Crain's Detroit Business, May 9, 2022, issue by Crain's Detroit Business

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS: JACKSON

THE CONVERSATION: Justin Turk on why Detroit is the place to build software firm PAGE 18

Former race car driver’s company keeps NASCAR moving. PAGE 8

CRAINSDETROIT.COM I MAY 9, 2022

Employers weigh impact of an abortion ban Companies examine policies after court leak BY DUSTIN WALSH

Oakland Mall’s new owner, Mario Kiezi, has amassed a growing portfolio of retail space. | NIC ANTAYA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

TIKTOK BOOM

Large employers across Michigan are scrambling to understand what effect the high court overturning Roe v. Wade might have on their workforces and benefits. Employers are watching as companies like Amazon, Apple, Citi, Levi Strauss and others take the lead in expanding benefits policies that cover out-of-state health care to allow employees to travel for an abortion if they live in states where it is banned. If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the landmark 49-year-old case, Michigan would likely revert to a 1931 state law that’s a total ban on abortion, making performing or receiving one a felony. Adapting to allow out-of-state coverage could be seen by employers as a chance to retain and attract talent, said James Reid, president of the Michigan Council of the Society for Human Resource Management and partner at a local law firm specializing in employment law. “I am receiving calls locally, yes (to alter employment policies to allow for out-of-state abortion care),” Reid told Crain’s. “In order to compete for talent at a high level, these companies are going to have to offer these services.” See ABORTION on Page 16

Oakland Mall’s new owner bets on shopping and social media BY KIRK PINHO

Mario Kiezi is elbowing his way into metro Detroit mall ownership in a way not typically seen. The 31-year-old second-generation son of Iraqi immigrants walks Oakland Mall in Troy, his new trophy asset. He greets patrons, says hello to a security guard and says, “19 days,” referring to how long she has worked there. One young man, perhaps in his late teens or early 20s, approaches Kiezi, asking him for

advice on “content,” his phone out. That’s likely because Kiezi may in fact be the first social media star of Detroit area commercial real estate — let’s be honest, for as much as someone in Detroit commercial real estate can be a social media star — accumulating more than 40,000 TikTok followers as he posts sometimes multiple times a day on the short-form video site popular with Gen Z and Millennials. See KIEZI on Page 17

“HE WANTS TO BRING LOCAL PEOPLE IN, THE BEST OF THE BEST FOR FOOD, ENTERTAINMENT CONCEPTS THAT HAVEN’T BEEN DONE IN THIS MARKET.” — Cindy Ciura, a retail expert who is principal of Bloomfield Township-based CC Consulting

Abortion rights demonstrators during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 3. | AL DRAGO/BLOOMBERG

NEWSPAPER

REAL ESTATE: How a million-pound floor plate was lifted — all at once. PAGE 3

NEED TO KNOW

SIGNING OFF

THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT  FARMER JACK CEO PAUL BORMAN DIES AT 89 THE NEWS: Paul Borman, the longtime CEO of the now-defunct Farmer Jack supermarket chain, died Tuesday at 89. Borman became president of his family’s nameBorman sake company, Borman Foods Inc., in 1962. The Detroit-based company’s grocery stores over time converted to Farmer Jack branding and Borman eventually grew the company to more than 100 stores, 7,500 employees and more than $1 billion in revenue by the early 1980s.

online academy featuring virtual workshops for women at various stages of business ownership. The Redford Township-based organization is also transforming its website into a one-stop shop where visitors have access to various resources and information related to areas such as funding a business venture, founder Tonya McNeal-Weary said.

 RIHANNA LINGERIE BRAND COMING TO DETROIT THE NEWS: Singer and business mogul Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty is opening a store in downtown Detroit. Savage X Fenty has been praised for its designs’ inclusiveness of all body types.

WHY IT MATTERS: The organization has served more than 2,500 women since it was founded in 2003, and directly aided in 1,500 women establishing businesses. Having an online component for training and events will help it reach more women.

WHY IT MATTERS: Born online, there really aren’t many brick-and-mortar Savage X Fenty stores out there. Detroit is among six cities getting retail stores, in addition to those that already exist in Culver City, Calif., Arlington, Va., Las Vegas, Houston and King of Prussia, Pa.

 PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE ACQUIRES NEW DEALERSHIP

 FOUNDATION DONATES $3M TO THE HENRY FORD

 WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURS GROUP EXPANDING TRAINING

THE NEWS: Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Automotive Group Inc. has acquired a Hyundai-Genesis dealership in Noblesville, Ind. Financial terms of the deal, which closed Monday, were not disclosed. The dealership, which was built in 2015 and houses a Hyundai showroom on one side and a Genesis showroom on the other, had been called Terry Lee Hyundai-Genesis of Noblesville.

THE NEWS: The Henry Ford has received a $3 million gift from the foundation of the late Mort Harris, a decorated World War II pilot and one of the founders of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. Harris, who died last year at the age of 101, donated tens of millions of dollars to countless nonprofits in Southeast Michigan.

THE NEWS: The Michigan Association for Female Entrepreneurs — a nonprofit that provides access to education, resources and potential opportunities — is preparing to launch an

WHY IT MATTERS: Expansion. It’s the first of those brands in that region for Penske, which expects the dealership to generate annualized revenue of $80 million.

WHY IT MATTERS: During his life, Borman was a dedicated philanthropist. He was a founding member of New Detroit in 1968, and the Michigan Thanksgiving Parade Foundation in 1982 in addition to the Jewish studies program at Michigan State University, among other efforts.

Ochre Bakery, Astro Coffee to close on May 15  An award-winning Detroit bakery and popular coffee shop plans to close. Ochre Bakery and Astro Coffee, at 4884 Grand River Ave. in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood, announced its impending May 15 closure in an Instagram post. Husband and wife Dai Hughes and Jessica Hicks opened Astro Coffee in 2011 in Corktown and in November 2020 moved to operate out of its roastery in Core City, with Ochre Bakery next door. Ochre Bakery opened in 2019 and that year was named a top 10 best new restaurant in America by Bon Appetit. “We have come to the end of this journey,” the post reads. “It’s hard to really know what to say in these moments, but we are forever grateful for all of the love and support we have been shown over the last 11 years of having a business in this city. For the customers, growers, partners and employees past and present, we could not have been blessed with a better community to be a part of.” Ochre Bakery and Astro Coffee will close May 15, according to a May 4 Instagram post. | OCHRE BAKERY VIA INSTRAGRAM

WHY IT MATTERS: The new gift, which was made through the Mort & Brigitte Harris Foundation, will create the Mort Harris Health and Wellness Center in Dearborn and comes at a time of revenue and staffing challenges for the organization.

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REAL ESTATE

TOWERING TECHNOLOGY Greektown building going up — from the top floor down BY KIRK PINHO

A new technology has successfully hoisted some 1 million pounds of steel, concrete and other building materials to the top of an under-construction residential high-rise in Detroit’s Greektown neighborhood. Both the first lift and development of the LiftBuild LLC technology were long in the making. In what construction experts at Southfield-based Barton Malow Co. — the parent company of LiftBuild —

describe as a “proof of concept,” it took some 10 hours to raise the roughly 500-ton roof of The Exchange building earlier this month, rising at a rate of about 20 feet per hour. As the floors are installed from the top down — literally, as Barton Malow says in one video, turning the construction process upside down — each successive lift will take less time. Barton Malow first began purchasing patents and other resources that served as the early foundation for the current technology, which involves

assembling entire floors at grade level and then raising them to their appropriate position, in 2017. Joseph Benvenuto, vice president of LiftBuild, said during a tour of The Exchange site in April, that this technology, however, is also vastly different than what was in the patents. “We spent three years and a very large investment focused on engineering and developing this into something that will do what we needed to do,” he said. In the big picture, that means re-

ducing construction times by increasing worker efficiency, therefore decreasing construction costs and hopefully easing some of the pressure on the skilled trades, a near constant source of strain in the construction labor market the last several years. But at the ground level, it works like this: First, the building’s “spines” — the building’s primary backbone — are constructed.

The roof of The Exchange residential high-rise in Greektown was raised, a “proof of concept” of the new LiftBuild LLC technology. | LIFTBUILD LLC

“WE SPENT THREE YEARS AND A VERY LARGE INVESTMENT FOCUSED ON ENGINEERING AND DEVELOPING THIS INTO SOMETHING THAT WILL DO WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO.” — Joseph Benvenuto, vice president of LiftBuild

See TOWER on Page 15

REDEVELOPMENT

MANUFACTURING

‘Game changer’

Inflation, supply chain kinks keep pressure on automotive suppliers

Buick City project would create up to 4,000 jobs, cost $300M

BY KURT NAGL

A massive development in the works for the former Buick City site in Flint would cost $300 million and create thousands of jobs — a “game changer” for the city, officials said. The construction plans for New York City-based real estate developer Ashley Capital, which has the sprawling site under contract, hinges on financing further environmental remediation at the site, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley told Crain’s. The funding gap is $15 million to $20 million to get the deal over the finish line, which is “highly likely,” he said. The city is working with the state and Genesee County to come up with funding to bridge the gap. The Michigan Economic Development Corp., which offers incentives to get such projects off the ground, did not return requests for comment. MEDC CEO Quentin Messer previous-

The former Buick City site in Flint is among the largest brownfield sites in Michigan. | RACER TRUST

ly told Crain’s that padding the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve or SOAR fund, authorized by state legislators late last year, would help the Neeley state court site selection consultants. Neeley said the deal to revitalize one of the largest brownfield sites in the state would be a “game

changer” for Flint. “This particular project will be equivalent to the biggest business deal that this community has seen in the last five decades,” the mayor said. Susan Harvey, senior vice president for Ashley Capital’s Midwest region, recently told Crain’s that if the deal is finalized, construction could start next year and include 3.5 million square feet of light industrial space. She said no tenants have been decided for the site. See BUICK CITY on Page 15

Inflation and production volatility are squeezing the revenue, income and margins of major automotive suppliers that had been hoping for some relief by now from the financial headwinds of the past two years. Quarterly earnings reports from many of those companies out last week show that those pressures have continued — and in some cases worsened. For example, Southfield-based Lear Corp. said it has cut global headcount by 7,700 in the past year and is looking to restructure its footprint as its first-quarter adjusted net income was sliced in half from last year. Plymouth-based Adient plc took an $81 million loss, Auburn Hills-based BorgWarner Inc.’s adjusted operating income dropped 16 percent and Southfield-based Superior Industries Inc. saw net income slip by 23 percent. All of them pointed to the same challenges.

“I’ve been in the industry 20 years now, and it’s worse than I’ve seen and it is sustaining,” Nik Endrud, executive vice president for Forvia North America, told Crain’s in an Endrud interview. “There’s lot of downstream impacts to the stopand-go concept on everybody, on automakers, too. ... Certainly, we see their profit margins. We know how they’re running their business and we see supplier profit margins.” Endrud’s point being that automakers have been able to tune their mix around availability of microchips, focus on selling higher-end vehicles, increase sticker prices and turn healthy profits as highlighted in their earnings reports. Suppliers do not have that strategy available. See SUPPLIERS on Page 16 MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3

REAL ESTATE INSIDER

Demolition has begun at the former Eastland Center shopping mall in Harper Woods.| KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Demolitions now starting, clearing way for big suburban projects

GRIT: STORIES OF GREATNESS FROM THE STREETS TO THE SUITES SPECIAL GUEST

Get to know Detroit’s movers and shakers — tune into the latest episode of Delta Dental’s Grit podcast starting May 16 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Amal Qayed, Lead Student Supports Coordinator for Communities in Schools

HOST

Margaret Trimer, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Delta Dental

Out with the old, in with the new. That’s the theme behind a few demolition projects now underway in the suburbs to make way for more Kirk than $300 million PINHO in new development across two very different sectors. In Birmingham, a handful of single-story buildings at the corner of Brown Street and Old Woodward Avenue have been razed, and in Harper Woods, demolition on the now-closed Eastland Center shopping mall has begun. At the former General Motors Co. Warren Transmission Plant, demolition started in January. Demolition of the buildings that once housed Lutz Financial Services, Roche Bobois and Frank’s Shoe Service in the swank downtown are now gone from the 1 acre-plus site, said Victor Saroki, president of Birmingham-based Saroki Architecture, which is working on the project to bring the RH — formerly Restoration Hardware — flagship store to town. The new building, slated to be more than 50,000 square feet and four stories, is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter next year, Saroki said. “They were just simple single-story buildings and they are taking the footings out today,” Saroki told me last week. Site excavation should begin this week. Rochester Hills-based Adams Group is the demolition contractor, while Detroit-based Sachse Construction is the construction manager on the development. Tim Conder, vice president for Riverside, Mo.-based developer NorthPoint Development LLC, said the Eastland Center site, which is expected to be turned into more than 1 million square feet of warehouse and industrial space in a $94 million project, is slated to be at grade level in the next seven or eight months. Because much of the building is concrete, brick and stone, it is being pulverized and turned into subgrade material for the new buildings, he said. Detroit-based Adamo Group is the

