Dice.com Ranks Deeeetroit as the Fastest Growing Area for Tech Jobs!

 A new wave of job market improvements is shaping a fresh set of career opportunities for technology professionals – every major metropolitan market has more opportunities this year than last, as measured by the number of jobs posted on Dice.

While Silicon Valley or New York may hold an irresistible allure for some, technology professionals can find interesting opportunities in cities as diverse as Detroit, Miami, Pittsburgh, or Cincinnati. Here is the list of fastest growing metropolitan areas for technology jobs:

    * Detroit tops the list with more than 800 available tech positions on any given day – that's double the number posted last year. Let's extend those two minutes of Detroit super bowl advertising goodness, by highlighting that technology professionals make on average $71,445 per year in the Motor City, up two percent from a year ago.

    * Ohio has state bragging rights with three cities on the list, Cincinnati (#2), Cleveland (#3) and Columbus (#4). Technology professionals can find opportunities with financial services companies, retailers, manufactures and retailers in the region.

    * Job openings in Seattle are up 54 percent year/year to more than 2,200 which makes it the fastest growing large market on the list. That demand is translating into slightly more pay as Seattle-based technology professionals earn on average $86,168 per year, an increase of two percent from last year.

    * Pittsburgh technology professionals can expect to take home more than $65,000 a year with job opportunities in the area up 45 percent year/year. Technology and engineering professionals can find opportunities in specialty metals, healthcare and financial services.

    * Two Florida cities make the list, with Miami at number seven (job postings at 533, up 43% yr/yr) and Jacksonville at number eight (job postings at 380, up 41% yr/yr). Technology professionals in these cities can expect to make at least $68,000 per year – and those in defense with security clearance much more.

    * Job opportunities in Chicago (#9) and Silicon Valley (#10) are up 40 percent year/year – with more than 3,200 and nearly 4,800 jobs posted respectively. For these two major markets to be growing this fast a year into the recovery, only bodes well for new career opportunities and increasing wages.

With demand improving in more metropolitan areas, the recovery starts to cement for technology professionals across the country. The task for tech talent is to take advantage of the new opportunities.

Enjoy this month's issue of The Dice Report.

Source:
Tom Silver
SVP, North America
The Dice Report

MSU Set To Play CMU at Comerica Park in April

Jeremy Warnemuende
The State News

The MSU and Central Michigan baseball teams will renew their in-state rivalry this spring by playing the first ever college baseball game at Detroit’s Comerica Park on April 20, CMU said in a press release Monday.

A press conference officially announcing the game with representatives from both schools will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Tiger Club at Comerica Park.

Located in downtown Detroit, Comerica Park replaced Tiger Stadium in 2000. Along with housing MLB’s Detroit Tigers, the ballpark has hosted concerts featuring acts such as Dave Matthews Band, the Rolling Stones and, most recently, Eminem and Jay-Z last summer.

The Chippewas possess a 62-46 lead in the all-time series, however, the Spartans won two of three games between the two last season on the way to a 10-2 record against in-state opponents.

MSU finished last season with a 34-19 overall record, including an 11-13 mark in Big Ten play. Meanwhile, CMU amassed a 36-22 overall record and won the Mid-American Conference championship by finishing 20-7 in the conference.

NBC Nightly News Covers the "Motor City Comeback"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Owner of Just Baked (My Fave Cupcakes in Detroit) Featured in Money Magazine

Making Millions From Cupcakes
Josh Hyatt
Money Magazine

Pam Turkin, 49, left her job as marketing VP for a merchandising firm to start a cupcake store chain.

As VP of marketing for a merchandising firm, Pam Turkin traveled extensively.

Around 2008 she noticed cupcake shops popping up on the coasts and wondered about bringing the concept home to the Detroit area.

Not only was her husband, Todd, recently out of work, but her employer was pressuring her to move to its Florida office.

"I baked for fun, so I started experimenting," says Turkin. She spent weekends devising flavors like S'mores and Fat Elvis (banana cake with peanut butter buttercream, dipped in chocolate), using her five kids as testers.

