David Victor

The following is a list of achievements by businesses and individuals in the Ann Arbor area:

• David Victor, a professor of management and director of the International Business Program in the Eastern Michigan University College of Business, has been awarded the Association for Business Communication’s highest honor for recognizing teaching excellence. The Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teacher Award encourages and rewards exceptional achievement in teaching business communication and is annually given to one recipient from among the entire international membership of the ABC. Victor received the award recently at this year's 75th annual conference, held in Chicago. As a recipient, he will also present a paper at the following year's conference plenary session.

• NSF International Sustainability Manager Petie Davis was recently elected to Southeast Michigan Sustainable Business Forum's board of directors. Ann Arbor-based nonprofit NSF offers a wide range of sustainability services, including standards development, independent certification, consulting services and management systems registrations.

• IBM is partnering with the Michigan Municipal League to help municipalities throughout the state improve the essential services they provide to their constituents while reducing costs. MML is coordinating the participation of its members in the pilot test of this technology. Two Michigan communities — Howell and Saline — have agreed to be part of the pilot program. They are the first two communities in the nation to agree to participate. IBM is offering a patented new technology - cloud computing - to help Michigan address budget pressures.

• ABC Warehouse, a Midwest retailer of appliances, consumer television, video/audio, electronics, computers and car audio equipment, announced Nov. 9 that the company is adding mattresses to its product offerings. The mattress department has already been introduced at 23 ABC Warehouse locations throughout Michigan and Ohio, and the rollout is expected to expand to other stores in the months ahead. Currently, mattress departments have been added to locations in the following Michigan cities: Alpine, Ann Arbor, Bay City, Brighton, Canton, Cadillac, Center Line, Chesterfield, Dearborn, Farmington, Gaylord, Grand Rapids, Livonia, Mt. Clemens, Novi, Pontiac, Saginaw, Southfield, Traverse City and Troy.

• GJI’s Sweet Shoppe, 3368 Washtenaw Ave. in Ann Arbor, recently added a new product to its lineup: Ashby’s Sterling Ice Cream. Ashby’s is based in Sterling Heights.

• Cliff Keen Athletic, headquartered in Ann Arbor, recently announced a strategic marketing partnership and media package with the National High School Coaches Association for its 2010-2011 wrestling tournaments and telecasts on the Versus Network. Cliff Keen becomes the "Official apparel and equipment provider of the National High School Coaches Association."

• Cottage Inn Pizza is now offering gluten-free pizzas for customers who suffer from celiac disease. Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that damages the small intestine and disrupts absorption of nutrients in food. People who suffer with celiac disease cannot eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. The Original Cottage Inn restaurant in Ann Arbor was the first to offer a gluten-free pizza and now offers a gluten-free menu. The product was then introduced in Brighton in June 2009. The gluten-free pizza is now offered at more than 30 locations and according to Vice President George Michos, the goal is to have all of the pizza chain's locations offering gluten-free pizza as well as other gluten-free products. Cottage Inn Pizza carryout and delivery locations have been in existence since 1986, with corporate offices in Ann Arbor.

• The American Evaluation Association has announced the winners of its 2010 Awards. Honored this year were recipients in four categories who have helped heighten international evaluation efforts, spearhead a new journal, influence a health initiative that impacted the lives of children and families in five urban communities and influence a new generation of evaluators. Among those who received an award Nov. 12 was Founding Editor Jonathan A. Morell of Evaluation and Program Planning, an international professional journal launched in 1978 that is still read three decades later. Morell, an Ann Arbor resident, still serves as editor and was recognized with AEA’s Lazarsfeld Theory Award.

• Local grocer Busch's Fresh Food Market will host its annual Season of Sharing Food Drive now through Nov. 24 to benefit local food rescue programs in the greater Ann Arbor and metro Detroit communities. The Washtenaw County-based Food Gatherers, and Forgotten Harvest, which serves Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, will be the largest recipients of the Season of Sharing Food Drive. Additional groups receiving food are Pinckney Schools, Clinton and Carleton Schools, Goodfellows and Tecumseh Service Club. Busch's Fresh Food Market, which celebrated its 35th anniversary this year, is a locally-owned Michigan company.

• Shayna Accounting CPAs PC has merged with Flint accounting firm Lewis & Knopf CPAs PC effective Nov. 1. Ken Shayna founded Shayna Accounting in Ann Arbor in 1991. The Ann Arbor location will be known as Shayna, Lewis & Knopf, and the Ann Arbor office will remain at 58 Parkland Plaza, Suite 400, Ann Arbor.

• The Milan Area Chamber of Commerce and Milan Downtown Development Authority, organizers of the annual Milan Downtown Merchant's Trick or Treat Hour, recently announced the winners of the annual costume and window-decorating contest. Best Decorated Window went to Holly's Hair Shoppe, owned by Holly Meggitt. Scariest Costume went to Dianne Hill at Rapidware Inc. Funniest Costume went to Martin Ritchie, co-owner of Buy-Rite Propane.

• Ann Arbor-based Domino's Pizza will help raise funds for the children of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital during the 7th annual Thanks and Giving campaign. Starting Nov. 14 and running through Jan. 2, 2011, Domino's customers will have the opportunity to make a donation at the point of purchase to benefit the children of St. Jude. Donations can be made when ordering over the phone, in stores or online at www.dominos.com. Also, new for this year, customers will have the option to text "PIZZA" to 90999 to donate $5 to St. Jude. This year, Domino's will match dollar-for-dollar all customer contributions up to $250,000.

• Ann Arbor-based Advanced Photonix Inc. announced Nov. 11 that the Department of Homeland Security awarded API's subsidiary, Picometrix LLC a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract. The $100,000, six-month contract is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating a hand-held time-domain inspection wand with other sensor technologies to create a multi-sensor based approach for detection of concealed threats. A key capability of the TD-THz inspection wand is the ability to detect concealed objects on the body of a person without the need for imaging and its associated privacy concerns.

• E-mail items for People, Achievements and Paparazzi to business@annarbor.com . Sign up for the weekly Business Review email newsletter here.