Crain's Detroit Business, November 4, 2024 by Crain's Detroit Business

Belle Isle Boathouse proposal includes marina, water taxis

By Sherri Welch

A new development proposal for the Belle Isle Boathouse would create a new welcome center for the Detroit River island, opening it to the public with a new marina and boating options, restaurants, restored event space and expanded areas for nonprofit rowing and sailing programs.

“After more than 100 years as a ‘private’ club, the boathouse will be a stopping point for all visitors to the island,” the plan’s developer says in the plan, dubbed the Belle Isle Gateway at the Detroit Boathouse.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which operates Belle Isle under a contract

with the city of Detroit, said at a recent Belle Isle Park Advisory Committee meeting that it had chosen a proposal to move forward with the restoration of the historic boathouse. It plans to release details at a public hearing Nov. 7 at Belle Isle’s Flynn Pavilion.

Crain’s obtained the plan through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Stuart Pitman Inc., a Detroit-based firm led by David Carleton, a vocal supporter of saving the boathouse, would be the lead developer of the $30 million-$35 million public-private project that would restore the facility.

See BOATHOUSE on Page 75

Oakland County nears deal for Pontiac plan

Razing of Phoenix Center parking deck, amphitheater to start by January

By Kirk Pinho

Oakland County officials are in the midst of brokering a deal with a pair of major real estate companies to redevelop the southern part of downtown Pontiac as it works to create a satellite campus there for its employees.

The county has tapped a contractor to raze the Phoenix Center parking deck and amphitheater in downtown Pontiac starting by January, and officials are in negotiations with another contractor for a large-scale plan at the site.

The county’s effort would be

Republicans see an opening to break Democrats’ lock on state Legislature

By David Eggert

Michigan Democrats won full control of the Legislature for the first time in forever and quickly reversed major Republican-passed laws while enacting gun-control and clean-energy bills.

Now they are trying to hang on

to their slim, 56-54 House majority. Without it, they will lose their two-year governing “trifecta” — meaning it would take bipartisanship to advance key spending and policy measures in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s final two years of office.

The stakes could not be higher, as shown by an unprecedented

level of Democratic spending in roughly a dozen battleground races in metro Detroit and elsewhere.

The fight hinges on how incumbents in both parties fare in what is a better top-of-the-ticket environment for Republicans

See LANSING on Page 74

among the largest to happen in downtown Pontiac in more than 30 years when McLaren Health Care opened a new hospital tower, Pontiac City Council President Mike McGuinness said, also noting other redevelopments in the last 10-plus years of the Flagstar Strand Theatre and a former Sears department store into residential units and a market.

Last month Oakland County selected Detroit-based Adamo Group to demolish the deck — a key step forward for the county to start implementing its plan to relocate 700 of its employees to

downtown Pontiac.

In addition, the county has selected — but not formally chosen — a team spearheaded by Birmingham-based developer and landlord Boji Group and Detroit-based construction giant Walbridge Group to lead an effort to build out other uses at the campus that include a new 1,300-space parking deck, a 100-room hotel, a 120-unit apartment building, a 48-unit townhome development, a 24,000-square-foot enclosed farmers market building and a

ARCHIBIM INC.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer outlines priorities at the State of the State speech on Jan. 24, flanked by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (left) and House Speaker Joe Tate. | AL GOLDIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Renderings of the proposed development in downtown Pontiac. | KRIEGER KLATT ARCHITECTS

See OAKLAND on Page 76

Stellantis sues Brose as battle with auto suppliers expands

By Kurt Nagl

Stellantis NV’s legal ght with its suppliers has grown after the automaker sued a German parts maker over another pricing dispute.

Stellantis is accusing Brose North America Inc. of holding the automaker’s operations “hostage” and costing it more than $3 million in damages after shutting down Windsor Assembly Plant, according to the lawsuit led last month in Oakland County, where both companies keep their North American headquarters.

Brose is at least the fth supplier sued in the past year by Stellantis, whose brands include Chrysler, Ram, Dodge and Jeep. e automaker is escalating litigation against its parts makers amid ghts on several fronts including the UAW, shareholders and dealers as operational issues fester in North America.

e lawsuit against Brose mirrors the themes of preceding cases: an automaker determined to contain rising costs clashes with a supplier unwilling to absorb them. e dispute with Brose came to a head in July when its refusal to ship parts without a price increase shut down Windsor Assembly for two days, according to the complaint.

“It has become increasingly clear that unless the court orders otherwise, Brose will refuse to

honor its contracts with FCA and will continue to demand more money for its goods as it desires, leaving the continuous operation of FCA’s plants at risk,” the lawsuit said, referring to the automaker’s name before the PSA Group merger and Stellantis rebrand.

Brose had not submitted a response to the lawsuit as of Oct. 29, court records show. Brose is “hopeful for a resolution” that will keep its business relationship with Stellantis intact, the supplier said in a statement to Crain’s.

“We do not comment on pending litigation,” Brose said in the statement. “However, we recognize that the volatility in the automotive industry has signi cantly impacted relationships between the supply base and OEMs. Our main goal is to protect our business and employees, as we are committed to nding reasonable solutions to support our customer relationships. We remain hopeful for a resolution that allows our partnership to continue.”

While similar to previous litigation, the Brose case represents a bit of a di erent strategy for Stellantis as it turns to the courtroom to help manage its supply contracts. In the other lawsuits, the automaker sought — with mixed success — a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order to compel suppliers to keep shipping parts.

In the case of Brose, the auto-

maker has been paying the supplier’s price increases under protest since July 1, according to the lawsuit, which alleges breach of contract and seeks a declaratory judgment in the automaker’s favor.

Stellantis said in a statement to Crain’s that it “will not tolerate suppliers who breach contracts, and disrupt both our operations and our supply chain, to force price increases.

“Stellantis is disappointed that we have to turn to the courts to enforce our contract,” the company said in the statement. “As the automotive market continues to be extremely challenging, it is more important than ever that suppliers, like the OEMs, nd ways to adapt

and achieve component cost reduction to drive competitiveness and a ordability for consumers.”

Brose, which is among the world’s largest family-owned auto suppliers, has a wide portfolio of products including mechatronic systems, electric motors and drivetrains. e parts at the center of the Stellantis lawsuit are seat cushion frames, seat back frames and seat track assemblies, which it had been supplying the automaker for 10 years, according to the lawsuit.

In a tier-two capacity, Brose supplies the parts to seat makers Lear Corp., Adient plc and Magna, though its supply is directed by Stellantis, with which Brose has a contract governed by purchase or-

ders, the complaint said. e justin-time seating suppliers have only one or two days of inventory of Brose’s parts.

In August 2023, Brose threatened to stop shipping if not granted a price increase, according to the lawsuit. Both sides reached an accommodation agreement that November. e lawsuit said Stellantis allowed for accommodations and price increases over the past three years, though the amount was redacted.

Stellantis alleges that the supplier reneged on the deal and shut down Windsor Assembly.

