People & Achievements in the greater Ann Arbor area, including the Wellness Community of Southeast Michigan and Allegra Print & Imaging
Dr. Gary Hammer
• The Wellness Community of Southeast Michigan recently announced the addition of two new members to its professional advisory board: Dr. Gary Hammer and registered dietitian Sharlene Bidini. Hammer holds the Millie Schembechler Professorship of Adrenal Cancer and serves as the director of the Endocrine Oncology Program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also serves as the director of the Center for Organogenesis. Bidini is a registered dietitian and board certified specialist in oncology nutrition (CSO) and is one of only 12 dietitians in Michigan with a CSO credential. She is employed at The Oakwood Center for Cancer Care in Dearborn.
Sharlene Bidini
• Midwest Eye-Banks has announced its 2010 list of Eye and Vision Research Program grant recipients, and several are from the Ann Arbor area. Recipients, projects and the amounts received were: Roni Shtein, University of Michigan Medical School, diagnostic imaging for intraoperative floppy iris syndrome, $14,338; Hakan Demirci, University of Michigan Medical School, roles of inflammation and angiogenesis in conjunctival melanoma progression and metastasis, $15,000; Debra Thompson, University of Michigan Medical School, chromophore therapy in retinal degeneration, $15,000; Peter Hitchcock, University of Michigan Medical School, regulation of retinalâ€specific gene expression, $15,000; Phillip J. Gage, University of Michigan Medical School, testing postâ€natal models of Pitx2â€related glaucoma, $15,000.
• Michigan-based Clark Construction was selected to serve as construction manager for major renovations planned for the Lincoln Consolidated Schools in Ypsilanti. The $35 million bond program includes seven school buildings plus transportation and maintenance facilities. The project will include renovations at Brick Elementary, Childs Elementary, Model Elementary, Redner Elementary, Lincoln Middle School, Lincoln High School and Hoffman Alternative High School. Renovations vary by school but will include classroom additions, gymnasium and auditorium additions, administrative offices upgrades, and significant interior and infrastructure renovations. Construction is slated to begin in April 2011 with completion planned for October 2012.
• Jennifer Darr of Chelsea was awarded Silpada Designs' Legacy Award, a lifetime achievement award, at the Silpada Designs' 2010 National Conference in July. Darr, a Silver Manager with Silpada Designs, was selected to receive the Legacy Award after reporting career jewelry sales of more than $500,000 and recruiting more than 100 new Silpada Designs representatives. Darr is one of only 14 women to receive this award among 32,000 Silpada Designs Representatives throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
• Jennifer Sheehan Anderson, a partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn, was elected chair of the State Bar of Michigan’s Intellectual Property Law Section. The section provides education, information and analysis about issues of concern in the intellectual property field through a variety of activities including meetings, seminars and publication of a newsletter. Anderson has served as a council member of the Intellectual Property Section since 2006, as secretary and treasurer from 2008 to 2009 and as chair-elect from 2009 to 2010. Anderson, a resident of Ann Arbor, is a partner in the Intellectual property practice group of Honigman's corporate and securities department. She is based in Honigman's Ann Arbor office.
• Green Oaks Village Place, a mall in Brighton, has added several new businesses: Kerby’s Coney Island, BoomTown Kitchen + Tap and Coldstone Creamery.
• Elizabeth Grace Saunders of Ann Arbor, founder of Real Life E , was named one of Stiletto Woman magazine’s Top 25 Amazing Women of the Year in 2010. Saunders has adapted her business to meet changing market needs, including providing exclusive time coaching services to an international clientele, writing for more than 50 different publications and presenting at more than 25 events including following Steve Forbes at the National Chamber Foundation Retreat.
