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

• Tim Womer has joined Saline-based R&B Plastics Machinery LLC as its chief process consultant. Before joining R&B Plastics Machinery, Womer was the global corporate technical advisor for Xaloy Inc., after first serving as chief technical officer for the corporation. He also is president of TWWomer and Associates, a consulting business to the plastics industry. R&B Plastics Machinery is privately owned by the Talon Group LLC based in Gross Pointe.

• The Ann Arbor-based National Center for Manufacturing Sciences has joined the leadership of a new consortium dedicated to revitalizing American small and mid-sized manufacturers through high performance computerized digital manufacturing. The National Digital Engineering and Manufacturing Consortium announced its formation in early March. The consortium includes NCMS, the Council on Competitiveness, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Ohio Supercomputing Center and Purdue University, as well as industrial partners John Deere (Deere and Co.), General Electric, Procter & Gamble, and Lockheed Martin. The consortium was funded with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce and an additional $2.5 million investment from industrial partners. The NDEMC will be tasked to spread adoption of advanced modeling and simulation capability using High Performance Computing, or HPC, throughout the supply chains of some of the nation’s leading original equipment manufacturers.

• March 5 marked the kickoff of Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley’s 100th house in Washtenaw County. Located in Nancy Park, the home at 1242 Shirley is part of Habitat’s Neighborhood Revitalization initiative in the Nancy Park community of Ypsilanti. Masco Corp. Foundation and Masco Cabinetry’s Merillat brand, whose headquarters has moved to Ann Arbor township, will be the full sponsors of our 100th house. Masco Cabinetry will also be donating DeNova brand countertops and providing volunteers from their new Ann Arbor Township office to help in the renovation efforts. The Merillat House is expected to be completed sometime in May, with a house dedication celebration to follow.

• Four fire departments in Pulaski County, Ark. will be implementing OnSite ERT tracking technology from ERT Systems. The system will replace the departments’ former tools used to determine crew status and locations during emergencies. Based in Ann Arbor, ERT Systems LLC offers OnSite ERT, a portable and rapidly-deployable system for tracking and locating personnel and equipment on scene at emergency events.

• Marc Rubin a real estate sales professional in Ann Arbor, has joined the Keller Williams Realty Ann Arbor Market Center.

• StarPak Group has earned honorable mention in the 2011 Michigan Green Leader awards program sponsored by the Detroit Free Press. StarPak was one of 14 honorable mentions selected by independent judges from among 265 nominations this year. The sustainability award recognizes businesses, nonprofits, individuals and outstanding efforts in the public sector. StarPak Group, headquartered in Ann Arbor, is a collaborative of affiliated firms that provide renewable and sustainable materials and equipment for the 'green' building industry.

• A ribbon cutting ceremony and grand re-opening of Anytime Fitness were held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 11 at 1030 S. Main St. in Chelsea. Chelsea natives Chuck and Barb Sullivan are the owners of the fitness center, which is open 24 hours a day.

• Washtenaw Community College recently received a $45,757 grant from the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, to be used to help local law enforcement cut costs and increase the number of officers it can reach with legal update training. This spring and summer, WCC will develop the first course of its kind in Michigan for law enforcement using the blended class model. With the blended class model, officers will receive videos, lectures, learning activities and updated information, along with a traditional face-to-face classroom experience.

• Verizon Wireless recently activated a new cell site in Ann Arbor that improves voice and data coverage in the northeast portion of Ann Arbor within a one-mile radius of the Plymouth Road and Nixon Road intersection.

• Growing Hope recently launched a fund-raising campaign called the ‘Rooting for the Future’ Fund to help move the organization into a new Growing Hope Center. Since 2003, Growing Hope, a Washtenaw County nonprofit, has been dedicated to helping people improve their lives and communities through gardening and healthy food access. In this public and second phase of an overall $1 million campaign, Growing Hope needs to raise $200,000 to gain the certificate of occupancy that will allow them to move out of rented office space in downtown Ypsilanti and into a permanent new home, an education-oriented urban farm. Tours of the Growing Hope Center have been scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on March 23, 11:30 a.m. on March 26 and 5 p.m. on March 30. To RSVP or to make a donation, contact Hannah Ashmore at Hannah@growinghope.net.