Several one-story buildings have been leveled to clear the way for the new RH — formerly Restoration Hardware — flagship store in downtown Birmingham. | BETH VALONE/ CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

At the former Warren Transmission Plant, the 123-acre site is slated to become 1.4 million square feet of new light industrial and warehouse space. | ANTHONY LANZILOTE/BLOOMBERG

demolition contractor. At the former Warren Transmission Plant, much of the property is steel, which can be scrapped and sold, Conder said. The 123-acre site on Mound Road is slated to become 1.4 million square feet of new light industrial and warehouse space, a big chunk of the more than 7 million square feet that NorthPoint has in the development hopper around town. The project is expected to cost $180 million. Indianapolis-based Renascent Inc. is the demo contractor. Among the other demolitions we are tracking but which haven’t yet started: The Packard Plant in Detroit, the owner of which is in the middle of a court fight with the city. A judge ordered Fernando Palazuelo’s Arte Express Detroit LLC, which owns the 3 million-squarefoot-plus plant, to tear it down at its own expense, although he blew through a deadline last month to apply

for demolition permits. Pending city approvals, NorthPoint expects to begin demolition on the former American Motors Corp. headquarters on Plymouth Road in August, Conder said. A new 728,000-squarefoot building is expected to take the place of the blighted property. Another is the expected razing of the Main Art Theatre in downtown Royal Oak, the site of which would be turned into a new mixed-use building with office and residential space above commercial space by an affiliate of Bloomfield Township-based developer A.F. Jonna Development LLC. And of course, there are the bevy of blighted Detroit buildings Mayor Mike Duggan has targeted for demolition, as my former colleague Annalise Frank and I reported in March. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

REAL ESTATE

Star Southfield multiplex to be converted into a church Triumph Church plans children’s and students areas as well as community spaces BY KIRK PINHO

The once-popular but now shuttered Star Southfield movie theater is expected to be turned into a new campus for Triumph Church. The expansion of the six-location church’s base is driven by need in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr., who has been at Triumph Church since 1998. “We saw the need,” he said. “We wanted to not just have a place where we could continue to worship. The plan is to turn it not just into a worship center but to use most of the space for a children’s area, student area and also community space where communities can come in and utilize the space, and also get services like assistance with transportation, medical assistance, financial assistance, rental assistance, employment skills training, a pregnancy center, counseling center.” Converting contemporary movie theaters into other uses can be a difficult needle to thread because of their sloped floors and layout, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2020. But Stan Robertson, president of Lubbock, Texas-based Halo Architects Inc., which is working on the Star Southfield project, said the theater fits the church’s needs well. “Shockingly on that project, there is way less demo of walls than what somebody might think,” Robertson

The former Star Southfield movie theater is slated to be turned into a new campus for Triumph Church. | Halo Architects Inc.

said, noting that current plans call for a 1,600-seat worship center, a 350-seat chapel and a fellowship hall in the sweeping main lobby that could fit another 200 or so people. Some of the individual theaters would be combined to create larger spaces, while others would have new walls installed to create smaller ones. He also said that the large amount of parking as well as access points are beneficial for the church’s needs. Bloomberg noted in 2020 that

some reuses of theaters included turning one in Arizona into medical offices, while another in Flagstaff was converted “into perhaps the country’s most creative department of motor vehicles.” Locally, there had been plans to turn the Goodrich Quality 16 in Scio Township near Ann Arbor into self-storage, but that effort fizzled in February, MLive.com reported. Although movie theaters may be tricky to reuse, a whole host of other properties can become churches,

said Robertson, whose firm focuses on church design. “We have converted super Kmarts, Walmarts, bowling alleys and skating rinks into churches,” he said. The Southfield Planning Commission is expected to consider site plan approval for the former 20-screen theater at 25333 W. 12 Mile Road at its meeting later this month after postponing a decision on the matter last week, staff in the city’s Planning Department said. The church would purchase the

property as part of a deal with its current owner, Kansas City, Mo.-based EPR Properties. The rehabilitation budget has not yet been determined, Kinloch said. He said construction would begin in about a year and take 18-24 months to complete. The contractor is Detroit-based The Means Group, he said. The theater, which opened in 1997, was most recently known as the AMC Star Southfield 20. The building, which sits on 22 acres, is about 184,500 square feet with more than 6,000 seats. AMC shut down all of its theaters March 17, 2020, due to the pandemic, but would not reopen the Southfield theater because of a lease that expired, the Detroit Free Press reported in April 2020. When it was developed for an estimated $40 million 25 years ago, it was “the first and largest theater complex in the nation to feature THX-certified sound in all its auditoriums,” according to a Detroit News report. Triumph Church has locations at 15801 Joy Road and 2760 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit; 19801 Vernier in Harper Woods; 1657 Broadway Blvd. in Flint; 15600 J.L. Hudson Drive in Southfield, a location that’s expected to remain open; and 16115 Beck Road in Northville Township. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

REAL ESTATE

Fairlane Town Center gets new owner with plans for additional uses Centennial Real Estate plans could include apartments, senior or student housing BY KIRK PINHO

A Dallas-based real estate company reportedly in the middle of a $1 billion shopping mall buying and redevelopment binge purchased the financially distressed Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn last week plus another mall with plans to turn it into a mixed-use development. Centennial Real Estate, specializing in mall and open-air shopping center ownership and redevelopment, also acquired The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, as part of the deal, which also included partners New York City-based Waterfall Asset Management LLC and fellow Dallas-based real estate company Cawley Partners. Centennial Chief Investment Officer Carl Tash said plans are still being made, but that the shopping mall has a lot of parking space. That space could be redeveloped into multifamily, such as traditional apartments, senior housing or student housing. The company has not yet formulated how many units a redevelopment might include. Other features could include green space or other amenities, Tash said. Tash said the company hopes to have a proposal in front of the city by the end of the year, and would begin meeting with city officials soon. In a statement, Centennial said that it will continue to operate the mall as a shopping center but also

Fairlane Town Center and two other malls in Virginia and Texas made up a three-mall portfolio owned by Miami Beach, Fla.-based Starwood Capital Group that defaulted on a $161 million CMBS loan, on which it owes $127.2 million. | COSTAR GROUP INC.

add other unnamed uses in the future. “Properties like Fairlane Town Center and The Shops at Willow Bend in Texas, which Centennial and its partners also took ownership of today, are examples of malls in major real estate markets that give us the opportunity to strategically expand our portfolio while utilizing our proven execution playbook to enhance the center’s merchandising and experience immediately upon acquisition,” Tash said in a press release. Both malls had been owned by Miami Beach, Fla.-based Starwood Capital Group before the company fell behind on a $161 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan and were sent into receivership. Crain’s reported that Centennial was the buyer April 15.

This isn’t Centennial’s first deal for a Starwood mall. Centennial, run by Steven Levin and founded in 1997, took over a $149.4 million mortgage on the Westland Mall in Hialeah, Fla., northwest of Miami, earlier this year, The Real Deal reported. Bloomberg reported at the time of the Hialeah sale that Centennial planned to spend $1 billion in the next 24 to 36 months buying and redeveloping malls. “When we purchase a shopping center, we don’t buy simply to operate it as is,” Whitney Livingston, president and COO of Centennial, said in the release. “We buy to own valuable real estate that we can redevelop into dominant mixed-use destinations, and that is the plan we envision for Fairlane Town Center as well.”

Centennial’s website says it owns 12 malls in nine states plus nine open-air shopping centers for a total of 13.9 million square feet of retail real estate. Its website describes plans for several malls that include, for example, in Aurora, Ill., adding hundreds of multifamily and senior living units, grocery, theater and restaurant space to the 1.4 million-squarefoot Fox Valley mall, and in Santa Ana, Calif., adding more than 600 apartments, office space and a 4,000-seat concert venue to the MainPlace shopping center. It’s the latest twist for Fairlane, which was built in 1976 and has struggled financially the past few years. Its current ownership has fallen behind on its debts. Starwood purchased both Fairlane

and the 600,000-square-foot Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township plus five other malls in 2014 from what was then Taubman Centers Inc. (now Taubman Co. LLC) for $1.4 billion. They have fallen into receivership and under new management in the past several months, failing under the weight of a pair of CMBS loans. Fairlane, the Shops at Willow Bend and Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Va., secure a $161 million CMBS loan on which Starwood defaulted, prompting a receivership and new management. The current balance is about $120.7 million, according to Trepp data. Partridge Creek, which also has been struggling for years, secures $725 million in CMBS debt along with three other malls: the Mall at Wellington Green in Wellington, Fla., MacArthur Center in Norfolk, Va. and Northlake Mall in Charlotte, N.C. Starwood owes $681.6 million on that loan. Trepp, owned by Daily Mail and General Trust, analyzes data from loan prospectuses, servicers, special servicers and trustees and is widely considered an industry leader in CMBS data. Tash said Centennial has not considered purchasing Partridge Creek or other malls in that group. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 5

COMMENTARY

Funding Michigan STEM is an investment in the future

Ron Hall Jr. (left), president and CEO of Bridgewater Interiors LLC, speaks Monday at a Detroit Economic Club meeting at MotorCity Casino Hotel about Michigan’s competitiveness alongside Jeff Donofrio, CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan.

Why Michigan’s education crisis spells disaster

n 2010, as Michigan emerged from a decade of economic turmoil that wiped out 800,000 jobs, Georgia and Michigan had the same percentage of adults with a college degree or certificate — 36 percent. Kentucky had just 30 percent of its adults with a college degree or certificate for an in-demand job. Tennessee was hovering around 32 percent. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic upended the educational paths of many, Michigan’s college degree/certificate attainment rate had climbed to 47 percent of adults over age 25. Ditto for Tennessee. But Kentucky and Georgia have blown right by us. In a decade, Kentucky went from 30 percent to 49 percent and Georgia ascended from being tied with Michigan at 36 percent to 53 percent of its adults having some level of college completion. Jeff Donofrio, CEO of Business Leaders for Michigan, presented this sobering assessment last week at a Detroit Economic Club lunch meeting: Kentucky and Georgia “... IT’S GOING have a better-educatTO TAKE A ed workforce than Michigan, and TenCOALITION OF is poised to PEOPLE COMING nessee pass us any day now. Later in the meetTOGETHER THAT ing, Walbridge ChairSAYS, ‘ENOUGH man John Rakolta Jr. shouted from a front IS ENOUGH.’” table in the MotorCity — Jeff Donofrio, CEO, Casino ballroom, “Is Business Leaders our hair on fire yet?” for Michigan “No, it’s not,” Donofrio replied matter-of-factly. “What’s it going to take to put our hair on fire because as a country and as a state we never do anything until the absolute last moment and you well know that this electric vehicle revolution — if we wait until our hair’s on fire — it’ll be over,” said Rakolta, whose Detroit-based construction company is

Chad

LIVENGOOD

building EV plants for Ford Motor Co. in Tennessee and Lucid Motors and Nikola Motor Co. in Arizona. Donofrio said policymakers in Lansing are not focused on systemic issues plaguing Michigan’s education system, which ranks 41st in the nation in high school graduation rates. “We’re not a top-performing state — we’re at the bottom,” Donofrio said. “... It’s going to take a coalition of people coming together that says, ‘Enough is enough.’” After two decades of disinvestment or stagnation in taxpayer support of higher education, there are signs of change afoot at the Capitol. Some lawmakers are starting to recognize that southern and southwestern states aren’t just snatching up new investment in manufacturing, they’re also starting to peel off pieces of the research and development in the fast-changing auto industry that is the bread-and-butter of metro Detroit’s upper middle class. EV pickup manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc. moved its headquarters from Plymouth to Irvine, Calif., in June 2020. General Motors Co.’s Cruise LLC autonomous vehicle development unit was founded in San Francisco — and has shown no sign of leaving the Bay Region. In the Senate, Republican Sen. Kim LaSata has proposed a new state scholarship program for attending any public or private college in the state, starting with the class of 2022 that will be graduating from Michigan high schools in the coming weeks.

ichigan has always been the state that makes stuff and makes stuff work. Our mark on the past 100 years has been stamped by innovators collaborating with a savvy workforce — from manuKerry Ebersole facturing pioneers who Singh is chair of put the world on wheels to the MiSTEM Advisory Council. today’s visionaries advancing groundbreaking discoveries and making cutting-edge products across several high-tech sectors. To retain our mantle of leadership, job one is to equip today’s and tomorrow’s workers with the education and skills Michigan businesses need to fill the growing number of high-demand jobs available now and in the future. That’s why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — with input from talent, business and education leaders — set a goal to increase the number of Michiganders with a college degree or skill certificate to 60 percent by 2030. Preparing more Michigan students for career success through STEM education (science, technology, engineering and math) is one of the governor’s key strategies to meet her Sixty by 30 goal. As Michigan’s economy continues to evolve, STEM careers will play an even more significant role. Jobs in STEM fields are expected to grow at almost twice the rate of other jobs in the marketplace. Long-term employment projections show that Michigan will see over 16,000 job openings in STEM fields annually over the next several years. To accelerate state efforts to make STEM learning more accessible across the state and position more Michigan students for career success in our rapidly changing economy, the governor is recommending in her FY 2023-24 bud-

See LIVENGOOD on Page 15

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited for length or clarity. Send letters to Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48207, or email crainsdetroit@crain.com. Please include your complete name, city from which you are writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. 6 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

get proposal an increase of $300,000 to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s (LEO) MiSTEM office. The additional dollars in the governor’s budget recommendation would make up a current shortfall in LEO’s current MiSTEM operating budget and enable it to carry out its statewide STEM strategy and expand capabilities to promote MiSTEM’s work, evaluate best practices and scale them equitably across the state. I urge lawmakers to support this critical investment so we can continue to improve STEM education performance outcomes and grow a world-class STEM workforce. We are currently facing a significant talent gap affecting our workers and businesses and threatening our economic future. In every corner of the state, high-demand jobs are going unfilled because they demand greater education and training than ever before. According to a recent report of long-term employment projections from the state’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, nearly 530,000 jobs in high-demand, highwage fields will be available in the state by 2028. It is estimated that 50 percent of those jobs will require postsecondary education — including those in STEM fields. However, MI School Data reports only 49 percent of Michigan’s working-age adults today have an associate degree or higher, placing the state No. 37 nationally for education attainment. The growing STEM job marketplace needs talent for middle-skills jobs requiring certifications beyond high school, as well as jobs that require a college degree. We need to provide more opportunities for Michigan children to compete for well-paying jobs in STEM-related industries. These pathways will be established only through accelerating STEM equity, broadening the STEM ecosystem and providing quality STEM experiences to every community in Michigan. It is critical that we continue to make greater access to STEM learning a priority — not only for the present, but also for the future.

