David Lingholm's Blog

This post originally appeared on the JSDA blog 6/23/2011

A few months ago, Wayne State University, Henry Ford Health Systems (HFHS) and the Detroit Medical Center joined together to announce an incentive program designed to entice their employees to move into a district in Detroit known as Midtown.  At a media briefing last Monday, Robert Rinney from HFHS announced that 72 of their employees have been approved for the Live Midtown incentives, while Allan Gilmour from Wayne State noted that 28 university employees have been approved.

The founder of Quicken Loans, Dan Gilbert intimated to the media that his company is considering a similar incentive for his employees, and the Detroit News reports that companies like Compuware and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan are considering the same thing.

One of the more unique aspects of this year’s Future Midwest Conference was Funded by Night.  The basic premise was to have startup companies compete in a business pitch competition for the chance to win an investment of $100,000 from Detroit Venture Partners.  25 companies competed for the prize in Shed 5 of Detroit’s Eastern Market.

The ideas ranged from a simplified inventory management system for small restaurants to a high school sports channel run by student journalists.  Winning the competition was a company called Gumshoe that gives a geo-location angle to a mystery game.  Think Clue with a live Foursquare element.