Crain's Detroit Business, May 8, 2023, issue

A new cannabis operation — now?

In the shadow of a 90-year-old foundry smokestack, a new cannabis operation is taking shape in the old lumber town of Vassar on the precipice of the Michigan umb region. Its owners, a group of real estate brokers and metalworks executive, are betting their $40 million investment will lead to success despite industry turmoil wrought by basement-level prices and oversupply.

Canapa Valley Farms, the roughly 105,000-squarefoot marijuana grow and processing operation on the

Mansion could shatter city’s sale record

Estate in Palmer Woods hits market

BY NICK MANES

e Bishop Mansion in Detroit’s Palmer Woods neighborhood once held the title of most expensive home sale in the city.

It’s primed to retake that crown.

At more than 32,000 square feet, the mansion once owned by former Detroit Pistons star John Salley is said to be the largest single residence in the city. e more than 100-year-old estate north of Seven Mile Road and west of Woodward Avenue set records when it was bought by out-ofstate investors in 2017 for more than $2.5 million.

It was set to hit the market again last Friday at an asking

price of $9 million, a sale anywhere near that mark would shatter the record set last year by the $4.9 million sale of the nearby Fisher mansion.

With an asking price of about $277 per square foot, a sale at that price point would outpace the Fisher home — bought by Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart and Antonio Gamez Galaz — by about $30 per square foot.

While still undergoing signicant interior construction, as well as exterior landscaping work, the home has already received modern mechanical engineering work, according to Amanda Uhlianuk and Laura Hatcher, sisters who are leading construction management, interior design and listing the property on behalf of the unidenti ed California sellers.

former Eaton Foundry property, is built on the fundamentals of kaizen, a Japanese manufacturing principle structured around lean operations and continuous process improvement. Frank DeNardo Jr., Canapa’s co-owner and primary funder, believes his operations are so e cient, the company can be successful while marijuana prices remain near historic lows.

Norwegian hydrogen company plans 500-job factory

BY DAVID EGGERT

Norwegian hydrogen company

Nel will establish a $400 million manufacturing plant in Michigan, creating an estimated 500-plus jobs at what o cials said will be the rst U.S. facility to make alkaline elec-

trolyzer equipment used to produce renewable hydrogen.

Nel Hydrogen, a subsidiary of Oslo-based Nel ASA and a collaborator with General Motors Co., is still evaluating where in the state to put the factory.

e project was announced

Wednesday by Nel CEO Håkon Volldal, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and state and local economic development o cials attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Maryland.

“ e choice of Michigan is based

on an overall assessment of what the state can o er in terms ofnancial incentives, access to a highly skilled workforce, and cooperation with universities, research institutions and strategic partners,” Volldal said in a statement in which he also highlighted “personal en-

gagement from the governor and her team.”

Another factor was the proximity to GM, which is headquartered in Detroit. e announcement came months

See

on Page 16

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

 AUBURN HILLS PLANNERS SIGN OFF ON GM FACILITY

THE NEWS: e Auburn Hills Planning Commission has given its blessing to the creation of a new $200 million General Motors Co. facility on the former Palace of Auburn Hills site. If the 1.1-million-square-foot building development is referred to as a “value-added assembly” plant for third-party suppliers serving GM Orion Assembly in Orion Township at 4555 Giddings Road.

WHY IT MATTERS: If it comes to fruition, it would become the third-largest building in Auburn Hills behind the Stellantis headquarters (5.4 million square feet) and Great Lakes Crossing Outlets (1.4 million square feet).

 DETROIT FREE PRESS NAMES NEXT EXECUTIVE EDITOR

THE NEWS: e Detroit Free Press has named former editor Nicole Avery Nichols as its new executive editor. Nichols, 53, a seasoned journalist and media executive with more than three decades of newsroom experience, was most recently editor-in-chief at Chalkbeat, a nonpro t news organization focused on education in America. She replaces Peter Bhatia, who left in January.

WHY IT MATTERS: She is the rst Black woman to become executive editor at the paper in its 192 years.

 GREENPATH GAINS NEW PUERTO RICO AFFILIATION

THE NEWS: Farmington Hills-based GreenPath Financial Wellness, a national credit counseling and debt management nonpro t, has a liated with Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Puerto Rico to gain a foothold in the U.S. territory. rough the deal, GreenPath will e ectively become the parent company of Consumer Credit. In exchange, GreenPath will gain an a liation with a trusted brand in the Latino markets, President and CEO Kristen Holt said.

WHY IT MATTERS: e two nonpro ts, both members of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, will o er expanded support to the 3.2 million people living in Puerto Rico.

 LAWMAKERS MOVE TO MAKE ‘COCKTAILS-TO-GO’ PERMANENT

THE NEWS: Michigan’s pandemic-spurred law that lets people order cocktails for pickup or delivery from bars, restaurants and distilleries’

tasting rooms would become permanent under a bill that received initial approval from legislators Tuesday. e House voted 102-5 to send the measure to the Senate.

WHY IT MATTERS: e “cocktails-to-go” law, which was enacted in the summer of 2020, is e ective through 2025. e legislation, House Bill 4201, would extend the law indenitely. A similar attempt to make the law permanent zzled out in last year’s “lame-duck” session.

 BCBSM TO ACQUIRE VERMONT COUNTERPART

THE NEWS: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is expanding — out of state. e Blues announced last week it plans to acquire Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont in a deal where no cash exchanges hands, but the Vermont plan becomes a subsidiary of BCBSM under the proposed deal. However, BCBS Vermont would retain its name, leadership structure and headquarters as each entity would remain operating independently for their members.

MANUFACTURING

Dearborn-based Carhartt to out t e Weather Channel

 e durability of some locally made, internationally recognized workwear apparel is set to be truly put to the test.

e Weather Channel cable TV network and Dearborn-based Carhartt announced a new partnership making Carhartt the all-weather out tter for on-air meteorologists and in- eld weather reporting.

Network sta will wear Carhartt apparel with the familiar logo prominently featured during broadcasts, including insulated jackets and vests and Carhartt Rain Defender pants for hurricane season, according to Carhartt Chief Brand O cer Susan Hennike.

Hennike declined to disclose details or the length of the agreement.

e partnership will get a lot more eyes on Carhartt gear. e Weather Channel averages about 100,000 viewers each day. at number jumped to 3.4 million last fall during coverage of Hurricane Ian.

Carhartt replaces Lands’ End as the o cial out tter of e Weather Channel since 2017.

BUTTON TEXT

WHY IT MATTERS: e deal would allow for BCBSM to sell wrap-around services to the Vermont insurer’s 225,000 members, said Lynda Rossi, BCBSM’s executive vice president of strategy, innovation and public affairs.

BUTTON TEXT

The Weather Channel meteorologists and in- eld reporters will now battle the elements while wearing Carhartt gear. | THE WEATHER CHANNEL

Prevailing wage law has enforcement provisions

LANSING — Democrats who restored Michigan’s law requiring higher pay and benefits on state-financed construction projects went a step further, adding enforcement provisions they say will empower regulators to crack down when workers are shortchanged.

The changes tripled the length of the original bill, which would have simply reinstated the 1965 prevailing wage law that Republicans repealed in 2018. The amendments were added shortly before final votes occurred in March.

They are drawing criticism from the law’s detractors, including nonunion contractors that say they are designed to discourage them from bidding on prevailing wage projects.

WEEDING OUT TESTING ISSUES

Regulators hope state-run lab can help restore trust in cannabis industry

e Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency hopes a new state-run marijuana testing lab can build trust in an industry in turmoil and ultimately root out potential corruption.

e Legislature is expected to approve the state budget in the coming weeks, which includes a $4.4 million earmark for the CRA to establish, build and sta its own reference testing lab. e state believes the new lab will boost regulators’ ability to stymie illicit product entering the legal market, audit private sector labs and optimize standard testing methodologies.

“ e challenges facing the test-

ing industry have been widely reported,” CRA Executive Director Brian Hanna told Crain’s. “ ere is no unbiased lab in existence in Michigan currently, so our goal is to be able to provide those services that will ultimately make the industry safer and save them money.”

Under state rules, marijuana

growers are required to test 0.5% of a harvested batch of marijuana at an independent lab before it can be sold for consumer use. Batch sizes max out at 50 pounds under the regulations. In March alone, labs tested nearly 103,600 pounds of marijuana ower and shake with a consumer sales value of $11.3 million, based on CRA data.

But not all batches of marijuana sold in the legal market are being tested. Hanna was hired in September last year to step up enforcement as the legal industry bemoaned oversupply due to illegal marijuana making it into the legal market. The outcry for enforcement occurred after adult-use prices plummeted to $80 per ounce of flower in January this year from more than $512.05 per ounce in January 2020, according to CRA data. Prices have since climbed to $86.87 per ounce last month, which Hanna credits to increased CRA enforcement.

They contend that disgruntled competitors could “weaponize” the state labor department by filing frivolous complaints against companies that win prevailing-wage projects.

Backers say the changes were needed to clarify what had been a vague law and to ease the agency’s ability ensure people are paid accurately.

The new law, Public Act 10 of 2023, will take effect in 2024. It will, among other things:

 Give the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity authority to enforce the law and to write implementing rules.

 Allow LEO to levy a fine of up to $5,000 for each violation, plus an additional 10% penalty.

 Make contractors and subcontractors jointly and severally liable for violations.

 Allow workers who are not paid prevailing wages or benefits to sue contractors or subcontractors for damages, including costs and attorney fees.

Hudson-Webber CEO Melanca Clark to step down, leave Detroit

Melanca Clark, president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation, is departing the foundation and Detroit.

Clark and the couple’s two children will join her husband Moddie Turay in Boston this summer.

Turay, who served as executive vice president of real estate andnancial services for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. before starting his own real estate development company, was named president and CEO of Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. last summer.

During her seven-year tenure at Hudson-Webber, Clark, 48, brought a

strong social justice and equity focus to its work.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to work with our board, sta and committed and dynamic partners to help move this incredible city forward,”

Clark said.

“We expanded our investments to

the city’s neighborhoods and into new models of leadership and leaders, to help ensure that all residents bene t from the city’s growth and are shaping their own future. ank you for allowing me to be a part of this extraordinary journey.”

Clark will continue to support the

foundation through a transition of leadership to a new CEO. e foundation’s chair, Jennifer Hudson Parke, will lead a search committee to identify its next CEO.

Clark will also continue to chair the Council of Michigan Foundations and Michigan Justice Fund Steering Committee through November. She is also a member of the boards of the Center for Employment Opportunities, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Michigan Futures Inc., the Michigan Center for Youth Justice, BasBlue and the advisory board of Detroit LISC and will decide with each how long she will continue to serve.

“It will be a gradual step-down,

and we’ll see what the next chapter holds,” Clark said.

e foundation’s board will be forever grateful for Clark’s inspirational leadership and stewardship, Hudson Parke said in a release.

“When Melanca began her tenure, she launched a robust strategic planning process through a social justice and equity lens that has set the agenda for our organization for years to come.”

Clark came to Detroit after serving as chief of sta in the O ce of Community Oriented Policing Services for the Department of Justice during the Obama administration.

Under state rules, marijuana growers are required to test 0.5% of a harvested batch of marijuana at an independent lab before it can be sold for consumer use. NIC ANTAYA/CRAINS DETROIT BUSINESS

Critics say rules could be ‘weaponized’

DAVID EGGERT

DUSTIN WALSH

SHERRI WELCH

“IT’S BEEN AN ABSOLUTE PRIVILEGE TO WORK WITH OUR BOARD, STAFF AND COMMITTED AND DYNAMIC PARTNERS TO HELP MOVE THIS INCREDIBLE CITY FORWARD.”

—Melanca Clark, president and CEO, Hudson-Webber Foundation

“THERE IS NO UNBIASED LAB IN EXISTENCE IN MICHIGAN CURRENTLY, SO OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES...”

—Brian Hanna, executive director, Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency

Palace of Auburn Hills site the latest property to get new use

Late last month we o cially learned that another big, prominent metro Detroit site is getting new use.

e redevelopment of the former Palace of Auburn Hills land means we can scratch another major property in the region that had a question mark on its next chapter o the list.

