Crain's Detroit Business, February 13, 2023, issue

Startups set stage for success. PAGE

8

Team-up for a transformation

Henry Ford Health, Tom Gores, MSU partner on $2.5B in projects

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BY DUSTIN WALSH AND KIRK PINHO

Henry Ford Health plans to build a new $1.8 billion hospital in Detroit that will anchor a broad $2.5 billion development it is teaming up on with Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Michigan State University that includes new residential, commercial and possible hotel space.

e projects mark a major move by Henry Ford to transform itself into a destination for health care and a major expansion of private equity billionaire and Flint native Gores’ investment in Detroit.

See HENRY FORD on Page 16

SIGHTS SET Henry Ford Health’s plan for becoming a destination hospital

PAGE 17

Tom Gores leverages Pistons to pitch a di erent kind of community development

BY KIRK PINHO

When Tom Gores bought the Detroit Pistons in 2011, few in metro Detroit knew his name.

In the dozen years since, the billionaire owner who says he views the team

as a “community asset” has been involved in north of $500 million invested in and around Detroit, ranging from refurbishing dozens of basketball courts to renovating a community center on the city’s west side.

See GORES on Page 18

At Zingerman’s, the future belongs to its employees

BY JAY DAVIS

With an eye on the future, the founders of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses — legendary for its huge deli sandwiches, baked goods and business training classes

— has crafted a plan to ensure that the Ann Arbor-based company remains true to its roots.

What Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw started 41 years ago has grown into 11 unique businesses, from the iconic Zingerman’s Deli-

catessen in the Kerrytown neighborhood and the Bakehouse on the south side of town to its mail order business, event venues and restaurants.

Weinzweig recently announced plans for what is being called Zinger-

RECOGNITION

Rural chef gets Beard nomination.

PAGE 3

man’s Perpetual Purpose Trust. Over the next 20 years, Weinzweig and Saginaw will essentially transfer the company’s intellectual property to the individual businesses in ZCoB and its employee shareholders. e trust will keep Zingerman’s in the

Ann Arbor area for the foreseeable future. It prohibits the sale of the Zingerman’s brand to an outside company and ensures it will not go public or o er franchising opportunities.

See ZINGERMAN’S on Page 15

THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT NEED TO KNOW

 TAX BILLS PASS HOUSE, GET TRIPPED IN SENATE

THE NEWS: House Democrats — and one Republican — passed sweeping legislation ursday that would give Michigan taxpayers a one-time $180 rebate, phase out the “retirement tax,” boost a credit for lower-wage workers, pump up to $1.5 billion into a business incentives fund and prevent a permanent cut in the individual income tax. Shortly after, e orts to push the bill through the Senate stalled when Republicans who oppose it caught majority Democrats o guard and adjourned session.

WHY IT MATTERS: e adjournment delays movement on the bills until this week and brought promises of payback from Democrats. Republicans said the move was payback for the House passing the bill without open debate.

 DUGGAN PROPOSES $150M SPENDING PROGRAM

THE NEWS: Mayor Mike Duggan has proposed spending more than $150 million of Detroit’s budget surplus in part to x broken sidewalks, demolish dangerous buildings, renovate parks and add money to the city’s pension program. e $156 million proposal, submitted to City Council for a vote, comes after 2021-22 revenues were “much higher” than expected, according to a statement from the city.

WHY IT MATTERS: e increases are primarily due to increased income tax revenues from new jobs in Detroit.

 MYMICHIGAN ALMA NURSES CALL OFF POSSIBLE STRIKE

THE NEWS: Nurses at MyMichigan Medical Center in Alma have called o a potential strike after reaching a new, three-year tentative deal with management. e deal limits mandatory overtime, increases wages for existing and new nurses and improves language for contract sta ers, the nurses’ union Michigan Nurses Association said in a news release.

WHY IT MATTERS: Unrest among health care workers has boiled over this year as COVID-19 pandemic woes continue to impact labor in the eld.

 WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE SELLS KEDS BRAND

THE NEWS: e Rockford-based footwear company Wolverine World Wide Inc. announced that it has sold the underperforming but iconic Keds brand to Columbus, Ohio-based Designer Brands Inc. (NYSE: DBI), the parent company of retailer DSW, in a

deal that closed Feb. 4. Wolverine (NYSE: WWW) also said that it planned to license its legacy Hush Puppies brand to Designer Brands in the United States and Canada, e ective July 1, 2023.

WHY IT MATTERS: Not even a multi-year sponsorship deal with pop megastar Taylor Swift could right the ship for Keds, a agging lifestyle footwear brand that Wolverine has owned for the last decade.

 BED BATH & BEYOND TO CLOSE 7 MORE STORES

THE NEWS: Bed Bath & Beyond will close 150 more stores — including seven more in Michigan — as the beleaguered home goods chain cuts costs as it works to stay a oat. e latest store closings in Michigan will be in Troy, Westland, Okemos, Holland, Saginaw, Flint and Portage.

WHY IT MATTERS: Bed Bath & Beyond has drastically shrunk its footprint and is still widely expected to le for bankruptcy protection.

Correction

 A story on Page 9 of the Feb. 6, 2023, issue titled “Earmark spurs growth for nonpro t helping young adults” incorrectly reported the source of the earmark Garrett’s Space received. It was federal funds.

RESTAURANTS

Hopcat targets Livonia for its 11th location

 HopCat will open its 11th bar and restaurant this summer in Livonia.

e popular eating and drinking establishment, known for its Cosmik Fries and dozens of beer taps, will open at 17800 Haggerty in the former home of Claddagh Irish Pub, which closed in 2019, spokesperson Adam O’Connor con rmed to Crain’s on ursday. In other HopCat news, the Grand Rapids-based chain was set to host a public grand opening celebration Saturday at its new space in Royal Oak.

e Main Street restaurant has indoor seating for 288 guests. An outdoor, dog-friendly patio during the warmer months will o er seating for an additional 98 guests.

e main bar area has 60 beers on tap and seating for 30 guests.

e Royal Oak location also features two private rooms that can be combined into one larger space, each with room for 30 people.

e restaurant features a 3,700-square-foot kitchen for dine-in guests as well as the company’s rst dedicated kitchen for o -premise orders, including carry-out, third-party delivery and catering.

HopCat will open a new location in the former home of Claddagh Irish Pub in Livonia.

Abra Berens hopes nomination opens eyes to great food in di erent settings

JAY DAVIS

In the more than 30 years that the James Beard Foundation has been honoring outstanding restaurateurs and chefs, most of the names were associated with big markets.

at makes the 2023 semi nalist nod earned by Abra Berens that much more signi cant.

Berens, 40, is the chef at Granor Farm in tiny ree Oaks, Mich., in the southwest part of the state. She is one of 20 chefs nominated in the Best

Cavs snub spotlights long-running Gilbert, Ishbia

feud

NICK MANES

ere’s a classic line in the 1995 crime movie “ e Usual Suspects” in which one character asks another — regarding the death of a colleague — “Was it business? Or personal?”

“A bit of both,” the other responds.

e line also speaks to the long-simmering feud between metro Detroit businessmen Dan Gilbert and Mat Ishbia.

While no one quite knows how much is business or how much is personal, there were two very public examples of the dueling between two of metro Detroit’s largest employers last week.

Rivalry in business is nothing new, but the cutthroat nature of the mortgage business and two billionaires with comparable ambitions makes for a competition that’s played out in public in ways not often seen in the world of big business.

e latest was news the night of Feb. 6 that the NBA’s board of governors had approved the bid of Ishbia — the chairman, president and CEO of Pontiac-based mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage — and his Chicago-based brother Justin Ishbia to acquire a controlling stake in the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury franchises.

e vote Monday evening was 29-0 — with the Cleveland Cavaliers abstaining, according multiple media reports.

Representatives for the NBA, Cavaliers and Suns did not respond to Crain’s requests for comment.

e Cavs franchise is owned by Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Rocket Companies Inc., the Detroit-based parent company of Rocket Mortgage. Gilbert’s company was for years the largest mortgage lender in the country until late last year when the crown was taken by Ishbia’s company, headquartered less than 30 miles away straight up Woodward Avenue.

Chef: Great Lakes category, which includes Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. e bulk of the semi nalists in the category are in Detroit and Chicago along with Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

Berens, one of 13 James Beard Awards semifinalists in metro Detroit and Michigan announced Jan. 25, didn’t think she had a shot at the honor and learned the news from a friend and chef in Washington, D.C.

She joined Granor Farms in 2017

after helping open Local Foods Market in Chicago in 2015 and the spotlight still managed to nd her. is is Berens’ second regional chef seminalist nod, the rst coming in 2020 when she was also nominated in the JBA vegetable-focused cooking category for her cookbook “Ru age.”

“I didn’t think (the James Beard Foundation) showcased chefs in rural areas,” Berens told Crain’s. “It feels like an honor to have an establishment like the Beard Foundation recognize that there are a lot of ways to

have great food in di erent settings.”

Granor Farm, founded in 2006, is not a restaurant but a certi ed organic farm that grows vegetables, owers, herbs and grains. Berens, who lives in nearby Galien with her husband and child, admits ne dining isn’t part of the farm’s culture. It does o er unique dinners, o ered on weekends, at $130-$150 per person with tickets available one and two months in advance.

Rural Michigan chef nets James Beard nod HELPING CHANGE A NARRATIVE

City of Detroit rehabbed more homes than it demolished in 2022

ARIELLE KASS

A sharp increase in the number of houses the Detroit Land Bank Authority sold beginning in 2020 helped fuel a shift in the city’s residential real estate ecosystem.

In 2022, the number of Detroit homes that were rehabilitated exceeded the number torn down. e gures mark a turning point in a city that had “somewhere north of 40,000” dilapidated homes to demolish as of 2014, said Tammy Daniels, the land bank’s CEO.

e city’s demolition department recorded 1,974 home demolitions in 2022; the land bank said 2,181 houses nished their rehabilitations last year. An additional 1,021 homes were stabilized for future rehabilitation, according to data from the demolition department. At the end of December, the land bank had fewer than 10,000 homes in its inventory.

“It means right now, the end of abandoned

houses in Detroit is within our grasp,” Mayor Mike Duggan said.

Duggan said the interest in restoring city houses would likely lead to more being pulled from the demolition pipeline. Of the 4,227 homes the land bank has slated for demolition, he said he expects 500 to 1,000 to be rehabilitated instead. Duggan called it an exciting time in the city, saying it was the rst time in generations

that more homes were saved than destroyed. e land bank was selling some 200 homes a month before the coronavirus pandemic. en in 2020, sales increased to about 600 monthly.

“We were shocked at the number of sales we were making during the pandemic,” Daniels said. “It skyrocketed.”

And it was quite a change.

Between 2014 and 2020, more than 15,000 houses in the city were knocked down, the land bank said. Since 2014, a total of 8,657 homes once owned by the land bank were rehabilitated, with the most coming last year. Nearly 2,000 are occupied and still in process.

“It’s a phenomenon that got all of us very excited,” said Rob Linn, the land bank’s director of planning and analysis. “We were pulling a lot out of the demo queue because we saw it pick up so much.”

Of the 4,227 homes the land bank has slated for demolition, Mayor Mike Duggan said he expects 500 to 1,000 to be rehabilitated instead. | ALAMY

Chef Abra Berens, from Granor Farm in tiny Three Oaks, Michigan, is one of 20 semi nalists in the Best Chef, Great Lakes cetegory of the 2023 James Beard awards.

“WE WERE SHOCKED AT THE NUMBER OF SALES WE WERE MAKING DURING THE PANDEMIC. IT SKYROCKETED.”

—Tammy Daniels, CEO, Detroit Land Bank

e owner of the former Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in South eld has yet again led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

An entity called Shefa LLC, which owns the 14-story eyesore at 16400 J.L. Hudson Drive, claims assets and liabilities both of between $1 million to $10 million with creditors totaling between one and 49 in court documents led two weeks ago.

Shefa, registered to Montreal resident Sidney Elhadad, previously led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2014 just before a scheduled foreclosure auction of the property that had racked up some $4.1 million in unpaid taxes and other bills.

is second bankruptcy ling also comes on the eve of a key event — an Oakland County Circuit Court judge’s hearing on whether to appoint a receiver, a renewed motion for which South eld led in December.

e property has been the site of a re, various code violation citations and other issues that generally make the city consider it dangerous. e December motion for a receiver says more recent incidents at the property include someone throwing items from the building’s roof, damaging a vehicle. It says people continue to inhabit the property.

Robert Bassel, Shefa’s attorney, said the bankruptcy ling last week was a result not only of the impending hearing on a receivership but also whether his client wanted to continue spending money in a protracted legal battle that has been litigated in several courts over many years.

e result of the Chapter 11 case should be a sale of the property “for the most value” and also to “ gure out who gets the proceeds,” Bassel said.

“It’s not to shed debt,” Bassel said, noting that Shefa is current on its property taxes and water and sewer bills.

“It’s basically the reality that this particular asset is worth more value to someone who has a clean slate with the city of South eld than it does with the current owners. It’s business. Not much more to it. It

should be sold for the most value. And the bankruptcy code determines who allocates the proceeds.”

Elhadad has attempted before to sell the property, enlisting the Southeld o ce of Colliers International Inc. to market it to potential buyers as a redevelopment play, as we reported in April.

One of the side issue has been how the redevelopment of the former Northland Center shopping mall site plays out and, now with construction underway on a large-scale e ort to transform that massive site nearby, the former Plaza Hotel — formerly the Michigan Inn — becomes more valuable, even if it is in dire need of a massive overhaul.

e city has repeatedly sought a receiver for the property, which Elhadad bought in 2009 in foreclosure. It has said Elhadad has not met promises made in his previous bankruptcy set-

required to make $2.1 million in improvements, plus get site plan approval within six months of the February 2016 approval of the con rmation order. However, the site plan expired a year after it was approved and no building permits were issued, according to earlier court documents.

However, the city says Shefa — without getting permits — started internal demolition even though there is asbestos at the hotel. e 2019 re was caused “by an intruder who gained access because the property had not been secured,” earlier court lings from the city say.

Some three dozen code violations have been issued at the property since 2013, the city says, including six after a district court consent order in January 2021 to board up broken windows and doors, keep the property free of debris and secure the property.