“Brose leveraged this shut down to demand that FCA pay it more for the goods not only for the Windsor Assembly Plant, but for multiple of FCA’s other assembly plants, essentially holding the majority of FCA’s operations hostage unless Brose’s price demands were met,” the lawsuit said.

In its complaint, the automaker demands that Brose pay back the nancial accommodations paid last year and all the price increases paid under protest, leaning on the argument it has made in previous lawsuits:

“ e power of one supplier to cause such catastrophic disruption and impact merely by FCA exercising its clear contractual rights is unwarranted and cannot be justi ed.”

Brose, whose North American headquarters is in Auburn Hills, specializes in mechatronics and makes a wide variety of parts for vehicles. | BROSE

Boardwalk opening at newly completed Oudolf Garden

By Sherri Welch

Seven years after planning efforts began, a world-class garden designed by famed landscape architect Piet Oudolf on Belle Isle Park is finished.

The final plantings — all-native perennials, grasses and shrubs — were put in at the Oudolf Garden Detroit on Belle Isle last month, filling in meadows that visitors will be able to cross via a new boardwalk.

Oudolf, a Dutch designer who has been likened by some to the late famed Belle Isle and Central Park landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, also designed the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park in Chicago and several gardens at Battery Park and the High Line in Manhattan. He is known for designing year-round gardens that look good even when the plants are dormant.

On Oct. 28, Friends of the Oudolf Garden, the nonprofit behind the volunteer-driven effort, gathered to officially open the boardwalk and name the Jean

UM launches $7 billion fundraising campaign

By Crain's Detroit Business

The University of Michigan has launched what it is calling its “most ambitious and innovative” fundraising campaign with a goal of raising $7 billion.

UM said it is the largest such effort in the Ann Arbor-based university’s history and the largest known campaign goal of any public university.

The university has already received gifts totaling $3.3 billion during the silent phase of the Look to Michigan campaign before the public launch announced Oct. 25. The most recent campaign, Victors for Michigan, ran 2013-18 and raised $5.3 billion.

UM said the campaignwhich will touch all UM campuses, including Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint as well as athletics and Michigan Medicine - will support the university’s Vision 2034 and Campus 2050 plans, announced earlier this year, to make an impact in four areas:

Life-changing education: Elevating the educational landscape by providing solutions to the acute shortages of well-prepared educators, addressing resource disparities and giving all learners the opportunity to succeed.

Health and well-being: Tackling critical health challenges locally and globally, improving affordability and access to quality

health care, advocating for preventative health, and generating innovative discoveries that improve and save lives.

Democracy, civic and global engagement: Reinvigorating community participation and critical thinking; expanding knowledge of democratic practices and principles; and strengthening local, national and international alliances.

Sustainability and climate action: Mitigating climate change through research and education; empowering students, faculty, staff and community members to find equitable solutions; and collaborating with partners to create long-term change.

“We know that the world is calling on us to answer the most urgent questions of our time — to be the defining public institution that inspires all that is possible,” President Santa Ono said in a news release. “The deeply collaborative, universitywide priorities of Vision 2034 have been years in the making and set the stage for Michigan to be that institution. And the Look to Michigan campaign will bring this ambitious vision to life.” Look to Michigan, the seventh such campaign undertaken by UM, also will raise funds to support the student experience, innovation and research, community engagement and partnerships, and building state-of-the art facilities.

Wright Hudson Peace Meadows after the civic leader who had the vision to bring Oudolf and the garden to Detroit.

The group will be missing two leaders who made the garden a reality. The first, Joseph Hudson Jr., the late husband of Jean Hudson, served as an adviser to the group before his death in December 2020.

The other, Maura Campbell, former

president of the Garden Club of Michigan, is the person who wrote a “love letter” to Oudolf to get him to come to Detroit from the Netherlands and the logistical leader for the group. She died Oct. 13 after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The original idea to bring a garden designed by Oudolf to Detroit

The return-to-office push feels real this time. The

By Jack Grieve

numbers tell a different story.

It may feel like corporate America is on the heels of another remote work inflection point. The country's two largest employers, Amazon and Walmart, just ordered office workers back to their desks full time, and some bigname business leaders are predicting an end to work-from-home policies altogether.

A closer look, however, challenges that narrative. There is little evidence of offices suddenly filling. Many employers are actively standing by their current work

models. And companies bringing down the hammer on remote work are facing increasingly defiant pushback from employees. How can we know now is not the beginning of the end for remote work?

First, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks it. The government's latest employment report showed telecommuting increased over the last year. In September 2023, 10% of workers were fully remote. That figure is now 11.1%. Hybrid work also went up, with the number of people working in-person part of the time increas-

ing from 9.8% last year to 12.6% now.

Another lens into whether people are actually changing their work habits is office foot traffic. If employers were forcing workers back to their desks en masse, we'd expect to see at least some change reflected in the various trackers of post-pandemic office occupancy. That is not happening.

Years of data from property management firm Kastle Systems, which tracks badge swipes at its buildings in 10 major U.S. cities,

The plantings for the Oudolf Garden Detroit on Belle Isle with a boardwalk are all in, wrapping up the yearslong, volunteer-driven effort. | UNmANNeD AerIAL SoLUTIoNS

The final piece of the yearslong Oudolf Garden Detroit project on Belle Isle is being named the Jean Wright Hudson Peace Meadows after the civic leader who had the vision to bring Oudolf and the garden to Detroit. Hudson is at left with fellow visionary Maura Campbell at the 2019 groundbreaking. | HeATHer SAUNDerS

The University of Michigan is undertaking the largest fundraising campaign in its history. | UNIverSITY oF mICHIGAN vIA FACebooK

Workers staged a walkout in protest of Amazon’s new return to work policy. The push to bring employees back five days a week is an anomaly. | bLoomberG

A pipeline of projects bodes well for downtown Pontiac

Ihave a special place in my heart for Pontiac, a city I called home from 2011-20.

People have been talking for decades about how to improve the downtown — and yes, Pontiac writ large — that had fallen on hard times, the victim of factors numerous and complicated, internal and external.

It now seems like a group with not only the determination, but even more importantly the coin to pull it o , has a major proposal

that could dramatically shift the winds in the county seat’s central business district.

I know, I know. We’ve talked about it before.

e word “could” there carries a lot of weight because the project hasn’t started yet, but maybe a bit less weight than normal because the group backing it is the Oakland County government with its $1 billion-plus annual budget and 5,000 or so employees and its Board of Commissioners that

signed o on it.

Clocking in at $115 million-plus, the county’s plan is to bring 700 of its workers to one of the Ottawa Towers buildings — formerly a General Motors Co. property — and raze the outdated Phoenix Center parking deck and amphitheater.

at public buy-in will anchor another $150 million to $175 million mixed-use vision I detailed Oct. 29 by Birmingham-based developer and landlord Ron Boji, and others.

e orts in and around the downtown, said Mike McGuinness, the president of the Pontiac City Council.

“Downtown Pontiac has had so many life cycles the past two centuries. These multiple major projects coalescing all at the same time represent the most comprehensive progress for our downtown in generations,” McGuinness said.

na, the co-owner of the city’s tallest building at 28 N. Saginaw St. downtown, is converting it into 114 apartments with construction underway and residents expected to take occupancy starting in the summer.

