Crain's Detroit Business, November 28, 2022, issue

Home builders buy down rates

Move helps overcome decrease in sales

BY ARIELLE KASS

With high interest rates spooking some homebuyers and sending home builders into what can sometimes feel like premature retirement due to falling demand, builders are starting to take the matter into their own hands.

If high interest rates are the problem, there’s an easy solution: just bring them down.

Rate buydown programs and other interest rate specials are proliferating in the new-construction market, with builders making concessions to their bottom line to ensure that potential buyers aren’t

scared away by recent spikes in mortgage rates. ey’re o ering programs to lock in interest rates, spending millions of dollars to buy guaranteed rates or simply o ering

Will Dem Legislature chill West Michigan?

Public-private projects have spurred growth

BY RACHEL WATSON

GRAND RAPIDS — West Michigan’s development boom has long been driven by a business community also known as big Republican donors — but they also have long worked with Democrats when it comes to economic development. Still, as Democrats prepare to

enter 2023 with control of the Michigan Legislature and governor’s mansion, experts are chewing on a big question: How will the rst blue majority in nearly 40 years a ect growth in greater Grand Rapids, held up by some for its successful public-private deals

Executive Director of Sta and Students of Dearborn Public Schools Maysam Alie-Bazzi takes a look at seventh grader Adam Ismail’s project.

QUINN BANKS/CRAIN’S DETROIT

M/I Homes is one of the builders that has used rate buydown programs to maintain pricing and lure buyers. | M/I HOMES

SPORTS BUSINESS

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NCAA FINAL FOUR TO RETURN TO FORD FIELD

THE NEWS: Detroit is set to once again be the center of the men’s college basketball world. Ford Field will be the site of the 2027 NCAA Men’s Final Four, according to a Tuesday announcement from the NCAA. e event marks the second time the city has hosted the men’s Final Four; the rst was in 2009. e games will take place April 3 and April 5, according to the NCAA.

WHY IT MATTERS: Detroit Sports Commission President and CEO Claude Molinari told Crain’s that the move validates Detroit as a major sports destination.

` BID TO REOPEN MICHIGAN NUCLEAR PLANT FAILS

THE NEWS: A long-shot e ort to reopen the Palisades nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan is over after the federal government rejected Holtec International’s request for funding. “We appreciate the consideration that the Department of Energy put into our application for the Civilian Nuclear Credit program,” Patrick O’Brien, spokesperson for Jupiter, Fla.-based Holtec, said. “We fully understood that what we were attempting to do, restarting a shuttered nuclear plant, would be both a challenge and a rst for the nuclear industry.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had supported the application in a bid to keep the plant’s energy on Michigan’s grid. e Palisades Power Plant, which is near South Haven, was closed in May by its previous owner, New Orleans-based Entergy. No U.S. nuclear plant is believed to have reopened after a closure.

` DOMINO’S TO BUY 800 CHEVY BOLT EVS

THE NEWS: Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza Inc. says it will roll out a eet of nearly 800 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles around the country to deliver pizza orders — the largest such EV delivery e ort.

WHY IT MATTERS: e plan comes as the company and other restaurants have had trouble hiring delivery workers. Having a dedicated eet would expand the pool of drivers to people who can’t use their own vehicles.

Ishbia: I gave $14 million for Mel Tucker deal at MSU

` United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia contributed $14 million to Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker’s $95 million contract, the executive said in an HBO segment that aired Tuesday night.

Ishbia was the subject of a pro le on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” that mainly focused on how his experience as a walk-on basketball player at MSU shaped his role as an executive.

But when asked by “Real Sports” correspondent Jonathan Jones about Tucker’s record-breaking contract reached late last year, Ishbia shared speci cs for the rst time.

“I gave another $14 million to Michigan State,” Ishbia said of Tucker’s 10-year deal, which he helped fund alongside Steve St. Andre, head of Birmingham-based marketing agency Shift Digital.

St. Andre could not be reached for comment.

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SPARTANNASH TEAMS UP WITH UBER ON DELIVERY

THE NEWS: SpartanNash is bolstering its grocery delivery operation by partnering with Uber at 100 Family Fare, D&W, VG’s Grocery and other stores. e grocery retailer, based in suburban Grand Rapids, has about 83 corporate-owned stores in Michigan, including seven VG’s Grocery locations in southeast Michigan.

WHY IT MATTERS: e Uber partnership comes amid continued demand for grocery delivery accelerated by the pandemic and experimentation by grocers with third-party and inhouse delivery.

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HORIZON

GLOBAL NAMES KENNEDY INTERIM CEO

THE NEWS: Trailer equipment manufacturer Horizon Global Corp. has parted ways with its automotive supply veteran CEO amid an uncertain future for the troubled Plymouth-based company, including a possible sale. Board Chair John Kennedy, 64, a prominent West Michigan businessman and Republican booster, replaces Terrence Gohl, who took the helm in late 2019, the company announced.

WHY IT MATTERS: Horizon Global has been exploring strategic alternatives that could include a sale of the company. Its stock price has fallen more than 90 percent since the beginning of the year.

MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said in a statement that “the university appreciates the generosity of donors and alumni who contribute and support our student athletes and the athletic department.” She added that donors “cannot give directly to a coach … for their salary, (but) can give to a general athletic fund from which coaches salaries are pulled from.”

Asked on “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” whether he has any sway over MSU athletics, donor and UWM CEO Mat Isbhia replied “I know I don’t.” | HBO

Report says debt cases overwhelm district courts

Analysis also points out disparities

DAVID EGGERT

LANSING — Debt-collection law suits dominate Michigan district courts, third-party collectors account for most cases and consumers rarely have lawyers to represent them while creditors do, a state commission said in an analysis released Nov. 16.

e 75-page report also agged ra cial disparities in collection cases and made several recommendations, including to ensure that people are noti ed when being sued for unpaid debts, which originate as past-due credit card balances, medical bills or auto loans.

Debt-collection cases — seen as “lose-lose-lose” for courts, creditors and consumers — are second only to tra c cases in district courts, ac counting for 9 percent of all cases and 37 percent of civil lawsuits.

About 70 percent of lings are from 10 plainti s, of which the top three are debt buyers: Midland Funding in San Diego, Portfolio Recovery Asso ciates in Norfolk, Va., and Je erson Capital System in St. Cloud, Minn.

Lawsuits brought by debt buyers represented 60 percent of collection cases in 2019, up from 40 percent in 2010.

A work group created by the Michi gan Justice for All Commission said debt-buyer cases present “unique concerns” because consumers may not recognize the buyer’s name, may think communications from them are a scam or may not know the type of debt at issue. e panel, which was created by the state Supreme Court and was aided in the study by the Phil adelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts and Houston-based January Advisors, said Michigan has the most lenient pleading requirements among Great Lakes states outside of Ohio.

THE SCOOP ON A BELOVED BUSINESS

JAY DAVIS

e new owners of the popular, long-standing Ray’s Ice Cream busi ness in Royal Oak aren’t changing much in terms of the experience customers will have when visiting the shop, but what changes they are making are geared toward ensuring the business remains viable for fu ture generations.

Bloom eld Hills residents Jason and Lindsey Eddleston took over ownership of Ray’s on July 5, pur chasing the business from the Ste vens family, who founded the ice

cream business in 1958. ree gen erations operated Ray’s, starting in 1958 by Raymond and Bernice Ste vens.

Now it’s the Eddlestons’ turn.

“We both have a love for food. I started coming (to Ray’s) when I moved back from New York in 2006,” Jason Eddleston said of the 1950s-era ice cream parlor and soda fountain. “After my rst visit I was hooked.”

Requests for comment from members of the Stevens family were not returned.

e purchase price for the busi

ness at 4233 Coolidge Highway was not disclosed.

e deal included all of the reci pes for the popular ice cream a vors, which are made on site. All employees, including the ice cream makers, stayed on following the change in ownership.

e Eddlestons in a little more than ve months have worked tire lessly to diversify revenue streams that come from Ray’s, which o ers more than 50 avors of ice cream over the course of each year.

Auto backlog might actually protect Michigan in a recession

e supply chain woes that have hammered the automotive industry for the past couple of years could have an unexpected upside: saving Michigan from the worst of an im pending recession.

at’s a key takeaway from the University of Michigan’s annual eco nomic forecast, which predicts a “mild recession” in the U.S. within the next 18 months as the Federal Re serve continues hiking the interest rate to combat in ation.

Recessions are historically unkind to Michigan because its largest indus try is automotive, and car buyers will put o a purchase if money gets tight or even when they’re just worried. But the backlog of vehicle orders due to the microchip shortage and produc

tion disruptions has led to sustained demand, according to the Michigan Economic Outlook for 2023-24.

“ e heart of our case for relative optimism is the strength of the local auto industry,” the report said. “If the auto industry is able to avoid major potholes ahead, it could end up tow ing the state’s labor market forward along with it.”

Vehicle production is outpacing expectations, with annualized light vehicle sales expected to increase from 13.6 million units in September to 14.9 million units in October. At the same time, the market share of Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV is tracking to in crease from 35.9 percent last year to 39 percent in 2022.

Automaker stability doesn’t make Michigan’s economy recession-proof,

though. e strong dollar will hurt non-automotive manufacturing, economists said, and sky-high mort gage rates have put home buying and building on ice and haven’t helped the local mortgage industry.

e state’s unemployment rate is projected to increase from 4.1 per cent to 4.7 percent by the second half of 2024, when economists predict the economy will return to where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, with moderate job growth, low unemploy ment and tamer in ation.

