You can tune in live at 8:20 am on 89.1 FM, or listen live via streaming audio on the web. After the show, the podcast will be available on the Issues of the Environment web page.

Far From Standard is a local Michigan business with locations in East Lansing and Farmington Hills, and the company is opening a new office at 514 East William Street in Ann Arbor this week.  Eager to get the buzz going about their new branch, Far From Standard turned to The Whole Brain Group to migrate their old website to WordPress, which gives them more flexibility to keep content fresh, integrate with social media, and embed instructional videos from YouTube on their website.

“The Do-It-Yourself nature of WordPress is perfect for busy entrepreneurs who only want to post their content in one place and have it automatically sent out to all of their social media accounts,” states Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group.  ”We love working with clients like Far From Standard who have a great concept that’s an ideal fit for generating buzz with social media.”

Check out Far From Standard’s innovative approach to tutoring >>

ANN ARBOR, MI – June 28, 2010 – The Whole Brain Group, LLC, is pleased to announce that it has received federal HUBZone certification, which is awarded to small businesses who are located in an area designated to be an “Historically Underutilized Business Zone,” and who meet other strict eligibility requirements. The HUBZone program was implemented by Congress in 1998 to promote economic development and employment growth in distressed areas by providing access to more Federal contracting opportunities.

“Several VA medical facilities and the National Institutes of Health have been using our online tool, AccreditStation®, to help them obtain accreditation of their human research protection programs,” notes Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group. “This certification will make procurement of AccreditStation simpler for other VAs and federal research facilities, simultaneously helping them improve the quality of their accreditation applications and improve efficiency.”

In addition to expanding its AccreditStation client base, the company plans to use its new certification to pursue teaming opportunities with other companies to bring more federal contracting dollars to Michigan. “We’re going to begin working on a project for the Department of Defense (DOD) with two local companies in July,” continues Smith, “It’s a great opportunity for three companies to create jobs, and advance technology through collaboration.”

As a member of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), Smith received up-to-date policy briefings and mentorship advice specifically addressing developing procurement legislation. It is with this knowledge and support that she was able to move forward with securing HUBZone certification. The Voice for Women in Business in our Nation’s Capital, Women Impacting Public Policy, Inc. (WIPP) is a national nonpartisan public policy organization that advocates for and on behalf of women and minorities in business in the legislative processes of our nation, creating economic opportunities and building bridges and alliances to other small business organizations.

Founded in 2002, The Whole Brain Group, LLC, is a woman-owned company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company specializes in web design & social media consulting, as well as custom web application development for educational institutions, VA and community hospitals, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Clients include Michigan State University, Yale University, The Ohio State University, Miami Children’s Hospital, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12, 2010 —Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), the nation’s largest nonpartisan public policy organization that advocates on behalf of women in business, announces its new Executive Advisory Board, the body of senior members who represent the WIPP membership at large to the Board of Directors. Members of the Board will serve as the voice for over half a million women in business and inform the strategic design and direction of the organization.

Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group, LLC in Ann Arbor, Michigan was appointed to the Executive Advisory Board this year and will serve as Co-Chair of the Communications Council. Smith recently served as Co-Leader of WIPP’s Michigan Instant Impact Team, and her company obtained federal HUBZone certification in 2010. Her company currently supplies its AccreditStation software to a number of VA hospitals and federal research facilities to streamline the accreditation of their human research protection programs.

Susan Solovic, Owner of Susan Solovic Media and a member of the WIPP Board of Directors, serves as Chair of the Advisory Council and Ann Blackburn, Owner of Blackburn Advisory Services, also a member of the WIPP Board of Directors, serves as Vice Chair of the Advisory Council. Joining them to guide this Board are Francine Manilow, CEO of Manilow Suites, serving as Vice President, Jennifer Bisceglie, President of Interos Solutions, Inc., serving as Chair of the Board of Directors, and Mary Schnack, CEO of Mary Schnack Media Services, Inc, serving as Secretary. The body of the Board is comprised of 44 members who have distinguished themselves as leaders in business and advocates for the women business community as a whole, including Smith.

WIPP uniquely brings policy, education and resources to its members and advises Congress on core economic issues that affect women-owned small businesses. Since its inception in 2001, WIPP’s Government Relations team has guided members to testify before many Congressional committee hearings on critical economic issues. Most recently, WIPP was instrumental in designing its award-winning Give Me 5 educational program for the SBA’s Women Business Centers, to help them provide programming to increase access to federal contracts for women business owners substantially underrepresented in their industry.

Visit www.wipp.org for more information.

PharmaForensics Laboratories was established to serve as a “general scientific” consultant and partner, responsible for all aspects of the scientific discovery process, including directing the research activities, providing technical review and analysis of the scientific work, and helping to identify suitable expert witnesses for testimony. Their mission is to take on the burden of scientific discovery, so that you can focus on your legal strategy.
Visit PharmaForensics Website

KnowledgeWatch tracks and harvests multiple information sources to deliver one page, convenient, custom, intuitive, real-time news digests for knowledge workers and decision makers.  Whole Brain Group worked with KnowledgeWatch to create a new corporate identity, website and blog.

Visit the KnowledgeWatch Website

The release of the A2YChamber iPhone application is the development accomplishment of The Whole Brain Group, LLC and Arbormoon Software, Inc. in partnership with the Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti Regional Chamber. The demo of the upgraded iPhone application, available on the Chamber’s website, is powered by TorranceLearning’s eClickMap technology, and provides an interactive view and auditory description of the new features of the iPhone application.

Read more on the A2YChamber Website >>

AccreditStation is tailored specifically to fulfill the needs of clients seeking accreditation by The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP®).

Research institutions across the country use AccreditStation to save thousands of dollars, conserve staff resources, and refocus valuable energy on improving the quality of their human subjects protection programs.

“AccreditStation version 4 has been completely redesigned from the ground up,” notes Marisa Smith, President of The Whole Brain Group, “everything is better – the performance, the interface, and the features! Even the pricing structure is easier to understand, and more affordable!”

The new software architecture also makes it easier to adapt AccreditStation for other types of accreditation and certification processes.

“We want to revolutionize the accreditation and certification market,” continued Smith, “hundreds of thousands of hours (and trees) are wasted with manual, paper-based certification processes in hundreds of industries — from healthcare to manufacturing to education. Accreditation and certification are essential for ensuring quality in these industries, but we shouldn’t destroy the environment in the process!”

The AccreditStation website (http://www.accreditstation.com) has also been completely redesigned to support the launch of version 4.

Visitors can watch a 4-minute overview of the software, view YouTube videos demonstrating the new functionality, and request a Free 30-day Trial Account.

Founded in 2002, The Whole Brain Group, LLC, is a woman-owned company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company specializes in web design & social media consulting, as well as custom web application development for educational institutions, VA and community hospitals, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Clients include Michigan State University, Yale University, The Ohio State University, Miami Children’s Hospital, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).