Hanna is working on that project with co-developer Maha Banno.

e Boji plan includes a replacement 1,300-space parking deck, 120 apartments, 48 townhomes, a 100key hotel, a 24,000-square-foot enclosed farmer’s market and a 3.4acre public park to be developed in phases, adding much-needed residential housing and other amenities to the core.

A plan like that, expected to kick o no later than January with the demolition of the Phoenix Center, could actually be a truly catalytic e ort in a downtown that hasn’t yet seen the bustle that other Woodward-aligned downtowns like Ferndale, Royal Oak and Birmingham have. It could also serve as fertile grounds for other projects in the works.

ere is housing (yes, even new single-family homes), o ce space, dining halls, museums, automotive and supplier investments, nonpro t campus expansions, new community centers in old schools, go-kart tracks and other

e biggest of those is by a development group that includes the founder of the Mr. Alan’s shoe store chain working on a large-scale $105 million-plus e ort that includes the old Oakland Press building on West Huron Street.

If built as it’s currently envisioned, Alan Bishop and Dennis Gri n’s plan includes:

◗ A new $80.2 million, nine-story, 287-unit apartment building called e Exchange Flats;

◗ A $16 million redevelopment of the former Oakland Press building at 48 W. Huron St. into 75,000 square feet of event and community space, plus a food hall;

◗ And a $9.2 million redevelopment of a former department store building at 91 N. Saginaw St. into 59,000 square feet of o ce space geared at small businesses and nonpro t organizations. at project is looking for more than $79 million in transformational brown eld funding as well.

In addition to that, Dalen Han-

“Many developers looked at this project and walked away due to the significant challenges involved,” Banno said. “We take pride in tackling projects others have set aside, and our investment and commitment reflect our strong confidence in Pontiac’s future.”

Among the others in the works:

A residential conversion of the former United Way building at 50 Wayne St. into lofts; the renovation of the Casa Del Rey building; a former school site being turned into new housing; the redevelopment of 46 N. Saginaw St. into housing; and others, like a pair of new museums, McGuinness said.

“It was our intent that this would be a catalyst for more growth to take place,” said Sean Carlson, deputy Oakland County executive. “We were pretty bullish on making that happen.”

If they come to fruition, all those bode well for the Oakland County seat and its long-struggling business district.

Stay tuned.

Kirk Pinho

An aerial rendering of part of a downtown Pontiac development proposal anchored by a new Oakland County government campus KRIEGER KLATT ARCHITECTS

Lady of the House’s Kate Williams is right at home in new Detroit location

By Jay Davis

Kate Williams had a good week. Her popular restaurant Lady of the House reopened to the public on Oct. 23 in a new home in Detroit, hosting a house full of guests each night over ve nights. And the chef and restaurateur and a group of sta fed more than 600 people at a Detroit Lions tailgate party in Eastern Market. en it was back to the restaurant for Sunday dinner service.

More than three years after closing the doors in Corktown, Williams’ new restaurant at 4884 Grand River Ave. in the Core City neighborhood is open Wednesday-Sunday and the chef is feeling the love.

“( e rst week) went really well,” Williams told Crain’s on Oct. 28. “I always say we have the best guests. Everyone has been so supportive. We’re feeling good but we need rest.”

Lady of the House rst opened in 2017 at 1426 Bagley St. in the city’s Corktown neighborhood. It closed in early 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic when oand-on restrictions on restaurants

and gatherings hurt business. (Alps-inspired restaurant Alpino took over the Corktown space in spring 2023.)

When it came time to start fresh, Williams, a multiple James Beard Awards nominee, said the Core City neighborhood wasn’t at the top of her list in her search for a new space. Williams said she received o ers to open in some developments in various parts of the city. She looked at a couple of spots in Corktown and took a hard look at a downtown space that was once home to Small Plates at 1521 Broadway St.

“ e concept of Lady has always been about Detroit, making people feel special and rooted in my heritage and history,” Williams said.

“ e rst location in Corktown was near the (Gaelic League of Detroit Irish-American Club) where my Irish grandparents got married.

“ is new location has a strong community and entrepreneurial spirit. People here are committed to the city and neighborhood. I’ve come across some new businesses and residents committed to the neighborhood, and that’s important. My family has history in Core

City, too. I didn’t nd out until after I signed the lease that (St. Leo Roman Catholic Church) was my grandfather’s parish. He went to school there. When the soup kitchen was open, my mom would bring us down to help out. is is the right place. is is home.”

Lady of the House is in good company in Core City, joining businesses including Argentinian restaurant Barda, dual concept Puma/Cougar and vegan-friendly Cafe Prince.

e feeling of having a homecooked dinner is at the center of what Lady of the House o ers. e

Spotting oral cancer early: innovations in screening and treatment you should know

By Mi elle Fitzgerald, Crain’s Content Studio

A growth or sore on the mouth that doesn’t go away can be more than a nuisance — it can be oral cancer.

But innovations in oral cancer screenings, treatments and surgeries can provide better outcomes for patients who are diagnosed with this aggressive form of cancer.

“When oral cancer starts, it spreads very qui ly and it can be very deadly,” said Jehan Wakeem, a St. Clair Shores dentist and president of the Detroit District Dental Society, a Dearborn-based membership organization. “It’s important to cat it early and treat it right away.”

R. Graham Greenland, a Grand Rapids-based maxillofacial prosthodontist and oral oncologist, said the clinical recognition and evaluation of oral mucosal lesions can detect up to 99% of oral cancers/pre-malignancies.

“Every lesion must be recognized promptly, accurately diagnosed and treated as appropriate,” he said. “As stated by the World Health Organization, any suspicious lesion that does not subside within two weeks from detection and removal of local causes of irritation must be biopsied.”

When oral cancer is identi ed and treated in the early stage, the 5-year survival rate is 84%, Greenland said. e survival rate drops to below 40% with a late-stage oral cancer diagnosis.

“Unlike some cancers in other parts of the body, where screening methods are highly advanced and already in use for patients, the same cannot be said for oral cancers, including salivary gland tumors,” said Felipe Nor, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Mi igan S ool of Dentistry. “Extensive resear has been condu ed on cancer biomarkers, saliva-based screening methods and the role of arti cial intelligence in detecting pre-malignant lesions, among others, in an attempt to better understand and anticipate when and if a pre-malignant lesion will transform into cancer and to detect early lesions more proactively using minimally invasive te niques.”

Early stage cancers are usually treated with surgery. Radiation and emotherapy, in addition to surgery, o en are used to treat later-stage cancers.

Advancements also have been made in reconstructive surgeries, both in harvesting other body parts and providing the use of implants or prostheses.

“ e true innovation comes in the

reconstruction,” Wakeem said. “Of course, it’s not 100%, but for someone who is not able to function at all when part or all of their jaw was removed can perhaps wear an appliance or get some implants in the bone that was harvested. is way they will have some function and can wear a prosthesis so they can ew food and not be relegated to a liquid diet or very so diet.”