In ation in the Detroit area is ex pected to fall from 8.2 percent to 2.5 percent in the next two years, the economists said. Job gains are ex pected to average 3,400 per month in that time.

Lindsey and Jason Eddleston took ownership of Ray’s Ice Cream in Royal Oak from the Stevens family on July 5. | JAY DAVIS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

MANUFACTURING

What Ray’s Ice Cream’s new owners are changing — and keeping the same

KURT NAGL

“RAY’S ALWAYS HAD A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE, BUT WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED TO BE MORE ACTIVE ON (FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM).”

—Lindsey Eddleston, coowner, Ray’s Ice Cream.

Prominent South eld o ce building to become self-storage

A developer is attempting what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind redevelopment in the region.

Devon Self Storage, based in Emeryville, Calif. outside of Oak land, purchased the Victor Center o ce building in South eld — for merly home to Plante Moran — for an undisclosed price this month with plans to convert it into self-storage space.

If converting o ces into self-stor age sounds ... unique ... that’s be cause it is.

People I’ve spoken with can’t re call another time a local o ce build ing, pre-pandemic or during it, has been converted into such a use. Par ticularly one of such prominence, as one of the local outposts of a major accounting and advisory rm that consolidated its footprint into the South eld Town Center o ce com plex.

e Victor Center building is at 27400 Northwestern Highway and has about 125,000 square feet.

Greg Mackay, president of acquisi tion and construction for Devon Self Storage, declined comment this week. It’s not known how many stor age units are planned, when con struction would begin or wrap up, or how much would be spent.

e pandemic has put the o ce market on the ropes, particularly in a region (like others) where developers in the 1980s overbuilt many key sub urban cities, South eld being one of them, along with Troy and Farming ton Hills, to name a few.

Now, nearly four decades later, as companies in general seek to shed space and o er employees more ex ible work options following govern ment mandates to stay home to slow the pandemic’s spread in 2020, o ce landlords are grappling with an exis tential question: What the heck do we do with this?

“As a whole we are looking at o ce buildings in di erent ways than we did pre-COVID,” said Jared Fried man, senior managing partner of Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate, one of the brokerage rms on the Victor Center sale along with South eld-based Farbman Group.

“It’s no lie that o ce demand is lower and there is not as many big tenants in the market as there used to be, and we are really trying to look at buildings in di erent ways, and this one happened to work.”

One of the things that needs to be considered in these types of conver sions: How much weight a oor can handle, said Adam Pogoda, president at South eld-based Pogoda Cos., the state’s largest self-storage company which also considered a conversion of the Victor Center.

at’s because o ce, apartment and hotel property oors are typical ly built to hold 60 to 80 pounds per square foot, Pogoda said. But self-storage needs about 125 pounds per square foot capacity.

“ ink about document storage,” Pogoda said. “If someone is storing boxes and boxes of documents, that weighs more than a car. A storage fa cility needs heavier oor loads than a parking garage.”

Yikes.

Other factors: e complicated task of replacing existing passenger elevators with something akin to freight elevators. What about the building’s distinctly o ce facade — and can it be replaced with some thing that, for example, shows self-storage unit doors instead? is proposed conversion comes as the conversation about the future of o ce space will enter its fourth year in a few short weeks come 2023.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have posited repurposing underutilized or obsolete o ce space as apartments and hotel space, primarily.

Federal lawmakers have oated economic sweeteners to encourage converting them to residential, insti tutional, hotel or mixed-use, al though that legislation has lan guished for more than a year.

However, just last week, the Ilitch family’s Olympia Development of

Michigan and Stephen Ross’ New York City-based Related Cos. re vealed a plan to convert the Fox Of ce Building downtown into hotel space.

And several suburban buildings have been oated for residential use, ranging from Downriver’s tallest of ce property to the former Hyatt Re gency hotel in Dearborn.

Credit Acceptance looks to sell South eld buildings

Credit Acceptance Corp. (NAS DAQ: CACC) is looking to sell and vacate much of its South eld o ce footprint.

e move, which is being orches trated by Farmington Hills-based brokerage Friedman Real Estate, would involve the auto lender selling three key buildings and/or leasing out much of its space to others, ac cording to marketing materials.

Douglas Busk, Credit Acceptance’s

chief treasury o cer, said the deci sion came about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we went through the pandem ic, we found that productivity was pretty good and team members liked the exibility of being able to work remotely,” Busk said, adding that there were about 1,300 employees across its three South eld buildings at the onset of the pandemic.

“We’ve given team members a choice. We kind of have a hybrid ap proach,” Busk said. “ ey can come into the o ce, if they choose to do so. ey can work remotely or they can do a combination. And what we found is that the vast majority of team members prefer to work re motely. As a result, we have signi cantly more o ce space than we need.”

Depending on the outcome of the e ort, it would mark one of the more radical changes in the suburban of ce market during the global health

crisis, which has upended that asset class and left landlords searching for ways to ll up or reuse space as ten ants generally shrink their footprints and adopt more hybrid work models.

First, the company’s headquarters in the Silver Triangle Building is up for sale or lease. at property is about 144,000 square feet, sitting on about 10.2 acres with nearly 600 parking spaces at 25505 W. 12 Mile Road west of Telegraph Road.

Second, the company’s recently expanded footprint in the Raleigh Of centre property is also up for sale or lease. at two-building property is about 297,000 square feet at 2530025330 Telegraph Road between West 10 Mile Road and Civic Center Drive.

Credit Acceptance bought the property, which sits on 14.6 acres with some 1,235 parking spaces, in 2018 from Friedman Real Estate for $15 million, according to South eld property records. Friedman paid $6 million for it two years prior.

“Per (Credit Acceptance), they are attempting to decrease their o ce footprint and vacate all or a portion of the” properties, Friedman marketing materials for both properties says.

“Note that depending on the situa tion, (Credit Acceptance) may be a tenant for a portion of the property, with the terms and total square foot age to be determined, subject to the needs of a new owner. However, should a new owner require the en tire building, (Credit Acceptance) would vacate. Note that (Credit Ac ceptance) is also open to leasing the property to another tenant.”

According to the local o ces of New York City-based brokerage rm Newmark, the South eld o ce mar ket vacancy rate increased 0.4 per cent to 22.6 percent in the third quar ter. South eld is the region’s largest o ce market, with 17.4 million square feet. It also has the third-high est vacancy rate, behind only Novi at 23.5 percent vacant and Troy at 23 percent vacant, according to New mark data.

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

Kirk

PINHO

The Victor Center building in South eld was formerly home to Plante Moran | COSTAR GROUP INC.

Credit Acceptance’s recently expanded footprint in the Raleigh O centre property is also up for sale or lease. | COSTAR GROUP INC.

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Avert minimum wage issue in lame-duck

Michigan’s Legislature returns to ses sion next week for the rst time since just after the election.

What might happen in that end-of year, “lame-duck” session is unpredictable, but there’s one issue that might be easier to solve if the Democratic governor and Republican-led Legislature work together now rather than next year, when Democrats will hold the majority. e restaurant industry is pushing hard to head o a sudden jump in the minimum wage and the elimination of the “tip credit” for tipped workers like restaurant servers, set to take sudden e ect next February after a court ruling.

e court ruled earlier this year that the Republican-led Legislature had erred when it adopted a ballot proposal raising the mini mum wages and then immediately changed them. e court’s rul ing would make the original proposal take e ect all at once next February instead of over three years as originally intended.

e upshot: e minimum wage for Michigan overall would rise from the $9.87 now to about $13 an hour on Feb. 19 and would increase annually with in ation, which is now near 40-year highs.

Of special and perhaps greater concern for restaurants is the so-called “tipped wage,” now $3.75 an hour. at wage would jump to about $11.75 and equal the minimum wage by 2024 — a huge issue in the full-service restaurant industry.

at’s a huge jump and one that’s going to be fatal to some small businesses.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer herself recog nized in an interview with Crain’s that the jump would likely be unsustainable for many employers, and a survey conducted by the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Associa tion released last week indicates she’s right.

More than 90 percent of the survey re spondents said they would increase prices, 58 percent said they would lay o employees, 36 percent would reduce operating hours. Sixteen percent of them said they’d shut down.

Corraling a Democratic majority early next year to slow down this sudden jump is likely to be di cult. Finding common ground with Republicans would do the right thing for struggling small businesses in Michigan.

With the impact of in ation, worker short ages and other economic issues weighing especially heavily on small businesses, this sudden jump would be one problem too many, and one that can be xed. Whitmer and the Legislature should work together in the lame-duck session to nd a more gradual solution.

Michigan Democrats are wrong on right-to-work

After gaining control of both the state House and Senate, Michigan Democrats are already announcing what to expect from the rst Democratic trifecta in just under 38 years. One major policy priority: repealing the state’s right-to-work law. ey should recon sider, as right-to-work laws are better for work ers, for unions, and for the economy.

Right-to-work laws are simple: private employees can’t be red for refusing to pay a union. Without a right-to-work law, employees are forced to make a choice be tween whether to support a union or lose their jobs. Employees still have the option to join the union if they want, but those who don’t can’t be forced to pay dues to the union.

Even in a right-to-work state, unions still act as exclusive bargaining representatives for all employees within a speci ed subset of a work place called a bargaining unit. In non-right-towork states, employees who don’t agree with the union’s positions or believe the union is doing a bad job are still forced to pay dues.