DANIEL SAAD FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

JEFF KOWALSKY| DETROIT ECONOMIC CLUB

BY KERRY EBERSOLE SINGH

Sound off: Crain’s considers longer opinion pieces from guest writers on issues of interest to business readers. Email ideas to Managing Editor Michael Lee at malee@crain.com.

POLICY

Mackinac Policy Conference leaders set stage for business deals, bipartisanship BY KURT NAGL

Michigan’s political and business leaders are scheduled to convene at the Mackinac Policy Conference in a month for the annual bipartisan bid to solve the state’s biggest issues. That’s the essence of the conference every year even though the issues and political divisions change, Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, said Tuesday as part of the agenda rollout for the chamber’s marquee event set for May 31-June 3. Politicians will gather on the island in the wake of a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court suggesting it is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which threatens to deepen political divisions in Michigan. It is an example of an issue that transcends politics and one that should be addressed head on at the conference, said Arn Tellem, the vice chairman of Pistons Sports and Entertainment who was tapped as chairman of the conference this year. “The fact that we’re going to talk about it is part of the answer,” Tellem told reporters. “Everybody will come at it differently, but I think that’s part of what this conference is all about: to convene us, bring us all together.” Politics aside, the conference is fertile ground for doing business deals, Baruah said. “Certainly, big things happen at the conference, but what the conference provides every year is essentially a management retreat for Michigan’s leaders,” Baruah told Crain’s. “My guess is there will be at least one, maybe a couple, sizable announcements that will be made on the island that will definitely be newsworthy.” He did not elaborate. New agenda items announced Tuesday include Van Jones, CNN host and political commentator, signing on as a keynote speaker. Tellem is taking up the mantle from Wright Lassiter III, who announced recently that he will be leaving his post as president and CEO of Henry Ford Health. Lassiter still plans to attend the Mackinac conference this year as a speaker. Other notable attendees include:  Steve Ballmer, co-founder of the Ballmer Group and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers  Awenate Cobbina, CEO of Bedrock Group LP and committee member of Michigan Economic Development Corp.  Joi Harris, president and CEO of DTE Gas  Jon Meacham, presidential historian  Cindy Pasky, CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions  Angelique Power, president and CEO of the Skillman Foundation  Dug Song, co-founder of Duo Security and chief strategy officer at Cisco Security  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer  Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan The conference will return to its normal schedule for the first time since 2019, following two years of COVID-19 pandemic disruption. Organizers dropped the vaccine mandate for this year and will allow

those attending to submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken no more than 72 hours prior to their arrival. Baruah said Tuesday that the COVID policy was made to conform with current public health guidance and not because members of the Republican party pushed for it. “All the COVID protocols, including the outside protocols, were the chamber’s decision,” he said. Baruah said it has not been determined which candidates will attend the Republican gubernatorial debate

being staged on the island June 2. The conference agenda is on the Detroit Regional Chamber’s website. “If you talk to political leaders or business leaders, they say they make more connections, have more conversations, get more business done the three days on the island than they do the six months in their day jobs,” Baruah said. Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl

Sandy Baruah and Arn Tellem discuss the agenda for the Mackinac Policy Conference, scheduled for May 31 to June 3. | KURT NAGL/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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SETBACK TO STARTUP Couple navigates COVID to found healing clinic.

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Ronnie Johncox in the Technique plant. | TOM HENDERSON

Former race car driver’s Technique makes chassis for every NASCAR team BY TOM HENDERSON At the beginning of the year, Ronnie

Johncox correctly predicted who would make the chassis for the car that would win NASCAR’s Daytona 500 on Feb. 20. Now, he is also predicting who will have made the chassis for the winner of the AdventHealth 400 race in Kansas City, Kan., on May 15, the chassis of the winner of the All-Star Open on May 22 in the Texas Motor Speedway in Forth Worth, Texas, as well as the chassis of the winners of every race on the NASCAR circuit this year. He’s predicting it will be — drumroll, please — Ronnie Johncox. He owns Technique Inc., a 126,000-squarefoot factory in the Jackson Technology Park in Blackman Township, immediately north of the city of Jackson, and is confident in his predictions because in 2020, Technique was selected by NASCAR from a field of 18 bidders to be the sole supplier of chassis for every NASCAR team this year and at least the next two years, too.

8 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

IN THIS PACKAGE  Former race car driver runs Jackson-based Technique Inc., which makes chassis for every NASCAR team. THIS PAGE  Business accelerator, credit union team up for $5 million loan program. PAGE 9  Couple navigates COVID to found healing clinic. PAGE 10  Masonic Temple, former Vermeulen’s building among revitalized buildings in downtown Jackson. PAGE 10  Jackson-based nonprofit helps women entrepreneurs find their people. PAGE 12  Leasing to start this fall for new Jackson County technology park. PAGE 12

As a move to drastically reduce the cost of racing and open the door to new teams with smaller budgets, NASCAR has chosen 26 different sole providers to supply race car components as part of the “NextGen” race car system it has implemented. Though the Ford, General Motors and Toyota race cars on the circuit will still have identifiable bodies, they will all have major components in common. For example, Braselton, Ga.based BBS of America Inc. makes all the wheels; Coventry, England-based AP Racing Ltd. makes the brake systems; Akron, Ohiobased Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. supplies the tires; Kirkey Racing Fabrication of St. Andrews West, Ontario, makes the bumpers; and Casper, Wyo.-based Woodward Machine Corp. makes the steering rack and steering shaft.

“The Next-Gen car is our future,” said John Probst, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing innovation. “We needed to improve the business model for race teams, to attract new owners and to get drivers to become owners. The goal is to get costs in check. Like everyone else in the world, we are fighting cost pressures. “Until now, to get into racing, you had to be a mini-car company. You had to have a fabrication team, an R&D team. There was quite an investment involved before anyone touched the wheel.” The largest, most important component of the new supply chain is the chassis. Previously, each team had its own fairly large crew designing and making the frame, or skeleton, of the cars, which includes the steel roll cage that protects drivers in crashes. See NASCAR on Page 10

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | JACKSON

Business accelerator, credit union team up for loan program Lean Rocket Local is a $5 million program to fund small businesses BY TOM HENDERSON

American 1 Credit Union and Lean Rocket Lab, a co-working space and business accelerator founded in downtown Jackson in 2018, have embarked on a $5 million loan program to fund small businesses. The program is called Lean Rocket Local and will run for five years. The program grew out of a conversation Rocket Lab’s co-founders, Ken Seneff and CEO Brandon Marken, had with Martha Fuerstenau, president and CEO of American 1, about how the credit union could help Jackson business owners. The Local program is patterned after Lean Rocket’s other programs in support of tech startups. Lean Rocket runs the Manu-Tech Virtual Incubator jointly with the Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield. And in 2020, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. invested $2.5 million to launch the Industry 4.0 Accelerator program, a joint venture of Rocket Lab, Centrepolis and Automation Alley. “When Ken asked us if we’d consider funding a loan program for small businesses, I said, ‘No, we’re not in that space.’ But I realized, these will be sole proprietors and family businesses, and it would make sense for us to get into that space,” said Fuerstenau. “I took it to my board in November and got approval. This furthers the mission of American 1.” She said that these will be entrepreneurs who wouldn’t qualify for traditional bank funding, but that the coaching and mentorship they will get from Lean Rocket will make them good credit risks. “The $5 million commitment over five years is not intended for $1 million per year. It’s probably unrealistic to think we would lend $1 million in the first year,” said Fuerstenau. “However, we do feel this program will scale in a way over the next five years that $5 million is an achievable number. We have not set parameters around loan size.” Jackson-based American 1 has 60,000 members in seven counties. Christie Myers, the director of the Local program, said there were 60 applicants by the April 8 deadline. That was winnowed down to the best 25, with those all coming in to Lean Rocket and pitching for five minutes each to an advisory committee, which in turn picked the 11 finalists. They are: Five Forks of Jackson, which makes what it describes as bespoke cakes. Luvone’s Beautiful Occasions of Jackson, a planner of weddings and other events. Big Guy Catering LLC of Jackson, which promises a “red-carpet” experience. DoughNation Bakery of Spring Arbor. Vito’s Espresso LLC, a coffee shop in Jackson. Shorties Sweets Eats and Treats of Jackson. Chelsea Cakes of Jackson. Nevermore Decor Store of Jackson, a store selling home decor. Voyager Film Co. of Jackson, a video

Lean Rocket CEO Brandon Marken (left), American 1 Credit Union President Martha Fuerstenau and Lean Rocket Program Director Christie Myers. | TOM HENDERSON

production agency to help businesses improve their branding. Worthy Occasions LLC of Jackson, which offers design, decor and specialty rentals for events. Something Moore Decorating LLC of Jackson, a company doing decorating for events. Later this month, those 11 companies will begin a six-week boot camp and will be paired with a mentor. Milestones will be set for each company, and as they hit them, they will get monetary rewards that can total $2,500 each. That money comes from the Milford-based Walters Family Foundation, which is funding the Local program with a grant of $100,000 over the next two years. Myers said at a date yet to be determined, in September or October, the 11 companies will then pitch the credit union for loans to fund growth.

Big and little successes Lean Rocket rents shared work space for as little as $99 a month. It has private offices that ring the perimeter of the office and surrounds the shared space, but those are all rented. One thing that sets Rocket Lab apart is that some of those renters are not early-stage companies in need of a place to work but established companies offering services and support to Rocket Lab clients, including the Endurance Law Group PLC; the Voyager Film Co., which helps companies tell their stories through video; and Mevo Creative Studios, a web design firm. Lean Rocket has already had one big success among its early-stage company clients. Last June, Detroit-based An-

donix got an investment of $110,000 from the Automation Alley Industry 4.0 Accelerator. That same month, the company got an investment of $100,000 from the Grand Rapids-based Michigan Capital Network, an investment arm of the Grand Angels. Both of those were part of a seed funding round of $2 million. In 2018, David Yanez, a native of Mexico, founded Andonix to help manufacturers replace paper-based work instructions and training with a fully digital system available to employees through tablets and smartphones. It was spun out from another Detroit company, PTI Quality Containment Solutions LLC, a supply-chain management company for the auto industry. Yanez, the CEO at Andonix, remains as CEO at PTI. Andonix is a DBA for the formal legal name of TriPi Connected Tech Inc. Andonix markets a cloud-based software-as-a-service app called Safety Pass, which helps companies involved in lean manufacturing more efficiently monitor productivity, quality and safety compliance. Yanez says he expects to raise a Series A funding round of $5 million by the end of this year and to have revenue this year of $2 million. He said customers include Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. of Charlotte, N.C.; the Netherlands-based Phillips Lighting and Censys Technologies Corp., a drone manufacturer in Daytona Beach, Fla. Soon after launching Andonix, he was introduced to Seneff and Marken at Lean Rocket. “They were fantastic partners. They

helped us craft our value proposition and says he has had years of experiand our go-to-market strategy and in- ence sitting in uncomfortable confertroduced us to investors,” said Yanez. ence room chairs. By September 2019, Andonix had He founded the company, which attracted enough industry attention does business as MOVO, in 2017 and that it was showcased at a program joined Lean Rocket’s Manu-Tech Virhighlighting how innovation and en- tual Incubator program in 2019. He has trepreneurship can improve lean man- a partner and no employees, yet. The ufacturing practices at the Harvard business is run out of his home in YpsiBusiness School in Cambridge, Mass. lanti. Lean Rocket nominated Andonix for MOVO, said Motley, “is a name its small-business award and intro- meant to evoke the idea of movement, duced Yanez to Ann Arbor Spark, capitalized for aesthetic reasons.” which in turn helped him find interns He said Lean Rocket helped him from Michigan State University and the with branding and introduced him to a University of Michigan. patent attorney. A patent was applied Adam Motley’s company is more for in February 2020 and granted this typical of a Lean Rocket client than An- past February. donix. It is still pre-revenue and hasn’t “My goodness, they’ve been trehad any Harvard case studies or big mendous,” said Motley of Lean Rocket. investments from state angel investors, “We got advice and coaching. They although it hopes to raise “... I REALIZED, THESE WILL BE SOLE $500,000 in seed funding within a PROPRIETORS AND FAMILY BUSINESSES, year. He is the AND IT WOULD MAKE SENSE FOR US TO GET founder of Un- INTO THAT SPACE.” chair LLC, — Martha Fuerstenau, president and CEO, American 1 which has designed a prototype chair that Motley says is more helped introduce me with others in the comfortable and ergonomically sound entrepreneurial ecosystem and engithan existing office chairs and pro- neers who helped us with the protomotes what he describes as “great pos- type. Lean Rocket Lab’s incubator has ture by default,” with the help of ergon- been a valuable thought partner in layomists, physical therapists and ing out our key priorities and hack our chiropractors. He says his chair is nar- way around roadblocks. row at the top, which allows a person’s “We would not be where we are toshoulders to naturally relax. day without the Lean Rocket Lab “I got tired of back pain from sitting team.” in bad office chairs,” said Motley, who still has his day job as a manager in the Contact: thenderson@crain.com M&A practice of Deloitte Consulting (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2 MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | JACKSON

