
Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies, including updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
Crème Brûlèe Opens in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction
Crème Brûlèe, the first luxury salon to welcome multicultural clients in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, has opened.
Backed by the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.’s Motor City Match program, Crème Brûlèe is a 2,000-square-foot, salon that offers hair, nail, and skin services as well as beauty products, celebrity and VIP rooms, bookings for bridal parties and other events, and premium. The establishment plans to have a total of 18 diverse employees and is still seeking a stylist, nail technician, and barber.
Crème Brûlèe is located at 6406 Woodward Ave. in The Platform’s Baltimore Station development. It is owned and operated by Detroiter Katrina Wilson, who has worked as an independent celebrity stylist offering services for award shows, photoshoots, and other high-profile client appearances. She’s also planning to open a beauty school that trains stylists to service all types of clients.
“Katrina created Creme Brûlée to be a place for everyone, which is exactly the city we are trying to build,” says Pierre Batton, DEGC executive vice president of small business services for DEGC. “This Motor City Match business is a wonderful addition to the growing commercial district and is an asset to our city. We are proud of Katrina for going after her dream and grateful she chose Detroit to open her first brick and mortar business.”
Wilson says, “While many salons are segregated based on hair texture, ethnicity, gender, and race, Crème Brûlée was founded with a passion for diversity and inclusion. I realized the need for an accessible salon like Crème Brûlée when my friends and I were planning a pampering night out but couldn’t find a salon that did hair for different ethnicities under one roof. Crème Brûlée aims to end segregation within the beauty industry by welcoming all clients.”
Crème Brûlée received a Round 17 $40,000 Motor City Match cash grant. It also had supports from organizations including MCM, Midtown Detroit Inc., Michigan Women Forward, First Home Bank, Capital Impact Partners, TechTown Detroit, and PCI One Source Contracting.
For more information, visit here.
Detroit’s Alerje Receives Grant from NSF for Food Allergy Data Platform
Alerje, a Detroit based company that develops digital tools for food allergy management, has received a Phase I grant from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Science Foundation.
The grant will be utilized to develop a platform that collects, stores, analyses, and distributes clinically relevant data to build a bridge between patients, allergists, and pharma.
Alerje’s digital platform possesses various food allergy management features, including improving the efficacy of delivering an oral immune treatment (OIT) regimen for allergists, ensuring successful completion by the patient. It is designed to enhance the relationship between an allergist and patients and address mental health regarding the treatment process while reducing unnecessary costs and delays in treatment.
To date, there are no other digital platforms for OIT management. OIT is a process of desensitizing a patient to a food to which they are allergic by giving minuscule doses of that food and slowly increasing the amount of the dose over time. Research shows that an OIT regimen can take up to a year to complete, and with regular maintenance, the patient can have less worry about triggering an anaphylaxis event.
Alerje’s digital platform addresses the barriers in OIT adherence to reaching that goal, including physical, financial, and psychological challenges. Recently, Alerje was awarded a patent for an epinephrine auto-injector that attaches to a smartphone, providing convenient access to Epinephrine in seconds in case of a severe reaction.
“From 2007-2016, severe food allergy reactions have increased 377 percent,” says Javier Evelyn, founder and CEO of Alerje. “To combat this, we have established a highly efficient digital platform for managing an OIT regimen. We are delighted that America’s Seed Fund through the National Science Foundation has recognized the potential of this digital platform. Our Food Allergy OIT digital platform represents an exciting approach towards treatment of these food allergies, which impacts over 220 million patients worldwide.”
3Fifteen Cannabis Opens of Hillsdale County Location
Detroit-based 3Fifteen Cannabis has opened a new 1,500-square-foot store in Camden in Hillsdale County (near the Indiana and Ohio borders).
Operating seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., the new location will offer curbside pickup when ordering online at 3Fifteen.com or by calling 833-315-3155. The store’s retail floor offers more than 25 flower strains, pre-rolls, THC edibles, vape cartridges, concentrates, and more.
“We are excited to expand 3Fifteen’s offerings to the southern portion of Michigan while also adding jobs to the local community,” says Tommy Nafso, president of 3Fifteen Cannabis. “We believe this location will serve an audience that so far has been overlooked by the recreational market.”
The new store comes one month after the company opened a recreational cannabis store in Hamtramck. 3Fifteen now has 12 locations in Michigan.
Aerotek Separates Specialized Business Units into Operating Companies under Allegis Group
Aerotek, a leading talent solutions provider, today revealed that its three highly specialized business units — Industrial, Professional, and Engineering and Sciences — have separated into independent operating companies. Established brands Aerotek and Aston Carter, and a new company, Actalent, will offer expanded, niche specializations and services while remaining strategically aligned under Allegis Group.
Aerotek, which is headquartered in Hanover, Md., has Michigan offices in Ann Arbor, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Midland, Southfield, and Troy.
“The relentless pace of today’s job market and vast technological change has challenged businesses in every industry to cultivate new ways to innovate and attract the highly-skilled talent they need to stay competitive,” says Andy Hilger, president of Allegis Group. “The decision to move our specialized business units to separate companies was an important next step in Aerotek’s business evolution, allowing us to put more power behind everything we’ve learned to better serve our people and our customers.”
Through this organizational change, the companies are poised to deliver unparalleled levels of service and agility to clients and talent, including deeper expertise, faster access to sought-after talent and job opportunities and greater innovation in creating unique solutions to meet customer demand.
As announced in January 2020, Aerotek will be led by President Tom Kelly, Aston Carter by President Stuart Ferguson and Actalent by President Chad Koele. Todd Mohr, President of Aerotek since 2011, worked with Kelly, Ferguson and Koele to architect the specialized solution, and has played an instrumental role in transitioning the business into three independent operating companies. Mohr will remain part of the Allegis Group leadership team, transitioning to the role of Strategic Advisor.