Take, for instance, the UAW scandal. e in vestigation into the United Auto Workers re vealed o cials spending tens of thousands of dollars of dues money on cigars, meals, luxury villas, and golf equipment. In 2020-2021, the UAW lost 6 percent of its membership, likely in part due to the scandal. In states without a right-to-work law, workers would continue to be forced to nancially support a union they’ve seen abuse their dues. e same is true for em ployees who take issue with a union’s political spending or its political activity. In 2022, the National Education Association spent 98.54 percent of its political spending in support of Democratic candidates or progressive causes. Its counterpart, the American Federation of Teachers, spent 99.94 percent of their political spending in the same way.

A teacher opposed to these candidates or causes, if trapped in a union, would be forced to essentially subsidize this speech, even if they

found it antithetical to their values. Or at least they would be, if not for the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision, which extend ed right-to-work protections to all public sec tor employees.

Enabling workers not to support positions and organizations they disagree with should be reason enough to support right-to-work laws. But right-to-work laws also bene t work ers who want to be part of a union.

In right-to-work states, unions have to e ec tively represent their members or risk having members opt out of union membership. is challenges them to o er better, more respon sive services to their members, since member ship dues directly a ect the union’s bottom line. In forced unionization states, by contrast, unions have a guaranteed source of revenue. ey have no incentive to provide the best ser vices possible.

Some unions have even expressed support for right-to-work laws. Gary Casteel, a former regional director for the UAW, is on record sup porting right-to-work laws. His reasoning is straightforward:

“ is is something I’ve never understood, that people think Right-to-Work hurts unions,” Casteel said in February. “To me, it helps them. You don’t have to belong if you don’t want to. So if I go to an organizing drive, I can tell these workers, ‘If you don’t like this arrangement, you don’t have to belong.’ Versus, “If we get 50 percent of you, then all of you have to belong, whether you like it or not. I don’t even like the way that sounds, because it’s a voluntary sys tem, and if you don’t think the system’s earning its keep, then you don’t have to pay.”

at’s not even considering the more gen eralized economic bene ts. From 2011 to 2020, right-to-work states had almost 8 per cent higher employment growth, almost 10 percent higher growth in manufacturing payroll employment, over 8 percent higher non-farm employment, and higher dispos able income once cost of living is factored in. Given these economic bene ts, it’s not sur prising that right-to-work states have higher in-state migration. It’s also easy to see why employers increase investments after a right-to-work law is adopted.

If Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to ful ll her promise of restoring jobs and helping small businesses, she should start by preserving right-to-work.

Sound o : 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.

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.

EDITORIAL

DANIEL SAAD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

STEVE DELIE

Steve Delie is director of labor policy for the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

CARLOS OSORIO /

Story on proposed eviction rules ignored tenants’ perspective

TO THE EDITOR:

We are writing in regard to the article published on Oct. 27 regarding proposed rule changes from the State Court Administrative O ce or SCAO. We found this reporting to be biased in favor of the landlord industry, which has harmful consequences for poor and disproportionately Black and brown tenants whose lives will be most impacted by the court’s proposed changes. Crain’s caters to a business audience, but this does not justify providing a platform to amplify and legitimize dangerous and discriminatory views while further marginalizing the voices of tenants. We think this is problematic and unethical.

e most damaging aspect of this reporting is its one-sidedness. To be clear, we are not suggesting that “both-sides” coverage on landlord-tenant matters would produce unbiased reporting, given the clear power imbalance between these parties. When covering evictions, reporters typically draw a false equivalence between landlords’ interest in maintaining investment income and tenants’ interest in maintaining life-sustaining shelter. “Fair” coverage of unjust relationships and systems reproduces injustice.

at said, this article makes little attempt to come across as fair or balanced. e reporters spoke to ve landlords, three landlord attorneys, one housing advocate, and zero current tenants. e absence of tenants’ perspectives is extremely reckless given that the rules governing eviction proceedings have such grave consequences for their lives and well-being. Could the reporters not make contact with one of the 61,000 Detroit tenants facing eviction in 2022? Did the reporters think that a nonpro t housing provider could speak adequately on behalf of tenants’ lived experiences? Whether this omission is due to laziness, paternalism, or mistrust/lack of connections between Crain’s reporters and the public, the result is careless and inaccurate reporting that will likely breed further distrust and inferior housing coverage.

Beyond its exclusion of tenants, the article also lacks the informed perspective of a tenant attorney or legal advocate who is quali ed to assess the proposed changes from a tenants’ rights perspective. Such experts are not hard to nd, as many have submitted well-researched, practice-based, and incisive comments on how these court changes will impact tenants’ due process rights, participation in the legal process, and access to justice.

As a result of this article’s landlord-a nity bias, its legal analysis is ltered through the lens of real estate attorneys who have a pecuniary interest in maintaining their advantages under the current legal eviction process. Uncontested, their opinions come across as fact. For instance, the reporters quote Jeremy Piper on the question of separation of powers (expressing an opinion that most tenant rights advocates would roundly reject) but do not inform readers that he is a real estate attorney. e article showcases another landlord attorney’s view that a proposed rule requiring personal service before an immediate default judgment “will add time and expense to trying to evict someone who just isn't paying rent." e article fails to state that the

alternative is a status quo where 43 percent of Detroit tenants are evicted without ever having the opportunity to raise defenses.

e article speaks of a landlord leaving the business “because it's bad for her health,” but fails to acknowledge a large body of scienti c evidence that links eviction and substandard housing to a range of adverse health outcomes that disproportionately burden renters of color. e stress, trauma, and material fallout of eviction threaten mental and physical well-being and pushes tenants into poorer-quality housing, where they are more likely to be exposed to hazardous conditions, such

as lead. In Detroit, children under 6 living in investor-owned homes are at the highest risk of lead poisoning.

e article gives ample voice to landlords’ unsubstantiated generalizations about slick tenants gaming the system to “steal” rent but fails to discuss the far more powerful structural and systemic forces that shape tenants’ payment behaviors. Median asking rents in Detroit spiked during COVID-19, and in 2021, 87 percent of low-income renters in Detroit could not a ord their rent. e tenants who stand to bene t from the proposed court changes are those being evicted because they cannot pay rent due to nancial hardship; increasing ac-

cess to legal aid and rent assistance provides landlords with an avenue to receive payment without displacing tenants.

e result of this biased reporting is an article that paints landlords as victims of “big changes” to the landlord-tenant process that “tip the scale toward tenants.” is disregards the reality that these changes do not signi cantly alter the summary proceeding process, nor do they go nearly far enough to create a fair system.

Alexa Eisenberg

Kate Brantley

Alexa Eisenberg and Kate Brantley are researchers who study the eviction process in Detroit.

PARTNERS IN HEALTH

Wherever you go in Michigan, you’ll find a Wayne State University doctor, nurse, pharmacist or care provider nearby. Warriors who are changing and saving lives in hospitals and clinics throughout our state and conducting research that improves the quality of life around the world.

And wherever you go on our campus, you’ll find students who put into action what they learn from experienced faculty to meet the needs of our community. They’ll go on to take those learnings and serve as health professionals in communities everywhere. It’s an approach that creates a healthy partnership with our global community and develops health care leaders who are Warrior Strong.

wayne.edu

WHEN COVERING EVICTIONS, REPORTERS TYPICALLY DRAW A FALSE EQUIVALENCE BETWEEN LANDLORDS’ INTEREST IN MAINTAINING INVESTMENT INCOME AND TENANTS’ INTEREST IN MAINTAINING LIFESUSTAINING SHELTER.

BEST-MANAGED NONPROFITS

SHERRI WELCH

In the early months of the pan demic, Wayne Metropolitan Com munity Action Agency, already one of the largest nonpro ts in Southeast Michigan, found itself needing to rap idly sta up as hundreds of millions of dollars in COVID relief began pour ing in.

Its employee numbers more than doubled within a year, rising to 880 employees as its budget grew from $55 million before COVID to $350 million in scal 2022, with hundreds of millions in funding coming to the agency to provide emergency rent and property tax assistance, food, shelter and other basic needs help.

But Wayne Metro didn’t just go on a hiring spree. It began cultivating tal ent internally and made changes to its operations and sta ng require ments to better serve clients and re duce operating burdens on sta .

ose changes are outlasting the

pandemic and relief dollars, helping the sta better serve clients well into the future and enabling sta to spend more of their time on people rather than paperwork.

at, along with a strategic focus on providing attractive fringe bene ts, is helping it retain needed sta even as federal dollars contract, en suring it can continue to deliver on its mission of providing emergency as sistance to Wayne County residents.

Early e orts

Wayne Metro was looking at com pensation and sta ng issues even before the pandemic in its early child hood programming. In 2019, it began a concerted e ort to grow its own tal ent, launching an internal appren ticeship that later leveraged private foundation support during the pan demic to pay and train 36 new certi ed teachers for Wayne Metro and other early childhood classrooms.

Operating on a pre-pandemic bud get of $55 million, it engaged Wiscon sin-based Wip i LLP rm to conduct a wage and compensation study for equity and fairness and subsequently raised the minimum agency wage from $11 to $15 and began o ering signing and retention incentives to early childhood and after-school pro fessionals.

COVID brought a whole new ur gency. When it got $12 million in CARES Act dollars in the early months of COVID, Wayne Metro set a goal to get it out to the community within 90 days. at required not only more sta , but changes in the way it was de livering programs.

A Crain’s Best-Managed Nonpro t nalist in 2015, Wayne Metro created a team to focus on data to integrate whole-family programming, improve client experiences and lessen pro cessing time and documentation burdens for front-line sta .