It was revealed on April 28 that Livonia-based Schostak Bros. & Co. plans to redevelop the majority of the 110-acre property with a $200 million electric vehicle parts assembly and distribution facility for General Motors Co. suppliers clocking in at 1.1 million square feet. at con rms our previous reporting from early March.

e Palace site — owned by a joint venture between Schostak Bros. and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores — was always seen as one that wouldn’t sit fallow for long, with potential for R&D or other space with a prime location o I-75.

e last several years have seen major properties in the region converted into new uses.

Among them, in no particular order:

 e former Pinnacle Race Course horse racing track in Huron Township has been turned into industrial and warehouse space, with Amazon.com Inc. and Home Depot taking buildings on the site that spans some 650 acres or so.

 e Pontiac Silverdome site, the former home of the Detroit Lions, is also a massive new Amazon facility. e property is 127 acres and was rundown and blighted for years before the stadium came down to be replaced by the 3.7 million-square-foot shipping center.

 e former Joe Louis Arena site on the Detroit River is being turned into a mixed-use development spearheaded by Detroit-based Sterling Group (also one of the Pinnacle Race Course developers, along with Texas-based

Hillwood Enterprises LP). e rst building under construction is a 496unit, 25-story apartment building called e Residences at Water Square.

 e former Eastland Center shopping mall in Harper Woods has been razed to make way for new industrial and warehouse development by suburban Kansas City, Mo.-based NorthPoint Development LLC. Tenants have not been publicly identi ed for the buildings.

 e former Michigan state fairgrounds property is also being turned into a massive new Amazon warehouse spanning some 3.8 million square feet in Detroit near Eight Mile Road and Woodward Avenue. Another new building is also being built, and the former dairy cattle barn is being turned into a new transit center.

 e former Northland Center mall in South eld is being turned into a

new mixed-use development with a heavy multifamily housing focus. A Costco Business Center is also planned, as is a new market.

 A former DTE Energy Co. site clocking in at about 14 acres in Ann Arbor is being turned into more than 90 condominiums plus a public park, hotel and commercial space. Developers working on the project in the Lower Town neighborhood are Detroit-based e Roxbury Group, Farmington Hills-based Hunter Pasteur Homes and South eld-based e Forbes Co.

 Lakeside Mall, while still open, is the target of a $1 billion proposal to tear the Sterling Heights shopping hub down and create a $1 billion mixeduse project. As envisioned, it would include about 2,800 multifamily housing units, with 750 of those for seniors; 150,000 new square feet of retail and dining space (in addition to the

400,000 square feet that would remain between the Macy’s and JCPenney department stores); 60,000 square feet of o ce space, and a 120-room hotel with a parking deck.

 e 48-acre Northville Downs horse racing track is the subject of a proposal that would convert it into 38 single-family homes, 98 townhomes, 28 carriage houses, 62 row houses (half north of Beal Street and half to the south), 172 apartments and 43 condominiums. About one-third of the site’s acreage would be devoted to parks and green space, and there would also be commercial space.

 Another former horse racing track, the Hazel Park Raceway, was razed and also turned into new industrial and warehouse space by the Canton Township o ce of New York Citybased Ashley Capital.

 e failed former Bloom eld Park development was turned into the Vil-

lage at Bloom eld mixed-use development by South eld-based Redico LLC. e 87-acre site along Telegraph Road has been converted into retail, medical, grocery and residential space.

Others remain unspoken for, though.

ose include the former Summit Place Mall site on the border of Waterford Township and Pontiac at Telegraph and Elizabeth Lake roads. It is currently owned by South eld-based Ari-El Enterprises, which bought the dilapidated shopping center in 2017 and razed it with a proposal to build about 1 million square feet of new space. As of yet, nothing has been built. Have I missed any big ones from the last ve to 10 years? Feel free to email me and let me know.

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

Michigan State invests in housing project near Henry Ford Hospital

Michigan State University is an investor in a new a ordable and workforce housing project in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood.

It’s the rst known real estate investment in Detroit of this kind for the East Lansing university, which is working with Henry Ford Health and Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores nearby on a new $2.5 billion hospital campus with commercial and residential space.

Detroit-based e Platform LLC’s $38.2 million Piquette Flats project involves converting the former Studebaker Sales and Service Building into 161 workforce apartments at 411 Piquette next to the former Ford Piquette Avenue Plant where the Model T was born. Construction has started, with work expected to wrap up in the summer next year.

“MSU is pleased to be making an investment with e Platform in the Piquette Flats project,” Philip Zecher, chief investment o cer for MSU,

said. “ is is an opportunity to invest with an experienced partner in a quality asset; the location is in an emerging area with the potential for

long-term growth.”

It is not clear how much of a stake the university is taking in the project. e project, which has been in the

works in varying stages for several years, is slated to have 71 studio apartments, plus 87 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom units renting between 60% and 120% of the Area Median Income, a federally designated gure that is controversial because it includes suburban incomes and therefore skews upward what is considered a ordable to residents of a city that is one of the poorest in the nation.

A press release says 60% of the units will be a ordable to people making 80% of AMI and below.

“Milwaukee Junction is the birthplace of the U.S. auto industry where, in the early 20th century, manufacturers sprang up around the Milwaukee and Grand Trunk railroad lines,” Peter Cummings, chairman and CEO of e Platform, said in a statement. “Piquette Flats allows us to repurpose this important historic building and provide a ordable housing options for a diverse range of city residents.”

Detroit-based Kraemer Design Group is the project architect while

Oak Park-based PCI One Source Contracting is the general contractor. Once built, the property would be leased out and managed by Beztak Properties, based in Farmington Hills. South eld-based Bernard Financial Group worked on the nancing.

e redevelopment includes public nancing like a $3 million, 12-year property tax abatement and $2 million in brown eld tax-incrementnancing. ere is also a $7 million low-interest loan from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. Flagstar Bank has rst-position debt on the redevelopment.

Renovations include electrical, mechanical and plumbing upgrades, new, historically accurate windows, a facade restoration and a new roof and elevators. Amenities planned include a tness center, lobby lounge, a dog run and pet washing station and laundry rooms on each oor.

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

The former Palace of Auburn Hills site. KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

A rendering of the Piquette Flats apartments, which is getting an investment from Michigan State University. X-IDENTITY

WAGE LAW

 Give LEO the right to investigate and ascertain the wages paid by prevailing wage employers, including by entering any project covered by the law within normal hours of operation, interviewing employees and asking them to do wage surveys.

 Authorize LEO to subpoena witnesses and require the production of records, and to interview employees, supervisors and others in private without third parties present.

 Let employees or third parties le complaints, con dentially if they wish, with LEO if they have credible information that a violation may have occurred. ere will be a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if an employee has been removed from a project or not given similar overtime and work hours than before.

 Give employers and workers 14 days to appeal LEO’s determination, rst with an administrative hearing o cer and later in court.

 Require governments, contractors and subcontractors to keep payroll records and other records for at least three years.

Jimmy Greene, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan, a trade association of nonunion contractors that opposes the prevailing wage law, said the enforcement changes “took it to a whole other level.” He said he has no problem with punishing union or nonunion contractors that fail to pay prevailing wages as required, but he likened the provisions to “nooses.”

ey could “drive contractors out of even considering prevailing wage jobs,” he said.

House Minority Leader Matt Hall, a Republican from Kalamazoo County’s Richland Township, said the amendments “weaponize LEO. If you’re a nonunion shop or whatever,

CLARK

From Page 3

She brought her political and social justice background to bear in forging a new strategic plan that saw Hudson-Webber taking on a new advocacy role in policy issues that impact the quality of life in Detroit and funding, among other things, new approaches to crime intervention in the city.

She spearheaded the Michigan Justice Fund, a funders’ collaborative working to advance equitable justice in the state through investments to stem the ow of individuals into the criminal justice system, support the investment of public dollars to community-driven alternatives to incarceration and ensure returning citizens receive the support they need to ourish.

rough that e ort, she’s ful lled an early ambition to bring other national funders into the city.

Under Clark’s leadership, Hudson-Webber also launched the Community Policing Innovations Initiative with the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan after the murder of George Floyd, to work with communities to address issues in police practices, systems and services.

Named among Crain’s 100 Most Inuential Women in 2016 and 2021, Clark has brought local, county and state stakeholders to the table to move the city forward through those and other new policies.

Supporting stakeholders with data that drives better decision-making and policymaking has been a hall-

it allows basically a union boss to come in and threaten you and say, ‘Hey, if you don’t do things the way we want, we can as a third party condentially le a complaint against you’ and then these LEO agents can come in and start investigating any small business or employer. ... is is going to allow the harassment of many small businesses across the

mark of her tenure, working with organizations such as Detroit Future City.

In other funding areas, the foundation has made investments to strengthen Detroit’s ecosystem of community development organizations and moved arts and culture grants to a cohort of small, BIPOC-led organizations.

“It’s all about intentionality and ensuring our dollars are reaching communities and leaders that are doing incredibly innovative work,” Clark said.

At the same time, she has brought to the foundation a focus on ensuring the decision-making of grantees is driven by community voice and priorities.

“I’m passionate about what I’m doing and will continue it,” Clark said.

“But as I make the transition, I’ll be able to make some more space for attending to my dad’s legacy and projects.”

Ed Clark, an abstract expressionist painter, whose works are part of the Detroit Institute of Arts’ permanent collection and on display at the Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art, died at age 93 in 2019.

A book and documentary on his life are forthcoming, Clark said.

Still, leaving Detroit will be bittersweet, she said.

“It’s about the work I’ve been privileged to do here but also about how welcoming the community has been here.”

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

state that are not complying or getting along with unions. It’s kind of a threat to employers, and it is going to have a chilling e ect.”

Supporters of the law, however, said the intent is to clear up uncertainty that existed when the old law was on the books for more than 50 years. Sean Egan, LEO’s deputy director of labor, said he wrote most of

the new language that was included. e prior law, he said, was vague on what would happen if there were violations and where complaints could be led.

“Most of the way that we enforced the law previously was just department-created policies of how we would investigate and process complaints,” he said. “If we did nd a violation, under the previous law there was no administrative action, really. It would just be a determination that would be referred to either the attorney general or local prosecutors for some criminal provisions that were included in the original law.”

A violation of the old law was a misdemeanor. e criminal penalty will be replaced with a ne in the new law, which Egan said is common with

enforcement of other wage and workplace rules.

Egan estimated the state got two dozen prevailing wage complaints a year in the past, and the state recovered tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars for workers annually.

“Complaints were more challenging under the prior law just because of that lack of clarity. We certainly accepted complaints and did investigations, but there was no real statutory support for demanding certain records and making sure there was certi ed payroll. .... We resolved I would say 85% of them through determination, but we didn’t have the authority to actually issue an order of payment. ... What the prevailing wage law does now is it creates the speeding ticket, so to speak, but it also enhances Wage and Hour’s ability to proactively investigate complaints for prevailing wage projects.”

e state will do a lot of outreach and education so contractors and workers understand the new law, Egan said.

e bill was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Brenda Carter of Pontiac, who once worked as a journeyman machine repair machinist. e enforcement pieces, she said, are about “worker protection.”

While critics have said the change will result in higher taxpayer costs to build schools and do other public projects, Carter said it will make sure workers are paid fairly, and the work is done safely and correctly the rst time.

“ at’s how you save money, because if you have to do it over and over and over again because you don’t have the expertise to get it done right the rst time, then that’s how you lose money,” she said.

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

Democrats restored Michigan’s law requiring higher pay and bene ts on state- nanced construction projects. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Carter Egan Greene Hall

Michigan is missing out by not prioritizing adult ed

tem and has strict allowance guidelines that all but discourage innovation.

Sporting events o er new ways to lead

Downtown Detroit will shine on the national sports stage early next month, and eyes will be watching in anticipation of an even bigger event just under a year away.

e Detroit Grand Prix will return to downtown streets for the rst time since moving to Belle Isle almost 30 years ago. And in April 2024, the NFL Draft will take place in Detroit for the rst time ever.

e draft is now much, much more than a group of men sitting in a room, reading names and marking o draft boards. It’s a certi able fan experience and tourist destination. is year’s draft in Kansas City, Mo., drew more than 300,000 people.

