THE CONVERSATION: Dave Meador on corporate power, policymaking. PAGE 34
Big deals See our list of the top real estate transactions. PAGE 24
CRAINSDETROIT.COM I APRIL 18, 2022
They’re trusted advisers, tenacious negotiators and talented problem-solvers. They’ve done M&A deals and IPOs, crafted cutting-edge cybersecurity policies and helped their companies navigate the shifting legal terrain of the pandemic. Page 12
Welder/fabricator Bill Porta of Farmington Hills welds at Storch Products Co. in Livonia.
‘This is a whole different ballgame’
NIC ANTAYA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
Philanthropic efforts lag in Macomb County
Rise of electric vehicles threatens traditional Michigan manufacturers BY KURT NAGL
There is no place inside an electric vehicle for the transmission parts Production Saw & Machine Co. has produced the past 50 years. In the automotive transition to EVs, there is no long-term future for the Clarklake-based supplier, said its owner and president Jeff Vancalbergh.
Like hundreds of other small machine shops and suppliers throughout Michigan facing the same uncertain fate, Vancalbergh has two main options: He can keep the engine business running until it sputters out, overtaken by EVs, which many experts say is a foregone conclusion. Or he can totally rebuild the engine business around electric motors or new industries, but that would be a
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costly undertaking with fierce competition and no promise of success. “It’s a family business,” Vancalbergh said. “I’m second generation, and third generation is here in the building, looking to take over. Looking to take over what, I’m not sure … Not sure if there’s gonna be anything to take over at this point.” See EVS on Page 33
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Finding the right space can be a game changer. PAGE 8
Fewer groups results in less investment BY SHERRI WELCH
Macomb County trails other counties in the region in the number of charitable nonprofits and the money they are able to take in, according to a new report from the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. That’s something impacting the quality of life in the county, leaders of Advancing Macomb said. Advancing Macomb is a nonprofit that cements partnerships between the nonprofit, public and private sectors, identifies and attracts resources to fund major projects and programs, and increases Macomb County’s visibility. It commissioned the report as a way to quantify a trend that stakeholders have long talked about in Macomb County. By looking at population, gross domestic product and other factors, the Johnson Center report found that Macomb does in fact lag significantly on the number of nonprofits serving the communi-
Number of nonprofits In 2019, Macomb County had less than a third as many nonprofits as Wayne County. 8,573 Wayne 7,238
Oakland
2,731
Macomb
2,445
Washtenaw Genesee
1,858
St. Clair
879
Livingston
760
Monroe
625
Lenawee
525
Lapeer
379
SOURCE: DOROTHY A. JOHNSON CENTER FOR PHILANTHROPY AT GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
ty and the number of dollars available to do so compared to Oakland and Wayne counties. “Macomb County nonprofits are under-leveraging both philanthropic and public funding,” said Advancing Macomb’s Executive Director Diane Banks. Having the data can now give the organization the push it needs to mobilize to rectify the deficit, she said. See MACOMB on Page 32
NEED TO KNOW
REAL ESTATE
THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT tric vehicle startup. The notice was issued to Electric Last Mile, which trades under the ticker ELMS, after it failed to file required periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission in a timely fashion.
` MAIN ART DEMOLITION PLAN MOVES FORWARD THE NEWS: Despite hundreds of emails and in-person public comments opposing a plan to demolish the 81-year-old Main Art Theatre at 118 N. Main St. north of 11 Mile Road in downtown Royal Oak, the city’s Planning Commission voted to refer it to the City Commission. An affiliate of Bloomfield Township-based A.F. Jonna Development LLC submitted plans to tear it down and replace it with a five-story mixed-use building. WHY IT MATTERS: Plans for razing the theater building have long been on the books, but it would still be a loss of a historic property in the city.
` NASDAQ NOTIFIES ELECTRIC LAST MILE OF NONCOMPLIANCE THE NEWS: The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC has notified Electric Last Mile Solutions Inc. that the Troy-based company has fallen out of compliance with its listing rules, signaling more trouble for the struggling elec-
WHY IT MATTERS: The Nasdaq’s action has no immediate impact on the company’s listing or trading, but ELMS must submit a plan to regain compliance by May 31. If the plan is accepted, the company may be granted until Sept. 27 to regain compliance.
` KARMANOS CANCER INSTITUTE EXPANDS INTO OHIO THE NEWS: Detroit-based Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute opened its first out-of-state center last week in the Toledo Clinic Cancer Center in Maumee, Ohio. Under the agreement, Karmanos will operate the clinic’s radiation oncology program and the Toledo Clinic will provide medical oncology services. WHY IT MATTERS: The move will bring more cancer care options to those in northwest Ohio because Toledo Clinic oncologists can now participate in Karmanos’ multidisciplinary tumor boards and be able to use Karmanos’ collective knowledge for treatment as well as the expansion of clinical trials.
`BHSH, GRAND VALLEY PARTNER TO TACKLE NURSING SHORTAGE THE NEWS: BHSH, the new merger of Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health, is partnering with Grand Valley State University to create a nursing program to tackle the shortage in Michigan and provide a path to employment at affiliated hospitals. The BHSH Spectrum Health West Michigan Nurse Scholar program has a goal of increasing the nursing talent pipeline by taking away financial barriers to college. WHY IT MATTERS: The partnership will create an opportunity for nearly 500 additional students to pursue a career in nursing over the next six years.
Southfield Town Center to sell next month ` The Southfield Town Center is expected to be sold by the end of May in what would be among the most significant office transactions in the last decade, Crain’s has learned. An estoppel certificate sent to tenants in the region’s second-largest office complex says that a sale to a Delaware entity called 270B STC LLC is expected to be finalized by the end of next month. The true identity of the incoming ownership is not yet known, nor is the purchase price. In commercial real estate, an estoppel certificate is sent to tenants of a building that is being purchased using commercial debt (as opposed to cash) to confirm things like major lease terms such as duration and rate. They are typically sent to tenants in the late stages of the purchase process. 601W paid $177.5 million in 2014 for the 2.2 million-square-foot property that includes five office towers, taking out $142 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities debt that matures in May 2024, according to data from New York City-based Trepp LLC.
` OU PLANS TO BUY BAKER COLLEGE BUILDING THE NEWS: Oakland University is planning to spend $8.15 million to buy the Baker College building in Auburn Hills in an effort to add space for more classrooms and research facilities, OU said in a purchase approval proposal. The building, at 1500 University Drive, includes 141,245 square feet of existing classrooms, office space, workrooms and conference rooms sitting on 18.2 acres. WHY IT MATTERS: OU has been looking for solutions to a space crunch on campus since 2016.
The Southfield Town Center is five high-rises comprising 2.2 million square feet that includes offices, the Westin Southfield Detroit Hotel, restaurants and a conference center for up to 1,000 attendees. | SOUTHFIELD TOWN CENTER
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2 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
Making anyone a ‘power buyer’ Businesses help level field in a home market that demands cash BY ARIELLE KASS
A Michigan Humane employee delivers free pet food, humane education and other resources to a resident of Detroit’s North End neighborhood. | MICHIGAN HUMANE
HELPING PETS, PEOPLE
Michigan Humane working to close $1.8 million budget gap while reshaping model of care BY SHERRI WELCH
Michigan Humane is working to close a $1.8 million budget gap tied to lost revenue for animal care due to veterinary shortages and pay increases made to retain employees throughout the nonprofit. At the same time, it’s stepping up fundraising to cover expanded services in the community to meet rising needs and keep more pets with families. The organization has launched the quiet phase of an eight-year, $16.5 million campaign to close the operating gap this year and fund roughly $2 million in added costs each year going forward. The costs of pharmaceuticals,
supplies and labor have all increased dramatically during the pandemic, said Tom Varitek, vice president of communications for Michigan Humane. “Raising wages was necessary to recruit and retain the staff that allow us to maintain our high level of compassionate care in our clinics, shelters and out in the community,” he said. Those services are needed more than ever as demand for pet food assistance, subsidized medical care and humane education has also risen throughout the pandemic, along with the number of people needing assistance themselves, the organization said. “There’s been an increase in pet adoptions...coming as families hit
a financial crisis and issues with accessing assistance. Those are the collisions we are seeing that we are working to address,” said Chief Philanthropy Officer Jamie Westrick. Added operating costs will come from increasing the amount of free pet food, low-cost pet care and humane education provided in the community and making referrals to other types of assistance households might need. “Animal welfare has opened its eyes to the idea that if we really want to help pets, we need to help them where they are and meet families where they are,” Westrick said.
“ANIMAL WELFARE HAS OPENED ITS EYES TO THE IDEA THAT IF WE REALLY WANT TO HELP PETS, WE NEED TO HELP THEM WHERE THEY ARE AND MEET FAMILIES WHERE THEY ARE.” — Jamie Westrick, chief philanthropy officer, Michigan Humane
See HUMANE on Page 31
William Scola put offers on 10 houses between Livonia and Canton Township, but without the cash on hand to cover an appraisal gap if there was one, he continually lost out. “We kept getting smoked,” said Todd Waller, a partner in Studio Four8 with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Snyder & Co. and Scola’s real estate agent. That is, until they changed their buying method. Once Scola decided to forgo traditional financing, opting for a program that gave him a loan against the equity he has in his current home, he finally had enough available to win an offer. He was slated to close on his new home in Canton on Friday. The company Scola used, Knock, is one of several similar businesses that try in various ways to let buyers compete with deep-pocketed investors and others that have easy access to cash. As the housing market remains competitive, and prices continue to rise, there’s an increasing need to remove contingencies and make other promises that guarantee if a seller picks your offer, the sale will close. In the industry, they’re being called power buyers. “To some extent, it’s getting to be a somewhat crowded field,” said Guy Cecala, the executive chair of Inside Mortgage Finance. “The issue for the consumer is, are you still getting a good deal on the mortgage?” Scola’s cost to Knock will be $6,200 — the company charges a 1.25 percent convenience fee to use the service, and about $1,750 in other fees — but he said the additional cost was worth it, once his family decided they were ready to move. See CASH on Page 30
Gilbert’s Hudson’s tower to get Edition hotel Concept is a luxury brand by cofounder of NYC’s Studio 54 nightclub BY KIRK PINHO
Dan Gilbert’s skyscraper on the site of the former J.L. Hudson’s department store downtown is getting an Edition hotel. A source familiar with the matter said the luxury brand by Ian Schrager, a cofounder of nightclub Studio 54 in New York City, signed an agreement late last year to be the hotel flag in the long under-construction tower at the corner of Woodward and Grand River avenues. The number of rooms spelled out in the agreement is not known,
but the most recent publicly available development plan on the project’s website calls for 227. An announcement could come within the next few weeks. Gilbert’s Detroit-based Bedrock LLC real estate company declined comment. Messages were sent to Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott International Inc., which is the parent company of Edition; a spokesperson for the hotel brand; as well as Schrager’s New York City-based Ian Schrager Co. Edition has locations in Miami Beach, New York City and West Hollywood, Calif., with upcoming
locations in Tampa, Fla., Scottsdale, Ariz., Nashville, Tenn., and Las Vegas, among others, according to its website. The Detroit Free Press in November reported that Schrager, in several public interviews, discussed Detroit and Gilbert’s “huge project that will kind of reinvent the Detroit area because of the scale of the project.” The development on the 2.3acre site has been in the works for years but started construction in December 2017. It has faced a series of setbacks and challenges, including unanticipated under-
ground obstructions, design changes and other factors have pushed the development, now slated to rise 685 feet, to be two years behind its original schedule. The tower component at the southern edge of the property has fluctuated in height, initially proposed to be 734 feet, making it the tallest building in the state, then rising to 800 feet, then to as high as 912 feet before softening those numbers and settling on approximately 680 feet. The tallest building in the city is the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, which stands at 727 feet. See HUDSON’S on Page 30
William and Alison Scola’s children Oliver and Vera play in the living room of their new Canton Township home during the inspection. | COURTESY OF MELISSA SCOLA PHOTO APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3
REAL ESTATE INSIDER
Colliers’ marketing materials say the former Plaza Hotel & Conference Center could be converted into 245 residential units at about 800 square feet or more each, or a mixed-use building with 175 hotel rooms and 132 apartments.| KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
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4 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
Former Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Southfield on the market The former Plaza Hotel & Conference Center in Southfield flatlined in more ways than one. And now it is up for sale in the hopes that someKirk one will resusciPINHO tate it, even as the city is seeking a receiver and to foreclose upon a mortgage it has on the long-vacant and troubled building off the Lodge Freeway. One look at the water usage history through Southfield public records and you have an approximate time of death: October 2010. When people in the hotel were being kicked out because of unsafe conditions around that time, a mother of seven, plus two others, were Tasered by police, MLive.com reported. In the more than decade since the 14-story property at 16400 J.L. Hudson Drive shuttered when natural gas and water were turned off over unpaid bills, the city, its Downtown Development Authority and the hotel’s owner have been embroiled in legal battle after legal battle at the county and federal level. The owner, an entity called Shefa LLC run by Montreal resident Sidney Elhadad, has claimed in federal court that the city and DDA were embarking on a land grab and suggested that antisemitism was at play. Elhadad and his attorney say in their federal court filings that the city and DDA had come out on the losing end on various rulings in various courts and that they wanted control of the property because of its proximity to another key site: The former Northland Center shopping mall. I emailed Elhadad seeking comment. His attorney with Farmington Hills-based Wood, Kull, Herschfus, Obee & Kull PC said he was unable to comment due to time constraints. The city declined comment, citing pending litigation. Elhadad told my colleague Sherri Welch in 2016 that the ownership
group and hotel were victims of the downturn. “When we took over in 2009-10, we took over at the worst possible time. We didn’t have a choice to close it down,” he said at the time. The Plaza Hotel, at one point the Michigan Inn when it was built in 1974, was on the verge of foreclosure when Shefa filed for bankruptcy in February 2014, according to a federal court complaint the city filed last month. Owing some $4.1 million to the city and county in unpaid property taxes and water and sewer bills, the city and Shefa reached a resolution two years after the bankruptcy filing, the city’s complaint says. The city has a first-position mortgage on the property and Shefa was required to make $2.1 million in improvements, plus get site plan approval within six months of the February 2016 approval of the confirmation order. However, the site plan expired a year after it was approved and no building permits were issued, according to the complaint. However, the city says Shefa — without getting permits — started internal demolition even though there is asbestos at the hotel, where there was a fire in March 2019 caused “by an intruder who gained access because the property had not been secured.” 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 foreclosure auction in November 2009, according to Southfield land records. In the months prior to the sale, the outstanding water bill alone was north of $300,000, records show. Former Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner told us in 2016 that as of March 30 that year the county attempted to foreclose on the property but a series of actions by Shefa and
Elhadad prevented that. The ownership group challenged the property tax assessments before the Michigan Tax Tribunal and took out an additional mortgage on the property with an Israel-based lender, which presented logistical challenges for the county to give notice of foreclosure, he said. “It was about delay and buying more time to speculate for the values to go up,” Meisner said at the time. Robert Haver, vice president in the local offices of Colliers International Inc., which is marketing the property, said Tuesday the property could be converted into a mixed-use building with either 175 hotel rooms and 132 apartments, or 319 hotel rooms and 34 apartments. It sits on about nine acres and there is no asking price.
CBO for FBNo21 kicks off The community benefits ordinance process for the Fisher Body No. 21 plant’s planned redevelopment has kicked off. The estimated $134 million conversion of the dilapidated plant near the I-75/I-94 interchange, as currently envisioned, would create 433 apartments as well as retail, commercial and co-working space, under a plan unveiled last month. The development is being led by a pair of Black business leaders, Gregory Jackson and Richard Hosey, as well as Kevin Lewand, the son of Mayor Mike Duggan’s former top economic development lieutenant, F. Thomas Lewand. The first meeting was Tuesday at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant at 461 Piquette Ave. The second meeting is April 26 and will include the election of a pair of Neighborhood Advisory Council members, as spelled out under the ordinance, which has been the subject of debate over the years. Some have proposed expanding the investment threshold at which development projects have to participate in the CBO process. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB
COMMENTARY
Fund employee pensions, not special deals or new programs BY JASE BOLGER
T
FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
COMMENTARY
Report: We’re on the road to inflated vehicle repair costs
A
nother form of inflation is set to hit Michigan business owners and motorists in the wallet in the coming years — and it was avoidable. The cost of chronically underfunding and under-maintaining roads leads to higher annual expenses for maintaining and repairing vehicles in Michigan. And the bill for the average Michigan motorist — already one of the nation’s highest — is about to rise exponentially. A new study from TRIP, a Washington, D.C., transportation research organization, pegs the annual cost of bad roads for Michigan families at $4,845 annually (presumably more for businesses with vehicle fleets) through more frequent vehicle repairs, traffic crashes and decreased productivity from traffic delays and congestion. TRIP’s study found that based on Michigan’s current taxpayer investment in roads and infrastructure, those annual household costs will rise by nearly 30 percent to $6,273 over the next 10 years — from $403 per month to nearly $523. That’s the cost of status quo funding for transportation infrastructure because Michigan’s roads and bridges are deteriorating
SOMEWHERE IN LANSING THERE’S A WHOLE BOOKSHELF OF REPORTS ABOUT ROAD CONDITIONS AND FUNDING SHORTFALLS THAT ARE GATHERING DUST. faster than construction companies can repave them with available funds appropriated by the Legislature, according to a recent Crain’s Forum report on road conditions. Without new and sustained investment in transportation infrastructure, a wave of roads currently in fair condition is going to effec-
Chad
LIVENGOOD
tively disintegrate in the coming years, according to the TRIP analysis, which is based on pavement condition projections from local road agencies and the Michigan Department of Transportation. The percentage of roads in poor condition is forecast to more than double from 24 percent to 49 percent in 2031, TRIP’s report says. In Michigan, one in nine bridges — or 11 percent — are rated as structurally deficient, a civil engineering term that stops just short of calling them dangerous. TRIP projects the number of structurally deficient bridges will increase by 58 percent if taxpayer funding for bridges remains stagnant. The TRIP report lays out a scenario in which Michigan makes a “significant improvement” in the near-term and long-term condition of roads and bridges that could bring down the annual cost of bad roads to $2,479 for every Michigan household — effectively cutting the price of deficient roads for users in half. “I think the conclusion is if we invest we can actually save money and not have those costly repairs,” said Lance Bioniemi, vice president of government affairs at the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association or MITA. The TRIP report is just the latest in a long succession of reports from transportation experts that have warned for years that Michigan is so far in the hole in chronically underfunding its roads that it will be hard to ever dig our way out. See LIVENGOOD on Page 31
Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited for length or clarity. Send letters to Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48207, or email crainsdetroit@crain.com. Please include your complete name, city from which you are writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. 6 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
THESE ONE-TIME RESOURCES SHOULD FUND TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE — THINGS THAT CAN BE SEEN AND FELT IN 10 YEARS BUT WON’T REQUIRE ANY MORE FUNDING IN 10 MONTHS. We learned as a state during the Detroit bankruptcy the danger of not funding pensions, and the damaging effects it can have. Retirees there had their benefits cut. Because the state’s cities are subsidiaries of the state there was real risk that these obligations were those of the state, so taxpayers from across the state had to chip into the Detroit bankruptcy settlement. By rejecting special tax deals, investing in pension funds and relieving future burdens the Legislature and governor can protect today’s retirees, Michigan’s workers and build a bright future for our kids and grandkids.