SETBACK TO STARTUP

NASCAR

From Page 8

Technique charges the teams $25,000 for a chassis, with each team buying up to seven for the season. Johncox said that previously, teams spent as much as $58,000 on each chassis. He said he expects to sell 350 chassis this year to some 40-odd teams. The company will also supply about $3,000 in other components to team cars. Components of the chassis are built in Jackson, but they are assembled in Technique’s Concord, N.C., facility, located across the street from NASCAR’s Research and Development Center. The various teams attach engines to the chassis and the shells that make the cars look like Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros or Toyota Camrys. “Everything starts with the chassis,” said Probst. “Everything else bolts on to it.” Johncox, a former Indy race car driver, has long been a supplier of components to various NASCAR teams. In 2006, Technique began supplying chassis parts to the Dale Earnhardt team on the NASCAR circuit. He began supplying the Roger Penske team in 2008 and by the time he won the Next-Gen contract, he said he was supplying parts to about 80 percent of the NASCAR teams. He said every team that has won the NASCAR Cup championship since 2007 has had Technique parts. In 2017, Technique got a contract from Ford Motor Co. to make a piece of exhaust piping that could be retrofitted on 135,000 police versions of Ford Explorer SUVs that were susceptible to carbon monoxide leaks in the interior. When he won the contract from NASCAR, Technique was also supplying parts to such customers as Cummins, Honda, John Deere, Whirlpool, Harley-Davidson and Yamaha. “When we started this process and put out for quotes, we were very familiar with Ronnie and his company. He had a get-it-done mentality,” said Probst. “You can’t help but be impressed by the technology they incorporate in this. Our grade for them so far is an A. Ronnie is a very enterprising guy. ... He does things better and faster than you expect.” Johncox said the company had record revenue of about $34 million last year and he expects to hit $40 million this year. Technique specializes in prototypes and low-volume production, doing CNC machining, tube bending and laser cutting. Companies generally use Technique in the early phases of design and production. Once pieces are ready to be mass produced, they go to a larger manufacturer. In the early days of the pandemic, Technique also made medical face masks. Johncox graduated from Michigan State University in 1992 with a degree in business management. A year before graduation, Johncox founded Technique with one tooling machine bought from BalTec Maschinenbau AG in Switzerland that allowed him to build prototypes for customers. His first customer was Manchester Stamping. “I had to custom modify the BalTec machine. Necessity is the mother of invention,” he said. 10 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

David and Heather Goolsby lost their jobs during COVID-19. Then they founded The Jackson Healing Clinic BY TOM HENDERSON

The Indy car Ronnie Johncox drove hanging vertically on the wall in the foyer of the Technique plant in Jackson. | TOM HENDERSON

His career as a machinist goes much farther back, though. A native of Jackson, his family owned an injection molding business, Mid-American Products Inc., and he says he began learning how to run machines when he was 12, when he started working in the shop during vacations. Johncox, who started racing gocarts in college, began his auto racing career about the time he founded Technique. Both took off on similar trajectories. He drove both sprint and midget cars in United States Auto Club races and on the Indy car circuit. The Indy car he drove to pass his test to drive on the Indy car circuit in 1999 now hangs vertically on a wall in Technique’s foyer. He said a motivation for his racing career was the success of Indy racer Gordon Johncock, a distant cousin and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Johncock’s great-grandfather and Johncox’s great-great grandfather were brothers who emigrated from England together, though they spelled their last names differently. “He was my hero growing up,” Johncox said. Johncox said that by 2003, though he had yet to win on the Indy car circuit, he had won about 200 sprint and midget races. But the racing and the machine shop were both taking up so much time, he needed to choose one or another. “My racing career was taking off. I was winning a lot of races. But I was at a critical point where I had to decide what I wanted to do,” he said. And that was continuing to run a growing, successful business. Another factor, he said, was he’d seen fellow drivers get hurt or killed. He’d had a great run but he had a wife and kids. The time for taking chances was over. Today, Johncox employs 150 at Technique’s Blackman Township plant and another 50 at two other Jackson area plants, and a total of 50 in smaller plants in the city of Industry, Calif., where Johncox’s California Hydroforming Co. Inc. uses water to form metal parts, and the North Carolina operation. Johncox owns a large lot across the street from the Blackman Township plant and hopes to start construction on a 70,000-square-foot Technique facility later this year, with completion in 12-16 months. Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

The Jackson Healing Clinic LLC is proof that adversity can lead to opportunity. Or in this case, two of them. In 2020, David Goolsby was the Michigan manager for Lynnwood, Wash.-based Patterns Behavioral Services Inc., which had devised a proprietary therapy to treat children with autism. From May 2019 to August 2020, Goolsby had been in charge of getting permits and local approvals and hiring staff to open five brick-and-mortar treatment centers, in Chelsea, Lansing, Detroit, Howell and Adrian. But as COVID unleashed its fury, no kids were visiting treatment centers, and there was certainly no need for Goolsby to open any more of them. His job was terminated. In 2020, Heather Stiltner was a therapist and supervisor at Starr Albion Prep, a residential behavioral and treatment facility for 135 troubled youth, aged 12-18. The facility was run on behalf of Albion-based Starr Commonwealth by Huntsville, Ala.-based Sequel Youth and Family Services LLC. On May 1, 2020, a 16-year-old boy there named Cornelius Fredericks died after being restrained when he threw a sandwich at someone in the cafeteria. Subsequently, the state pulled its license and on July 1, Starr Commonwealth terminated the contract with Sequel. Stiltner was out of a job. Despite social distancing and stayat-home protocols widely in effect, Stiltner and Goolsby took the plunge. They decided to become partners in a for-profit therapy practice. They founded the business in October 2020 and began seeing patients that December,

strictly by video conferencing at first as COVID continued apace. The practice focuses on children who have been abused, physically or sexually. It also treats adults with depression or anxiety. Heather said the youngest client is 3, the oldest 86. “People said we were crazy to start a business during a pandemic, but we knew we had to give it a try, and we’ve had a great outcome,” she said. As if opening their business during the time of COVID wasn’t stressful enough, Stiltner and Goolsby also decided to get married last May. In June, they bought a vacant former doctor’s office north of downtown Jackson for $280,000, then did a total interior gutting and renovation and put in a large new parking lot and landscaping. The office opened for business in July. The Jackson Economic Development Corp. loaned the Goolsbys $41,250 as part of their down payment. Ironically, while COVID presented hurdles in launching a therapy practice, Heather says ultimately it has been a boon for them. “It’s more normalized to be stressed. People are eager to talk about it,” she said. “And kids had that trauma of being out of school.” They say the growth of the practice has been well beyond what they expected. They now have 19 therapists working for them as independent contractors, a few of them still doing telemedicine but most meeting with clients in person at the office. The total patient load is about 325 a week. “We’re out of space,” said David Goolsby. They bought the two lots next to the old doctor’s office and are exploring ways to expand the business, though he admits to sticker shock when he got an estimate on building a

Heather and David Goolsby of Jackson Healing Clinic. | TOM HENDERSON

Masonic Temple, former Vermeulen’s building among revitalized buildings Three current projects part of revival in downtown Jackson BY TOM HENDERSON

One of the abiding themes in Michigan cities in recent years is the dramatic revival of their downtowns. Long-shuttered movie theaters are showing first-run movies again; long-vacant office buildings are being renovated and converted into apartments and condos; and long-empty surface parking lots now have cars circling while waiting for a space to open up. Three recent and current projects in downtown Jackson prove that city is part of the trend.

Hayes Hotel At a meeting on April 5, the Jackson City Council approved the sale of the historic Hayes Hotel for $25,000 to J. Jeffers & Co., a Milwaukee-based developer. The price may seem cheap, but plans include a $27.2 mil-

lion rehab of the 10-story building at 228 W. Michigan Ave. Jeffers plans to eventually create between 84 and 91 market-rate apartments, with a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Some of the units may be marketed as Airbnbs, giving a hotel use to the building. An event center and retail and restaurant spaces are planned on the first two floors. The hotel opened in 1926 and included a grand ballroom and ornate fixtures throughout. Consumers Energy bought the building for $225,000 in 1973 and converted the building, which was then next to Consumers’ headquarters, into office space. The building was shuttered just two years later. It and surrounding parking lots were bought from Consumers by the city for $1.5 million in 2000.

Efforts to sell the building over the years have failed. In 2004, the city bought Consumers’ headquarters and its parking lot for $300,000, later demolishing the building. There is no timeline, yet, for when construction will begin or end.

Vermeulen’s Furniture Building In October, the Jackson School of the Arts moved into its new downtown headquarters at 135 W. Courtland St., one block south of the main downtown street of Michigan Avenue. About 1,800 students of all ages now participate in more than 100 classes and programs for art, dance, and theater in what was formerly the Vermeulen’s Furniture building. The school bought the building from the city in December 2020 for

The

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | JACKSON new adjoining office. He is president and CEO and manages insurance approvals, billing, payroll and back-office support through IT contractors. Heather, who has a master’s in organizational leadership from Siena Heights University and a master’s in counseling psychology from Spring Arbor University, is clinical director, supervising the other therapists and handling her own caseload. David credits a good portion of their growth to referrals from the Center for Family Health, which operates five centers around Jackson County, including a large, three-story facility downtown. The center offers primary medical and dental care for patients of all ages, with Medicaid, Medicare and commercial insurance accepted at all locations, and no one turned away because of inability to pay. Scott White is the Center for Family Health’s community engagement coordinator and says the Jackson Healing Clinic has been a godsend. “We have four therapists here, and that’s not nearly enough for the needs of the community,” he said. “The response I’ve got is patients enjoy going there. They feel listened to. They are a much-needed resource in the community. We have a wait-list here. If you need to be seen, where do you go? “They’re a stop-gap people can turn to, a real resource in the community. And being a young couple as well, they’re entrepreneurs who fill that gap in the community, too.” Corena Herder has been a licensed therapist for 12 years, with a focus on children who have suffered trauma. Before the pandemic, Heather was her supervisor at Starr Albion Prep for three years. “Heather reached out and said, ‘Hey, we’re thinking of having our own practice. Are you interested?’” recalled Herder, who has been with the clinic since December. “It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I have the ability here to reach as many as I am physically and emotionally able to. I can use all my skills.” Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

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The Masonic Temple in Jackson. | TOM HENDERSON

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$500,000 and embarked on an extensive renovation campaign. Previously, the school was in a 6,000-square-foot space in a former warehouse north of downtown. The new building has 30,000 square feet, which includes four dance studios, an art studio, child care area, two rental spaces available to the public to host events, a theater and eventually a place to do taekwondo and gymnastics.

Jackson Masonic Temple In March, the Jackson City Council voted to spend $2.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money to help establish a community kitchen, food-business incubator and job-training center in the historic but vacant city-owned Masonic Temple, next to the new location for the Jackson School of the Arts on West Courtland Street.