Add in the massive television audience for the draft and the endless associated programming, and it’s an opportunity for Detroit to show o that’s almost as big as a Super Bowl, which holds an important place in the history of the city’s downtown rebirth.

e Super Bowl in 2006 — and especially the preparations for it in the four years after Ford Field opened — galvanized the business community, and the hands-on leadership and energy of automotive titan Roger Penske in chairing the Super Bowl’s host

committee was key to that success.

A run-up to the Super Bowl included a massive beauti cation e ort for downtown Detroit that included the debut of Campus Martius Park and, to be frank, e orts to camou age empty storefronts and o ces.

We have a lot more to show o now.

As Penske told Crain’s in 2015: “ e galvanizing piece of this was to take the civic leaders, the business community, the foundations, the mayor and city council and pull them together.”

Penske also made the point at the time that big, recurring annual events like the auto show, jazz festival (or, now, the Rocket Mortgage Classic) are more important than big one-o s like a Super Bowl or Final Four. at may be true. But the big moon-shot events can also catalyze new ways of thinking and new ways of doing business that can last.

It’s not an overstatement to say that the Super Bowl did catalyze cooperation among Detroit’s silos of power in a city where such cooperation wasn’t always apparent.

Now downtown Detroit has much to show o , but leadership — and cooperation — among business and civic leaders and city government will be key for the city to reap the bene ts of the draft.

e speed with which people like Penske Corp.’s Bud Denker and other o cials have put together the downtown Grand Prix is impressive and shows what can be done.

Detroit’s on the clock. It’s time to pick up the ball and run.

Michigan has a lot of good adult education providers, but they are being held back by inadequate funding, insufficient outcome measures and minimal support for providers and learners. Our state is missing a talent opportunity by failing to invest in this population the way it has put a priority on higher education.

TalentFirst’s new report, “Restoring the Promise of Adult Education in Michigan,” designed and conducted by Public Policy Associates, has led us to a set of strategic recommendations to reverse these shortcomings.

Funding is part of the problem. State spending, the largest source of adult education funding, fell 68% between 2001 and 2021. An increase in the 2023 budget eased that decline but the total today still is 44% less than in 2001. Even so, the state’s investment in adult foundational education amounts to $0.01 for every $1.00 spent on higher education. The result is a system that can serve only a fraction of the potential learners and that employs mostly parttime and underpaid instructors. Those deemed “too difficult to serve” are getting left behind, and this population is only growing.

But that’s not the only explanation for weaknesses in the state’s strategy. We also found that adult education has been overlooked as the poor relative of education and workforce programming. Adult learners also face a wide range of barriers to accessing and completing programs. State funding is only accessible to a small subset of providers operating within the K-12 sys-

The good news: Michigan can emerge as a leader in preparing all adults to succeed in the knowledge-driven economy. This begins by taking a hard look at practical, actionable and measurable solutions to the problems. Our report proposes three five-year objectives:

 Triple enrollment, which currently only serves 3.6% of the need.

 Double completion rates from 39.9% to 80%.

 Eliminate the gap in outcomes for people of color and English language learners.

The report details 21 research-based strategies to achieve these objectives, including elevating adult education as part of a coordinated talent development system, increasing state funding, and providing more support for providers and students alike.

It’s critical that our state examine reforms to this system. We cannot afford to overlook the adults who require basic education, English language acquisition, remediation, and high school completion or equivalency. Ignoring this need hurts Michigan’s longterm competitiveness, but it also takes a personal toll on families.

Every adult in Michigan also has a right to develop the foundational and occupational skills necessary to access health care, manage their finances, engage in the community, navigate social services, and support their children. What’s more, adult foundational education can open the door to employment, postsecondary education and career advancement.

IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DETROIT TO SHOW OFF THAT’S ALMOST AS BIG AS A SUPER BOWL.

KEVIN STOTTS

Kevin Stotts is president of TalentFirst, an alliance focused on workforce talent issues.

MICHIGAN CAN EMERGE AS A LEADER IN PREPARING ALL ADULTS TO SUCCEED IN THE KNOWLEDGEDRIVEN ECONOMY.

Organizers expect the economic impact of the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit to meet or exceed that of the draft in Nashville in 2019, which saw 600,000 visitors. | EDWARD MAUER

Lear to close 2 Detroit plants in footprint consolidation move

KURT NAGL

South eld-based seating supplier Lear Corp. is moving to permanently close two manufacturing plants in Detroit after expanding its new plant at the former Cadillac Stamping site.

e company will cease operations at its Davison Plant and Nevada Plant by June 30, according to a pair of WARN notices led with the state.

e move will impact 558 employees, but the company has “o ered to transfer and to continue to employ nearly all of the a ected employees” at the new plant, according to the letters. e o er applies to UAW Local

POLITICS & POLICY

Mackinac conference adds Bill Ford as speaker

DAVID EGGERT

When 1,500 business, government and civic leaders gather for the Mackinac Policy Conference, they will hear a lot about the “Power of And” — a solutions-oriented theme that is intended to last long after participants head home.

Matt Elliott, Bank of America’s Michigan president and chair of this year’s annual meeting hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber, said human nature often is to approach things in either-or terms: Black or white, Democrat or Republican, Spartan or Wolverine.

“But in real life, we know that the best solutions and most durable solutions are an and. It’s when you can bring multiple sides to the table after a healthy debate that probably has some construction tension to it, that ultimately leads to decisions that are sustainable and most durable,” he said ursday, as the chamber previewed the event that will be held May 30-June 2 on Mackinac Island. Speaking are:

 Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford Motor Co, who will talk about the transition to electric vehicles, Ford’s Michigan Central project, the “war for talent” and the company’s reorganization into three divisions.

 Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.

 Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America.

 CNN host Fareed Zakaria.

 Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

 Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

 University of Michigan President Santa Ono.

 Camille Lloyd, director of the Gallup Center on Black Voices.

Elliott said another focus will be on the shift to EVs.

“What’s the and between electrication and the internal combustion vehicle? is is something that’s critical to the state of Michigan. We’ve got to get this right to win.”

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

155-represented employees, salaried employees and hourly employees.

“For those employees who decline Lear’s o er or who do not receive an o er, the layo s are expected to be permanent,” said the letters.

Earlier this year, the company signed on to take the full 684,000-square-foot space developed by Riverside, Mo.-based NorthPoint Development LLC on the former Cadillac Stamping site, near the company’s soon-to-be shuttered plants at 6555 E. Davison and 6501 E. Nevada.

e supplier started just-in-time seating operations at the new plant late last year, supplying General Mo-

tors Co. Factory Zero on the Detroit-Hamtramck border.

e new plant was the latest in a series of planned local expansions for Lear, ranking among the world’s largest automotive suppliers with $20.9 billion in revenue in 2022.

In addition, Lear announced last year it plans to open an $80 million plant in Independence Township, where it will make battery disconnect units for all full-size SUVs and trucks built on GM’s Ultium EV platform through 2030.

Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl

Lear Corp. will cease operations at its Davison and Nevada plants by June 30. | LEAR CORP.

‘Power of And’ theme to be explored

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS: TRAVERSE CITY

DIVING IN ON WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Why these startups chose Traverse City for tech growth

 Why these startups chose Traverse City for tech growth.

“A lot has been written about work-life balance. at’s what the Traverse City area offers: Work-life balance.”

BY

at’s what Bruce Patterson said one morning in early April as he began moving into a small o ce in the 20Fathoms business incubator west of downtown. e o ce will serve as the headquarters for now of his startup biotech, HealthBio erapeutics Inc., which will begin testing two generic drugs now approved for other uses for the treatment of long COVID.

HealthBio is in the process of spinning o from IncellDx Inc., a Silicon Valley biotech.

Or, as Je Rynbrandt, the CEO of MediCool Technologies Inc., a biotech spino from research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., now headquartered on Front Street, Traverse City’s main downtown thoroughfare, put it: “Why not just move where you want to vacation? is is a great place from a company perspective.”

“WE HAVE EVERY INTENTION TO GO TO MARKET OURSELVES. WE’RE NOT DOING THIS TO SELL THE COMPANY. THE INTEREST IS TO BUILD IT AND RUN IT.”

THIS PAGE

 Noted Traverse City restaurateur gets into the farming game PAGE 9

 Fast-growing cannabis test lab looks to spread into PFAS testing PAGE 10

 TCNewTech gives northern Michigan entrepreneurs a place to pitch PAGE 10

 Rapid growth of PFAS testing and testing for traces of COVID in wastewater systems to drive SampleServe’s future. ONLINE AT CRAINSDETROIT.COM

—Bruce Patterson, CEO and founder, IncellDx and startup HealthBio Therapeutics Inc.

An aerial view of downtown Traverse City.

 TOM HENDERSON

Bruce Patterson outside the Bayview Professional Centre, where 20Fathoms is a tenant | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Russell Schindler, CEO of SampleServe Inc.

Noted Traverse City restaurateur gets into the farming game

Project to look at ways to grow better grapes, make better wines in northern Michigan

TOM HENDERSON

e owner of Trattoria Stella, widely regarded as one of Traverse City’s nest restaurants with perhaps the best and most expansive wine list in the state, is about to become a farmer, too.

In September 2021, Amanda Danielson bought a 20-acre, long-abandoned farm known as the Cosgrove farm on Old Mission Peninsula, which divides East and West Grand Traverse Bay.

Danielson was one of the rst women sommeliers in Michigan, being mentored by Madeline Tri on, the rst woman sommelier in the United States and the wine master for two of the Detroit area’s most prominent restaurateurs, rst Jimmy Schmidt in the early 1990s and then the late Matt Prentice from 1995 to 2011.

Danielson was awarded master sommelier status in 2007, three years after she opened Stella in a building that once housed men deemed insane and part of what was called the Northern Michigan Asylum when it opened in 1885. It later was rechristened the Traverse City State Hospital, abandoned, and was redeveloped into residential and commercial space in the 2000s.

Stella, which means “star” in Italian, was the rst tenant in the complex as developers brought it back to life. Stella occupies the ground oor, with a series of small rooms set o by beautiful original brick archways.

“I came in and saw the arches and absolutely fell in love with the space,” Danielson said.

Danielson will begin planting wine grapes in a new 2-acre vineyard this month, with up to 5 acres planted eventually.

Unlike other growers in the region, she won’t have a production facility or a tasting room for tourists on their winery tours.

In a partnership with Michigan State University Extension, Danielson and Paolo Sabbatini, a professor of viticulture in the Department of Viticulture at MSU, will be experimenting on ways to grow better grapes and make better wines to add to the growing wine selection in northern Michigan.

Sabbatini and a small team of researchers and students from MSU will graft two grapes — pinot blanc, a white, and pinot meunier, a red — onto ve di erent root stocks.

“ is project began after a few years of discussion. What is the next big leap forward for the Michigan wine industry? How can researchers help move the industry forward?” said Sabbatini.

He said grapes will be assessed for taste, tolerance to disease and other characteristics. “We can measure a lot of very ne details in the fruit, the skin, the pulp, the seeds. We can go very deep into grape quality, into primary and secondary metabolites. What compounds are important for wine quality?”

“We want to grow grapes with the intention of producing world-class wine,” said Danielson. “Wines have steadily improved here, but there’s a lot we can still learn. We have tremendous quality potential here.”

Sabbatini said he expects to grow

some grapes in 2025, with the rst real product in 2026.

Sabbatini said he would like to have two graduate students and two or three undergraduates join his team, depending on what kind of grant funding he can get. He said he is hoping to get more than $300,000 in grants, with funding sources including MSU Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research and Education grant program, the USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative grant program and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Sabbatini said his team will set up a weather station to monitor sun exposure, wind movement across the peninsula and rainfall to better plan growing strategies and will eventually use drones and sensors to monitor carbon production. “We’re going to track every molecule of carbon in the

soil and released into the atmosphere. We going to make this vineyard into a carbon sink.”

He said they will study better ways of composting and planting ground cover and also set up a teaching program to advise local growers and would-be growers on better practices. A major goal is to show other growers and farmers how to limit the use of pesticides and herbicides.