Shefa paid about $10.4 million for the hotel, which sits across from the former Northland Center mall that’s being redeveloped and next to Ascension Providence Hospital, in a November 2009 foreclosure auction, according to South eld land records.

e hotel closed in 2010 when water and utility service was shut o due to nonpayment.

In the months prior to the sale, the outstanding water bill alone was north of $300,000, records show.

—Robert Bassel, Shefa’s attorney

tlement and that the property has fallen even further into disrepair in the years since, including a 2019 re. Several dozen code violations have been issued over the years, the city says.

In court lings, Elhadad has claimed that the city and Downtown Development Authority were embarking on a land grab and suggested that antisemitism was at play.

In bankruptcy court lings from last month, Shefa says it owes some $367,000 to Trantor Realty Inc. in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, plus unknown sums to the city and Oakland County, plus an attorney as well as building management company. A meeting of creditors is scheduled for March 7.

A South eld spokesperson did not return a request seeking comment.

e city has a rst-position mortgage on the property, and Shefa was

Kohl’s store at Westland Center for sale

e 91,000-square-foot Kohl’s department store at Westland Center is for sale for $20 million.

It is currently owned by Hewlett, N.Y.-based Bluejay Management LLC, which bought it in 2013, according to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service.

Marketing materials from Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc. say that the property generates about $1.1 million in net operating income with 14 years remaining on a 19-year lease expiring in 2037. ere are four ve-year renewal options.

— Crain’s reporter Kurt Nagl contributed to this report.

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

The former Plaza Hotel & Convention Center in South eld, shown in April 2022. | KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Kirk PINHO

REHABBED

e condition of a house, the condition of the market and individual interest help determine whether a house will be demolished or sold, and Linn said an improving housing market has led to more homes that would have been demolished in years past making the cut for sale. In recent months, as the housing market has slowed in Detroit and nationally, the sales rate has done so as well, Linn said. But he said he considers the shift a seasonal lull, anticipating that sales will pick back up in the spring.

In early years, the majority of land bank houses were demolished. Now, Linn said, about half of those in inventory are likely to be saved.

“It’s an exciting time when you can go to a neighborhood,” Duggan said. “ ey cheer when we knock the house down. But they’re a lot more excited when a family moves in.”

Tim Palazzolo, the deputy director of Detroit’s Demolition Department, said the pace of residential demolition has slowed.

“It’s evident to me our residential program is transitioning out,” he said.

Palazzolo said there are about 1,100 properties waiting to be demolished, 1,600 in a due diligence stage and 800 that have been approved for demoli-

tion, but aren’t yet on a list for a particular contractor. In the past, he said, those numbers could have been three times that high.

“We’re just in a di erent place,” Palazzolo said of the housing market.

“It seems like we’ve had a lot more pulls from the pipeline.” e blighted homes that come down have often been a health and safety issue for residents for years, he said. And

while he said home demolition should be a last resort — the team is always happy to step aside if a home can be salvaged — Palazzolo said residents who see neighboring homes torn down are excited about the progress. e shift has done more than make more homes available for city residents, said Austin Black II, an associate broker with @properties Christie’s International Real Estate.

“It’s helped change an entire narrative of the city of Detroit,” Black said. He said the milestone represents a signi cant step in stabilizing Detroit’s neighborhoods, especially after years when there were so many dilapidated houses to be demolished that the city couldn’t get to. In the busiest year of the last decade, 2015, more than 3,000 houses were taken down, according to land bank data.

“I think it’s a signi cant turning point for the city,” Black said. “For decades, the city just didn’t keep up.”

Because land bank houses often require a great deal of work, Black said the fact that more people are willing to take those projects on is important for the city. It’s a testament to the amount of work that’s already been done, he said.

And the shift to rehabbing more homes “will have very real ripple effects,” said Laura Grannemann, the vice president of the Rocket Community Fund and executive director of the Gilbert Family Foundation.

In the future, she said, she hopes demolition is a tool that’s rarely used in Detroit.

“I think it’s a huge milestone,” she said. “It’s not all about tearing our city down. It’s about building up.”

Duggan said private owners’ e orts to improve their own properties was part of the shift. He said residents continue to move into land bank homes; Linn called them a source of fuel for Detroit’s continued growth.

“ is is in line with the master plan to bring Detroit back,” said Daniels, the land bank CEO. “All the tools have converged and worked. e housing market is stronger. Property values are going up. It’s working.”

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

From Page 3

News that the Gilbert-owned Cavaliers abstained from voting in favor of Isbhia’s deal to become a fellow NBA team owner came just hours after Rocket Mortgage made public plans to spend some of its considerable holdings on potential legal battles ghting a UWM ultimatum to brokers that has long sent shockwaves across the mortgage industry.

Bully Shield vs. All In

Rocket on Feb. 6 announced the “Bully Shield” initiative, o ering to pay penalty and legal fees of independent mortgage brokers who wish to defy UWM’s “All In” edict.

Announced two years ago by Ishbia, that initiative amounts to an addendum to brokers’ contracts that to keep doing business with UWM they had to cease doing business with Rocket, as well as a Wisconsin lender.

Ishbia and his supporters claim that Rocket does harm to the wholesale side of the business, while executives at Rocket say the UWM boss is nothing more than a playground bully.

Ishbia’s ultimatum has brought on a wave of litigation.

e two latest examples are just the tip of the iceberg, however, in a feud that dates back years.

Some examples are obvious, such as Ishbia publicly calling out Rocket’s decision last year to implement a round of employee buyouts amid a

mortgage sector that was in free-fall due to rising interest rates.

And in the summer of 2018, the feud spilled into public view when several employees of United Shore (now United Wholesale Mortgage) were found handing out yers near the downtown Detroit headquarters of Quicken Loans (now Rocket Mortgage). e yers claimed that Quicken Loans didn’t pay its in-house loan o cers as well as it compensated outside brokers. Quicken Loans boasted of its workplace quality awards, so criticism of its employee business practices raised the ire of company executives, as CEO Jay Farner told Crain’s at the time.

“ is whole time, this is not a war, we don’t say a word,” Farner said. “We just go about our business, taking care of our clients … But at some point in time, I have nearly 17,000 people here working very hard, and when a guy shows up putting yers on your property, there comes a time when you have to set the record straight. Let’s just stop this behavior.”

Others are a bit more subtle.

Both billionaires are graduates of Michigan State University and have been generous boosters of university athletics, sometimes piggy-backing on each other’s donations.

Both Ishbia and Gilbert have been named a Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year multiple times, including Ishbia in 2022 and Gilbert as the inaugural recipient of Crain’s Newsmaker Hall of Fame award.

Contact: nmanes@crain.com; (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes

Playing for the Home Team.

Growing up in Birmingham, Michigan, sports were a big part of Bill Feldmaier’s life. From little league baseball to playing quarterback at Birmingham Seaholm and earning a full athletic scholarship to the University at Buffalo, he enjoyed the camaraderie, competition and strategy required to lead winning teams. For 22 years, Bill worked in the institutional pension and 401(k) space. He loved navigating the complexities of employee benefit plans but found himself spending more time traveling than being home. Missing activities for his four sons and wanting to be more involved locally, he knew it was time for halftime adjustments. Bill frequently brought his wife and children to visit family in his hometown of Birmingham. On one of these trips, six years ago, he connected with Greenleaf Trust. Over the years, he kept in touch with the team and was impressed by their continued growth and

how their values were not merely a game plan but are purposefully executed. Last fall, Bill felt it was the perfect time to run the option. At the root of this decision was the first-class team, unwavering commitment to clients and the warm, inviting culture.

As a natural connector of people, Bill is excited to serve clients and collaborate throughout the community. Greenleaf Trust scored a touchdown and is thrilled to have Bill quarterbacking our team in the place he can once again call home professionally and personally.

To learn how Bill and Greenleaf Trust can help you achieve financial security from generation to generation, call us. It may be the best play call of your life.

Bill Feldmaier Managing Director – Southeast Michigan 248.530.6402 | bfeldmaier@greenleaftrust.com

BIRMINGHAM

Financial security from generation to generation.

In 2022, the number of Detroit homes that were rehabilitated exceeded the number torn down. | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Dan Gilbert Mat Ishbia

A team-up that can be a boon for Detroit

The team-up of Henry Ford Health, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Michigan State University is a big win for Detroit.

The total investment of $2.5 billion is huge and plants a redevelopment in a neighborhood outside the downtown core, will improve medical care in a city that sorely needs it and represents a marked expansion of involvement in the Motor City by private equity billionaire Gores and the state’s largest university.

e partnership moves forward a longheld goal of Henry Ford Health — stretching back at least to its longtime CEO Gail Warden in the early 2000s — to extend its reach within the neighborhood of its agship hospital and bring vibrancy to its surroundings.

Gores has talked frequently since his purchase of the Pistons in 2011 of how he views the team as a “community asset” and a platform that his organization can use to work with local partners to extend the community involvement of the team far beyond Little Caesars Arena.

The Henry Ford project, especially Gores’ part of it, will add other community assets — residential units and public greenspace that will long benefit the neighborhood and those who live there. As the project develops, listening to the community on its needs will be key.

The importance of the role of Michigan State — shouldn’t be understated. It’s aca -

demic partnership with Henry Ford will raise the reputation of the health system and help bring in research dollars that will pay dividends far into the future.

Putting together such a large and multilayered partnership in an industry as complex as health care is a huge achievement. Previous efforts to forge such a deal, such as a failed arrangement between Wayne State University and Henry Ford Health, have fallen apart over one sticking point or another.

It’s also a tribute to relationships. Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem formed a fast and solid bond with Henry Ford Health’s former CEO Wright Lassiter III when both arrived in Detroit in the middle of the last decade. Current Henry Ford CEO Bob Riney, who has 45 years of experience with the health system in a multitude of roles, has been one of its public faces for years.

The level of trust that these kinds of relationships build can’t be duplicated with mere money.

Now, the challenge will be bringing the vision into reality. The details of development in Detroit aren’t always easy.

But what we’ve seen so far from this partnership, and the firepower of its major players all rowing in the same direction, gives us confidence that it will ultimately be a boon for the city.

We

some dramatic changes in the schoolhouse

Our schools have failed our children for far too long.

Democrats are now in charge at all the levers of power in Lansing. For the rst time in Michigan’s history the chairs of the legislative committees on education are all teachers by professional background. ey have the opportunity to invest and reform public education in ways that will pay dividends for all. But will they?

e fact is money, accountability and reform are required ingredients to improve public education if we are serious about preparing more of our students for their future and not our past.

As two individuals who held the state superintendent position, we implore our state leaders to use their power to reinvent public education rather than thinking their job is done by only spending more money on it.

Here is a small sample of actions Lansing leaders can take to truly invest in change that will lead to progress bene ting our students and all who live in Michigan:

 First and foremost, listen to parents and teachers. Listen to teachers on how to switch the focus from power, control and ideology to teaching, learning and children. Engage parents in meaningful ways to support their children to obtain a high quality education.

 Invest in universal Pre-K for all 4-year-olds. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for universal Pre-K in her 2023 State of the State Address. Research is clear. A child’s brain develops more from birth to age 5 than any other time in life. is early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed in school and life.

 Eliminate senior year. We need to radically reshape the high school experience. We propose that at the end of the junior year, students would be required to develop an action plan on how they will spend their senior year of high school which could be renamed “gap year.” e gap year could include such things as skill building, volunteering, attending a uni-

versity, community college or trade school, engaging in apprenticeships, working, traveling, improving skills needed to advance a career and additional educational attainment. e options are numerous. Restructuring senior year is past its due date.

At the conclusion of the gap year, students would be required to submit a multi-page, project outlining their learning that occurred during the year and a summary of their goals.

Clearly there are implementation details to address, such as extracurricular activities, senior prom, and the redirection of funds saved to more impactful areas.

 Make the RESA/ISD superintendents accountable to the state superintendent of schools. ese independent regional educational service agencies oat between local districts and the state and are accountable to neither. ey should be an extension of the state department of education to assure the policies of the governor, Legislature and state board of education are carried out assuring greater accountability for student success.

 Use technology and arti cial intelligence to accelerate learning. While education remediation and tutoring are helpful strategies, teachers also need to engage in education acceleration to allow our students to take a great leap forward. e targeted use of AI and other technology has the potential to launch our students into the future.

 Eliminate snow days. is past month, schools across the state closed for “snow days.” Why? Teaching and learning need not be conned to the four walls of a school building. During COVID, investments were made to assure equitable hardware and internet connections were available. We need more days of instruction not less. Snow days are a relic of the past and should be eliminated.

 Reduce local control. When it comes to educator training and professional learning, local school districts have total discretionary choice on what is provided and the quality provided to their sta unless legislatively required. Delegate authority to the state superintendent to require speci c training related to state initiatives, such as literacy teaching and learning, and provide resources to the Michigan Department of Education to develop the training and disseminate it to districts throughout the state. Educators need the same high quality professional learning.

We need to shake up the schoolhouse. Democrats, you are in charge. You have the opportunity to catapult public education forward.

Michigan needs courageous action or another generation of children will be squandered. Please proceed as if our collective future is dependent on your action, because it is.

need

DANIEL SAAD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

AS THE PROJECT DEVELOPS, LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY ON ITS NEEDS WILL BE KEY.

 Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee talks about the week’s stories every Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. on WJR 760 AM’s Paul W. Smith Show.

SHEILA ALLES AND TOM WATKINS

Sheila Alles was interim state superintendent of public instruction and chief deputy superintendent, 2017-2021.

Tom Watkins was state superintendent of schools, 2001-2005.

Report: Detroit region stronger than expected as economy falters

ARIELLE KASS about the economy are “more psychological than it is data-based.”

Metro Detroit is well-positioned to ride out an uncertain economic environment in 2023 — better than in years past, Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, said last week as the chamber released its State of the Region report.

Detroit’s unemployment rate was below the nation’s, private sector jobs have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and while median incomes still lag the U.S., they’re up 20 percent over ve years ago, Baruah said. He called it “a very di erent dynamic” compared to prior economic downturns.