More recently, resear has evaluated the performance of personalized therapies that target speci c genetic markers of cancers.

“ e idea of this therapeutic modality is to target a speci c gene that is responsible for the development of a particular tumor,” Nor said. “Another promising area of resear in oral cancer is immunotherapy. In this therapy, medications are used to essentially boost the patient’s own immune system to ght the cancer.

Su innovative treatments are still at experimental stages in clinical trials.”

ere are two types of oral cancers: HPVpositive and HPV-negative. e HPV vaccine, whi was FDA-approved in 2006, can reduce the risk of HPV-positive oral cancer.

“HPV vaccination has been shown to reduce the prevalence of infections that lead to HPVassociated cancers, su as those occurring at the ba of the throat and the base of the tongue,” Greenland said. “With about 70% of oropharyngeal cancers linked to HPV, this vaccine o ers a valuable preventive measure to combat the increasing incidence of these cancers.”

R. Graham Greenland (le ) and Felipe Nor

Photo by Shedra Salami/Unsplash

The new Lady of the House restaurant in Detroit’s Core City neighborhood. | JACOB LEWKOW FOR LADY OF THE HOUSE

See LADY on Page 75

‘Big tech’ projects offer opportunity for diversification

Data centers. Semiconductors. Microchips.

All are tech-centered terms that help point the way to a more diversified future for Michigan’s economy.

Don’t get us wrong. Mobility, EVs and battery technology will remain critical components of the state’s business vocabulary in the coming years.

But as the world advances, particularly at this the dawn of what could be the artificial-intelligence revolution, Michigan has an opportunity to seize the moment and once again be a leader in engineering and innovation to drive economic advancement and job growth.

In October, our colleagues at Crain’s Grand Rapids Business broke the news that Microsoft had purchased not one, but two, large tracts of land in West Michigan. The understanding is that the technology giant is eyeing the properties for potential data centers in the future.

The move comes after a company called Switch purchased an iconic former Steelcase building dubbed “the pyramid” near Grand Rapids and turned it into a data center.

The demand for data centers is increasing across the U.S. as the use of artificial intelligence, which requires massive amounts of computing power, grows rapidly.

While data centers may not employ as

COMMENTARY

many workers as, say, an auto factory, they will attract spin-off investment and also send a message to the business world that the region wants to be a player in the new economy.

Also in October, the federal government announced a $325 million grant to expand manufacturing at Hemlock Semiconductor near Saginaw. The new development is expected to create about 180 jobs and support more than 1,000 construction jobs.

While Hemlock Semiconductor has been in business for decades, attention and demand for its product has increased

greatly in recent years with the push to reshore critical supply chains. It currently employs about 1,500 workers and is the only U.S.-based manufacturer of hyper-pure polysilicon and one of five companies in the world that produces polysilicon to the purity level needed to serve the leading-edge semiconductor market. Polysilicon is used to make semiconductor wafers needed in electronic devices such as cell phones as well as solar panels. This announcement at Hemlock Semiconductor comes as Michigan is a finalist for a massive, $55 billion microchip man-

ufacturing development that could bring 10,000 jobs to neighboring Genesee County. The Mundy Township site proposed for the project is near the intersection of Interstates 75 and 69, southwest of Flint.

If Michigan wins the project from San Jose-based Western Digital Technologies Inc., many of the jobs created would still very much be in the manufacturing sector. As with Hemlock Semiconductor, both high-tech and lower-skilled positions would be necessary to run the operation.

A huge benefit is that these manufacturing jobs would be in a new sector necessary to run the economy for years to come. Importantly, the diversification outside the mobility sector helps to buffer Michigan from the political winds currently roiling the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles.

Artificial intelligence is not going away, and the demand for microchips, data centers and advanced technology will only increase. The needs of the future are not solely software-related — intensive hardware upgrades are needed to make these new technologies run.

Manufacturing is still needed, although it may look different from the heavy-duty auto factories of decades’ past. And when leaders in business and government think of manufacturing, we still want them to think of Michigan.

Detroit put the world on wheels. Now let’s put America in homes.

Detroit may be most known for cars but, at one time, we produced more housing than any other city in the United States.

In 1910, and again prior to World War II, Detroit experienced significant economic and population growth that required massive housing development. Today, our pace of housing production has slowed dramatically — the Buildings, Safety, Environmental and Engineering Department (BSEED) has only issued roughly 500 permits for new single- or multi-family development in the last six years.

It’s no surprise, then, that 80% of the city’s housing stock was built before 1960.

Aging housing impacts Detroiters of all backgrounds, with the deepest effects felt by economically vulnerable families. Home repair needs contribute to health and safety issues from lead paint exposure to the prevalence of mold. It also increases overall housing instability leading to lower home values and educational instability for students.

In fact, one study reports that one in three Detroit elementary school students move on an annual basis.

I saw these impacts most acutely in 2022 when the Gilbert Family Foundation and

Enterprise Community Partners launched the Detroit Home Repair Fund to support low-income homeowners with grants for critical repairs. Within one week, our hotline received 250,000 phone calls from families in need. While it’s no consolation, Detroit is not alone.

Across the country, the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a shortage of more than 7 million quality, affordable homes. Traditional stick-built construction is too slow to adequately address this crisis alone, so we must seek multiple out-ofthe-box solutions.

Factory-built housing — another term for any type of home fully or partially constructed in a factory then transported to a site for assembly — is one tool to consider as we look to increase attractive, attainable housing stock for Detroiters.

If you are skeptical or worry that this housing is cheap or low-quality, I urge you to visit the seven new factory-built homes at the intersection of 16th and Perry in North Corktown. This development, supported by the Gilbert Family Foundation, was informed by deep community engagement led by the North Corktown Neighborhood Association. It is just one example of how the technology behind factory-built

homes has come a long way in recent years.

There are a few benefits to factory-built housing.

First, construction is fast. While the average construction timeline of a traditional home is between seven and 12 months after land acquisition and permitting, the properties in North Corktown were ordered and built in only three.

Second, factory-built housing poses an opportunity for Detroit. As a major post-industrial city in the Midwest, Detroit stands to serve as a hub for developing and shipping factory-built housing across the region.

By embracing this technology, we can increase access to safe, living-wage, non-seasonal skilled-trades jobs for Detroiters. Last, with scale, this technology can contribute to increased housing accessibility and affordability.

There is no silver bullet for quality, attainable housing, but Detroit residents deserve more than the status quo. As a city, we are known for creativity and innovation. Factory-built housing is one strategy to increase homeownership and position Detroit as a leader in housing production. Detroit once put America in cars — now let’s put America in homes.

Laura Grannemann is executive director of the Rocket Community Fund and the Gilbert Family Foundation.

One of the manufactured homes built as part of a project in North Corktown in Detroit backed by the Gilbert Family Foundation | NIC ANTAYA

Need More Horsepower?

‘Perfect storm’ leads to surging home insurance costs

By Nick Manes

Like most everything else, the cost to insure a home continues to rise, and Michigan is one state nearing what one group is calling a “crisis.”

