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.
Volunteers Needed for 2024 Detroit Grand Prix
The Detroit Grand Prix’s official volunteer organization, the Detroit Grand Prix Association (DGPA), is accepting new member applications for 2024. The group is looking for approximately 800 community-focused people to help host the May 31-June 2 event.
Volunteer information and registration is now available online.
Last year’s Grand Prix, the first in the heart of downtown Detroit in 32 years, attracted a record crowd of approximately 150,000 people over the course of the three-day weekend. The DGPA also established an all-time high in volunteer support for the event as nearly 1,500 people joined the organization to help host the races.
The goal for this year is to sign 1,500 ambassadors to create a positive and memorable experience for all Grand Prix attendees in 2024.
Among the departments with open volunteer positions are circuit marshals, information services, guest navigators, ticket scanners, hospitality services, ushers, and a new addition this year, shuttle services. This new volunteer department will be focused on improving accessibility for all event attendees.
Farmington Hills’ Gale’s New Archive Reveals Roots of Social Justice Movements
Farmington Hills-based Gale is helping faculty and researchers better understand how counterculture and social movements of the past have impacted and shaped today’s society.
The company has launched Power to the People: Counterculture, Social Movements, and the Alternative Press, Nineteenth to Twenty-First Century, a new digital archive that brings together materials that document the movements, events, individuals, and grassroots organizations that worked to effect change in cultures and societies around the world.
The collection offers a comprehensive view of the struggles and triumphs of activism over time, enabling users to make key connections and comparisons between past movements and the challenges humanity faces today, according to Gale.
“Much of this archive constitutes a tangible record of a historic time before websites and hashtags, with materials created by the last generations that depended primarily on print communication,” says Seth Cayley, vice president of global academic product at Gale. “As a whole, these pieces offer a unique reflection and authentic voice of the time before the growth of the internet and the birth of social media.”
With Power to the People, researchers have access to a wide range of rare primary sources on social movements that have shaped modern Western history. Scholars can explore pamphlets, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, leaflets, broadsides, manuscripts, posters, and other printed pieces covering a diversity of ideas and initiatives that span critical periods such as the civil rights movement, women’s suffrage, LGBTQ+ rights, anti-war movements, environmental activism, and many others. The archive paints a multifaceted picture of social history that highlights equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Power to the People is available on the Gale Primary Sources platform, enabling cross-archival searching to help users make new connections across topics. For those looking to explore even deeper insights, the archive also is available through Gale Digital Scholar Lab, which allows researchers to apply natural language processing tools to raw-text data (OCR) from Gale Primary Sources and perform textual analysis on large corpora of historical texts.
With the lab, researchers can analyze and explore historical text more interactively, generating new research insights and content sets not previously possible.
Hollywood Casino at Greektown Adds Quick-serve Red Lotus to Food Couple
Hollywood Casino at Greektown in Detroit has added the quick-serve Asian restaurant Red Lotus to Monroe Market, a food-court style restaurant located on the second floor of the casino. It officially opens to the public today.
Red Lotus, which has a sleek and modern design, offers guests an on-the-go authentic dining experience with noodle and rice dishes as well as an array of appetizers.
Highlights include:
- Spicy kimchi and Spam fried rice
- Thai shrimp curry
- General Tso’s chicken
- Asian-style chicken wings
- Potstickers
- An assortment of sushi
The restaurant joins other quick-serve establishments 313 Burger Bar, Detroit Taco, and Dunkin’, as well as Market Express Just Walk Out with Amazon Technology inside Monroe Market.
Red Lotus is open Thursday 5- 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6 p.m.-midnight, and Sunday 5-11 p.m.
Meijer Opens Fairfax Market in Cleveland Innovation District
Grand Rapids-based Meijer has opened Fairfax Market in Cleveland, bringing a mix of fresh, local, and convenient food at low prices to customers in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood.
Fairfax Market is the retailer’s fifth neighborhood market, and the first outside of Michigan. The store is part of a broader revitalization project designed to bolster economic activity, add jobs, and bring nutritious, affordable food to the Cleveland Innovation District.
“Meijer is committed to investing in the communities where our customers and team members live and work, and that same philosophy applies to our neighborhood stores like Fairfax Market,” says Rick Keyes, president and CEO of Meijer. “We value the Northeast Ohio community and are excited to continue growing our presence here with our first grocery store in the city of Cleveland.”
