Distinguished Achievement Award at AMT’s Annual Meeting in Las Vegas on July 15. The Distinguished Achievement Award is in recognition of outstanding service to AMT and its members at the state level. Derenthal was certified in 1994 and was a board member of the Michigan State Society from 2001-2011. For five years, Derenthal also served as a Sergeant-at-Arms for state meetings.

• Ann Arbor-based Merit Network, a nonprofit regional research and education network, announced the recipients of the 2010 Merit Awards on May 27. These awards recognize individuals and organizations that have provided leadership in technology and assisted the Merit community. Merit Network's Award for Innovation in Networking and Information Technology went to Dave Maki, chief technology officer for Northern Michigan University. Merit Network's Award for Community Building went to two recipients, Ken Chinavare, director of technology for Clare-Gladwin RESD and Matthew McMahon, coordinator of technology resources for Gratiot-Isabella RESD. A Meritorious Service Award went to Dennis Buckmaster, COO of information technology for St. Clair County RESA, Travis Bussler, network administrator for Chippewa River District Library and Mike Zimmerman, CIO and executive director of communications and information technology for Macomb Community College.

• Ann Arbor-based Affinia Group Inc., a firm focused on industrial-grade products and services, recently began construction on a new filtration manufacturing facility in China to serve rapidly growing Asian markets. The new 220,000-square-foot filtration facility is scheduled to be completed during 2010, with operations beginning in the first quarter of 2011. It is expected to employ about 350 workers.

• Ann Arbor SPARK, a nonprofit regional development organization based in Ann Arbor. recently added two employees to its business development team and a new staff accountant. Valerie Christofferson was promoted from staff accountant to manager of business development. C.J. Lee was hired as manager of business development. Emily Heintz was hired as Ann Arbor SPARK's new staff accountant.

• Family-owned grocer Busch's Fresh Food Market, headquartered in Ann Arbor, is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a week of sales specials, contests and family events through Sunday.

• Email items for People, Achievements and Paparazzi to business@annarbor.com . Sign up for the weekly Business Review email newsletter here.