PROSPER®

WORK --- ON THE JOB
Photos: Courtesy of ZeroBase and Promac
Promac’s operations in Italy have now expanded with its
first U.S. commercial location in Troy.
According to Irene Spanos, county director
of economic development and community
affairs, the three hottest sectors are nextgeneration
automotive, medical innovation
and IT. Why do companies come?
Third, she adds, is geography. Michigan
is about as far west as you can go while still
being located in the Eastern Standard time
zone, meaning people can communicate with
New York while being centrally situated.
“The number one reason is our “With one location you can reach the
educated, talented, globally trained, diverse
talent pool,” Spanos says. “Second is the
business environment. Their customers and
suppliers are here.”
whole U.S. and Canada,” she says.
All of those factors appealed to Promac.
The Italian company that partners with
industries including automotive, aerospace
SPOTLIGHT
ZeroBase: Making a Difference
ZeroBase has been providing clean and reliable energy to countries and communities that need
it since 2009. The small Ferndale-based company is making big waves in the sustainable energy
world — and a huge difference in the lives of people who live in remote areas.
“Access to reliable power is the platform for stabilizing a community,” says Marketing Manager
August Spree.
ZeroBase caters to small communities in the developing world that have no access to power. It
also serves the military and the
Department of Defense.
A solar array that ZeroBase
“The military needs the
built in Haiti.
same power as those living in
these remote areas,” Spree says.
“They’re often in the desert or
isolated locations with no way to
get power.”
The company started with
just one product and now has
20 proprietary products and
hundreds of systems scattered
across the globe.
and energy on precision prototypes and
complex machinery opened its first U.S.
commercial location in Troy in 2015.
“The facility will fully be able to meet
the needs of its existing as well as future
North American clientele,” says Promac
Marketing Manager Giulia Carraro.
Among other companies with
worldwide reach and local presence are 85
robotics and automation firms. Oakland
County-anchored operations also are on
the forefront of emerging “connectedness”
technologies. In addition, with some of
the world’s largest carbon fiber companies
headquartered here, Oakland County
is a leader in automotive lightweighting
initiatives to meet fuel economy and carbon
dioxide emission goals.
Makers of high-tech medical devices
also are clustering here. They include
Sentio LLC, which produces a device that
monitors and tests nerve function during
surgery, alerting doctors to risk.
FUTURE FOCUS
In 2014, two international businesses
expanded or located in Oakland County each
month. Such growth is likely to continue,
thanks to county initiatives that court foreign
investment while building bridges for its
companies to expand abroad.
Tech248 is connecting 2,000 tech companies
to foster collaboration while attracting,
developing and retaining talent and promoting
the county as a global technology hot
spot. The Automation Alley technology
business accelerator has attracted 12 hightech
companies since 2011 and led 162 companies
on 23 trade missions worldwide.
And Oakland County is unique in that it
has two Soft-Landing Incubator sites offering
specialized support to help companies break
into international markets. It all raises the
county’s profile on the global stage.
“Oakland County is an interesting
crossway, and that’s what makes us unique
as a technology hub,” Spanos says. “We
have various vertical industries and there are
opportunities for each of those industries to
learn from each other. The sum is greater
than the parts.”
Freelance writer Wensdy Von Buskirk is an
Oakland County native.
ADVANTAGEOAKLAND.COM 2016 9