What had been a key downtown block devoid of activity will soon be humming. The city purchased the building for $100 in 2017 and since has spent about $2.1 million on renovations, including new windows and repairing the roof, according to city spokesperson Aaron Dimick. “This is more than just the renovation of the Masonic Temple. This is truly an investment to the aspiring entrepreneurs in our community, and I am excited to see it happen,” Mayor Daniel Mahoney said in a release. Originally, the city planned to sell the temple to the Jackson School of the Arts, and turn the old Vermeulen’s Furniture building into the community kitchen and food incubator, but the school, which began its capital campaign to fund a new location in 2017, changed plans when it realized the cost to renovate the temple was too high. There is no timeline for construction to begin at the building, with a nonprofit organization being created to operate the kitchen and training center. Jackson received $31 million in ARPA COVID relief funds last July. Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2 MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 11

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | JACKSON

Nonprofit helps women entrepreneurs find their people Michigan Tribe offers networking events, microgrants BY TOM HENDERSON

Alexandra Masten and Amanda Loveland, two sisters in Jackson, run a 501(c)3 nonprofit called Michigan Tribe, which holds networking events for area women who run businesses or are thinking of starting one. And they annually give out microgrants of up to $2,000 each to women entrepreneurs to help them either get up and running or to help fund growths. Kate Burns begs to differ with the term “micro.” Burns owns Yoga on Kibby, a yoga studio in south Jackson she describes as “a wellness collective.” Among other things, she also offers salsa dancing lessons there. She won a grant of $1,200 from Michigan Tribe in October 2020. To her, there was nothing small about it. “It was tons of money,” Burns said. “It allowed me to do this. It was COVID, so the landlord offered me half price for two months, and because of this grant, I was able to sign the lease.” Burns said she had had her eye on the space for months, but didn’t have the money for it. The grant allowed her to sign a lease that November and things have taken off since. “So far, so good. The classes are well attended, and we’re launching a yoga teacher-training program, which is a huge deal,” she said. Michigan Tribe was founded in January 2019 and hosts a variety of bi-monthly events, including general networking sessions and panel discussions at Lean Rocket, an incubator and co-working space in downtown Jackson, where the sisters rent an office. To quote from the Tribe’s website, you can: “Meet like-minded women who love talking all-things business and believe in lifting each other up; learn new skills in branding, marketing, and running your business like a boss; and practice things that may seem scary in a totally safe, non-judgy space (from being on your first podcast to hitting ‘Go’ on your inaugural Facebook Live.)” Masten is vice president of economic development of The Enterprise

Michigan Tribe founders Amanda Loveland (left) and Alexandra Masten at their Jackson office. | TOM HENDERSON

Group of Jackson Inc., the county’s economic development agency. She is also owner and photographer of Jackson-based Loveland Farms Photography, Loveland being her maiden name. From 2017-2020 she was business services coordinator for Michigan Works! Southeast, an economic and job-development organization serving Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston and Washtenaw counties. Since October, Loveland has been marketing and development director of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. Previously, she was youth program director for the Jackson Area Manufacturers Association, helping students explore STEM and skilledtrades careers, managing summer camps, after-school programs, community events and curriculum development. In 2013, she founded Wealth University, a remote-learning, online site coaching women on how to advance their professional careers. She led the business as CEO until 2017, when she decided to shut it down and move on to other things. Masten and Loveland volunteer their time to Michigan Tribe. Michigan Tribe held a fundraiser and networking event on May 4, with tickets costing $20 to $25, which included food and both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. Thanks to past sponsors, including Jack-

son-based TRUE Community Credit Union, Lean Rocket Lab and Loveland Farms Photography, all proceeds from the networking events have gone to the microfunds. Every Wednesday in August, the sisters plan to host a “Prepare for Funding” virtual course, which for $75 for the course will teach would-be entrepreneurs the basics of running a business. On Sept. 5, applications open for this year’s round of grant funding, with winners announced at another fund-raiser, the biggest one of the year, on Oct. 14. The Tribe plans to award at least $20,000 in grants to at least 10 women-owned businesses this year. It awarded $7,600 to five women in 2020 and $13,000 to seven women last year. Michigan Tribe funnels those grants through three funds it has established — the Women RISE Fund, the Melanated Voices Fund and the Get Effin’ Started Fund. The RISE Fund is for women business owners in Jackson County. The Melanated Voices Fund is for businesses owned by women of Native American, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Island heritage. And the Get Effin’ Started Fund is for women who have been thinking of starting a business but for one reason or another have yet to take the plunge.

Jennifer Spencer, owner of Jackson Candle Co. | JENNIFER SPENCER

Kate Burns, owner of Yoga on Kibby in Jackson.| KATE BURNS

Jennifer Spencer owns the Jackson the brick. The roof had to be replaced, Candle Company in downtown Jack- the ceiling was falling in.” son. It sells the hand-crafted candles The building is two stories. She is livshe makes, unique for their wooden ing in the second-story loft, which is wicks, which make an interesting pop- not finished yet. Last October, she won ping noise as they burn, as well as a Tribe grant of $2,000, all of which products made by other women entre- went to buy marketing materials to preneurs in Michigan. It also provides promote her new location’s grand pop-up space for area artists. opening, which was well attended. Spencer said one Taylor woman “I think they are amazing,” she said makes cocktail kits for sale there, and a of the sisters. “Their time is all volunwoman from Ferndale who also makes teered.” candles sells hers there. Another artiSpencer said pitching for Michigan san sells glass and metal fused jewelry. Tribe money prepared her for another Spencer said she had attended some successful pitch. On March 10, Spencer of the Tribe’s networking events and won $2,500 as runner-up in a Zoom that meeting other women entrepre- pitch competition held by Michigan neurs encouraged her to launch her Women Forward, a support organizaown business. The timing for “IT WAS TONS OF MONEY. IT ALLOWED ME opening her doors was bru- TO DO THIS.” tal. The pan- — Kate Burns, owner, Yoga on Kibby demic hit four months later. “We had to close our tion for women entrepreneurs with ofdoors. It was heartbreaking for every- fices in Detroit, Lansing and Grand body,” she said. Rapids that works in conjunction with Last August she closed on the pur- Michigan Tribe. chase of a building two blocks from “I just got my new sign up outside,’” where she rented space for her first lo- said Spencer. “I’m excited I can look cation. She spent six months rehab- out my window and see my sign. As bing it and opened in February. “I someone said, ‘A business without a found the most dilapidated building in sign is a sign of no business.’” Jackson and bought it,” she said. “I was on a scaffold every day, wearing a res- Contact: thenderson@crain.com pirator, using a jackhammer to expose (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

Leasing to start this fall for new Jackson County technology park Infrastructure work begins on project aided by a $5,918,000 economic development grant BY TOM HENDERSON

Infrastructure work is expected to start this summer on a new industrial park, Jackson Technology Park North, on a 180.5-acre site in Blackman Township. Debbie Kelly is vice president of operations for the Enterprise Group of Jackson Inc., a public-private partnership created in 1997 to spearhead economic development in the county, and which is the fiduciary for the project. She said the plan is to have roads, water and sewer lines in by November, with lots starting to sell this fall and buyers having the option to purchase parcels from three to 40 acres in size. The technology park got a huge boost in April 2021 when the U.S. Economic Development Administration announced a grant of $5,918,000 for the 12 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

Debbie Kelly at the site of the new tech park in Jackson. | TOM HENDERSON

county to complete infrastructure projects at the park. The grant was through ederal CARES Act Recovery Assistance. That grant was matched with $1.5 million from the township. The township’s Local Development Financing Authority bought the property in 2018 for $907,400. To be eligible to purchase lots in the park, companies must be in advanced manufacturing, life sciences or alternative energy, and they will be required to begin construction within 18 months of closing on the purchase. Kelly said there are some wetlands on the site of the new park, leaving about 140 acres for development. She said the best-case scenario before any buildings are up and running on the site is 18-24 months, in part because of various supply-chain issues. “There is an 18-month wait time for

water-main piping, now,” she said. The new park will be directly north of the existing 80-acre Jackson Technology Park SmartZone. That park’s tenants include BASF, maker of chemical products based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and whose building here is 200,000 square feet; Technique Inc., a machining company that makes all the chassis for NASCAR race cars (see story, Page 8), which has a 126,000-square-foot plant and will begin construction on a second plant of 70,000 square feet later this year; TAC Manufacturing Inc., a unit of Tokai Rika Ltd. of Nagoya, Japan, and whose plant is 550,000 square feet and makes air bags and cruise control switches, among other auto components. Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

CRAIN'S LIST | SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN PUBLICLY HELD COMPANIES Ranked by 2021 revenue COMPANY; FISCAL YEAR END ADDRESS PHONE; WEBSITE

TOP EXECUTIVE(S)

REVENUE ($000,000) 2021/2020

PERCENT CHANGE

NET INCOME ($000,000) 2021/2020

EXCHANGE/ TICKER SYMBOL

STOCK PRICE 52-WEEK HIGH/LOW

TYPE OF INDUSTRY

FORD MOTOR CO. (12/31/2021) 1 American Road, Dearborn 48126 313-322-3000; ford.com

James Farley Jr. president, CEO & director

$136,341.0

7.2%

$17,937.0 ($1,279.0)

NYSE F

$25.87 $11.14

Automobile manufacturer

GENERAL MOTORS CO. (12/31/2021)

Mary Barra chairman & CEO

$127,004.0

3.7%

$10,019.0 $6,427.0

NYSE GM

$67.21 $37.60

Automobile manufacturer

PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC. (12/31/

Roger Penske Sr. chairman & CEO

$25,554.7

25.0%

$1,187.8 $543.6

NYSE PAG

$114.34 $72.35

Automotive retail

LEAR CORP. (12/31/2021)

Raymond Scott Jr. president, CEO & director

$19,263.1

13.0%

$373.9 $158.5

NYSE LEA

$204.91 $123.28

Automotive supplier

APTIV PLC (12/31/2021) 5725 Innovation Drive, Troy 48098 248-813-2000; aptiv.com

Kevin Clark president, CEO & director

$15,618.0

19.5%

$590.0 $1,804.0

NYSE APTV

$180.81 $94.75

Automotive supplier

DTE ENERGY CO. (12/31/2021) One Energy Plaza, Detroit 48226 313-235-4000; newlook.dteenergy.com

Jerry Norcia president and CEO

$14,964.0

31.0%

$907.0 $1,368.0

NYSE DTE

$145.43 $108.22

Energy company

BORGWARNER INC. (12/31/2021)

Frederic Lissalde president, CEO & director

$14,838.0

46.0%

$537.0 $500.0

NYSE BWA

$55.55 $34.85

Manufacturing company of components and systems solutions for electric vehicles

ADIENT PLC (9/30/2021) 49200 Halyard Drive, Plymouth 48170 734-254-5000; adient.com

Douglas Del Grosso president, CEO & director

$13,680.0

8.0%

$1,108.0 ($547.0)

NYSE ADNT

$53.17 $30.53

Automotive seating supplier

ROCKET COMPANIES INC. (12/31/2021) 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit 48226 313-373-7990; rocketcompanies.com

Jay Farner vice chairman & CEO Dan Gilbert chairman & founder

$13,175.6

-17.1%

$308.2 $198.0

NYSE RKT

$23.33 $9.14

FinTech platform company consisting of personal finance and consumer technology brands

ALLY FINANCIAL INC. (12/31/2021)

Jeffrey Brown CEO & director

$10,690.0

-0.8%

$3,060.0 $1,085.0

NYSE ALLY

$56.61 $39.85

Digital financial services company

MASCO CORP. (12/31/2021)

Keith Allman CEO, president & director

$8,375.0

16.5%

$410.0 $1,224.0

NYSE MAS

$71.06 $48.78

Manufactures products for the home improvement and new home construction markets

AMERICAN AXLE AND MANUFACTURING

David Dauch chairman & CEO

$5,156.6

9.5%

$5.9 ($561.3)

NYSE AXL

$13.06 $6.41

Automotive supplier

KELLY SERVICES INC. (1/2/2022)

Peter Quigley president, CEO & director

$4,909.7

8.7%

$156.1 ($72.0)

NasdaqGS KELY.A

$26.98 $15.89

Staffing, employment, workforce solutions

DOMINO'S PIZZA INC. (1/2/2022)

Russell Weiner 1 CEO

$4,357.4

5.8%

$510.5 $491.3

NYSE DPZ

$567.57 $376.81

Restaurant franchisor

MERITOR INC. (9/30/2021) 2135 West Maple Road, Troy 48084 248-435-1000; meritor.com

Chrishan Sebastian Villavarayan CEO, president & director

$3,833.0

25.9%

$199.0 $245.0

NYSE MTOR

$36.24 $20.50

Supplier of axle, brake and suspension systems

TI FLUID SYSTEMS PLC (12/31/2021) 2020 Taylor Road, Auburn Hills 48326 248-296-8000; tifluidsystems.com

Hans Dieltjens president, CEO & executive director

$3,362.4

-2.3%

$16.3 ($310.8)

LSE TIFS

$4.30 $2.02

Supplier of automotive fluid systems technology

UWM HOLDINGS CORP. (UNITED WHOLESALE Mathew Ishbia chairman, president & CEO MORTGAGE) (12/31/2021)

$2,970.3

-39.9%

$98.4 $3,382.5

NYSE UWMC

$10.98 $3.82

Mortgage lender

VISTEON CORP. (12/31/2021)

Sachin Lawande president, CEO & director

$2,773.0

8.8%

$41.0 ($56.0)

NasdaqGS VC

$134.57 $91.59

Automotive supplier

COOPER-STANDARD HOLDINGS INC. (12/31/

Jeffrey Edwards chairman & CEO

$2,330.2

-1.9%

($322.8) ($267.6)

NYSE CPS

$36.40 $6.61

Fluid-handling systems, noise- and vibration-control products, bodysealing systems