GETTY IMAGES
Poor road conditions in Michigan cause families to pay an average of $4,845 annually through more frequent vehicle repairs, traffic crashes and decreased productivity from traffic delays and congestion, according to a new report from TRIP, a Washington, D.C., transportation research organization. | NIC ANTAYA
ax season in an election year creates an interesting dynamic, including various proposals for how to better collect and spend Michigan’s taxpayer dollars. These discussions are a result of the Jase Bolger once-in-a-generation served as surplus at the state treaspeaker of the Michigan House sury with tax dollars from the federal and from 2011-14. state level filling the cofHe currently fers. How should Michiserves as the gan spend these hardpolicy adviser earned dollars? New for the West Michigan Policy programs? Returning the dollars to taxpayers? Forum. One of the main topics of discussion is eliminating the so-called “pension tax” — which some have alleged is an added tax on the pockets of retired Michigan residents. But there is a major problem with that discussion: Michigan doesn’t have a pension tax — it has an income tax. Before being overhauled in 2011, Michigan’s tax code was riddled with many special deals for select businesses and individuals so that they could avoid the income tax. One of these special deals was especially targeted to special interests: employees of government and legacy big businesses that had pensions. The difference between different retirees: pensioners didn’t pay taxes on their pension income, while retirees from small business paid tax on their retirement savings income. Rather than return to an unfair system that rewards political allies, the governor and Legislature should defend a tax system that is as low as possible, as broad as possible and as simple as possible. At the same time, the Legislature and governor should protect the pensions of the hardworking police officers, firefighters, teachers and others who have underfunded pensions across our state by funding these accounts. The situation in Lansing right now is one of surplus and excess. The last two years have seen a significant deluge of federal dollars and unexpected sales tax revenue. This is a
recipe for temptation of large, new programs that once created will stick around long after this generational surplus is depleted. New programs that would cost our children, and their children down the road. It would be a crushing mistake to use this money to create future obligations so that our kids would have to pay twice — once to repay the debt and a second to sustain new government spending. Therefore, these one-time resources should fund transformational change — things that can be seen and felt in 10 years but won’t require any more funding in 10 months. Instead, these billions of dollars should be used to protect pensions and relieve the burden of these past promises from our kids’ future. While there are strings tied to federal dollars, the state has some $3 billion in one-time and surplus money available for any purpose Lansing chooses. By depositing these state surpluses into state, school and local pension funds the Legislature can truly help retirees by protecting their pensions. These deposits are not just funding obligations, they are investments whose interest compounds making the future impact exponentially bigger. Therefore, this will dramatically relieve the burden from our kids and grandkids.
Sound off: Crain’s considers longer opinion pieces from guest writers on issues of interest to business readers. Email ideas to Managing Editor Michael Lee at malee@crain.com.
OTHER VOICES
Gilbert’s lobbyist should own mistakes in auto insurance law We all know it’s hard to admit mistakes. But for those who continue to absurdly defend Michigan’s auto insurance law, it’s time to face reality. In a recent Devin Hutchings Crain’s opinion is president of piece, Jared CPAN, an Fleisher — the top advocacy group lobbyist for Dan formerly known Gilbert — bragged as the Coalition that the influence Protecting Auto of the billionaire No-Fault, and a and his Rock Famformer CEO of ily of Companies the Eisenhower helped “break the Center brain logjam” to get the injury 2019 reform bill rehabilitation passed. clinic. After several hundred words of talking points taken straight from the auto insurance company playbook backed by cherry-picked data, he claims that the law is “fundamentally sound” — an assertion that flies in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. First, the piece alleges that the law is “delivering on its promise” of lowering costs. But if you ask Michigan voters, they disagree. A recent statewide poll found that two-thirds of drivers have not seen their rates go down at all, while nearly 36 percent say their rates have actually gone up. Only 6.1 percent said their rates had gone down significantly — so much for delivering on that promise. In addition, the Coalition Protecting Auto No-Fault or CPAN, the consumer protection organization fighting for fair insurance laws, has research showing that on average, customers of Citizens Insurance — the fifth largest carrier in the state — are paying the company $90 more for their combined auto insurance coverages now than before reform was passed, despite many of them having significantly fewer benefits should they get into a catastrophic crash. The research, conducted by Consumer Federation of America Director of Insurance Douglas Heller, found that residents of Detroit have it even worse. The rate charged to a Citizens customer of the 48215 ZIP code in Detroit (just a few miles away from Rock headquarters) purchasing only $50,000 in Personal Injury Protection benefits is $1,564 more than the rate charged to a resident of the wealthy 48085 ZIP code in Troy buying unlimited/lifetime PIP. Because of discriminatory redlining practices protected under the new law, those who need relief the most are paying more dollars for less coverage. In fact, Detroit still has the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, according to The Zebra. Reform’s major victory? Michigan now has the second highest rates in the country, rather than the first — even though premiums statewide increased again in 2021, a fact that Fleisher conveniently left out of his column. Meanwhile, the human carnage wrought by auto insurance reform — including thousands of catastrophic survivors losing the care they need, several of whom have died — is written off by cherry-picking misleading data from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services. What’s worse, the number cited in
Fleisher’s column isn’t even correct — care included in auto insurance rewhile he claims that DIFS has received form has dismantled much of the 106 complaints from catastrophic sur- post-acute care industry in Michigan, vivors seeking assistance. Documents forcing thousands of layoffs, shutterCPAN obtained through the FreeA RECENT STATEWIDE POLL FOUND THAT dom of Information Act show that TWO-THIRDS OF DRIVERS HAVE NOT SEEN the total number of auto insurance THEIR RATES GO DOWN AT ALL, WHILE complaints from NEARLY 36 PERCENT SAY THEIR RATES July 1, 2021, through January HAVE ACTUALLY GONE UP. 31, 2022, alone ing businesses, and severely limiting totaled 1,365. The impact extends far beyond just access to needed care for seniors who require assistance at home, those recar crash survivors. The 45 percent cut to catastrophic covering from surgery or serious ill-
nesses like a stroke, and others with long-term needs. Ultimately, Fleisher — along with Gilbert, Mayor Mike Duggan and the Republican leadership in the House and Senate who have stonewalled a fix — simply need to open their eyes and their hearts if they want to acknowledge the truth. It’s plain to see that insurance reform is a disaster. Few Michigan residents are saving money. Our most vulnerable residents are suffering, and even dying. The only ones who continue to defend this tragedy are those who had a role in implementing it, and refuse to own up to their mistake.
GETTY IMAGES
BY DEVIN HUTCHINGS
E N J OY O U R U N I Q U E P U RV I E W
U n Re a l t o r s
crain-homes.com | 442 S Old Woodward Ave, Birmingham An independently owned and operated licensee of UMRO Realty Corp.
APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 7
SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
For small business owners, finding the ideal space can be a game changer
IN THE RIGHT PLACE
Several factors come into play for entrepreneurs, like RPT founder Ben Blankenship (left) and company Operations Administrator Arin Rentz, when searching for a space for their business, including on-site parking, neighboring offerings, and cost per square footage. JAY DAVIS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
DAVIS
en Blankenship and Arin Rentz have moved their specialized massage therapy business a handful of times over the last 12 years, each time learning more about the ins and outs of the leasing process. Robotic Precision Therapy Clinic, which uses a machine to apply gentle pressure to a specific muscle to relieve aches and pains, is in its fourth location — a 1,200-square-foot space in Troy in which they hope to stay for an extended period. For founder Blankenship and Rentz, the company’s director of operations, the road to securing each space has been different. RPT first operated out of a location in Birmingham for about three years before the building was sold. Next was a space in the east side of Troy that didn’t have adequate parking. A move to downtown Rochester proved too far for many of its clients.
For the last year, the business, with a staff of five, has operated out of the Sheffield Office Park building on Big Beaver Road in Troy. Its suite is wide open with windows on the east wall that allow the sun to shine in. Beds for five patients are available, up from two at the downtown Rochester location. “This is where we’re planning on being for a while,” Blankenship said. Securing a lease in a space that can help a venture thrive is key for a small business. It can mean the difference between sticking around long term or exiting after a short period of time. A variety of factors come into play when choosing a space, from parking and lighting to proper square footage. Entrepreneurs must be educated and savvy to avoid pitfalls that could play a role in the business failing.
Representation matters
TIPS FOR TENANTS
Robotic Precision Therapy Clinic almost took on more space than necessary. Blankenship had been searching for a 2,500-squarefoot office before settling on the 1,200-square-foot space in Troy. Landlords, who pay commission to a commercial real estate agent to get a space leased, earn more money the more square feet they rent out. That commission is usually 2.5 percent to 5 percent of the total rent. Kevin Tamer, assistant vice president of Auburn Hills-based TEAM Core commercial real estate, stepped in to let Blankenship and Rentz know a larger space wasn’t necessary for RPT. “So it took us quite a while to find a space,” Rentz said.
Following are tips for small business owners for finding and leasing office and retail space:
See SPACE on Page 9
“PARKING AND WHO YOU’RE SERVING IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS NO MATTER WHAT AREA IT’S IN.” — Angela Thomas, associate broker, Signature Associates
` Podcast: Hear tips from business leaders on things to consider when seeking new office space at crainsdetroit.com/podcasts.
READ ALL OF CRAIN’S SBS PROFILES AT CRAINSDETROIT.COM/SMALLBUSINESSSPOTLIGHT 8 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
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Seek out representation: Don’t go it alone. Enlist a tenant representative — a commercial real estate expert working exclusively for the prospective lessee. A tenant rep will help ensure you pay a fair rate, which experts say is negotiable. On your terms: There’s always a possibility that something goes wrong once the lease is signed. The landlord could sell the space, leaving the business owner in a difficult situation. So don’t sign a lease of longer than five years. The prospective lessee has the wiggle room to sign a short lease with an option to extend. Have financials in order: Landlords want to ensure a
potential tenant can afford the rent, so the lessor will ask for documents such as tax returns, bank statements, financial references and a letter of credit from a bank guaranteeing the lessee can make the monthly payments in a timely fashion. Space saver: Landlords bring in more money the more square footage they lease out. Prospective tenants should have a space planner or designer lay out their floor plan to eliminate the possibility of paying for unnecessary space. The lessee can hire a space planner or use the landlord’s. A tenant rep can help ensure a landlord’s space planners don’t call for excess space. SOURCES: AXIS ADVISORS AND SIGNATURE ASSOCIATES
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FOCUS | SMALL BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT KEY SEARCH FACTORS
SPACE
From Page 8
Following are top factors in looking for a business’ new home:
“We had a broker when we originally started the process of finding a new space. One of our clients was in getting some therapy and suggested we meet with TEAM Core. (TEAM Core) came in and looked at what we were offering and said we didn’t need 2,500 square feet. We needed about 1,200 square feet. Obviously it makes (the landlord) less money if we take less space, but the 1,200 square feet better suited our needs.” Representation from the likes of Tamer is important, according to Steve Morris, managing principal at Farmington Hills-based Axis Advisors LLC who has served as a tenant representative for more than 25 years. A tenant rep is a commercial real estate expert who works exclusively for the tenant. Standard real estate brokers represent landlords and tenants. Ensuring a client does not overpay on a lease is one of a tenant rep’s key responsibilities, according to Morris. The rate paid by a small business owner should be based on business income and varies from 2 percent to 20 percent. A new venture should look to keep that number below 7 percent, Morris said. Negotiating that rate is key, he said. The ideal lease terms are for three to five years, with an option to renew, which affords flexibility as rental rates can increase over time and the needs of the business owner can change, Morris said. “If you’re a new business owner, you’ll quickly learn that rent is your second-highest cost following payroll,” said Morris, 70, who for more than a decade taught real estate finance at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “A tenant rep guides the entrepreneur to negotiate the rate. There’s always wiggle room there.”
Geographic location: Set up close to your clientele. Small business owners should operate in or near the city that is home to the largest percentage of customers. Some clients may walk or take public transit, which should be factored in as well.
Different criteria That wiggle room is there when negotiating office and/or retail space, according to Angela Thomas, an associate broker at Signature Associates. Thomas, whose clients include Canine to Five, Heirloom Hospitality and the University of Michigan, said the process varies. For office space, Thomas believes walkable amenities and easy access to parking and freeways are the most important factors for employees and customers. For retailers, customer base, visibility and location are vital. “Parking and who you’re serving impact your business no matter what area it’s in,” Thomas said. “Both conversations include price and budget. It’s interesting, though, in markets like Birmingham and Detroit, price isn’t as big a topic. If someone wants their business in Birmingham, they know they’re going to have to pay (more). If you want to do something in a place like Novi, you can do it for much cheaper per square foot.”
Shared space an option Taking on a smaller footprint is becoming an option for more than a handful of metro Detroit businesses. Co-working spaces, such as WeWork LLC and Bamboo, give new business owners the space they need while keeping overhead low. They offer office and meeting space to busi-
Morris
Bamboo Royal Oak Community Manager Amanda Sweet (left) and Office Manager Lex Brown check out the various seating and working spaces inside the two-story downtown space. | JAY DAVIS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
nesses of all sizes at varying rates. Bamboo, which has offices in downtown Detroit and Royal Oak, offers renewable one-, six- and 12-month lease options. Private office memberships start at $500 a month and give business owners access to printing and mail service, meeting and event space and video conferencing in meeting rooms. Utilities are built into the rate, according to Bamboo Community Manager Amanda Sweet. The Royal Oak location, in a two-story building at the northwest corner of Main and Third streets, has more than 50 private offices, with 90 percent leased currently. “It’s important for us to get (business owners) in the spaces and fill them, but it’s more important for them to know this is plug and play. As soon as a lease is signed, your business is ready to go,” Sweet said. “We’re not here to nickel-and-dime people. We want them to be successful. We’re here to help people cultivate their businesses. It’s something that’s got to make sense for them, though.” Using the shared space makes perfect sense for Hassan Ayoub, who recently leased an office at Bamboo Royal Oak. The owner of Ayoub Advisors & Accountants believes starting out in the shared space is the best route to sustained success. “The community here is a big part of it for me,” said Ayoub, who declined to disclose terms of his lease. “If you’re in a more commercial setup, you’re not able to interact with people as often. There are people here looking to create all kinds of businesses. We’re exposed to a big variety of people and their experiences at Bamboo. That’s a big, big plus. “The services provided and costs add up to be way cheaper for a small business owner. You can focus on growing your business instead of worrying about various bills, which kind of stretches you thin and can hurt your business.”
lows room to grow staff and expand operations, Morris said. In addition to growing a business, saving money is a top goal for most, Morris said. That has become easier over the last decade or so, he said. “Between 2012 and 2016, about 70 percent of every (U.S.) office building went through foreclosure because of the depression downturn from 2008 to 2012,” he said. “Landlords saw their rental rates go down and couldn’t pay their mortgages. Most landlords today, the majority of them, purchased their buildings at a much lower rate, meaning they can offer potential tenants a reduced rate
Ayoub
because they have less debt.” It took Blankenship and Rentz months to find their new space, only settling on the fourth-floor space in Troy after looking through 100 listings and going on dozens of viewings. Robotic Precision Therapy Clinic has been in its current space for a year and seen a 26.2 percent increase in revenue. The business sees 30-40 clients each day, according to Blankenship. Aside from negotiating a good lease rate, the right amount of square footage and amenities, choosing an office or building can tell vendors, clients and customers a lot about the business, Rentz said. “The space you’re in is a reflection of your company. It’s a reflection of your values,” she said. “There are some things I’d take differently in the next space, but we have such a better understanding of the process now. It’s been a learning experience for sure, but we’re much more comfortable with the process now.” Blankenship agreed: “When we first moved (to our current location), we had a ton of our existing clientele coming in saying how much nicer it is,” he said. “It’s not that our other offices were bad. This one is definitely an upgrade. We put in a lot of work to get this space, so it’s nice to hear that our clients are happy with it.” Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981
Office vs. retail: The approach is different for a business owner looking for office space vs. a retailer looking to set up a storefront. Someone looking for an office must factor in where employees are coming from, ease of parking, walkable amenities and access to freeways. Retailers must determine the importance of visibility, setting up in a traditional shopping center vs. a downtown, and the cost of parking for customers. Rent: If you’ve narrowed down your search, comparing the cost of rent is key. Ask the landlord if parking and utilities are included and be sure to negotiate the rate. Access: If a business is easy to get to, it becomes more attractive to customers. If your business has its own parking, adequate spaces are vital. A business in a downtown setting should factor in proximity to public transportation and access to parking lots. Operations: Be sure the space you select fits your needs. For example, a clothing boutique needs space to display items and a fitting room. An ad agency might need a large meeting room or entertainment space. The possibility of expansion should also be factored in. SOURCES: AXIS ADVISORS AND SIGNATURE ASSOCIATES
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‘A reflection’ of you The shared space is a good option if you’re working with a small staff and just starting out, Morris said. For more seasoned businesses, though, they need their own space, which alAPRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9
A DONOR’S IMPACT: FIRST IN A SERIES
SPONSORED CONTENT
PHOTOS BY BEAUMONT HEALTH
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY’S FRONT LINE Health care touches everyone.That’s the driving force behind businessman Stuart Blanck’s $21M gift.
Stuart Blanck
Birmingham businessman Stuart Blanck will never forget how the staff at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak made him feel.
When asked why he would encourage others to donate, Blanck said “everyone is affected by health care.”
In times of great stress and anxiety, as Blanck helped care for his aging mother, Beaumont’s high standards could always be felt. No matter whom Blanck encountered, he was impressed. Everyone — from nurses and doctors to clerks working at registration to the aides pushing beds down hallways — all of them were committed to excellence in everything they did, he said.
“It’s important for the community,” said Blanck, an owner of Wallside Windows. “It touches everyone. Everyone wants good, adequate health care. The ER is a front line to the hospital and where most people go.”
Those observations and feelings were the driving force behind Blanck’s $21 million gift to the hospital system in 2019. The gift was designed to support the Royal Oak hospital’s emergency medicine department and future unmet needs of Beaumont Health. It was also intended to expand and enhance geriatric competence and provide special training for nurses and doctors. The emergency center is now named in his honor: the Stuart H. Blanck Emergency Center.
Blanck’s mother, Lorraine Blanck, passed away in 2021 at age 100. Blanck said he hopes his gift gives doctors and nurses resources for equipment, training and education. Dr. James Ziadeh, chief of emergency medicine at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, sees endless potential for the gift, which came at an ideal time, as the hospital system treated more Covid patients than any other hospital system in the region. “There’s great excitement around the gift because it opens so many possibilities,”
“IT’S IMPORTANT FOR THE COMMUNITY. IT TOUCHES EVERYONE. EVERYONE WANTS GOOD, ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE. THE ER IS A FRONT LINE TO THE HOSPITAL AND WHERE MOST PEOPLE GO.” Stuart Blanck Ziadeh said. “We are a large academic department. This gift puts us at a special place to move forward. We very often have great ideas to improve and innovate patient care. Now, this funding will help us make some of those ideas a reality.” The gift has already made an impact. The department has been able to create private rooms with glass doors and add senior-friendly features such as easier-to-read signage. MRI and CT facilities are now onsite to provide easier access to advanced diagnostic imaging; also, more point-of-care tests are available at an
emergency patient’s bedside to enhance efficiency and get patients home sooner. The Stuart H. Blanck Emergency Center is the only Level 1 trauma center in Oakland and Macomb counties, providing care for the most serious and life-threatening cases and receiving referrals from other hospitals throughout the region. In addition, the center offers specialized geriatric care as well as 24/7 pediatric emergency medicine care; it is also home to Oakland County’s only Level II pediatric trauma center. The importance of this isn’t lost on Blanck, who noted that the Royal Oak hospital is the only one he has ever been to. “I’m getting older, I’m going to be 74,” Blanck said. “I’m probably going to be at the emergency room sooner rather than later. The ER has become very important to me.” Learn more about the Stuart H. Blanck Emergency Center at Beaumont.org.
APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 10
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IN CORPORATE COUNSEL In a time of constant change for businesses, in-house counsel teams have been pivotal — mapping a shifting legal landscape and charting new territory for workplace health requirements, vaccine mandates and remote work policies. Beyond the pandemic, these leaders have been crucial to the success of major mergers, acquisitions and IPOs; negotiated settlements and bargained with labor unions; and have kept their companies on the forefront of cybersecurity and data privacy, while giving top executives personal guidance and keeping company activities and values aligned.
AMY ANGER
MICHELLE CARTER PIERCE
Vice President and General Counsel, Stefanini Inc.
General Counsel, Centria Healthcare LLC
Amy Anger has helped the sales team at Stefanini close three revenue-generating contracts totaling $35 million since joining the company two years ago. “Her work has been fundamental to the success of many initiatives, such as the adoption of the home office system and the closing of contracts, directly impacting Stefanini’s positive results this year,” said Spencer Gracias, CEO of Stefanini NA and APAC. Previously, Anger was a client partner for Fulcrum Workforce Solutions through her legal and consulting firm Atrip. Before that, she worked in a senior executive capacity for Kelly Services. Anger is a founding member and past president of the grant-making nonprofit Impact100 Metro Detroit. In November 2021, she joined the invite-only Tech GC, a general counsel forum of technology companies. She also mentors young lawyers.
MICHELLE BILLARD Corporation Counsel, Washtenaw County
“Since joining the Washtenaw County team in November 2017, Michelle has continually provided excellent leadership, communication and legal counsel on a wide variety of matters for the organization,” said Washtenaw County Administrator Greg Dill. Michelle Billard modernized the office by introducing new tools, streamlining processes and developing a culture where staff felt supported. Her team of four manages litigation, FOIAs, contracts and more for various city agencies. Clients include county commissioners, the sheriff, treasurer and other county department heads. Dealing with COVID, however, was an entirely different animal. Her efforts included researching and advising ways to apply state mandates, helping restructure service delivery for residents and bargaining with labor units on hazard compensation. She most recently served as international director of risk management of her Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women.
Michelle Carter Pierce became Centria Healthcare’s first in-house attorney in 2016. She uses her knowledge of the company’s industry, payors, compliance needs and service lines (applied behavioral analysis therapy and support, catastrophic injury care and pediatric nursing) to help the organization navigate the legal landscape in 11 states. “Michelle maintains calm focus in helping us devise a sound legal strategy. I’ve appreciated her judgment and a steady hand when guiding the executive team through legal quagmires and uniquely difficult situations,” said Centria Healthcare CEO Scott Barry. Carter Pierce is past president of the Wolverine Bar Association, a member of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association board and a former member of the Michigan Supreme Court Task Force on Self-Help Resources.
STEPHANIE CLIFFORD General Counsel, Stout Risius Ross LLC
Stephanie Clifford was general counsel of inventory services company RGIS LLC before joining Stout in March 2020. Since then, she has handled ongoing litigation matters and established a legal and compliance department and a legal framework for expanding services offerings through a new intellectual property advisory and transaction team. Under her leadership, her team developed a new contracting template system to improve the efficacy and timeliness of legal reviews. “At the end of the day, she’s my right-hand person on legal issues, and I could never do nearly as effective of a job as she does at that work,” said CEO Craige Stout. “While she runs things by me and gets my opinion, usually I only need to say, ‘I totally agree, and that makes sense. Go for it.’ She also solves a lot of problems and addresses a host of issues before they get to my desk.”
INTESAR ELDER Assistant General Counsel, Ally Financial Inc.
JOSHUA BIRK Head of Legal & Compliance, North America, Hella GmbH & Co.
Joshua Birk began his career at Hella one month before the pandemic took hold in the United States. He was new to the auto business and didn’t focus on employment matters at his previous jobs. He learned quickly. His responsibilities as sole attorney for North American operations were extensive. Birk helped form a crisis management team to address local labor and employment issues, facilities engineering, IT security for remote work and more. “Josh has a true knack for understanding business and the law to help guide us through sometimes choppy waters and understand both the legal and business risks to every decision. This gives us the best level of information to do our jobs in the best way possible,” said Ben Cohen, head of Sales Excellence & Marketing and a member of Hella’s North American senior leadership team. Birk serves as board treasurer of the Michigan chapter of the Association for Corporate Counsel and is a member of the Original Equipment Supplier Association Legal Issues Council.
PAUL BORJA Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Flagstar Bank
Paul Borja, who was promoted in June 2021, was Flagstar Bank’s principal in-house counsel for its negotiation and nationwide planned merger with New York Community Bancorp. The merger is pending. Borja, who leads a team of 21 people, has also implemented budgeting and invoice tracking and introduced artificial intelligence-based document review software. “The company’s general counsel is my wingman and Flagstar’s too, making sure we both stay within the guardrails of the rules and regulations we operate under,” said Flagstar Bank President and CEO Sandro DiNello. “Without question, we are in good hands with Paul as our general counsel.” Borja serves on the Cass Community Social Services board and is a member of the American Bankers Association and Mortgage Bankers Association.
Intesar Elder recently “quarterbacked” a $300 million credit facility using real estate of about 30 properties. Under her leadership, Ally completed due diligence, agreement negotiations and closing within the client’s 45-day window. “Her professionalism and work ethic were evident throughout the entire process as she worked closely with all parties involved. She understood and met Ally’s business requirements while ensuring Ally’s security interests were protected. Without question, (she is) an essential member of the team,” said Sheldon Nicklin, recently retired executive director of Dealer Lending for Ally. Elder is also active in the community. Elder co-founded the Michigan Muslim Bar Association to help upcoming Muslim lawyers connect with others in the industry. She also mentors prospective law students.
ZENNA ELHASAN General Counsel and Board Secretary, the Kresge Foundation
Former Wayne County Corporation Counsel Zenna Elhasan is the first inhouse counsel in the Kresge Foundation’s 100-year history. She is also the sole legal support for the nonprofit’s 110-person staff. “Zenna has demonstrated the enormous potential of a fully conceived legal department by touching virtually every dimension of the foundation’s work. She has not only augmented our legal due diligence capacities but has also brought unwaveringly sharp and sound judgment to the organization’s broader organizational needs, including working closely with our board of trustees,” said Kresge President and CEO Rip Rapson. Elhasan joined the foundation in 2018. She began implementing a contract management system to streamline processes and reduce costs in recent years. She also helped close a $57.3 million transaction with PNC Bank that supports the Marygrove Conservancy campus project. Moreover, Elhasan serves on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, the Detroit Wayne County Health Authority, the ACCESS advisory council, and the University of Detroit Mercy Law School’s dean advisory boards. She is also a member of the Michigan Muslim Bar Association and Michigan Demand Justice, where she helps ensure diversity among the judges and mentors cohort participants.
METHODOLOGY: The leaders featured in this report were selected from nominations by a team of Crain’s Detroit Business editors based on their career accomplishments, track record of success in the field and effectiveness of their efforts, as outlined in a detailed application form. The honorees did not pay to be included on the list. Notables in Corporate Counsel was managed and written by Leslie D. Green. For questions about this report, contact Special Projects Editor Amy Bragg: abragg@crain.com. 12 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
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BRYANT FRANK
BHARAT GANDHI
Secretary and Senior Counsel, Soave Enterprises LLC
Chief Legal Counsel, Michigan Health Information Network Shared Services
Bryant Frank is co-chair of Detroit’s Muslim–Jewish Advisory Council, past chair of Matrix Human Services and a co-founder of the Jewish Ensemble Theatre. Since joining Soave, he has negotiated numerous acquisitions and dispositions, led Soave industry negotiations for collective bargaining agreements and investigated and responded to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and State Civil Rights complaints. Most recently, he was vital to the sale of the Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. and its affiliates to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. The deal involved more than 300 parcels of real estate and 58,000 pages of documents that his team made digitally accessible to more than 75 active users. “Bryant is integral to the success we’ve enjoyed at Soave since he joined us nearly 30 years ago. Beyond his ability to skillfully handle complex transactions and negotiations, Bryant moves easily between executive leadership and operations,” said Chairman and CEO Anthony Soave. “He is a fox hole-type who has earned the respect of the entire organization by his demonstrated willingness to stand shoulder to shoulder with colleagues in the most challenging of circumstances.”
Bharat Gandhi is the first inhouse counsel for the Michigan Health Information Network. MiHIN is a public-private nonprofit bridging communications between health care providers and ensuring electronic health records are accessible for all stakeholders. Gandhi established MiHIN’s legal department and leveraged outside counsel as the organization grew. He also created and implemented a corporation affiliation strategy for consolidating state-centric nonprofits into a nationally focused enterprise. And he streamlined the processes surrounding data sharing agreements. “Bharat is a trusted adviser that provides sound pragmatic legal counsel in an industry at the nexus of health care, technology, data, privacy, policy, population health, and medicine. He helps to guide the work of our nonprofit with measure and grace in this ever-evolving but necessary space,” said Joanne Jarvi, senior director of Outreach and Market Communications at MiHIN Shared Services. Gandhi is a master of the bench for the Michigan IP American Inns of Court and past vice chair of the Cranbrook Academy of Art and its museum.
JAY GOLDBAUM
MICHAEL GRUSKIN
General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary, Horizon Global Corp.
Deputy General Counsel, General Motors
“Jay has led Horizon Global’s legal department since the company’s spin-off from TriMas Corporation on June 30, 2015. The company is currently in its third year of a turnaround effort, and Jay is actively involved in all aspects from relatively minor issues to global strategic initiatives,” said Horizon Global CEO Terrence Gohl. Jay Goldbaum was integral to Horizon’s public offering of $125 million in convertible senior notes and its second public offering of $4.6 million shares of common stock. He was intimately involved in corporate acquisitions, including the $141 million purchase of Westfalia-Automotive GmbH and its sister companies and Horizon’s $233 million divestiture of its Asia-Pacific operating arm.
Congratulations JOHN SCHAPKA
D I R E C TO R , M AC O M B C O U N T Y C O R P O R AT I O N C O U N S E L
Thank you for dedicating your career to serving our community.
M A C O M B G O V. O R G
YOU
MADE NEWS IN CRAIN’S
SHARE YOUR SUCCESS
WITH DIGITAL REPRINTS, KEEPSAKES AND MORE Contact Laura Picariello at lpicariello@crain.com or (732) 723-0569 to learn more about commemorative options.
Michael Gruskin is responsible for all of General Motors’ non-U.S.-based legal personnel, which includes a team of 90 attorneys and other professionals. During his tenure 25-year tenure with the automaker, he has been involved in several significant matters, including GM’s 2009 bankruptcy and its restructurings in Korea (2018) and Australia and New Zealand (2020). “Not only is Michael Gruskin an outstanding lawyer at GM, but he is also an enterprise leader. He has been a leader in many critical areas ... from litigation to manufacturing, from domestic affairs to international relations, all the while improving our safety performance and enhancing our diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Craig Glidden, executive vice president of global public policy, corporate secretary and general counsel for GM. Gruskin co-invented three business process patents related to the development of litigation support software. He also leads efforts to partner with GM outside counsel and pro-bono organizations on initiatives related to driver’s license restoration, domestic abuse, transgender name changes and more. He is a member of the Detroit Bar Association board and a hearing panelist for the Michigan Attorney Discipline board. APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 13
SALLY GUINDI
SAMER HAMADE
EL
General Counsel, Trinity Health Michigan; Managing Counsel, Trinity Health National Service Area
General Counsel and Vice President of Operations, RoadEx
Seni Beau
Samer Hamade started working as a diesel mechanic shop assistant when he was 17 years old. He worked his way up to dispatch and then joined Flat Rate Funding, the invoice factoring arm that became RoadEx. Hamade then earned his MBA and law degrees and built the company’s legal infrastructure from scratch. “It is invaluable to have someone like Samer who possesses both a legal and operational background in the industry in which we do business. Samer knows what it’s like out on the road, giving us a unique perspective to help us better serve our drivers, and is experienced in the back office. He is familiar with the finance and day-today operations of a growing transportation services company. Without him, we’d be struggling to keep up with the present instead of planning for our bright future,” said RoadEx CEO Paul Adams. Under Hamade’s direction, RoadEx has increased its fuel card program collection to 99.7 percent from 82 percent. And he has been responsible for successful litigation resulting in more than $600,000 in collections and for navigating the company receiving $5 million in its first round of funding.
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JAMES HEATH
BETH HILL
MA
Corporation Counsel, Wayne County
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, FordDirect
Exec Lega LLC
“I have witnessed Sally’s meteoric rise within our organization, beginning as an attorney at St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor to today overseeing an entire team of attorneys spread across Trinity Health hospitals in Michigan, Georgia and Florida,” said Shannon Striebich, president and senior vice president of Operations at Saint Joseph Mercy Oakland. Sally Guindi has been responsible for several vital transactions, including the collaborative development of the Cancer Network of West Michigan and the Cardiovascular Network of West Michigan with Michigan Medicine and The University of Michigan Health West. She also worked on a joint venture with Universal Health Services to open an inpatient psychiatric hospital in Grand Rapids. She is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association and the Michigan Bar Health Law Section.
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Warner Congratulates
Misha Sukenik Global General Counsel & Corporate Secretary Bissel Homecare Inc.
Crain’s Detroit Business has recognized Bissell’s Misha Sukenik as a “Notable in Corporate Counsel.” His accomplishments and leadership, both professionally and in the community, along with his commitment to his team at Bissell have earned him this honor.
Warner is a corporate law firm with 230 attorneys practicing in nine
offices throughout Michigan: Grand Rapids, Detroit, Midland, Macomb County, Kalamazoo, Muskegon,
Lansing, Holland and Bloomfield Hills. 14 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
wnj.com
James Heath, a winner of the 2022 Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Award, previously served as the first inspector general for the city of Detroit, investigating waste, abuse, fraud and corruption. He was also chief of special operations for Wayne County. As corporation counsel, he is responsible for the county’s General Litigation & Employment, Real Estate, Public Services & Tax, Municipal and Health, and Human Relations/Business Inclusion divisions. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Heath’s team of more than 50 attorneys and staff have advised Wayne County’s experts on safe and effective public health orders and negotiating agreements to provide testing, vaccination and tracking tools. Moreover, his team successfully defended contentious election-related matters in federal and state courts in 2020. The Michigan Supreme Court appointed Heath as an attorney representative to the Michigan Judicial Council in 2021. He also serves on the State Bar of Michigan board of commissioners, where he chairs the public policy and awards committees. In September, he will be the fifth African American to become president of the State Bar of Michigan.
Beth Hill’s team of legal and compliance professionals manages more than 1,000 legal issues and contracts each year for FordDirect, a data-centric, automotive retail-focused marketing and advertising company. Hill and her team also created and manage the privacy program for FordDirect. “During my tenure as CEO, Beth’s strong leadership attributes and business acumen played an important role in the significant transformation of the FordDirect business. Beth quickly builds strong relationships. She does so by demonstrating thoughtfulness, compassion, integrity, and a desire to serve,” said former FordDirect CEO Dianne Craig. Hill is co-founder of the Women of FordDirect, past co-chair of Detroit Knowledgenet, a division of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and an advisory board member for the Future of Privacy Forum and the Privacy + Security Academy.
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Beaumont Health didn’t have anyone focused on employment law advice and counsel before Ellen Hoeppner came on board in 2020. Since then, she has helped develop new and enhanced processes and programs surrounding talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, leave management, employee relations and employment law-related training. “She joined Beaumont shortly before the pandemic and has been instrumental in helping us navigate the workplace implications, including standing up new policies and procedures and handling a significant workforce restructuring in a fair and mindful manner,” said Michael Dixon, vice president of Human Resources for Beaumont Health. Hoeppner is also a member of the Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s labor and employment advisory board and a member of Inforum.
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Michelle Johnson-Tidjani is responsible for more than 150 professionals in the Office of Corporate Governance, audit compliance, information privacy and security and insurance services. “A strategist by nature, she’s ever vigilant for the next opportunity to make herself and her department better while focusing on strategic alignment and growth. This results not only in her leading departments successfully but also allows her to identify opportunities to improve process and infrastructure at the health system,” said Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health. Johnson-Tidjani leads state and national advocacy efforts, such as fighting for Michigan’s charity care provision and the federal drug pricing program. Her counsel aided in developing HFH partnerships with Michigan State University, Acadia Healthcare, Truveta, Contessa and GoHealth. Moreover, she is co-creator and an executive sponsor of HFH’s diversity, equity, inclusion and justice strategic plan. She serves on the boards of several organizations, including McGregor Fund, Detroit Bar Association Foundation and Junior Achievement.
congratulations
to those that stand out from the crowd Meijer congratulates all the 2022 Notables in Corporate Counsel, including our own Cindy Rogowski.
RECOGNIZE AN EXCEPTIONAL LEADER UNDER 40 DEADLINE MAY 20 NOMINATE TODAY: crainsdetroit.com/40-under-40
MARYANN KANARY
WAYNE KAUFFMAN
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Barton Malow Holdings LLC
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Gentherm Inc.
“MaryAnn has a reputation for providing balanced legal advice and is appreciated for her care and concern for the well-being of all Barton Malow’s 3,000+ team members. In her time with the company, she led a process of evaluating and modifying our legal entity structure, expanding from one company to a family of companies. As a result of her leadership efforts and the entity restructure, we have experienced significant growth as an enterprise,” said Barton Malow President and CEO Ryan Maibach. MaryAnn Kanary is also responsible for Barton Malow’s LIFTbuild LLC, which improves project design, materials fabrication, shipping and assembly efficiency. Kanary is a National Asian Pacific American Bar Association member and serves on the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit and Michigan Swimming Inc. boards.
Before becoming general counsel in 2019, Wayne Kauffman was global chief intellectual property counsel for Gentherm, a thermal management technology company. In his new role, he developed new corporate disclosures, expanded the legal team, helped complete a board succession plan, championed and helped launch the corporate ESG program and co-led strategic investments and acquisitions. “Wayne has enhanced a legal department that is equally valued for its role in strategy and business growth and as a problem solver, as it is for the core functions of compliance and risk mitigation,” said Michael Ben, a partner at Honigman LLP. Under Kauffman’s leadership, Newsweek named Gentherm one of its Most Responsible Companies of 2021.
CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER Congratulations, Kathrine Lorenz, for being named a Notable Leader in Corporate Counsel by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Thank you for your leadership at DTE and within the communities we serve.
APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 15
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WILLIAM KREGEL
LAURA LEWIS
KATHRINE LORENZ
RAYMOND LUK
TIM
Corporate Counsel, BorgWarner Inc.
General Counsel, StockX LLC
Corporate Counsel, BorgWarner Inc.
