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

• Phil Weiss recently joined the team at Ann Arbor State Bank as vice president of commercial banking. Weiss, who resides in Ann Arbor, will specialize in business lending and Government Sponsored Loan Programs, including SBA 504 and 7(a) Loans, USDA Loan Programs and MEDC Loans. Ann Arbor State Bank is locally owned and operated.

• NSF International, an independent public health and safety organization based in Ann Arbor, recently promoted two employees. Tom Bruursema was promoted to general manager of NSF Sustainability. In this role, Bruursema will lead the growing portfolio of NSF Sustainability services that assists organizations in greening their products, operations, systems and supply chains. NSF International also appointed Pierre Sbabo as Vice President of its Water Systems Division. In this role, Sbabo will focus on the geographic growth of the division while simplifying the product certification process and strengthening customer service. Sbabo also will oversee the development of new standards and services to support emerging water treatment technologies worldwide. In related news from NSF International, Nancy Culotta, NSF International’s vice president for food safety product certification and consumer products, has announced plans to retire this summer, following a 25-year career.

• Humantech recently added three new staff members to its team. Ken Lupo is named director of technology. Under his leadership, his team will support, build, manage, and maintain all of Humantech’s resources for both internal and external clients. Charles Purvis joins the technology group as support technician. He will support both internal and external clients. Teresa Haveraneck joins Humantech as accounting assistant, specializing in accounts receivable. Ann Arbor-based Humantech Inc. claims the largest consulting group of board-certified professional ergonomists in North America.

• Kary Moss of Ann Arbor was among eight notable women selected by independent juries for induction into the 2011 class of the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. Moss is the first female executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. During her tenure, Moss has initiated reforms and lawsuits championing women’s rights. As a practicing civil rights attorney, Moss litigated many cases dealing with sex discrimination and women’s rights. Moss and the other women will be honored at a benefit dinner on Oct. 27 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.

• Ann Arbor SPARK was recently awarded $10.8 million from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.'s Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund. The funding will support two programs currently administered by Ann Arbor SPARK: the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund and the Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. The funding also supports the formation of the Michigan Angel Fund, a new fund that will invest in Michigan startup companies.

• Bank of Ann Arbor recently added two to its staff. Collyer Smith was hired as vice president and wholesale mortgage manager. Smith will manage the company's Wholesale Mortgage Division, which is based in Plymouth. Margaret (Peggy) Lamb was hired as vice president and controller. Lamb fills a newly-created position to help Bank of Ann Arbor maintain its history of strong and profitable growth. In related news from Bank of Ann Arbor, several employees of the company have received promotions. Rhonda Foxworth has been promoted to vice president and marketing department manager. She has been with the bank since January 1999. Brandon Black has been promoted to mortgage loan officer. Black returned to Bank of Ann Arbor in May 2009 as a temporary mortgage department employee to help with the high volume of applications and was hired permanently in August 2009. Black had previously been employed by Bank of Ann Arbor for two and a half years in early 2000 before relocating to Arizona. Pam Wetzel has been promoted to credit administration officer. Wetzel joined the Bank of Ann Arbor in March 1999.

• Comerica Bank recently launched a statewide back-to-school campaign aimed at providing students with the tools they need to succeed this school year, in partnership with Operation: Kid Equip, a Michigan nonprofit organization. Comerica will host a “Tools for Schools” supply drive now through Aug. 19. The bank will collect donations of new school supplies for students in need at its 197 traditional banking centers in Michigan. For more information, including a list of suggested donation items and Comerica banking center locations, visit www.comerica.com/toolsforschools.

• Nature’s Garden Center, based in Saline, has launched a new website: www.naturesgardencenter.com. The site was designed and developed by DesignHub Inc., a creative services and marketing firm also headquartered in Saline.

• Betty R. Widgeon, a judge who retired in 1999, has been named assistant director of ethics, service and professionalism at Cooley Law School’s Ann Arbor campus. In this position, Judge Widgeon will bring to the Ann Arbor campus programs focusing on ethics and professionalism, conduct workshops concentrating on the same and continue to teach alternative dispute resolution, which she has been teaching at the campus as an adjunct professor. Judge Widgeon, a resident of Ann Arbor, was appointed to the 14A District Court bench by Governor John Engler in March 1994 to complete the term of then retiring Judge Thomas Shea. She was elected to that seat in November of the same year. Widgeon has worked extensively in the field of alternative dispute resolution since leaving the bench in 1999.

• Michigan resident Cynthia Weaver was selected from more than 1.2 million entries to receive a $50,000 bathroom remodel from Ferguson Bath, Kitchen and Lighting Gallery. A Ferguson showroom consultant and professional remodeler, Paulson's Construction, based in Howell, will execute the renovation project. Ferguson, the largest wholesale distributor of residential and commercial plumbing supplies and pipe, valves and fittings in the U.S., is headquartered in Newport News, Va.