By late 2008 she'd rented a commercial kitchen and had placed her pastries in a dozen stores. Early the next year, she quit her day job to open a retail shop. In 2010, Just Baked opened its fifth store, and turned its first profit on $1.6 million in sales.

"The business has never slowed down," says Turkin, who has 40 full-time employees -- including Todd, who is manager of operations -- and 25 part-timers. "It's a lot of fun, and more than a little crazy."

How she's doing it:

1. By reinvesting

With business lending tight, Turkin figured she wouldn't get a loan. So, after using $10,000 from her mom to start up, she put early revenue to use. "If we had a big weekend, we bought a mixer," she says.

2. By tapping savings

In 2010, Pam and Todd paid themselves $60,000, just 30% of their old income. To help cover living expenses, they also drew $40,000 from savings. Expected 2011 salary: $100,000.

3. By growing on the cheap

The Turkins recently began licensing their brand. They own just 20% of their fifth store. Plus, a new deal with Faygo, which is distributing soda-flavored cupcakes, could double sales.

'The Hills' Star Audrina Patridge Heads to Detroit for New Reality Show

Jackie Willis
Entertainment Tonight

Audrina Patridge is looking to make Detroit, Michigan the new "it" city as she packs her bags and heads for Motor City!

The reality star is making a new web series called "Dream Maker" that will feature her "as a new, up-and-coming talent manager from Hollywood who moves to Detroit to start her own firm."

Audrina is looking for people to help her in her quest, asking for audition tapes to be submitted to the YOBIAct contest. The winners will appear as Audrina's assistant and receptionist in the series.

YOBIAct's website describes the series, saying, "The world will watch and laugh as the new firm settles in, copes with interoffice dynamics, and goes through the trials of signing hot new talent before someone else gets them!"

Detroit Police Officer Caught By Security Camera Busting a Move

9 Surprising Reasons Why Detroit Rocks (And 99 Reasons to Fall in Love With)

I stumbled on this really great article (excerpt below) from the Canadian Edition of Reader's Digest today.  I love that our friendly neighbor to the north (er south, depends on where you are standing) is giving major kudos to Detroit, but are 9 reasons really enough?  No way!  So for those of you who yearn for more, check out the article I wrote with the lovely Ashley Catherine Woods for the Real Detroit Weekly 2010 Valentine's Day Edition. We give you 99 more (so that's a total of 108 for you math whizs!) reasons to love Detroit! It's amazing to re-read this article after a year knowing there are so many new items to add to the list, as I am sure you have quite a few as well!  Enjoy!

*Note click on the titles below to read the full articles since they are both pretty long and detailed

9 Surprising Reasons Detroit Rocks
Reader's Digest Canada 

1. The Heidelberg Project

2. The Cass Corridor

3. The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit

4. Mexicantown’s Restaurants and Supermercados

5. The Eastern Market

6. Detroit on Wheels (or Feet)

7. Artists’ Studios

8. Motown (and Other Musical Attractions)

9. The Quest for the Perfect Coney





99 Reasons to Fall in Love with Detroit (In Case You Had Any Doubts)
By Erin Rose and Ashley Catherine Woods
Real Detroit Weekly

1. We have an NBA Hall of Famer as our Mayor. Cincinnati had Jerry Springer. Detroit: 1, Cincinnati: 0

2. Being able to basically set your GPS according to what you’re craving: Greek, Mexican, Polish, Soul, Arabic, Bengladeshi, you name it …

3. Catching shots of the Townsend Hotel, Gusoline Alley, Tiger Stadium, our “best and worst” stage props and other things that arouse our civic pride on HBO’s Hung.

4. We have our own version of a Russian Bath House at The Schvitz Health Club on Oakland Avenue in Detroit. Check three-piece inhibitions at the door.

5. Detroit supplied 75 percent of the nation's liquor during the Prohibition Era — na zdrowie!

6. A former Louis Vuitton model convinced his brother and parents to pack their gear, leave their Chicago digs and head to Detroit to open the greatest BBQ joint in the Midwest.

7. We’re listed as one of the five best cities to get a green job by Clean Edge.

8. Low Down Sound — a bass player’s wet dream.

9.Try and order the mystery cobra cognac at Cliff Bell’s. Neat.