William Kregel supports BorgWarner in various legal issues, from mergers and acquisitions and strategic investment activities to handling general litigation and contract legal matters with suppliers and customers. He is a member of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association Legal Issues Council. “Not only is Bill a very experienced, seasoned legal expert, but he has very high business acumen and is a great business partner that helps our BorgWarner team in North America deliver our business results. Most recently, Bill supported a strategic investment project within BorgWarner that was executed over a very short time period with a great outcome,” said Michael Ausbrooks, vice president and general manager North America for BorgWarner Emissions, Thermal and Turbo Systems. Some of Kregel’s recent big wins include work as lead attorney on a $10 million Series A equity investment in Enexor BioEnergy LLC and a Series C equity investment in Qnovo Inc.
Laura Lewis is responsible for all legal and compliance matters for StockX, a $3.8 billion online marketplace that will soon be operating in 10 countries. Her work has included helping launch NFTs, closing its first merger and acquisition transaction, and overseeing the closing of StockX’s Series E and E-1 financing rounds, as well as a tender offer that resulted in $195 million in liquidity. “The growth of StockX is built on a foundation of Detroit leaders. And, with Laura, we’ve been able to make that foundation even stronger. From day one, she’s provided the guidance and leadership that helped us grow from a startup to a company with more than 1,600 global team members serving millions of customers around the world,” said StockX Co-Founder and COO Greg Schwartz. Lewis leads a diverse team that has grown to 17 from one during her time at StockX. She is a member of the Genusee eyewear board of directors.
General Counsel, DTE Gas Company; Director of Legal, DTE Energy
Vice Univ
“JOSH HAS A TRUE KNACK FOR UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS AND THE LAW TO HELP GUIDE US THROUGH SOMETIMES CHOPPY WATERS AND UNDERSTAND BOTH THE LEGAL AND BUSINESS RISKS TO EVERY DECISION.” — Ben Cohen, Head of Sales Excellence & Marketing, Hella, on Joshua Birk
Kathrine Lorenz worked her way up from being a senior attorney in DTE’s litigation group in 2012 to overseeing about half of DTE Energy’s legal team and all of legal for DTE Gas. Her wins include improving customer satisfaction by having team members meet with customers in their homes to deescalate concerns and decrease risk, including lawsuits and complaints to regulators. Lorenz was chief legal counsel to the utility’s pandemic command team, which needed real-time counsel. In part, the team partnered with health departments, established onsite COVID testing and vaccinations and sequestered its essential employees in local hotels during surges. “Kathrine is incredibly strategic and a great communicator. She has an ability to communicate complex concepts or legal principles into easy-to-understand analogies. She’s a trusted adviser to many of our senior executives and an excellent leader and mentor to others both inside and outside the legal organization,” said JoAnn Chavez, senior vice president and chief legal officer for DTE.
Raymond Luk is the primary securities counsel for BorgWarner and is responsible for public disclosures. He implemented new processes and instituted in-house benchmarking functions, which have saved time and money. One of Luk’s biggest wins has been successfully pricing a public offering of 1 billion euros in senior notes and using some of the profits to acquire the Akasol AG battery systems company. “He serves as an expert in public company and securities law and, quite frankly, we couldn’t manage without him. He is smart and tenacious and has a practical business-savvy approach to managing legal and business issues that arise,” said Tonit Calaway, executive vice president, chief administrative officer, general counsel and secretary at BorgWarner. Luk is a member of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, Detroit Chapter, and serves as a BorgWarner representative on the Automotive Compliance Roundtable.
Congratulations
JODI ROBIN
on being named as one of Crain’s 2022 Notables in Corporate Counsel TriMas thanks Jodi Robin for her commitment and dedication in her role as General Counsel & Secretary, particularly as she continues to better the Company and the communities where we live and work. TriMas, headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, designs and manufactures a diverse set of products for the consumer products, aerospace and industrial markets. TriMas is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “TRS”, and has a market capitalization of approximately of $1.4 billion.
16 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
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REBECCA NAVIN
CALLANA OLLIE
ANNABELLE PEREIRA
DEBRA POSPIECH
Vice President and General Counsel, University of Michigan
General Counsel, Detroit Economic Growth Corp.
Chief Legal Officer, Oakland Community Health Network
Senior Counsel for KitchenAid Small Appliances, Whirlpool Corp.
Timothy Lynch’s work at the University of Michigan is wide ranging. For example, he and his team support faculty with patent and tech transfer efforts, advise Michigan Medicine on patient care and regulatory issues and the Athletics department on contract, trademark and compliance issues. Lynch represented UM when the board of regents met in January 2022 to remove the university’s president and appoint an interim president. His team also helped UM reach a $490 million settlement with plaintiffs abused by the late physician Robert Anderson. “The University has confronted many challenges, including an unprecedented pandemic and, most recently, a convergence of litigation around sexual misconduct, some of which occurred decades ago. Yet, through it all, Tim has proposed well-grounded legal and practical options for the president and the governing board while managing an efficient team of lawyers who deal with a wide range of issues common to most large and complex universities,” said UM President Mary Sue Coleman.
Rebecca Navin and her lean inhouse team handle legal matters related to economic development in the city of Detroit. “Becky is a critical member of the DEGC team as we work to advance programs, projects and services that are key to the revitalization of commercial and industrial corridors in the city of Detroit. The counsel that she brings to the organization is invaluable, as she provides guidance that is not only grounded in sound legal principles but also considers historical perspective, business strategy and policy goals,” said DEGC President and CEO Kevin Johnson. From April 2020 to February 2021, Navin’s team helped the DEGC disburse 2,000 grants ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 to provide more than $15 million in pandemic relief to small businesses. Before that, they negotiated and managed support for the $1.6 billion redevelopment of FCA’s new assembly plant.
“Ms. Ollie’s insight and vast knowledge of legislature and contract law have been instrumental in the development of strategic priorities for OCHN. She is thoughtful, engaged and, most importantly, focused on ensuring the needs of the people served by OCHN are protected,” said Dana Lasenby, executive director and CEO at Oakland Community Health Network. Callana Ollie’s role includes overseeing procurement and the provider network team at OCHN, which she helped align with federal and state guidelines. Before joining OCHN in November 2020, Callana Ollie was deputy chief legal counsel for the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. Previously, she advised on open-source transactions, including implementing technology to support the review of in-vehicle technology for Ford Motor Co. Ollie, who was co-chair of the Wolverine Bar Association 2021 scholarship committee, is a mentor to high school girls and college women interested in pursuing the legal field. She is a past recipient of the National Bar Association’s Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Under 40.
“Belle joined KitchenAid in early 2021 and has …invested the time to really understand the business and build relationships with all members of the organization. As a result, her advice and contributions are driven by the team’s objectives and the big picture, not just a desire to avoid risks,” said Daniel Valenti, vice president of Whirlpool and general manager of KitchenAid Appliances. Previously, Annabelle Pereira was senior counsel for M&A and corporate governance at Whirlpool, where she helped build a global legal team. She was also tasked to develop and lead the KASA legal team, which advises on sales, distribution and anti-trust matters. She’s a member of the global KitchenAid leadership team and serves as the primary attorney for the unit’s U.S. region, its largest. Pereira also co-leads the legal department’s inclusion and diversity committee and serves on the Diverse Attorney Pipeline Project board.
General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department
Under Debra Pospiech, DWSD eliminated its reliance on outside legal counsel in most matters, which has resulted in significant savings. She plays an active role in the litigation process and advises and informs the Board of Water Commissioners. “As we’ve worked on several DWSD initiatives and addressed many legacy issues that plagued the department through policy changes, Debra’s expertise and perspective have been essential,” said DWSD Director Gary Brown. “She is a key adviser to our executive team and entire department on legal matters, city ordinances and policies.” Over three years, Pospiech managed the audit, review, drafting and revision of policies regarding DWSD’s financial, legal, customer service, human resources and operational matters. After the flooding in 2021, she led a cross-functional team as it received and triaged tens of thousands of related claims.
WELL-DESERVED! Stout congratulates Stephanie Clifford on being named one of Crain’s Notable Leaders in Corporate Counsel. We celebrate and thank her for modeling Relentless Excellence® in all she does. stout.com APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 17
ROSHUNDA PRICE
KYMBERLY REEVES
Assistant General Counsel, Meritor Inc.
Assistant General Counsel of Labor, Employment, Compliance, Nexteer Automotive
Before Meritor promoted Roshunda Price to the assistant general counsel of corporate transactions in January 2020, she led three significant acquisition transactions, including the $175 million acquisition of AxleTech. The transaction included filings in the United States, France and Turkey. Afterward, she implemented the integration of Meritor and AxleTech’s legal and compliance departments. “I have worked on a variety of transactions with Roshunda, and she is one of the best M&A attorneys I have partnered with during my career,” said Matt Donley, director of mergers and acquisitions at Meritor. Last year, Crain’s named Price a Notable Nonprofit Board Member for her role as chair of Presbyterian Villages of Michigan. She is also a Great Lakes Women’s Business Council board member, a member of the Cotillion Society of Detroit Educational Foundation Circle of Friends and a fellow of the State Bar of Michigan Foundation.
Shortly after joining Nexteer Automotive, Kymberly Reeves managed several ongoing employment litigation cases, which she settled for low values. That experience led her to make internal improvements to company processes, including training for human resources employees on leave management and properly documenting performance issues. As a result, the number of employment-related litigation matters decreased. Reeves also helped Nexteer create a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative which she now directs. “Kymberly pairs an incredible knowledge of employment law and regulations with her personal strengths of communication and listening, compassion and empathy, and a pure commitment to doing good for others,” said Cheryl Krieger, director of Corporate Communications, Global Talent Management and Corporate HR at Nexteer Automotive. Reeves is on the Legal Aid and Defender Association board and serves as co-chair of the Association of Black Alumni’s mentoring committee at Detroit Mercy Law School.
JODI ROBIN
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, TriMas Corp.
“THE GROWTH OF STOCKX IS BUILT ON A FOUNDATION OF DETROIT LEADERS. AND, WITH LAURA, WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE THAT FOUNDATION EVEN STRONGER.” — Greg Schwartz, Co-Founder and COO, StockX
“Jodi has been a key contributor to TriMas over the past 11 years. I look forward to her advice and the positive impacts she will make in the future in her new role as TriMas’ general counsel,” said TriMas President and CEO Thomas Amato. Jodi Robin led the legal team in TriMas’ acquisition and integration of TFI Aerospace Corp. and Omega Plastics and the disposition of its energy segment. She also ensured employee handbooks complied with laws and regulations, revamped bonus plan documents and negotiated early lease termination agreements for legacy properties. Under her direction, the TriMas legal team has handled two pro-bono matters, one involving a local nurse who wanted guardianship of a Haitian orphan in need of medical treatment. Moreover, Robin is a site supervisor for Wayne State University Law School’s externship program and cochair of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit’s Affinities Department Attorneys Group.
CINDY ROGOWSKI Associate General Counsel, Meijer Inc.
Cindy Rogowski is responsible for all anti-trust, commercial disputes, intellectual property, property tax, product liability and personal injury matters for Meijer headquarters and its 250 stores. She is also legal counsel to the product quality safety and compliance, asset protection, IT security and risk management departments. Under her direction, her team participates in an active anti-trust recovery program that maximizes Meijer’s economic performance by proactively recovering amounts lost due to anticompetitive behavior. “Cindy’s contributions to Meijer are truly priceless. She manages litigation with efficiency and success, generates revenue through recovery programs, and is a valuable partner to our business,” said Janet Kelley, former senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Meijer. Rogowski is also board vice chair of the YWCA West Central Michigan Chapter.
Congratulations, honorees. Excellence deserves recognition. Congratulations to our Crain’s Notables, as well as the efforts of our entire Legal team. Together, we’re creating a cleaner, better future for all by accelerating the world’s transition to eMobility.
18 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
Bill Kregel Corporate Counsel
Ray Luk Corporate Counsel
CONGRATULATIONS
KARISSA WALLACE We salute Karissa Wallace for being recognized as a Crain’s Notable Corporate Counsel honoree and the positive impact she makes on the Rock Family of Companies and our communities.
LINDA ROSS
JOHN SCHAPKA
PETER SCHRECK
DONNA SNYDER
SHAWN SOLON
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Trinity Health
Corporation Counsel, Macomb County
Senior Counsel, Rocket Central
“You are not the ordinary general counsel. You actually work for a living,” said Assistant Macomb County Corporation Counsel Peter Jensen about John Schapka. Schapka credits much of his success to his “gifted” team of four assistant corporation counsels and support staff. They successfully removed an elected county clerk and prosecutor from office and maintained a civil litigation dismissal rate of nearly 70 percent, including a $70 million breach of contract action. Under Schapka’s leadership, the county saved money by transitioning from primarily using outside firms to litigate cases to litigating 90 percent of matters using in-house attorneys. For 29 years, John Schapka has maintained a pro bono relationship with a federal prisoner he defended in military courts. The prisoner is serving a life sentence for homicide. Schapka has been successful in numerous clemency hearings.
After working as senior counsel for Flint Group, Peter Schreck joined Rocket Central two years ago. He is acting general counsel for Rocket Auto, an online auto sales subsidiary, and Rocket Connections, a telecom contact center. He’s also a member of Rocket’s finance, legal operations and data privacy teams. Schreck was responsible for Rocket’s $1.5 billion warehouse financing transaction and the creation of its $500 million demand notes program. He leads a program that negotiates discounts with law firms used by Rocket Mortgage and affiliates, saving Rocket millions of dollars a year. And he leads Rocket’s 50-state auto dealer and financing license project and heads a program to reduce outside counsel by $5 million a year. He also created legal analytics dashboards that showcase his department’s achievements. “Peter is obsessed with finding a better way,” said Jose Bartolomei, associate general counsel at Rock Central. Schreck is also director of the Michigan Youth Empowerment Foundation, which promotes science, technology, engineering, arts and math programs to K-12 students.
Associate General Counsel, University of Michigan
Deputy General Counsel, Rocket Central
“Donna Snyder is a talented professional who brings out the best in everyone. She has the legal acumen to get the details precisely right, along with the personal touch to help all involved feel pride about their giving and their work. From world-class philanthropists to office staff, Donna’s trusted approach has made a tremendous impact on the University of Michigan community,” said Thomas Baird, vice president of Development at the University of Michigan. Snyder, who joined the University of Michigan 25 years ago, focuses her practice on legal, tax, policy, and due diligence related to charitable gifts. Working with fundraising professionals, donors and attorneys, she recently negotiated the terms and drafted agreements for a $150 million commitment to the Rogel Cancer Center and multiple gifts totaling more than $150 million from the Weiser family. She also negotiated gifts of art, cash, and a bequest for the Power Family Program for Inuit Art at the UM Museum of Art. She is past president of the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southeast Michigan and the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners.
Rocket Central has promoted Shawn Solon four times in the past five years. “Shawn is a prodigious producer of top-notch work. But what is most remarkable about Shawn is his ability to deliver that work, and the attendant results, in a way that is in lockstep with our companies’ and our leaderships’ interests and values,” said Rocket Companies General Counsel Andy Lusk. Shawn Solon’s team successfully worked with outside counsel to defeat five class-action cases in the past year. They won a favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which vacated a $10 million judgment. In addition, they assisted in Rocket’s $1.275 billion acquisition of Truebill and played a vital role in Rocket’s 2020 IPO. In the community, Solon is a mentor to new leaders through the Red Door Project and volunteers with several area nonprofits through the Rocket Community Fund.
Before joining Trinity Health nearly six years ago, Linda Ross was a partner and a leader in the Honigman law firm’s health care department. As chief legal officer for the $20 billion health system, Ross leads 59 attorneys and 26 other professionals in 25 states. “Her years of experience in leading complex transactions has enabled Trinity Health to complete hundreds of mergers, transitions and acquisitions that have greatly benefited our communities,” said Trinity Health President and CEO Michael Slubowski. In addition, Ross supported Trinity’s participation as a founding member of CIVICA, a nonprofit seeking to provide quality, affordable generic medications to everyone in need. She addressed concerns about privacy and security breaches by implementing stricter than standard requirements for vendors needing access to protected information. And she reduced the health system’s legal spending by 20 percent without sacrificing the quality of the work. Ross is a member of the Alternatives for Girls board and the board of the Pink Fund. She is also a mentor for Trinity’s Physician Leadership Academy program.
LAWRENCE SOMMERS Senior Vice President and General Counsel-Commercial Bank, Comerica Bank
CONGRATULATIONS
Lawrence Sommers began his career working on the loan side of legal affairs at Comerica 36 years ago. “As a senior vice president and general counsel, his knowledge and expertise in understanding complex legal issues continue to provide valuable guidance and support to our commercial banking line of business, as well as in any other areas he can assist,” said John Buchanan, Comerica Bank’s executive vice president, chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary. In recent years, Sommers was responsible for helping Comerica’s commercial and retail banking teams with legal issues surrounding the Paycheck Protection Program, which was an entirely new initiative, and with legal processes of remote work during the height of the pandemic. In addition to his legal counsel, Larry leads Comerica’s support of the American Heart Association Metro Detroit Heart Walk.
Jay Goldbaum for being named a finalist in Notables in Corporate Counsel. Jay has led Horizon Global’s Legal Department since 2015. In this time, the business has changed a great deal, and Jay has remained a steadying force along the way. He is always willing to roll up his sleeves in order to deliver the best results to our shareholders. Jay is an inspiring and motivational leader. He is not just another lawyer, he is a true business partner to all our global functions, and an integral part of the Horizon team.
From all of us at Horizon Global,
we celebrate you!
20 |2731_Goldbaum-AD-2022_Crains_6x6.indd CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022 1
4/12/22 11:20 AM
“A STRATEGIST BY NATURE, SHE’S EVER VIGILANT FOR THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE HERSELF AND HER DEPARTMENT BETTER WHILE FOCUSING ON STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT AND GROWTH.” — Wright Lassiter III, President and CEO, Henry Ford Health, on Michelle Johnson-Tidjani
“SHE IS ONE OF THE BEST M&A ATTORNEYS I HAVE PARTNERED WITH DURING MY CAREER.” — Matt Donley, Director of Mergers and Acquisitions, Meritor, on Roshunda Price
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MISHA SUKENIK
LOUIS THEROS
KIM
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bissell Inc.
Vice President and Legal Counsel – Midwest Group, MGM Resorts International
Com
After working as top legal counsel for Yum Brands, Misha Sukenik joined Bissell Inc. two years ago. He leads 24 people in Bissell’s legal, compliance, privacy and intellectual property teams. In addition to handling and successfully resolving litigations and material merger and acquisition transactions, Sukenik effectively developed and executed advanced tools and analytics to measure his team’s progress. “At the outset, Misha committed to learning the Bissell business, its short-term strategies and long-term goals,” said Chad Kleinheksel, outside counsel to Bissell and a partner at Warner Norcross & Judd. “Misha’s commitment to practicing a commercial growth mindset is evident. He and his team step-changed the company’s global IP strategy, led a digital transformation in both marketing compliance and contract review, implemented a world-class global compliance program and built a robust international legal team to support the company’s growth.” Sukenik has received several honors in recent years, including being named to The Legal 500’s General Counsel Powerlist, United States and its Powerlist US: Latin America Specialists. He is a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony board of directors, the SMU Corporate Counsel Symposium board of advisors and the Texas General Counsel Form board of directors.