A new report by Insurify, a Massachusetts-based consumer insurance comparison company, notes that Michigan is among more than a dozen states projected to see some of the highest growth in premiums to insure a home, rising about 14% this year over 2023.

To be sure, Michigan is free from many of the worsening natural disasters — hurricanes and wildfires — affecting states including Florida, Texas and California. In fact, Michigan and surrounding states have been touted as potential “climate havens” for residents of states feeling the brunt of climate change.

But real estate and insurance experts say that a variety of factors, from the state’s aging housing stock to worsening storm systems, are likely all contributing to Michigan homeowners getting some sticker shock as their home insurance premiums continue to increase.

The worsening weather caused by climate change, coupled with metro Detroit’s older housing stock as well as the economic conditions of the last several years essentially makes for a “perfect storm,” said Denise Mansfield, the owner of a Michigan Farm Bureau agency in Shelby Township.

“We have been lower on new construction for a while ... and with money being tighter, we’ve seen people doing less home improvement projects and maintaining their houses in a way that leaves them open to more perils of weather,” Mansfield said. “Which then results in more claims, which then results in higher costs.”

The Insurify report lists Michigan as one of 15 states “facing an imminent insurance crisis,” joining the ranks of states such as Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota and Texas. The New York Times earlier this year looked at the situation in Iowa where insurers have canceled policies and exited the market as se-

vere weather made doing business there an unprofitable exercise.

There’s something of a two-fold situation playing out in home insurance markets around the country, according to Chase Gardner, data insights manager for Insurify.

In one scenario, rates don’t go up fast enough for companies to cover claims and the insurers start denying policies or exit the market entirely. In the other, rates accelerate rapidly as insurers seek to cover claims from damages.

“So I think Michigan is kind of falling on the dramatic rate increase side of that, which is potentially healthier for the long-term insurance market outlook in the state,”

Gardner said. “But is also probably the most disruptive to homeowners here and now, and the fact that they’re potentially paying hundreds of more dollars per year for the same home insurance coverage.”

Insurify data seems to speak to that.

Residents in communities in the

metro Detroit region, as well as cities such as Ann Arbor and East Lansing, have experienced yearto-date premium increases in the 10%-12% range and up nearly 20% year over year, according to Insurify data provided to Crain’s.

Bob Passmore, department vice president for personal lines with insurance industry trade group American Property Casualty Insurance Association, concurred with Gardner, saying that at present, the risk of widespread deterioration of Michigan’s home insurance market, with companies exiting the state, remains relatively low.

“Companies have been losing money on homeowners over the last few years and they need to cover their losses,” Passmore said. “As long as they can do that — and the regulatory system allows them to do that — then you won’t see companies paring back (policies) or leaving the state. In the places where there’s active suppression of rates, that’s where you see those

problems. Michigan hasn’t been one of those places.”

That’s not to say that there aren’t changes to how insurers are handling policies.

Given the region’s older housing stock, with many areas dating back to World War II or earlier, many insurers are increasingly reluctant to handle claims for older infrastructure that take on damage in a high-wind event. For instance, if a home has a roof that hasn’t been updated in a decade or more and is damaged, an insurer may be unwilling to cover the repairs.

Essentially, the home is akin to a new car that depreciates once it drives off a dealer lot, according to Mansfield.

“We’re now, as a company, kind of looking at roofs like that,” Mansfield said. “We’re going to come to bat for you as equal as you are willing to properly maintain the house. Meaning ... you’re going to have to have some skin in the game.”

Wind and hail damage make up

Little Caesars has storefront in ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’

By Jay Davis

A major locally based company is partnering with one of the biggest video game franchises in the world in a collaboration of things that go together about as well as pizza and a 2-liter of pop.

Detroit-based Little Caesars Pizza for a third year is partnering with Activision and its popular “Call of Duty” video game franchise, this time integrating a Little Caesars storefront into the “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” version that was released Oct. 25.

It’s the third year of Little Caesars’ partnership with the game, part of the pizza giant’s push to be top of mind for customers whether they’re playing their favorite video game or cheering on their favorite

team, Little Caesars’ director of strategic communications Jill Proctor said in an email to Crain’s.

Little Caesars is also the official pizza of the NFL.

“Little Caesars wants to be the brand consumers think of first when they’re craving pizza,” Proctor said. “Whether they’re playing ‘Call of Duty’ late at night or watching football on Sundays, we are meeting them where they’re at and keeping the brand top of mind. This partnership allows us to connect with new fans like never before.”

As part of the collaboration, Little Caesars is offering players plenty of deals and perks.

Through Nov. 10, Little Caesars customers who spend more than $3 can earn in-game perks like Dual 2XP bonus content, in-game

rewards and entry into sweepstakes for gaming-themed prizes for “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.” A custom skin, or a customizable appearance for a character in a video game, is also part of the rewards, which includes a Hot-N-Ready hat, pizza cutter and other Little Caesars-centric items. To unlock the perks in the game, players must visit a website to upload their in-store receipt or enter a unique code from a digital receipt.

Little Caesars is offering about 17,000 prizes as part of this year’s partnership, according to Proctor.

“We’re always open to exploring other ways we can integrate into the game and engage players,” she said.

Little Caesars Chief Marketing Officer Greg Hamilton touted the chain’s new Crazy Puffs — bite-

sized muffin-like pizzas — as an ideal snack while gaming.

“We can’t wait for players to see the new in-game surprises we’ve lined up,” Hamilton said in a news release. “It’s going to be an exciting year for both ‘Call of Duty’ fans and Little Caesars customers.”

Proctor could not share terms of the deal with Activision or specific sales data but said the partnership has allowed the pizza company to meet and engage with new customers.

In-game branding benefits businesses by heightening brand awareness and through real-time campaign optimization. In-game advertising worldwide is projected to hit $109.6 billion this year, according to online data gathering platform Statista.

the largest chunk of claims seen by the agent, she said, although water damage in flooding is also increasingly common.

By and large, much of the increases seen recently represent insurers catching up with increasing claims from severe weather and premiums are likely to see some leveling off, said Passmore with the APCIA trade group. But like other costs affiliated with inflation, they’re unlikely to come down much.

Moreover, given that climate change will likely produce more severe weather systems, such costs could continue to accelerate.

“There has been prediction among people who study (home insurance) that the bill for climate change is coming due,” said Brian Connolly, an associate professor focused on real estate and land use at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “And it’s coming due in increased stress in the insurance pool.”

“... we know many of our guests are avid gamers and they love enjoying Little Caesars to help fuel their gaming experience,” Proctor said. “... we look forward to that continuing through the launch of Black Ops 6.”

Increasingly severe weather like a tornado that struck Gaylord in May 2022 is among the reasons homeowners insurance premiums are quickly rising in Michigan. | BLOOmBERG

More than 9,000 Corewell nurses to vote on unionizing

By Dustin Walsh

When Spectrum Health merged with Beaumont Health to create Corewell Health in 2022, the West Michigan company stepped into a hornet’s nest.