“I feel pretty good we’re going to have a nice, solid year in 2023,” he said.

e metro Detroit region still has a variety of issues to contend with, Baruah said, including a workforce participation rate of 62.4 percent, last among the city’s 39 economic peers; a return-to-o ce culture that ranks on the lower end of the 62 largest metros in the U.S., leaving downtown “more empty than we want it to be”; and educational attainment that is far short of the region’s goal, with 43.3 percent of adults older than 25 holding an associate’s degree or higher.

Additionally, the chamber’s State of the Region report said, 655,000 adults in the region in 2021 had some higher education, but no degree. Baruah said he’s urging local businesses to rethink the level of credentials they require, saying job experience is sometimes not just su cient but better than a degree.

Across the region, businesses and individuals seem to be optimistic about their own fortunes, but concerns of a recession persist. If there is a downturn — and Baruah said he thinks the threat of a recession is “really overblown” — the high number of business applications in the region is likely to help thwart the most potent e ects, he said.

e number of jobs available in the region remains high and many companies are struggling to hire talented workers, he said.

Still, in ation remains a “huge concern,” for residents, he said, and consumer sentiment is worse than it was during the Great Recession.

“ e fact that consumers are so sour is still one of the unique aspects of what we’ve been seeing over the last couple years, where sentiment really doesn’t match economic reality,” he said.

Yasmeen Jasey, the Michigan market executive for Citizens Bank, said good news can sometimes be interpreted as bad news, such as concerns that high job creation numbers could lead to the Federal Reserve continuing to raise interest rates to curb in ation.

Businesses are starting to feel like the current interest rate climate is the new normal, she said, and many feel that pent-up demand insulates them to some degree from market changes, she said. Still, companies are moving along cautiously.

“We’re all kind of waiting to hear when good news is actually good news,” Jasey said.

Baruah said residents’ feelings

e chamber report included two new categories: the state of democracy and infrastructure and the economy.

On the democracy front, three-quarters of respondents to a poll of voters conducted on behalf of the chamber said they thought the 2022 midterm election was accurate, while 60 percent said they were optimistic about democracy. e report called the ndings “signi cant, especially following the tumultuous November 2020 election and the mistrust and misinformation around the electoral process that followed.”

“Perceptions persist among a small, but consistent, sector of Republicans who believe modern voting practices and reforms are associated with cheating and fraud,” the report said. “Perhaps the most important outcome of the 2022 midterm elections was the lack of drama surrounding the voting and vote counting — as well as candidates who fell short conceding defeat as is the American tradition.”

While road funding in the region is 73 percent higher than it was in 2016, the state’s infrastructure grade is still a D+, according to the report. Transit ridership is still lower than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020 and passenger counts at

Detroit Metropolitan Airport haven’t rebounded to 2019 volumes. But Michigan is the No. 1 state for investments in electric vehicles and battery technology and more than 1,000 publicly accessible charging stations are now available.

Racial justice and economic equity would be covered in the report’s “bad news section,” Baruah said. Inequities persist in per capita income in the region based on race, the report said, Black residents are most likely to be unemployed — the unemployment rate of 15.4 percent for Black residents in the region is more than twice the national average, it said. And Black homeownership lagged white home-

ownership by almost 34 percentage points in 2021.

e region encompasses an 11-county area that houses 5.4 million people in more than 300 municipalities, according to the chamber’s data. It also includes 10 Fortune 500 companies.

While ve counties in the region saw population decline, the region’s population as a whole rose 1.3 percent since 2010. e largest population growth was in Livingston, Oakland and Washtenaw counties, according to the chamber.

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

Baruah

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS: EAST LANSING

STRONG STARTUPS

A compound to cure Alzheimer’s, an agency to cure publishing woes

PAGE 9

CLEANING UP THE WATER SUPPLY

MSU startup Enspired Solutions gains steam with PFAS-destroying technology

BY

MIKE SCOTT

Denise Key had never been an entrepreneur. But that didn’t prevent her or her work colleague and friend Meng Wang from combining their joint expertise in the clean-tech industry to start a new company.

eir goal was not small. e Michigan State University alums wanted to create a business committed to tackling one of the most pressing environmental issues worldwide. e result was Enspired Solutions LLC, launched in 2021. e rm is housed in the Spartan Innovations small business incubator located on MSU’s campus in East Lansing.

Led by environmental toxicologists Key and Wang, Enspired Solutions is narrowly focused on providing equipment and technology to help destroy PFAS, per uoroalkyl and poly uoroalkyl substances, in water.

So far, Enspired Solutions has raised $3 million in seed funding, and Key hopes to grow its sta from ve to nearly 15 employees by the end of 2023.

As part of Spartan Innovations, Enspired Solutions is supported by the MSU Innovation Center, which also backs an array of business and community partnerships with the potential for commercial success.

Since 2018, Spartan Innovations has invested in 47 startups like Enspired Solutions with more than $4.3 million in combined funding, according to Spartan Innovations Project Coordinator Nichole Maguire. Other companies include Portera Technologies and Cogrounded. (See related stories on Pages 9.).

e Innovation Center has been working with faculty and nonfaculty to launch startups, protect intellectual property and patent a discovery for the last decade.

Enspired Solutions certainly ts the pro le.

Enspired Solutions Co-Founder Meng Wang, Ph.D., and Research Director Suzanne Witt, Ph.D., in front of a PFASigator fully automated reactor for the destruction of PFAS in water. Enspired is one of more than 100 companies currently working with MSU’s Spartan Innovations

ENSPIRED SOLUTIONS



An exterior view of Spartan Innovations, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MSU’s research foundation to support early stage tech companies. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY See ENSPIRED on Page 10

Portera working on compound to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s Startup takes on long odds

BY MIKE SCOTT

Je Brinza has experience shepherding a pharmaceutical drug from creation to commercialization. So, when the Hartland resident was introduced to Michigan State University chemistry professor Jetze Tepe, Ph.D., and his research, he wanted to take that ride again.

Brinza and Tepe are partners in Portera erapeutics, a startup headquartered in the Spartan Innovations incubator at the MSU Innovation Center in East Lansing. ey built Portera to study how proteasomes could treat oncology and neurogenerative diseases.

Tepe has long studied proteasomes, the machine in which every cell degrades and recycles amino acids from proteins tagged for removal from the cell.

Now Tepe is working toward building a compound that can alter several disease states and be used as a treatment for cancers and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease)

and Alzheimer’s.

Global pharmaceutical company AbbVie noticed Tepe’s research and encouraged him to pursue the idea further. Tepe incorporated Portera

erapeutics in November 2021 as the chief science o cer and brought Brinza aboard as the company’s executive chairman and second employee a few months later.

Portera erapeutics received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from AbbVie and Red Cedar Ventures, MSU Research Foundation’s venture capital fund.

Odds of commercialization

If Tepe identies the compound they seek, Portera could move into the next steps of the standard pharmaceutical development process, which includes toxicology reporting, an investigational new drug application and eventually multiple drug trial phases.

e odds, though, in the biotech development sector are always long.

“Very few compounds make it all the way through,” Brinza said. “ e failure rate is extremely high, so we know it is a bit of a long shot.”

Statistics vary, but a 2022 article by Storay Amiri for AZO Life Sciences indicates that developing a successful FDA-approved drug requires a 10-to-15-year time frame and costs over $2.6 billion. Even then, 90 percent of developed drugs are unsuccessful.

Brinza said few even get to the clinical trial stage.

See PORTERA on Page 10

East Lansing startup looks to ease academic publishing woes

Agency works with educators on projects

MIKE SCOTT

Changes in the K-12 academic publishing market are making it harder for university professors and researchers to get their processes, materials and intellectual property published, according to Brad Wilson and Gary Abud Jr.

e founders of East Lansing-based Cogrounded, an agency serving educational experts and researchers, are sure they can help educators and institutions navigate the K-12 publishing industry.

e academic technology specialist and teacher have experience commercializing their own K-12 programs and consulting for national education groups. Abud calls the Cogrounded concept “a fresh approach to educational publishing.”

“We will work with (prospective) authors wherever they are in the lifecycle of their project,” Abud said. “We’re more than an agency (for authors), but we play the role of an agent as well.”

Leveraging experience

Cogrounded CEO Wilson is a former Apple Distinguished Educator for Jackson Public Schools. He developed a popular app for writing literacy while working in the K-12 space.

Abud is Cogrounded’s director of training and partnerships and a former Michigan Teacher of the Year honoree from Grosse Pointe North High School. He was a science teacher who expanded his expertise and consulting work to create STEM

and special education curriculum programs.

Over the years, they worked with thousands of educators from hundreds of schools around the U.S., Abud said.

As a result, Michigan State University recruited Wilson and Abud to solve a problem — help its educators commercialize curriculum pro-

grams and content. is has become more di cult with educational publishers seeking to increase revenues by, in part, restricting authorships to their own employees, allowing publishers to control content and reaping 100 percent of royalties.

at trend leaves many K-12 authors, researchers and universities without publishing options, despite

grant support and a wealth of traditional higher education resources.

“Cogrounded is taking a unique approach to evidence-based curriculum commercialization by enabling universities to more fully realize the potential of their educational content. By working directly with MSU researchers, Brad and Gary can leverage their experiences and knowledge base to bring new ideas to the classroom,” said Brad Fingland, director of Physical Science at Spartan Innovations.

Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling Connie Sung, Ph.D., found publishing opportunities with the company’s help.

“Cogrounded gave us expert strategy and timely execution to land and expand in our K-12 market niche,” Sung said.

Cogrounded supports authors in development and publishing, strategic marketing, sales and distribution and training. ese skills are critical to university faculty members who often lack business experience, said Wilson, a Livonia resident.

“Universities and their (educators) often don’t have a good system for creating and commercializing these materials, such as math curriculum,” Wilson said. “Universities are not set up to be commercial entities. is is traditionally a large revenue generator for universities like Michigan State.”

A proven model

Cogrounded is headquartered in the Spartan Innovations incubator, part of the MSU Innovation Center. Wilson and Abud hired three team members to support the business with the hope of doubling its sta by the end of this year.

Revenue comes from fees for helping authors and universities

through the publishing process and from royalty or revenue-sharing agreements for licensed products and services provided to the K-12 sector.

One example of this royalty model is when Cogrounded partners with a client to prepare research-only intellectual property commercial sales. “ en, we provide managed-training services to K-12 schools that purchase the program under a license agreement,” Wilson said. is includes corporate training and teacher coaching.

“ e successful incubation through Spartan Innovations in 2022 has resulted in both viability and growth,” Wilson said. “Clients are asking for more services.”

He declined to reveal revenue gures but is con dent Cogrounded will achieve “signi cant” growth in 2023.

A politicized marketplace

Abud and Wilson agreed that their work is more important today because of added tension in the K-12 sector caused by technology disruption, the COVID pandemic, parental and community opinions and the variable delivery of education from in-person to hybrid to online.

“If you adopt a math program at a school now, chances are your school and teachers will be under the microscope (from the public) more than ever before,” Wilson said. He added that student achievement has lagged, and parental expectations have increased.

Although Wilson and Abud have speci c areas of expertise in math, science and special education spaces, they said they work with clients in any educational eld.

“We’re here to help educators and researchers connect with their audience,” Abud said.

Brad Wilson and Gary Abud Jr., founders of Cogrounded, a publishing services rm headquarted in MSU’s Spartan Innovations incubator. | COGROUNDED

Michigan State University chemistry professor Jetze Tepe, Ph.D. | PORTERA THERAPEUTICS

Brinza

From Page 9

“I have seen some drugs get all the way through the process,” said Brinza, who is a lawyer by trade but has spent much of his career as a consultant in health care. “I know this sounds corny; we want to help people. is type of research requires a lot of shots on goal, but this technology is unique and worth the time and e ort.”

Brinza spent seven years as assistant general counsel for Warner-Lambert and Parke Davis and consulted for four years for companies such as Abbott Laboratories and various small biotech startups. He was also general counsel for QuatRx Pharmaceuticals in Ann Arbor and chief administrative ocer and general counsel for Millendo erapeutics, which has since merged with Tempest erapeutics in Ann Arbor.

e proteasome accelerator

Tepe is researching could signicantly impact the industry, said Frank Urban, director of Life Sciences for Spartan Innovations. Urban has worked with Tepe for several years.

ENSPIRED

From Page 8

e company has received $410,000 in pre-seed investment, won $270,000 in grants and prizes and has a $325,000 contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, Key said. Enspired has used the funds to optimize the company’s chemistry design, manufacture the rst PFASigator commercial-scale model, and hire three full-time employees.

“We are currently in a $3 million seed series funding round with signi cant interest from corporate ventures and independent investors,” said Key, a Laingsburg resident.

Meeting a need

PFAS are synthetic chemicals widely used for more than 60 years to make plastics, re ghting foams and lubricants. e term is an acronym for a class of more than 5,000 “forever” chemicals.

High PFAS exposure can lead to liver damage, thyroid disease, decreased fertility, high cholesterol, obesity, hormone suppression and cancer in humans, according to the CDC. Although fewer than 10 are considered highly toxic by the EPA, up to 95 percent of Americans have measurable levels of PFAS in their blood because they are in everyday products from stain-resistant carpet coatings to fast food restaurant burger wrappers, Key said.

e biggest danger to humans is the presence of PFAS in groundwater and wastewater and their threat to clean air because PFAS are in the foams re ghters use to put out high-temperature res.

“We have to do something to destroy the PFAS, or they will continue to accumulate in the environment.

( ese chemicals) never go away,” Key said. ey just move from a person to some other (physical) property.”

A study by scientists from the Environmental Working Group found that median amounts of PFAS in freshwater sh were 280 times greater than similar chemicals in com-

mercially caught sh. Testing data was taken from the EPA and FDA, according to Manufacturing.net.

e PFAS-remediation market is more than $160 billion, she said. However, current applied technologies are not removing the contamination but rather capturing the PFAS and transferring it elsewhere, Key said. One e ective strategy to remove PFAS is using a carbon lter to remove nearly all harmful chemicals from water or other materials. However, it is di cult to dispose of carbon in an environmentally sustainable way. If not done properly, the carbon releases PFAS into the air or water.

