From new hires and promotions to industry awards, here’s a roundup of achievements by businesses and individuals in the greater Ann Arbor area:

• The 2012 Leadership Detroit Awards Oct. 11 at the Madison Building in Detroit celebrated the accomplishments of this year’s award winners. Among those named "Emerging Leaders" by the Detroit Regional Chamber was Al-Azhar Pacha, president of Ann Arbor-based technology and business consulting firm ALPAC Inc.

• Ann Arbor-based MedHub Inc., signed enterprise agreements with 11 major academic teaching hospitals and affiliates in 2012. These institutions include Yale University Graduate Medical Education, Yale University Undergraduate Medical Education, Griffin Hospital, Greenwich Hospital and Bridgeport Hospital, all in Connecticut, as well as the Mayo Clinic, The University of Colorado, Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C., and SUNY Upstate University Graduate Medical Education and SUNY Upstate University Undergraduate Medical Education in New York. MedHub's system is an integrated web-based suite of modules developed to streamline communication and workflow and for physician training and residency program accreditation and institutional Medicare reimbursement.

• Howard Hanna Real Estate Services in early October announced that Edward Surovell Realtors of Ann Arbor has become part of the Howard Hanna family of real estate. Surovell is one of the largest real estate companies in Michigan and was the leader in homes sold in 2011 in southeastern Michigan. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services is the fourth largest real estate company in the U.S. and has 144 offices across Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia and Michigan.

• Thomas M. Cooley Law School held a dedication and formal unveiling of a bronze casting of the school’s namesake Oct. 16 at the law school's Ann Arbor campus. The work was done by Michigan sculptor and artist Matt Large. The life-size bronze statue depicts Justice Thomas M. Cooley, who was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court in 1864 and served until 1885. He wrote a number of law manuals; the most famous was "Cooley’s Constitutional Limitations." Cooley Law School was established in 1972 and named after this deceased justice.

• Members of the Ann Arbor Area Board of Realtors elected Ed Ridha, associate broker with the Charles Reinhart Company Realtors, to the 2013 board of directors.

• Employees and residents of Sanctuary at St. Joseph's Village in Ypsilanti participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's at Gallop Park in Ann Arbor Oct. 14. Through fundraisers in the community - including a pancake breakfast, selling forget-me-nots and general donations - more than $3,000 was raised for the Alzheimer's Association.

• Physiotherapy Associates, a provider of outpatient physical therapy services, has moved from its Gateway Plaza offices and has relocated to 1315 E. Michigan Ave., Saline, in the Commons at Sauk Trail.

• The American Heart Association recently announced that the 2012 Harvest Ball, set for Friday at the Michigan Union, on the central campus of the University of Michigan, will be co-chaired by Dr. Keith Aaronson and Dr. Francis D. Pagani of the University of Michigan Health System. The event is one of the American Heart Association’s largest fundraisers in Washtenaw County.

• After celebrating Halloween, trick-or-treaters can bring their excess unwrapped candy to Arbor Dental, 2301 Platt Road Suite 200, Ann Arbor, and receive $1 per pound. Candy will be collected at Arbor Dental Nov. 1-3 and will then be shipped to troops overseas. For more information, call 975-0500 or visit www.Arbor-Dental.com.

• A new mobile phone app, the first of its kind, helps concussion patients track their activities and symptoms, and share that information with their healthcare team. The app from the University of Michigan is called Return2Play.

• Tanya Wildt of Westland, a former copy editor for the Manchester Enterprise and the Ypsilanti Courier, was named Michigan Farm Bureau’s 2012 Agricultural Communicator of the Year. Formerly an employee of Heritage Newspapers, Wildt was nominated by Washtenaw County Farm Bureau for her extensive coverage of agricultural news and issues in southeast Michigan in print and on her blog. MFB’s other 2012 Agricultural Communicator of the Year award went to the WZZM news team of Grand Rapids. Wildt and the WZZM news team will be honored at MFB’s 2012 State Annual Meeting Nov. 27-30 in Grand Rapids.

• Gov. Rick Snyder in mid-October announced the appointments of David Brandon of Ann Arbor and Mark Hollis of East Lansing to serve as honorary co-chairs of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports. The 15-member council was established to urge an increase in the physical activity and an improvement in the health of Michiganders. Brandon is director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Michigan, where he has worked since 2010. Previously, he served as chairman and CEO of Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza Inc. and as president and CEO of Valassis Communications Inc. Hollis is athletics director for Michigan State University, a position he has held since 2008.

• A large team of researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System will soon move to the University of Michigan campus, bringing a total of 150 VA health researchers closer to their U-M colleagues so they can jointly study health issues that affect veterans and non-veterans alike, and to test new ideas for improving care in heart disease, diabetes, mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder and more. The VA recently signed a lease for 24,600 square feet of space at U-M's North Campus Research Complex.

• A $5.2 million National Institutes of Health grant awarded to the University of Michigan will support research into birth-related pelvic floor injuries and their relationship to pelvic floor disorders like urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. John DeLancey, director of Pelvic Floor Research, Norman F. Miller Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology is the principal investigator on the grant.

• The Michigan Microloan Fund Program recently awarded seven Michigan companies a combined total of more than $232,000. The funding will support commercialization of their core products. Among the companies receiving funding were five from Ann Arbor: AdAdapted LLC is commercializing an advertising platform for games played on mobile devices; AMF-Nano Corp is commercializing an innovative nano sensor for the design and manufacture of the next generation of large-scale, heterogeneous, smart-sensor systems; Child Care Daily App is commercializing its web-based program that simplifies the daily activities of child care providers and provides parents real-time access to what is happening with their child throughout the day; PicoSpray is commercializing a low-cost electronic fuel injection system for the small engine market; and Weinreich Labs is commercializing its heirloom quality amplified violins that give musicians the ability to amplify acoustic sound without feedback or loss of tonal character. More information on the Michigan Microloan Fund Program award recipients is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rByTTEfMgu8.

• The Dexter Area Chamber of Commerce recently announced that three local business people have been elected to the 2012 board of directors: Mariah Fink, owner of Fink Law, Tom Paup, a financial advisor and associate partner with Upstream Investment Partners, and Dr. Bill Simpson of Simpson Family Chiropractic. Each director has been elected to a three-year term that will begin Nov. 1.

• Onwer George Gaves, recently announced the opening of a home inspection business franchise location serving Ann Arbor, Dexter and the surrounding areas: WIN Home Inspection Ann Arbor. As a licensed home inspector, services offered include home inspections for the buyer, pre-listing inspections for the seller and environmental screenings for radon on-site.

• Jim Nicolow, a principal and the director of sustainability at Ann Arbor architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent, has been named by the U.S. Green Building Council to the class of 2012 LEED Fellows. This designation is the green building industry's highest professional designation, recognizing exceptional contributions to green building and significant professional achievement within the community of LEED professionals.

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