SUN COMMUNITIES INC. (12/31/2021)

Gary Shiffman chairman & CEO

$2,272.6

62.5%

$380.2 $131.6

NYSE SUI

$211.79 $158.99

Real estate operations

CREDIT ACCEPTANCE CORP. (12/31/2021)

Kenneth Booth president and CEO

$1,856.0

11.2%

$958.3 $421.0

NasdaqGS CACC

$703.27 $366.19

Financial institution

FLAGSTAR BANCORP INC. (12/31/2021) 5151 Corporate Drive, Troy 48098 248 312 2000; flagstar.com

Alessandro DiNello president, CEO & director

$1,854.0

-12.9%

$533.0 $538.0

NYSE FBC

$56.77 $38.65

Financial institution

300 Renaissance Center, Detroit 48265 313-667-1500; gm.com

2021) 2555 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills 48302 248-648-2500; penskeautomotive.com 21557 Telegraph Road, Southfield 48033 248-447-1500; lear.com

3850 Hamlin Road, Auburn Hills 48326 248-754-9200; borgwarner.com

Ally Detroit Center, Floor 10, 500 Woodward Ave., Detroit 48226 866-710-4623; ally.com 17450 College Parkway, Livonia 48152 313-274-7400; masco.com

HOLDINGS INC. (12/31/2021) One Dauch Drive, Detroit 48211 313-758-2000; aam.com

999 West Big Beaver Road, Troy 48084 248-362-4444; kellyservices.com 30 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor 48105 734-930-3030; dominos.com

585 South Blvd. East, Pontiac 48341 800-981-8898; uwm.com

One Village Center Drive, Van Buren 48111 800-847-8366; visteon.com

2021) 40300 Traditions Drive, Northville 48168 248-596-5900; cooperstandard.com

27777 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Southfield 48034 248-208-2500; suncommunities.com 25505 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield 48034 248-353-2700; creditacceptance.com

$127,144.0

$122,485.0

$20,443.9

$17,045.5

$13,066.0

$11,423.0

$10,165.0

$12,670.0

$15,895.6

$10,780.0

$7,188.0

$4,710.8

$4,516.0

$4,117.4

$3,044.0

$3,442.8

$4,938.6

$2,548.0

$2,375.4

$1,398.3

$1,669.3

$2,129.0

2021) 12755 East Nine Mile Road, Warren 48089 586-920-0100; universallogistics.com

UNIVERSAL LOGISTICS HOLDINGS INC. (12/31/ Tim Phillips

president, CEO & director

$1,751.0

25.9%

$73.7 $48.1

NasdaqGS ULH

$27.04 $15.86

Transportation and logistics

SKYLINE CHAMPION CORP. (4/3/2021)

Mark Yost president, CEO & director

$1,420.9

3.7%

$84.9 $58.2

NYSE SKY

$85.92 $38.96

Manufactured homes

SUPERIOR INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL INC. (12/31/2021)

Majdi Abulaban CEO, president & director

$1,384.8

25.8%

$3.8 ($243.6)

NYSE SUP

$9.72 $3.53

Auto parts and equipment

755 West Big Beaver Road, Suite 1000 , Troy 48084 248-614-8211; ir.skylinechampion.com

26600 Telegraph Road, Suite 400, Southfield 48033 248-352-7300; supind.com

$1,391.1

$1,369.7

$1,100.8

SOURCES: S&P Global Market Intelligence, (Marketintelligence.spglobal.com) and SEC filings | This list of publicly held companies is a compilation of the largest companies in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and

Livingston counties that have stock traded on a public exchange. For companies not on a calendar fiscal year, revenue and net income figures are for the most recently completed fiscal year. 52-week highs and lows are for period ending April 19, 2022. NA = not available. NOTES: 1. Succeeded Richard Allison as CEO, effective April 30.

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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ENGINEERING / DESIGN

MANUFACTURING

NONPROFIT

REAL ESTATE

Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick, Inc.

Dearborn Mid-West Company, LLC

The Children’s Foundation

Friedman Real Estate

Anderson, Eckstein, & Westrick Inc. is pleased to announce that Kathryn Nelson has joined the firm as Marketing Manager. Mrs. Nelson has over 6 years of experience in designing and developing marketing content for AEC firms, and has an extensive background in video production and storytelling. With her unique background and creativity, Kathryn will bring a fresh new look to AEW’s marketing. Mrs. Nelson earned her Bachelor’s degree in Media Communications from Lawrence Technological University.

Dearborn Mid-West Company (DMW) is pleased to announce the promotion of Yasser Haidar and Haider Marius Vlad to the positions of Vice President. Yasser Haidar earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology from Lawrence Tech University. Throughout his 25 years with DMW, Yasser has progressively held roles as a Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Project Manager, and Director of Projects. Marius Vlad, an Electrical Engineer and Vlad Robotic Programming enthusiast from Wayne State University, has been with DMW since 2008. In the past 14 years, Marius has advanced from Project Engineer to Project Manager, and Director of Projects. We are proud of their outstanding performance and congratulate them on their well-deserved promotions.

Dr. David Kwon, Physician in Charge of recently opened Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion and CoDirector of the Henry Ford Pancreas Cancer Center, joined the organization’s Board of Trustees. Dr. Kwon is responsible for oversight and strategic planning, collaborations with international partners, and incorporation of novel technologies that will identify early markers of pancreas cancer and improve patient-directed therapy. His expertise aligns with the Foundation’s Pediatric Research focus area.

Friedman Real Estate is pleased to announce that Mark Bollozos has joined as Chief Administrative Officer; responsible for overseeing Shared Services and Interdepartmental Communication ~ working closely with the leaders of Friedman’s operating companies. Bollozos joins the firm’s Senior Leadership Team and will be based in the company’s Farmington Hills Corporate Headquarters. Bollozos brings more than 25 years of diversified experience in commercial real estate management and operations.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Riveron Lauren Leach has more than fifteen years of experience in commercial real estate. She is motivated by her commitment to devise turnaround strategies to increase the value of distressed properties and thereby improve the communities in which the assets reside. Her specialty of working on distressed assets in court-appointed receiverships is exceptionally rare and niche. She also specializes in retailer advisory, leasing matters, portfolio valuations and liquidations, and real estate litigation support.

REAL ESTATE

Beztak Beztak Companies is pleased to welcome Leigh Berkhoel as our Executive Design Professional, providing design leadership for Beztak’s ever expanding portfolio. Leigh’s many-layered experience includes retail design, and visual merchandiser in the fashion industry, interior design, and most recently, 10 years of experience with Interior Environments, a top Michigan contract furniture dealer. Leigh’s education includes a BFA in Interior Design at Rocky Mountain College of Fine Art and Design.

TECHNOLOGY

ChoiceTel ChoiceTel is pleased to announce that Amy Messer has joined the team as a Senior Communications and Solution Specialist, bringing 25+ years of experience in sales/customer support, project management, commercial sales/distribution, office management, administration, and customer service. Since 1994, ChoiceTel has been helping mid-market to enterprise clients select, manage and ensure their telecommunications/IT products and services are clearly meeting their needs.

HEALTHCARE / INSURANCE NONPROFIT

HAP has named Michele Gale vice president, Consumer Experience and Marketing. She previously served as chief operating officer at Honor Community Health in Pontiac, and also spent 14 years in leadership at St. Joseph Mercy Health. Gale holds a Bachelor of Science degree in community development/health sciences from Central Michigan University and a Green Belt certification from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

14 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

Starfish Family Services Marisa Nicely, LMSW, has been named Chief Program Officer. Marisa will oversee the integrated Starfish service continuum of early education & behavioral health programs that positively impact metro Detroit children & families. Her visionary leadership includes a 25-year tenure at Starfish, most recently serving as VP of Behavioral Health. Marisa and her team built one of the largest Infant Mental Health programs in the U.S. and are state leaders in trauma-informed and integrated healthcare.

REAL ESTATE

Colliers Detroit Colliers is pleased to welcome back Ryan Brittain as Vice President in our Detroit office. Ryan specializes in the sale and leasing of industrial real estate throughout the Metro Detroit area. Ryan started his career with Grubb & Ellis and then joined Colliers in 2013. He has extensive industry experience having worked for publicly traded REIT, First Industrial Realty Trust, and then prominent local developer, Cunningham-Limp, leading development efforts across multiple asset classes.

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DEALS&DETAILS  CONTRACTS  Roncelli Inc. Sterling Heights, a construction management firm, was awarded the St. Joseph Mercy Health System’s Triage and Labor-Delivery-Recovery renovation at the Pontiac Hospital. The project renovation will increase the LDR patient rooms from 11 to 12 and the triage will increase from four patient bays to a flexible space that can accommodate up to seven patients. A temporary space will also be constructed to accommodate patients during the construction phase. Website: roncelli-inc.com  Denso Corp., Southfield, a mobility supplier, is an official partner in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program, helping Denso reach its sustainability goals by reducing the environmental impact of its manufacturing operations and energy use. One of Denso’s causes is achieving carbon neutrality by 2035. Website: denso.com/us-ca/en  Amesite Inc., Detroit, an artificial intelligence software company, extended a partnership with Wayne State University for 3 years. The partnership will offer professional certificate programs on Warrior TechSource – Wayne State’s proprietary learning community. The professional certificates focus on automotive and related technologies. Website: amesite.com

 EXPANSIONS  The Michigan Gaming Control Board, Detroit, a board that provides oversight of the state’s gaming industry, authorized Soaring Eagle Gaming, Mount Pleasant, the Saginaw Chippewa tribe’s gaming arm, to launch internet gaming and sports betting as the state’s 15th operator. Operating under the brand name Eagle Casino and Sports, Soaring Eagle Gaming has partnered with platform provider GAN. Websites: michigan. gov/mgcb, soaringeaglecasino.com  123NET, Southfield, a fiber internet, colocation, and voice services provider, is expanding its fiber network. A new 128-mile route will run from Southfield to Bay City. Construction on the network has already started and will be completed in sections over the next 18 months. Communities along the route include: Southfield, Beverly Hills, Birmingham, Bloomfield, Pontiac, Waterford, Clarkston, Davisburg, Holly, Fenton, Grand Blanc, Flint, Clio, Birch Run, Bridgeport, Saginaw and Bay City. Website: 123.net  The St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center, Detroit, a social services organization, is expanding its free adult education and GED services in the Oakland County Michigan Works! Pontiac office, 1850 N Perry St., in a partnership with Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, a nonprofit that provides personal and workforce development programs. Website: svsfcenter.org

 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS  Technosoft Corp., doing business as Apexon, Southfield, an information technology consulting firm, and Infostretch Corp., Santa Clara, Calif., a digital engineering company, merged. The combined entity will operate under the Apexon brand. Websites: apexon.com, infostretch.com

TOWER

BUICK CITY

From Page 3

Using a process akin to a carefully choreographed ballet, various prefabricated materials are brought on site precisely when they are needed from different locations, including a warehouse at Michigan Avenue and 23rd Street in southwest Detroit — starting with steel and concrete. Then the floor’s facade and mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems — MEP, in construction industry parlance — are put into place. Other prefabricated and necessary materials are brought onto the floorplate before it is elevated and locked into its final position. And even while that floor is being raised, the next one can be assembled below. (Work can continue around the site and adjacent to the floorplate while it is being lifted, Benvenuto said. There are eight jacks, each with a capacity of about 200 tons.) As much of the building is assembled at ground level as possible, providing for better worker safety and faster construction, which can shave significant costs off a project’s budget as well as schedule. “All of that is at the most efficient height we can put it at for them,” he said during a recent tour, largely done with the 1 million pounds of steel and concrete overhead, supported by the LiftBuild system.

“I could certainly see a manufacturing tenant being attracted to this property,” she said. “There’s a shortage of shovel-ready sites in the state. Our goal would be to turn this into a shovel-ready site that would be attractive.” One of the developer’s top end users in Michigan is Amazon Inc. Asked if the e-commerce giant was planning a distribution center there, a company spokeswoman replied in an email, “Amazon has a policy of not commenting on rumors or speculation.” The project would come with 3,000-4,000 jobs, not including the construction jobs to build the light industrial development, said Samantha Fountain, acting economic development director for Flint. Ashley Capital has indicated the jobs would pay upward of $17 per hour, Fountain said. “It’s going to be big for morale,” Neeley said. “It will change the region and the city of Flint and also Genesee County, and also it would help provide a level of stability in our economic landscape.” The city had been looking for years to reactivate the sprawling site, which once symbolized automotive prowess but had been left to decay after General Motors abandoned it during its 2009 bankruptcy. As part of the bankruptcy settlement, the property came under control of the RACER Trust (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response Trust) in 2011. Since then, the trust has funneled around $30 million toward cleaning up the site, said Grant Trigger, Michigan cleanup manager for RACER. The Buick City site spans 413 acres. The trust, founded to clean up and restore old GM plants, owns 364 acres of it after selling two parcels totaling about 49 acres to be redeveloped. The bulk of the cleanup work involved stopping oil from leaking

Practical applications The process is intended to streamline construction and make it more efficient, akin to an automotive assembly plant.