Louis Theros was a trial attorney for 26 years before heading up the legal functions at MGM properties in Michigan and Ohio in 2015. One of his first acts there was to ensure vendors adhered to contracts, an effort that resulted in a “seven-figure payment.” “Louie has a knack for fashioning cost-effective, pragmatic and practical solutions to legal issues facing MGM. Unquestionably, Louie is the most business operations-focused legal leader with whom I have had the pleasure of working with in my 30-plus years of practicing law,” said Patrick Madamba, senior vice president and legal counsel at MGM Resorts International. Theros began lobbying state legislators, Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and other stakeholders to legalize sports betting and online gaming in 2018. Though the governor vetoed the bills, Theros’ team continued their efforts with the Whitmer administration and new legislators in 2019. The bills legalizing sports betting and iGaming in Michigan passed, and the state collected nearly $270 million in 2021 gaming taxes. Theros serves on the boards of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association and Foundation and the AHEPA 371 Housing Corp. He is also mayor of Grosse Pointe Farms.
KARISSA WALLACE
KIM WARD
Associate General Counsel, Rock Ventures LLC
Senior Corporate Counsel, CNH Industrial America LLC
Karissa Wallace provides a broad spectrum of legal services for the Rock Family of Companies. In addition to supporting the personal legal needs of the founder and chairman Dan Gilbert and his family, Wallace also supports the FOC’s Rocket Community Fund, Gilbert Family Foundation, Detroit Demo Day, Rock Security, Bedrock Detroit and Detroit Venture Partners. Among the projects she supports are the Rocket Community Fund’s Neighbor-2-Neighbor tax foreclosure prevention program and Detroit Demo Day, which provides grants or zero-percent interest funding to small businesses and early-stage startups. “Our work revolves around building a coalition in order to drive systemic change. Karissa not only supports the legal execution of those partnerships, but she also serves as a critical thought partner for our entire team. She never hesitates to go above and beyond, including investing her valuable time in the growth and development of other team members,” said Laura Grannemann, vice president of Strategic Investments at the Rocket Community Fund and interim executive director at Gilbert Family Foundation. Wallace is also vice president of the Brush Park Community Development Corp.
Kim Ward’s responsibilities vary from advising on high-impact launches of complex products to drafting, reviewing and negotiating product integration, software development, licensing and operation. In this effort, she works with engineering teams from the initial stages of product development through launch and commercialization. Ward was integral to efforts in Europe and Japan to implement data privacy and security protection policies and procedures that comply with laws and regulations. “Kim is professional, pragmatic and responsible. She is a highly regarded counselor, business oriented with her guidance and a pleasure to work with,” said CNH Senior Managing Counsel Claire Battle. Furthermore, Ward is president of the Wolverine Bar Association and leads a board of 14 member attorneys. She also participates on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission’s summit planning committee and is co-chair of policies and procedures for the Southfield Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
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Commercial Counsel, Axiom Global Inc.
General Counsel, United Wholesale Mortgage
Kimberley Ann Ward is past president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, an appointee to the American Bar Association’s Human Rights Advisory Council, an elected member of the National Bar Association board of governors and co-chair of the personal development committee for the National Bar Association Women Lawyers Division. She is also an election protection volunteer attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and serves on the pipeline committee for the Human Trafficking Task Force. She drafts and negotiates agreements related to life science, medical devices, aerospace and defense and automotive industries. Before joining Google through Axiom late last year, Ward was associate counsel at Bedrock Detroit and an attorney for the Terumo Cardiovascular Group. “Her legal work is top-notch — always perfect, always on time and always providing the highest level of service to her clients. Kim came to work for me as a temp in the Legal Department at Terumo and moved up to taking over the department when I left, doing the work of three people. Her legal talent is surpassed only by her goodness,” said Gael Diane Tisack, vice president and global head of intellectual property at Olympus Corp. Ward’s past big wins include negotiating multi-year billion-dollar and multi-million-dollar contracts with favorable fees and profits with the Department of Defense for General Dynamics.
“David is … the type of person who makes you sleep well at night knowing he is on your side and the first number on everyone’s auto-dial when things get rough,” said United Wholesale Mortgage COO Melinda Wilner. Over the 10 years Zacks has worked at UWM, he established rigorous protocols to comply with federal regulations and the 50 states they serve. He was an asset in preparing the company to go public and played a crucial role in the company’s two recent bond offerings. Zacks, a member of the Michigan and Florida bar associations, was appointed to serve on the congressionally mandated advisory committee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also provides pro bono support to indigent clients and volunteers at two food banks.
“BETH’S STRONG LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES AND BUSINESS ACUMEN PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE SIGNIFICANT TRANSFORMATION OF THE FORDDIRECT BUSINESS.” — Dianne Craig, former CEO, FordDirect, on Beth Hill
“PETER IS OBSESSED WITH FINDING A BETTER WAY.” — Jose Bartolomei, Associate General Counsel, Rock Central, on Peter Schreck
“QUITE FRANKLY, WE COULDN’T MANAGE WITHOUT HIM.” — Tonit Calaway, General Counsel, BorgWarner, on Raymond Luk Jared A. Smith jsmith@dickinsonwright.com 248.433.7597 Dana L. Ulrich dulrich@dickinsonwright.com 734.623.1674
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CRAIN'S LIST | BIG DEALS: REAL ESTATE SALES Ranked by square feet 2021
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
PROPERTY
BUYER
SELLER
BROKER
SQUARE FEET
PRICE ($000,000)
FORMER HARTMAN & TYNER APARTMENT PORTFOLIO
Lightstone Group, New York
Hartman & Tyner, Southfield
Eastdil Secured LLC
-- 1
$1,000.0
9400 MCGRAW, Detroit
W. P. Carey Inc. , New York City
U.S. Realty Advisors, New York City
CBRE Inc.
487,603
$52.7
FORMER UAW-GM CENTER FOR HUMAN RESOURCES, Detroit
Bedrock LLC, Detroit
Christos Moisides, Detroit; Dominic Moceri, Auburn Hills
Signature Associates Inc., Bedrock LLC
420,000
$52.0 e
COOPER-STANDARD AUTOMOTIVE INC. HEADQUARTERS, Northville
Hamilton Equity Partners, New York City
Schostak Bros. & Co., Livonia
CBRE Inc.
110,165
$42.0
VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA BUILDING, Auburn Hills
Redico LLC, Southfield
UBS Realty Investors LLC, Hartford, Conn.
Cushman & Wakefield
359
$40.2
GEORGE P. JOHNSON CO. BUILDING, Auburn Hills
Randal Bellestri, Auburn Hills
George P. Johnson Co., Auburn Hills
Cushman & Wakefield, Signature Associates Inc.
443,340
$38.1
CADILLAC TOWER, Detroit
Bedrock LLC, Detroit
Zaid Elia, Birmingham
Bedrock LLC, Iconic Real Estate
425,000
$36.0
STROH RIVER PLACE OFFICE, PARKING, LAND PORTFOLIO, Detroit
Bedrock LLC, Detroit
Stroh family, Detroit
CBRE Inc., Bedrock LLC
500,000
$35.7 e
38100 ECORSE ROAD, Romulus
Ford Motor Co., Dearborn
DRA Advisors LLC, New York City
Newmark
287,300
$31.6
ONE NORTH MAIN, Ann Arbor
Redico LLC, Southfield
GEM Realty Capital, Chicago
Newmark
114,897
$25.3
25295 GUENTHER, Warren
STAG Industrial Inc., Boston
WPT Capital Advisors LLC, Minneapolis
Signature Associates Inc.
248,040
$23.5
FORMER GENERAL MOTORS CO. WARREN TRANSMISISON PLANT, Warren
NorthPoint Development LLC, Kansas City, Mo.
General Motors Co., Detroit
JLL
-- 2
$22.8
5100-5260 SOUTH HAGGERTY ROAD, Canton Township
Precision Strip Inc., Minster, Oh.
Worthington Industries, Columbus, Oh.
Colliers International Inc., Cushman & Wakefield
443,000
$21.0
TOWN & COUNTRY APARTMENTS PORTFOLIO, Wixom,
Pepper Pike Capital Partners LLC, Cleveland
The Gorosh family, Farmington Hills
Income Property Organization
-- 3
$18.8
48238 FRANK STREET, Wixom
STAG Industrial Inc., Boston
J.B. Donaldson Co., Farmington Hills
Newmark
126,720
$17.9
FIVE HAGGERTY II CORPORATE PARK BUILDINGS, Canton Township
Vail Holdings LLC, Shelby Township
Stuart Frankel Development Co. , Troy
L. Mason Capitani Inc., Hayman Co.
261,241
$17.5
STONERIDGE II , Bloomfield Hills
John Hallquist, Livermore, Calif.
Contour Companies LLC, Bloomfield Hills
L. Mason Capitani Inc., Friedman Real Estate
110,544
$16.5
13901 JOY ROAD , Detroit
Schostak Bros. & Co., Livonia
E.L. Hollingsworth & Co. , Flint
Colliers International Inc.
569,488
$16.0
51701 GRAND RIVER AVENUE, Wixom
NLB Corp., Wixom
Brivar Contruction Co., Brighton
Signature Associates Inc.
165,000
$16.0
Ann Arbor
FORMER FORD MOTOR CO. WIXOM PLANT SITE, Wixom Flint Development, Prairie Village, Kan.
Industrial Commercial Properties LLC, Solon, Newmark Ohio
-- 4
$15.9
FORD MOTOR CO. PARKING GARAGE, Detroit
Howard Luckoff, Jim Ketai, Rakolta family, Detroit
Ford Motor Co., Dearborn
Unknown
-- 5
$15.6 e
WILSHIRE PLAZA, Troy
Venture Management LLC, Oakland Township
Summit Property Management, Troy
CBRE Inc.
171,165
$15.5
TROLLEY INDUSTRIAL PARK, Taylor
IWH Capital LLC, Cedarhurst, N.Y.
Promanas Group, Ann Arbor
Signature Associates Inc.
243,894
$12.6
CENTRAL CITY INTEGRATED HEALTH BUILDING, Detroit Winfire Capital, Bloomfield Hills
Central City Integrated Health, Detroit
Savills plc
91,014
$12.0
THE AUBURN, EDMAN, MILTON APARTMENT BUILDINGS, Detroit
Dynasty Investment Partners, Foundation Capital Partners, Detroit, New York City
The Roxbury Group, Detroit
Colliers International Inc., Greater Development
65,600
$11.1
5440 CORPORATE DRIVE, Troy
John Hallquist, Livermore, Calif.
Rami Fakhoury, Troy
JLL, L. Mason Capitani Inc.
90,759
$10.9
24461-24491 WEST 10 MILE ROAD , Southfield
Excelsior Capital GP LLC, Nashville
Shakib Halabu, West Bloomfield Township
Colliers International Inc.
68,142
$10.5
HINES PARK PLACE APARTMENTS, Plymouth Township
Pepper Pike Capital Partners LLC, Cleveland
John Gutowski, Northville
Income Property Organization
-- 6
$10.1
2100 SOUTH OPDYKE, Pontiac
Flint Development, Prairie Village, Kan.
Williams International Co. LLC, Pontiac
Newmark
-- 7
$10.1
EASTLAND CENTER , Harper Woods
NorthPoint Development, Kansas City, Mo.
Kohan Retail Investment Group, 4th Dimension Properties LLC, Great Neck, N.Y.
JLL
-- 8
$9.5
1 ATS DRIVE, Wixom
Vail Holdings LLC, Shelby Township
Investment Grade Loans, Los Altos, Calif.
Signature Associates Inc.
117,709
$9.4
MARS CORPORATE CENTER, Southfield
Brasswater, Montreal
Friedman Real Estate, Farmington Hills
Friedman Real Estate
190,084
$9.2
KEAN'S MARINA, Detroit
Safe Harbor Marinas LLC, Dallas
Kean's Marina, Detroit
P.A. Commercial
-- 9
$8.8
3441 EIGHT MILE- LIVONIA PORTFOLIO, Livonia
John Hallquist, Livermore, Calif.
John Wernis, Oakland Township
L. Mason Capitani Inc., Hayman Co.
19,210
$8.7
977 E. FOURTEEN MILE ROAD, Troy
The Carpet Guys LLC, Troy
Hansons Windows, Troy
Signature Associates Inc.
156,787
$7.8
Researched by Kirk Pinho | List is based on information submitted by brokers, advisers or property owners, Crain's research and other published information. Crain's has tried to list all brokers involved in a transaction, but in some cases brokers may have been omitted. NA = not available. NOTES: e. Crain's estimate. 1. 7,810 units 2. 123 acres 3. 217 units 4. 106 acres 5. 1,250 spaces 6. 104 units 7. 44 acres 8. 78 acres 9. 21 acres
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CRAIN'S LIST | BIG DEALS: INDUSTRIAL LEASES Ranked by square feet 2021
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
PROPERTY
OWNER, OWNER CITY
TENANT
BROKER
SQUARE FEET
FORMER MICHIGAN STATE FAIRGROUNDS, Detroit
Hillwood Enterprises LP, Dallas; Sterling Group, Detroit
Amazon.com Inc.
Colliers International Inc., KBC Advisors
823,173
38481 WEST HURON DRIVE, Romulus
Industrial Commercial Properties LLC, Solon, Oh.
Renaissance Global Logistics
Savills plc
803,473
CROSSROADS DISTRIBUTION CENTER, Van Buren
Ashley Capital, New York City
FedEx Corp.
JLL, CBRE Inc.
659,456
BROWNSTOWN BUSINESS CENTER, Brownstown
Ashley Capital, New York City
Hollingsworth LLC
Colliers International Inc., Newmark
507,537
TRI-COUNTY COMMERCE CENTER, Hazel Park
Ashley Capital, New York City
General Motors Co.
JLL, Signature Associates Inc.
470,693
ALLIED COMMERCE CENTER, Livonia 1
Hove Street Properties Ltd., Toronto
Packaging Corporation of America
Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE Inc.
446,069
TRI-COUNTY COMMERCE CENTER, Hazel Park
Ashley Capital, New York City
Mayville Engineering Company Inc.
Signature Associates Inc.
445,432
BROWNSTOWN BUSINESS CENTER, Brownstown
Ashley Capital, New York City
Rolls-Royce Solutions America Inc.
Cushman & Wakefield
395,270
LIVONIA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, Livonia 1
Ashley Capital, New York City
KUKA Systems North America LLC
Newmark
384,256
LIVONIA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, Livonia 2
Ashley Capital, New York City
KUKA Systems North America LLC
Newmark
308,015
LIVONIA CORPORATE CENTER, Livonia 1
Ashley Capital, New York City
Veritiv Operating Company
CBRE Inc.
285,850
LYON DISTRIBUTION CENTER I , Lyon Township
The Walbridge Group, Detroit
Webasto Roof Systems Inc.
Signature Associates Inc.
280,000
FORMER DETROIT ARTILLERY ARMORY SITE, Oak Park
The Opus Group, Minneapolis
Tire Wholesalers Iinc.
JLL, Signature Associates Inc.
275,401
BROWNSTOWN BUSINESS CENTER, Brownstown
Ashley Capital, New York City
CMAC Transportation Inc.
CBRE, Newmark
272,412
1000 BROWN ROAD, Orion Township 3
J.B. Donaldson Co., Farmington Hills
ESYS Automation LLC
Newmark
267,500
Township
Township
Township 1
Township
Researched by Kirk Pinho | List is based on information submitted by brokers, advisers or property owners, Crain's research and other published information. Crain's has tried to list all brokers involved in a transaction, but in some cases brokers may have been omitted. NA = not available. NOTES: 1. Lease renewal. 2. Renewal plus expansion. 3. Direct lease.
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CRAIN'S LIST | BIG DEALS: OFFICE LEASES Ranked by square feet 2021
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
PROPERTY
OWNER, OWNER CITY
TENANT
BROKER
SQUARE FEET
3800 HAMLIN ROAD, Auburn Hills 1
MAK Real Estate Investment Inc., Hartford, Conn.
Volkswagen Group of America
Cushman & Wakefield JLL
359,376
VICTOR CORPORATE CENTER, Livonia 1
Global Net Lease Inc., New York City
Trinity Health
JLL
197,530
31220 OAK CREEK DRIVE, Wixom 1
U.S. Real Property LLC, Wixom
SABIC Innovative Plastics US LLC
Cushman & Wakefield
99,760
RICK FINLEY BUILDING, Detroit
Salus Federal Properties LLC, Richmond, Va.
General Services Administration/Drug Enforcement Agency
CBRE Inc.
78,272
BLOOMWOOD OFFICE BUILDING, Bloomfield Hills 2
Grand/Sakwa Properties LLC, Farmington Hills
Merrill Lynch
JLL
74,384
NORTH TROY CORPORATE PARK , Troy
Friedman Real Estate, Farmington Hills
Proctor Financial Inc.
Friedman Real Estate, Cushman & Wakefield
68,244
131 KERCHEVAL AVENUE, Grosse Pointe Farms 3
Grand/Sakwa Properties LLC, Farmington Hills
Henry Ford Health System
Newmark
62,805
NORTH TROY CORPORATE PARK, Troy 1
Friedman Real Estate, Farmington Hills
Allegis Group Inc.
Cushman & Wakefield, Friedman Real Estate
54,896
ONE KENNEDY SQUARE, Detroit 1
Redico LLC, Southfield
The Walbridge Group
Redico LLC, Advocate Commercial Real Estate Advisors of Michigan LLC
51,402
10 PETERBORO, Detroit
Winfire Capital, Bloomfield Hills
Central City Integrated Health
Savills plc
47,000
TROY TECHNOLOGY PARK, Troy 1
Apex Equity Group, New York City
Roush Industries
L. Mason Capitani Inc., Newmark
43,732
1955 ENTERPRISE DRIVE, Rochester Hills 1
First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., Chicago
Stant USA Corp.
Signature Associates Inc., Skyline Properties
41,400
709 JAMES L. HART PARKWAY, Ypsilanti 1
699 JLP LLC, Ann Arbor
ProQuest
Cushman & Wakefield
40,000
8462 RONDA DRIVE, Canton Township
CWCapital, Bethesda, Md.
IGT Global Solutions Corporation
Friedman Real Estate
37,318
OAKLAND PROFESSIONAL PAVILION, Troy
Remedy Medical Properties, Chicago
Summit Surgery Center
Colliers International Inc.
36,985
Researched by Kirk Pinho | List is based on information submitted by brokers, advisers or property owners, Crain's research and other published information. Crain's has tried to list all brokers involved in a transaction, but in some cases brokers may have been omitted. NA = not available. NOTES: 1. Lease renewal. 2. Renewal plus expansion. 3. Direct lease.
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CRAIN'S LIST | GENERAL CONTRACTORS Ranked by 2021 revenue COMPANY ADDRESS PHONE; WEBSITE
TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE(S)
REVENUE ($000,000) 2021/2020
VALUE OF NEW CONTRACTS ($000,000) 2021/2020
LOCAL EMPLOYEES JAN. 2022
TOTAL NEW PROJECTS 2021/2020
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN PROJECTS STARTED 2021
1
BARTON MALOW HOLDINGS LLC
Ryan Maibach president and CEO
$3,341.8
$3,415.0 $3,879.9
1536
283 356
75
2
WALBRIDGE
Michael Haller CEO John Rakolta III president
$2,262.3
$2,473.6 $0.0
500
271 256
62
3
BELFOR HOLDINGS INC.
Sheldon Yellen CEO
$1,960.0
$1,777.1 $1,732.7
1646
280,000 176,000
4069
4
THE CHRISTMAN CO.
