May 25 Club Meeting Minutes

The May 25, 2022 meeting opened on Zoom and in person with social time.  Emily Olson provided Zoom etiquette guidelines to the virtual attendees.

Ryan Peterson

At 12:32, President Susan Froelich called the meeting to order. We all joined in the singing of “America the Beautiful”.  Inspiration was provided by Ryan Peterson who shared the meaning of Memorial Day and expressed gratitude for those who have given their lives for our freedom.  “God Bless America” was sung.

President Froelich welcomed attendees and guests, thanked the meeting coordinators and shared this week’s birthdays.

Downs Herold presented the Emeritus Award to Don Devine and provided a summary of Don’s accomplishments including his start in computer programming.  Don majored in cultural anthropology in college but worked in computer programming while pursuing his degree. He started a software company soon thereafter and moved to Ann Arbor when that company merged with Comshare. He then started a new software company which was sold in 1996 which is the year Don retired and joined Rotary.  Bev Pooley was his sponsor. Don enjoys Gilbert & Sullivan and performing vaudeville songs.  He’s served as a mentor for STRIVE along with service on many other committees and in Rotary leadership.  He recently published a story of fictional history. He and his wife, Pam spend half of the year in remote southeast New Hampshire.

Susan Froelich and Downs Herold present Don Devine with the Distinguished Service Award.

Rotary International Global Grant Scholar, James Brown who was hosted by RCAA, was congratulated on his recent graduation from U-M with a Master of Law (LLM). James has been offered an internship with the United Nations in Geneva this summer. In Fall 2022, he will pursue a post graduate program at the London School of Economics.

James Brown with President Susan Froelich.

Joanne Pierson shared information about the Golf & Tennis Outing (GTO) and encouraged everyone to sign up for the event scheduled for September 14 which raises funds for Community Allocations, STRIVE, 3 humanitarian international projects along with other worthy causes. Volunteers are needed for the event and the auction. Sign up today to help.

The District 6380 conference was held recently with 14 AARC members in attendance. Special awards were received by Collyer Smith for his community service, Norma Sarkar received an award for hospitality and Ashish Sarkar received the Service Above Self award.

Ashish Sarkar, Norma Sarkar, and Susan Froelich.

Michael Cole introduced Paul Krutko, President & CEO of Ann Arbor Spark who started the presentation with a brief overview of Ann Arbor Spark which is a public private/partnership and which was started as an began its work assisting with early stage start-up companies. In 2021, entrepreneurial services provided by Spark in 2021 included assisting 317 startup that employed 887 people, 119 incubator tenants were nurtured, and assisted 51new technology start-ups. For every dollar invested by the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) which finances Spark, this results in $113 raised by local startups.

Paul Krutko

Spark.capital was initially capitalized by grants from the state of Michigan and provides support for high-tech, high-growth companies which is designed to retain high-tech entrepreneurial companies in Michigan. $28M in total funding resulted in $990M in total capital leveraged into the Michigan economy with 173 companies employing 1,211 current full-time equivalent employees.  Another Spark program is Angel Capital. There are 5 Spark-sponsored angel funds providing $21M invested by funds & members resulting in 8.8 times that amount in matching investments.

2021 results in business development included 20 company growth projects creating $51.9M in new investment commitments and 1,812 new and retained jobs.  From 2016-21 Spark worked on 163 company growth projects creating $690.3M in new investment commitments and 12,734 new and retained jobs. Examples of these efforts include Workit Health, Navitas, and Sartorius which are creating jobs in the Ann Arbor area. The expansion in broadband technology has also been a focus of Spark which received a $2.4M grant from the US Economic Development Administration to add 20 miles of underground fiber optic cable for downtown Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti which was also supported by $600,000 in local funding.  Krutko emphasized that Spark provides services beyond Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti including Washtenaw & Livingston counties. The A2Tech360 annual open house is a success and will take place from October 7-14, 2022 where local tech companies will open their door to the community.  The Stem Forward program works to encourage graduates in local STEM programs to remain in the area to launch their entrepreneurial efforts.  Spark’s strategic plan promotes driving smart economic growth in service of prosperity for all by: 1) acceleration – seeding new tech companies so they grow and take root here, 2) growth – nurturing existing companies so they locate, stay, and grow here, 3) talent – cultivating talent in the workforce so our people thrive, and 4) community – enriching the local community to better enable smart growth.

Next week: Michael Michelon, Director of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival

Quote for the Day: “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”   Albert Einstein

President Froelich adjourned the meeting at 1:30.

Respectfully submitted by,

Jennifer Fike

Photography by Fred Beutler