TkGRAND RAPIDS
BUMSSJOIMJIL
. GRBI.COM VOL. 25, NO. 3
© Kniirf (.orHum.s copyright 2(X)7 by Gemini Pulilitiiliiins, All rights
THIS WEEK
A 'Suzable' Replacement
City mulls rcplacenienl
strategy for economic
development director.
One In, One Out
Downtown gallery arrives
as bookstore leaves. PAGE 3
Sligh's Sleight
Residential development
may get another shot at
Ren Zone. PAGE 3
Big Footprint
ua liranie wants to
leave his mark in this
world. PAGE 5
Green Competition
Students vie tor chance to
renew Comprenew build-
ing. PAGE 6
JOURNAL FOCUS
Riding The Pipeline
Life sciences players follow-
ing a wave of cooperation.
PAGE B1
7 2527A 17170
THF BllSINFSS NEWSPAPKR OF METRO GRAND RAJ'IDS-HOLLAND-MUSKEGON & WEST MICHIGAN
Minority
Seniors
Treat^il
Unfairly
PA6E3
The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan wants to now why doors are closing/or minority seniors.
David Czurak
GRIi.l KKIHJRTHR
GRAND KAPIDS — From a small pilot pR)grani
it conducted last summer, tlic Fair Housing Center
of West Michigan found that older Kent County
minorities were at least twice as likely to Ix' dis-
criminated against in the housing market than
when minorities of all ages seek mortgages or
insurance.
And Uiat discovery has led the center to under-
take a more detailed investigation into how seniors
Cutting The Wires
Alticor Launch Drives
Wireless Electricity
Daniel Schooiunaker
GRIil Rr.l'OKTl-R
A revolutionary new technology may
have been generally overlooked at the
International Consumer Electronics Show
last week in the wake of the iPhone, dual
format DVD, 108-inch screen HDTV, and
thousands of next generation cell phones,
computers, video games and other gadgets.
Alticor startup Fulton Innovation intro-
duced eCoupled at the Las Vegas event — an
innovative technology intended to eliminate
0 3> the use of power transmission wires for
potentially every device that must be
plugged into an electrical outlet or charger.
The technology is based on inductive
coupling, a 200-year-old technology that
transfers energy from one device to another
5 through a shared magnetic field.
T
JANUARY 16, 2007
Medicare
$2.00 a copy; $59 a year
Payments
Stay Flat
Doctors Wonder
If They Can
Afford To Treat
Elizabeth Slowik
CiRHI
GRAND RAPIDS — The
world is flat for West Michigan
doctors relying on Medicare
reimbursements.
Congress kept 2007 Medicare
payment rates essentially level
with tliose of 2005 and 2006,
That leaves physicians who see
a lot of Medicare patients won-
BUSINESS JOUHNAL PHOTQ«)ISTOCKPHOTO,COM dering if they can afford to
serve the population age 65 and
older.
"Every year, the federal gov-
of color are treated when they try to rent or pur- ernment is putting more and
chase a residence in ihe county, a major study that more pressure on us," .said Dr
may take up to three years to complete, Paul Tarr, president of the
"We were startled. We never get that kind of evi- .Michigan State Medical Society
dence." said Nancy Haynes, executive director of and a Grand Rapids gastrt)en-
the Fair Housing Center, of the findings last .sum- terologist. When it (Medicare
mer. rate) is flat for many years, peo-
"We usually see a difference in ahout a third of ple say they can t afford to take
the tests that we run, anywhere from about 2H per- this insurance ihat pays below
cent to 40 percent. In this we found difference in the market rate. It really begins
treatment, difference in scn.icc. difference in offer- to impact access for our senior
ings — even differences as minute as how long citizens."
See Fair, page 8 See Flat, page 7
Theoretically, it can be used to power or
charge any compatible device of up to 1.400
watts by simply placing it within a half inch
ofthe eCoupled charger. It also has potential
for data transmission.
"The technok)gy can go virtually any-
where we use power today," said David
I lazlett, Fulton Innovation's director of busi-
ness development, "In the consumer elec-
tronics ecosystem, you have all these devices
— cell phone, PDA, iPod — and power
cords everywhere for everything. You have a
charger for each at home, in the car, the
office. COURTESV ECOUPLED
"This is universal," he said. "You can just Visteon wants to use eCoupleds In-Vehicle
sit whatever it is on top of the base, without Wireless Charger.
having to plug anything in."
Fultcjn Innovation launched in November In-Vehicle Wireless Charger, introduced last
out of Allicor's Ada-based Access Business Tuesday in a press event at CES. The "cup
Group to commercialize eCoupled. holder" charger was integrated into the dash-
Licensing agreements are already in place board of the company's Toyota Scion and
with Visteon, Herman Miller, Motorola and Honda Civic concept cars along with other
Mobility Electronics, the creator of the iGo recent innovations, including HD Jump
brand imiversal power adaptor, transportable HD radio and Game Boy
Visteon, the massive Detroit-area automo- Dockable Entertainment System,
tive supplier, licensed eCoupled for use in its See Wires, page 4
 GRAND RAPIDS

