Category Archives: Local Business

Ann Arbor’s Whiplash lands at 457 on Inc. magazines list of America’s 5,000 fastest-growing private companies

By Mark | January 2, 2016

I’m not sure why my old friend James Marks didn’t mention it to me when I saw him a few days ago, but it looks as though his merchandizing logistics company, Whiplash, has landed a spot near the top of the “Inc. 5000” – Inc. magazine’s annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the […]

Also posted in Ann Arbor, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Tagged Inc. 5000, Inc. magazine, James Marks, logistics, Mark Dickson, merchandizing, Modest Mouse, Sean Hurley, shipping, Whiplash | 4 Comments

Deer assassination in Ann Arbor, habitats for fish sex in Ypsi, the music of Heather Evans, and our first in-studio bat infestation… on episode 33 of the Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | November 18, 2015

After kicking things off with the awesome into song written by our recent guest Frank Allison, we jumped right into things with University of Michigan Associate Professor Rebecca Hardin, the host of WCBN’s environmental news show It’s Hot in Here, and avid hunter Ben Connor Barrie, the editor of the Ann Arbor blog Damn Arbor. […]

Also posted in Agriculture, Ann Arbor, Environment, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Aja Marcato, bats, Ben Connor Barrie, biodiversity, dams, darters, deer, deer cull, ecosystem, Elizabeth Riggs, Erika Nelson, ethics, fish, fish habitat, fishing, Frank Allison, Fred Bear, Geddes, guns, guns in parks, guns in schools, Heather Evans, hostas, hunting, Huron River, Huron River Watershed Council, It's Hot in Here, James Hughes, Jim Cherewick, kindness, large mouth bass, Lyme Disease, Marquette, Matt Jones, native plants, Organization for Bat Conservation, public health, public parks, rabies, Rebecca Hardin, River Street Anthology, RiverUp!, Schultz Outfitters, shrubs, small mouth bass, suckers, Ted Nugent, The Who Guy, ticks, USDA, vampires, white bass, White Nose Syndrome, Wildlife Conservation Society, wildlife management | 32 Comments

Giving ex-felons a second chance, the corporatization of higher ed, and the religious roots of Cultivate Coffee and Tap House… on episode 31 of the Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | October 29, 2015

This last installment of the Saturday Six Pack was really good. And I think I’d say that even if it wasn’t my show. It was interesting and topical, challenging and funny. There was just a lot to like about it. We talked with an inspiring ex-felon, a fiery union organizer, and a local man whose […]

Also posted in Locally Owned Business, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged AAUP, American Association of University Professors, beer, Billy Kangas, Calvin Evans, coffee, Cultivate Coffee and Tap House, Eastern Michigan University, EcoTimber, Emerald Ash Borer, EMU, ex-prisoners, Frank Allison, furniture, generational success, Grace Church, Howard Bunsis, John Boehner, Judith Kullberg, mentoring, Parker Executive Search, Paul Hickman, picture frames, prison, prison labor, shared governance, Sustainability, sustainable building materials, timber, transparency, triple bottom line, Ugly Mug, University of Iowa, Urban Ashes, urban salvaged wood | 12 Comments

Beal Construction Services is issued five “serious” workplace safety violations in wake of Thompson Block death

By Mark | October 24, 2015

According to the Ann Arbor News, the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) have completed the review of Beal Construction Services that was initiated with the death last May of Jeremy “Jake” Burd, a construction worker who lost his life in the basement of Ypsilanti’s historic Thompson Block after the floor above him collapsed. […]

Also posted in Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Beal Construction Services, Death, demolition, JC Beal, Jeremy "Jake" Burd, Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration, MIOSHA, Neil Miller, Stewart Beal, Thompson Block, workplace safety | 20 Comments

Living off-grid, hair care product entrepreneurship, and the Yellow Rail Family …on this weekend’s Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | October 2, 2015

I’m not sure why the folks in the AM 1700 design department decided to go with a Warriors theme this week. [I’ve been instructed by station management that I’m not allowed to communicate with them any more.] Maybe it’s because the old gang from 1979 just reunited for one last subway ride to Coney Island, […]