“ e wine industry in northern Michigan is very young,” said Sabbatini. “We really only have 50-some years of experience growing grapes here, and that’s not much when you compare it to other growing regions — thousands of years in Europe and hundreds of years in California.”

Bernie Rink, a legend in state wine making, planted the rst vines in northern Michigan in 1965, for what became Boskydel Vineyards. He died in 2018 at the age of 92.

Danielson has plans for the old farm that go well beyond developing better grapes and tastier wines. She

While there, she says she caught the wine bug. “ at’s where it happened. I found it so fascinating, learning it from scratch,” said. “Wine is one of those things there’s just no end to it.” at is almost true at Stella. Her carefully curated and ever-changing wine list currently has about 300 different wines by the bottle. Generally, about 5-10 percent are Michigan wines, 70-75 percent are Italian wines and the rest come from France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and the U.S. e price range? From several at $40 to a rare burgundy at $3,300.

Danielson moved to northern Michigan in 2000, and after dining at Tapawingo in the late 1990s — considered the rst truly ne-dining restaurant in northern Michigan when Pete Peterson opened it in Ellsworth in 1983 — she was sure she could successfully run a ne-dining restaurant of her own.

Tapawingo closed in 2009, a victim of the Great Recession that hit tourism hard, but not before it had drawn a rave review from the New York Times and had drawn visits from such renowned chefs as Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.

plans to grow food crops and a variety of mushrooms and owers, selling produce to local restaurants, wineries and orists. She will also put in stands of trees on land largely devoid of them.

Nonplantable acreage will be used to build greenhouses and employee housing, in an area where seasonal and restaurant workers have been long priced out of the housing market.

Sabbatini and Danielson have another joint venture. Danielson is the founder of a nonpro t called Intentional Agriculture, which promotes better farming practices.

Last year, she, Sabbatini and the MSU Extension held the rst annual Dirt to Glass program, with a variety of panel discussions and programs over two days aimed at advising wine growers, wine producers and employees from around the Midwest.

e event is open to the public, but preregistration is required and the cost is $150 per day, with participants welcome to go either day or both days.

One of Tapawingo’s signature o erings was a wide range of fresh food grown locally, including meat, seasonings, vegetables and fruit, and local food has been a staple at Stella since it opened.

Stella employs the full-time equivalent of about 50, with the core sta working year round. Danielson pays health care for her employees, many of whom have built up a lot of seniority. For example, Executive Chef Myles Anton, who later became a minority owner, was hired in 2004, as was business manager Sarah Bielman; general manager Abigail Ste ens-Petrova and chef de cuisine Elise Curtis-Dull were hired in 2005, server Craig Clark in 2009 and bartender Emily Mol in 2010.

Stella seats about 150, down from about 180 pre-COVID, in an e ort to give patrons a bit more space. Some entree items on a recent menu included a Carolina rainbow trout for $37, which came pan-seared with golden potatoes with rosemary and white pepper, asparagus, shaved

“THIS PROJECT BEGAN AFTER A FEW YEARS OF DISCUSSION. WHAT IS THE NEXT BIG LEAP FORWARD FOR THE MICHIGAN WINE INDUSTRY? HOW CAN RESEARCHERS HELP MOVE THE INDUSTRY FORWARD?”

—Paolo Sabbatini, professor of viticulture, Michigan State University

For information and a detailed agenda, go tocanr. msu.edu/dirttoglass/index.

A far cry from her restaurant roots

Danielson’s restaurant origins are a far cry literally and guratively from what she has produced at Stella.

A 1996 graduate of Wayne State University with a major in creative writing, she spent parts of 1994 and 1995 in Sao Paolo, Brazil, opening a handful of Elias Brothers Big Boy restaurants for her family. Danielson was related to the chain’s founders, Fred, John and Louis Elias.

artichoke bottoms, caperberries, lemon and fried garlic; an angus beef hanger steak for $44, char-grilled with a creamy golden beet and parsnip torta, roasted red peppers in Calabrian chile vinaigrette and mustard greens in green onion vinaigrette; with various pastas ranging from $26 to $33.

Appetizers and side dishes included pizza, mussels, calamari, veal sweetbreads, octopus, beef bone marrow and charcuterie, ranging from $12 to $25.

Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

Amanda Danielson in front of Trattoria Stella’s signature arches | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

MSU agricultural professor Paolo Sabbatini | MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

TCNewTech gives northern Michigan entrepreneurs a place to pitch

TOM HENDERSON

TCNewTech represents Traverse City’s image of itself as more than a place to do wine tours and hit the beaches and golf links in the summer and the ski slopes in the winter.

Russell Schindler, the CEO of Traverse City-based SampleServe Inc., which makes apps that help companies that test soil and water for contamination monitor and track their samples, founded TCNewTech in 2015 as a support and networking system for the area’s growing tech community. (See the pro le of Schindler and SampleServe online at crainsdetroit.com.)

Fast-growing cannabis test lab looks to spread into PFAS testing

TOM HENDERSON

Cambium Analytica LLC, a Traverse City-based company that has rapidly built up a large cannabis-testing business, is diversifying into testing for PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that have become a growing environmental threat in recent years.

e company is building out a new 2,500-square-foot lab just west of the Munson Hospital campus and awaiting delivery of a mass spectrometer to test for PFAS and what are termed CECs, contaminants of emerging concern, chemicals and toxics that have been found in bodies of water that may cause ecological or human health impacts and are not currently regulated.

e lab is expected to be completed and open for business in July. at and other expansion e orts, including the buildout of a new cannabis testing facility in Massachusetts, are being funded in part by a funding round of $7.5 million that closed in January.

CEO Alex Adams says the company has done testing for 367 di erent processors and growers in Michigan since January 2022.

In March, Cambium hired Chuck Meek to be the manager of the PFAS testing division. From 2015-2020 he had been an adviser with Chicago-based Hacha Products Corp., which provided mobile on-site water-treatment systems for large industrial companies and utilities, and in 2019 was hired as a vice president at Chicago-based SolvePFAS.com, which did sample collection and testing on ground, surface and wastewater.

PFAS is the acronym for per uoroalkyl and poly uoroalkyl substances, a large and complex group of synthetic chemicals that have been widely used in consumer products around the world since about the 1950s. ey are used to keep food from sticking to packaging or cookware, make clothes and carpets resistant to stains and create re ghting foam that is more e ective.

ey are used in the aerospace, automotive, construction and electronics industries. PFAS molecules have chains of linked carbon and uorine atoms. Because the carbon- uorine bond is one of the strongest, these chemicals don’t degrade easily, and over time, they leak into the soil, water, and air.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, side e ects in humans include increased cholesterol levels, decreased vaccine response in children, changes in liver enzymes, increased risk of high blood pressure, decreases in infant birth rates and increased kidney and testicular cancer.

“It’s an existential problem,” said Meek, who said his team will test for PFAS in water samples and map PFAS in the environment, with a goal of creating mitigation and environmental solutions.

Adams and company President George Powell formally launched Cambium in 2018, “cambium” being the term for a layer of undi erentiated stem cells in plant tissue, the layer that promotes new growth. Michigan mandates marijuana growers and processors of oils and consumables test samples for heavy metals, pesticides, other foreign matter, molds and potency.

After a capital raise of $1.8 million from friends and family in 2019, Cambium opened for business in March 2020, just as COVID was hitting and about three months after recreational cannabis sales started in Michigan. After a slow COVIDcaused start, the business has thrived.

Cambium currently has 96 employees and Adams says the company has done testing for 367 di erent processors and growers in Michigan since January 2022.

It expects to add 10-20 to its cannabis testing business in Traverse City this year, will add ve employees

for the PFAS lab when it opens and expects to have 10 there by the end of the year. Currently, construction is under way at a cannabis facility in Massachusetts, and Adams expects 20-30 to be working there by the end of the year.

Cambium has cannabis clients statewide, including the Upper Peninsula, and has technicians based in Detroit, Bay City, Lansing and Grand Rapids to collect samples for delivery to the Traverse City lab. Other customers deliver samples themselves.

State regulations prohibit the Traverse City lab from testing cannabis products from other states, but Cambium has begun diversifying to testing other products, including food, botanicals and nutraceuticals and claims clients in eight states, with a range from Florida to California. Adams said company revenue is now about 85 percent derived from cannabis testing. “A year from now,

Now based out of the 20Fathoms business incubator just west of downtown, TCNewTech’s marquee event is a monthly pitch contest held at the City Opera House on Front Street in downtown Traverse City. About 200 attend the meetings, which are free and open to the public, and an additional 100-200 livestream the event, according to Christopher Nesbit, the organization’s event director.

Presenters from four or ve early-stage tech companies from around the state get ve minutes to make their pitches and ve minutes of question-and-answer. ose in attendance or watching remotely then vote on the winner, who gets a check for $500.

e audience also gets updates on tech-related news in the area and details on upcoming events, and business owners or leaders announce job openings and how to apply.

Attendees include investors from Northern Michigan Angels scouting out companies to do due diligence on, service providers and a tech-savvy audience happy to do a little networking.

Early-stage companies can contact Nesbit directly at chris@tcnewtech. org or apply on the organization’s website, tcnewtech.org.

Chuck Meek, NewTech’s president, is director of a laboratory being built west of downtown to test for and do research on PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that have become a growing environmental threat.

His lab is a new unit and diversication project being built for Cambium Analytica LLC, a Traverse City company that tests cannabis for po-

tency and purity for growers and retailers around the state. (See related story, this page.)

Meek said TCNewTech decided when it began doing pitch nights to open them to companies around the state. Having visited the area to make a pitch and meet the local tech community, some companies might decide to make the area home. e companies might also o er job or contracting opportunities for local techies and investment opportunities for local investors, Northern Michigan Angels.

In fact, the winners of the pitch nights in March and April were both from Marquette. Particularly interesting from Meek’s point of view, the March winner, MycoNaut LLC, says it is developing a technology that will use mushrooms to help break down PFAS. e April winner was Peninsula Produce, which wants to build out and operate a large facility for hydroponic farming.

Generally, the pitch events are held the rst Tuesday of the month. Two exceptions are this month and July, when they will be held on the second Tuesday.

e July pitch night is being held in conjunction with the Cherry Festival, which brings throngs to the area. e competition on May 9 is being held in conjunction with the second annual Northern Michigan Startup Week, billed as a celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship whose theme this year is water innovation.

ere are a variety of events at venues around the city from May 5-11. All are open to the public. Some are free; some have a fee. ey include workshops, panel discussions, pitch competitions and networking opportunities highlighting the growing startup ecosystem in northern Michigan. For information, go to nmsw.co.

Sponsors include TCNewTech; Spartan Innovations, Michigan State University’s research foundation; Michigan Technological University; Northwestern Michigan College; the Northern Michigan Angels; Traverse Connect, the local chamber of commerce; and 20Fathoms.

Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

we’ll be at 35 percent from cannabis, and that’s not because of a reduction in cannabis testing,” he said.

Tim Schuler is president and COO of Novi-based D&K Ventures LLC, which under the brand names of Cannalicious Labs and Detroit Edibles processes marijuana from growers, with the active ingredient THC it extracts going into such consumables as gummies, chocolate and honey that it then it sells to retailers.

Schuler said his company sells to about 400 of the 500 marijuana retailers in the state, with 32 of his 47 employees working at the 15,000-square-foot production facility in Pinconning.

Schuler has used Cambium’s Traverse City labs for the last three years.

Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

Cambium Analytica CEO Alex Adams (left), Chuck Meek, manager of the PFAS testing division, and President George Powell in the cannabis testing lab. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

TCNewTech’s April pitch night at the Opera House in downtown Traverse City. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“A YEAR FROM NOW, WE’LL BE AT 35 PERCENT FROM CANNABIS, AND THAT’S NOT BECAUSE OF A REDUCTION IN CANNABIS TESTING.”

— Alex Adams, CEO, Cambium Analytica LLC

From Page 8

Or Jim Millar, the CEO of Atterx Biotherapeutics Inc., a transplanted company from Madison, Wis., who on another day in early April was awaiting delivery of a stand-up desk for his new headquarters in 20Fathoms.