www.grbj.coni info® grii) .com

PUBLISHEn

Life Sciences: An Economic Lifeline John H. Zwarensleyn: jzwRrensteyn@gaininipul).coni

EDITOR
Carole Valade:

I t has been said that one must hit rock
bottom before starting over.
Michigan, welcome to the bottom.
Various recent reports have painted the
state in the bleakest of economic terms,
tive, manufacturing invariably comes to
mind — followed shortly thereafter by any
sequence of negative thoughts.
But if this tmly is the bottom, then
Michigan is ready to rebound.
A knowledge-based economy is crucial
to the state's recovery. Life sciences certain-
ly falls into that category, and the Michigan
Economic Development Corp. seems to be
pulling all the right strings.
Tim Gorisema: igort
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General liiquines Bdrtorial3grtj.com
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from no one wanting to live here, to no one
wanting to do business here, to no one
being able to get a job here. liven the state
of Wyoming is hosting job fairs here, look-
ing to lure away more workers.
Yes, manufacturing is struggling, but it's
also in the process of reinventing itself. It
could also be said that West Michigan as a
whole is reinventing itself, too.
Today's Focus Section shines a spotlight
The MEDC last July selected MichBio,
the state's life sciences trade association, to
develop a network linking life sciences
researchers and businesses with vendors of
life sciences products and services as a
Bizalwlh Sanders: esandersSi^geminipub.coin
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STATE LEGISLATIVE REPORTER
Capital News Service (reedma5@m$u.edu

Despite the positive image and national
goodwill created during President Ford's
funeral, the fact remains that when the rest
of the world hears 'Michigan,' it thinks
"automotive." And when it thinks automo-
on the life sciences industry. The story on
page BI is most encouraging in terms of
economic development. Formation of a Life
Sciences Pipeline has all the right ingredi-
ents for change.
means of accelerating the commercializa-
tion of new health-related products and
services in the state. The contract is for four
years and is valued at $1,4 million over the
life of the contract.
But if life sciences is truly the answer to
CONTRIBiniNG WniTERS
Jeftcey Gttomer, Paul A. Hense, BW Rohn, Bill Roth,
Mary Arm Salio. David Smith
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ART COOROINATOR

