Great Lakes Interchange Releases Bi-Annual Report

Oct 03, 2006 - The Great Lakes Interchange (GLI), an Automation Alley SmartZone, has released its first bi-annual report for 2006. The report details investment, job creation and retention, and innovation within the partnership. The GLI partners are Oakland County, Automation Alley, Lawrence Technological University(LTU), Oakland University (OU), and the City’s of Rochester Hills, Southfield and Troy.

The Technology Center at Automation Alley reported that 20 companies are enrolled in the business accelerator, and six have received seed funding, including Spaceform, Hybra-drive and JADI, Inc. OU INC, the new incubator at Oakland University, reported that it has signed two tenants since its January opening. JADI, Inc. was the first company to locate in the incubator. In total, 47 companies were assisted by OU INC and the Technology Center.

Investment by companies in the GLI continued to be strong. The three communities reported total private investment of over $54-million. Public investment totaled $2.5-million; however, several significant public projects were underway, including the construction of a new interchange at Franklin Road and I-696 in Southfield and the construction of newly aligned Adams Road in Rochester Hills.

The communities reported significant growth in jobs and new projects. In the first half of 2006, 22 new companies located in the GLI, including Hi-Lex in Rochester Hills and Collins & Aikman in Southfield. Jobs created from existing and new companies in the GLI totaled 869 and an additional 499 jobs were retained. The GLI now has 373 companies and nearly 22,000 jobs in high-technology
industries, including advanced manufacturing and automation, advanced computing, life sciences and alternative energy.

“The first half of 2006 has been very productive,” reports Dan Casey, Manager of Economic Development for Rochester Hills and Secretary of the GLI. “But the second half looks even more promising. I expect that private investment in the GLI will increase significantly.”

He cited the GLI’s new marketing campaign as one reason for the success. “But we’re also seeing a greater awareness by companies that the intelligent infrastructure in the certified technology parks makes plugging and playing very easy. The Technology Center and OU INC also have generated a lot of interest as entrepreneur’s and startup companies seek assistance.”

Programs at the incubator and accelerator provide mentoring to new executives, training on how to analyze markets, develop business and financial plans and prepare for venture and angel funding.

“We could have filled the entire incubator with clients,” said David Spencer, Executive Director of OU INC. “But we’re trying to be selective and strategic when we evaluate candidates.” He added that the advisory boards, student interns and access to lab space and expertise at OU have been big selling points.

Tom Anderson, Senior Director at Automation Alley, is equally positive. “Our mission is to grow
emerging sector businesses that will provide future jobs and investment in the region. The
companies that we work with at the Technology Center have great potential to influence the marketplace.”

LTU also has been very active. This fall it introduced a new undergraduate minor in energy engineering, and was one of twenty universities in North America and Europe selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to design and build an all-solar home for the 2007 Solar Decathlon. Recently, it was awarded a three-year $899,996 grant from Michigan’s 21st Century Jobs Fund to develop, implement and commercialize new materials and engineering practices that are expected to double the lifespan of highway bridges.

“Innovation capacity is very important in a knowledge economy,” said Casey, “and the uniqueness of the GLI is our network of university and government resources that provide the framework for the commercialization of new products. I believe that Automation Alley and the GLI are establishing the benchmark for the State on how to diversify its economy.”

The Great Lakes Interchange is a robust, diverse technology corridor located in the core of Automation Alley, Southeast Michigan’s technology cluster, that changes the ecology of business by leveraging its powerful “network of networks” to continually create innovation, define technology and help transform invention into ventures within a wide array of industries.

City of Rochester Hills
Contact: Dan Casey
Telephone: (248) 841-2577

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