For years, his family spent summers at their home on Crystal Lake while he stayed in Atlanta and helped run a private equity rm. In the COVID summer of 2020, Millar stayed in northern Michigan with his family. “I was keeping an eye on the entrepreneurial ecosystem that was thriving here. It was a strong ecosystem. I was fascinated by what was happening here.”

After he joined Atterx, a spino from the University of Wisconsin, in January 2022, he decided he would o cially move Atterx, an early-stage biotech that has licensed two compounds to ght antibiotic-resistant infections, focusing on urinary-tract infections in patients on catheters in hospitals, to Traverse City.

“COVID taught us we don’t have to be within four feet of each other to work together. I was drawn to what Casey has built here,” said Patterson, a native of Chicago who grew up spending his summers on Crystal Lake, near Frankfort. “I spent the last 20 years thinking, ‘How can I make what I do work in Traverse City?’ We’re starting to build a critical mass here. It’s not hard to get people to move to Traverse City.”

“Casey” refers to Casey Cowell, who in 2018, along with member of the Traverse City-based Northern Michigan Angels, raised $500,000 to launch 20Fathoms, named for the clarity of the water in Traverse City’s east and west bays, a fathom being equal to 6 feet.

As a kid growing up in Detroit, Cowell played hockey with Gordie Howe’s kids, Mark and Marty, and was the goalie on teams that won four youth national championships. While the Howes turned professional, he went to the University of Chicago, got an economics degree and founded U.S. Robotics in 1976 when he was 23.

It went on to become the dominant maker of computer modems in the world, created the Palm Pilot, went public in 1991 and was sold to 3Com Corp. in 1997 for $6.6 billion.

In 1996, Crain’s Chicago Business named Cowell as its executive of the year, and Business Week magazine named him one of the top 25 company managers in the world.

In 1991, Cowell and his wife bought a summer home in northern Michigan and eventually retired there. In 2016 Cowell founded Boomerang Catapult LLC to invest in area startups, helping diversify an economy that had been based on wine tours, beaches and golf in the summer and skiing and snowmobiling in the winter.

“It’s interesting. Ten years ago, most of the venture investment in the state was in Southeast Michigan. It was rare to see any investment go to northern Michigan,” said Frank Urban, a senior venture associate with both Red Cedar Ventures and Michigan Rise, two in-

vestment entities a liated with Michigan State University.

“Companies are locating based on lifestyles, especially after COVID. People got used to working remotely and now they want to work in places like Traverse City,” he said.

Michigan Rise joined the funding round that brought Atterx to Traverse City. “Atterx has taken a really novel approach to solving a pervasive issue: catheter-associated infections in hospitals,” said Michigan Rise’s Matt Okoneski. another senior venture associate with both Red Cedar Ventures and Michigan Rise.

Okoneski said MediCool soon may become another of their portfolio companies.

Previously, the East Lansing-based funds invested in two other area companies — Promethient Inc. of Traverse City and FirstIgnite Ltd. of Elk Rapids.

Promethient was launched in 2017 after getting a seed investment from Boomerang Catapult. Promethient uses graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, to make energy e cient solid-state heating and cooling materials.

In 2018, the company got what it described as a large though undisclosed equity investment from Faurecia Ventures, the investment arm of Nanterre, France-based auto supplier Faurecia, which now operates as Forvia in the U.S.

FirstIgnite uses arti cial intelligence to help university researchers nd corporations with problems their technologies can help solve. It has a database of more than 5 million academics and connects tech transfer o ces at universities with corporate relationship o ces.

“Bruce Patterson, Jim Millar and Je Rynbrandt recently arriving in Traverse City cements a health sciences cluster,” said Cowell. “Getting IncellDx and Atterx here and pushing to further launch MediCool greatly expands and empowers this economic community.”

Here’s a bit more on the three companies he mentioned:

HealthBio Therapeutics

Patterson is a 1985 graduate of the University of Michigan with a bachelor of science in molecular biology and microbiology; got his M.D. in virology from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern Medicine and was chief resident of pathology at North-

western Memorial Hospital; was an associate professor and director of diagnostic virology at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California from 2003-2011; and from 2009 has been the CEO of IncellDx Inc., a small research and treatment company using something called single-cell diagnostics to treat cancer, immuno-oncology, and infectious diseases such as long-COVID.

In early April, he was in the process of spinning HealthBio out from IncellDx, had moved full-time to Frankfort west of Traverse City and had been meeting with potential investors, including Boomerang Catapult and the Northern Michigan Angels. Boomerang participated in a $3 million convertible note Patterson is raising to help fund the company while it meets with potential equity investors.

In addition to his undergraduate work at UM, Patterson has long had professional ties to the Ann Arbor community. At Incell, he both bought diagnostic equipment from and sold reagent chemicals to HandyLab Inc., a 2000 startup funded by future Michigan governor Rick Snyder.

And he also bought equipment from and sold reagents to Accuri Cytometers Inc., a maker o ow cytometers for cell analysis by biotech researchers.

Patterson said IncellDx began developing biomarkers in January 2020 for COVID after a visitor to China returned to California with the disease. “We were the rst to discover that longCOVID has chemical signatures that are di erent from COVID,” he said. e plan is to combine two current generic drugs, maraviroc and atorvastatin, into a single compound to treat long-COVID.

IncellDx currently has three patents issued and ve pending that cover using the generic drugs that would be assigned to HealthBio.

IncellDx has 24 employees. Patterson said it is unsure, yet, how many will become HealthBio employees. He said he expects HealthBio to have about 24 employees in a year, some from new hires.

He said the plan is to sell IncellDx in the next few months. “ ere’s a lot of interest in buying Incell,” he said.

Patterson said he hopes to begin trials before the end of the year. He said he hopes to nd a Michigan company to manufacture HealthBio’s drug compound. “We have every intention to go to market ourselves. We’re not doing this to sell the company. e interest is to build it and run it.”

MediCool Technologies Inc.

MediCool, a spino from the Mayo

Clinic in 2015, makes a small de brillator that cools heart tissue to help end episodes of atrial brillation (A- b).

Rynbrandt joined the company as president and CEO in 2019 after 14 years in a variety of leadership positions at Guidant LLC, a business unit of Boston Scienti c Corp. A 1993 graduate of West Point, after serving six years as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army, he got an MBA from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.

MediCool was awarded a Phase I small-business innovation research grant of $250,000 in 2017 from the National Science Foundation and a Phase II grant of $750,000 in 2018.

e company also raised a funding round of $750,000 from friends and family in 2020, negotiated a convertible note of $1 million in 2021 and began raising a $2 million round last year. Rynbrandt said the company has raised more than half of it, with Mayo Ventures, the investment arm of the Mayo Clinic, the largest shareholder. e NSF grants were to show that cooling works to stop A- b in animals.

Rynbrandt said the company hopes to submit plans for human trials to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year. e plan is to use its devices to stop A- b on patients during open heart surgery and to treat patients outside the hospital setting who are prone to A- b by attaching an external lead that cools an implanted debrillator.

MediCool is currently conducting patient trials in Argentina.

Now, the standard treatment for A- b is to administer a shock. “ e advantage of cold versus shock is, anyone who has been shocked for A- b, it’s super painful. When I was at Guidant, we had a de brillator that used shocks, but it was too painful and we had to abandon it.”

MediCool, which has received two U.S. patents and has four more in process, has four full-time employees and two part-time employees. Ethan Cox, an engineer, is also in Traverse City. Rynbrandt is hiring another engineer who will be based in Traverse City, too.

e company’s chief technology ofcer is Dr. Paul Friedman, the head of cardiology at the Mayo Clinic. e chief medical o cer is Dr. Sam Asirvatham, a cardiac electrophysiologist at Mayo.

ey are the company’s two co-founders and will remain at Mayo.

Rynbrandt was working remotely for MediCool out of his home in Maryland when COVID hit. He’d previously bought some property and a cabin in Kalkaska, a northern Michigan county east of Traverse City, and his four kids

loved visiting it. So they moved. He worked out of his house in Traverse City when he rst arrived, then through the help of Cowell found an o ce in downtown Traverse City. Rynbrandt said feasibility trials for the FDA will take two years, with premarket approval trials to take three more, with nal approval to go to market if things go well in 2028.

He said that during the premarket approval process, the company will likely be a target for acquisition and the plan is to sell it.

Atterx Biotherapeutics Inc.

Millar, Atterx’s CEO, grew up in Virginia, then went to graduate school at the University of Chicago to get his MBA. “I planned to spend two years in Chicago, then go back east and do investment banking.”

His girlfriend, Laura, now his wife, told him about her family’s summer home on Crystal Lake in northern Michigan. “All I’d seen of the Midwest was the south side of Chicago and Gary, Ind., he said. One Memorial Day, they drove north. “I couldn’t believe the beauty,” he said.

Millar has been a principal in the Vine Group, a private equity rm, since 1998, and a principal in CVG Advisors, helping clients sell their businesses, since 2017.

In January 2020, Millar became interim executive o cer at Roswell, Ga.based CorMatrix Cardiovascular Inc., whose technology targets cardiac-tissue regeneration. After CorMatrix recruited a permanent CEO, he joined Atterx, whose name comes from the Latin word attero, meaning to destroy, weaken or impair.

Atterx has licensed two drugs to help ght antibiotic-resistant infections, primarily urinary tract infections during catheter use in hospitals. e World Health Organization has named antibiotic-resistant bacteria as the No. 1 health issue in the world.

One drug is licensed from the Baylor College of Medicine, the other from the University of Wisconsin. Atterx has three U.S. patents of its own and 14 international patents, in Europe, Canada, Japan, China and Australia.

Millar said the company hopes to begin combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 U.S. Food and Drug Administration trials in the fourth quarter this year. He said he closed on a funding round in January of $2.2 million and hopes to nish raising another $1.3 million by the end of June.

Atterx has three full-time sta .

Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

MediCool Technology’s CEO Je Rynbrandt outside his o ce on Front Street in downtown Traverse City. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Jim Millar, CEO Atterx Biotherapeutics, at his new o ce in the 20Fathoms tech incubator. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“I WAS KEEPING AN EYE ON THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM THAT WAS THRIVING HERE. IT WAS A STRONG ECOSYSTEM. I WAS FASCINATED BY WHAT WAS HAPPENING HERE.”

—Jim Millar, CEO, Atterx Biotherapeutics Inc.

SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN PUBLICLY HELD COMPANIES CRAIN'S LIST |

Ranked by 2022 revenue

ally.com

11 ROCKET COMPANIES INC. (12/31/2022) 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit48226 313-373-7990; rocketcompanies.com

12 AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING HOLDINGS INC. (12/31/2022) One Dauch Drive, Detroit48211-1198 313-758-2000; aam.com

13 KELLY

21 UWM HOLDINGS CORP. (12/31/2022) 585 South Blvd. East, Pontiac48341 800-981-8898; uwm.com

22 UNIVERSAL LOGISTICS HOLDINGS INC. (12/ 31/2022)

12755 East Nine Mile Road, Warren48089 586-920-0100; universallogistics.com

23 SUPERIOR INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL INC. (12/31/2022)

Telegraph Road, Suite 400, South eld48033

25 GENTHERMINC. (12/31/2022) 21680 Haggerty Road, Northville48167 248-504-0500; gentherm.com

CEO & director

SOURCES:S&PGlobalMarketIntelligence,(Marketintelligence.spglobal.com)andSEC lings

NA = not available.

Want the full Excel version of this list — and every list? Become a Data Member: CrainsDetroit.com/data

and consumer technology brands

company consisting of personal

|ThislistofpubliclyheldcompaniesisacompilationofthelargestcompaniesinWayne,Oakland,Macomb,Washtenawand Livingstoncountiesthathavestocktradedonapublicexchange.Forcompaniesnotonacalendar scalyear,revenueandnetincome guresareforthemostrecentlycompleted scalyear.52-weekhighsandlowsareforperiodendingMay3,2023.