Building their clientele

“I have been impressed by the technology and the team at Enspired Solutions.... e traction they are getting in diverse sectors means their business model is strong and has positive repercussions for raising capital with partners here in Michigan,” said Je Wesley, executive director at Spartan Innovations and its funding organizations Red Cedar Ventures and Michigan Rise.

One possible Enspired client is chemicals company Haviland USA.

Haviland uses the carbon- ltering method to rid wastewater of PFAS, but Steven Buday, director of water treatment for the company’s Grand

Rapids location, is interested in Enspired Solutions’ system if its recent bench testing proves e ective.

“Obviously, we don’t want PFAS to go into a land ll, and we’re open to any system that allows us to get rid of PFAS here onsite,” Buday said. “ ey seem to have a good process.”

Buday expects testing results to be available by the end of this month, which could lead to a pilot program with Enspired Solutions.

In addition to current clients like the U.S. Department of Defense, which supports re ghting training activities and strategies, Keys said other potential clients are wastewater treatment operators and a growing number of manufacturers in such sectors as metal platers and fabric manufacturers.

e state of Michigan established the Industrial Pretreatment Program, designed to protect, preserve and improve the state’s surface water quality by implementing federal and state rules to limit pollution from industrial discharges. Numerous states have similar initiatives in place and could be clients of Enspired Solutions as well.

Drinking water facilities are another key target for Key and Wang.

Scaling operations

Key and Wang worked at the global architecture, engineering and

consultancy company Ramboll for a decade before starting Enspired Solutions as a fully woman-owned company. at fact alone is a unique di erentiator in the industry, Key said.

Together, they aim to commercialize an already patented technology to permanently remove and destroy PFAS and to function as a global supplier of PFAS destruction equipment and technology. e company is fully licensed to sell the patented technology exclusively and commercially.

“It’s hard to believe that we quit our jobs and started our new careers in the middle of a pandemic to do this,” Key said.

While COVID was not the motivation to start Enspired Solutions, the fact that Wang, a Chicago resident, and Key were working from home in 2021 may have positively in uenced their decision.

Now, Key wants to increase the size of Enspired’s East Lansing headquarters at the incubator, upgrade its research and development capabilities and create a global sales and distribution network.

“ ere are more PFAS in water than is acceptable by EPA guidelines,” Key said. “Municipalities around the U.S. are also trying to decrease PFAS in drinking water. We can be a partner and solutions partner for all of these (entities).”

He said that while the odds are against commercialization, there has been some success in this space.

“ e pharmaceutical industry has been working on proteasome inhibitors in cancer for over 25 years. Some success has been seen with drugs like bortezomib, car lzomib and ixazomib, but these have been somewhat limited to blood cancers like myeloma and lymphoma,” Urban said.

Researching for the best-case scenario

e best-case scenario might be a long way o , but it would include Portera receiving the funding needed to hire more sta , expand o ce space and add a larger lab.

“A proteasome accelerator would be a whole new class of drug and could be applicable to a broad range of cancer types as well as a host of other diseases,” Urban said. “ at makes this research very exciting.”

In 10-15 years, Tepe’s research could be the impetus behind a new FDA-approved drug treating cancer and neurological diseases.

His research is pursuing small molecules that target and activate the proteasome to accelerate the degradation of proteins that create plaque over time. is plaque resides in the human brain and can lead to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. e hope is that proteasome activation could prevent, reverse or slow the toxic accumulation of these proteins.

For this and his other research, Tepe was named the MSU Innovation Center’s 2022 Innovator of the Year.

“He is a brilliant chemist and is very easy to work with,” Brinza said. “ at’s what makes this such a fun experience.”

Portera erapeutics is purposely keeping a low pro le for now. Brinza said the company remains in its early seed stage and has yet to invest in a website.

“It’s biotech and life sciences, so we know the odds,” Brinza said. “But if it works, the results could be immense.”

Laboratory bench-scale treatability testing system. | ENSPIRED SOLUTIONS

Interior view of Spartan Innovations at Michigan State University in East Lansing. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Denise Key, Ph.D., co-founder of Enspired Solutions | ENSPIRED SOLUTIONS

Toll roads in Michigan? Study shows where they might work

Report says all or parts of 6 interstates, a M-designated route could be converted in 5-7 years

DAVID EGGERT

LANSING — About 60 percent of Michigan’s 1,900-mile highway system is most feasible for tolling, including 545 miles of roadways that could be converted within ve to seven years — all or parts of six interstates and one M-designated route.

at is a conclusion in a feasibility analysis and implementation plan that were commissioned by the state Department of Transportation in accordance with a 2020 law.

HNTB Corp., which led the studies, found that assessing tolls on existing highways — electronically every other exit — could help address road- and bridge-funding needs in the middle and long terms as pavement conditions are expected to worsen and gasoline tax revenues are likely to decline due to more fuel-e cient vehicles and the transition to electric vehicles.

HNTB, which was aided by seven other consulting rms, presented the ndings during a Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing last Tuesday. Tolling would require approval from the governor and legislators, a politically di cult move.

e consultants used 21 criteria to review the feasibility of assessing mileage-based tolls on all 1,922 miles of limited-access highways. Of the 31 routes, 17 were screened out, partly to avoid a ecting low-income communities and to have self-supporting toll roads.

e 14 remaining corridors, encompassing 1,156 miles, were broken into three tiers based on their readiness for tolling: ve to seven years for 545 miles, seven to 14 years for 232 miles and 15 or more years for 379 miles.

Tier 1, the nearer-term scenario that is based on tolls starting in 2028, includes:

 All of Interstate 275 in metro Detroit.

 All of I-696.

 I-75 between the Ohio border and

I-275 south of Detroit, and between I-695 north of Saginaw and U.S. 127 north of Higgins Lake.

 I-94 between the Indiana border and U.S. 24 in Detroit.

 I-69 between Marshall and Flint.

 I-196 between I-94 north of St. Joseph and M-6 southwest of Grand Rapids.

 M-14 between I-94 southwest of Ann Arbor and the M-14/U.S. 23 split north of Ann Arbor.

Such a system would generate $1.3 billion in revenue annually by 2032 if the tolling rate was 6 cents a mile for passenger cars and 24 cents per mile for commercial trucks. e current transportation budget is $6.1 billion.

“Tolling could diversify revenue sources for transportation in the state of Michigan and free up existing sourc-

es of revenue at federal and state levels for other bridge and road projects not on these 545 miles, but will require a careful and considerate approach to implementation,” Eric Morris, HNTB senior vice president and Michigan ofce leader, told senators.

Creating tolls for existing roads, he said, “is a novel concept” and “not common in the industry.”

Tier 2, the seven- to 14-year timeline, includes:

 I-94 between M-59 north of Detroit and the I-69/I-94 split near Port Huron;

 I-75 between I-475 north of Flint and I-675 north of Saginaw;

 U.S. 23 between I-94 southeast of Ann Arbor and I-96 near Brighton; and

 I-96 between U.S. 127 southeast of Lansing and the I-96/I-275/I-696/M-5

interchange, and between U.S. 31 near Muskegon and the I-69/I-96 split near Lansing.

Tier 3, the 15-year-or-beyond option, includes:

 I-75 between I-275 south of Detroit and I-96 in Detroit, and between I-696 near Detroit and M-59 near Detroit.

 U.S. 23 between the Ohio border and I-94, and between I-96 and the I-75 split southwest of Flint.

 I-69 between the Indiana border and I-94 near Marshall, and between I-75 near Flint and the I-69/I-94 split near Port Huron.

 I-96 between the southern I-69/I-96 split near Lansing and I-496/U.S. 127 southeast of Lansing.

 U.S. 131 between I-96 in Grand Rapids and north of Cadillac.

 M-6 near Grand Rapids.

 M-14 between the split with U.S. 23 northeast of Ann Arbor and the I-96/I-275 interchange.

 M-59 between Huron Street near downtown Pontiac and Van Dyke Avenue in Utica.

Unlike nearby states such as Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, Michigan does not have toll roads.

e consultants interviewed business, tourism and economic development groups along with logistics providers. e feedback was used when considering where and how tolling could take e ect.

Business associations, including chambers of commerce, saw the value in having a stable revenue source but also expressed concern about double taxation and new fees. ey suggested rebate programs, including for low-income drivers.

Logistics organizations said they face challenges like congestion, wear and tear, and travel time reliability that could improve with tolling. But they also face rapidly increasing business costs.

Responses were mixed on the tourism impact. Groups had minimal concerns about the e ect on in-state travel but noted it could deter out-of-state tourists. ey expected medium- and long-term tourism recovery, though, from improved roads and driving experience.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, when asked last month about the draft studies and whether tolling should be considered, said: “We’re looking at everything.”

She launched a bonding program in 2020 but said the state has “yet to address the long-term funding issues. So perhaps that’s a part of the long-term solution. ... It might make sense in certain arteries and not others.”

Contact: david.eggert@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @DavidEggert00

Michigan aims $50M at nonpro t relief. Here’s who will bene t.

A $50 million state-funded relief effort will bene t both large and small nonpro ts in Michigan, with special focus on those with smaller budgets that are still struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic.

Included as part of the state’s scal 2023 budget, the dedicated funding for nonpro ts will employ a two-pronged approach in what it funds and in who administers the funding.

e Michigan Nonpro t Association will administer the bulk of the funding, $35 million, and will make one-time grants to nonpro ts with under $1 million in revenue.

e Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity will administer the remaining $15 million, making large “impact grants” of $500,000-$2 million to nonpro ts with innovative ideas for helping end poverty in the state.

“Ultimately, we’re helping all of the nonpro t ecosystem, I think, with this grant program, because we really want to give relief to those smaller nonprofits that don’t necessarily always get opportunities like this, but we also want to give the more established nonpro ts

an opportunity to ... test drive their ideas and really get a boost so that they can be partners with us in the work that we’re doing to end poverty in our state,” said Kim Trent, deputy director, prosperity, for LEO.

e goal is to get the smaller grants out by spring and the larger grants out by June, the groups said.

MNA tracked the needs of nonprofits throughout the pandemic, President and CEO Kelley Kuhn said. Many reported revenue declines of 50-60 percent with the loss of earned revenue and the inability to host fundraising events.

Yet, nonpro ts had access to only three of 23 federal relief programs administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corp., according to

MNA.

MNA began advocating early on for dedicated relief funding for nonpro ts, similar to what was provided for small businesses. Given that 93 percent of the nonpro ts in Michigan have budgets of $1 million or less and those were the nonpro ts hit hardest during the pandemic, the bulk of the relief fund will support those groups, Kuhn said.

To qualify for a one-time grant of $5,000-$25,000, small nonpro ts will have to demonstrate they had nancial hardship tied to COVID after March 3, 2021, after the Paycheck Protection Program and other supports expired.

“A lot of organizations really su ered and ... through fundraising or other efforts were able to get to kind of more solid ground. But if they took a hit during COVID, we want to make sure that we are acknowledging ... the sacrices that they made and are trying to make them whole,” Trent said.

LEO will have an oversight role, approving grants made from the fund, but MNA will lead the bulk of the administration of funding to smaller nonpro ts.

In making grants from the relief fund, MNA will use the same “hub-

and-spoke” model of outreach and support it used in the run-up to the 2020 census, relying on regional nonpro ts around the state to help.

“We are really about mobilizing regional hubs ... (that) know their communities and equipping them with resources and information to be able to make sure that they’re working in their communities and deploying the dollars and making the decisions there,” Kuhn said.

Sixty to 80 community leaders of nonpro ts representing all regions of the state will serve as “the boots on the ground as we get into the actual grant deployment process,” said Nellie Tsai, social innovation o cer with MNA.

ose organizations make up six regional hubs that have been providing feedback on the relief grant process as it develops. ey will assist with local outreach to small nonpro ts around the state, provide technical assistance for nonpro t applicants that need it and review the proposals before they move to MNA and ultimately, LEO, for nal approval, Tsai said.

By mid-February, MNA plans to post a short, general inquiry application on its website for small nonpro ts

interested in applying for a relief grant to gauge their need for technical assistance and other characteristics such as scal sponsorship and their location.

As important as understanding where the need is coming from is understanding where there isn’t response from local nonpro ts, Tsai said.

MNA expects to post the application for relief funding grants for small nonpro ts on its website by month’s end and to make grants in the spring.

e organization estimates that 1,200-4,600 small nonpro ts will receive a relief grant, Tsai said.

e state is looking to leverage an additional $15 million of the nonpro t relief dollars to produce “meaningful impact” on alleviating poverty, Trent said.

e impact grants will likely be aimed at larger nonpro ts, given that proof of nancial stability is a requirement to receive one, she noted. LEO, which will take those grant proposals directly, will be looking for proposals with long-term strategies aliged with the Michigan Poverty Task Force goals.

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch

Toll roads have been one option considered to pay for road improvements in Michigan and deal with an expected decline in revenue caused by falling gas-tax collections. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

SHERRI WELCH

Kuhn Trent

Shyft Group plans $16M expansion to produce EV delivery vans

Specialty manufacturer will have capacity to produce 3,000 Blue Arc vehicles per year in Charlotte facilities

JOE BOOMGAARD | MIBIZ

CHARLOTTE — Specialty vehicle manufacturer e Shyft Group Inc. plans to invest $16 million to expand its engineering and manufacturing capabilities in Charlotte to produce the company’s Blue Arc EV Solutions brand of electric commercial vehicles.

e investment will enable Novibased Shyft (Nasdaq: SHYF) to start production on the all-electric Class 3, 4 and 5 vehicles by mid 2023 at its legacy manufacturing facilities in Charlotte, about 20 miles southwest of Lansing.

e specialty vehicle manufacturer will have the capacity to manufacture 3,000 EVs per year in Charlotte, where it currently produces several Shyft product lines, such as conventionally powered delivery vans and chassis used in motorhomes and work trucks.

Company executives expect the expansion to pave the way for new engineering, manufacturing and technical jobs at the site.

In an application for an industrial facilities tax exemption from the city of Charlotte, the company projected it would hire 200 new employees as part of the expansion project, which includes renovations to Plant 4 and Plant 7, according to a presentation in December.

A Shyft spokesperson said the company currently employs about 900 people in Charlotte, up from

about 300 a couple of years ago. e company employs a total of 1,225 people statewide.