Eaton Cummins Endurant XD Series Transmission Now Available on International Trucks
Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies, a 50/50 joint venture between Eaton and Cummins Inc. located in Galesburg (east of Kalamazoo) announced that its Endurant XD series of automated transmissions is available on select International truck models in North America.
As part of the Cummins integrated powertrain, Endurant XD and Endurant XD Pro paired with the Cummins X15 engine are available in the International LT and HX models.
The Endurant XD series are all-new, purpose-built, 18-speed automated transmissions designed for on-highway applications with high gross combined weight ratings, such as double- and triple-trailer trucks, and vocational applications operating in harsh environments.
University of Michigan to Top Off New Hadley Family Rec Center Jan. 26
The University of Michigan will conduct a beam signing and “topping off” ceremony for its new Hadley Family Recreation and Well-Being Center from 10-11:30 a.m. on Jan. 26.
Demolition of the former Central Campus Recreation Building at 401 Washtenaw Ave. began in January 2023. The new $165 million facility — $20 million of which was a gift from Philip and Nicole Hadley — is scheduled for completion by fall 2025.
The facility, spanning 200,000 square feet, will feature a comprehensive range of amenities, including gymnasiums, an aquatics center, jogging tracks, weight and cardiovascular training spaces, group exercise rooms, and indoor climbing areas.
Association for Advancing Automation Celebrates Golden Anniversary
The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) in Ann Arbor is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. The global advocate for the benefits of automation now represents more than 1,280 member companies as it promotes automation technologies and ideas that transform and redefine the business environment.
“The success of A3 for the past five decades is directly attributable to the unflagging support of our members, the incredible advances in automation technology, and the resilience and talent of the team we’ve assembled,” says Jeff Burnstein, president of the association.
“The last few years have been an especially exciting time as the use of robotics and other forms of automation has hit record levels. We expect the next 50 years to be even busier for our organization as we support our member companies and users as they continue to embrace automation.”
Northville’s Tipping Point Theatre Presents State’s First Production of ‘The Chinese Lady’
Tipping Point Theatre in Northville continues its 16th theatrical season Feb. 7 with the Michigan premiere of “The Chinese Lady” by Lloyd Suh, directed by metro Detroit native Jasmine Rivera.
The play is about Afong Moy, who is 14 years old when she’s brought to the United States from Guangzhou Province in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.”
For the next half-century, she performs for curious white people, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event: how she walks with bound feet. As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity.
TPT will host an opening night pre-glow reception Feb. 10 beginning at 5 p.m. in the lobby preceding the 6 p.m. performance. Hors d’oeuvres and wine will be provided free of charge to all patrons with tickets to that day’s performance.
For more information, visit here.
Washtenaw Community College Invites Entrepreneurs to Compete in Pitch Event
Applications are open for entrepreneurs to participate in Pitch@WCC 2024, a competition hosted by the Washtenaw Community College Entrepreneurship Center in Ann Arbor.
This year, the program introduces new categories catering to various talents, interests, and backgrounds within the entrepreneurial landscape.
New categories are:
Skilled Trade: Supporting innovation and start-up skilled trades businesses.
Returning Citizens: Empowering individuals with entrepreneurial ambitions post-incarceration.
Art: Fostering creativity and entrepreneurship in the arts.
Preliminary pitch videos are due Feb. 15, with competition dates in May. Pitch training and information sessions will be hosted by WCC’s Entrepreneurship Center to support participants.
For additional details and application guidelines and to register for training sessions, please visit the Pitch@WCC 2024 website.
Pitch@WCC 2024 is an opportunity to secure funding and is a platform for individuals from all backgrounds to showcase their business acumen and gain valuable exposure and networking opportunities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor Offers Snowshoeing Jan. 27
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor, the northern most point in the Upper Peninsula, is hosting its Snowshoe Hare event Jan. 27.
It consists of a day of guided snowshoe hikes, access to more than 14 km of groomed and packed snowshoe trails, and an interpretive snowshoe talk. It also includes demonstrations from Iverson Snowshoes and information about the history and ecology surrounding the lodge.
Participants also will learn about the current trends in making snowshoes and how the equipment is used for survival, utility, recreation, and decoration.
Those who stay after sunset can join a moonlit snowshoe hike (reservations required).