• Coolarity A2 LLC of Ann Arbor recently reached an agreement to purchase all the assets of conservative news talk powerhouse WAAM Talk 1600 from Ann Arbor First Ventures LP of Dallas, Texas. Coolarity A2's president is Linda Hughes.

• BioMedware, an Ann Arbor-based company that conducts research and develops software for the environmental and health sciences, has launched its new website: www.biomedware.com. The site was designed and developed by DesignHub Inc. of Saline. DesignHub also created a new logo for BioMedware.

• Ann Arbor, Michigan-based production company RDR Radio has chosen Ann Arbor-based Orange Egg Advertising to represent RDR's Acoustic Café syndicated music program. Acoustic Café, now in its 16th year, will work with Orange Egg to pursue regional and national sponsors, particularly Michigan-based companies with a national reach. Acoustic Café’ can be heard on Detroit’s WDET, 101.9 FM from 5-7 p.m. on Saturdays and from 9-11 a.m. Sundays. Acoustic Café is also available online at www.Acafe.com.

• The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation program, Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM, recently announced a grant of more than $232,000 to the University of Michigan Health System to expand Project Healthy Schools. The program focuses on sixth grade students and is designed to reduce childhood obesity and its long-term health risks. Project Healthy Schools program is offered at 13 locations in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Owosso and metro Detroit.

• Eugene (Gene) Anderson, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, will serve as interim dean of the school from July 1 to Aug. 21, until the newly-chosen dean can take over that role. Alison Davis-Blake, current dean of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, was announced last month as the new Edward J. Frey Dean of the Ross School, effective Aug. 22.

• Stephen L. Bruffett, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Con-way Inc., headquartered in Ann Arbor, will make a presentation on March 23 at the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation and Defense Conference in New York City.

• Lakeside Software will grow its software development operations in Michigan, with a new location in Ann Arbor and an expansion to its existing operations in Bloomfield Hills. The company received a Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credit totaling $731,244 on March 15 to encourage the expansion in Michigan over another potential site in Califorina. Lakeside Software plans to invest $6.1 million to expand existing operations in Bloomfield Hills, as well as locate operations in Ann Arbor. The company expects the projects to create up to a total of 198 direct new jobs, with 73 of those in Ann Arbor.

• Wagner Design Associates, an Ann Arbor advertising and graphic design firm, received a Silver ADDY in the Ann Arbor Ad Club’s 2010 ADDY Awards competition. Wagner Design was recognized for Ann Arbor SPARK's 2009 Annual Report. The brochure-style report features the tagline “fast. forward.” on the cover and throughout, and describes SPARK’s ongoing contribution to accelerating the pace of business growth in the Ann Arbor area. Sponsored nationally by the American Advertising Federation and locally by the Ann Arbor Ad Club, the ADDY Awards Competition recognizes and rewards creative excellence in the art of advertising.

• Entrepreneur magazine teamed up with the Princeton Review to select 16 graduate schools of business as top-notch institutions for MBA students to get an education in "Green Business" fields. Among those 16 schools was the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

• Dawn M. Kalusha has been added to the team at Chelsea State Bank as consumer loan officer.

• One of the largest gifts ever made to the University of Michigan Law School will help revitalize living spaces within the 86-year-old student-housing portion of U-M's iconic Law Quadrangle. Pending the approval of the University Board of Regents at its meeting tonight, the $20 million gift from Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles T. Munger will pay for the majority of a renovation project inside the Lawyers Club housing complex. The remaining $19 million of the estimated $39 million cost to complete the work will come from central university investment proceeds and the Lawyers Club, which is run by a separately incorporated, self-sustaining nonprofit organization. Pending approval by the regents, the renovated residence portion of the Lawyers Club will be named "The Charles T. Munger Residences in the Lawyers Club" in honor of the gift. Construction is expected to begin in early summer 2012 with a goal of completion by fall 2013. The university will appoint Hartman-Cox Architects in association with SmithGroup for the project.