It developed a streamlined, online

application that allowed clients to ap ply for up to eight services at one time in about 10 minutes and to hear back within 48 hours. To accomplish that, the agency began cross-training sta to assist clients in securing the full range of aid available.

“You were no longer just going to do homeless services. You were going to do rent assis tance, you were going to do…ba sically the um brella of emer gency services all at the same time with one client,” CEO Louis Pisz ker said.

“When you think about all of the governmental regulations that you’ve got to deal with, the pandemic al lowed us to break down all those reg ulatory barriers and just start serving people.”

At the same time, sta were less

likely to burn out and leave with that operating model, Piszker said.

“I think we did a good job balanc ing the investments and technology with our sta ng levels, to keep the amount of direct assistance at that 90 percent mark going back into the community.”

Talent attraction and retention

were key to Wayne Metro’s ability to meet community needs with the federal funding.

Rich fringe bene ts for sta helped it fare better than other human ser vices agencies on the talent front.

Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency leaders, Shama Mounzer (front row, from left), executive director of Empowerment & Integration Services; Mia Harnos, COO; Louis Piszker, CEO; Will Lane, CFO; Jessica Moore, executive director of Whole Family Services; Erica Heaney (back row, from left), executive assistant; Katie Cronk, director of Finance; Timprince Graves, director of Human Resources; Sitara Govender, director of Innovation; Nadeem Siddiqi, executive director of

Secrets to recruiting, retaining top talent

About the Crain’s 2022 Best-Managed Nonpro ts program

Crain’s Best-Managed Non pro t program honors the best in leadership and nancial stewardship in Southeast Mich igan’s nonpro t community. Winners undergo a nancial re view by the nonpro t practice group at Plante Moran PLLC and are selected after initial scoring and in-person inter views by a panel of nonpro t experts.

is year’s contest asked nonpro ts to share how they are overcoming obstacles for recruiting and retaining talent at a time when all sectors are seeing shortages.

ey o ered practical take aways, from rethinking opera tional strategies to prioritize the people they serve to expanding bene ts, opportunities and oth er perks to keep employees en gaged and satis ed.

e recruiting and retention best practices they are putting in place aren’t just something other nonpro ts can learn from, the judges in the contest said. ey are a blueprint for-pro t and government organizations can follow, as well.

e winners of this year’s Best-Managed Nonpro t Con test will share how they are pri oritizing sta ng and retention e orts and engaging all levels of the organization, from frontline employees to board mem bers, during a Jan. 26, 2023, we binar.

is program cannot happen without the generous e orts of our volunteer judges and Plante Moran, who undertake a monthslong vetting process that starts with a nancial re view to make sure candidates are scally sound, before mov ing on to a multi-step evalua tion process that includes in-person interviews of the nalists.

This year’s judges: ` John Bebes, CPA and partner at Plante Moran

` Gary Dembs, founder of the Non-Profit Personnel Network, a headhunting agency focused on nonprofit job placement

` Kelley Kuhn, president and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association

` Richard Martin, principal at Caleb LLC, a nonprofit and philanthropy consultancy firm

` Allandra Bulger, executive di rector at Co.act Detroit, which promotes collaboration be tween metro Detroit nonprof its

On My Own of Michigan’s topline pay, bene ts attracting ‘rock stars’ to the tiny nonpro t

SHERRI WELCH

Five years ago, On My Own of Mich igan was on the verge of closure.

It was operating in the red, calling into question its ability to keep pro viding independent living assistance for the developmentally disabled.

At the same time, front-line sta at the agency were turning over every couple of years, leaving to earn more at other organizations.

On My Own was losing institutional knowledge, and families were getting nervous, Executive Director Jen Roc canti said.

e question that keeps parents of special-needs children up at night is what will happen to their children when they are no longer here, she said.

“ e whole purpose of our organi zation is to be the answer. Our found ing family made a promise to future families that we would always be here,” she said.

“As a small nonpro t, we don’t have the luxury of being anything but a well-managed nonpro t.”

Doing that required keeping sta from leaving and recruiting top-cali ber talent.

“Because we take our lifelong com mitment to families so seriously, we had to get clear real fast about what makes our work possible,” she said, “and for us, the answer was our talent ed sta .”

On My Own has turned its nances around, producing operating excesses and establishing an operating reserve.

new programs to meet emerging needs.

Turning things around

When Roccanti joined the nonpro t ve years ago, the organization had seen an operating de cit three years in a row, with evidence the former execu tive director was quietly delaying his own paychecks to pay other sta .

To help reduce day-to-day costs, she cut low-hanging expenses like the wa ter bubbler for $60 a month — some thing not needed when the kitchen sink was a few steps away — and a pre mium sports addition to its cable pack age for its member lounge, she said.

“ ey sound important, but when you have to make decisions about be ing paid, the decision sort of makes it self,” Roccanti said.

e organization, which relies on fee-based programs for much of its revenue, also made a concerted e ort to grow contributed revenue, securing three-year, ve- gure commitments from several board members. Its goal was to establish a three-month reserve within three years. It did it in one be fore hitting a six-month reserve.

With attrition and sta reductions, including outsourcing bookkeeping, the organization restructured its sta from nine to ve full-timers and one part-time employee currently.

Prioritizing talent

along with board commitments, en abled On My Own to extend liv ing-wage salaries and health care with low out-of-pocket costs.

More recently, it hired a human re source consultant to review sta re cruitment and retention practices and o er suggestions for improvement.

Beyond living-wage compensation aligned with local market rates and performance and holiday bonuses, the review led it to expand bene ts to include exible work schedules and location requirements; life, shortterm and disability insurance; $250 per employee for annual professional development; six weeks of paid time o for employees, and four weeks of leave for birth or adoption of a child, two weeks for the death of an immedi ate family member and a six-week sabbatical every seven years.

Competitive pay and bene ts have helped attract and re tain high-cali ber employees to the small nonpro t.

Current sta “can do the work of like 15 average sta members, Roc canti said. “We have rock stars. ey’re very driven, incredibly experienced, and they are always looking for op portunities to do our work better.”

Serving more people

sta have given it the ability to launch new programs to meet emerging needs among its clients, while also helping to bring in new fee-for-service revenue.

In January it launched Indepen dence Prep, an overnight living experi ence for teens and young adults that takes place at an extended-stay hotel in Troy. e program gives young adults and families a chance to see what inde pendent living could be like and helps them get excited about building the skills they need, Roccanti said.

e nonpro t is now developing “Independence College,” a two-year residential college program for young adults with developmental disabilities that will teach them to live inde pendently and choose a competi tive-wage job when they graduate. e program will launch in fall 2023.

Recognizing the need for diversity in its all-white female organization, On My Own in August secured its rst fed erally funded grant of $86,000 from Community Care Corps to build a paid internship program for two underrep resented social work and special edu cation college students.

`

Yodit Mesfin Johnson, presi dent and CEO of Nonprofit En terprise at Work, a nonprofit consultancy firm

By prioritizing spending to provide competitive salaries and bene ts, it has attracted “rock stars” who are helping to turn those reserves into

On My Own made a strategic deci sion to increase its sta ng costs as a percentage of its now $615,000 budget from 56 percent ve years ago to 72 percent today.

Savings from sta restructuring,

With just six people on sta , On My Own is serving more than 75 families this year, up more than 60 percent from last year.

Operating reserves and innovative

“We want to be a safe space for peo ple to get services that honors their lived experiences.”

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

UNDER $3 MILLION REVENUE

On My Own of Michigan executives, Emily Lourim (from left), director of Education; Martha Goldberg, Independent Living program manager; Jennifer Roccanti, executive director; Amanda Juliano, Independent Living program coordinator; and Shannon Graham, Independent Living program coordinator, at their headquarters in Troy.

| NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“BECAUSE WE TAKE OUR LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO FAMILIES SO SERIOUSLY, WE HAD TO GET CLEAR REAL FAST ABOUT WHAT MAKES OUR WORK POSSIBLE.”

—Jen Roccanti, executive director, On My Own

Community Housing Network sta s up rental assistance in Oakland County

BY SHERRI WELCH

When COVID hit Southeast Michigan, Community Housing Network was faced with a huge increase in the demand for emergency rental assistance and other supports.

Its budget rose from $15 million to $34.2 million as it became the lead agency in Oakland County providing federally funded Covid

FINALIST

CHN builds affordable, accessible housing and provides housing assistance through its call center, which fields over 15,000 calls each year. It connects thousands of peo-

ple each year to affordable housing, short-term and long-term rentals, homeownership options and supportive and accessible homes for people with disabilities. It then works with people to help them access health care and mental health treatment as well as education, job and money management services

their quality of life.

Services to Enhance Potential keeps sta turnover far below national average

BY SHERRI WELCH

Sta retention at Services to Enhance Potential, a Dearborn-based provider of job training and placement services for people with disabilities and other mental health needs in Macomb and Wayne Counties, has outpaced national averages during the pandemic.

Early in the pandemic, the important role direct service professionals played in providing critical care to clients with and without COVID be-

came very clear, the agency said.

Direct service professionals, who make up the majority of its 155 sta members, often put the health and well-being of clients before their own.

Recognizing their critical role, STEP early in the pandemic initiated e orts to retain them and other critical employees by prioritizing safety, increasing communication and engaging sta in decisions around client services, increasing compensation and recognizing sta contributions through bonuses,

“swag” and sta appreciation events.

