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

• Michael N. Spink, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of law firm Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, was named chair of the firm’s Intellectual Asset Management Group. Spink's intellectual property law practice at Brinks focuses on all aspects of client counseling, including procurement, licensing and opinions on patents, trademarks and copyrights. Spink, a resident of Green Oak Township, is also a contributing author on copyright law for Landslide, a quarterly publication of the American Bar Association.

• Eastern Michigan President Susan Martin has been named to the board of directors of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, which provides governance for five area health care facilities: Chelsea Community Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Livingston, St. Joseph Mercy Saline and St. Mary Mercy Livonia.

• The Women’s Council of Washtenaw County recently announced its 24th ATHENA Award recipient in Washtenaw County is CPA Kristen Holt. Holt serves as the senior vice president of NSF International’s Food Safety & Quality programs and the president of Quality Assurance International where she sets the strategic direction for the global food safety operations for NSF. She also serves as a trustee for the Girls Scouts’ Heart of Michigan Council and the Ann Arbor Hand’s on Museum and is on the board of directors for the United Way of Washtenaw County and the Organic Trade Association. The ATHENA Award will be presented at the ATHENA Award Luncheon on March 17. Additionally, Holt will join the thousands of ATHENA Award recipients worldwide at the annual ATHENA International Leadership Summit in Chicago May 2-3. The ATHENA Foundation is a non-profit corporation with a volunteer board of directors and dedicated to creating leadership opportunities for women. The ATHENA Award is presented to a woman or a man who is recognized for professional excellence, community service and for actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.

• The Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce recently announced its 2010 Business Leadership Award winners. The Large Business Award winner is Cleary's Pub, and the Small Business Award winner is True North Jerky Co. This annual award is presented by the chamber and the Ambassador Club of the chamber for businesses displaying innovative ideas and services, demonstrating leadership in the Chelsea business community, supporting the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce and contributing to the economic impact of the city of Chelsea. The awards will be formally presented during the Feb. 17 annual meeting for the chamber of commerce.

• Edwards Brothers Inc. was awarded the Best Workplace in the Americas designation, Best of the Best 2010, for the company's exemplary human resources practices. Applicants were judged on eight criteria: management practices; work environment; training and development opportunities; financial security; workplace health and safety; work-life balance; recognition and rewards; and health and wellness programs. Edwards Brothers has been on the list for 10 years, winning “Best of the Best” four times. The Ann Arbor-based company is a manufacturer of books, journals and catalogs.

• Samantha Gilson was promoted to director of admissions at Daycroft Montessori School of Ann Arbor. Gilson is now responsible for maintaining and increasing enrollment at Daycroft’s Preprimary Campus and Elementary Campus. She also helps develop and implement marketing strategies for the school. Gilson joined Daycroft as an administrative assistant in 2005. Since then she has served as the school’s admissions coordinator and office manager.

• Bank of Ann Arbor recently announced the promotions of two staff members. Cynthia J. Livesay has been promoted to first vice president-credit administration. Livesay joined the bank in December of 1995 as one of the original employees assisting in the opening of the bank in January of 1996. Livesay was promoted to vice president in 2003, senior vice president in 2006 and most recently to first vice president. Additionally, Patti H. Judson was promoted to first vice president of branch administration, operations and cash management. Judson joined the bank as one of the original employees, in the capacity of assistant branch manager. She was subsequently promoted to vice president and main office manager. In 2008, Judson was promoted to senior vice president before her current promotion to first vice president.

• Ann Arbor’s Safehouse and other women’s shelters benefited from a recent social media contest celebrating Ann Arbor-based CPA firm Plante & Moran’s 13th consecutive year on FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Earlier this year, Plante & Moran challenged partners and staff to share the good news with their personal Facebook networks. The firm provided a Facebook status update that included news on the FORTUNE award and a survey link with the names of the 15 local women’s shelters the firm supports through its Plante & Moran Cares initiative. Partners and staff asked their Facebook friends to vote for the shelter they wanted to receive an additional $1,300 donation from Plante & Moran. However, due to the large response - with 3,403 completing the survey - the CPA firm decided to award the four top vote getters with donations ranging from $100 to $1,300. Ann Arbor’s SafeHouse netted the $1,300, thanks to garnering more than 1,000 votes from the Ann Arbor staff’s friend networks. The FORTUNE 100 winners were announced on Jan. 20, and the full list, which ranks Plante & Moran 26th, appeared in the Feb. 7 issue of FORTUNE magazine.