“We’re extremely proud to invest in EV production here in our home state of Michigan where our company has been headquartered for nearly 50 years,” Shyft Group President and CEO Daryl Adams said in a statement. “We are thankful to be part of the Charlotte community and look forward to bringing the future of eets to our operations there.”

Shyft Group was formerly known as Spartan Motors Inc. and headquartered in Charlotte until 2020, when it sold o its emergency re-

sponse vehicle line, changed its name and relocated administrative operations to Novi in a move to attract talent from Southeast Michigan. e investment comes nearly ve months after Shyft received the rst 2,000-unit preorder for Blue Arc’s line of walk-in delivery vans, which will be available in body lengths from 12 feet to 22 feet and feature 150 miles of range. e company is marketing Blue Arc to last-mile delivery eets. With the expansion, the company is leveraging assistance and incentives from the city of Charlotte, Lansing Economic Area Partnership, and the Michigan Economic Develop-

Retiring CEO is leaving Gorman’s in experienced hands with focus on future

JAY DAVIS

As he prepares to leave the company he’s worked with for 40 years, outgoing Gorman’s Home Furnishings & Interior Design President and CEO Tom Lias believes the Farmington Hills-based company is in a great position going forward — a major reason behind his decision to retire.

“Everything is in place. In the last three years, we’ve consolidated our stores from six to four. We’ve cashed up. We have no debt,” said the 76-yearold Lias, who joined Gorman’s in 1983. “We have substantial cash reserves. e company is in the best position of its 82-year-history. Now’s the time for me to move on.”

Experienced leaders ready to step into new roles makes the transition easier, too, Lias said.

John Moray, 57, who has been Gorman’s vice president of operations for 27 years, will move into the CEO role. Moray is the son of past Gorman’s board Chair Bernie Moray, who died in 2021. e company is owned by the Moray Family Trust.

Stepping into the president role and handling most of the day-to-day operations is Duane Petroskey, who most recently served as Gorman’s vice president and general manager. Petroskey, 60, has been with Gorman’s for almost two decades and has more than 30 years experience in the furniture and interior design industry.

“I’ve been with the company for almost 18 years. I’ve been in management positions most of that time,” Petroskey said. “I’ve worked closely with (Lias), taking on more responsibility as time has gone on. e whole transition, succession plan has never been a secret. We’ve discussed it. (Lias) has mentored me for the past seven years.”

Lias, planning to move to Orlando, called the moves a “non-event.” e people who will lead Gorman’s into the future have been with the company for at least 13 years, he said.

“We didn’t have to go out and look for people. ey were already here,” said Lias, who has been in the furniture industry for more than 50 years. “ e plan was just normal evolution to turn over more responsibility while I was in the position to coach it.

“ e thing that puts me most at peace in all of this is that we’re moving out of town. I live a mile away from the Troy store. I couldn’t retire and drive by that store ve days a week. I’m happy

ment Corp., which is providing an $800,000 performance-based grant under the Jobs Ready Michigan Program.

MEDC CEO Quentin Messer Jr. said Shyft Group’s expansion “underscores the strength of your business powered by our state’s talented workforce and leadership in mobility and advanced manufacturing.”

“We’re grateful to Shyft for this vote of con dence in Michigan and look forward to working together to grow, add jobs, and provide greater opportunity in Mid-Michigan,” Messer said in a statement.

e company weighed locating the EV production facility in Indiana and Pennsylvania, according to the MEDC.

“Our future is bright, and thanks to companies like Shyft and our local partners, we can continue bringing critical supply chains of cars, chips, and clean energy home to grow our economy and create good jobs for Michigan residents,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement.

e state’s announcement noted the overall project is forecast to create 680 jobs in Charlotte. A company spokesperson said some of the hiring had already taken place and that Shyft Group will focus on employee retention and raising wages to reach

certain milestones required under the grant. Shyft Group also will continue to work with Capital Area Michigan Works! on various talent e orts.

As well, an executive previously told Charlotte o cials the company planned to pursue additional local tax incentives for a third location set to be a “battery storage facility” at the campus. However, the company opted in the last four or ve weeks not to pursue the incentive, according to a spokesperson.

e company is scheduled to re-

for everybody who’s taking on more responsibility.”

e changes come while the company is in a strong position.

Gorman’s in 2022 earned about $28 million in revenue, according to Lias. at number is up from pre-pandemic levels.

e Shelby Township and Grand Rapids stores closed after the expiration of 20- and 10-year leases, respectively. Gorman’s now has full-service stores in Novi, South eld and Troy, and a clearance store in Farmington Hills. e company has 90 employees. e two store closures helped Gorman’s increase its cash reserves, according to Lias. ose cash reserves, which Lias would not disclose, come from liquidation sales at the Shelby Township and Grand Rapids stores.

“If you have $1.5 million in inventory, at cost, on the retail oor, you can turn that into $2.5 million by selling it and not replacing the inventory,” Lias said. “You sell the pieces o and keep the cash.”

Petroskey said he’ll work to ensure Gorman’s keeps performing.

“With the way (Lias) and the owners have established the company as the place to go for higher-end furniture, and being able to get what they want in the higher end, we certainly will continue to do that,” he said.

Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981

port its fourth quarter and year-end 2022 earnings on Feb. 23.

As part of a third quarter earnings report released Oct. 27, Shyft Group executives narrowed their full-year outlook to $1 billion to $1.1 billion in revenues. At the time, they said expenses related to EV development were expected to reach about $30 million for the year.

rough the rst nine months of 2022, Shyft Group generated $725.1 million in sales, up about 1.5 percent year-over-year.

In 2021, Shyft reported annual revenues of $992 million and adjusted earnings of $108 million.

Little Caesars names

Wendy’s exec as new CFO

JAY DAVIS

Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. has a new face in a prominent role.

Leigh Burnside is the new chief nancial o cer for the Detroit-based pizza company. Burnside takes over for Darrell Snygg, who recently retired after 34 years with the company.

Burnside is making the leap from hamburgers to pizza. She joins Little Caesars after nearly 20 years with e Wendy’s Co., where she most recently served as senior vice president, chief accounting o cer and chief nancial o cer. She has more than 30 years of experience in accounting and nance.

Burnside will support the continued strategic global growth of the Little Caesars brand, according to a news release. She will be based out of the company’s global headquarters in Detroit and serve as a key member of the company’s senior leadership team.

e new CFO will work closely with Allison Bieri, Little Caesars’ new senior vice president of ac-

counting. Bieri, who has been with the company since 2015, will head the development and expansion of Little Caesars’ accounting team. She previously had nance roles with General Motors Co., Gillette and Kraft.

Burnside will report to company CEO Dave Scrivano while Bieri will report to Burnside.

Scrivano called Burnside a driven strategic leader and e ective collaborator who will have a strong impact on the Ilitch family-owned business. “Her extensive experience in the QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) industry, coupled with her expertise innance and accounting, make her an excellent t for the role,” Scrivano said in the release.

Little Caesars plans to add additional new leadership roles in nance and accounting, as well as across the organization, to support recent international and domestic growth, according to the release.

FOOD & DRINK

Shyft Group will have capacity to produce 3,000 Blue Arc electric delivery vehicles at its facilities in Charlotte following a $16 million investment. | SHYFT GROUP

“WE ARE THANKFUL TO BE PART OF THE CHARLOTTE COMMUNITY AND LOOK FORWARD TO BRINGING THE FUTURE OF FLEETS TO OUR OPERATIONS THERE.”

— Daryl Adams, president and CEO, Shyft Group

Lias Petroskey

Avian in uenza outbreak presents opportunity to Michigan egg industry

State producers invest in biosecurity to protect their ocks

DUSTIN WALSH

e avian u outbreaks that have decimated the egg industry have left Michigan, one of the nation’s largest egg producers, largely unscathed.

Grocery shopping is a painful endeavor thanks to record high prices for essential food items. e pocketbook agony is possibly most noticeable at the egg cooler.

e average price of a dozen eggs peaked at $4.25 in December, up from just $1.50 prior to the pandemic. Prices have since dropped but remain well above prepandemic levels.

e market for eggs is what economists call inelastic — simply put, eggs are a staple in American households and consumers will sacri ce elsewhere to buy and consume them.

at’s good news for chicken farmers who were devastated by the outbreak that claimed one out of every 10 egg-laying hens in the U.S. since last year.

It’s even better news for Michigan’s large egg farming infrastructure —

DIA space, Michigan Central arts among $23M in Knight grantees

BY SHERRI WELCH

Several digital arts projects in the works for Detroit and a few new ones will get a boost from $23 million in grants from the Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

ey’ll fund a new arts and technology strategy with world-class art for the developing Michigan Central District in the city’s Corktown neighborhood; a new outdoor performance space near the Detroit Institute of Arts and expanded Wi-Fi in the city’s Cultural Center, and a new mobile media laboratory for artists in Detroit’s North End neighborhood.

R&D lab, which will provide cross-disciplinary cohorts of arts leaders in Detroit with training and technical resources.

 Michigan Central, a 30-acre innovation district in Detroit’s Corktown Neighborhood: $2 million to develop an art and technology program around the redeveloped Michigan Central Station.

 Midtown Detroit Inc.: $2 million to expand the public’s access to free and secure Wi-Fi available at its Cultural Center and will design and pilot a new outdoor performance space on the Detroit Institute of Arts campus.

more than 4 billion eggs are produced in the state annually or about 4 percent of the national production — that’s invested heavily into cage-free operations, a requirement by the end of 2024 from regulators in the state.

“ e farms that have been a ected by avian in uenza are su ering, but that production (to keep up with demand) now on the market has to be met by other companies,” said Nancy Barr, executive director of Michigan Allied Poultry Industries, the trade association for Michigan egg, chicken and turkey farmers. “High egg prices helps keep producers producing. No one wants avian u to happen to any of their colleagues and everyone is on

high alert, but Michigan farmers have done an amazing job protecting their ocks and that’s presented opportunity.”

More than 58 million chickens have died or been culled during the current avian u outbreak, which began roughly a year ago, in 47 states. Michigan, the sixth-largest egg producing state in the U.S. with a $1.4 billion economic impact, isn’t one of those states and hasn’t recorded a single outbreak among its roughly 15 million hens on 17 farms.

For context on the severity of the avian u outbreak, it’s killed, forced the culling of, about 10 percent of the U.S. laying hen population in the past 12 months. e COVID-19 outbreak has killed less than 0.3 percent of the U.S. population in the last roughly three years. For birds, this is a far worse pandemic and a direct result in the shock to egg prices. Dead hens don’t lay eggs.

e success of Michigan’s laying hen industry — which is controlled by eight companies, including Saranac-based Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch Inc., which is the 10th-largest egg producer in the U.S. and supplies every McDonald’s east of the Mississippi River — stems from watching previous outbreaks and investing in biosecurity, said Ernie Birchmeier, livestock and dairy specialist for the Michigan Farm Bureau.

“We annually deal with avian in uenza during the migration process in the fall and spring. When wild birds commingle with farm birds, no di erent than when children go to school, sickness spreads,” Birchmeier said.

“Our farmers have learned and put in very strict biosecurity measures. You can’t just walk onto a farm and visit the birds. ere’s tight biosecurity protocols that involves washing and covering of clothes and documenting where you’ve been. at even goes for

the vehicles that come onto the farms with washing and disinfecting.”

e last major outbreak, between December 2014 and June 2015, killed more than 50 million birds and hammered Michigan’s turkey farmers. And if avian u is found in a commercial ock, the entire ock has to be euthanized under U.S. Department of Agriculture rules.

Much of those new biosecurity measures are coming alongside expansion investments to comply with industry demand, and government regulations, on cage-free birds, said Travis Jones, CEO of agriculturalnancial services rm GreenStone Farm Credit Services.

Because of those investments, Michigan has seen a 50 percent rise in farmed laying hens since 1995, according to GreenStone. Almost every hen barn in the state is being, or has been, renovated.

e family-owned Herbruck’s started a $76 million investment to expand operations at its farms years ago, much of which was to accommodate the cage-free demand of its customers, like McDonald’s, Kroger, Meijer and others.

e current high egg prices help the farms recoup some of that investment, Jones said.

“Many of our farmers have seen cycles like this before,” Jones said. “ e upside is limited because most of these farms have long-term customer contracts that limits the upside and downside of the market. But certainly, farmers are bene ting from higher prices, but it’s a controlled bene t. It does provide more equity and cash to continue these investments as they stick to the gameplan.”

Egg prices are expected to come back down, eventually, and with it the cyclical nature of the industry swings the other way. But with the investments and protections put in place, Michigan’s egg industry may continue to advance — as long as its barns stay clear of disease.

Contact: dwalsh@crain.com; (313) 446-6042; @dustinpwalsh

e latest round of grants will support the digital future of the arts in Detroit over the next ve years, bene ting 10 local arts organizations that have used technology to connect people to place and to each other, propelling those efforts and spurring new use of technology in the creation, dissemination and experience of art, the foundation said.

ey mark Knight’s fourth round of support for Detroit arts organizations since 2005 and bring its total support for the local arts sector to $50.75 million.

“Art institutions have a unique role in telling our stories, re ecting our cultures and helping us understand the world around us,” Knight Vice President Victoria Rogers, vice president of arts at Knight Foundation, said in a release.

“In Detroit, the e ective application of technology among both long-standing and emerging artists and art organizations will be particularly salient. We are proud that our new initiative is supporting organizations and artists who are ensuring Detroit remains a vibrant and creative center of informed and engaged communities.”

Several grantees will use the funding to launch new technology-based initiatives. ey include:

 Bulk Space: $750,000 to create the Bulk Media Lab, a mobile media laboratory with portable tools and resources made available to artists in Detroit’s North End.

 CultureSource: $1 million to increase the technical capacity and understanding of Detroit’s arts leaders through the creation and operation of the CultureSource

 Motown Museum: $4.5 million to create a “Digital Jukebox,” which will make key archival content and physical materials available online and on-site.

 Sphinx Organization: $1.25 million to foster increased participation of BIPOC performing artists in classical music by expanding the digital reach of its programming and SphinxConnect, the largest convening dedicated to diversity and inclusion in classical music.