STEP used $4.2 million in Payroll Protection Program and other CARES Act funding received to retain and recruit sta , enabling it to continue providing services during the pandemic.

To remain competitive, the $13.5 million organization increased starting salaries, o ered new hire bonuses and put in place retention bonuses for existing employees.

Shelley Brinkmann (from left), vice president of Real Estate; Kirsten Elliott, vice president, COO; Carrie Mendoza, vice president , CFO; and Marc Craig, president, at Community Housing Network in Troy. NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS) | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Emergency Rental Assistance, funding for households facing eviction and other housing crises due to COVID-19-related hardships and for landlords to help ensure they can maintain local rental housing stock.

to help improve

Executives from Services To Enhance Potential, Terey DeLisle (from left), director of Programming; Carla Dean, director of Employment and Training Services; Brent Mikulski, CEO; Je Bachynski, director of Operations; and Cherie Stangis, director of Clinical Services and Performance Improvement, the Western Wayne Resource Center in Westland. | NIC ANTAYA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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HOUSING

From Page 10

To help launch the largest program in its 20-year history and expand other supportive services, the Troy-based agency hired 50 new employees within three months, adding to nearly 100 existing sta .

Hitting hiring hard

To attract employees, it expanded its reach for job candidates, looking beyond the typical social worker requirement and other credentials normally required. Instead, it focused on needed skill sets. It also expanded its advertising and offered 100-percent remote and exible work options, extensive training and competitive bene ts, enabling it to attract a diverse group of candidates.

Over the last year, CHN has been working with a consultant to review its recruiting and hiring practices through a diversity, equity and inclusion lens and to improve those processes to ensure it is recruiting, hiring and supporting a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

To quickly deploy CERA assistance, CHN streamlined its hiring process by reducing the time between recruitment and placement

from two to three weeks to one to two days.

At the same time, it stepped up its engagement and connection with its 100 existing employees, making the executive team accessible through virtual hours and providing “self-care retreat days.” It also sent employees CHN “swag” including comfy socks and sweatshirts to keep them comfortable while working from home, hosted drive-thru DoorDash gift card giveaways, an online holiday party and virtual mix-and-mingle events.

CHN has also worked to diversify its board. Members who have

From Page 10

Like other agencies, it shifted to fully remote work to protect sta and clients during the pandemic. STEP developed a COVID-19 preparedness and response playbook for employees when stay-at-home orders were lifted and has updated it six times as guidance has changed.

More seats at the table

During the pandemic it became apparent that direct support employees were best positioned to help make decisions on how to best serve clients, STEP said. So the agency included them in decision-making processes and increased overall communication and transparency around decisions, which led to a greater feeling of e cacy among sta and increased con dence among senior leadership that the decisions being made were in the best interest of clients, STEP said.

e agency created a sta -led Workplace Culture Committee to coordinate sta appreciation events and other employee engagement and retention e orts.

It hosted regular sta appreciation e orts, including parties at Detroit Tiger Games at Comerica Park and trivia nights and ra ed o monthly prizes like gift cards to lo-

run organizations with $100 million budgets sit alongside individuals who are current program participants in CHN programs, something that creates a useful exchange and balances the conversation, CHN said.

Since 2020, the agency has assisted 5,990 households with eviction prevention and other housing crises and provided COVID-19 response aid for emergency housing and other basic needs to 2,100 individuals, more than double the number it served previously.

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

cal restaurants and businesses and other giveaways.

ese events o ered everyone a bit of a respite from the stressful work environment and o ered very low stakes but e ective team building.

e moves have helped STEP maintain high sta retention rates, with 85 percent of its sta in place for over ve years, nearly half with the agency for over 10 years and nearly a quarter for over 20 years, the agency said.

It saw 21 percent sta turnover during 2021 and 28 percent during the rst months of 2022.

at’s far below the national average of 43 percent turnover for di-

rect care professionals as reported in the 2021 Direct Support Professional Survey Report released by Relias, STEP said, and 45.2 percent turnover for health care and social assistance providers, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2020.

Employee satisfaction at the nonpro t is rising, it said.

A fall 2021 survey of sta re ected increased satisfaction high scores in areas including job satisfaction, working conditions, training o ered and bene ts o ered, STEP said.

Contact:

CARING FOR KIDS

Advocating for the mental and physical health of children across Michigan

ABOUT THIS REPORT:

On this monthly radio program, The Children’s Foundation President & CEO Larry Burns talks to the community, government and business leaders about issues related to children’s health and wellness. This hour-long show typically airs at 7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month on WJR 760AM. Here’s a summary of the show that aired on Nov. 22; listen to the entire episode, and archived episodes, at YourChildrensFoundation.org/caring-for-kids

Daniels Announcer, Detroit Red Wings; Co-Founder, Jamie Daniels Foundation

LARRY BURNS: The Jamie Daniels Foundation is now funding nine collegiate recovery programs in the state of Michigan. Tell us why you feel these are important.

KEN DANIELS: It’s important kids know they have a place to turn. We also always talk about breaking the stigma. e shame of any type of addiction can preclude recovery. I’m hoping kids realize prescription drugs can be dangerous. Just because a doctor prescribed it, doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you. Jamie passed in 2016 and it took us a year until we could speak publicly about it. Again, it was the stigma of addiction.

Burns: We recently approved a grant for the collegiate recovery program at Wayne State University. These programs are allowing kids to have a chance to recover, to stay in school and to have a pathway to a healthy life.

Daniels: Addiction can be so isolating, as we know. When you’ve got those around you on the same path and with the same values, you don’t have to judge anybody else. You can be true to you. Everyone needs that circle of friends that they can trust and be with.

Burns: The Jamie Daniels Foundation made a multi-year commitment to the new Adolescent Addiction Recovery Center in Troy. This is a partnership with The Children’s Foundation and University Pediatricians, which is a physician group out of Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Tell us why the adolescent population is important to the Jamie Daniels Foundation.

Daniels: So many adolescents are su ering from addiction, whether it be alcohol or drugs. We’re nding now that many start using well before the age of 18. ere’s a huge void in the area of adolescent substance use services in Michigan.

Burns: The Children’s Foundation covered the $150,000 in costs to convert the space from a clinical area to counseling and of ce space. What else can you tell us?

Daniels: With backing from local funders, we’re providing treatment to anyone, regardless of ability to pay. About $500,000 in annual funding for the next three years has been secured, including a commitment grant from the Jamie Daniels Foundation. Dr. Matt LaCasse, a child and adolescent psychiatrist specializing in addiction and the lead psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, will serve as director. e clinic’s psychotherapy focus is giving youth the tools to make decisions and better choices. ere’ll be treatment for psychiatric issues that go hand-in-hand with substance use, including anxiety and depression. For more information about these services, please call 248-377-8717.

Burns: Let’s talk a little bit about raising more money.

Daniels: e foundation is hosting Hot Stove Stories with Mickey Redmond and myself at the MotorCity Casino on December 1. Breakfast is provided along with a Q&A with former NHL stars Kris Draper and Chris Osgood, along with NHL referee Wes McCauley and former ref Dan O’Halloran. e program begins at 8 a.m. and tickets are on sale now at JamieDanielsFoundation.org. We hope a lot of people will show up and support us.

Jbara

President, Grand Rapids Gold; Entrepreneur; Trustee, The Children’s Foundation

LARRY BURNS: Over the last several seasons, The Children’s Foundation has had a strong relationship with the Grand Rapids Gold, which is now a Denver Nuggets af liate NBA G League team. It’s been a great partnership with uniforms and raising money during games.

STEVE JBARA: I think so, too. For about eight seasons, we were a liated with the Detroit Pistons, and as of recently, we’ve changed over to the Denver Nuggets. I was from West Michigan and I thought the team would be well suited in the Grand Rapids area. Today, we’re actually kicking o our ninth year in Grand Rapids, and we’re in a new venue, Van Andel Arena.

Burns: You’re a true entrepreneur. Tell us about Air Company, which is a CO2 technology company based in Brooklyn.

Jbara: Our company is a carbon conversion company. e essence of the business is we’re able to kind of take pollution and create usable products from it. We’re able to get two di erent outputs — methanol and ethanol. We take the methanol and we’re able to create jet fuel from it. Now we’re serving a few di erent airlines, in addition to NASA and the Department of Defense. On the ethanol side, we add water to that and create alcohol-based products like vodka, sanitizer or fragrance. We like to say, “goods that do good.”

Burns: You’re co-owner of Green Door Distilling in Kalamazoo, and a unique advertising agency called Atomic Honey. Tell us about those.

Jbara: I wanted to do something in Kalamazoo, which was my hometown. I invested in Green Door in 2016. Distilleries are really a tough cash business. In some cases, the alcohol must sit for years, so you can’t reap any revenue out of it.

Atomic Honey was established in 2019 and is based in Eastern Market. I met Robb Taylor, who was running a boutique agency, and we came up with this concept that instead of giving cash to entrepreneurs, we would lend advertising in exchange for equity. We provide these services, for example, we’ll give you $150,000 worth of services for a couple percent in the business. It’s a bit of “put your money where your mouth is” because if we do our job, by the time the money we pledge is exhausted, you should now be in a place with revenue and sales to pay us. Ev erybody’s working towards the same common goal. We have a very committed relationship with them to ensure their success, because now they’re our client and we have a piece.

Burns: I’m looking forward to you being a very active board member.

Jbara: I’m ecstatic to be a part of e Children’s Foundation. What we’re doing at the foundation level ts with what the community needs in West Michigan. I’ve never been the smartest guy in the room, but I think a little bit of ambition, good timing and treating people well leads to a lot of opportunities.