the state's economic woes, and none other
than Van Andel Institute CEO David Van
Andel has been saying so for years, then
teamwork is the foundation upon which it
will be built.
West Michigan's business community is
by nature a very private entity. The region's
work ethic dictates that to beat your com-
petitor — fairly and squarely — you just
have to outwork him.
Working together is a common trait
among West Michigan residents. Sharing
personal information with each other is not.
A region that is this competitive, stead-
fast, hardworking and proprietary is going
to have to loosen up a little bit for the good
of the team.
Product commercialization, research
assistance, shared knowledge and innova-
tion all are key components to the pipeline
plan.
The sooner business leaders drop their
guard and get on board, the sooner the
state's economic recovery can begin.
This is one lifeline worth grabbing. B-l
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Continued from page I
"Any driver or passenger who
uses an electronic device would
benefit from the convenience of
this innovation," said Steve
Meszaros, vice president of the
company's electronics group in a
prepared statement, adding that
international consumer studies
suggest people in several coun-
tries are "willing to invest in the
convenience of not having to
deal with charging cords in a
vehicle,"
The charger was selected as a
CES Innovations 2007 Design
and Engineering Awards hon-
oree. Visteon hopes to have it on
store shelves by the third quarter.
The company has indicated that
the charger will be a factory-
installed feature in some 2008
vehicles, but has not re\ealed
what models it might appear in.
power losses of less than 2 per-
cent.
It has been used for six years
within Alticor's eSpring Water
Treatment System — inventor
David Baariiian's .solution for
powering the system without
wires thai could corrode or rust
underwater. The eSpring system
has sold nearly a million devices
since then, representing more
than $1,2 billion in sales.
For six years, Alticor has been
quietly working to commercial-
ize cCoupled, Hazlett said, with
hopes tluit il will become the
.standard technology for wireless
power transmission in the man-
ner that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
have become industry standards
for their respective niches. The
first eCouplcd products will Ix;
"backward compatible," mean-
ing they will work with existing
devices, but a frying pan or pot
that you could set down on that
spot and cook with just like a
stove," said Hazlett.
While not exhibiting at CES,
representatives <.)f Zeeland-based
furnittire maker Herman Miller
were on hand to help launch the
technology at the Visteon and
eCoupled press events.
"We're here today to demon-
strate the ecosystem, so to
speak, in which this technology
can be applied," said Herman
Miller spokesman Mark
Schurman during a phone inter-
view from Las Vegas. "There is
an opportunity for this as a
problem-solving technology, to
take devices from home to the
car. work or class, and have that
easy access charging."
Schurman said it is possible
that Herman Miller will debut an
its own this year. If so, it is like-
ly that will happen at the office
furniture industry's annual
NeoCon trade show in June. Tlie
company also won a Best of
Innovations award at CHS last
week for its Leaf tabletop light.
Office furniture industry ana-
lyst Michael Dunlap was not
familiar with the technology, but
said that any methcxl of elimi-
nating wires would be a strong
proposition for furniture makers,
"You can eliminate an incred-
ible amoimt of clutter and disor-
ganization," he said. "Wire man-
agement, which is a polite way
of saying wire chaos, has been
an obstacle toward office organ-
ization for a very, very long
time."
Coincidcntally. last week also
saw the launch of the first gen-
eration of wireless USB gadgets.
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Built on concepts from pio- devices. eCoupled concept or product of IU unsolicited coninbutions.

neering 19th century chemists Although the first applications Member ol the lollowtng Chambeis ot Cominerce
Michael Faraday and Nikola will focus on mobility, the tech- • Michigan - Grand Rapids Area

Tesia, inductive coupling, in ii,s nology is not limited to small, LEnERS POLICY ' Holland ' Muskegean - Grand Haven

simplest terms, involves a mag- low-power devices. With a We weicome letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and include the writer's name
Audited hy

netic battery coil within a device
that spins when in close proxim-
ity to [he coils within a charging
unit. While inducti\e coupling is
historically a limited and unreli-
able technology, eCouplcd is the
first offering to achieve efficien-
cy standards comparable to
hardwired connections, with
potential output of 1,400 watLs,
cCoupied could easily power
kiichc-n appliances and office
machines.
"Imagine on your kitchen
countcrtop a hotspot. so to
speak, where you could set your
Cuisinart or coffeemaker, and
not only traditional electrical
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