Joseph Luther, vice president and general manager, Southeast Michigan operations; Mary LeFevre, regional vice president of Business Development
$454.2
$1,168.3 $1,195.1
105
352 330
65
5
ARISTEO CONSTRUCTION
Michelle Aristeo Barton president
$412.4
NA NA
340
390 327
295
6
CLARK CONSTRUCTION CO.
Sam Clark president
$411.0
$404.0 NA
142
24 NA
12
7
COMMERCIAL CONTRACTING CORP.
Steve Fragnoli president and CEO
$376.2
NA $376.1
201
NA NA
NA
8
DEARBORN MID-WEST CO.
Todd Begerowski president
$295.0
$201.0 NA
135
20 NA
12
9
GEORGE W. AUCH CO. (DBA AUCH CONSTRUCTION)
Vince DeLeonardis CEO Jeff Hamilton president
$256.0
$160.1 $257.2
110
99 112
99
10
RONCELLI INC.
Gary Roncelli chairman and CEO Tom Wickersham president Gino Roncelli vice president
$241.0
$290.0 $169.0
178
58 48
55
11
IDEAL CONTRACTING LLC
Frank Venegas Jr. chairman and CEO
$214.0
$290.0 $175.0
420
638 498
636
12
TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO.
Robert D. Bowen Jr., LEED AP general manager
$188.4
$284.4 $286.1
80
40 33
36
13
ALBERICI CONSTRUCTORS INC.
Aaron Walsh market leader
$172.2
$127.5 $100.6
20
6 8
1
14
DEVON INDUSTRIAL GROUP
David Burnley president and co-CEO Stephanie Burnley co-CEO and General Manager
$172.0
NA $168.0
NA
NA NA
NA
15
SACHSE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT CO. LLC
Todd Sachse CEO Steve Berlage president and COO
$170.0
$180.0 $202.0
150
198 171
166
16
KIRCO MANIX
Douglas Manix president
$140.0
$120.0 $135.0
40
15 18
12
17
GRANGER CONSTRUCTION CO.
Tim VanAntwerp vice president
$138.7
$420.1 $350.7
105
75 72
10
18
WALSH CONSTRUCTION CO.
John Kiessling senior vice president
$128.9
$75.7 $123.0
100
4 6
4
19
OLIVER/HATCHER CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INC.
Paul Oliver, principal; Paul Hatcher, president; Jason Salazar, vice president of estimating
$124.0
$108.0 $110.3
37
20 12
19
20
THE COLASANTI COS.
Carey Colasanti CEO Pat Wysocki president
$116.0
$332.0 $65.0
465
14 5
11
21
KASCO INC.
Michael Engle vice president
$109.7 e
NA NA
NA
NA NA
NA
22
C.E. GLEESON CONSTRUCTORS INC.
Charles E. Gleeson II president and CEO Brad Baker vice president of construction operations
$108.0
$135.0 $140.0
43
26 20
8
23
FRANK REWOLD & SONS INC.
Frank Rewold president and CEO
$92.8
NA $114.5
60
NA 25
NA
24
DEMARIA
Joseph DeMaria Jr. CEO Anthony DeMaria president
$90.2 e
NA NA
NA
NA NA
NA
25
MARSH CONSTRUCTION (T.H. MARSH)
Ryan Marsh CEO
$81.5 e
NA NA
NA
NA NA
NA
26500 American Drive, Southfield 48034 248-436-5000; bartonmalow.com
777 Woodward Ave., Suite 300, Detroit 48226 313-963-8000; walbridge.com
185 Oakland Ave., Suite 150, Birmingham 48009 248-594-1144; belfor.com The Fisher Building, 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 2600, Detroit 48202-3030 313-908-6060; christmanco.com
12811 Farmington Road, Livonia 48150 734-427-9111; aristeo.com 3535 Moores River Drive, Lansing 48911 517-372-0940; www.clarkcc.com 4260 N. Atlantic Blvd., Auburn Hills 48326 248-209-0500; cccnetwork.com 20334 Superior Road, Taylor 48180 734-288-4400; dmwcc.com 65 University Drive, Pontiac 48342 248-334-2000; auchconstruction.com
6471 Metropolitan Parkway, Sterling Heights 48312 586-264-2060; roncelli-inc.com
2525 Clark St., Detroit 48209 313-843-8000; idealcontracting.com 535 Griswold St., Suite 1525, Detroit 48226 313-596-0500; www.turnerconstruction.com/office-network/detroit 26711 Northwestern Hwy. Suite 255, Southfield 48033 734-367-2500; www.alberici.com 535 Griswold St., Suite 2050, Detroit 48226 313-221-1600; devonindustrial.com
3663 Woodward Ave, Suite 500, Detroit 48201 313-481-8200; sachseconstruction.com
101 W. Big Beaver, Suite 200, Troy 48084 248-354-5100; kircomanix.com 39475 13 Mile Road, Suite 100 , Novi 48377 248-724-2950; grangerconstruction.com 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 2300, Detroit 48202 313-873-6600; www.walshgroup.com 27333 Meadowbrook Road, Suite 100, Novi 48377 248-374-1100; oliverhatcher.com 24500 Wood Court, Macomb Township 48042 586-598-9700; colasantigroup.com
226 E. Hudson St., Royal Oak 48067 248-547-1210; kascoinc.com 984 Livernois Road, Troy 48083 248-647-5500; gleesonconstructors.com
333 E. Third St., Suite 300, Rochester 48307 248-651-7242; frankrewold.com 3031 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 540, Detroit 48202-3008 313-870-2800; demariabuild.com
100 W. Long Lake Road, Suite 200, Bloomfield Hills 48304 248-586-4130; thmarsh.com
$2,336.5
$1,912.3
$1,778.9
$338.3
$392.5
$450.0
$390.8
$155.0
$279.6
$245.0
$186.0
$207.6
$126.0
$168.0
$121.5
$125.0
$127.6
$208.6
$159.0
$167.0
$121.2 e
$85.0
$106.4
$99.6 e
$90.0 e
Researched by Sonya D. Hill: shill@crain.com | This list of general contractors is a compilation of the largest such companies in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. Crain's estimates are based on industry analyses and benchmarks, news reports and a wide range of other sources. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies. Companies with headquarters elsewhere are listed with the address and top executive of their main Southeast Michigan office. NA = not available. NOTES: e. Crain's estimate.
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DEALS&DETAILS
FINANCE
`CONTRACTS `SAE International, Troy, a professional organization, selected Bianchi Public Relations Inc., Troy, a public relations firm, as its public relations agency of record. Websites: sae.org, bianchipr.com `Climate Commodities, Dallas, Texas, a trading, logistics, transportation, and commercialization services firm, and Heartland Industries, Detroit, a bioindustrial company that engineers hemp fibers as additives for plastics, have created a partnership to commoditize industrial hemp. Websites: climate-commodities.com, heartland.io `Marchon Eyewear Inc., New York, N.Y., manufacturer and distributor of eyeglasses and sunglasses, and Shinola, Detroit, a luxury goods retailer, have entered into a licensing agreement. New collections designed under the partnership will roll out in the U.S. and Canada beginning Fall 2022. Websites: shinola.com, marchon. com
`EXPANSIONS `123NET, Southfield, a fiber internet, colocation and voice services provider, expanded residential 10 Gigabits per second fiber internet service to Detroit’s University District. Website: 123.net `Glorious Cannabis Co., Rochester Hills, a cannabis company, is expanding into Massachusetts. Glorious will enter the market with production facilities in Medway and Uxbridge starting in April. Website: gloriouscanna. com ` Lineage Logistics LLC, Novi, a temperature-controlled industrial REIT
and logistics solutions provider, is constructing an automated cold-storage facility in Windsor, Colo., on behalf of JBS USA, a food company. The more than 200,000-square-foot facility will provide JBS with blast freezing and storage capacity, as well as rail access to support the shipment of export products to ports located on the West Coast and become part of the Lineage Logistics network. Construction of the facility is expected to be complete in 2023. Websites: lineagelogistics.com, jbsfoodsgroup.com ` Humanetics Group, Farmington Hills, provider of sensory intelligence, virtual simulation, crash test systems, precision sensors and photonic solutions, formed a digital group that combines digital, CAE, data modeling, and ergonomic software platforms. Website: humaneticsgroup.com ` Athletico Physical Therapy, Chicago, Ill., a physical therapy services company, has opened a new location in Macomb at the Macomb Centre Plaza, 51242 Romeo Plank Road. Phone: 586-265-2520. Website: athletico.com/MacombMI
`MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS `Lear Corp., Southfield, an automotive supplier in seating and e-systems, acquired substantially all of Zurich, Switzerland-based Kongsberg Automotive’s Interior Comfort Systems business unit. The acquisition will expand Lear’s seat component capabilities in thermal and comfort seating. Lear acquired the ICS business unit for 175 million euros ($198 million), on a cash and debt-free basis, funded through debt financing completed in fourth quarter 2021. Website: lear. com
`PRO Unlimited, Burlingame, Calif., a workforce management company, will acquire Geometric Results Inc., Southfield, a workforce management company owned by funds managed by Bain Capital Private Equity Europe. Websites: prounlimited.com, geometricresultsinc.com/us `View Newspaper Group, Lapeer, a newspaper company, acquired the business operations of Sherman Publications Inc., Oxford, which includes the publications Lake Orion Review, Oxford Leader, Ortonville Citizen, Clarkston News, Ad-Vertiser, Penny Stretcher and Big Deal. View Newspaper Group plans to retain the 20 employees on staff with Sherman Publications and will continue operations from the current offices in Oxford and Ortonville. Website: mihomepaper. com `Private equity firm Huron Capital Partners, Detroit, acquired Tipton Holding Group, the parent company of Hoosier Logistics, Indianapolis, Ind., a freight brokerage company with specialization in temperature-controlled transportation services for the food and beverage market, with plans to merge the company with its third-party transportation and logistics services platform, Direct Connect Logistix, a third-party logistics company. Websites: huroncapital.com, dclogistix.com, hoosierlogistics.net
`NEW SERVICES `Lawrence Technological University’s College of Engineering, Southfield, has introduced a new degree program, a master of science in engineering quality. The 30-credit-hour program, which launched in the fall 2021 semester, is geared toward working professionals. Website: ltu.edu
CONGRATULATIONS
CALLANA OLLIE
CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER Oakland Community Health Network
2022 Crain’s Notables in Corporate Counsel oaklandchn.org 248-464-6363 INSPIRE HOPE • EMPOWER PEOPLE • STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES 28 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
VC activity slightly cools in Michigan and nationally. Will it last? BY NICK MANES
Venture capital investment slowed down early this year nationally, and that chill appears to be happening in Michigan as well. Last year, by nearly every metric, was a record-setting year for the VC space, as investors pumped a total of $329.9 billion into 17,000 deals in the Heintz Topouzian U.S., and VC funds raised $128.3 billion, an “unprecedented” amount, Michigan by the numbers according to a joint quarterly report from Pitchbook and the National Venture deals are down a bit so far this Venture Capital Association released year, but have seen strong growth in recent years: earlier this year. But 2021 may be a high-water Deal value for Q1 2022: $257.6 mark, according to a report released million from 41 VC deals Thursday by the two organizations and looking at the first quarter of this Deal value for Q1 2021: $274.71 million from 46 deals year. “The startup ecosystem served as Venture deals in 2021: 166 venture an important economic engine and deals totaling nearly $1.4 billion an answer to many challenges brought on by the pandemic,” reads Venture deals in 2020: 62 deals the executive summary of the Pitch- totaling $951.37 million book/NVCA first quarter report. Venture deals in 2019: 130 deals “However, the start of 2022 suggests totaling $699.5 million the onset of an imminent but healthy recalibration period.” SOURCE: PITCHBOOK/MVCA VENTURE With regard to the use of the word MONITOR REPORT Q1 2022 “healthy,” the report notes that while total deal value for the first quarter of ture capital sector. this year was down from each quarHighlights include an $83 million ter in 2021, it still exceeded pre-2021 investment into Ann Arbor-based autonomous vehicle company May quarterly totals. Observers of Michigan’s venture Mobility Inc. and the launch of the capital community, however, are $40 million Mudit Venture Partners quick to note that the sky is far from in Bingham Farms, helmed by VC veteran Josh Linkner and his younger falling here or nationally. Ara Topouzian, executive director brother, entrepreneur Ethan Linkner. Overall, the VC market appears to the Novi-based Michigan Venture Capital Association trade group, said be headed toward a “typical correche’s “not hearing anything from tion” and investors appear to be members about a slowdown” in ac- stopping to take inventory of a whole tivity, and that many venture capital- host of factors, said Danny Ellis, CEO ists are in fundraising mode to de- of Ann Arbor-based SkySpecs, which makes software for renewable energy ploy more capital. It’s hardly uncommon for the first asset management and has raised quarter of a year to be slower than nearly $40 million over five fundraisthe end of the previous year, noted ing rounds since 2014. Emily Heintz, managing director for The VC market has been fairly EntryPoint, an Ann Arbor-based frothy with valuations at peak levels nonprofit that does research and re- and now investors seem to be stepports on startup activity and VC in- ping back from the “wild, wild west” vesting in Michigan and other Mid- approach, Ellis said. western areas. “The telling “I’M SIMPLY SEEING THAT sign will be (INVESTORS) ARE BEING what happens later this year. MORE CAREFUL AND MAYBE Over the past two years, there PUTTING IN MORE DILIGENCE has been a lot AND MORE SCRUTINY.” of startup activ— Danny Ellis, CEO, SkySpecs ity — huge fundraises and exits,” Heintz wrote in an email to “I’m simply seeing that (investors) Crain’s on Thursday. are being more careful and maybe “It has felt a bit over the top global- putting in more diligence and more ly. But with stock market fluctua- scrutiny,” Ellis told Crain’s in an intions, inflation and Russian’s inva- terview, noting that global tumult in sion of the Ukraine, founders and geopolitics is giving people pause investors are more anxious this year,” about certain segments. Heintz added. “Startup company val“I’m not seeing it slow down in uations from a year or so ago might things that are demonstrating real not be received as well by investors in value,” he added. “I think that’s the 2022, which could slow exits down key here. The companies and the secfor later stage companies and the ef- tors that are demonstrating real tanfect of that would be felt by the entire gible value, I’m still seeing deals hapstartup community.” pening at a decent pace.” To that end, the early part of this year has hardly been without activ- Contact: nmanes@crain.com; ity in Michigan’s startup and ven- (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes
1860 Detroit market building debuts at Greenfield Village Historic vegetable shed saved and restored to tell story of commerce, community — and food BY AMY ELLIOTT BRAGG
“A Walk in the Park” by Patrick Dougherty, installed in Eliza Howell Park by Sidewalk Detroit, one of the 10 members of the Detroit Parks Coalition. | LUNAR HAUS
When Greenfield Village opened for the season this past weekend, it featured its first new permanent building in 20 years — an ornate vegetable shed built in 1860 that was once the centerpiece of the Central Market in downtown Detroit. For more than 160 years, the Central Market building has survived a curious series of relocations, repurposings, brushes with oblivion and one very long wait in storage. At its new home in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, it will stand as a rare example of a beautifully designed and restored 19th-century pavilion structure, and to tell a story of commerce, community — and food. Detroit Central Market is the ancestor of Detroit’s Eastern Market, as well as the lesser-known (and no longer extant) Western Market, which once stood at Michigan Avenue and 18th Street in Corktown. The Central Market, or City Hall Market as it was sometimes called, began on what is now Cadillac Square between Bates and Randolph streets in downtown Detroit in 1841. In 1860, the city of Detroit contracted architect and draftsman John Schaffer, a Bavarian immigrant, to create plans for a market shed with 48 cast-iron columns and a wooden roof, 242 feet long and 70 feet wide, to be constructed at a cost of $5,312. The first stalls of the new market building, which would come to be known as the vegetable building, were rented less than a year later and opened for business on April 22, 1861. Over the next 30 years, the vegetable building bustled with shoppers, wagons, horses and the wares of dozens of farmers, gardeners, nurserymen, florists and other merchants, who rented stalls for $6-$15 per month. Schaffer’s Bavarian roots seem to have informed his design for the market building. “It has a very Alpine feel to it,” said Jim Johnson, the director of Greenfield Village. Growing density in Detroit’s downtown and the need for larger public markets to support a booming population led the city to vote in 1889 to
Parks coalition names first executive director BY SHERRI WELCH
A view of the vegetable building at Detroit Central Market, located in downtown Detroit from 1860-1893. The building was removed to Belle Isle, where it stayed until 2003, and has now been installed at Greenfield Village. | BURTON HISTORICAL COLLECTION, DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY
The Central Market building as it looked in 2003. The structure had been enclosed and repurposed as a horse stable and storage facility. | THE HENRY FORD
thing special in it. “It was a beautifully designed structure — the design of an architect under the direction of a builder, not something that was just thrown together,” he said. For much of its life on the island, the building looked about the same as it did when it was downtown, and was used as a pavilion and public gathering place. But over the years it was altered, eventually enclosed and repurposed as a riding stable and later a storage facility. By 2003, when it came to Greenfield Village’s attention, the building was effectively disguised — and in disrepair. “It had become an eyesore,” Johnson said. “At one point, one corner had actually collapsed and another corner had taken a hit from a car and had caught fire.” The building was planned to be demolished. Johnson credits Alex Pollock, “IT WAS A BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED an architect and hisSTRUCTURE — THE DESIGN OF AN torian with the city ARCHITECT UNDER THE DIRECTION OF A of Detroit, for bringing the Central MarBUILDER, NOT SOMETHING THAT WAS ket building to Greenfield Village’s JUST THROWN TOGETHER.” attention. In the — Jim Johnson, director, Greenfield Village 1970s, as a young city planner, Pollock create Eastern and Western markets. had played a key role in the revival of Central Market closed in 1893 or 1894, Eastern Market. “He knew its history, and very few Johnson said. And though that could have been the end of the line for the people did. He knew it was importvegetable building, the city decided ant,” Johnson said. “It really spoke to us as something we wanted to add to instead to move it to Belle Isle. The decision to reuse and relocate the collection.” Greenfield Village acquired it from the structure may have been more economical than driven by any pres- the city in 2003. It took almost 12 ervation ethos or advocacy, but John- weeks to dismantle the building, son speculates that people saw some- Johnson said, work that involved ini-
tial studies and archival research about what it had once looked like, then peeling away everything that was not original to the 1860s structure. The museum tapped Burbank, Ohiobased timber frame experts Rudy Christian & Son Inc. to lead the project. “It didn’t really look like a timber frame building at first glance. (Rudy Christian) was flabbergasted by what was underneath all of that — he has described it as the most ornate timber-framed building in North America,” Johnson said. After it was deconstructed, the building was transported to the Henry Ford Museum in truck trailers. And that’s where it stayed for the next almost 20 years. The museum had planned to kick off a fundraising campaign for the Central Market project in 2008, but the Great Recession landed those plans on the shelf. Fundraising continued slowly and steadily after that, and another formal campaign kicked off in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail the project again, but the museum was far enough along with the fundraising that the project was able to proceed. Johnson estimated the overall cost of the Central Market building project at $2 million — possibly more. About 80 percent of the timber framing is original to the structure, as are many hand-carved ornamental woodworked details. Other features of the building were added or reconstructed to keep things up to code, including some new cast-iron columns — half are original — and an underground frame that anchors the structure. Ideas for activating the vegetable building are in their early stages, but Johnson said they see it as a setting for making connections between Southeast Michigan’s past and present food systems and to bring to life the stories of the people who were part of the market, including immigrant vendors and Black tradespeople. It’s a good fit for the museum’s existing historic foodways programs that have been in place since the 1980s, Johnson said. And the fact that the building still exists to tell that story is part of what makes it so special. “It’s an extremely rare survivor,” Johnson said.