• Clarkston-based Freedom One Financial Group, one of the nation's largest 401(k) plan consultants, recently announced that Errol Hau has joined the firm's executive team as vice president of strategic growth and development. Hau will oversee the firm's 401(k) Sales, Advisor and Marketing departments, in addition to providing strategic contributions by recommending new products and services for institutional and retail clients. Hau is a resident of Ann Arbor.

• Gregory O'Dell of Ann Arbor will serve as the University of Michigan's executive director for the Department of Public Safety and the university's chief of police, starting Aug. 22. Previously, O'Dell served as chief of police and executive director of public safety at Eastern Michigan University. Joe Piersante, who led the department as interim chief while the search was under way, will return to his duties as deputy chief.

• Hile Design LLC has been selected to design new websites for two Ann Arbor companies: Aastrom Biosciences and software firm Llamasoft. Hile Design is an Ann Arbor-based advertising and brand consultancy firm.

• James W. Low has been chosen by the American Bar Association - Young Lawyers Division to represent the United States in the International Debate Championship in Montreal. The International Debate Championship is sponsored by the Young Bar Association of Montreal and will be held on Sept. 7. The competition will feature 12 lawyers from around the world, who will be judged on their eloquence, wit and general knowledge. Low is an attorney at Magdich & Associates P.C. in Novi and a former resident of Saline.

• Elizabeth P. Hines, chief judge pro tempore of the 15th Judicial District Court in Ann Arbor, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Center for State Courts, a nonprofit that aims to improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to the nation’s state courts.

• Gov. Rick Snyder in early August appointed or re-appointed seven members to the Michigan Board of Dietetics and Nutrition. Among those appointed was Coco Newton of Ann Arbor, the owner of Lifetime Nutrition LLC, a private practice dedicated to functional medicine nutrition therapy. Newton represents dieticians and nutritionists and was reappointed.

• Eastern Michigan University was named of the best colleges in the Midwest for the ninth consecutive year and a "great value" by the national education services company, The Princeton Review. The Review bases its selections on a school's academic programs as well as student responses on an 80-question survey for the yearly project.

• Liz Houts of Ann Arbor was named property manager of Edward Surovell Realtors, a real estate company headquartered in Ann Arbor. Houts began her real estate career at Surovell in 2006 as a marketing specialist, and in April 2010 she received her real estate license and became a buyer’s agent.

• Associated Spring's Saline Division received the Michigan Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program Award Aug. 4 for an exemplary safety and health management system. The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration established the Michigan SHARP Award to recognize employers that have achieved workplace safety and health excellence far beyond their peers. The MIOSHA program is part of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

• Medical device firm Hygieia, based in Ann Arbor, recently secured $1.5 million in investment capital from Oakwood Medical Investors, a physician-managed venture fund in St. Louis. Hygieia has developed the Diabetes Insulin Guidance System, a handheld device that helps insulin-takers effectively manage their diabetes and adjusts insulin dosage weekly. Founded in 2008, Hygieia was housed in the Ann Arbor SPARK Central Business Incubator and received support from the SPARK Business Accelerator.

• The Community Health Accreditation Program Inc. announced recently that Arbor Hospice was awarded accreditation under the CHAP Hospice Standards of Excellence. Evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources, and long term viability. Arbor Hospice serves communities in Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties, with offices in Ann Arbor, Monroe, Plymouth and Woodhaven.

• Michael N. Spink, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of law firm Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, and Mark A. Robinson, managing director of Ann Arbor-based KOIOS Consulting Group LLC, have been named co-chairs of the Michigan Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society. The Licensing Executives Society is a professional society comprised of over 6,000 members engaged in the transfer, use, development, manufacture and marketing of intellectual property.

• Chelsea State Bank has hired Mark V. McCulloch as vice president, commercial loan officer. McCulloch and his family will relocate to the Chelsea-Dexter area from Livonia.

• The Wayne County Airport Authority board of directors in early August appointed Turkia Awada Mullin as its new chief executive officer. The CEO is responsible for the strategic direction, management and administration of the authority, which governs the operations of Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus and Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti. Mullin currently serves as assistant chief executive officer and chief development officer for Wayne County.

• Dr. Mohammad Salameh was named the new medical director and division head for the expanded IHA Hospital Medicine Service. As IHA and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System merge their two programs into one over the next several months, Salameh will work collaboratively with physicians from the Ann Arbor, Chelsea and Livingston campuses, with the end goal of having all three teams of hospital physicians united under IHA’s program by the end of the year.

• Real Estate One was recently ranked as the ninth largest real estate broker in the country, according to Real Estate Magazine. In addition, Real Estate One is the largest broker in Michigan according to RISMedia’s Real Estate and the leading broker in the region as ranked by Crain’s Detroit business. Real Estate One has four offices serving Washtenaw County, in Ann Arbor, Saline, Milan and Dexter.

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