LIVENGOOD

From Page 6

LaSata’s plan would provide a $6,000-a-year scholarship to attend a four-year public university or private college or $3,000-a-year to cover tuition at a community college for two years. The new “last dollar” scholarship would cover what federal financial aid doesn’t cover for students from middle- to upper-middle class families. “That’s a game-changer,” said Dan Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU), the Lansing advocacy group for Michigan’s 15 public universities. It’s a game-changer because Michigan ranks dead last in America in state taxpayer-supported financial aid for defraying the cost of college, making the path to higher earning power from a bachelor’s degree more and more unattainable. The current Michigan Competitive Scholarship is less than competitive with other states, providing about $1,000 a year in aid for a limited number of students. States like Indiana, Minnesota and Texas all have financial aid outlays topping $10,000 per student annually, said Bob Murphy, chief policy officer at MASU. “We’re not going to grow as a state if we don’t have an educated workforce,” said LaSata, R-Niles. LaSata’s proposal comes as every university except the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is bleeding students. Between 2019 and 2021, enrollment at Central Michigan University plummeted by a whopping 20.4 percent, according to MASU enrollment data.

An image of The Exchange building’s roof about halfway through its approximately 10-hour journey to the top of the building under construction in Greektown. | LIFTBUILD LLC

“How do we turn the construction site into really a manufacturing facility? That’s our ultimate goal,” Benvenuto said. “It’s making (workers) more productive, which of course helps us and our owners, and that’s really what this is about.” Logistics is key to making sure as much of each floor is finished when it is lifted, as there are no tower cranes like would typically be seen at a construction site like The Exchange. The building will have 153 apartments and 12 condos when it’s completed next year on Gratiot Avenue. Ultimately, the technology could also help with labor shortage issues which have plagued the industry for years, Benvenuto says. If skilled trades workers are more efficient at sites where the LiftBuild technology is used, that means they can move

on to other construction jobs quicker, alleviating some of the pressure on the labor market. But now that what Benvenuto calls the “validation” of the technology is complete, that will help LiftBuild sell the concept to other developers who may be interested in utilizing it. “We do have some owners that say, ‘Hey, we love the concept. We love what you guys are all about. But once you have built a building or two, then let us know,’” Benvenuto said. The Exchange is expected to take its first residents in late spring next year. Deep foundation work began in March 2021 and the spines were completed earlier this spring.

Eastern Michigan University’s student head count dropped by 13.7 percent during the pandemic, while Oakland University’s enrollment is down 9.7 percent and Wayne State University has 7.1 percent fewer students enrolled on its Midtown Detroit campus, MASU’s data shows. “There’s nothing in this state that would turn around enrollment on a dime like this (proposed scholarship),” Hurley said A major investment from the state in higher education would send a signal to businesses that Michigan is still in the game for retaining its homegrown talent and attracting newcomers, Donofrio said.

Volunteer State’s degree attainment rates to be tied with Michigan now. LaSata’s proposed scholarship program in the Senate’s higher education budget would cost taxpayers $361 million. For some perspective, that’s about 84 percent of the total state funding Michigan’s community colleges get annually. At Monday’s Detroit Economic Club meeting, Donofrio emphasized the state needs a cohesive talent creation and retention program that withstands economic recessions and changes in which political party controls the governor’s office and Legislature. Ron Hall Jr., CEO of the Detroit-based car seat supplier Bridgewater Interiors LLC, spoke alongside Donofrio at Monday’s economic club meeting. Hall’s family-owned business — Michigan’s second-largest Blackowned company by revenue, according to the Crain’s Data Center — has a manufacturing plant in northern Alabama that assembles seats for Honda Motor Co.’s U.S. plants. He talked of walking away from a meeting late last year of southern automotive business leaders “stunned” at hearing the governors of Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina talk in great detail about their strategy to “attack the Upper Midwest and Michigan” and “move the automobile manufacturing industry to the southeast ... and make sure that region continues to be the area where the industry grows.” “They talked with a lot of pride about the jobs they’ve been able to pull away from Michigan,” Hall said.

“THEY TALKED WITH A LOT OF PRIDE ABOUT THE JOBS THEY’VE BEEN ABLE TO PULL AWAY FROM MICHIGAN.” — Ron Hall Jr., CEO, Bridgewater Interiors LLC

“Now is the time to be bold,” Donofrio said, noting that the Legislature is sitting on some $5 billion in federal stimulus and one-time surplus tax revenue. “I think it would absolutely send a message.” There also are 1 million Michigan adults over age 25 who went to college but never completed a degree, 700,000 of whom live in Southeast Michigan alone, according to the Detroit Regional Chamber. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan Reconnect program that provides free community college to these adults who “upskill” was modeled after a program Republicans in Tennessee created in 2017, which is credited with boosting the

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

“IT’S GOING TO BE BIG FOR MORALE. IT WILL CHANGE THE REGION AND THE CITY OF FLINT AND ALSO GENESEE COUNTY, AND ALSO IT WOULD HELP PROVIDE A LEVEL OF STABILITY IN OUR ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE.” — Sheldon Neeley, Flint mayor

into a river, Trigger said, and most of it was complete until PFAS was discovered on the site in 2018. PFAS has complicated the cleanup, but RACER and Ashley Capital struck a deal that would allow development to move forward during remediation work. Under the purchase and redevelopment agreement, Ashley Capital would take 290 acres in the initial transaction, and the rest — where PFAS remains an issue — after the site is clean, Trigger said. It’s similar to the agreement worked out between the trust and the developer at the former 116acre GM Delco Chassis Plant in Livonia. “We can sell property and continue to do our cleanup work after the sale,” Trigger said. “That allows us to sell property, not waiting for all of the environmental work to be done, which in the past has been a challenge for some of these sites.” Bruce Rasher, redevelopment manager for RACER Trust, said the trust agreed to sell the Buick City site at a “nominal” cost. He said RACER vets potential buyers based on development experience, track record, access to capital and access to tenants and end users. “Without a doubt, we have that in Ashley Capital,” Rasher said. “They are the real deal.” Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl

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SUPPLIERS

From Page 3

“You can’t have this massive margin compression and not have distress,” said Steven Wybo, senior managing director and restructuring expert at Riveron, a financial consulting firm in Birmingham. “It’s keeping their head above water, but you can only do that so long. They do need to be able pass some of this inflation on.” Wybo said the financial pressure on suppliers is worse than it was at this point last year, even though the microchip shortage has eased up slightly. Sustained inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine have deepened the problems for a supply chain trying to recover. As a result, vehicle production has not bounced back as quickly as many analysts predicted even as demand remains strong with higher vehicle prices. Moody’s Investors Service last month revised its growth expectation for global light vehicle sales in 2022 to 3.3 percent, down nearly half from its previous projection of 6.2 percent. “The automotive sector environment remains challenging, and the recovery of global light vehicle sales from the 2020 trough is more protracted than Moody’s had initially expected,” the credit rating researcher said in a report. One key difference from a year ago is that automakers know they have to offer some pricing relief if they want to keep their suppliers afloat and cars coming down the line, said Dan Sharkey, co-founder and member at Brooks Wilkins Sharkey & Turco PLLC in Birmingham who specializes in supply chain litigation. “If you’re making a little part and it’s 10 bucks, and your labor goes up 20 percent, and inflation goes up 8 percent, all the sudden you go to making a little profit, maybe 10 percent, to losing 10 percent,” Sharkey said. “You’re literally taping money to the box every time you make a

Workers assemble modules for Ford Motor Co. at the BorgWarner Inc. manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. | BLOOMBERG

Wybo

Sharkey

part, so you have no choice but to run to your customer and say ‘I got to have a price increase.’” Sharkey said automakers are coming to the table, albeit “through gritted teeth and under protest,” but most are offering lump sum “get well” injections of cash, rather than structural increases. Some automakers are threatening to withhold future contract awards to suppliers asking for increases, Sharkey said.

“If there hadn’t been all this economic relief from customers, we would have had widespread financial failure of suppliers, and the OEMs know that, and that’s what they want to avoid,” he said. Even automakers with poor reputations for how they treat suppliers, such as Stellantis, understand they must share some of the pain, Sharkey said, but it’s not without a fight. Stellantis COO Mark Stewart said the automaker is working with suppliers through the headwinds. “We continue to work on efficiency programs together of how to altogether get the costs out of the operations so everybody can be profitable and everybody can win in this environment,” Stewart told reporters after an event last week at a new supplier plant in Detroit. Still, the general approach of the

automaker, whose North American headquarters is in Auburn Hills, with suppliers remains hard-line and the mantra is reducing prices. “So, we continue to work with the supplier base again to get that cost out,” Stewart said. “Consumers can only take a certain level before things become unaffordable. The end customer is who is in mind ... because that’s how we all live across our ecosystem.” While financial pressure has yet to ease up, suppliers still see the light at the end of the tunnel, said Luke Junk, a Milwaukee-based senior analyst of vehicle technology and mobility at global financial advisory firm Baird. Junk said steel, aluminum and other commodity prices are expected to normalize eventually, as are freight and logistic snarls. That will lead to the more predictable production ca-

ABORTION

From Page 1

Reid represents 400 companies at his law firm and pens most of those companies’ handbook policies. For example, it’s possible some employers would support employees traveling for treatment to Illinois, where abortion is legal by state law, Reid said. In general, employer-sponsored health care policies may or may not cover abortion, depending on the company and what plan it chooses. Large local employers, such as Ford Motor Co., Lear Corp., BorgWarner Inc. and General Motors Co., did not return inquiries on the topic last week. Some major national employers have already weighed in on the issue and changed policies. Amazon, for instance, is covering travel expenses up to $4,000 for an employee to seek care in a more accommodating state. Amazon’s benefit, retroactively effective back to Jan. 1, allows for out-of-state travel reimbursement if health care services are not offered within 100 miles of an employee’s home. Locally, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan offers abortion care coverage for group contracts with employers already and some of those customers have inquired about how that coverage may change if Roe is over16 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

Demonstrators outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 3. | ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES

turned, Helen Stojic, director of corporate affairs for BCBSM told Crain’s. However, she could not comment if any changes would occur at this time. Employers with workers across the country may decide to adopt a health care policy that covers out-of-state services in general as a way to main-

tain equal benefits for all, regardless of whether an employee lives in a state that allows abortion. That way, Reid said, it becomes part of a perk rather than focused on a charged political issue. “They shouldn’t solely focus on just abortion and take a step back

and do what Amazon did and make it for any type of health risk to the worker,” he said. “Then it’s not solely a political or a Christian issue, focusing on a perk and not taking a political position that could force you to lose certain employees.” Michigan Attorney General Dana

dence the automotive industry thrives on. “There’s definitely going to be relief going forward,” Junk said. Until that happens, though, suppliers will have to keep fighting for price increases to protect their business and investors while automakers do the same for theirs by pushing for price decreases. Wybo said he would expect to see at least a handful of major supplier bankruptcies or restructurings by the end of the year. Rapidly rising interest rates and the fear of a global recession are also cause for worry. “Once we get through the pent-up demand, we have a longer-term issue with demand for vehicles,” Wybo added. Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl Nessel has already said she would not enforce the 1931 Michigan law banning abortion, believing it to be unconstitutional. But even if the state’s top lawyer doesn’t plan to enforce it, Michigan’s trigger law could cause some companies to move away from health plans that would pay for abortion entirely, said Michael Hertz, retired obstetrician from Northland Family Planning Centers and adjunct faculty at Wayne State University Medical School. He said he believes the threat of the law would be enough to stop many providers from offering abortions in the state. “Breaking the law is never a good thing, but I think the problem wouldn’t necessarily be from AG Nessel but from prosecutors in other areas of the state who may or not feel the same way as the AG,” Hertz said. “That would have a chilling effect on providers who perform abortions.” Democratic prosecutors in several populated counties including Wayne, Oakland, Washtenaw, Ingham, Genesee, Marquette and Kalamazoo said they would also not enforce the law, Bridge Michigan reported. But several others, including Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido, said they would prosecute abortion cases. Contact: dwalsh@crain.com; (313) 446-6042; @dustinpwalsh

KIEZI

From Page 1

TikTok, he says, is his way to “educate the youth, educate everybody” about what’s happening at Oakland Mall, although he says the jury is out on whether his amplified online presence will pay off. “Not sure if it’s a good thing or bad thing,” he says, almost in passing, before launching into a discussion about technical aspects of his real estate investment strategy. It’s clear to Louis Ciotti, a broker who has worked with Kiezi on various deals, that social media is Kiezi’s way to “reach the masses on uses and users, to give the community what they want and what they can see. He’s able to interact.” “He’s a grinder, a boots on the street grinder,” said Ciotti, who is managing director for Farmington Hills-based retail brokerage firm Landmark Commercial Real Estate Services. It is there, both on the street and in the virtual world, he hopes the future of Oakland Mall — well occupied with its in-line retailers and profitable, generating more than $10 million a year in revenue, but still, a mall — will be forged, at least in part: From the suggestions and feedback of tens of thousands of people who follow his channel and chime in on everything from desired tenants to a beloved polar bear play structure that’s no longer there. On TikTok, he shows viewers Antoine’s Ice Cream, his late father’s 774-square-foot ice cream store in the mall more than two decades ago, these days replaced by rideable electronic children’s toys. In another video, he talks with Gordon, who Kiezi dubs the “president of the mall walkers.” He shows off more than a dozen Monopoly games, which he says he’s been collecting the last several years. But, like in the real estate-themed game, his gamble is a risk. To say the least, his grand vision is ambitious and fluid, a hodgepodge of potential occupants and buzzwords — maker space, pop-up retailers, a “TikTok Village,” an area designed for selfies, food halls, all finding homes