10. A double feature at the Ford Wyoming drive-in .

11. Scoreboard proposals at Comerica Park. You blink, you miss it. Kind of like some of our relationships.

12. The entrance and exit ramps on the Dequindre Cut. And the fact that we’re (finally) celebrating graffiti.

13. Catching the occasional post-2 a.m. drag race on the I-75 service drive by the American Axle plant.

14. Ceiling beam signatures at the Scarab Club, including those from Salvador Dali, Norman Rockwell and Diego Rivera.

15. Motor City Motors on the Discovery Channel.

16. (313) Texts From Last Night was born here (thanks for getting one past the goalie).

17. The way Jefferson Avenue and Belle Isle bump on a hot summer afternoon.

18. The complimentary fresh salsa and guacamole that’s available for snacking each and every time we visit Honey Bee Market La Colmena in Southwest Detroit.

19. Pewabic Pottery and the out-of-towners that house it from Chicago to Paris. Martha Stewart loves it, too.

20. There’s no backstage at St. Andrews. So you can hang with the band at the bar ... no “special favors” required.

Click Here for the other 79

The Official Scream4 Trailer Has Been Released! Filmed Exclusively in Michigan!

Wayne State Alumna Nicole New and Music Professor Cliff Monear Team Up for Jazz Series at Detroit Music Hall

Vocalist Nicole New, a 2006 Wayne State graduate, is the Jazz Café’s featured artist for its on-going Happy Hour series.

New, 26, along with Cliff Monear, New’s mentor and former professor, performs Tuesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Music Hall located at 350 Madison in Detroit.

The pair has worked together since New was a music business major at Wayne State. Monear, a jazz pianist, encouraged New to pursue a singing career.

“As a student, I didn’t think I’d ever have a career as a singer,” said New, an artistic coordinator for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. “I was focused on the business side of music, but Professor Monear opened my eyes to my vocal ability and made me realize jazz was something organic to me, something that made musical sense to my soul.”

New’s eclectic style of singing draws from her early influences of performing jazz, pop, bluegrass and musical theatre. She has performed at venues such as The Jazz Café, Cliff Bells, Andiamo and the Steinway Jazz Café.

The free Happy Hour with Nicole New series includes a live jazz performance, complimentary appetizers and drink specials. For more information about the Jazz Café inside the Music Hall, visit www.jazzcafedetroit.com.

Ronald McDonald House Charities Awards $5,000 Grant to Pewabic Pottery

Ronald McDonald House Charities recently approved a grant in the amount of $5,000 to Pewabic Pottery. The grant will support Pewabic Pottery’s in-patient Bedside Art program, “Fun With Clay,” as well as its High School Apprentice program.

The mission of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of children. The Vision holds the belief that when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a community, and ultimately the world. RMHC strives to be part of that change and part of the solution in improving the lives of children and their families by providing programs that strengthen families during their most difficult or challenging times.

 Pewabic’s Bedside Art program, Fun With Clay, currently serves 200 children per year at Detroit’s Children’s Hospital of Michigan. This weekly bedside ceramic arts program is designed to provide creative activity as well as an outlet for expression beneficial to hospitalized children. The program is currently provided to pediatric inpatients ages 7-18 at Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

 Pewabic’s High School Apprenticeship program serves the inner-city youth of Detroit, supplementing high school curriculum in Detroit Public Schools. In the school year 2009/2010, Pewabic provided ceramic art instruction through its programming to 8,000 underserved Detroit youth who do not have access to the arts. Pewabic programs are focused on underserved Detroit youth who do not typically have access to the arts through their schools. Pewabic’s underlying belief is that ceramic arts are a powerful vehicle for youth development; this is much needed in a disinvested community with a high rate of youth poverty.

Pewabic Pottery’s Tudor Revival style building is a National Historic Landmark, located at 10125 East Jefferson Avenue. The mission of Pewabic Pottery is to engage people in learning experiences with contemporary ceramic art and artists while promoting and preserving its historic legacy. Pewabic offers visitors an exciting glimpse of a little known part of American history. Founded in 1903 during the Arts & Crafts Movement, Pewabic is nationally renowned for its tile and pottery in unique glazes. Today Pewabic Pottery is a non-profit ceramic art education center that welcomes 40,000 visitors to the Pottery, as well as 100,000 web visitors annually.