GREATER MICHIGAN PUBLICLY HELD COMPANIES CRAIN'S LIST |

Ranked by 2022 revenue

1 DOW INC. (12/31/2022) 2211 H.H. Dow Way,Midland48674 989-636-1000;dow.com

2 WHIRLPOOL CORP. (12/31/2022) 2000 North M-63,Benton Harbor49022-2692 269-923-5000;whirlpoolcorp.com

3 STRYKER CORP. (12/31/2022) 2825 Airview Blvd.,Kalamazoo49002 269-385-2600;stryker.com

4 KELLOGGCO. (1/1/2023) One Kellogg Square,Battle Creek49016-3599 269-961-2000;kelloggcompany.com

5 JACKSON FINANCIALINC. (12/31/2022) 1 Corporate Way,Lansing48951 517-381-5500;jackson.com

6 SPARTANNASH CO. (1/1/2023) 850 76th St., S.W.,Grand Rapids49518-8700 616-878-2000;spartannash.com

7 UFP INDUSTRIES INC. (12/31/2022) 2801 East Beltline, N.E.,Grand Rapids49525 616-364-6161;ufpi.com

9 PERRIGO CO. PLC (12/31/2023) 515 Eastern Ave.,Allegan49010 269-673-8451;perrigo.com

10 MILLERKNOLL INC. (FORMERLY HERMAN MILLER INC.) (5/2022) 855 E. Main Ave., PO Box 302,Zeeland49464 616-654-3000;millerknoll.com

11 STEELCASE INC. (2/2023) 901 44th St. SE,Grand Rapids49508 616-247-2710;steelcase.com

12 WOLVERINE WORLD WIDE INC. (1/1/2022) 9341 Courtland Drive N.E.,Rockford49351 616-866-5500;wolverineworldwide.com

13 LA-Z-BOYINC. (4/2022) One La-Z-Boy Drive,Monroe48162 734-242-1444;la-z-boy.com

14 GENTEX CORP. (12/31/2022) 600 North Centennial St.,Zeeland49464 616-772-1800;gentex.com

15 HAGERTY INC. (12/31/2022) 121 Drivers Edge,Traverse City49684-4203 800-922-4050;hagerty.com

24

FENTURA FINANCIAL INC. (12/31/2022) 175 North Leroy St.,Fenton48430 810-629-2263;fentura.com

KEWEENAW FINANCIAL CORP. (SUPERIOR NATIONAL BANK) (12/31/ 2022) 235 Quincy St.,Hancock49930 906-482-0404;snb-t.com

25 CNB COMMUNITY BANCORPINC. (12/31/2022) 1 S. Howell St.,Hillsdale49242 517-437-3371;cnbb.bank

SOURCES:S&PGlobalMarketIntelligence,(Marketintelligence.spglobal.com)andSEC lings |ThislistofpubliclyheldcompaniesisanapproximatecompilationofthelargestcompaniesheadquarteredinMichiganoutsideof Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties that have stock traded on a public exchange. 52-week highs and lows are for period ending May 3,

NA = not available. Want the full Excel version of this list — and every list? Become a Data Member: CrainsDetroit.com/data

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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

ARCHITECTURE / ENGINEERING

Albert Kahn Associates

Kimberly Nelson Montague, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, NCARB, is Albert Kahn Associates’ new President. Kimberly is the 12th President and 1st woman to lead the 128-year-old A/E rm. She is the recipient of the 2022 Gold Medal from AIA Detroit, and Healthcare Design Magazine previously recognized her as one of the Top 25 Most In uential People in healthcare design. She is a Trustee for the Michigan Architectural Foundation and current President and founding member of Women in Healthcare Michigan.

NONPROFITS

Catholic Foundation of Michigan

REAL ESTATE

Boji Group

ENGINEERING / DESIGN

OHM Advisors

Award-winning community advancement rm

OHM Advisors elected Rajesh Kathari to its Board of Directors. The architecture, engineering and planning rm tapped Kathari for his 30+ years of actively helping companies, shareholders and Boards realize the full value of their endeavors. Kothari has dedicated his career to building and realizing value in companies through acquiring businesses to accelerate growth, realizing a business’ value through a sale, and investing in privately held businesses.

The Catholic Foundation of Michigan has named Chris Allen as new Board Chair. The announcement was made by President/CEO Angela Moloney. Allen has served on the executive committee since 2019 focused on governance/ nomination, and grant/impact. He replaces Pat Fehring. Allen has also served as: Chair, Bon Secours Mercy Health System Board of Trustees and Finance Committee/Catholic Medical Mission Board; President/CEO, Authority Health; and Executive Vice-President/COO, Hutzel Hospital. The Catholic Foundation serves as the center of Catholic philanthropy, building stronger communities and supporting Catholic ministries. CatholicFoundationMichigan.org

Boji Group is pleased to announce that Ron Boji, CEO of Boji Group, was named the 2023 Businessperson of the Year by the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce. This high honor was awarded to Ron for his extraordinary business accomplishments and unwavering commitment to his community. Congratulations, Ron!

Oakland Hills Country Club taps architect, builder

for $80M clubhouse rebuild

BY KURT NAGL

Oakland Hills Country Club has hired a local construction company and architect as well as two more design rms for the $80 million rebuild of a historic clubhouse consumed by ames more than a year ago.

REAL ESTATE

Skilken Gold

LAW

Honigman LLP

Danielle Bass rejoined Honigman LLP’s Detroit of ce as a partner in the Corporate Department. She focuses her practice on transactional matters involving IP, technology, and data, as well as media and entertainment. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Michigan. Bass also teaches a class on technology transactions at the University of Michigan and University of Chicago Law School. Bass serves as a board member and VP for Detroit’s chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.

Skilken Gold, a national commercial real estate development rm, is pleased to announce Michael Timlin as its new Director of Real Estate, Michigan. In this role, Michael will play a role in Skilken Gold’s activity in Michigan, with a primary focus on the rm’s partnership with Sheetz Convenience Stores as the upscale convenience store expands in Michigan. Prior to Skilken Gold, Michael served as the Director of Real Estate for KA Support Services.

SOFTWARE / SERVICES

BeneSys, Inc.

BeneSys, Inc. is pleased to announce Ed Young has joined us as Chief Financial Of cer in our Troy, MI headquarters. Ed brings 35 years of experience in nance, digital transformation, operational excellence and strategic planning and execution to the position along with over 20 years in senior leadership roles. Ed is a CPA, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and has an MBA from Loyola University Chicago.

Lansing-based Clark Construction Co. and South eld-based Neumann/ Smith Architecture have been brought on to head up the project, while Atlanta-based Harris Interiors and Malvern, Pa.-based Hanse Golf Course Design will attend to the ner details in the landscaping and interior, according to a memo sent to members of the club and obtained by Crain’s.

Leadership of the exclusive club in Bloom eld Township submitted an application for site plan approval last month and a hearing with the township board is scheduled for mid-May, the memo said.

“Every phase of the project tells a story, whether it is a re ection on the past, reasoning for the present, or a hope for the future,” it said. “We are fortunate to be working with such talented teams of professionals, who have stepped up and delivered terrific work in a short time frame to keep us on schedule.”

e club declined an interview request.

e plan to replace the iconic 110,000-square-foot clubhouse was put into motion shortly after it was destroyed by a re that appeared to have been started accidentally by construction workers. In December,

the club voted overwhelmingly in favor of the rebuild plan, which will cost each member more than $42,000 in newly assessed dues spread over a period of 20-25 years.

e replica clubhouse is expected to be complete by summer 2025. Oakland Hills, which recently completed a $12 million renovation of its famed South Course, was selected to host the U.S. Open Championship, one of the most prestigious events in professional golf, in 2034 and 2051.

Gil Hanse, who was hired to oversee the South Course overhaul, will handle the landscaping surrounding the clubhouse, practice range and South Course, the memo said. Harris Interiors will look after the interior nish and xtures.

Clark Construction has 75 years of experience in commercial construction from manufacturing and o ce to resorts and casinos. Its project list includes Bay Harbor Yacht Club in Petoskey and Firekeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, according to its website.

Founded in 1968, Neumann/ Smith’s recent projects include Huntington Tower and the Monroe Blocks in Detroit, its website said.

Clark Construction and Neumann/Smith will vet individual contractors and manufacturers on the project, the memo said.

“While we have made great progress, there is still much more to do…,” it said.

Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl

Fire ghters battle a re at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloom eld Hills in February 2022. NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The famed South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club underwent a nearly two-year, $12.1 million restoration. | OAKLAND HILLS

e CRA investigations have revealed a troubling pattern of untested illicit product entering legal dispensaries. For example, the CRA suspended the medical and adultuse licenses of Lansing-based processor TAS Asset Holdings LLC for sourcing illicit market product, packaging it and selling to dispensaries.

e investigation ended with 23 formal complaints against TAS, and hearings are scheduled to determine whether the company will permanently lose its licenses.

Currently, the CRA has to outsource marijuana testing during an investigation, a costly and lengthy process, said Hanna. An investigation costs between $2,700 and $27,000 and can take up to four months, he said.

“We appreciate the cooperation from the industry, but investigations cost them money,” Hanna said. “Prociency testing at our lab, they will incur costs but the tests will be cheaper because we’re not interrupting a private lab.”

Backstopping private labs

e audit lab, in theory, will also help the CRA monitor the accuracy of private labs.

In 2021, the CRA alleged that tests on 64,000 pounds of marijuana product vetted by Bay City-based Viridis North — the state’s largest testing lab rm — contained “inaccurate and/or unreliable results” after spot checking the product at a di erent lab. e value of the recalled product at the time was roughly $229 million. A judge later ordered the CRA to release much of the product back into the market.

MANUFACTURING

But the recall sent the industry into a brief spiral as more than 400 retailers across the state had the product in question on their shelves. Viridis alleged the recall covered upwards of 70% of marijuana product on store shelves for recreational use.

e company sued the CRA, and the two have been wrapped in litigation ever since. e CRA also accuses Viridis of in ating the THC content of products it was testing. High THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is believed to be a driver in sales. Marijuana consumers see potency as the top indicator of quality and value, according to an article by MJBizDaily.

Viridis, which continues to defend itself in legal action against CRA ocials, claims the state is harassing the rm and that its tests are accurate.

Creating standardization

Benjamin Sobczak, partner at Detroit law rm Dickinson Wright and former chief legal o cer for vertically integrated marijuana company Pleasantrees, said the lack of standardization among testing methodologies is creating a headache for the industry and regulators.

“Right now, you’ve got private businesses and competitors who are used to checks and balances in this

Adient’s second quarter revenue grows, but headwinds hurt company’s pro ts

Adient plc’s revenue grew in the second quarter thanks to a modestly improved business environment, but labor and steel costs and softening demand in China hurt pro ts, which fell short of Wall Street projections.

e automotive seating supplier, domiciled in Dublin with a base in Plymouth, saw revenue rise 11% year over year to $3.9 billion, though it nished the quarter $15 million in the red.

Even so, adjusted EBITDA increased 35% to $215 million for the quarter, which was in line with internal expectations, CEO Doug Del Grosso said Tuesday during a call with investment analysts.

“Adient’s operational execution, positive commercial momentum and an extreme focus on containing costs continue to drive the business forward,” Del Grosso said. “Adient’s second quarter results, which provide very positive proof points of these actions, can be characterized as very solid.”

While the automotive industry appears to be emerging from the worst

of the supply chain woes unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, suppliers continue to struggle with in ation and production volatility.

In Adient’s case, second quarter sales improvements were driven by better volumes and mix, improved business conditions, lower freight costs and successful commercial recoveries from customers, according to executives.

However, those bene ts were o set by a $29 million headwind on overhead, primarily in ated wages and utility costs. Elevated steel costs in North America and depressed demand in China are also expected to continue impacting the business.

Adjusted pro ts for Adient (NYSE: ADNT) were 32 cents per share, 9

cents below investor expectations. Its earnings loss was partially the result of restructuring and impairment costs, according to the company.

Adient’s free cash ow improved to $70 million in the quarter from a $28 million de cit a year ago. Its improved cash position was driven by improved earnings and by lowering its debt level and reducing interest payments, which have become burdensome for many companies.

Despite missing investor targets, the company said it is maintaining its previous outlook of $15 billion in revenue for the full scal year.

Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl

space,” Sobczak said. “It’s not about assigning a nefarious intent on these labs (who are producing di erent test results), but understanding that science is hard. It’s a brand new space, and with an absence of neutrality in this process there is always going to be an issue.”

at issue could be cleared up with the CRA implementing standard processes, Hanna said. e lab will work to create methodologies that can serve as a benchmark to clear up discrepancies between labs in the state and, hopefully, serve as a nationwide standard, Hanna said.

“We plan to assist in industry standardization and optimize testing

methods, not just for us, but for CANNRA (Cannabis Regulators Association) and, potentially, the federal government as well,” Hanna said. Regulators in Colorado and most recently California operate reference labs.

e reality is without a standard process, the entire industry is likely to end up in a consistent stream of lawsuits, Sobczak said.

In October last year, a class-action lawsuit was led in California on behalf of customers against DreamFields, a multi-state operator with locations in California, Arizona and Michigan, alleging the makers of Jeeter-branded products were inating THC potency.

In the lawsuit, the defendants allege DreamFields was overstating THC content by more than 70%.

Sobczak said if the courts nd that Viridis did, in fact, in ate THC content in its results, Michigan will see similar suits.

“If the outcome of the cases says Viridis’ processes are invalid, then all the stores that were selling these products where the higher THC content wasn’t truth, they will be sued,” Sobczak said. “ e stores will be forced to pass that liability to the labs with the intent of nding out if they knew. ere will be no trust in the system.”

Hanna said the new lab — which is budgeted for $2.8 million for the build-out and equipment with another $1.6 million to pay sta ers — would inevitably eliminate the volatility in the market by restoring faith in the system.

“Using investigations to create that desired end state is what we need,” Hanna said. “Adding this capability will build trust.”

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

CRA investigations have revealed a pattern of untested illicit product entering legal dispensaries. NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Adient’s North American headquarters is in Plymouth. | ADIENT

Del Grosso

MANSION

From Page 1

e challenge and opportunity with the listing involves marketing the historic property to a shallow buyer pool who might also be looking at more modern homes in a uent Oakland County suburbs like Birmingham and Bloom eld Hills.

“If you look at this house in competition with a new construction home, the bottom line is that this house will have every mechanical advantage to it, if compared to a brand new house,” Hatcher said.

“What this house will have that one of the other houses won’t have will be the construction aspect of it.

is is here for hundreds of years. No new house is going to have wood brought in from the Black Forest everywhere. No new house is going to have tracery ceilings everywhere and ... the amount of natural replaces.

ere’s things about this house that you couldn’t re-create.”

A cost for the work being done at the property was not disclosed.

Built by the Fisher brothers for Bishop Michael Gallagher — who headed the Catholic diocese in Detroit from 1918 until his death in 1937 — the 68-room Tudor Revival mansion was designed by the Boston architectural rm of McGinnis and Walsh, according to the o cial history of the home. e rm has a history of designing churches and the home is laid out in a “symmetrical” manner with multiple wings, noted Uhlianuk, a Realtor with ReMax Complete in Pleasant Ridge.

e seller of the home — a Fresno, Calif.-area businessperson and philanthropist who Uhlianuk and Hatcher declined to identify by name — has undertaken extensive renovations on the home, and aims to leave much of the nishes to a new owner.

Renovations include new windows, new tile roof and copper gutters, all new electrical, plumbing and gas underground services prepped to be brought into the home. Exterior work has been done to the brick and stone, according to the listing.

New landscaping and a pool are expected to be complete this spring.

Considerable interior aesthetic work remains to be done and will likely fall to a new owner, Uhlianuk and Hatcher said. e pair have completed a high-end full upstairs apartment in the adjacent carriage house as a means of showcasing some of the design elements available to a new buyer.

All told, the house could have a total of 11 bedrooms and nine full baths with another ve half-baths.

Beyond the updated mechanical features, the Bishop Mansion features a chapel that past owners have used as a theater, as well as multiple original replaces, Pewabic tile and a

HYDROGEN

From Page 1

after Whitmer met with Nel executives during a trade mission to Norway and Switzerland. She said she was “thrilled” to land the plant over other states, boosting e orts to grow Michigan’s car, microchip and clean energy industries.

“As a major player in all three of these sectors, Michigan is serious about leading hydrogen development and winning today’s investment proves that the best manufac-

master suite of about 2,000 square feet.

While built for Detroit’s Catholic leaders — Cardinals Edward Mooney and John Francis Dearden also lived there — the mansion has had a multitude of owners over the years. at includes Salley, a former member of the Pistons “Bad Boys” who lived there in the 1980s and 1990s.

Salley in 1995 sold the house to Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries International, the president and founder of African American Christian television network the Impact Network, according to a 2017 report in the Detroit Free Press.

e current owners purchased the property, which totals 2 acres, in 2017, and renovation work has been ongoing since shortly thereafter.

While the housing market overall the last year has cooled, the luxury home market has had a particularly rough go of it in recent months.

“Sales of luxury U.S. homes declined a record 44.6% year over year to the second lowest level on record during the three months ending Jan. 31, 2023,” according to a recent report by real estate brokerage Red n. “ at outpaced the record 37.5% drop in sales of non-luxury homes.” Red n’s records date back to 2012.

To be sure, a 100-year old mansion totaling more than 30,000 square feet does not make for your typical home, and the market for such an asset is largely unknown.

Uhlianuk said the asking price was generated using “a general price per square foot average in which we felt this home should be priced at,” looking at sales such as the nearby Fisher mansion and some other historic properties in neighborhoods like Brush Park.

Ultimately, restoring a historic home with modern features will bring about the right buyer, the listing agent said.

“Obviously, with this home, it’s been extremely critical that we are

updating all of the underground,” Uhlianuk said, referring to the unseen infrastructure such as electrical, plumbing and modern heating and cooling systems.

“So we’re not putting good on top of bad. So that’s why this has taken such a long time. It’s such an engineering feat just to even gure out how to heat and cool this thing. If we’re selling this to a market who is used to really high-end luxury homes in Birmingham, you’re going to expect certain amenities.”

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

turing in the world happens right here in Michigan,” Whitmer said in a statement.

No information was released about the incentives package, when the factory will open and whether it will be newly built or located in an existing facility. e company had considered sites in Sterling Heights and Romulus, according to a person familiar with the matter, but it was not known whether those two communities are still in the running.

e plant will grow in steps to match supply with demand, according to the Michigan Economic Devel-

opment Corp., which said there will be a “critical need” for U.S.-manufactured electrolyzers.

Nel specializes in electrolyzer technology. Electrolysis, the process of using electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen with an electrolyzer device, is a promising option for carbon-free hydrogen production from renewable and nuclear resources, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

In November, Nel and GM announced an agreement to help accelerate the industrialization of Nel’s proton exchange membrane electro-

lyzer platform. e companies are looking to enable more cost-competitive sources of renewable hydrogen.

Michigan last month committed its support for two clean-hydrogen hub projects that are vying for a share of $7 billion in federal funding. e funds, which are part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will help to establish six to 10 regional “H2Hubs” to speed the use of hydrogen to deliver or store large amounts of energy.

“We are grateful for the ongoing legislative support of economic development programs that supported

this opportunity,” MEDC CEO Quentin Messer Jr. said.

While o cials did not indicate which locations Nel is evaluating, Detroit Regional Partnership President and CEO Maureen Donohue Krauss attended the news conference and said attracting a “global innovator” in hydrogen technology “speaks volumes about the talent and advanced manufacturing in our region.”

— Crain’s senior reporter Kirk Pinho contributed to this report.

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

Renderings of the kitchen, bathroom and primary bedroom for the remodeled Bishop Mansion in Detroit’s Palmer Woods neighborhood. Middle left: The chapel of the mansion, built for Catholic Church leadership. | IDEOLOGY AND NICK MANES/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“IT’S SUCH AN ENGINEERING FEAT JUST TO EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO HEAT AND COOL THIS THING.”

— Amanda Uhlianuk, Realtor, ReMax Complete

e e ciency is designed to reduce labor costs and, thus, boost margins.

“We have a very technologically advanced process, built around auto principles,” DeNardo said while sitting in a conference room in the Vassar facility recently. “ is has been three years in development. To operate at scale, to be compliant, you get away with that by having less people touch the plants. We’ve got a labor structure that makes us very competitive.”

Canapa is representative of an industry maturing, as more and more companies seek to root out ineciency and lessen input costs in an attempt to outrun low prices.

Michigan’s marijuana industry is under stress as a price collapse is claiming victims. Adult-use marijuana prices plummeted to $80 per ounce of ower in January this year from more than $512.05 per ounce in January 2020, according to CRA data. Prices have since climbed to $86.87 per ounce last month.

In March, nearly 101,000 pounds of marijuana ower and shake were sold to consumers across the state to the tune of $135.2 million.

At least six companies in the state are under a court-ordered receiver, including the massive Lansing-based Skymint.

DeNardo, whose family owns Detroit recycling company Fort Iron & Metal and Canapa, think its operations set it apart and insolvency is o the table, even as it hits the market at a low point.

Reefer robotics

Canapa has been operational for months — it is currently buying external product to create extracts under its 989 Extracts brand and under the Exotic Genetics licensed brand — but is early in its growing of marijuana plants. About 3,800 plants are currently being reared in Canapa’s approximately 60,000 square feet of grow space. It’s licensed to grow more than 10,000 plants. e company expects to have its rst marijuana ower harvest in mid-August and immediately grab 1% of the state industry wholesale market share, DeNardo said, generating approximately $5 million in sales per month at the start.

DeNardo said this will be achieved by having fewer laborers than most grow operations, approximately 10 times fewer workers by his calculation: Canapa anticipates only 40 workers will run the Vassar grow operation.

“Labor reduction makes us cost effective,” DeNardo said. “ e more you employ, the more your company is at risk.”

More employees means more people touching the plants, which raises the risk of plant contamination that jeopardizes output due to increased mold, disease and other issues.

Canapa’s executives believe it can accomplish maximum output with fewer workers through automation. e company invested heavily in machinery from the Netherlands, which specializes in vertical farming and has become a major food exporter using minimal space while maximizing output and reducing inputs like water and waste.

e Dutch machine sends plastic pots down an assembly line, lling them with coco coir, bers from the outer husk of coconuts, and places them on specialized grow tables. e

tables move down the line to where workers plant the immature marijuana and send them down to various grow rooms. All of this is done via a pneumatic line that traverses the plant room corridors of the building.

e plant line sends the tables one by one into each of the nine 5,000-square-foot grow rooms, where sensors will then control the plants’ exposure to light, water and

Each room holds 72 tables with 27 plants per table for a grand total of 1,944 plants per owering room.

e plants are monitored from sensors outside the rooms. Once the plants enter, the room is e ectively sealed until they are ready to harvest several weeks later, Chris Stevens, COO of Canapa and a real estate broker, said on a tour of the facility.

An independent testing lab, run by Atomic Labs, will also operate on the Canapa property. Having the lab next door opposed to using one downstate will also help the company retain quality with speed to market, according to DeNardo.

“Technology is our great di erentiator,” DeNardo said. “We’ve created a model everyone will eventually go to. We can do it cheaper and do it under glass without a bunch of people touching the product.”

Pot in process

Roughly 150 miles southwest of Vassar, in Marshall, Common Citizen, arguably the state’s largest marijuana grow operation, is embracing kaizen but in a much di erent approach than Canapa Valley.

“Technology for technology’s sake puts productivity at risk,” Mike Elias, Common Citizen’s co-founder and CEO, told Crain’s. “We’re putting all of our processes to test under the lean mindset and are really learning from our mistakes.”

employee and laminated instructions hang from hooks.

“We’ve decreased our plant- and headcount with lean manufacturing,” Elias said. “Running through processes and looking for simple solutions has saved us so much money and time.”

Using kaizen events, brainstorming and testing meetings to improve existing processes, has led to a major decrease in waste as well, Elias said. rough testing the process, Common Citizen discovered they were losing 30,000 wet grams per day in marijuana to the oor. After running through testing, they discovered the water content played a signi cant factor in whether a nugget — a single piece of cannabis ower — would fall o a stem when transferring dried plants. So the company changed the plant drying time, thus altering the water content in the plant, and has reduced the ower lost to the oor to just 10,000 wet grams per week.