For over 35 years, Aerotek has built a people-focused, performance-driven culture that has helped millions of men and women find rewarding work at leading companies. Powered by its national presence and unparalleled recruiting bandwidth, Aerotek will continue to focus on placing light industrial and skilled trades talent in the manufacturing, logistics and construction industries.
“As the job market began to shift and more people actively sought change, it provided us with an opportunity to rethink our business alignment and harness our expertise to better meet those needs,” says Tom Kelly, President of Aerotek. “As we redefine how we respond to our clients’ business needs and contractors’ career aspirations, we are excited to reveal our new brand campaign, ‘Make Your Mark,’ which captures the critical and impactful work our people do. We are confident that our unique approach to developing more focused solutions will positively impact our customers.”
Aston Carter, a leading staffing and solutions firm, will serve a range of professional focus areas, including accounting and finance, governance, risk and compliance, operations and administrative, and customer support. More information about Aston Carter will be revealed in a separate announcement by the company on July 12.
Actalent brings together the Engineering and Sciences divisions of Aerotek and EASi, an engineering and sciences services company founded in 1991 and acquired by Allegis Group in 2005. Actalent’s lines of business span engineering and sciences services, and contract and managed talent solutions across a wide range of specializations. More information about Actalent will be revealed in a separate announcement by the company on July 12.
For more information about the industries and services offered by Aerotek, please visit Aerotek.com.
Waste Management Crews Assist Metro Detroit Flood Victims
In the aftermath of the massive flooding that hit metro Detroit last month, Waste Management (WM) haulers, customer service operators, landfill staff, and equipment maintenance workers have been putting in long hours to meet the needs of customers — and others.
More than 40 WM collection trucks from as far away as Battle Creek and Saginaw, hit the streets of Detroit and Ypsilanti Township hauling away carpeting, couches, and other debris from the flood.
At the request of city officials, Waste Management again will be sending 40 trucks into Detroit to assist with additional pickups throughout the weekend.
The massive walls of waterlogged possessions lining the streets of many southeast Michigan communities has been heartbreaking. But often unseen has been the extraordinary work that has helped remove many of those unsightly piles — piles that left untended attract vermin and lead to toxic mold.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how the Waste Management team stepped up to address the needs of our customers and communities, along with those of some of our competitors,” says Aaron Johnson, Great Lakes area vice president for Waste Management. “Staff from around the state volunteered to assist co-workers in our region. Haulers put in long hours of grinding work. Customer support representatives patiently addressed questions and concerns. The maintenance teams kept the trucks running. Landfill operations met the demand.”
EntryPoint Now Accepting Applications for ‘The Cackle’
EntryPoint, a nonprofit research institution in Ann Arbor that delivers comprehensive research insights and implements effective data-driven programs to promote entrepreneurship across the Midwest, today announced it’s now accepting applications for “The Cackle: Special Edition Celebrating Midwest Small Businesses,” a livestream featuring local small businesses.
Midwest small business owners are encouraged to apply and community members can nominate their favorite local business to be featured on the program, which starts at 10:30 a.m. on July 26, at 10:30 a.m. on the EntryPoint Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter until Sept. 13
To learn more about “The Cackle” and view upcoming episodes, visit here.
MGM Grand Detroit Hosting Career Fair July 14
MGM Grand Detroit will be hosting a career fair on Wednesday, July 14 with on-site interviews for interested candidates and real-time job offers.
The session will run from 2-6 p.m. and is hotel valet parking only. Pre-registration is encouraged here, but walk-ins are welcome.
MGM Grand Detroit is recruiting for cage cashiers, housekeeping and environmental services, food and beverage, dealers, security, hotel operations, and more. Many of the jobs are full-time positions with medical benefits and paid vacation. MGM offers additional perks for employees such as daycare, tuition reimbursement, and competitive wages.
Detroit Athletic Club is Re-treeing Eight European Hornbeams
The Detroit Athletic Club is finding new homes for eight mature European hornbeam trees on its grounds in downtown Detroit.
These trees are approximately 25 years old and have outgrown their current location. Re-Tree, an organization that preserves mature trees, and BrightView Landscaping are working to move the trees.
Work will take place July 12-14.
The hornbeam trees are native to Europe and these particular trees are approximately 19 feet tall, and their trunk caliper is about 7 inches in diameter making them a very desirable trophy tree.
DSO to Perform Music of ‘Star Wars’ at Meadow Brook Aug. 13
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will play the music of “Star Wars” at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre on the campus of Oakland University on Friday, Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
Conductor Steven Reineke will lead the orchestra in a new program that includes music from throughout the Skywalker Saga as well as the two anthology films, “Rogue One” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” in chronological order.
Tickets are available here and here, and at the Xfinity Box Office at Little Caesars Arena.
In Related News: Meadow Brook Hall is announcing a new event experience for the 2021 holiday season (Nov. 26-Dec.30), featuring two major attractions. By day, the 50th annual Holiday Walk will transport visitors through the historic mansion decorated for the holidays. By night, Winter Wonder Lights will transform the estate at night into a light show featuring music, concessions, and magic.
Festa Italiana Returns to Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights July 16-18
Festa Italiana, a three-day celebration of Italaian heritage, returns to Freedom Hill County Park in Sterling Heights July 16-18.
The event is free, although parking is $10 per vehicle, and features live music and food.
This year will feature both national and local entertainment, Italian wines, and beer. Friday Night Fireworks are being sponsored by Genesis Alfa Romeo. A Family Fun Zone featuring a bounce house, zip line, rock-climbing wall, and more is being presented by Nino Salvaggio.
For more information, visit here.