Hospital worker morale had been swamped by then-leader John Fox under cost-cutting and restructuring measures. Several high-profile physicians left as Fox sought to “right-size” the operations and find a buyer. And the Michigan Nurses Association had been trying to organize nurses at Beaumont Royal Oak since at least 2019.

By the time Corewell was formed, the relationship between administrators, clinicians and staff was broken and, apparently, has not improved.

Now Corewell faces the third-largest union organizing effort in the nation since at least 2019, behind the organizing of 40,000 workers at Disney World in 2021 and the organizing of 15,500 workers at AT&T Mobility in Ohio, according to an analysis of data from the National Labor Relations Board.

Beaumont nurses claim diminishing working conditions before and since Corewell was formed out of the merger, while the Grand Rapids- and Southfield-based health system is contending with rising costs and large payroll from the legacy Beaumont operations.

The result of the vote by 9,168 nurses across eight former Beaumont hospitals this month could trigger one of the nation’s most powerful union takeovers of health care and create a further ripple across the sector in the state.

Months of sparring

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters began a quiet campaign at Corewell East, which is the group of former Beaumont hospitals in Southeast Michigan, roughly 11 months ago, said Kevin Moore, president of Teamsters Joint Council 43.

“These nurses have tried to organize four different times,” Moore said, referencing the MNA’s previous attempts. “It never got to the finish line because it’s a lot of work, that’s a lot of nurses to organize. We have strong nurses and we built a very quiet campaign for the first three months. (Corewell) didn’t know we were coming. It’s out now and we’re going full steam.” Moore said the organizing effort has taken so long because it’s organizing all Corewell East locations — hospitals in Grosse Pointe, Troy, Royal Oak, Farmington Hills, Wayne, Taylor, Trenton, Dearborn and the former Beaumont headquarters in Southfield — at once.

The MNA tried to start with just the nurses in Royal Oak.

Since then, the union and Corewell have been sparring. Corewell has hired third-party consultants to address the bargaining unit effort by the nurses, people who Moore and two nurses who spoke to Crain’s on the condition of anonymity called “union busters.”

Posters and flyers have circulated across Corewell East hospitals informing the nurses of the potential dangers of unionizing, including the high fees the union charges.

“The Teamsters charge 2.5 times your hourly rate each month. If you make $38 per hour, you’ll owe them $95 every month. This high monthly fee doesn’t include the potential for additional initiation and assessment fees or fines,” a poster posted online from Royal Oak reads. “The Teamsters are trying to divide us. That is a preview of the culture the Teamsters want to create.”

A nurse at the Royal Oak hospital told Crain’s that the third-party consultants give individual 30-minute talks to the nurses about unionizing.

“We believe it is important to ensure our team members have all the information they need to make an informed decision,” Mark Geary, senior communications director for Corewell, told Crain’s in an email. “We have made external experts available to connect with our nurses.”

Moore said the Teamsters plan to file a labor complaint against Corewell in the coming days with the National Labor Relations Board. The union has already filed at least two complaints against Corewell this year, for alleged coercion and threats to its organizing efforts.

Those cases remain open with the nation’s labor agency.

Workforce discontent pre-dates Corewell

One of the nurses who spoke with Crain’s said the unionization effort is a result of years of mistreatment by administrators, predating Beaumont’s merger with Corewell.

“We didn’t think we needed a union at the old Beaumont; it was run by the doctors and nurses,” the nurse said. “Not that we didn’t have

administrators, but they always listened to the medical professionals. Then John Fox took over Beaumont and everything changed.”

Fox was appointed CEO of Beaumont Health in March 2015.

By 2020, Fox was facing rampant calls for his resignation, including a no-confidence vote by physicians that asked the board to remove him. Those physicians alleged patient care had deteriorated under Fox as the top executive of the eight-hospital system began cutting costs to make a merger more attractive.

Fox first tried to merge Beaumont with Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health in 2019, but called off the deal in May 2020, blaming the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, widespread dissatisfaction culminated in two negative physician and nurse surveys. In June 2020, Beaumont signed a letter of intent to merge with Advocate Aurora Health, a 28-hospital system in Illinois and Wisconsin with $12 billion in revenue, and the doctors feared a loss of local control.

That deal, too, was scrapped, once again with administrators blaming the pandemic.

The clinicians appeared to take a different tack when Fox announced the merger with Spectrum and largely supported the deal, with Fox leaving when the deal was completed in February 2022.

But the nurses told Crain’s the conditions have largely not improved under Corewell.

“We never have a seat at the table,” the nurse said. “Our pay is terrible, we get no benefits and our co-pays are insane. But Priority Health [Corewell’s in-house insurer] made record profits again. Meanwhile, they are cutting staff.”

Geary told Crain’s that Corewell is proud of the compensation it provides to nurses and is commensurate with peers.

“We are proud to offer competitive pay and benefits to our team members, regardless of where they live,” Geary wrote. “Our pay and benefits are aligned to national data.”

Labor votes can lead to higher overhead costs

At stake for Corewell is runaway labor costs at its former Beaumont hospitals. As the nurses pointed out, doctors and nurses enjoyed a level of freedom at the old Beaumont and the health system’s longstanding public image was that it hired the best and brightest among its doctors and nurses.

That costs money.

Labor costs are simply higher in Southeast Michigan than in Grand Rapids, largely due to far more competition than there is on the west side of the state.

Shortly after the systems merged, Beaumont and its eight hospitals, had higher expenses than Spectrum’s 11 West Michigan hospitals. Between Feb. 1 and June 30, 2022, Beaumont spent $1.21 billion on wages and benefits, compared to $980 million for Spectrum West Michigan during the first six months of that year.

Corewell has since merged its reporting, eliminating the ability to compare its West and East operations. It is the largest health care system in the state and reported $8.3 billion in net patient revenue in 2023, up from $7.5 billion in 2022, according to data compiled by Crain’s.

Corewell West, which holds market share domination in West Michigan, does not have a unionized workforce. But unions in the health care sector in metro Detroit have grown tremendously since the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least three new unions have cropped up at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor in recent years. The

system just avoided a strike by the 2,700-member SEIU Health Care Michigan union last month after reaching a deal. Another union, The United Michigan Medicine Allied Professionals and its 4,600 members, authorized a strike in a vote last month.

Grand Blanc-based McLaren Health Care also reached a deal recently with its nurses union at its Flint hospital after it sued the union and two of its own employees over allegations that the union encouraged the public to not seek care at McLaren Flint during contract negotiations.

And earlier this year, emergency room doctors at Henry Ford St. John Hospital — formerly Ascension St. John — in Detroit walked off the job in a one-day strike.

Since 2021, there have been eight strikes and 27 labor protests in Michigan in the health care and social assistance sector, according to Cornell University’s Labor Action Tracker. And this year, the National Labor Relations Board has received petitions for labor representation from groups of clinicians and other workers at more than 15 health care facilities and service providers in Michigan.

Jeremy Millroy, a professor of history and labor history expert at Wayne State University, said the rise of unionization in the sector is a response to corporate profitability and union wins in other sectors.