The Detroit Parks Coalition, an informal group of 10 downtown and neighborhood park groups in the city, is formalizing its structure, a move that could position it to attract federal funding. It has hired its first executive director and is seeking a park support manager to help organize and administer programs across the parks. The coalition also plans to apply for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service this spring. “There really are a lot of resources right now with all the federal ARPA dollars and infrastructure funding coming in,” said Sigal Hemy, 34, newly named executive director for the coalition. “The more we can be legitimate and structured, the more of those resources we can capture and allocate to all of our parks. The coalition began with five groups coming together in 201819 to explore shared costs, programming, fundraising and advocacy with the city of Detroit. Those groups included Chandler Park Conservancy as fiduciary, Belle Isle Conservancy, Clark Park Coalition, Friends of Rouge Park and People for Palmer Park. In early 2021, five more groups joined: Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Friends of Patton Park, Midtown Detroit and Sidewalk Detroit. The coalition brings together neighborhood groups and major downtown park conservancies with operational and fundraising
expertise and ties to business leaders who’ve been supporting parks in the city and looking at best practices for sustaining them. It will open membership to other park groups once it’s secured nonprofit status, Hemy said. “Taking this next step will allow us to advocate together for park programming and improvements that will create better parks experiences throughout the city,” Alex Allen, chair of the Detroit Parks Coalition and CEO of Chandler Park Conservancy, said in a release. To date, the coalition has attracted a total of $435,000 in operating grants from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Hudson-Webber Foundation, Kresge Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Detroit Pistons Foundation is supporting recreational and cultural experiences across the parks. The Detroit Parks Coalition also secured a $500,000 budget allocation for 2022 from the state to fund capital improvements at its member parks, Hemy said. “The research on the benefits of these green spaces is clearer than ever — from physical and mental health to the sense of civic engagement that is strengthened by the sharing of spaces. What we need is an organization like this to ensure our parks can deliver on their promise,” Wendy Lewis Jackson, managing director of Kresge’s Detroit Program, said in the release. Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch
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CASH
From Page 3
“It’s very emotionally exhausting to offer on those houses and not succeed,” Scola said. “It’s a different currency.” Plus, with the money coming from the equity he has in his current Livonia home, Scola said, “it’s kind of painless.” With Knock, co-founder and COO Jamie Glenn said most people use the service because they know they have equity in the house they want to sell, but they don’t have access to it. In a market where people with contingencies on their offers are more likely to lose out, the equity advance loan the company offers — up to $650,000, which includes up to $25,000 for repairs to the existing home to get it ready to sell and up to six months of mortgage payments on the new house — is “as close to a cash offer as you get,” Glenn said. Knock will originate the mortgage and sell it on the secondary market, having already looked at the financials for the buyer, as well as the old home and the new one. Knock entered the Michigan market in the fourth quarter of 2021. Buyer Accepted, a new program based in Novi with 36 employees, is affiliated with New American Funding, which finances its mortgages. So far, eight potential buyers are in the pipeline in Michigan. Caroline Isern, the vice president of special projects for Buyer Accepted, said there are about 430 clients nationwide. That company buys homes for cash on an owner’s behalf, letting them rent back the new home and giving them 90 days to sell the old one. Rental costs are about $150 a day, and there’s a 1.5 percent fee in most of the U.S. to use the service. The loans are capped at $2 million. “In this market, everything gets sold immediately,” Isern said. “We haven’t had any fallout so far.” Chris Scherr, a real estate agent with Good Company Realty, said he’s been recommending the program, though he hasn’t closed on any deals with it yet. He said while cash buyers usually get a discount on home purchases, that’s largely not the case with these methods — but the system does make buyers
HUDSON’S
From Page 3
The project includes two key components: The skyscraper, with 100 to 120 units of residential space and hotel space, and on the northern portion of the site, what’s referred to as the “block” building, with hundreds of thousands of square feet of office, meeting and retail and restaurant space. The two buildings are separated by what’s to become an activated alley. After years of primarily below-grade work, both are now well above ground level. The project is one of four Gilbert has underway totaling about $2.14 billion. Combined, they received a total of $618.1 million in so-called “transformational brownfield” tax incentives from the state. The other projects are the long-delayed $830 million Monroe Blocks project immediately east of the One Campus Martius Building, the $311 million redevelopment of the Book Tower and Book Building 30 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
stand out in a tough market. “It’s such a small fee, in my opinion, it almost makes no difference,” he said. “At this point, people are just trying so hard to get a house.” His buyers continue losing to cash offers, Scherr said, so he’s looking for ways for them to compete. At Ribbon, which plans to enter the market this quarter, Director of Financial Products and Programs Frances Bryant said it’s the number of investor-buyers that played a big role in that company’s inception. The goal, she said, is to empower buyers to be able to compete. Ribbon’s main product is an addendum on offers for a 1 percent fee that guarantees the company will purchase a home on a customer’s behalf, with no contingencies but an inspection, if their traditional lending doesn’t come through. The company also has a program where it purchases homes for buyers, giving them six months to rent back the new property and sell their existing house. That costs between 2 and 3.5 percent of a home’s purchase price. “If you’re not making a cash offer in certain markets, your offer’s not even looked at,” she said. “It brings it to the top of the stack; it actually gives them a fighting chance.” In an email, Jim Lesinski, the senior regional general manager for Opendoor — which is not active in Michigan — said buyers with contingencies, such as the sale of their existing home, are struggling to compete. Cash offers are more than twice as likely to be accepted, he said. Opendoor’s program is similar to others, giving the “same certainty as an all-cash offer,” he wrote. A related program from Rocket Mortgage, Verified Approval, gives the same guarantees as cash by confirming that a buyer has the means to close, said Bill Banfield, the firm’s executive vice president of capital markets. That program has been around for years, Banfield said, and lets Rocket verify the underwriting before an offer is made — a more robust version of a pre-approval letter for a mortgage. He said it has fewer strings attached than other programs. Though Banfield said many of the cash-equivalent programs haven’t reached the mainstream yet, he expects continued interest in them.
William and Alison Scola pose with their childen, Oliver, Vera, Guinevere and in the window of their home. The Scolas used a program through Knock to become “power buyers” and have the ability to put a cash-backed offer on a new home. | COURTESY OF MELISSA SCOLA PHOTO
“IT’S VERY EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTING TO OFFER ON THOSE HOUSES AND NOT SUCCEED. IT’S A DIFFERENT CURRENCY.” — William Scola, homebuyer
Cecala, with Inside Mortgage Finance, said the programs often lock buyers into working with a certain company — a benefit for lenders and something a pre-approval letter cannot do. To participate, he said, means there’s no more shopping for the best mortgage rate and terms. It’s “not a cheap proposition,” he said, but succeeds in capturing buyers early and giving them leverage they might not otherwise have. “It gives the average American family the ability to compete with the trust fund family,” he said. “It’s already more common.” Zoom Casa, another player in the field that operates in the state, will work with any lender, CEO Fred Bin
said — but at 2 to 5 percent of the new home’s value, it has higher fees than others. Like the other programs, Bin said participating can let sellers unlock equity in their homes that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get to until they had sold. He said he calls it the “rich uncle program.” Zoom Casa is the buyer on the new property with that program and if the new buyer isn’t able to close, the company simply lists the home for sale. “We’re using creative financing solutions to make selling suck less,” he said. “These programs de-risk the transaction.” All of the programs appraise the properties on their own before agreeing to the sales; Cecala said he assumed all were being fairly conservative on the appraisal side so they would still have room to profit if anything went sideways. He expects more people to use such programs as they continue to lose multiple homes to all-cash offers — especially as the market stays hot. “I think this is going to be more of a
fact of life going forward: Anyone can get access to an all-cash offer,” Cecala said. “This does equalize the home-shopping playing field more than it’s ever been.” Home buyer Scola said with a wife and three children, he wasn’t willing to risk putting his home on the market to get access to capital earlier in the event that he couldn’t find something he liked. But having decided in November that he was ready to move, it was frustrating to be in the same house five months later. Scola considered borrowing from his 401(k) to create his own bridge loan to cover an appraisal gap, but said under this arrangement, he no longer has to. If he can’t sell the house he’s in, Knock will buy it at 85 percent of list price — but Scola said even that didn’t feel like a risk, comparatively. “I think more people will end up doing this,” he said. “It opens up the door to higher possibilities. It leaves more cash in my pocket now.” Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB
on Washington Boulevard set to finish this year, and the $95 million addition to the One Campus Martius building where Gilbert has his Rocket Companies Inc. (NYSE: RKT) headquartered. The tower development replaces the former Hudson’s department store, which was 25 stories and reached up to 410 feet following multiple expansions across an entire city block, according to Historic Detroit, which tracks Detroit building and architecture history. Imploded in 1998, it was 2.124 million square feet, or the size of a dozen Walmart Supercenters, which average about 177,625 square feet. Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates and New York Citybased Shop Architects PC are architecture firms working on the project. Schrager cofounded Studio 54 with the late Steve Rubell in 1977. It closed in 1980. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB
Part of the skyscraper being built on the former J.L. Hudson’s department store site in downtown Detroit is slated to become an Edition hotel. | KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
LIVENGOOD
HUMANE
From Page 6
From Page 3
Somewhere in Lansing there’s a whole bookshelf of reports about road conditions and funding shortfalls that are gathering dust. To be clear, TRIP is a think tank organization that gets its funding from auto insurance companies, the automotive sector, road construction businesses, their labor unions and advocacy groups that are pro-good pavement, such as MITA. The organization’s funders have a dog in this fight. But so do Michigan drivers who endure some of America’s worst roads and end up paying the Midas bill. Motorists in other states pay a fraction of what Michigan vehicle owners shell out annually for car repairs, crashes and lost time in congestion, according to TRIP reports. Drivers in Louisville, Ky., pay $1,884 per year, according to a February TRIP report. In metropolitan Charlotte, N.C., a region Southeast Michigan competes with for talent and treasure, TRIP reports the annual price for bad roads is $1,976 per vehicle — less than half of what a metro Detroit resident would shell out for the privilege of driving down the craterous 10 Mile Road on southeast Oakland County. In Kansas City and St. Louis, the annual added cost per driver for deficient roads in Missouri is $1,873 and $1,917, respectively, according to TRIP. Bioniemi, the lobbyist for road builders, said Michigan motorists are
If Michigan Humane can help educate people and provide referrals to help them, “we can ultimately help the pets,” she said. Last year, Michigan Humane provided care for 10,000 animals in its shelters and 45,000 animals in its clinics with fee-based services and free food. It also provided veterinary care and humane education to 20,000 pets and their owners in the community. It expects to double the number of animals served to about 150,000 every year by 2030 by providing more services out in the community, but how it measures its impact has changed, Varitek said. “Before it was sort of a volume business for shelters...now it is more about the quality of the care and the level of care...and building different capacities,” like strengthening the pipeline of veterinarians to ensure equitable access to pet care, he said. Keeping pets in their homes “is about quality of life for families and pets and about quality of care we’re able to provide those animals that come into the shelters” with higher levels of medical and behavior needs, Westrick said. Ralph Caplan, a director on Michigan Humane’s board and retired former owner of a wholesale distributor, has made a five-year, $2.5 million lead gift to the new operating campaign. His support builds on an earlier
The annual cost of deficient roads in Michigan is more than double what motorists in Missouri, Kentucky and North Carolina pay, according to TRIP. | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
so accustomed to pockmarked roads that they’ve almost become numb to a jarring repair bill for a bent rim and front-end re-alignment. “We just take for granted when we have to replace tires because of a pothole or our struts get worn out after a couple of years when they’re supposed to last four or five (years),” he said. The grim long-term outlook on Michigan’s roads comes after the Legislature’s 2015 plan to boost annual spending on roads by $1.2 billion was just completed in 2021. The Republican-controlled Legislature, which controls the purse strings, has taken no action since late 2015 to make additional long-term investments in roads and bridges — just a series of one-time Band-Aids. The TRIP report accounts for the impact Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $3.5
billion bonding program to rebuild dozens of freeway sections across the state and the additional $378 million Michigan will receive annually for the next five years from the federal government as part of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Wendy Block, vice president of business advocacy and member engagement at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, said the report shows lawmakers must put more taxpayer resources into infrastructure before the roads further deteriorate. “It’s more clear than ever that we can’t be complacent and think that this problem is somehow behind us or solved and take our foot off the proverbial pedal,” Block said. Contact: clivengood@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @ChadLivengood
$250,000 donation made in 2019 to establish the Judith Caplan Phillips Pet Food Pantry in Detroit. That gift allowed Michigan Humane to provide 2.5 million pounds of free pet food to those in need over the past two years during the pandemic, Varitek said. Caplan’s latest gift will help the nonprofit close its budget deficit this year and fund increased operating costs in the years ahead. Michigan Humane is operating with over 260 employees on a $24.8 million budget, up from $22.9 million in 2021 and about $21 million before the pandemic, Varitek said. To help pet owners address other needs, Michigan Humane is training its staff to identify human needs and forging partnerships with nonprofits that provide social services, Varitek said. It is already working with 40 human-centered agencies providing services in areas like domestic violence, food insecurity and homelessness. The referrals go both ways, with other agencies making referrals for pets needing care or housing. Michigan Humane is invited in to help families that have forged strong bonds with their pets to help care for them and keep them in their homes, Westrick said. “Because of that,” she said, “we are trusted and can help provide referrals for other needs in the household.” Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch
Congratulations
Louie Theros
Vice President & Legal Counsel on being named a Crain’s Notable Corporate Counsel Awardee
We salute your leadership and commitment to excellence!
APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 31
REAL ESTATE
Buyers more pragmatic as home prices rise BY ARIELLE KASS
After more than a year of rising home prices and short supply, Jeanette Schneider, president of RE/ MAX of Southeastern Michigan, said buyers are finally being pragmatic. If they want a house with three bedrooms, she said, they’ll no longer consider one with two. If they have their heart set on a deck, they’re not looking at houses that lack the backyard space. “Their attitude has changed,” Schneider said. “We’re not going to waste time looking at that, we’re not going to get in a bidding war.” That hasn’t been the case for the last year, when Schneider said there was a “real fear” that if buyers didn’t take what was available, they may not ever get a house. While supply is still tight and prices continue to rise, the numbers are beginning to moderate, she said. The median sales price in the region was $281,125 in March, up 10.7 percent from last year’s $253,913. But Schneider said the
“THEIR ATTITUDE HAS CHANGED. WE’RE NOT GOING TO WASTE TIME LOOKING AT THAT, WE’RE NOT GOING TO GET IN A BIDDING WAR.” — Jeanette Schneider, president, RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan
increase is lower than the previous year, when the median sales price jumped 16 percent from 2020 to 2021. The number of sales fell 8.7 percent, to 2,943 in March, from 3,222 the year before. But pending sales were up 2.3 percent, as the spring selling season gets underway. Sales were down in Detroit for the first time in recent memory; the 356 homes that sold in March were 4.5 percent lower than the 371 that sold a year ago. At the same time, median prices jumped 40.8 percent, to $84,500 from $60,000, something Schneider said could be skewed by recent high-priced home sales. In most metro counties, homes are staying on the market longer as buyers are getting more cautious, she said, though in Oakland County, houses sat for 19 days as compared to 25 a year ago. And Schneider said she is watching Livingston County, where home sales dipped 12.6 percent, more than other areas, to see if gas prices and back-to-office expectations are having any effect on people’s willingness to buy in areas where they may have longer commutes. On the whole, though, she said buyers are more sure of what they want and they’re waiting to get it. “People aren’t chasing their tail as much,” she said. “Why waste my time if I’m not going to pull the trigger on it?” 32 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
Advancing Macomb is looking to leverage more philanthropic investments like those that provided for public murals in Mt. Clemens in 2019 to improve the quality of life in the county. Anton Arts Center, Macomb YMCA and the city were partners on the project funded through the KaBoom! “Play Everywhere” grant with support from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. | PHOTOS BY DEANNA SABALINSKI
MACOMB
From Page 1
“We are meeting with key stakeholders and developing plans to increase support for existing nonprofits and attract more nonprofit organizations to Macomb County in the areas of K-12 mentoring, community development and improvement, economic development and social justice,” Banks said. “Advancing Macomb will serve as the access point for matching donors with causes and organizations they care about while at the same time ensuring available, regional funding is channeled into Macomb County.”
Fewer nonprofits According to the Advancing Macomb Philanthropic Investment study, Macomb County ranked third in Southeast Michigan in population in 2019 with 872,389 residents. That was just more than two-thirds, or 69 percent, of Oakland County’s population and half of Wayne County’s. Yet, the number of charitable nonprofits in Macomb County that year, 2,731, was just 37 percent of that in Oakland County and less than a third of Wayne County’s count, according to the study. The trend held even after taking nonprofit educational and health care institutions out of the mix, with 1,840 nonprofits in Macomb compared to 5,105 in Oakland and 6,700 in Wayne County, Banks said. Looking at the region, Macomb ranked third in population and GDP among the 10 counties studied in Southeast Michigan. Macomb, however, was ranked last place when it comes to the number of nonprofits per 100,000 residents and per GDP, compared to Genesee, Lapeer, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. On a statewide basis, Macomb County ranked No. 30 out of 36 urban counties when comparing on a per capita basis, Banks said. The study found Macomb has slightly fewer education-related and societal benefit nonprofits working in areas like community development, economic development and social justice. The county does have slightly more human services nonprofits with substantially more assets than peer counties. One thing the study does not address is why Macomb has lagged in the number of nonprofits operating in the county, Banks said. “There has been historically a heavy reliance on county programs. That’s part of it,” she said. “However, it is recognized that county government ser-
vices can’t broadly support community enhancement. Healthy, strong nonprofits are vital to high quality of life.” Another reason philanthropic investment in Macomb has trailed could be due in part to fewer corporate headquarters located in the county, said Jim Sawyer, president of Macomb Community College and chair of Advancing Macomb. “When you look at Macomb County, historically a lot of it has been a bedroom community ... there’s been a lot of industry and smaller companies,” he said. There’s more of a corporate presence and corporate foundation presence in Wayne and Oakland counties, he said. Another factor: Nonprofit organizations in Macomb County may not be presenting themselves well enough, Sawyer says. That’s something his organization is trying to fix as they try to create a linked network of nonprofits. “We really want to enhance quality of life for all residents, particularly those that might have greater needs,” Sawyer said.” Whatever resource we can bring into the county... improves the quality of life for all residents and hopefully, takes pressure off public entities having to provide that support.”