Four grantees will use their grants for strategic planning, digital content creation, marketing and investment in tech-related personnel to expand and increase accessibility of their digital presences.

ey include: the Arab-American National Museum with a $1 million grant, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History with a $3 million grant and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Opera with grants of $2 million each.

Knight said it will provide an additional $3.5 million to fellowship, commissioning and capacity-building programs to support individual artists and arts organizations employing technology to transform their work, with those programs launching in 2023 and 2024.

e Knight Foundation makes grants aimed at fostering informed and engaged communities, directly in Detroit and seven other eight cities where the Knight brothers owned and operated newspapers. Donor-advised funds it has established in 18 other U.S. cities also provide support in those areas.

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch

Eggs for sale at a grocery store in Detroit in January. In the nal 12 weeks of the year, shell egg prices were up 81percent compared to that same period in 2021, for an average per-unit price of $5.24. | MATTHEW HATCHER/BLOOMBERG

“OUR FARMERS HAVE LEARNED AND PUT IN VERY STRICT BIOSECURITY MEASURES. YOU CAN’T JUST WALK ONTO A FARM AND VISIT THE BIRDS.”

—Ernie Birchmeier, livestock and dairy specialist, Michigan Farm Bureau

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Advertising Section

To place your listing, visit www.crainsdetroit.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

ACCOUNTING

Little Caesars

Little Caesars is pleased to announce the promotion of Allison Bieri to Senior Vice President, Accounting. Since joining the company in 2015, Allison’s leadership and experience has proved invaluable to the brand. Her new role will be focused on consolidating the accounting needs for all divisions of Little Caesars, including Blue Line Distribution, Little Caesars Fundraising, and Champion Foods along with expanding the accounting team to align with growing business needs.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

MICHauto

Drew Coleman is the Senior Director of MICHauto at the Detroit Regional Chamber. Coleman leads the development and implementation of talent initiatives for the MICHauto in collaboration with the Chamber’s education and talent team. Coleman also oversees the implementation of MICHauto’s key pillars of advocacy and next-gen mobility, as well as the research, convening, and marketing efforts of the initiative. Prior to joining the MICHauto, Coleman spent 10 years with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation leading the State of Michigan’s foreign direct investment program and business attraction strategy.

LAW

Foley & Lardner LLP

Irina Kashcheyeva is a commercial litigator with Foley & Lardner LLP, and a member of the rm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group and Consumer Law, Finance and Class Action Working Group. Irina has litigated and counseled clients on various aspects of state and federal consumer protection and privacy statutes, and regularly represents companies in the healthcare, nancial services and automotive manufacturing sectors.

From Page 3

e food prepared for each meal comes from the farm with a wine pairing from a ree Oaks wine shop. Each dinner has seating for 40 guests. A private botanical dining room o ers seating for 14.

CONSULTING

Mercer Health & Bene ts Mercer, global actuarial and employee bene ts consultancy, and subsidiary of Marsh McLennan, announced the appointment of Deanna Kilgore, Associate, Health & Bene ts practice. Deanna has almost a decade of experience providing oversight and assistance to employer plan sponsors with their employee bene t programs. Deanna earned an Associate Degree from Oakland Community College in Business Administration. Visit www.mercer. com and/or on Twitter @Mercer.

INSURANCE / BROKERAGE

Kapnick Insurance Group

Kapnick Insurance

welcomes Derek LaCosse as a Client Executive in their employee bene ts division. LaCosse brings with him years of business-to-business sales experience within the tech industry and is licensed in both Employee Bene ts and Property & Casualty Insurance. “His experience in client relations, project management, and business development make him uniquely quali ed to help his clients achieve their goals,” says Dave Huntzicker, Senior Vice President, and partner at Kapnick.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

MICHauto

Kathy Dallas is the Director of Resource Development for MICHauto at the Detroit Regional Chamber. Dallas recruits new corporate partners for MICHauto and Let’s Detroit and manages corporate Chamber memberships in the automotive, mobility, and high-tech cluster MICHauto serves. Dallas returned to the Chamber in 2022 after previously working there from 2008 to 2016. During her rst tenure, Dallas managed sponsorships for all Chamber events, including Mackinac Policy Conference. Most recently, Dallas was a Senior Sales Director for the Fulkerson Group, managing sponsorship opportunities for major events in Detroit. She also served as Director of Fundraising at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation.

NONPROFITS

Fair Food Network

Building on 25 years in social and environmental activism, Kate Krauss has been named Fair Food Network’s CEO. In her seven years in leadership, the organization has grown its budget vefold, developed critical operational infrastructure, and diversi ed funding sources. Kate will guide Fair Food Network in its mission to grow vibrant communities through food, weaving together sustainable solutions and a commitment to community listening with a focus on food as a pathway to joy and justice.

“We do that to tighten the link in how food is produced and consumed. e fact that the Beard Foundation thinks that’s relevant is remarkable,” Berens said. “ e tickets are always in demand, but I think the nomination will de nitely help business. I think (the nomination) shows how the Beard Foundation is actively looking to broaden what has traditionally been a slightly more narrow scope.”

Some say that scope should include farmers like Berens.

She grew up farming in her hometown of Hamilton, about halfway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. Her father ran a nearly 400-acre pickle farm and sold products to Heinz.

It wasn’t until Berens enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor that she realized not everyone had gardens in their backyard.

“It was just something that was commonplace” for her, Berens said.

REAL ESTATE

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services The Loft Warehouse

Justin Cain has been promoted to Vice President of Residential Real Estate at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Loft Warehouse in Detroit. Justin brings 7 years of experience and an abundance of best practices to his clients and to the BHHS Loft Warehouse team of realtors. His success is centered on the mantra, “Simple in approach. Excellence in execution.” Justin is a SE Michigan real estate leader and is passionate about mentoring the next generation of top real estate agents.

It was in Ann Arbor where Berens began to develop an appetite for cooking. She worked at the popular Zingerman’s Deli from 2002-07 under head chef and now managing partner Rodger Bowser. In Ann Arbor, Berens visited her rst farmers market.

“(Bowser) brought more local food to Zingerman’s. It was actually nice for me, at the time, to go to the grocery store and get vegetables as opposed to in my backyard.”

Berens then moved on to expand her cooking expertise.

After college, she trained in a garden-focused kitchen at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland.

“ ere was a movement coming in the restaurant industry of bringing in beautiful produce. Ballymaloe cemented that idea,” Berens said.

In 2009, Berens founded Bare Knuckle Farm in Northport at the top of the Leelanau Peninsula, where she worked for eight years. “I recognized the disconnect people feel with farming and wanted to help tighten up that understanding,” she said.

While running Bare Knuckle Farm, Berens also spent some time in Chicago — a market with a great dining reputation.

So why go to ree Oaks from the Windy City?

“I’m a Michigander through and through. Even when I wasn’t here, I didn’t change my residency,” Berens said. “I knew I wanted to be back in Michigan. It was all about trying to gure out the logistics. My husband is a musician, so we needed some proximity to a big airport. I was looking at doing a residency (at Granor), but instead of doing that, they hired me.”

Granor Farm Manager Johannah Frelier is glad to have Berens as part of the farm, adding that Berens’ success is directly tied to the farm’s success.

“ e fact that a (Beard) nomination went to a chef and farm business in rural southwest Michigan speaks to the innate desire to reconnect food with the land,” Frelier said. “So often meals, whether served at a restaurant in a big city or a rural town like ours, have little to no connection to the sourced ingredients. It’s beyond valuable that Chef (Berens) is a former farmer who can identify and understand the volatile nature of farming in today’s climate and remain exible and unendingly excited at the jewels we bring in from the elds each week.”

Berens admitted she hasn’t sought out the type of validation the Beard nomination may bring, but it’s nice to be appreciated for what she and Granor Farm have to o er.

“I certainly feel a sense of pride and validation for everyone who works here,” Berens said. “Maybe there’s a sensitivity to that that comes from so few people understanding agriculture.

“I think about when (former New York City Mayor) Michael Bloomberg said, ‘how hard is it to be a farmer?’ He’s not alone in not understanding that. I do think it’s really nice to have people say they recognize our hard work and that we’re doing something worthwhile.”

Chef Abra Berens, from Granor Farm in Three Oaks, earned a 2023 James Beard Foundation semi nalist nod in the Best Chef: Great Lakes category. | ABRA BERENS VIA INSTAGRAM

“I THINK (THE NOMINATION) SHOWS HOW THE BEARD FOUNDATION IS ACTIVELY LOOKING TO BROADEN WHAT HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN A SLIGHTLY MORE NARROW SCOPE.”

—Abra Berens, chef, Granor Farm

Frelier

ZINGERMAN’S

at keeps with the ZCoB philosophy of each property as its own unique business.

Establishing a PPT is not common practice among businesses and it can be highly complex. Weinzweig said Zingerman’s worked with its attorney for years to get it right.

“Eventually, of course, Paul and I will be gone, but the purpose and spirit of the organization can now stay put,” Weinzweig said in an announcement about the ZPPT. “And the other great leaders who have already been actively and e ectively participating in running the (Zingerman’s Community of Businesses) so ably will continue on apace.”

Each of ZCoB’s independent business are run by managing partners — Zingerman’s employees who developed unique business plans and followed a path to business ownership.

Zingerman's also founded Food Gatherers in 1988, an independent nonpro t food rescue and food bank in Ann Arbor. e majority of ZCoB's corporate giving has been directed toward alleviating hunger in Washtenaw County.

e move to a PPT is a form of succession planning for Weinzweig, 66, and Saginaw, 70.

rough the trust, Zingerman’s ownership will over the next 20 years pay out larger portions of the pro ts earned from the company’s intellectual property to Community Share owners who are made up of sta who put $1,000 toward a share of the IP. Dividends are linked to pro tability. All 750 current employees in the ZCoB have the opportunity to purchase a share. at share will gradually increase over the next 20 years to give those shareholders more than half of the pro t from ZCoB’s intellectual property, according to Weinzweig. Half of the IP currently belongs to Weinzweig and Saginaw.

“We’ve been working on this for 10 years. We needed to come up with some legal, nancial succession planning,” Weinzweig said. “It allows the company to stay in business and not get sold o to some high bidder down the road. It frames the organization within the values we created many years ago that we continue to try to live by.

“It just seems like the right thing to do. e idea is to create growth and be a forest in the community. at’s not to say we’re so great, but if you pull Zingerman’s out of Ann Arbor you’ll feel the e ects. is allows Zingerman’s Community of Businesses to thrive for many decades after (Saginaw) and I are gone. We’re a big part of the community and we want to stay in the community.”

Saginaw, who now lives in Las Ve-

What is a Perpetual Purpose Trust?

A Perpetual Purpose Trust is a noncharitable trust established for the bene t of a purpose rather than a person. PPTs can prevent future owners from discarding pro-social policies in favor of higher pro ts. They also allow for various aspects of a company’s mission to be protected in the long term — such as pro t-sharing programs, supply chain practices, stakeholder inclusion in governance and more.

SOURCE: PURPOSE FOUNDATION

gas and operates three businesses inside the Circa Resort & Casino there, said keeping the company small has been a personal choice.

“Certainly franchising or having a chain and bringing in private equity, or scaling up are proven business models,” he said. “ at just wasn’t what we wanted. It comes with a lot of problems. We wanted to be unique. For us being unique means that each of our businesses is unique. When you bring in a lot of money and big investments, that starts to dictate what you do. We wanted to share ownership with the people who work for us.”

Establishing the PPT comes as Zingerman’s continues to grow.

e ZCoB last year saw about $75 million in sales — up about $5 mil-

lion from 2021 and about $25 million from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit businesses like Zingerman’s hard. Zingerman’s Community of Businesses generally sees modest sales growth each year — between 5 percent and 10 percent — according to Weinzweig. Saginaw projects Zingerman’s will see about $78.5 million in sales this year.

at growth and emphasis on community is what attracted Joe Capuano to Zingerman’s in 2003. at year, Capuano joined Zingerman’s Mail Order in a seasonal holiday role. He’s now the purchasing manager for the business, a role he assumed in 2011.

Capuano, 60, believes the implementation of the PPT is vital for ZCoB’s future.

“I’ve been reading about trusts for a while. ey’re kind of a remarkable thing,” he said. “I was really excited when I heard the company was working on that. For any company selling is always a possibility. You have new people come in who say they’re going to keep things the same, but then they change everything.

“ e trust gives the company the ability to keep the vision established by (Saginaw and Weinzweig). ere’s no expanding out of Ann Arbor, no duplicating any of the businesses. at’s what makes us special.”

Katie Frank, managing partner for business consulting company ZingTrain, called the establishment of the trust very generous.

“It’s a great way to transfer pro ts to the employees,” said the 45-yearold Frank, who has been with Zingerman’s for 17 years. “I think the company is set up well for the future. We’ll miss (Weinzweig and Saginaw) for sure. (Saginaw) has been out of his day-to-day role since 2020. (Weinzweig) hasn’t been in a day-to-day managing capacity for more than 20

years. at’s allowed the organization to grow. What we’re going to focus on is making sure to honor all the ways they’ve contributed to the business.” Saginaw may already have one foot out the door, but Weinzweig hasn’t decided when he’ll leave the business he helped start in March 1982.

Weinzweig continues to live in Ann Arbor and is frequently seen at the Roadhouse pouring water and chatting up diners or shopping at the deli.

“I’ll be around more than two years and less than 20,” Weinzweig said. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m having a good time. It’s amazing that we started with two employees. We were just a little corner store.

“In 1994, when we shared our vision for 2009, that’s when we described having a community of businesses — a family of businesses each with its own specialty. We’ll keep growing further. Slow and steady is kind of how we go.”

Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981

4 decades of Zingerman’s

Ann Arbor-based Zingerman’s is more than a deli. The Zingerman’s Community of Businesses is made up of a vareity of unique businesses run by managing partners.