“Corporate profitability is high, but these gains are not getting shared by workers, who have also been squeezed by inflation and price gouging over the past several years. Workers are opting to organize to achieve their goals, and are somewhat supported in doing so by a tighter labor market in recent years,” Millroy said to Crain’s in an email.

Major health care companies

Nurses at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak are among more than 9,000 nurses at eight former Beaumont hospitals in Southeast Michigan who will vote on whether to unionize in November. CoreWeLL HeALTH

Could apple harvesting robots solve growers’ labor challenges? These inventors think so.

By Abby Poirier Crain’s Grand Rapids Business

A team of Michigan State University researchers is developing a robotic apple harvester that could offer help to farmers struggling with ever-rising wages for migrant farm labor and a labor shortage.

Apple harvesting is a labor-intensive process that requires people to hand-pick the fruit, which bruises easily. To date, machines have not been able to replicate that human touch.

Enter Zhaojian Li and Renfu Lu, the inventors of the Automated and Integrated Mobile System, or AIMS. The automated vacuum system removes apples from trees through two independent robotic arms that suction the fruits from the branches before dropping them onto a conveyor belt for sorting.

Lu was part of a team that started the project five years ago with the initial aim of creating an infield sorting system for apples.

“Growers were very supportive and excited (about the sorting system),” he said. “But after a demonstration, some growers came to me and said, ‘It would be nice if we could have the robotic harvester to incorporate with our in-field sorter because it still requires the workers to pick apples to feed into the sorter.’ So basically, that’s how we got it started. The robotic harvester is really badly needed.”

Currently, the equipment is capable of picking an apple every 3.6 seconds in high-density orchards — still slower than a human harvester — and achieves an 80% success rate while picking with minimal bruising to fruit.

While the technology has been proven to work, the inventors say they’re still approximately five years away from being able to put their product on the market as they continue to work through the technical intricacies surrounding ease of navigation and harvesting speed.

AIMS is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and Michigan State University.

Li is an associate professor of mechanical engineering in MSU’s College of Engineering with a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. Lu is an agricultural engineer with USDA-ARS, a position he’s held since 1994, and serves as an adjunct professor at MSU’s department of biosystems and agricultural engineering.

The pair started working together in 2019 and developed their first robotic apple picker in 2021.

The wage problem

The automated equipment is sorely needed to help Michigan farmers deal with increasing labor costs and apple harvests that set a state record in 2022 at 1.36 billion pounds and fell just short in 2023 at 1.15 billion pounds. Michigan is

the second-largest producer of apples in the U.S. behind the state of Washington.

While farmers welcome the strong harvests, their optimism is tempered by rapidly escalating labor costs, particularly for migrant farm workers on H2-A visas needed to hand-pick the crop. The federally mandated Adverse Effect Wage Rate for H-2A workers varies by state, but rose for the 10th consecutive year in Michigan in 2024. Currently, Michigan farmers are paying $18.50 an hour, an increase of 6.7%, or $1.16, over last year’s rate of $17.34 for essential migrant labor.

“Labor costs account for more than 50% of total production costs for tree fruits,” Lu said. “Picking is the single-largest cost in the production of apples. … It hurts the industry badly.”

In addition to labor costs, farmers also are paying for transportation for workers, housing and the administrative costs of the program itself, which can drive total hourly costs closer to $30 for H-2A workers in Michigan.

The inventors of AIMS want to provide a solution to Michigan growers’ escalating costs by bypassing the need for human hands to pick apples.

Phil Schwallier, owner of Schwallier’s Country Basket in Alpine Township north of Grand Rapids and a former MSU Extension educator, sits on the advisory board for the AIMS project. He said the H-2A wage mandates have increased harvesting costs at his orchard by approximately 20%.

Over the past 20 years, he’s been modernizing his 100-acre apple orchard to narrow, trellised trees, both to prepare for automated harvesting technology and ease of maintenance.

“Maybe 50% or 60% of my orchard could be picked by this machine,” he said. “In five years, maybe 80% of our orchards will be the right structure and dimensions (for automated picking.)”

How it works

The current robot, which MSU has tested in orchards like Schwallier’s, has two arms, and harvests

at speeds of 3.6 seconds per fruit. It does so by removing the fruit with a vacuum system that pulls and twists apples to detach them from the trees and then deposits them onto a conveyor belt, which moves the fruit to bins for sorting and storage.

By using a vacuum system to remove fruit from trees rather than a robotic hand, AIMS cuts down on picking time, as the system does not need to manipulate individual fingers to pick the fruit. Simplifying the harvester keeps costs lower and makes for easier repairs should the equipment break down, according to the inventors. Li said the goal is to increase the speed to 2-3 seconds per fruit, which is equivalent to a human worker.

“Our goal (is that) each robot module will be independent and equivalent to a human worker,” Li said. “We still have a lot of work to do with our current robot, but I’m optimistic that in the next two or three years, we will reach that target.”

Lu noted that future iterations of the robot will address its size so it’s easier to navigate between tree rows and has more maneuverability in traditional orchards, which don’t grow in vertical, trellised rows.

The AIMS project also intends to add an apple sorter to the automated unit that uses AI to spot blemishes and irregularities in fruit. Lu believes the addition will help cut down on post-harvest storage and packing costs for growers.

Product timeline

AIMS has filed patents for its technology, which Lu anticipates could hit the market over the next five years. First, the team needs to iron out flaws in the equipment and find a developer to bring the project to life at a commercial scale.

Lu thinks many orchards will be quick to adopt the technology.

“Most farmers are looking for new technologies (and) methods that can help improve their production as well as use their costs, so they are very excited about this

MSU breaks ground on environment, plant facility

By Sherri Welch

Michigan State University broke ground this afternoon on a $200 million Plant and Environmental Sciences Building.

The new facility, approved for construction by the MSU board of trustees in September, is aimed at advancing the university’s leadership in food security and climate adaptation research and making it more competitive in attracting and retaining top researchers, the university said.

technology,” Lu said.

Diane Smith, executive director of the Michigan Apple Committee, pointed out that growers tend to be early adopters of production technology. She anticipates farmers will be eager to adopt the technology, perhaps utilizing a hybrid system of hand harvesting along with robotic units at the outset.

“With current labor expenses and challenges, I think we will see many growers take a serious look at adopting this technology sooner rather than later,” she said. “Labor costs have gotten prohibitive over the last few years and some farms are closing up shop now. Five years may be too long for some, but for others it could work.”

However, she added that affordability will be “huge” in determining how quickly the technology is adopted.

Katie Vargas, business manager at Sparta apple and cherry farm Joe Rasch Orchards in West Michgan, is happy that innovators are coming up with new ideas to help address labor cost issues, but remains skeptical that harvesting technology will be a realistic solution for most growers. The family-owned Joe Rasch Orchards this spring removed its cherry orchard after 30 years of cherry production, as labor costs made the fruit trees too expensive to harvest and maintain.

