Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
Livonia’s Roush Performance Launches New eCommerce Website
Human Element Inc. in Ann Arbor and Roush Performance in Livonia have launched a newly designed and re-platformed website for Roush Performance — roushperformance.com.
The site was built by the team at Human Element on Shopify Plus, an eCommerce platform that in part is engineered to get sites up and running in a short time frame and also promotes customer conversion.
In late 2023, the Roush Performance team was looking to upgrade its legacy eCommerce platform with one that better suited its current needs. The priorities were to refresh the site design, improve security (PCI Compliance), and reduce overhead maintenance on the site. Roush Performance also was looking for an intuitive interface for internal staff to perform regular updates, so they could more quickly bring their lifestyle brand message to customers.
With these goals in mind, the Human Element and Roush Performance teams selected Shopify Plus for the new site.
Roush Performance now can perform product and page updates quickly and easily with its own team, reducing the need for outside help. The platform also takes care of PCI compliance out-of-the-box and any updates are handled via the software as a service (SaaS) business model, which means fewer development services for maintenance and updates and more time to dedicate to improving the customer experience, brand presentation, business strategy, and ultimately order conversion.
“Everything is running smoothly,” says Jack Roush Jr., vice president of marketing at Roush Performance. “Our site speed has increased, and our mobile and desktop experiences have vastly improved. We’re thrilled to deliver a better shopping experience to our customers.”
Future plans for the site include incorporating more lifestyle content and branding, implementing business automation, and improving customer experience with site personalization and outreach.
Dave & Buster’s Launches Reimagined Store in Livonia on Feb. 9
Dave & Buster’s is opening its reimagined location in Livonia at 19375 Victor Parkway on Feb. 9.
The first 200 people in line at the grand opening will receive free games for a year. Doors open at 11 a.m.
Guests at the re-opened Dave & Busters can expect:
- The Arena.
- Interactive social bays.
- Immersive sports watching.
- An evolved menu.
- New design inside and out.
- Midway and prizes.
“We can’t wait to reveal this Dave & Buster’s as a Livonia entertainment destination,” says Chuck Weclowski, general manager. “We’re thrilled for our neighbors to experience this incredible transformation for themselves.”
For more information, visit daveandbusters.com.
State Awards $17.5M Grant to Prepare West Michigan Business Park for Development
The Right Place Inc., and project partners Franklin Partners and Lowell Charter Township in west Michigan have received $17.5 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s (MEDC) new Strategic Site Readiness Program (SSRP) to help prepare the 237-acre Covenant Business Park in Lowell Township for industrial and commercial use.
The Lowell site is one of 18 statewide projects announced as recipients of the funds at the most recent Michigan Strategic Fund board meeting.
The funds awarded represent 50 percent of the $35 million needed to get the site “shovel-ready” for development. Most work will center on infrastructure efforts, primarily sewer extension and connection.
The parcel is located at the southwest corner of Cascade Road and Alden Nash, just north of I-96; with its proximity to a major highway and minutes from an international airport, Covenant Business Park is considered by some to be the “finest parcel available in greater Grand Rapids.”
WCCCD to Host Jim Crow Museum Exhibit Starting Feb. 5
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) will host a new exhibit from Ferris State University’s Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery beginning Feb. 5 at the Curtis L. Ivery Downtown Campus.
Titled “Overcoming Hateful Things: Stories from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery,” the exhibit explores the Jim Crow system, the African American experience during that era, and its legacy in contemporary society through hundreds of objects from the period.
The museum at Ferris in Big Rapids houses the nation’s largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts and uses them to teach tolerance and to promote a more just society. The exhibit was created to tell similar stories in ways that encourage dialogue and understanding about painful histories and issues.
For more information, visit wcccd.edu.
Spirit Airlines Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Lower Fares to Mexico
Spirit Airlines is celebrating two decades of flying travelers between Cancun International Airport (CUN) in Mexico and the United States by offering limited-time fares on flights to Cancun from Feb. 7-March 6.
“For 20 years, we’ve been pleased to offer our guests affordable, nonstop service to Cancun, making the popular beach destination more accessible and affordable with the opportunity to save on airfare while enjoying more of Cancun’s tourist attractions,” says John Kirby, vice president of Network Planning at Spirit Airlines. “We’re grateful to Cancun International Airport and our guests in southeast Mexico for embracing our business model and trusting us with their travels for the past two decades.”