Lagging investment Not surprisingly, with fewer nonprofits to apply for funding and take it in, philanthropic investment has also been lower in Macomb County. Nonprofits in the county had $4.03 billion in total assets in 2019, compared to $39.86 billion for Oakland County organizations and $125.05 billion for Wayne County organizations, according to the study. Macomb ranked fourth in total nonprofit income and fifth in total nonprofit assets among Southeast Michigan counties in the study. Macomb County nonprofits are also leveraging fewer dollars every year. In 2019, total income for the nonprofits in Macomb, $3.18 billion, was a fraction of the amount secured by Oakland and Wayne counties, with $29.8 billion and $274 billion respectively. Macomb County received 2 percent of grants awarded by Michigan’s private foundations in 2019 and 1 percent of grants awarded by the nation’s largest foundations, Banks said. To reach the Michigan urban area median, Macomb County would need to increase the number of nonprofits in the county by 60 percent and nonprofit assets by 200 percent, Advancing Macomb said. The research creates an opportunity to mobilize support at all levels, from volunteerism to working with munici-
By the numbers While Macomb County has the third highest population in the metro Detroit region, it has the fifth highest total nonprofit assets and fourth highest total nonprofit income. Total nonprofit assets Wayne Oakland
$125.0 billion $39.9 billion
Genesee
$9.3 billion
Washtenaw
$4.9 billion
Macomb
$4.0 billion
Livingston
$2.4 billion
Lenawee
$2.1 billion
St. Clair $908.8 million Monroe $387.4 million Lapeer $192.3 million Total nonprofit assets Wayne Oakland Genesee
$274.1 billion $29.8 billion $4.4 billion
Macomb $3.2 billion Washtenaw $2.7 billion Livingston $522.7 million St. Clair $493.0 million Lenawee $455.4 million Lapeer $173.2 million Monroe $112.5 million SOURCE: DOROTHY A. JOHNSON CENTER FOR PHILANTHROPY AT GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
palities and private foundations, Banks said. “We’re having discussions with our state legislators around using (federal American Rescue Plan Act) funding for building civic infrastructure, and that includes nonprofits for not only their important role as employers in the county but their social impact, as well,” she said. The ARPA dollars could leverage philanthropic funding to create a capacity building fund for the county, she said. In an early move to build capacity in the sector, Advancing Macomb has started a nonprofit roundtable to get a better understanding of challenges and help with resources through referrals to organizations like Nonprofit Enterprise at Work and Co.act, Banks said.
Funder response Without a robust nonprofit infra-
structure in Macomb County, there are fewer vehicles for philanthropy to invest in, Jim Boyle, vice president of programs and communications for the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, said in an emailed statement. “The findings from the Advancing Macomb Philanthropic Investment study are both eye-opening and validating from what we have observed in our own grantmaking to date,” Boyle said. “It’s encouraging to have this study and data at the forefront of many ongoing conversations with Advancing Macomb and other funders also looking to improve the quality of life in Macomb County.” The Wilson Foundation has been making grants to nonprofit intermediaries whose mission is to support other nonprofits and provide opportunities and incentives for them to continue to work together as a network in service to their clients, Boyle said. “We have a strong interest in looking at how we can do that in Macomb County and help better connect more nonprofits to the broader network of support and resources available, including Co.act, Michigan Nonprofit Association, Michigan Community Resources, Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, among many others,” he said. The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has “recognized a lack of nonprofit infrastructure and connections between those that exist there for a long time,” Vice President Katie Brisson said. The foundation has funded regional nonprofits serving Macomb and provided funding directly to government in Macomb for projects like Headstart and the regional GreenWays Initiative, she said. It’s also supported Advancing Macomb since its inception in 201415, helping to pay for its original staff for two years. Advancing Macomb has served as a convener of nonprofits and a partner to put in combined grant proposals for multiple organizations in Macomb and government partners, Brisson said. More recently, it’s been a partner to the foundation in engaging with nonprofits around youth sports and census outreach, demonstrating its ability to help build strong partnerships and fundable projects. “I expect what will be most important moving forward is not to demonstrate a lack of funding but rather, to demonstrate what the needs are in Macomb and how the nonprofit sector plans to address them,” she said. The door is open for good, strong proposals. “Our investments will increase as there are strong projects to invest in,” she said. Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch
EVS
Turning an industry on its head
From Page 1
Automakers and tier-one suppliers are investing billions of dollars to develop and acquire new technologies to secure a future in the industry. For smaller companies that lack funds and technology, the existential threat of electrification looms large. “We live and make a living in that internal combustion world,” said Matt Carr, president of Livonia-based Storch Products Co. “The idea of switching to fully EV will devastate the supply chain here in the Rust Belt.” Global sales of electric vehicles reached 6.6 million, or 8.6 percent of all new car sales, last year — more than double the market share in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. EV sales are projected to eclipse internal combustion car sales in the next decade, which has set forth a mad scramble by automakers to prepare for the transition. Suppliers must fall in line to survive in the industry. Tier-one giants with roots in the internal combustion engine, such as BorgWarner Inc. and American Axle & Manufacturing Inc., are doing so by spending hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire and develop EV technology. Further down the food chain, companies like Production Saw & Machine don’t have the money or technology to guarantee a stake in that future. “Two years ago, I didn’t think this was a possibility,” Vancalbergh said. “I can look out in the factory and see, this part number dies in this year, this part number dies in that year, and there is nothing behind it. I don’t have quotes out there for ’23, ’24 and ’25.”
‘Sense of urgency’ Michigan has around 170,000 direct jobs in manufacturing, its largest sector, with a total of 950,000 jobs, or 20 percent of the state’s labor force, tied to the automotive industry, according to data from the state. A recent study commissioned by the state found that more than 300,000 EV-related jobs are up for grabs over the next 10 years if manufacturers are to meet their ambitious projections. “The sense of urgency on this is these investments are occurring at a great rate to meet those 2030 production goals,” said Steve Bakkal, senior vice president of strategy, planning and external affairs at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. “Absolutely it’s urgent for us because this isn’t just an investment into an existing assembly plant or existing ICE plant. These are new opportunities.” What’s to be gained in the EV transition is clear, but what will be lost is not. Michigan is home to more than 2,200 small and medium-size suppliers, most of which have some dependence on ICE vehicles. What will happen when that business is stripped away is a question that governments and data research firms around the world are trying to wrap their heads around, said Glenn Stevens, executive director of MICHauto. “A lot of the Michigan supply chain is built around internal combustion engines,” Stevens said. “We’re looking at a 120-year-old industry that’s been built around a gasoline powered engine that now has a huge shift in technology that will be obsolete at some point.” Around 85 percent of Production Saw & Machine’s business — ring gears, sun gears and pinions — is tied to transmissions. Vancalbergh said if he intends to keep the business alive,
Storch Products Co. President Matt Carr at Storch Products Co. in Livonia. | NIC ANTAYA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
At Production Saw & Machine in Clarklake, a machining cell consisting of two Brother machining centers, two Fanuc robots, a Keyence vision system and a Keyence laser system are put together for the drilling of eight oil holes on a Ford 8-speed transmission ring gear — something not needed for EVs. | RYAN KERWIN PHOTOGRAPHY
Soaring electric vehicle sales (in millions) Sales of nonelectrified light vehicles have dipped from 1999-2021 even as overall sales car have risen while electrified vehicles sales have risen steadily. Nonelectrified Light Vehicle Sales
20.0 2.0 15.0 1.5 10.0 1.0 5.0 0.5 0 0 ’99
Electrified Light Vehicle Sales
13.5 million 1.4 million ’21
’01
’03
’05
’07
’09
’11
’13
’15
’17
’19
’21
NOTE: ELECTRIFIED VEHICLES CONSIST OF BEV (BATTERY-POWERED ELECTRIC VEHICLE), HEV (HYBRID EV), FUEL CELL AND PHEV (PLUG-IN HYBRID EV). SOURCE: WARDS AUTOMOTIVE REPORTS (FROM 2010 AND ON), HYBRIDCARS.COM AND CENTER FOR AUTOMOTIVE RESEARCH
and its 165 workers employed, he needs to move to military, aerospace, agriculture or “wherever we can find a new niche.” “The unfortunate part is I think we’re gonna have a bunch of company,” he said. “Everybody that makes parts for transmissions and engines, they all gotta be looking for work. The writing is on the wall. Is everybody else going out to knock on the same doors as I am?” Gas engines are not going extinct overnight. There will still be a need for aftermarket service and traditional drivelines in heavy duty vehicles after EVs take over the market, Stevens said, but the volume of business for traditional suppliers would be a shell of what it is now. From a parts production standpoint, EVs won’t come close to replacing gas cars. ICE engines are composed of more than 2,000 parts — 100 times as many as an EV motor, ac-
cording to Congressional Research Service, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy research institute.
Huge risk for Michigan Michigan has among the highest concentration of production capacity for engines and transmissions, which account for more than one-third of the overall value of a gasoline-powered car, said Dave Andrea, principal at Plante Moran. Unlike ICE engines, EV motors can be relatively generic among makes and models, with software being the ultimate differentiator. That means less work for manufacturers. “It’s a huge transition, and it’s a huge economic development risk for the state of Michigan,” Andrea said. That risk is biggest for the lowest tier suppliers, said Kristin Dziczek, policy adviser at the Detroit branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
“I think the bottom line is that everything is changing,” Dziczek said. “My worry about smaller firms that don’t do a lot of their own R&D, that don’t have a proprietary product of their own — they’re build to print. They’re dependent on volume. The volumes on the ICE side will be shrinking and not all of them are going to be ready.” There is still business to be had in EV parts, but the pie is much smaller with the same number of companies clawing for a slice, according to the industry observers. That makes Vancalbergh wonder if pursuing EV quotes is even worth it. Production Saw & Machine has landed some EV component supply contracts, including on the Ford F-150 Lightning, but they have come with challenges. Generally, EV parts require far more precision, which would require investing millions of dollars in machine upgrades if Vancalbergh were to take on more EV business. Additionally, the order volumes are at least for now a fraction of those for ICE engines. A contract for an EV part typically ranges from 30,000 to 150,000 parts per year, whereas ICE orders are 600,000 to 2 million, he said. “We’ve turned a number of jobs away for the EVs that just don’t fit,” Vancalbergh said. “There’s no way for me to get to point A or point B.” The traditional engine continues to keep suppliers afloat — for now. The automotive industry sold 14.9 million light vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to Cox Automotive, with nearly 90 percent of them gas powered. The demand for ICE engines has yet to decline sharply even as demand for EVs grows, making for a calm before the storm for suppliers, analysts say. With gas car sales steady, from 2015 to 2019, revenue at Production Saw & Machine grew by 30 percent to $20 million, before the COVID-19 pandemic hammered sales and profitability, Vancalbergh said. This year, revenue is expected to be between $16 million and $17 million, with no way to go but down, he said. Storch Products rode a similar wave of growth. In fact, its backlog of business has never been bigger. The company is on pace to sell twice as many magnetic conveyers, its core product for ICE engine parts, as last year. “People are panic buying,” Carr said. “People are folding up left and right. The OEMs are just trying to get an order in.” Carr knows that peak is also a cliff. “Revenue will go down,” he said. “It will shrink. It has to shrink …”
The automotive industry has seen this story before. Electrification has threatened to upend the industry many times over the past century. A few years ago, it seemed as though the takeover of autonomous vehicles was imminent until that technology faded to the background. EVs are not on that same path, said MICHauto’s Stevens. “This is a whole different ballgame with electrification,” he said. “There’s a lot of debate about what the adoption curve and demand curve is going to look like, but this is something that is happening.” Craig Carrel, president at Albion-based Team 1 Plastics, has come to terms with that fact. He knew more than half of the injection molding company’s business was in the ICE engine, but after taking a harder look recently, he was surprised to learn it is more than 80 percent dependent. The way Carrel sees it, the company must do all it can now to start weaning itself off a dying technology. “We’ve been in business 34 years, and this is like the third big push for EVs in that time, but this one seems more real because every automaker is making a push,” Carrel said. “You just start running the math, and there’s going to be less suppliers if we go to full EV futures.” One way to make the switch has been to incentivize the company’s sales team to go after nonautomotive business. “It’s a slow process,” Carrel said. “But the numbers don’t lie. We’ve woken up a little.” Diversification has long been a priority for many automotive suppliers, but Carrel and his counterparts across the state say it’s become a necessity. By no means is it easy, added Carr, from Storch Products. “We’d have to hope that lightning struck twice,” Carr said. “We built a model that lasted 70 years for crying out loud.” Storch Products’ search for a future outside of automotive has not been fruitful. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and personal protective equipment shortages, there were loud calls by federal, state and local policy makers to onshore production of those supplies. Storch Products used the pandemic as an opportunity to enter health care, as did other manufacturers such as Troy-based Cadillac Products. They learned that health care is one industry with even more red tape than automotive. Cadillac has been unable to get its gowns inside Michigan hospitals. Storch’s Airotrust — an air filtration system marketed as a “mask for buildings” — also failed to gain traction, even after the state approved a $10 million grant for airborne pathogen controls that would have allowed Michigan’s 10 largest health systems to implement the systems at no cost to them. The grant expired April 1 with no letters of intent from hospitals. “Not one hospital. We can’t believe it,” Carr said. “That was our transition for this company.” Carr said he will take on as much EV business as he can while looking for new ways to diversify, knocking on the same doors as Vancalbergh and hundreds of others in the same situation. But, taking a cue from BorgWarner and the other big players, he’s not ready to turn his back on ICE just yet. The rise of EVs still has to happen first. “There are many that are waiting to see if this sticks,” Carr said. Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl APRIL 18, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 33
THE CONVERSATION
Dave Meador on balancing public policy with corporate pressures Dave Meador, who is retiring as chief administrative officer and vice chairman of DTE Energy Co., has spent a great deal of time in his final years working outside of the board room. Meador has been one of the public faces of the Detroit-based utility’s corporate initiatives and an influential voice in public policy initiatives that extend well beyond the normal issues concerning a regulated energy company. He was a driving force behind a 2012 law mandating health insurance companies cover therapies for children with autism — an issue that hit close to home for the father of a daughter with autism. He's also spent years working on workforce and economic development issues. In an exit interview with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood, Meador talked about his two decades in the C-suite of 1 Energy Plaza and balancing his role in corporate leadership with tackling public policy issues. This interview has been edited for clarity. | BY CHAD LIVENGOOD ` Tell me a little bit about your first day at DTE. What was that like? And how did you come into the company from Chrysler? I had been at Chrysler for 14 years and I wasn’t looking to leave. It was a great company, I was doing well, it was pretty exciting. But a recruiter asked me to come down (to Detroit) and interview with (then-CEO) Tony Earley and (then-president) Gerry Anderson. They talked about their vision and dreams to build a great company and felt they had a lot of work to do. They knew I had a background in continuous improvement. And Chrysler at that time was really a well-run company. So they convinced me to come in. At the time, I had a lot of my colleagues at Chrysler and others really question, ‘Why are you leaving Chrysler to go to a utility?’ And many, many years later, people understand why I did it. Building a great company doesn’t happen overnight. And there’s still opportunities for improvement at DTE, but over 25 years we took a company that was just OK operationally and really upped our game, but then also transformed the company in terms of the role it plays in the state of Michigan. ` How did you take it from OK to upping the game? I started in as controller and then CFO and at a point in time my portfolio was broadened to include procurement, information technology and fleet and facilities and other groups. In working with Tony (Earley) first and then Gerry Anderson, we really got serious about benchmarking and understanding where we were and what the gap was. We are a fan of Jim Collins’ books, “Good to Great” and “Great by Choice.” Collins has this concept of you can’t improve unless you face your brutal
reality and really understand where you are. And if you can’t articulate that — where I am — it’s hard to talk aspirationally about where you want to be. I think in many areas we faced our brutal reality and then started laying out methodical plans to improve over time — whether that be (electricity) reliability, which is still going on today, an environmental agenda and really focusing on continuous improvement of operations and bringing that whole concept to the company. As a leadership team — a lot of people might not appreciate this — we went to Toyota and we learned continuous improvement from them and really adopted the Toyota production system. (DTE CEO) Jerry Norcia still tells this story that when he had come to the company I asked him, ‘Do you know much about continuous improvement?’ And he said, ‘No, I really don’t.’ And I said, ‘Are you willing to go with me to a five-day class at a Toyota supplier?’ They teach you by doing, so they put you out on the floor. We were at an injection molding plant in Kentucky and Jerry worked a work cell and had to drive continuous improvement in five days using their methodology. And then we came back and started doing that work at DTE. ` Talk a little bit about the way DTE has transformed as a entity that is more than just the power company. There was a point in time where DTE — and companies do this periodically — we retooled our corporate aspiration and mission statement. We had the words and goals and aspiration to be the best operating energy company in North America and to be a force for growth and prosperity in the communities we live in and serve... (Several years ago) I had some families come to me and say ‘We’re trying to
get a meeting with our state senator, we can’t get it and other states are doing this.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got a Lansing office. We should be able to get a meeting with (then-Sen.) Randy Richardville.’ And that put me into a six-year journey to pass that legislation. And what I came to understand as I was doing that is a corporation’s ability to get access and convene and organize and then execute was more powerful than I understood — and we got the legislation passed ... That set up a whole series of activities of things we started to get involved in. An example would be the two times we tried on regional transit, to get organized around that. It was really on some of those failures that we stood back and said, ‘It feels like when we try to do this it’s episodic and not as organized as it could be.’ It was really the failures in regional transit that led us to form the regional CEO group (and eventually the Detroit Regional Partnership). ` If I read you right, admittedly, you could get that meeting with Randy Richardville because you were a top executive at DTE Energy. Someone in a small business may not have that access. How have you balanced that, saying ‘Hi, this is Dave Meador calling about autism legislation’ versus ‘Dave Meador calling about energy legislation’? I’ve always made it clear, and we continue to do this today, (I) am here as a corporate
leader and a father and a grandfather and a resident and as a taxpayer. ... But I had to be really careful and strike a balance. Because in that case, I was going up against groups that live to kill any (health insurance) mandate, including the Michigan Chamber of Commerce and other good friends of DTE. I had to strike this balance of pushing this agenda and Tony (Earley), our CEO then, said, ‘Dave, you got to get this done. But at the end of the day you’ve got to make sure it doesn’t have a negative impact on the company.’ And what I learned, it really pushed me to a very high standard in terms of how I conducted myself. I had to argue this with facts and analytics and not emotion and do it in a way that I kept my relationships so it didn’t impact energy policy in any way. ` Or your job. Or my job (laughs). ... But I went about it with a business lens. Just going to Lansing and arguing, ‘Just do this because it’s the right thing,’ isn’t always going to win the day. Dave Meador is vice chairman and chief administrative officer of DTE Energy Co.
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RUMBLINGS
Starbucks unionization effort comes to Michigan THE STARBUCKS UNIONIZATION EFFORT has come to Michigan, the birthplace of the American labor movement. A shop in Grand Rapids is scheduled to hold a vote to unionize this week, while another in the Ann Arbor area has petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for an election and 10 others around the state wait for the go-ahead to vote after a hearing about a month ago between Starbucks and the NLRB. “Workers want a democracy in the workplace,” said Matthew Kain, a Lansing-based staff organizer at Workers United. “They want to have a voice. They want to have a say in their working conditions.” On the other side of that argument 34 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | APRIL 18, 2022
is Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who has taken a strong stance against unions and said the company could not have grown into a globally famous coffee behemoth with the restraints of organized labor. Seattle-based Starbucks has more than 15,000 locations in the U.S. Since the recent effort began last month in New York, 16 stores have voted to unionize, while more than 150 are poised to vote soon, according to a report by Eater. The Starbucks workers’ moves follow that of employees at Amazon. com Inc. Workers from both companies have made similar demands for higher wages, better working conditions and a platform to voice worker interests.
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