Following are the businesses and when each opened:

Delicatessen: 1982

Bakehouse: 1992

Mail Order: 1993

ZingTrain: 1994

Catering: 1996

Creamery: 2001

Roadhouse restaurant: 2003 Co ee Company: 2003

Bake! cooking and baking classes: 2006

Candy Manufactory: 2009

Cornman Farms: 2014

Miss Kim restaurant: 2016

Greyline event venue: 2016 Food Tours: 2018

SOURCE: ZINGERMAN’S

Zingerman’s Delicatessen was founded in 1982 and has become an Ann Arbor institution. | ZINGERMAN’S

Weinzweig Saginaw

The Reuben that helped launch Zingerman’s Ann Arbor area empire. | ZINGERMAN’S

e plan to re-envision the neighborhood surrounding the century-old Henry Ford Hospital spans multiple blocks south of West Grand Boulevard on both sides of the John C. Lodge Freeway/M-10. It is being driven by a team-up of the Detroit-based health system, Gores and MSU, among other stakeholders.

“ is really is, to me, the gateway into the city. It’s also connected into the neighborhoods, so we are going to have an impact into the neighborhoods,” Detroit Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem said.

e new all-private-room hospital would be over 1 million square feet constructed across West Grand Boulevard from Henry Ford’s existing hospital; the existing Health Alliance Plan building at 2850 W. Grand Blvd. would be torn down to clear the way for it, which is expected to be similar in height to the 489-foot Fisher Building two blocks east, representatives from the heath system told Crain’s.

e new tower will also include a larger emergency department, alleviating congestion in the existing hospital. e legacy hospital will remain in operation but with a smaller clinical footprint. A skywalk and a series of tunnels will connect the new structure and the existing hospital.

e health system’s board of directors is expected to approve the plan later this month, the nonpro t told Crain’s. Construction on the new hospital and research center is expected to begin next year, with the former nishing in 2029 and the latter nishing in 2027.

As part of the overall redevelopment, Gores’ team would redevelop Henry Ford Health’s 610,000-squarefoot headquarters building, One Ford Place, between Second and ird avenues into a residential complex and construct a new mixed-use residential and retail complex on a surface parking lot sandwiched between that property and the Pistons Performance Center, where the team practices and has its corporate o ce.

In all, 550-plus residential units, including a ordable housing, are envisioned, and the repurposing of the o ce building would be perhaps the rst major conversion of such a property into residential space during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bob Riney, president and CEO of HFH, and Tellem said the development is spun from the success of the health system and the Pistons partnering on the Performance Center, which includes a Plum Market and Planet Fitness, they built in 2019. Plus, vacating One Ford Place would harm the Performance Center across the street and the MSU research facility going in its parking lot.

“We de nitely didn’t want to leave that building (One Ford Place) abandoned,” Riney said. “All of a sudden Jupiter aligns with Mars. You’ve got our needs for the mission, you’ve got an incredible partnership that we have formed with the Pistons, who share the same values about Detroit and being part of the economic vitality (of the city). And then you bring in the education and research component from Michigan State to the table. All of a sudden you see, boy, three times three is going to equal 10 or 12.”

Construction on the commercial components would begin by the end of next year or early in 2025, Tellem said.

e Gores portion of the project

also includes nearly 2 acres of dedicated green space and basketball courts.

e Pistons already have a presence in the neighborhood, with their practice facility and corporate headquarters sitting in the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center, developed by Peter Cummings’ Detroit-based development rm, e Platform LLC, sitting at the corner of Second and York Street, a few blocks south of West Grand Boulevard.

Henry Ford would also construct the already planned research facility with Michigan State University on an existing surface parking lot across ird Avenue from One Ford Place.

e new research institute, estimated at 300,000 square feet or more, would house researchers and physicians on translational research — speci cally looking at cancer, neuroscience, women’s health, imaging and public health. e institute was originally announced more than a year ago with a projected cost between $100 million and $150 million, each with HFH and MSU contributing $30 million for a total of 40 percent of the cost.

HFH wants to be a national player in the same conversation with the likes of Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts General and Michigan Medicine. Hospital o cials said 12 months ago they believe their partnership with MSU can push the health system into that upper echelon of providers in the country.

Redeveloping the New Center neighborhood also allows HFH to boost its image to out-of-towners traveling to the area for medical procedures.

Dr. Adnan Munkarah, chief clinical o cer for HFH, said for HFH to be considered a world-class destination, its hospital must match its physicians’ capabilities.

“We’ve always had an academic hospital at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit,” Munkarah said. “We’ve been innovators for over 100 years and there are many rst-in-theworld procedures and interventions that we’ve done here at Henry Ford. It’s extremely important for us to continue to advance our technology and create the hospital of the future.”

e legacy hospital, for example, doesn’t have high enough ceilings to accommodate some of the modern technology required for an advanced health care setting.

e entire campus, now ensconced between York and Holden Street to the south, Second Avenue to the east, Pallister Avenue to the north and Poe Avenue to the west, would be connected via pathways and pedestrian bridges over the Lodge Freeway.

e existing hospital would continue to operate, but with fewer rooms and the building would likely house all or a portion of HFH employees currently working One Ford Place. Most clinical care would be moved to the new hospital, which is expected to be completed in 2029 with a groundbreaking in 2024. e HFH and MSU research facility is expected to open in 2027 after a concurrent groundbreaking with the new hospital.

e project is not expected to add beds to the hospital system, which has 877 beds at its New Center hospital.

e redevelopment is a long-standing plan held by HFH management, largely developed under former CEO Wright Lassiter. Mark Barnhill, partner at Platinum Equity and leader of Gores’ investments portfolio, told Crain’s Lassiter and Gores created

the vision for the new district on the back of a napkin at dinner at the Townsend Hotel in downtown Birmingham.

Riney said the $2.2 billion portion health care portion of the project would be funded by capital investment and philanthropic fundraising. Some large donors are prepared to aid in the funding, he said.

Tellem and Riney acknowledged that public funding for the project will be sought, potentially including brown eld tax credits.

“It’s customary for all signi cant real estate projects to have some level of public nancing, and we’re gonna look at it and examine all the options as we put this project together,” Tellem said.

At least some portions of the project could be required to go through the city’s Community Bene ts Ordinance process; Riney said Henry Ford’s portion would at least adhere to “the principles” of the CBO.

e CBO process — which voters approved in 2016 — requires that developers proposing development projects with a $75 million price tag receiving $1 million or more in property tax abatements or $1 million or more in city land engage with a Neighborhood Advisory Council to establish community bene ts. ose can include things like jobs, local hiring, environmental protections, land use programs and local small business and resident inclusion.

e Rev. Charles Williams II of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church of Detroit, about a mile to the southwest of the hospital site, said in a Wednesday statement that the developers haven’t consulted with the community on the overall vision.

Big plans, big partnership

What’s included in the vision of a newly announced team-up of Henry Ford Health, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Michigan State University targeting redevelopment of the New Center neighborhood surrounding Henry Ford Hospital.

1. New Henry Ford Hospital tower

WESTGRANDBOULEVARD

2. Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center

3. Henry Ford Health Center for Athletic Medicine

4. One Ford Place Lofts (repurposed mixed-use residential)

5. Mixed use residential and retail

6. Parking structure

7. Henry Ford Health/ Michigan State University Research Facility

“ ese plans are laudable, and we are not anti-development or anti-progress,” the statement says. “But why would three large institutions make these kinds of plans without any consultation from the folks who are already in that community? I’m in my o ce at the church every day, and our doors open daily. Historic King Solomon Baptist Church has been in the community for over 70 years. We were removed from Detroit’s Black Bottom for a freeway; we will not be removed again. I’m curious as to how many tax incentives are needed. I’m curious how much more forcing out they plan

on doing. Development without the community is called colonizing, and we will not stand for it.”

Riney told Crain’s that Henry Ford Health has “created the infrastructure” for community outreach but “wanted to wait til the announcement before going too far.”

“We’re gonna involve the community in a very signi cant way,” Riney said. “ ey’ll be walking through mock rooms, mock designs, having input on the design of rooms, the colors, the ow.”

Riney said the health system has assembled all of the property it needs

The Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center is shown in the foreground, with Henry Ford Hospital in the distance. The Lodge Freeway runs between them. | LARRY PEPLIN/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

SOURCE: HENRY FORD HEALTH/DETROIT PISTONS

A rendering shows the health care-focused portion of Henry Ford’s project, with

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS for the projects over the past decade or so.

And Tellem said this vision, as well as future components to follow that have not yet been determined, will set the stage for a more walkable, dense area attractive to visitors and residents.

“ e city needs density,” Tellem said. “By putting the research center and by us building residential and green space and retail, and by having a bridge that we are building connecting this part of the campus over to the other side to strengthen and link this area, and with potential future development that will go on beyond just the hospital, I think is going to achieve that.”

e unveiling comes as the Ilitches — whose Little Caesars Arena houses Gores’ Detroit Pistons — and billionaire mega-developer Stephen Ross have put forward more details of their broad e ort to build or redevelop 10 buildings totaling $1.5 billion in the District Detroit area, south of the Hen-

Henry Ford Health’s plan for becoming destination hospital

DUSTIN WALSH

Mayo Clinic. Johns Hopkins Hospital. Cleveland Clinic. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. All agship destination research hospitals that attract complex patients from around the U.S. is is the class Henry Ford Health aspires to join.

e newly announced $2.2 billion investment into its Detroit campus is a massive step in that direction.

e investment includes the construction of a $1.8 billion, one million-square-foot-plus, state-of-theart patient tower, including a two-story emergency department, and a previously announced roughly 300,000-square-foot research facility in partnership with Michigan State University. And a key could be nearby residential and commercial development.

It’s by far the largest investment in the system’s 108-year history.

And it comes at a critical time for health systems in America who are ghting to stay pro table in a shifting health care landscape. Rapid consolidation is occurring throughout — Beaumont Health merged with Spectrum Health and University of Michigan is acquiring Sparrow Health in Lansing — and systems are being forced to nd market share anywhere they can.

For University of Michigan Health, which is investing $800 million over eight years into Sparrow, market share continues to grow as increasingly complex patient cases end up in their system. e problem was space, hence the addition of Sparrow’s six hospitals. e Ann Arbor health system is also constructing a $920 million new patient tower next to its existing hospital with all-private rooms and state-ofthe-art equipment for complex patients, with 240 beds able to transform into an intensive-care unit, if need be.

Henry Ford Health is following suit and has also been the recipient of more and more complex patients, but its own aging infrastructure and aging neighborhood make it less palatable to some patients, particularly those traveling and unfamiliar with Detroit.

in that capacity,” Bob Riney, president and CEO of HFH told Crain’s. “But when people research (for a hospital to receive care), they want an environment that’s not only great for them, but great for their families, who in many cases are going to be staying for multiple days while they’re here.”

e groups are also seeking a hotelier to open a hotel on the properties to further support families staying at the hospital.

e project will connect the new hospital, along with legacy hospital, to the new MSU research center via skywalks and bridges and greenspace, creating a campus-like feel for the area that is largely de ned by aging industrial buildings, o ce space and parking lots.

Coupled with the residential and retail portion spearheaded by billionaire investor Tom Gores, the area is expected to make a complete transformation. Gores’ team will redevelop HFH’s headquarters at One Ford Place into residential, something Riney said was important for the system.

Riney and Detroit Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem said the development is spun from the success of the health system and the Pistons partnering on the Performance Center, which includes a Plum Market and Planet Fitness, they built in 2019.

search facility going in its parking lot.

e legacy hospital’s emergency department was also not equipped to handle current demand — Riney said it treats about twice the number of patients it was designed to care for. It’s among the busiest of the 10 Level 1 trauma centers operating in the state. e emergency department at the Detroit hospital saw 78,924 patient visits in 2022 and has topped 100,000 in years prior.

e new hospital will host a two-story emergency department capable of serving the needs of Detroiters.

“It was never designed in a way for the future of ED, or the current state of ED services, so the team has done an amazing job handling the capacity at the present time,” said Adnan Munkarah, chief clinical ofcer for HFH. “But we know both our teams and the community deserve better.”

HFH has been amassing property for 10 years across the street from its hospital in hopes of someday constructing a new tower.

e plan was largely developed under former CEO Wright Lassiter, who left for the top position at Chicago’s CommonSpirit Health last year, but Riney, a lifelong Michigander who has been employed at HFH since 1978, said he intends to stay until the project is completed in 2029.

“I am more energized to lead this organization than I ever thought possible, and it’s because of these major transformational projects,” Riney said. “I really look at this as an ultimate legacy that any leader would just love to have.”

But it’s not only his legacy that he’s concerned with. e addition of a major destination health care hub has the potential to propel Detroit to new heights as well.

“Every major Rust Belt city that’s had to go through some signi cant turnaround, whether that’s Pittsburgh or whether that’s Philadelphia or go down the list, having a worldclass medical facility has been the absolute key to the economic multiplier,” Riney said. “A world-class medical facility is key to a world-class city. I’m really excited for the city.”

ry Ford Health footprint and generally north of where fellow billionaire Dan Gilbert has concentrated much of his real estate holdings.

e Ilitch/Ross venture is seeking a package of $797 million in public funding, including $616 million in socalled “transformational brown eld” program support that would reimburse the development team on things like sales taxes, income taxes and others.

But grand, neighborhood-size development proposals — speci cally the District Detroit — have at least to date fallen short of the expectations laid out when they were unveiled. Much of the residential space promised originally in that plan has yet to be built, and some buildings sit half-constructed.

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

Contact: dwalsh@crain.com; (313) 446-6042; @dustinpwalsh

“We’ve always been a destination for complex care, but we’re growing

Vacating One Ford Place would harm the Performance Center across the street and the MSU re-

Contact: dwalsh@crain.com; (313) 446-6042; @dustinpwalsh

the new hospital at top left. |

Bob Riney, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health, at the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center in Detroit. NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

But now, he is putting his foot more rmly in an arena where Detroit’s other billionaires have had theirs for years, partnering with Henry Ford Health on a proposed mega-development that recalls those in the works driven by mortgage mogul Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch family’s pizza and sports empire.

Gores, who made his $6.1 billion fortune in private equity investing, told Crain’s he views his e orts more holistically than just putting up new buildings or rehabbing old ones.

“Community development really focuses on the conditions in an environment for people to be successful,” Gores said an in interview. “I see so many folks that, if they were in di erent conditions or a di erent environment, or had access to certain things, from kids to adults and so on, I think conditions matter.”

Gores said he wants to “develop in the correct way, from the real estate side.”