• Citizens Bank named Greg Viener mid-Michigan commercial banking resident. In his new role, Viener will lead a team of eight commercial bankers throughout Flint, Grand Blanc, Fenton, Brighton, Ann Arbor and Clarkston.

• On Feb. 17, New Enterprise Forum (NEF) will celebrate its 25th anniversary. NEF Entrepreneur of the Year, Farnam Jahanian of Arbor Networks, will speak, and Tom Porter and Dick Sarns will receive Lifetime Achievement awards. Jahanian is co-founder of Arbor Networks and chair of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The annual recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year award exemplifies the vision and leadership required to launch and grow a high-tech company, creating jobs and generating strong returns for investors. Sarns is a creator of a heart and lung machine for open heart surgery patients. From start up, Sarns was able to sell his apparatus to 3M and later Terumo. Porter is the founder of NEF and was a principal at EDF, one of the first venture capital firms in the state. Today, Porter continues trains the next generation of investors through his work at the University of Michigan's Wolverine Fund.

• Douglas J, a regional company that runs spas, salons and cosmetology institutes in Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Okemos and Royal Oak and Chicago, has rebranded two of its salons. The former Douglas J eXchanges in East Lansing and Ann Arbor are now Douglas J Salon- East Lansing and Douglas J Salon- Ann Arbor.

• The Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau recently added Christine Laughren to its staff as communications manager. Laughren will oversee marketing and communication efforts including web content management, newsletters, press releases, social media initiatives, and brochure and ad design.

• Six business plans were selected as finalists for the EMU Skandalaris Business Plan Competition as high school and university students will compete for cash prizes totaling $5,000. The teams will present at the Sesi Midwest Entrepreneurship Conference on Feb. 11 at the EMU Student Center. University finalists include Randy Wiltshire (EMU) for his “Joe to Go Coffee Shop”; Cynthia Finger (Wayne State) for her “GreenStart Batteries”; and Nikole Viltz (EMU) for her “Scaling Stability." High school finalists include Bobby Knutilla (Ann Arbor Huron) for “Doodilla Shoes”; Sunjay Josyula (Ann Arbor Huron) for “Synergy Eco-Consulting”; Adriane Rasmussen (Saline) for “Fresh, Food, Fast." In its fourth year, the Skandalaris Business Plan Competition is unique in that it has a university/community college and high school category. First place (for each category) is $1,000, second place is $750 and third place is $500. There is also a $200 prize for “best presentation.” Plans were judged by professional business counselors from the Michigan Small Business and Technology Center and EMU Entrepreneurship Advisory Board members.

• The Scleroderma Foundation’s Peer Review Committee has awarded research grants to six investigators for 2011. Among those whose projects will be funded is Dr. Alisa Koch of the University of Michigan for “Aberrant Angiogenesis in Systemic Sclerosis.” The two highest scoring research proposals received the Foundation’s Marta Marx and Mark Flapan awards. The Mark Flapan Award was awarded to Dr. Koch from the University of Michigan and is named in honor of the late psychologist and scleroderma patient.

• The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center received the most grant funding from the National Cancer Institute among all medical schools in the country. U-M cancer researchers received $87.5 million in grants from the NCI in the 2010 federal fiscal year. Of the 122 total NCI grants, major awards include a core grant that establishes U-M as a “comprehensive cancer center," grants to the Southwest Oncology Group, which is headquartered at the U-M Medical School and three Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants in prostate cancer, head and neck cancer and gastrointestinal

• Inst-I-Glass LLC, a privately held company based in Louisville, Ky., recently announced the launch of Inst-I-Glass of Ann Arbor LLC. Inst-I-Glass of Ann Arbor uses mobile manufacturing to offer instant on-site insulated glass fabrication and same-day glass replacement services for homes and offices. Brothers Wayne and Alan Nowakowski share ownership of Inst-I-Glass of Ann Arbor. The phone number for the new business is 734-661-7793.

• FordDirect and Ford Motor Co. announced Feb. 5 that Galpin Ford of North Hills, Calif., and Hines Park Lincoln of Plymouth, Mich. are the Ford and Lincoln-Mercury Internet Dealers of the Year for 2011. Ford Internet Dealer honorable mention winners for 2010 are Bill Brown Ford in Livonia and Varsity Ford in Ann Arbor.

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