Turnbull CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Muskegon Lakeshore

LARRY BURNS: You were

appointed CEO earlier this year. How are things going in Muskegon?

MONICA TURNBULL: A Livability Lab was recently completed to link multi-sector organizations and bring residents together to create a system to ensure livability for Muskegon County residents. Boys & Girls Club is collaboratively engaging youth to be more civically involved in community leadership. We’re working with other local partners to give youth a voice and tools.

We have several private capital campaign projects going on. e economic status in Muskegon is going well and things are looking up.

Burns: Boys & Girls Clubs are one of our favorite grantees. Tell us about the renovations to your facility and the grant that The Children’s Foundation made.

Turnbull: Our capital campaign construction is currently underway and we have nearly $10 million of renovations in a space that was formerly a tness center. We are through our demolition phase and building new interior walls. We’re located on Muskegon Lake so we do have access to the waterfront on our property. Part of the funding e Children’s Foundation gave us is for aquatic safety and education, which is so critical for our youth.

Burns: Your facility also has a great indoor pool. That else will it include?

Turnbull: We have a six-lane 25 meter lap pool along with a full size gymnasium. All those things will be renovated. We will also have a STEM lab, a STEM facility and art area, as well as academic spaces for each of our cohorts. Each of those spaces will include a lounge space that they can all relax and enjoy.

Burns: Coming out of COVID, so many kids suffer from anxiety and other issues. Tell us about the Quiet Room that The Children’s Foundation is helping fund.

Turnbull: It’s a calming space where our youth and teens can nd some peace and serenity. It’s a place to decompress and regulate their emotions. e goal of our Quiet Room is to reduce negative sensory input by providing a calming visual, auditory and tactile experience that will help our youth and teens emotionally reset from their day.

e other piece of this is that many of our youth live with more than just themselves at home – they have siblings, parents, caregivers, whoever’s at home – and sometimes they don’t get a quiet space, even in their own rooms. It’s really important that we provide that space for them. We are appreciative of your support to be able to make that possible.

Burns: What else should we know about your Boys & Girls Club?

Turnbull: One thing that sets us apart is our main clubhouse, which is under construction. We also have six school-based sites so we are able to connect with youth all over Muskegon County, even ones that are not able to get to our locations in their neighborhoods.

Ken

Monica

Steve

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WE ARE

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Life Remodeled fosters transparent, high-impact culture

SHERRI WELCH

Life Remodeled developed an op erating system to foster a transparent and high-impact culture, something that is helping it achieve measurable impact and recruit and retain high-performing sta .

rough the system, Life Remod eled said it is able to clearly commu nicate its mission and core values, future plans and the steps needed to get there. at’s helping add clarity to the number of employees it needs and job requirements as it hires new employees.

at clarity and transparency are also providing motivation for its ex isting sta of 11 full-time employees and six contract sta , said Life Re modeled, which is working to rebuild Detroit neighborhoods, one at a time, through home repairs, neighbor hood cleanups and repurposing for mer school buildings into communi ty centers.

Attracting and retaining the right people to the right seats in the orga nization is the foundation of the model, CEO Chris Lambert said.

Life Remodeled is o ering a exi ble work environment for sta and competitive compensation and ben e ts, including: 12 paid holidays and three weeks of vacation, health bene ts with limited out-of-pocket costs, a 401(k) plan, short-term disability insurance, leadership training, pro fessional development opportunities and salaries that are well over the 50-percent median mark reported by the Michigan Nonpro t Association.

In seeking new employees, Life Re modeled said it seeks candidates of

WAYNE METRO

From Page 8

To ll a range of positions from en try level service providers to account ing, data analysis, IT professionals, grant writing and teaching positions, Wayne Metro began o ering $5,000 in annual tuition reimbursement, lowcost health care, 401(k) bene ts, six weeks of paid parental leave, $100 per month in student loan subsidies and a $2,500 dependent care bene t for par ents or caregivers of older adults, up from $1,500 before COVID.

A nonpro t employer can’t com pete with the private sector on sala ries, Piszker said, “But what you can do is become very creative with your fringe bene ts that you o er.”

“A culture of work”

Wayne Metro directors are working directors not delegators, Piszker said. ey roll up their sleeves and work alongside their teams.

“We are not a top heavy organiza tion and that has been, I think, one of our secret sauces over the years ... we work here and everybody works, and it’s a culture of work,” he said.

Keeping administrative rates low is enabling Wayne Metro to put more dollars toward competitive pay and bene ts, Piszker said. It added more titles to salary bands so that really good managers, for example, who just want to manage but are looking to increase their salaries over time, can do so with out feeling the need to leave the agen cy.

color to better re ect the Detroit de mographic it serves. Black talent now accounts for 50 percent of its sta and nearly three-quarters of its lead ership team.

Keeping track

e new system is aimed at getting

Knowing it could lose employees but needing to put both sta and client safety rst, however, led Wayne Metro to mandate COVID vaccines for em ployees in the fall 2020. It used incen tives and a deadline to get 97 percent or better compliance among sta by the fall of 2021.

e e orts and increased sta ng levels enabled Wayne Metro to answer more than 4,000 resident calls and web chats each day, to stave o more than 40,000 evictions for Wayne County res idents and get emergency assistance to thousands of residents in the county.

By the end of this calendar year, the agency will have spent down most of the COVID-relief dollars it received. Its budget will contract from about $350 million in scal 2022 to $171 mil lion for 2023, and Piszker projects it will settle around $100 million be yond that.

As expected, Wayne Metro’s sta ng needs are contracting as well. It will lay o 113 employees by year’s end, fol lowing two rounds of layo s impacting a total of about 100 employees earlier this year.

Wayne Metro is providing outgoing employees with four weeks of sever ance pay, “thank you” bonuses and outplacement support, using its wide spread partnerships in the community to help them nd new jobs.

“It’s really di cult when funding goes away ... we don’t want to lose any body,” Piszker said. “We just have to be scally responsible so we can continue to serve the community at a high level.”

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

all sta on the same page on the vi sion, long-term plan, goals and strat egy to get there.

Operating on a $2.4 million bud get, Life Remodeled hired a new chief operating o cer to drive the initia tive and ensure all processes were clear and followed by all employees.

Under the new system, which was

developed with an outside business operations consultant, Life Remod eled’s leadership team meets quar terly to re ne strategic goals and up date a simpli ed strategic planning document that creates clarity around quarterly priorities, nancial goals and key measurables such as the number of people served, academic

outcomes, and nonpro t and for-pro t tenant occupancy in the Durfee Innovation Society commu nity center it has developed in a for mer elementary-middle school in Detroit.

Organizational information is tracked in a shared project manage ment system, Monday.com, which allows all team members to view in formation in real time. e dash board provides transparency and ac countability and enables employee autonomy, while also serving as a source of encouragement for sta to hit goals, the organization said.

When it implemented the new op erating system in 2019, Life Remod eled said it initially saw some em ployee push back about implementing best-practice business principles in a nonpro t organiza tion and some turnover, as individual work outcomes became more appar ent. But it has created a dedicated team of employees today, Life Re modeled said.

As part of goal assessment, the nonpro t said it also seeks feedback from employees to determine the ef fectiveness of the organization’s leaders.

It credits the new operating sys tems with signi cantly increasing its achievement of goals. Sta reached 96 percent of goals in the second quarter of 2022, increasing fundrais ing and the number of people served, among other accomplishments, it said, noting achieved goals are cele brated at quarterly meetings.

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

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When Maysam Alie-Bazzi applied for her rst teaching post in 1999, she beat out about 20 other applicants for the job. Today, as executive director of sta and student services at Dearborn Public Schools, she’d love to see anywhere near that number of candidates for her growing number of classroom openings.

“Oh, gosh, you’re lucky if you have two or three” candidates per teacher opening today, she says. “Two or three and we’re excited.”

e dwindling number of young job candidates is just one element behind a widely lamented teacher shortage plaguing schools in Michigan and around the nation. e teacher shortage is a complex issue, blending COVID burnout, baby boomer retirements, political meddling and competition from other career elds.

But few educators doubt that the

challenge of lling classrooms with quali ed teachers is real — and it is getting worse.

“ ere is a teacher shortage,” says omas Morgan, a spokesman for the Michigan Education Association, the state’s largest teacher’s union. “ ere’s a shortage of school employees across the board. And it is the biggest issue in education. It is bigger than anything else right now. It’s an apex issue.”

Three main causes

At least three trends contribute to the teacher shortage. From least to most important: older teachers retiring; mid-career burnout; and fewer college graduates going into teaching.

Start with retirements. As in the American labor force at large, the workforce is aging as the boomers and middle-aged teachers reach

their retirement years.

In Dearborn, Alie-Bazzi says, “We have a ton of the teachers that have been around for 30 years+, highly skilled with a ton of institutional knowledge, leaving the profession because it’s their time to retire.”

Adding to retirements as a cause of the teacher shortage is a problem with burnout. Some have given their students so much of their time and attention that many leave the eld well before retirement. An estimated 16 percent of teachers leave their schools each year nationally, some quitting the eld entirely while others jumping to a better classroom job in another district.

“Last year it was a like a revolving door,” Alie-Bazzi says of her Dearborn district. “We’ve never experienced a shortage like this.”

