Mity Nice Italian Ice was created by Vickie Elmer and Mark Loeb to bring jobs to young people and affordable healthy treats to Ann Arbor. Before we scooped our first cone of ice, we committed to support the community we serve - by giving away ice at charitable events and fundraisers, and by donating a portion of of our pretax profits to Washtenaw County charities at the end of the summer. Now all we need is some sunny warm weather, a little luck and some loyal customers - that's you.

Mark Loeb organizes festivals and events in Southeast Michigan. His projects include work for the Detroit International Jazz Festival, Funky Ferndale Art Fair and the Royal Oak Clay Glass & Metal Show. His company is Integrity Shows.

He was born in Philadelphia where he acquired a taste for what they call "water ice." He hopes to create some new and nifty flavors, which will be announced later this year.

Vickie Elmer writes about careers, business and the economy as a freelance writer for the Ann Arbor Observer and the Washington Post and blogs about careers, creativity and kindness at WorkingKind. Her favorite stories involve circuses, dogs, generosity, summer fun or a big corporation's crucial mistakes.

Born in Pontiac, Mich., she grew up eating ice cream on camping trips around Michigan and discovered the joys of Italian ice when she was Newsday's New York City Business Editor. She loves anything with fruit, so she is rooting for Mity Nice to add pina colada, peach and chocolate-raspberry ice.

Meet the rest of the staff

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