“We were making so many mistakes,” said Elias, who previously served as the chief transformation o cer specializing in the Six Sigma lean process for North York General Hospital in Toronto. “It takes years to work through these improvements. Everything we’ve done, we’ve done with intention to improve margins because we always knew prices would collapse.”

By evaluating every process and standardizing every process in the growing of marijuana, the company has improved the operation’s yield. Each 14,000-square-foot grow room produced 500 pounds to 650 pounds of marijuana in March 2022. Just a year later, that’s improved to an average of 1,150 pounds per room, said John Salgado, director of cultivation for Common Citizen, who previously ran grow operations in Oregon and Arizona.

“I’ve learned so much through this lean process,” Salgado said. “I know how to grow plants, but I have never been taught about these simple eciencies. We beat these processes into our heads and are constantly making improvements.”

Common Citizen’s headcount has shrunk as a result of the process. In the de-stemming room, where workers remove the nugs or buds from harvested plants, improvements in process have led to as few as seven people doing the same amount of work it took 60 workers a year ago.

In the end, removing input costs and improving operations is the surest way toward expansion, which both Common Citizen and Canapa plan to do.

Common Citizen already has the

fertilizer intake and air ow. e grow rooms resemble a traditional greenhouse with natural light pouring in through the translucent ceilings. But if the plants are getting too much light, sensors inform the room to shut blackout blinds above. Too much light makes the plants take in too much water at night and increases the potential for mold or scorched plants.

While its grow rooms, fertilization and other aspects are automated, Common Citizen’s 200,000-squarefoot operation in Marshall is crawling with workers — the company employs 200 at the facility. Groups of workers huddled recently all over the facility to discuss the day’s tasks and any problems in the process.

Floors are taped with labels, each mop bucket and pressure washer and any other equipment has a home inside those lines. Whiteboards line the halls outside the grow rooms, marked up with work ow for each

structure in place to double its grow operations — it’s approved to expand operations to 1.2 million square feet eventually. Canapa also plans to double its operations, eventually, with two plots on its 90-acre property ready to build.

Both companies plan to gobble up market share as the industry continues to squeeze out players.

“Many companies are operating a model that can’t compete,” DeNardo said. “We know a big fallout is coming, and we’ve got a recipe for success. So we’re poised and ready.”

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

Workers at Common Citizen in Marshall meet every two hours to dicuss any potential problems and their solutions as part of the Kaizen model. PHOTOS BY DUSTIN WALSH/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINES

Mike Elias, president and CEO of Common Citizen.

The planned addition to Common Citizen’s grow operation in Marshall.

“WE HAVE A VERY TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED PROCESS, BUILT AROUND AUTO PRINCIPLES.”

—Frank DeNardo Jr., co-owner, Canapa

State’s travel bureau chief pushes for a more hospitable Michigan

Dave Lorenz’s “weird and eclectic background” means he’s seen life from a lot of di erent perspectives. He’s leaning into that skill to lead the state’s travel bureau through its most inclusion-focused Pure Michigan campaign yet.

Lorenz is vice president of Travel Michigan, the state’s o cial tourism promotion department within the Michigan Economic Development Corp. He’s worked there since 2002 after a previous career in marketing at Meijer Inc. and a 15-year stint as an announcer, reporter, news director and general manager at WGHN in Grand Haven. The native of Cloverville in Fruitport Township still lives on the state’s west side in Norton Shores, ve miles south of Muskegon. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

 How did you end up working in the tourism industry?

I went to Fruitport High School, where I always like to share that I was unked in speech by a teacher who became my most important nonfamily mentor and is still today. I learned a lot through that whole process, that it’s so important to be able to share your beliefs, your story, your ideas, and that everybody has worth, and it’s something that everybody should learn, but it’s not easy for everyone. That led me to Western Michigan University, where I studied communications. I left college early to take a job because (of) literally not being able to a ord to eat. So I took a job in radio in West Michigan … and all during that time, because I’m proud of my community, my wife used to always call me “the tour guide,” because I always was selling my town. It’s because of this really weird and eclectic background that I ... better understand how important it is to consider that we all are di erent, in one way or the other, and we need to always remember that as we try to encourage people to travel. I ended up leaving radio … and I went into the marketing eld as a media buyer originally and then evolved into a collaborative marketer on behalf of Meijer at the corporate o ce. Nine years later, I met a guy by the name of George Zimmerman who was the state travel director. I worked for George for I think 11 years, when he retired, and shortly thereafter, I became the travel director.

 How have you seen Michigan’s approach to travel marketing change in your 20-plus years in this job?

I’m really glad I was there before Pure Michigan, because I think George Zimmerman was a genius. I think I

RUMBLINGS

would describe our o ce, when he rst came there, as doing what a lot of tourism organizations tend to do. They market only the things you can see, almost like a grocery list. It’s not a way to emotionally connect with the traveler. We’ve really evolved our approach from that simple, ‘OK, this is what you can see and do, go out there, nd it,’ to developing a brand that had a personal connection and a point of pride for Michigan residents and for travelers from all over the world.

 What’s happening right now in the Pure Michigan messaging that you’re excited about?

This year, more than ever, we’re trying to demonstrate the value of understanding di erent places and people. This year’s campaign is about

taking a fresh look, a fresh step forward, a fresh perspective on all things.

We’re trying to show a more diverse experience and more diverse people in our ads to try to showcase that we are many people that make up the Pure Michigan story. We’re people of two peninsulas, but we’re one Pure Michigan.

 How would you describe the state of Michigan’s travel industry in 2023?

We still don’t have enough workers coming back to work in the travel industry, nor in any industry. It’s required private industry to make adjustments in the way they’re operating. In some ways, that’s a good thing. The travel industry is paying more for their employees to work, is

BY | RACHEL WATSON

going out of their way to show more respect or appreciation for their workers and they’re adjusting in a variety of ways. But it’s also required them to look at more automated ways to get things done. But frankly, we still don’t have enough people going back to work, so we’re hoping that people who might have retired early, maybe they’re looking for some part-time work, because we have that for them. And we’re also trying to encourage the travelers to do all they can to show more respect and appreciation.

 What was a highlight of the Pure Michigan Governor’s Conference on tourism in April?

We deliberately challenged our industry to think what it’s like to be in other people’s shoes and to think about ways we can be even more hospitable to the disabled traveler, the Black traveler, the LGBTQ+ traveler. We gave them solid suggestions on what might be done to treat everybody with dignity and respect. For instance, I’m now in my 60s, and I can tell you, a lot of my friends now consider themselves disabled travelers, because we nd it more di cult to see, to hear, to walk. And so we’re looking for the travel industry to accommodate our needs. If you see a couple of the same sex that are holding hands, that’s not something that we should be staring at — it is as simple as that. As a society we’re still there, unfortunately. As we strive toward that perfect hospitality experience, we have to accept the fact that we’re not going to be perfect, and we need that expectation from the traveler as well. Every day, we have a chance to make somebody’s life a little bit better. And that’s something that should be recognized as a precious opportunity.

Crash test pioneer Robert Denton and wife die in plane crash

Robert “Bob” and Sandra Denton met and died doing what they loved. e couple’s story began more than 50 years ago at a Wayne State University aviation club meeting. It tragically ended in a plane crash in Georgia on April 26.

Bob, 76, and Sandra, 75, will be remembered most prominently for Humanetics Innovations Solutions Inc., which was founded by Bob Denton and developed into an automotive crash test dummy juggernaut.

In addition to Bob’s business savvy and Sandra’s knack for molding young minds as a Detroit Public Schools teacher, the pair will be cherished for their commitment to their kids and community, their son Jonathan said.

“One of the few bright spots in all this is I keep getting calls from people

crainsdetroit.com

President and CEO KC Crain

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

Publisher Lisa Rudy, (313) 446-6032 or lrudy@crain.com

Executive Editor Mickey Ciokajlo, (313) 446-0319 or mickey.ciokajlo@crain.com

Managing Editor Michael Lee, (313) 446-1630 or malee@crain.com

Director of Audience and Engagement Elizabeth Couch (313) 446-0419 or elizabeth.couch@crain.com

Audience Engagement Editor Matthew Pollock, matthew.pollock@crain.com

Creative Director Thomas J. Linden, tlinden@crain.com

Digital Portfolio Manager Tim Simpson, (313) 446-6788 or tsimpson@crain.com

Assistant Managing Editor Beth Reeber Valone, (313) 446-5875 or bvalone@crain.com

Assistant Managing Editor Lauren Abdel-Razzaq, (313) 446-5800 or lauren.razzaq@crain.com

Assistant Managing Editor-Special Projects Leslie Green, lgreen@crain.com

Projects Editor Stacy Sominski, stacy sominski@ crain.com

Associate Creative Director Karen Freese Zane, kfreese@crain.com

Art Director Kayla Byler, kayla.byler@crain.com

Design and Copy Editor Beth Jachman, (313) 446-0356 or bjachman@crain.com

Research and Data Editor Sonya Hill, (313) 446-0402 or shill@crain.com

Newsroom (313) 446-0329

REPORTERS

Jay Davis, restaurants, retail and small businesses. (313) 446-1612 or jason.davis@crain.com

David Eggert senior reporter, politics, policy and energy. (313) 446-1654 or david.eggert@crain.com

Arielle Kass, city of Detroit. (313) 446-6774 or arielle.kass@crain.com

Nick Manes residential real estate and mortgage industry. (313) 446-1626 or nmanes@crain.com

Kurt Nagl manufacturing, law and courts. (313) 446-0337 or knagl@crain.com

Kirk Pinho, senior reporter, real estate. (313) 446-0412 or kpinho@crain.com

Dustin Walsh, senior reporter, health care and cannabis. (313) 446-6042 or dwalsh@crain.com

Rachel Watson, West Michigan residential real estate, tourism, insurance. (989) 533-9685 or rachel.watson@crain.com

Sherri Welch, senior reporter nonpro ts, philanthropy and higher education. (313) 446-1694 or swelch@crain.com

MEMBERSHIPS

CLASSIC $169/yr.

ALL ACCESS + DATA $499/yr.

Visit www.crainsdetroit.com/membership or call (877) 824-9374

Group and Corporate Membership Sales

Deb Harper, (313) 446-1623 or dharper@crain.com

ADVERTISING/MARKETING

Sales Inquiries (313) 446-6032; FAX (313) 393-0997

Senior Vice President of Sales Susan Jacobs, (312) 649-5492 susan.jacobs@crain.com

Director of Custom Content Kristin Bull, (313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com

Content Studio Manager Clare Pfei er (313) 446-0423 or clare.pfei er@crain.com

Events Director Samantha Flowers

Senior Account Executives Maria Marcantonio, Sharon Mulroy

Advertising Sales Ainsley Burgess

Content Marketing Specialist Allie Jacobs

People on the Move Manager Debora Stein, (917) 226-5470, dstein@crain.com

Media Services Manager Nicole Spell (212) 210-0230 or nspell@crain.com

Classi ed Sales Suzanne Janik, sjanik@crain.com

Sales Assistant RachelSmith

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Single copy purchases, publication information, or membership inquiries: (877) 824-9374 or customerservice@crainsdetroit.com

where mom and dad had a signicant positive impact,” he said. “Hearing those people share their re ections on their lives in their own words is really tremendous. It’s just an incredible legacy that they have crafted.”

e couple, both licensed pilots, split their time between homes in Williamsburg and Clare in Michigan and e Villages, Fla., where they lived in the winter. e crash occurred as they were making their way back to Michigan.

A celebration of life and visitation is scheduled for 2-6 p.m. on May 8 at the Community House in Birmingham, 380 S. Bates St. A funeral service will take place in Traverse City at Christ the King Catholic Church later in May, with details still to be conrmed.

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

Crain’s Detroit Business is published by

Crain Communications Inc.

Chairman, Editor Emeritus Keith E. Crain

Vice Chairman Mary Kay Crain

President and CEO KC Crain

Senior Executive Vice President Chris Crain

Chief Financial O cer Robert Recchia

G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973)

Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996)

David Lorenz is vice president of Travel Michigan.