• March of 2011 markes the 20th anniversary of the Dixboro General Store under its current management. Plymouth Township residents Steve and Brenda Dani bought the 150-year-old building in 1990 and spent nearly a year rejuvenating the historical structure. The new Dixboro General Store, located in the northeast corner of Ann Arbor, opened in March of 1991.

• Employees Only, a human resources consulting and benefits management firm based in Auburn Hills, recently named Angela Laugh a client advocate. Laugh, who is a resident of Ann Arbor, will be responsible for managing current clients and expanding the Employees Only client base, particularly in education.

• Aastrom Biosciences Inc. president and CEO Tim Mayleben spoke at the ROTH Capital Growth Stock Conference, held March 13-16 in Dana Point, Calif. Aastrom is a developer of expanded autologous cellular therapies for the treatment of severe, chronic cardiovascular diseases. An archived video of the presentation can be found at http://www.wsw.com/webcast/roth24/astm.

• Frank McAuliffe, the 2010 Golf Professional of the Year, is joining the instructional team of Kendall Academy headed by Dave Kendall. Previously, McAuliffe spent 29 years as head golf pro at Ann Arbor Country Club. McAuliffe is also the boy’s golf coach for Dexter High School as well as the new men’s and women’s golf coach for Marygrove College in Detroit. Kendall Academy is located at Miles of Golf, a golf operation offering a retail store, practice and teaching facility, and club-fitting center located at 3113 Carpenter Road in Ypsilanti.

• The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation recently announced grant awards to the Ann Arbor Public Schools through the Initiatives for Excellence and Great Idea Teacher Grant programs totaling $22,0238. Initiatives for Excellence Grants were awarded for two middle school programs and one high school program. Every sixth grade student in the district will benefit from an $8,400 grant to Project Healthy Schools, and sixth through 12th grade students in Ann Arbor Schools will benefit from a grant totaling $9,090 that will supply every middle school and high school with document cameras to support laboratory and hands on activities in the classrooms. AAPSEF also announced spring Great Idea Grants to staff, with seven projects being awarded a total of $4,548. Projects funded include a forensics study at Skyline High School; reading initiative for teens at Community High School; additions to the book collection Eberwhite Elementary School’s library; building relationships between students while funding a band tour for Tappan Middle School students; Scarlett Elementary School transition boot camp; and support of a summer learning program at Pattengill Elementary School. The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation is an independent, community-based, nonprofit organization providing community support for innovative educational opportunities in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

• The Washtenaw Contractors Association recently announced the winners of its 14th annual PYRAMID Awards. The Best Project Team award for projects under $3 Million went to the Camp Michigania Dining Hall in Boyne City, owned by the University of Michigan Alumni Association. The architect was Lindhout Associates of Brighton, and the contractor was Spence Brothers of Saginaw. The Best Project Team award for projects between $3 Million & $25 Million was for the Eastern Michigan University Indoor Athletic Practice Facility in Ypsilanti. The architect was BEI & Associates of Detroit, and the contractor was Turner Construction Co. of Detroit. The Best Project Team award for projects over $25 Million was the University of Michigan Football Stadium Expansion and Renovation in Ann Arbor. The architect was HNTB of Kansas City, Mo., and the contractor was the Barton Malow Co. of Detroit. The Best Subcontractor Award for contracts under $500,000 went to Acoustic Ceiling & Partition of Ann Arbor for the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Chapel Addition and Renovation in Ypsilanti. The Best Subcontractor Award for contracts over $500,000 went to Dee Cramer of Holly for the Saginaw Valley State University Health Sciences Building. The Best Innovation Award went to Leidal & Hart Mason Contractors of Livonia for the University of Michigan Football Stadium Expansion and Renovation for innovative design of prefabricated arches used throughout the exterior of the stadium.

• Short course off-road racing series TORC - "The Off Road Championship" - has hired Ann Arbor-based High Profile Public Relations LLC as its public relations company of record. HPPR is owned by Pat Schutte. The 2011 TORC Series gets underway April 30 at Cycle Ranch MX Park in Floresville, Texas.

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