BY KATHERINE YUNG FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
Text originally from Detroit Free Press
Deptember 13, 2008
While others worry about finding jobs in Michigan, Jonathan Carender is busy building his own future in the state.
The 21-year-old University of Michigan senior is part of an expanding pool of college students who are forming businesses in Michigan, bucking the traditional route of going to work for a large company after graduation.
Last year, the Dexter resident and his classmate, Dylan Imre, created a software program that helps companies more accurately predict sales of new products.
The program generates sales forecasts using input from all of the employees at a company, not just a few experts in sales and marketing.
Their company, CrowdClarity, teamed up with Detroit-based Urban Science Inc., a retail consulting firm, to conduct a successful test of the software in a 6-month pilot program earlier this year. The two companies have formed a partnership called AutoClarity.
Two experienced business executives have joined CrowdClarity, and the start-up hopes to land a big deal soon in the auto industry.
While other seniors may be taking it easy, Carender is juggling engineering classes and exams with the demands of getting a company off the ground.
He's one of nearly 40 students working on start-up companies at the university's TechArb, a basement on campus that provides free office space for young entrepreneurs.
"It's more fun to work on your own project till 3 a.m. than to work for an employer," said Carender, who formed a house painting business the summer of his freshman year.
Like many in the state, Carender said he worries there won't be enough investment dollars for start-ups like CrowdClarity. Nevertheless, he sees reason for optimism.
"Ann Arbor is really moving in the right direction. There are a lot of entrepreneurs here," he said. (Image: REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press)