 Pewabic youth education programs are offered free to Detroit youth in public and charter schools, offering opportunities for quality after-school programs for youth that take place in healthy, safe, and supportive environments. These programs teach real-life skills using ceramic arts while supporting creative self-expression, career exploration for youth, and helping participants develop self-confidence. Pewabic also teaches 1,000 adults each year through varied courses from beginner to advanced levels.

DPS School Launches Ground-Breaking Program

The traditional K-8 class scheduling model of students in one grade moving through all the same classes as their peers has been turned on its head at Palmer Park Preparatory Academy (P3A), a new K-8 school in the Detroit Public School District. P3A launched a ground-breaking pilot program in late December in which seventh- and eighth-grade students receive customized instruction based on comprehension level.

This month marks the start of the first full semester when students follow individualized class schedules based on data pulled from three years of reading, writing and mathematics MEAP assessments in Data Director, a digital assessment tool developed by global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and implemented in partnership with DPS.

The schedules place students into English Language Arts and Mathematics classes with peers who tested at similar learning levels in each subject, allowing teachers to develop tailored instructional programs. Students will follow this new, individualized schedule through the remainder of the 2010/2011 school year, though a student could be moved to a different level of English Language Arts or Mathematics if needed during the year based on their performance without having to change their other teachers. To date, this innovative approach of using technology to improve student outcomes has only been used at a select number of schools in New York City.

“Traditionally, K-8 schools have operated under the notion that students should receive ‘one-size-fits-all’ instruction based on grade – but the truth is that students learn at different paces and within different modalities, and we need to respect the learner as we create the learning environment,” said Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Chief Academic and Accountability Auditor of DPS. “By filling classrooms with students who share similar learning levels, teachers can offer customized instruction that engages students based on their individual needs – and that makes them more successful. We hope P3A will be a model to implement in other K-8 schools at DPS.”

Replication of the program is being considered as the district designs new schools and reviews its School Improvement Grant school plans, Byrd-Bennett said.

The pilot program at Palmer Park Prep Academy builds on the individualized program at the school, which for the first time is being run by a group of highly-qualified Detroit Public Schools teachers who are focused on excellent teaching under the guidance of an Executive Administrator. The new school has extended hours and a robust curriculum, including arts, sports, clubs, Math Games, Science Projects, Current Events and Music. Foreign languages are offered to the youngest students in the PreK-8 school, and character development is woven throughout the curriculum.

Because research has shown having an effective teacher improves student learning, the school places a heavy emphasis on excellent teaching and high standards in every classroom. The teaching staff meet routinely to assess and build programming based on the needs of children they see every day in their classrooms.

The program also provides students with an additional period of English Language Arts, a mandate DPS is trying to implement in each building as part of the district’s rigorous 5-year academic plan.

Additionally, the pilot program restructures the classes teachers are assigned to and the way teachers prepare lesson plans. P3A English Language Arts and Math teachers are no longer assigned solely to one grade level; rather, they now transition between seventh and eighth grade classes throughout the day. The program also allots 45 minutes per day for a common planning period in which all teachers meet to collaboratively develop lesson plans, share best practices and discuss adjustments that need to be made to provide the students with the best possible educational experience.

 “This customized schedule already has made a huge difference in our students’ lives – we’re already noticing the students are happier because they are in the right place,” said Ann Crowley, a lead teacher at Palmer Park Preparatory Academy.   “Teachers appreciate the additional planning period to collaborate around meeting the needs of our students.  In our school, we ‘own’ the children together. A common planning period gives the teachers time to share best practices, plan lessons together, and even mentor one another around each other’s areas of expertise.”

The pilot program is part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s multi-year partnership with DPS to provide a unique integrated education solution that combines advanced technology, customized lesson plans and educator training and development that will improve student learning. DPS is implementing individualized student-centered schedules first at P3A and will evaluate its success for future rollout at other DPS schools.  The individualized scheduling program was developed by Cimple, a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt partner who used its Web-based platform with advanced tools to design different scheduling structures and models to produce the individualized student schedules.