• The public education advertising campaign for the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (TheRide) recently won the Award of Excellence, the highest award given at the 2010 National TMCA Compass Awards Competition. The campaign was created by Orange Egg Advertising Inc., an advertising agency based in Ann Arbor. The Transportation Marketing and Communications Association’s Compass Awards were created to recognize excellence in marketing and communications for transportation organizations and professionals, nationwide. TheRide’s campaign consists of bus shelter posters, transit posters on hybrid buses, banner ads and a print campaign featuring photographs of five local community leaders who have a connection to the bus service either as a rider or a community cheerleader. The same campaign also won a 2010 Silver ADDY Award and the People’s Choice Award at the Ann Arbor ADDY Award ceremony earlier this year. • The Institute of Museum and Library Services will award National Leadership Planning Grant of $49,257 to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. The museum will use the grant to work with the Mideastern Michigan Library Cooperative, the Michigan State University Extension 4-H Youth Development and other regional and national partners to develop plans for a regional program promoting scientific and environmental literacy and interest among school-age children and other populations in the Great Lakes region. The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum intends to use this program to focus on climate literacy and environmental stewardship and develop low-cost traveling exhibitions and programs that support these educational objectives.
• IPC The Hospitalist Company Inc., a national hospitalist physician group practice company headquartered in California, recently announced that it has acquired Ann Arbor Inhospital Physicians PLLC. The acquisition represents an expansion in the Michigan market for IPC. The owner of AAIP, Dr. Hamidullah Halimi, will remain with the practice.
• The Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau recently announced that the AAACVB has developed a new micro-site to introduce Japanese-speaking visitors to the Ann Arbor area. The micro-site, www.nihongo.visitannarbor.org, was developed by AAACVB staff and Sunrizing LLC to help increase the Ann Arbor area’s visibility to Internet users in Japan and Japanese residents living in the U.S. The Washtenaw County region alone has 14 Japanese companies, including American Honda, Dexter Fastener, Horiba Instruments and the Toyota Technical Center. The site introduces the Ann Arbor area’s resources to Japanese visitors and is tailored to meet the cultural needs and interests of the Japanese audience.
• Ann Arbor pharmaceutical company Adeona Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced July 27 that Julie A. Caudill was appointed vice president of finance and corporate controller.
• Blackbird Theatre will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony starting at with cocktails on the patio of the Aut Bar at 6 p.m. Aug. 10, followed by a ribbon cutting and a tour of the facility. In 2003 the Blackbird took up residence at Ann Arbor’s Children’s Creative Center. Now, after more than 40 productions, the Blackbird has found a new home in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown District. The Blackbird will share the space with the \sh\-aut Gallery, which will continue to host various events throughout the year.
• Allstate exclusive agency owner Daniel Amori has earned the designation of Premier Service Agency for 2010 from the Allstate Insurance Co. Given to less than 30 percent of Allstate's nearly 12,000 agency owners across the country, this designation was presented to Amori for exceeding customer expectations. His agency is based in Ann Arbor.
• Pittsfield Township will partner with the University of Michigan for a quality assurance project this fall. A variation of the process known in the private sector a "Six Sigma," the process is meant to maximize customer satisfaction, improve process efficiencies and increase performance accountability. Pittsfield Township staff will work with Dr. Prakash T. Sathe and his students at the University of Michigan's Industrial and Operations Engineering department to map the flow of information, identify and evaluate input, output and resources consumed and establish performance measures. The project will be done at no cost to the township or its residents, township officials said.
• DesignHub Inc., a creative services and marketing firm based in Saline, was selected to conduct strategic planning for the Ann Arbor Tower Plaza Condominium Association. The association’s members are co-owners and residents of Tower Plaza Condominium, a 26-story high-rise on East William Street in downtown Ann Arbor.
• Ann Arbor-based HealthMedia Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company and part of the Wellness & Prevention business, announced that Sanjay Gupta will assume leadership for the company beginning Aug. 16. Gupta will be responsible for providing strategic direction and helping to drive continued growth for HealthMedia Digital Health Coaching solutions for employers, health plans and other organizations. Most recently, Gupta was the managing director of emerging markets in Asia Pacific for the J&J Vision Care franchise.
• The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation recently announced the appointment of three new members to its board of directors: Laurie Barnett, Samuel Beck and Andrew Paterson. Barnett and Paterson will serve three-year terms; Beck, as a student member of the board of directors, will serve for one year.
• University of Michigan analytical chemist Robert T. Kennedy is one of four scientists selected to receive the 2010 Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience. Kennedy, who is the Hobart H. Willard Professor of Chemistry and a professor of pharmacology, will receive $200,000 over two years to develop new methods for measure chemical signals in the brain.
• Kramer-Triad Management Group, an Associa