Nikolai

superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District, says more than teach-

Vitti,

Districts say a variety of issues have forced them to scramble for personnel; solutions will need to be just as varied | By John Gallagher

Maysam Alie-Bazzi, executive director of sta and student services at Dearborn Public Schools, works with students at Stout MIddle School. Sta ng is a challenge, she says. | PHOTOS BY QUINN BANKS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

—Maysam Alie-Bazzi, executive director of sta and student services at Dearborn Public Schools

INSIDE: ‘Everything else’ beyond teaching is frustrating educators, and it’s time for solutions.

INSIDE: Detroit schools made big strides in attracting and retaining teaching sta . Here’s how they did it.

ing can be a culprit.

“ e average teacher now is not just focused on math, science, social studies, art, music,” he says. “ ey have to be a social worker, they have to be a counselor, they have to be a mental health therapist. ey’re becoming surrogate mothers and fathers and uncles and aunts because the list of the social- emotional piece is so heavy.”

An early 2022 survey by the Michigan Education Association reported that 1 in 5 Michigan teachers surveyed expected to leave education for another career in the next two or three years. Another 14 percent planned to retire.

at churn puts a burden on districts to keep looking for new teachers. But that leads to another big problem: the diminishing number of new college graduates choosing education as a career.

A broken pipeline

e data tell the story.

Over the past 50 years, bachelor’s degrees in education awarded in the U.S. have seen a big slide, from the most popular major to 10th place.

ere were 176,307 bachelor’s degrees in education awarded in 1971; by 2020, that had fallen to 85,057, a decline of about 50 percent even as the U.S. population grew by roughly a third.

Over the same half-century, business and health-related degrees soared in popularity. Business saw a

more than 300 percent rise in bachelor’s degrees awarded; health-related degrees saw a 10-fold increase. As reported by the National Center for Education Statistics, business and health-related degrees today outnumber education degrees better than 6 to 1. It’s a sign that today’s students see teaching as a less-promising career option than many other elds.

Perhaps adding to that decline across the decades has been increasing opportunities for women. Once forced to choose a teaching career almost by default, educated women today have more elds open to them.

For schools that have traditionally relied on new graduates for hires, the

impact has been devastating. Districts like Dearborn used to retain student teachers once they nished their training and became certi ed. Now, Alie-Bazzi says, “Many of those student teachers already have job offers before they graduate because there’s so few.”

Vitti in Detroit emphasized that decades-old hiring practices are now obsolete. “We are not in a position to rely on the traditional pipeline of universities,” he says. “ e average undergraduate is not going into teaching any longer.”

What’s needed, Vitti adds, is a national teacher recruitment strategy.

“We don’t have a national teacher development strategy in this coun-

try,” he says. And he and others don’t see one forthcoming anytime soon.

Not just teachers

Classroom teachers represent just one gap in school hiring.

A jobs board recruiting site run by the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators in early November listed about 800 jobs in schools across the state. About half of those jobs are for non-teaching positions, including custodians, bus drivers, psychologists, administrators, facilities managers, etc.

Some speci c examples: In late October, the Anchor Bay school district listed four job openings: Custodian, speech pathologist, social worker, and swim coach. Also in October, the Grosse Ile Township schools posted openings for a school counselor and a psychologist.

Understanding the full extent of the teacher shortage is di cult because there is a lack of comparable data required of districts. Some districts count a long-term substitute in front of a classroom as a teacher instead of a vacancy, possibly obscuring the full extent of the hiring gap.

COVID and other burdens

If the long-term trend is seeing fewer graduates go into teaching, the past couple of years of the COVID-19 pandemic and political upheavals

See QUANDARY on Page 22

Five ideas on how to retain teachers

To attract and retain teachers and other school personnel, districts are trying a variety of methods with some success and believe some changes at the state and district levels could help:

Entice people to teach: Scholarship programs for college students, stipends for training and a national recruiting program could add more personnel.

Simplify certi cation: District-led programs can help substitute teachers, aides, paraprofessionals and others gain necessary quali cations more quickly.

Stabilize state funding: Long-term planning is di cult amid funding level and priority shifts from year to year with the state budgeting process.

Protect from political harassment: Teachers and administrators have increasingly become the focus of campaigns that cast them as agents of harm or as having ulterior motives beyond learning.

Increase pay and accelerate raises: Signing bonuses, higher starting salaries and a simpli ed scale for raising wages have boosted e orts to keep teachers.

ere’s no single solution to ease teacher shortage

It’s no secret that Michi gan is facing an educator shortage. From teachers to paraprofessionals to su perintendents — we need more educators at every position.

From the U.P. to Downri ver and coast to coast, school districts struggle to ll teaching positions. Prin cipals are taking on full teaching loads. Superinten dents are driving school buses. Class sizes are grow ing. And when a district is able to ll a position, it usu ally takes sta away from other area districts — thus creating a vacancy elsewhere, not to mention a highly competitive mar ket. It feels like a never-ending cycle. e educator shortage is not unique to Michigan and has been impacting our education system since well before the pandemic. School leaders have been ringing the alarm on the increasing demand for more quali ed educators for years and it’s time for them to have a seat at the table in the post-pandemic re covery.

Dr. Tina Kerr is executive director of the Michigan Association of Superintendents & Administrators.

certi cation. is year, Michigan made historic investments to the Fiscal Year 2023 education budget. e bipartisan budget is a positive step for ward in addressing the state educator shortage.

Speci cally, the state budget allocates resources for recruitment, including teacher fellowship pro grams. Eligible student teachers will be able to re ceive $9,600 per semester from the MI Future Educator Student Teacher stipends. Additionally, 2,500 teach er preparation students will be able to receive up to $10,000 to o set tuition costs for earning their ini tial teacher certi cation. And more pathways for support sta who are al ready in our classrooms, like parapro fessionals, to become certi ed teach ers can be created thanks to $175 million appropriated for districts to create Grow Your Own programs. e goal here — entice college students, recent grads and current support sta to become educators.

tional, meaningful action is not tak en.

at starts with changing the nar rative around education. Educators were once held in high regard, but public respect and sentiment for the profession has dramatically de creased over the years. e constant negative political discourse educa tors and school leaders must contin ually defend against makes choosing education as a career path unat tractive.

looking for teachers than there were graduating students. And continued attacks on the retirement system and unfunded mandates on pension plans only add to the problem. After all, who wants to take on student debt for higher education, have a starting wage that requires you to work additional jobs to make ends meet, and constantly hear what a poor job public schools are doing?

MASA and MDE are both support ive of these bills and we urge the Leg islature to take a serious look at these reforms.

at’s why MASA has made the state’s educator shortage a legislative priority for our association. We be lieve state law must change to re ect the need to bring more individuals into the classroom by removing bar riers and providing e ective and meaningful alternative paths toward

ese major investments in our students and educators are a wel come sight. However, these invest ments are just a start to address Michigan’s educator shortage. More can and must be done to address the critical need for quali ed educators in our schools. e educator short age will continue to worsen if addi

e widespread anti-education rhetoric across our state and the country must end. Educators need and deserve to be valued, not at tacked.

Furthermore, schools must be bet ter able to compete in the job market. e lack of competitive wages makes it di cult for districts to attract qual i ed educators. One MASA member recently shared that at a job fair for teachers at a Michigan four-year uni versity, there were far more districts

Additionally, we need to reduce barriers for out-ofstate educators to teach in Michigan, and provide more exibility for sub stitutes and out-of-state counselors.

To further put more quali ed educa tors in classrooms, the process of teacher certi cations must be stream lined to ease the hurdle of certi ca tion for individuals. Legislators cur rently have reforms in front of them (SB 861 and SB 942) to do just that.

Nationwide, and throughout Michigan, teachers say they still love teaching — but they are tired of everything else.

ey feel burdened by a constantly growing workload, especially with more students having greater aca demic and social-emotional needs than ever before. ey don’t feel like they’re paid appropriately for all the work they do.

Teaching has always been a highly demanding profession that is under funded and underpaid. However, teachers’ stress levels have skyrock eted since the start of the pandemic.

Sta shortages have added to teachers’ workloads this year and de creased the support they receive. e social-emotional needs of students and parents continue to grow, result ing in a greater number of disen gaged students and parents who are struggling with getting their children to attend school regularly.

Additionally, the public rhetoric that is often fueled by partisan poli tics has become increasingly nega tive toward teachers. ey are falsely accused of “indoctrinating” students

and are targets of myriad criticisms based on inaccu rate fear-mongering tactics.

To make matters worse, some rapidly assume ill in tent based on false claims instead of seeking to under stand and partnering with educators. All of these at tacks are wrongly aimed at teachers who have chosen a life dedicated to serving the future of society.

Fortunately, the majority of parents collaboratively embrace teachers and sup port their e orts in the classroom. However, the small percentage of society that works to undermine public edu cation drains the valuable energy of highly quali ed teachers.

Year to year uctuations in public school funding and disproportionate funding between districts disables e ective long-term planning for school districts, most speci cally handicapping the ability to recruit and retain highly quali ed teachers.

Decades of national and societal

disrespect toward the teaching profession and disregard for the expertise of the educators who serve the public have led to a consistent and drastic de cline in higher education teaching programs. ese continue to result in a crip pling reduction in the pipe line of the K-12 teacher graduates each semester.

At rst glance, accelerat ed teacher certi cation programs may be appealing for the future educator and the district with vacant classrooms. However, “graduates” from these pro grams often require extensive sup port mastering the basics of the teacher profession as teaching is not the “walk in the park” that it may seem.