The airline also is offering members of its Free Spirit loyalty program 1,500 bonus points on roundtrip flights and 750 points on one-way flights to and from Cancun.Travel must be booked by March 15 at 11: 59 p.m. and flown by April 30. To earn even more bonus points, guests can book their Cancun hotel or car rental through Spirit Vacations and earn an additional 500 points.
For more information, visit spirit.com.
MiCare Assistant Platform Gets Toyota Way Forward Fund Grant
The MiCare Assistant Platform at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has received an unspecified grant from Toyota Motor North America’s Way Forward Fund, a multi-year initiative aimed at strengthening access to care and injury recovery support for individuals and their families, with an initial focus on children with traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
“The organizations represented in this year’s grantees, illustrates the variety of ways our communities can care for the health of children,” says Tellis Bethel, group vice president of social innovation atToyota. “The Way Forward Fund helps the company realize its vision of creating mobility for all by implementing the Toyota Way values of continuous improvement and respect for people.”
Michigan School Advisors Group Picks Varsity Tutors for Back on Track Program
The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Advisors (MAISA) announced Varsity Tutors for Schools, a St. Louis-based platform for high-impact live online tutoring, was selected as a provider for school districts pursuing funding through the 23g MI Kids Back on Track Grant Program.
Districts that use state grant funds administered by MAISA to select Varsity Tutors as their vendor will have access to multiple implementation models that enable school districts to implement large-scale, best-in-class high-dosage tutoring that adhere to MI Kids Back on Track objectives.
Varsity Tutors’ centrally administered tutoring, via its District Assigned model, connects students with live, video-based, tutoring sessions with a subject matter expert tutor and can accommodate up to four students per session.
School districts can here for more information and to apply to participate.
Roadrunner Announces Largest Expansion of Service to Canada via Detroit
Chicago-based trucking company Roadrunner has launched Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) service to Toronto and Montreal via Detroit as well as other destinations.
Roadrunner also added an additional 135 lanes to its network, building on recent new market openings in Kansas City, Denver, Richmond, and Las Vegas.
Roadrunner’s new international service gives shippers ease of access to Canada’s largest metro markets and, coupled with other network expansion, marks its most extensive new market openings in five years. This network growth aligns with the company’s strategy of providing premium LTL long-haul carrier service.
Michigan Science Center Launches After Hours Series Feb. 10
The Michigan Science Center (Mi-Sci) in Detroit is launching the 2024 season of its After Dark series, designed exclusively for adults, with its first event — “Lights Out!” — taking place from 6-11 p.m. on Feb. 10.
This 21-and-over event offers an evening filled with entertainment and education, focusing on the science of light and darkness. Attendees can look forward to cocktails, live music, science activities, and food.
Mi-Sci’s special feature for the evening is “Laser Dark Side of the Moon,” a light and sound show set to the complete soundtrack of Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece.
Also open for exploration is Mi-Sci’s newest exhibit, “Above and Beyond,” where guests can race at the speed of sound, enjoy a 360-degree view of Earth from orbit, and embark on a journey to Mars.
Tickets for “After Dark: Lights Out!” are priced at $45 for nonmembers, with a discount available for Mi-Sci members. Each ticket includes access to all activities and one drink ticket. Special discounted tickets are available for college students and designated drivers, purchasable onsite at Mi-Sci.
Washtenaw Community College Offers Career Exploration Workshops, Job Fair
Washtenaw Community College (WCC) in Ann Arbor will offer a series of in-person and virtual events in February designed to highlight Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways for current and prospective students.
CTE Month kicks off at WCC the week of Feb. 7 with a career decision-making workshop and a movie screening about the nursing profession. The month’s activities culminate on Feb. 28 with the annual Winter Career and Internship Fair, which is open to the public and will feature more than 70 employers looking to fill jobs.
CTE offers students hands-on training that can be applied to real-world, in-demand education training and career pathways, impacting a wide variety of fields including health care, business and information technology, advanced manufacturing, construction, transportation, and more.
For a full list of CTE Month activities at WCC, visit here.