“(The technology) is such an important possibility for us to continue developing because the current labor cost is too high to make specialty crops profitable. At the same time, I’m afraid that many growers will not be in a position to invest substantial amounts into a machine harvester, as they’re likely to be a high cost and many growers are already struggling to get by with input costs,” Vargas said in an email to Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.

Schwallier acknowledges that cost might be the greatest inhibitor to farmers’ ability to adopt harvesting technology.

“If it costs $400,000 for a machine, then forget it,” he said. “It’s got to be inexpensive, it’s got to be fast. To be successful, (AIMS) has to get the (harvesting) speed up and keep the cost down.”

“World-class science requires world-class facilities to support new discoveries,” MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz said in a news release. “With the investments we’re making in infrastructure, MSU has the opportunity to provide global solutions in plant and environmental science while significantly expanding our leadership.”

The 200,000-square-foot facility will take shape at the corner of Farm Lane and Wilson Road in the central academic district adjacent to the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building.

When completed in December 2026, it will include laboratory space for about 40 researchers and their teams, aligning the MSU Plant Resilience Institute’s focus on developing crops that can withstand heightened environmental stress with the plant biology and molecular genetics strengths of MSU Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, the university said.

Also on tap for the facility: A rooftop phytotron, the fourth in the U.S., to regulate temperatures, humidity, light and carbon dioxide levels to simulate precise climate conditions.

The Center for Advanced Microscopy, which supports high-resolution plant visualization and analysis.

Seed storage facilities to safeguard long-term plant biodiversity.

Flexible workspaces to facilitate collaboration across disciplines.

“For over 160 years, MSU has been a leader in agricultural research and education, standing as the nation’s premier land-grant institution and a model for others,” MSU Trustee Kelly Tebay said in the release. “Today, we honor that legacy by furthering our commitment to plant science and taking on big challenges such as the future of food security.”

Buffalo, N.Y.-based CannonDesign is the design architect; Royal Oak-based HED (formerly Harley Ellis Devereaux) is architect of record and Clark Construction is construction manager on the project.

The new building will set the stage for demolition of the Center for Integrated Plant Systems Building and future adaptative reuse of the Plant Biology Building, thereby reducing capital renewal costs, MSU said.

Engineers at Michigan State University have developed automated apple harvesting equipment that could help farmers deal with ever-rising labor costs. mICHIGAN STATE UNIvERSITY

GIVING GUIDE

Philanthropic Opportunities

The 2024 Crain’s Detroit Business Giving Guide, produced by Crain’s Content Studio, highlights the stories of local nonprofit organizations that are driving positive change in our community. The participants featured in this guide have sponsored its creation, providing them the platform to share their mission, vision, and the impactful initiatives they are championing. Discover their efforts and explore their plans for the year ahead. Connect with Crain’s Content Studio to learn more.

PARTICIPANTS

S2 Accounting Aid Society

S4 Alzheimer’s Association

S6 American Cancer Society

S8 Autism Alliance of Michigan

S10 Beyond Basics

S12 Corewell Health Foundation Southeast Michigan

S14 COTS

S16 Downtown Detroit Partnership

S18 Focus: HOPE

S20 Forgotten Harvest

S22 Growth Works

S24 Hegira Health

S26 Henry Ford Health

S28 Judson Center

S30 Lighthouse

S32 Macomb Community College Foundation

S34 Make-A-Wish Michigan

S36 Michigan CASA

S38 Presbyterian Villages of Michigan

S40 The Rainbow Connection

S42 The Salvation Army

S44 Samaritas

S46 SCORE SE Michigan

S48 The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW)

S50 Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency

S52 YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit

S54 Gilda’s Club Metro Detroit

S55 American Red Cross

S56 The Children’s Foundation

S57 The Helm at the Boll Life Center

S58 National Council of Dementia Minds

S59 Orchards Children’s Services

S60 Thank you sponsors

For information about the Giving Guide, contact Bernice Barnes-Munk, sales director, at bernice.munk@crain.com.

WHAT WE DO

The Accounting Aid Society implements the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to provide NO COST tax preparation and filing services for low- and moderate-income families.

We help individuals resolve issues with the IRS, while our Accounting Aid Academy provides one-on-one technical assistance to small- and micro-businesses in order to help them increase their financial acumen, learn QuickBooks, and engage and hire a bookkeeper, which will ensure their financial stability.

Annually, we provide about $30 million in tax refunds and credits to individuals and families.

You can help the Accounting Aid Society in various ways, including the following:

• Become a trained VITA volunteer; training sessions begin in December. You do not need to be a CPA or a financial professional to help families complete their federal and state tax returns. The Accounting Aid Society will teach what you need to know, all under the guidance of expert staff and advanced volunteers.

• Organize staff from your organization to help with our Preferred Appointment Club—contact clients in November, December and January and remind them to schedule their appointments and file their taxes.

• Make Accounting Aid Society your preferred nonprofit to support; the ROI is about 10:1.

• Inform qualifying households of our NO COST tax preparation and filing services; we have over 30 locations in five counties during tax season. Six sites are open all year round.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

VISIT: Visit accountingaidsociety.org to learn more about our services.

EXPLORE: Explore the other services we provide. Our Low Income Tax Payer Clinic specializes in assisting clients who receive letters from the IRS. We are also able to help clients for whom English is their second language. In addition, our Accounting Aid Academy has helped business owners find their paths to success.

JOIN: Become a trained volunteer.

HELP OTHERS: You may not be able to give thousands of dollars to charities, but during the 12-week tax season, you can help put thousands of dollars into the pockets of hardworking families and individuals.

DONATE: Visit accountingaidsociety.org/donorspartners to donate.

SHARE: Email us at info@accountingaidsociety.org, and we will provide our information kit, which details all of our agency’s services.

LEADERSHIP

Marshall Hunt, a long-time Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Volunteer (VITA) and supporter (right), is photographed with his friend Victor Marsh. For over 30 years, Marshall has been a great supporter of Accounting Aid Society.

Sonia Plata, vice president and director of Flagstar Foundation (center), receives the 2023 Accounting Aid Society Excellence Award. This annual award is given to a community champion who shows their unwavering commitment and support to investing in the community’s well-being.

JERAMEY LEWIS board chair

PRISCILLA PERKINS president and CEO

At AccountingAidSociety,webelieveinthetransformativepoweroffinancialempowerment forallcommunitymembers.Establishedwithaheartfeltcommitmenttoservingand upliftingthoseinneed,wehavebeensteadfastinourmissiontoprovidevitalfinancial supportandeducationtoindividuals,families,andsmallbusinessowners.

Ourdedicatedteamofprofessionalsandvolunteersworktirelesslytobreakdownbarriersto economicstability.Wehavewitnessedfirsthandtheprofoundimpactofourworkonat-risk communitymembers.Witheveryinteraction,wefosteracultureofempowerment,instill hope,andinspireconfidence,knowingthat eventhemostminorstepstowardfinancial literacyandempowermentcanleadtolastingchange. Yoursupportenablesustocontinue ouressentialwork,reachingfurtherandtouchingmoreliveswithourprogramsandservices.