“But really having it driven by community development,” Gores said. “ is ( e Detroit Pistons) is a community asset. We’ve always said that. I think you can have a real estate project and also a community development project where everybody’s getting better and they have chances to succeed and conditions that are set up for them to give them the best.”

e Ilitch family (matriarch Marian Ilitch is estimated to be worth $4.4 billion) and Gilbert ($20.3 billion) each have assembled massive real estate empires in and around the downtown core. In some circles, the areas where they have concentrated their holdings have become known colloquially as Gilbertville and Ilitchville.

Gores — while crediting Gilbert, the Ilitches and fellow billionaire Stephen Ross for doing “amazing things in their own way to build a better Detroit” — says he is taking a di erent approach.

“My goal is to complement their efforts, partnering on some projects and going in di erent directions on others,” he said.

Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem, Gores’ top deputy in Detroit, told Crain’s that while his boss is ramping up his e orts in the area where the Pistons practice and have their corporate headquarters — the one property Gores owns in Detroit and ground leases — it would be a stretch to tack a “ville” at the end of the Gores name to describe that part of town.

“I think it goes against the way we want to think about how we should lead in the city,” Gores said. “I think we’re based on a lot of collaboration and, once you start claiming (one) area, I think you just shut o collaboration.”

Gores, who was raised in Flint, has made a series of investments and philanthropic commitments around Detroit in a variety of ways, ranging from building dozens of new basketball courts when he moved the Pistons from the Palace of Auburn Hills to Little Caesars Arena to $1 million donated to the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy and $20 million spent on a community center on Detroit’s west side, to name a few.

ose are a handful of his e orts that have resulted in what another one of his top deputies, Mark Barnhill, said is $585 million “invested or committed” to date so far in Detroit. at includes $454 million from Gores and the Pistons and $132 million in “sideby-side co-investment from partners,” Barnhill said.

“Sports teams have a unique ability

to unite people of widely di erent backgrounds and interests,” Gores said. “We recognized from the beginning that owning a sports franchise carried with it certain responsibilities to protect people’s memories and nurture their pride for their team and their city. We saw an opportunity to turn that pride not just into a rooting interest for the team, but as a rallying point for community development. We’re uniquely suited to be a catalyst for building a stronger and better community.”

His new partnership with Henry Ford is among his biggest commitments so far.

On Wednesday, Henry Ford Health, Michigan State University and Gores’ Platinum Equity private rm announced a $2.5 billion plan to build a new hospital on the south side of West Grand Boulevard in Detroit’s Elijah McCoy neighborhood straddling the New Center area. Gores’ team will lead the charge on constructing at least 550 new residential units and perhaps new hotel space, plus 2 acres of green space, basketball courts and other public amenities.

Henry Ford’s commitment to the plan is about $2.2 billion, with Gores’ initial investment on the commercial side of the equation not yet nalized — but Tellem said whatever it ends up at, at least initially, will be “a nice number.”

e rst components include a new residential building sandwiched between Henry Ford Health’s current headquarters, One Ford Place, and the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, the team’s practice facility and corporate o ces; as well as redevelopment of the One Ford Place building into residential space.

Henry Ford Health “had greater visions, and we wanted to be actively supporting them and working with them to do greater things, to build out this area of the city,” Tellem said. “And that’s what’s happening.”

But Tellem, who joined Gores in 2015, was clear that his boss’s investments in Detroit won’t be “de ned by one area or one opportunity.”

“What Tom wants is to try to make the best impact that’s going to help the people of Detroit, this community, and doing it with partners,” Tellem said. “It starts really there.”

Other billionaires have concentrated their real estate holdings in other parts of the greater downtown area.

Gilbert, the founder and chairman of the board for mortgage company Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT), started assembling central business district buildings more than a decade ago during what he has described as a “skyscraper sale,” renovated them and leased them to a host of o ce tenants, restaurants and retail users.

He has also started building groundup developments not just downtown, but also in neighborhoods like Brush

A look back at Tom Gores’ involvement in his home state

The team-up of Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores with Henry Ford Health marks a signi cant ramp-up of Gores’ involvement in Detroit. A look back at some of the investments the Flint native has made in Detroit and his hometown of Flint:

April 8: Gores announces a deal to buy the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment from the estate of industrialist William Davidson.

Park, with visions for other parts of the city, as well. Gilbert’s philanthropic efforts also extend far beyond the central business district; two years ago, Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, made a $500 million commitment over 10 years to bene t Detroit neighborhoods.

e Ilitch family’s real estate empire generally sits north of Grand Circus Park and west of Woodward Avenue, where they have spent decades buying buildings and land. Olympia Development of Michigan, the family’s Detroit-based real estate company, has faced criticism for years for things like lack of progress on its District Detroit area vision, as well as tearing down old buildings and leaving surface parking lots in their wake, among other things.

In the past year and a half, they have teamed up with yet another billionaire — Detroit native and mega developer Stephen Ross ($11.6 billion) — to breathe new life into the sweeping plans for the District Detroit, now with a plan for a second anchor, the Detroit Center for Innovation, a University of Michigan graduate school campus expected to start construction this year.

e Ilitch/Ross team have also proposed a $1.5 billion new construction and redevelopment spree consisting of 10 properties that would bring new high-rises with o ce and residential space downtown, along with hotel, retail and other uses. at plan is seeking nearly $800 million in public subsidies.

Outside of real estate, the Ilitch family also has several charitable e orts, including Ilitch Charities as well as philanthropic arms of the two professional sports teams they own, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings.

Gores said he and his team are “very good at connecting the vision and execution together,” which he says should help with concerns about large grandscale proposals not coming to fruition as pitched.

is isn’t the rst time Gores has dipped his toes into large-scale real estate development in Detroit. In 2016, Gores teamed up with Gilbert in an effort to lure a Major League Soccer team to Detroit, initially with a plan to build a stadium on the former Wayne County Consolidated Jail site at Gratiot Avenue and I-375. at plan would have anked the 25,000-seat stadium with hotel, residential and o ce space.

Major League Soccer passed over the partnership when it was awarding new franchises, and the plan never materialized.

Since then, he has generally looked outside of downtown to make nancial commitments.

“I’m focused on Detroit, not on a particular neighborhood,” Gores said. “All of us need to develop a coherent view that ties together all of the city’s neighborhoods.”

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

June 5: Gores recruits sports agent Arn Tellem as vice chairman of the Pistons. Gores says Tellem “shares my belief that sports can be a catalyst for change in the community” and points out that “given his experience and all of his success, Arn could have gone just about anywhere, and he chose Detroit.”

Nov. 22: Gores announces he’s moving the Pistons back to the city of Detroit. Gores said: “I’ve always believed that a sports franchise is a community asset with the power to unite and inspire people. There’s a big responsibility that goes with that, but there’s also a big payo .”

Feb. 24: Gores, Pistons, Henry Ford Health announce plans for the $90 million Pistons Performance Center in New Center.

‘11 ‘12 ‘13 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16

May 1: Wayne State University OKs a plan to partner with Gores and the Pistons organization to build a new $25 million, 70,000square-foot basketball arena for its teams that would also serve as the future home for the NBA G League a liate of the Pistons.

July 29: Pistons announce acquisition of Phoenix Suns G League franchise, which will rebrand and begin playing in Detroit for the 2021-2022 season.

June 2: Gores announces $100 million commitment to launch national charitable endeavor, with Rouge Park its rst signature initiative.

March 23: Gores and leaders from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Ford, FirstMerit, GM, Kresge Foundation and Penske Corp. each donate $1 million for the purchase of new police and EMS vehicles for the city of Detroit.

June 4: Gores and the Pistons commit $1 million to the Detroit Institute of Arts as part of the “Grand Bargain,” which helps the city of Detroit exit bankruptcy.

Jan. 29: Gores announces a $10 million pledge for Flint water crisis relief e orts and commits to rallying private sector support from corporate, civic, sports and entertainment leaders. FlintNOW partnerships include a $25 million economic development program launched with Huntington Bank and other campaigns.

‘17

Oct. 9: Palace Sports and the Ilitch family-owned Olympia Entertainment launch 313 Presents to manage concerts and other events at six venues in metro Detroit.

Oct. 19: Pistons complete rst round of neighborhood basketball court refurbishments as part of a $2.5 million plan to build or renovate 60 outdoor courts across the city in connection with the move downtown. To date, 52 of the 60 courts are done or nearly complete.

June 24: Gores and Livoniabased developer Schostak Brothers form joint venture to redevelop Palace site.

Oct. 7: Henry Ford-Pistons Performance Center opens.

March 10: Gores donates $1 million to the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy.

July 11: Gores launches a threeyear $40 million renovation to upgrade The Palace. Final stages completed in 2014. ‘18 ‘19 ‘20 ‘21 ‘22

June 1: Gores announces plans to build $20 million, 25,000square-foot community center in Rouge Park on the city’s west side. The center is expected to be nished in 2024.

Pistons owner Tom Gores at FlintNow night at Little Caesars Arena. | MIKE FERDINANDE

NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The Pistons started playing in Little Caesars Arena in 2017. | LARRY PEPLIN/ CRAINS DETROIT BUSINESS

Benjamin Schwartz is mending fences at Corewell Health East

The years leading up to Beaumont Health’s merger with Spectrum Health in February 2022 were rife with discontent for the South eld-based health system. Under CEO John Fox, the metro Detroit system faced continuous cost-cutting e orts that soured management’s relationship with sta , leading to an exodus of top physicians and more. Fox wanted to right-size the system’s budget as reimbursement shifted and waned, putting nancial pressure on the system. The end goal was a transaction, one advantageous to Fox but also for Beaumont. However, three deals collapsed under the critical voices of sta ers and the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Top management at Beaumont was ushered out in the merger with Spectrum, which created Corewell Health, and the new system looked to bring in a leader to mend relationships. Corewell hired Benjamin Schwartz as president of Corewell Health East, which includes Corewell’s hospitals in metro Detroit. Thegynecological oncologist was a longtime administrator at New York’s largest health system, Northwell Health, where he most recently served as senior vice president and regional physician executive.

BY | DUSTIN WALSH

 You were effectively hired to fix the broken relationships with doctors and staff, yes? How is that going?

First of all, I think you very accurately described some of the tumultuous history here. Some of that was about trust that was broken. There was a time being a “Beaumont doctor” meant something very special to the physicians here, but many of those high-caliber physicians left because of the struggles they were having with the health system. I am super proud to report that we have physicians from all over the country, some that left here, that are coming back. We have very, very talented doctors who work in our facilities that feel their relationships with our leadership is a breath of fresh air. They have a new voice now and they are able to speak up and maybe get some of that old shine back. It’s important that we mend those relationships, not just with our providers, but also with our communities. I have met with government leaders, religious leaders and families in this community that have been unbelievably loyal to us throughout. They have a strong voice now again and we’re starting to earn back their trust. Health care is meshed in the DNA of the community and we don’t stand on an island on our own. Getting back to earning the trust of our providers, nurses, team members but also the communities we serve is imperative.

 You were rising up the ranks at Northwell and you’re a native New Yorker. Why come to metro Detroit?

RUMBLINGS

I think the decision to move to Michigan was born out of conversations with Tina Freese Decker, our CEO. I enjoyed hearing about the challenges of health care in Southeast Michigan. She had a vision and there was an opportunity to be impactful. But, if we achieve success here, I think the solutions we find are portable to other parts of the country, because a lot of the challenges are similar. I was born and raised in New York, yes, but I knew of the reputation at Beaumont Health. I knew there were programs here that were second to none nationally and to be president, that was an opportunity I couldn’t look away from. And the quality of life here is amazing.

 What challenges?

In American health care, there’s a lot to celebrate. Systems, generally speaking, have become really sophisticated when it comes to handling the sick in need of really good care. We’ve become really, really high quality when it comes to those spaces. But there’s lots of room for improvement. Historically, hospitals would compete to see how many joint replacements they could do. Now, we’re spending the same on preventing joint replacements. We’re starting to focus on outcomes, not procedures. And, because Southeast Michigan is so wonderfully diverse, one size does not fit all. It’s very hard to resist the temptation to a one-sizefits-all strategy in health care, because it’s efficient. It’s a major priority for us to focus on the best care in these communities with a comprehensive

WWE SummerSlam set to hit Ford Field this summer

World Wrestling Entertainment will continue its long-standing relationship with Detroit when it brings SummerSlam to Ford Field this summer.

e event, in its 36th year, will take place Aug. 5 at Ford Field, according to a WWE news release.

e SummerSlam show marks the 10th WWE premium live event set in metro Detroit since 1991 and rst since “Hell in a Cell” in October 2017. It’s also the rst WWE show to take place at Ford Field since Wrestlemania 23 in 2007.

SummerSlam was last in metro Detroit in 1993, when the event took place at e Palace of Auburn Hills.

SummerSlam is one of the WWE’s “Big Four” events, along with Royal Rumble in January, Survivor Series in

November and Wrestlemania in April

— the company’s agship event. Detroit Sports Commission Ex-

ecutive Director Dave Beachnau

the event a signature win for Detroit. Detroit and Ford

Benjamin Schwartz is president of Corewell Health East

crainsdetroit.com

President and CEO KC Crain

Group Publisher Jim Kirk, (312) 397-5503 or jkirk@ crain.com

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Field are also hosting the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in 2027. e city will also host the NFL Draft in 2024.

“Metro Detroit enjoys a special place in WWE history and has produced many iconic moments,” Beachnau said in the release.

“ ank you to the entire WWE family for entrusting us with this incredible opportunity, and we look forward to delivering a rst-class experience.”

Tickets for SummerSlam will go on sale April 14. e 2022 event, which took place in Nashville, drew more than 48,000 fans.

e event is expected to bring large crowds to the area. Wrestlemania 23 in 2007 saw more than 80,000 fans watch the event live at Ford Field.

Reprints: Laura Picariello (732) 723-0569 or lpicariello@crain.com

Crain’s Detroit Business is published by

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Chairman, Editor Emeritus Keith E. Crain

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President and CEO KC Crain

Senior Executive Vice President Chris Crain

Chief Financial O cer Robert Recchia

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called landing

The 2022 WWE SummerSlam event, which took place in Nashville, drew more than 48,000 fans. | WWE