Owner Mario Kiezi poses for a portrait at Oakland Mall in Detroit. | NIC ANTAYA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

to come work,’” Kiezi said, sitting at a table in the Oakland Mall food court in April. That path was in liquor stores in Ohio, he said, where there are substantially fewer because of state limitations. It was that reason that, when he and his family sold and assisted Kroger Co. with the purchase of six stores, he wound up with a healthy sum of money that he then parlayed into strip mall development in his early 20s. “That gave me my head start to get into real estate,” he said. He built in Shelby Township, and in two Ohio towns, Holland and Tiffin, still barely old enough to buy a beer. “I was just kind of a young kid building shopping centers, 23 years old,” he said, learning lessons on construction and the law. Although he says he “OUR GOAL IS TO BE HIP AND COOL. profited, the buildings AUTHENTIC, HAVE A VARIETY OF opened late and there bumps in the road. CHOICES, HAVE SPACES JUST FOR ME.” were “It was a lot of trial — Mario Kiezi and error,” Kiezi said. “But I didn’t know any in the mall, which may get a hip new better. I had nobody to really teach name like (@)Oakland or (the)Oak- me, so I could do it on my own.” land. “We’re gonna change the DNA of A big leap this place,” Kiezi said, comparing his vision to Chelsea Market in New York By the second half of the 2010s, Kiezi City’s Meatpacking District. felt he had hit a groove. He turned a long-vacant 90,000-square-foot Toledo big-box ‘Trial and error’ store into an Asian supermarket, a Big Kiezi is not of a real estate dynasty, Lots and a Bulk Beverage Co. — think like the Taubmans and Forbes and like a Total Wine & More, which have Schostaks of the world. He does not sprouted up in four suburban Detroit have decades of experience in retail locations recently. Later, he began turning his attention real estate, like a Lormax Stern Development Co. or a Robert B. Aikens & to Detroit, assembling a potpourri of Associates, an A.F. Jonna Develop- buildings and properties through his ment LLC or a Grand/Sakwa Proper- main company, MKiezi Investments. Some, like Park Avenue House — ties LLC. He is, as he describes himself, a which he envisioned turning into a ho“merchant at heart and a developer by tel — he and his investors have sold to trade.” Practically raised in the shops new owners. That building for Kiezi, his family owned, selling everything however, is the one that got away: A from ice cream to deli sandwiches to photo of it is still the screensaver on his liquor. Leaving home a week after iPad, more than a year after selling it at graduating from Sterling Heights High what ultimately he said was a loss. School to forge his own path. “I was early but late to Detroit,” Kiezi “My brothers told me to enjoy my reflected. “I had big aspirations. I still senior summer and I said, ‘No, I want have big aspirations there. Park was a

big leap. I call it tuition. I learned a lot by buying that property. Maybe Harvard tuition, OK?” Others, like the former Union Street Detroit restaurant building, hit the market for sale. Still others, like properties in the North Corktown neighborhood, he still holds after purchasing from fellow developer Philip Kafka. Ditto a building on Columbia Street near the planned Detroit Center for Innovation project by Stephen Ross, the Ilitch family and the University of Michigan. He has picked up former Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores, including the one at Oakland Mall, which is being turned into a Hobby Lobby, as well as — in late April — the vacant 300,000 squarefoot-plus store at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, plans for which are yet to be determined. He still also owns his retail centers. In recent years, there have been headaches because of one particular neighboring tenant: Chick-Fil-A. Kiezi sued the national chicken chain restaurant in December 2020 over its drive-thru lines at a Toledo location that Kiezi said, according to Business Insider, stretched into his shopping center’s parking lot, blocking spaces and being a nuisance to his tenants and their customers. Others have sued the chain for the same reason. And although Kiezi said he tends to not be a long-term holder of real estate, utilizing 1031 like-kind exchanges moving from deal to deal, Oakland Mall is different for him, partially because of everything he wants to accomplish. “Our goal is to be hip and cool. Authentic, have variety of choices, have spaces just for me,” Kiezi said, anticipating a 10- to 25-year hold period.

‘Something exciting about that’ Although he has started to make some cosmetic changes — adding an art installation by Chandrika Metivier, for example — he still faces challenges big and small that mall owners of all stripes face. The Easter Bunny, for example. Kiezi was less than a month into his

Kiezi buys Lakeside Mall’s former Sears The new owner of Oakland Mall in Troy has added the former Sears, Roebuck and Co. store at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights to his real estate portfolio. Mario Kiezi said plans for the 323,500-square-foot vacant store along Hall Road, one of the busiest retail thoroughfares in Southeast Michigan, are yet to be determined. The store closed permanently in 2018. “Hall Road has transitioned into a super regional trade market ripe with first-to-market retailers with high barriers of entry between Schoenherr and Hayes Road,” he said in a statement. “We hope to encourage growth within the corridor.” He bought the building from Transformco Properties — the parent company of Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears, buying the formerly dominant retailer’s assets out of bankruptcy — for an undisclosed price. Detroit-based brokerage firm Stokas Bieri Real Estate worked on the deal. It is Kiezi’s second former Sears purchase, following the purchase of the 407,000-square-foot Sears store at Oakland Mall, which is being turned, in part, into a Hobby Lobby store. Kiezi bought Oakland Mall in late March and said at the time that he plans a “massive remodeling” of the shopping center at 14 Mile and John R roads. Lakeside Mall sold for $26.5 million at the end of 2019 to Miami-based Out of the Box Ventures. The former Sears store ownership is separate from that of the rest of the shopping mall. — Kirk Pinho tenure as owner when Easter was nearly ruined for several dozen Metro Detroit families — twice. A scheduled photographer noshowed on two days, but Shawn Kuemerle, owner of the Jordamken Photography studio in the mall, offered to shoot Easter Bunny photos with the eager children on both occasions. But beyond that, the big, existential issues remain: In an evolving retail environment increasingly shifting away from expansive indoor shopping malls surrounded by seas of parking, how do you make them the desirable shopping destinations they once were? And can you? For Kiezi, the answer is yes — through a kind of creative destruction, reimagining Oakland Mall as what he calls the “anti-mall.” That means eliminating, eventually, many of the national chain retailers, particularly fashion. Adding food trucks. Restaurants focusing on ramen and charcuterie, for example. A farmers market. An indoor dog park. “This market is ripe for something

similar to what his vision is,” said Cindy Ciura, a retail expert who is principal of Bloomfield Township-based CC Consulting. “He wants to bring local people in, the best of the best for food, entertainment concepts that haven’t been done in this market,” she said. “He is looking to drive people from literally all over the market, not just within a 5-, 10- or 15-minute drive time. There’s something exciting about that.” And Jim Bieri, principal of Detroit-based Stokas Bieri Real Estate, who worked with Kiezi on the Sears purchase in Sterling Heights, called him someone who “sees values in enclosed malls that other folks haven’t.” “He understands how to create value in the short term, and he has a vision for Oakland Mall,” Bieri said. “The people from the Simons and Taubmans that built malls 30-40 years ago had a vision, and he may have a vision for the next incarnation of malls.” Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB MAY 9, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 17

THE CONVERSATION

Justin Turk on how he’s building a software company in Detroit Justin Turk, co-founder and CEO of Livegistics, has a family legacy in the Detroit construction and contracting industry, a sector he hopes to help modernize with the use of a high-growth software startup he leads. The Detroit-based company offers a cloud-based material management system for contractors and companies in the landfill business, comes with GPS tracking, which can minimize the use of paper and decreases fraud, revenue loss and lawsuits by utilizing real-time data analytics. Turk’s family-owned Turk’s Paving, at one time Detroit’s largest minority-owned contractor. Livegistics recently closed on a $6 million capital raise, landing the company a valuation of $27 million, according to Turk. | BY NICK MANES So as the company has enjoyed some positive growth over the last year or so, what are you as the CEO learning and what kinds of challenges or issues are you finding? So in the last calendar year, we’ve grown about 4X. So when you think about that type of growth, not just as far as revenue, but as far as the amount of people in our organization — and doing it mostly in a remote area … because we’ve got people in multiple states — we’re doing it where we’re trying to make sure that our mission statement and our vision remain current. So my job obviously, is not only to spearhead the mission and the vision of our organization, but to also make sure that the culture we want it to continue to exude is reverberated by everybody that comes in, no matter what part of the country they are in. What are some examples of the culture you mentioned above? We talk about building technology to have system integrity, (but) also having integrity within ourselves. And those are things that we instilled in our core principles and our values are people come into this organization, because we think that’s a direct reflection not only on us, but on what we think the construction and the environmental markets look like moving forward. What do you see as the value of the company being headquartered in Detroit? We’re always talking about the opportunities in Detroit because it’s a renaissance when it comes to infrastructure. So we talked about building a company in the construction technologies space (with a focus on) environmental impact (and) this is a great place to start, because of the major projects that we have going on in this

in our household. So being able to take that investment from Black Ambition (Williams’ group) … We got a lot of tools so that we could take our time and start asking the right questions so that we could position ourselves in the best possible scenario for this seed round, because the seed round sets you up for growth. ... And if you don’t do it the right way, you’re going to have to unwind some things later, or you’re going to pay the price later. So being able to have all that value ahead of time, ask the questions, and make sure that we were getting the best terms possible for our organization. That’s part of the education, and I think the thing that’s missing is not dollars first, that’s not first and foremost. It’s that a lot of minority-led founding groups are not educated and they’re not in the circle that gives them the opportunity to learn the right things you need to know to navigate in this space.

Justin Turk is CEO of Livegistics

region. We’ve got some amazing team members who are from metro Detroit. We’ve been able to recruit people from all over the country who want to work for a company that’s headquartered in Detroit. They see the unique proposition that we provide. They see a diverse group, and in this day and age in 2022, when a lot of people are still working remote, they have the flexibility to work wherever they want, and that’s been appealing to them. Livegistics closed on a $6 million seed round last month from a handful of investors. Venture capital invest-

ment has been slow to materialize for Black-owned startups and has only begun to pick up pace. What do you see as the significance of that investment, as well as the $1 million grant the company received last year through an initiative backed by musician Pharrell Williams? It’s very significant. I can talk specifically about Black-led companies: when you talk about accepting venture capital money, we’re not aware and not educated a lot of times because we’re not sitting at those same tables. This is not something that’s just part of our day-to-day conversations

What advice would you give to others navigating the VC space? First off, you don’t take money from just anybody. And I know sometimes because people hand you a check. You think that’s the right decision, and it’s not. We were very deliberate. We were very careful about the discussions we were having. What do the next 12 to 24 months look like for Livegistics’ business? We’ll be in landfills in all 50 states. We’re also looking at recyclables and metal processing, so the facilities that Livegistics is located in will grow exponentially. As far as customers and contracts using our platform, there’s a huge concentration and opportunity in the Midwest. So first and foremost, we’re taking care of home, not only Michigan, but Ohio and Indiana. When we talk about our contractor platform, we’ll be working our way both east and west.

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RUMBLINGS

18 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MAY 9, 2022

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Wedding of two brokers breaks internet with son’s viral video ROBERT AND KRISTIE MIHELICH’S wedding registry was pretty standard fare: An air fryer. Vases. Throw pillows. Luggage. A humidifier. Not on the matrimonial wish-list for the couple, whose relationship blossomed in the high-pressure world of commercial real estate: A viral video. They got one anyway when their son, Pierson, who turned 3 last week, ended up going viral with his reaction to seeing his mom at the April 22 wedding held at the Planterra Conservatory in West Bloomfield Township. In the video — which has been featured on “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America,” among others — Pierson, donning a blue vest, black bowtie and white shirt, is standing at the altar with his dad,

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Pierson runs to greet his mother Kristie Mihelich as she appears, ready to walk down the aisle. | ORANGE BLOSSOM PHOTOGRAPHY

who is senior vice president in the Royal Oak office of Chicago-based JLL. He smiles, shouts, “Hi, mom!” waves both hands excitedly and

runs, arms wide, up the aisle to greet Kristie Mihelich, a former CBRE Inc. associate who bends down to greet him back before walking down the aisle with her

brother, Kirk King, flanking her little boy. It was a culmination of the pair’s relationship, which began as a business partnership when both were brokers at Dallas-based CBRE in 2014. Kristie — who has hung up her brokerage hat, at least for the time being, to focus full time on motherhood — recounts how she and Robert were business partners for years before becoming a couple. “He was specific in retail, but also with an emphasis in industrial, office, etc., so we partnered up and then grew our business substantially in all three sectors, and that was for over five years that we were business partners,” Kristie said Thursday morning. “Then in that process, we fell in love.”

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