At the end of the 2020-21 school year retirements increased by a stag gering 40 percent, not only leaving more vacant classrooms, but also draining the valuable institutional knowledge of lifelong educators.

Students enrolling in university edu cation programs are down more than 60 percent compared to a decade ago.

Of the very few graduates opting to become a teacher, one in ve leave the profession in the rst ve years. Furthermore, elimination of the pen sion bene t makes leaving the pro fession a much simpler decision for those who possess teaching certi ca tions. Contrary to 20 years ago, teach ers are no longer nancially “mar ried” to their district.

Districts are forced to compete with one another for those already in the profession instead of recent grad uates creating a revolving door in lo cal districts and exacerbating sta ng problems.

While most Americans would like ly agree work-life balance is an ongo ing challenge, teachers report the in creasing demands of the profession make meeting the needs of their fam ilies, caring for aging parents and try ing to meet their own personal needs increasingly di cult.

Furthermore, feelings of dimin ished control regarding behavior,

ANTI-EDUCATION

ere is not one solution to ad dress the educator crisis in Michigan. e reality is we need school leaders, educators, state and local leaders, and other stakeholders to come to gether to create short- and long-term solutions to ease the burden of a lack of educators on our students.

Our schools and educators are vi tal to our society and the growth of our next generation. It’s Michigan’s 1.5 million students who will contin ue to be the ones hurt rst and fore most if tangible action isn’t taken to address this issue, and quickly.

overall well-being of students, as sessment methods, schedule and non-academic tasks further nega tively impact teacher retention and recruitment e orts. In 2021, Michi gan was ranked 41st of the 50 states in starting pay for teachers with mid$30K being the average starting sala ry.

Dearborn Public Schools in creased the starting salary to $54,696, one of the highest in the metro-De troit Tri-County area. Teacher com pensation must, at a minimum, ade quately meet the nancial needs of a dual-income home, although often times families depend on one in come.

On a positive note, the Michigan Department of Education is now of fering a variety of teacher retention and recruitment grants to “support the future development of proud Michigan educators.” e rst “Grow Your Own” grant will support school noninstructional support sta seek ing certi cation as teachers, and the second will expand opportunities for students in grades 6-12 to explore ed ucation professions.

THE WIDESPREAD

RHETORIC MUST END. EDUCATORS NEED AND DESERVE TO BE VALUED.

Teachers want to teach; it’s ‘everything else’ that gets in the way

Maysam

Alie-Bazzi is executive director for sta and student services for Dearborn Public Schools.

Three changes in Detroit that helped attract teachers

JOHN GALLAGHER

When Dr. Nikolai Vitti took over as superintendent of public schools in Detroit in May 2017, the district was short 500 teachers out of a classroom workforce of 3,000. Today, the Detroit Public Schools Community District shows only 25 teacher vacancies — a sharp reduction that could be a mod el for many other districts struggling to hire educators.

In an interview, Vitti explained how Detroit did it:

First, the district raised teacher salaries dramatically. Pay for begin ning teachers grew from $38,000 to $52,000, and salaries for veteran teachers rose on average from $68,000 to $82,000. e district also compressed the schedule for con tractual pay raises from about 30 steps to just ve.

“And we’ve given a lot of one-time bonuses that have helped our more veteran teachers get longevity in creases, hazard-pay during COVID, holiday bonuses,” Vitti said.

Second, with its On the Rise Acad emy, the district is deepening its own bench of candidates by certifying substitute teachers, paraprofession als who help classroom teachers and others to become certi ed them selves.

Remarkably, about 80 percent of those in the program are people of

color who graduated from Detroit public schools. It is the only dis trict-led Alternative Route to Certi cation program in Michigan. Under Michigan law and regulations, an al ternative route to teacher certi ca tion is a nontraditional preparatory program for those with at least a bachelor’s degree who complete cer tain other requirements while doing classroom duty under an interim teaching certi cate.

And third, Detroit has increased its hiring of certi ed teachers from oth er schools, mainly from city charters but also from some suburban dis tricts. Teachers hired from other dis tricts get their experience counted when being placed on the salary schedule in Detroit schools.

Student Laela Bullock, right, works with Taylor Rice during a Beyond Basics literacy session at Denby High School in Detroit in 2021.

Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District. | AP PHOTOS

have jacked up the stress level teach ers face even more.

“ e past two years (were) like none other,” the MEA’s Morgan says. “Between COVID, remote learning, school violence, standardized test ing, student mental health, a lot of folks who were working in our schools just can’t do it anymore.”

And there are other factors.

“Sadly the profession has been dis respected by society for so long,” Alie-Bazzi says. Political arguments over banning books or angry parents picking apart curriculums makes the job that much harder. “More and more, teachers need protection from the all the political issues that are seeping into education."

Coping with shortages

Districts use a range of tactics to keep teachers in front of classrooms, including raising pay levels and shortening promotion and salary in crease schedules.

Using substitutes — graduates with degrees but not fully certi ed yet — is another method. So is as signing paraprofessionals and other instructional coaches who typically work with small number of students into a classroom role.

“If there wasn’t a quali ed longterm sub available and there was a resource person in the building, then

we reassigned those teachers into the classroom,” Alie-Bazzi says.

And luring away teachers from other districts has become more common, especially after teachers got used to working remotely from home and now opt to go to districts nearer their homes.

“I think COVID made us think a lit tle harder about the time we spend commuting and at our jobs,” Alie-Ba zzi says.

An e ort for xes

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s adminis tration has recently created a couple of programs to attract more young teacher candidates.

In one, the MI Future Educator Fellowship will o er $10,000 scholar ships to up to 2,500 future educators every year. In another, the MI Future Educator Stipend pro vides $9,600 per semester to support student teach ers while training for fulltime classroom jobs.

ing as a profession, and this new fel lowship program will go a long way toward accomplishing that goal.”

But that’s just the start of what’s needed.

Many educators say society must not only boost funding for schools but back o the political harassment often directed at teachers.

“ e funding has to continue be cause when you have adequate fund ing you can have reasonable class sizes, reasonable workloads, you can pay attractive wages,” Alie-Bazzi says, but added, “More and more, teachers need protection from all the political issues that are seeping into educa tion. e political issues that are seeping into education, that’s what’s going to turn people o from the pro fession.”

e MEA’s Morgan echoes that.

“I don’t think anybody would want

—Thomas Morgan, MEA spokesman

While new and without much track record yet, the programs have generated a lot of praise.

“We are excited to see the MI Fu ture Educator Fellowship program put into place and to welcome the newest generation of leaders into teacher preparation programs across the state,” said Paula Herbart, presi dent of the Michigan Education As sociation. “We must tear down the barriers that prevent many talented young people from choosing teach

to go to work every day and turn on the news when they get home and you have talking heads making ridic ulous claims about you," she said.

Whatever the causes and possible solutions for the classroom shortag es, everyone agrees the problem has become acute — and is only going to get more pressing in the immediate future.

As Morgan says, “Our kids’ future depends on our addressing this now.”

Jaffe is joining Taft. The combined firm will offer expanded legal counsel rooted in entrepreneurial thinking and innovative solutions. The next chapter starts December 31, 2022.

Learn more at jaffelaw.com.

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programs and support services that focus on early childhood education and development, behavioral health wellness and empowered parents

ErikRonmark president and CEO $30.9 $29.9 $40.8$25.6$2.3Musical experiences

ResearchedbySonyaD.Hill:shill@crain.com |Thislistof501(c)(3)statusnonpro torganizationsisanapproximatecompilationofthelargestsuchorganizationsinWayne,Oakland,Macomb,WashtenawandLivingstoncounties.Schools, hospitals,churchesandassociationsarenotincluded.Itisnotacompletelistingbutthemostcomprehensiveavailable.Informationwasprovidedbythecompaniesorfromstateorfederal lings.Companieswithheadquarterselsewherearelistedwith theaddressandtopexecutiveoftheirmainDetroit-areao ce.OaklandLivingstonHumanServiceAgency(OLHSA),whichwasNo.22onlastyearisnotincludedonthelistbecauseithasanextensiontocompleteits2021Form990.Macomb-Oakland RegionalCenter,whichwasNo.6onlastyear'slistdidnotrespondbeforepublication.Actual guresmayvary.NA=notavailable.NOTES: 1. Includesconsolidated nancials. 2. Not-for-pro tdivision. 3. SucceededKevanLawloraspresidentandCEO. 4. Revenueisforthenot-for-pro tdivision. 5. Nonpro testimate.Revenueforthenot-for-pro tdivision. 6. Willretireatyear'send,handingoversightoftheorganizationtochairmanDaveMorin. 7. Expectedtodepartthenonpro tattheendofthe year. 8. Nonpro testimate. 9 FormerlyTheSalvationArmy-EasternMichiganDivision.TheEasternMichiganandWesternMichiganDivisionsjoinedasanewGreatLakesDivisionasofJuly1,2022. 10. The2021and2020revenuenumbersarefor EasternMichiganDivisiononly. 11. From2021annualreport. 12. FiscalyearendinginSept.30,2020. 13. SucceededRonKaganinNov.1,2021. 14. Planstoretirebyearly2023.TobesucceededbyRoxanneBrinkerho whowilljointhenonpro ton Jan. 17. Want the full Excel version of this list — and every list? Become a Data Member: CrainsDetroit.com/data

FOUNDATION ADDRESS; PHONE

1 THE KRESGE FOUNDATION

3215 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy48084 248-643-9630

2 WILLIAM DAVIDSON FOUNDATION

3

4

P.O. Box 1688, Birmingham48012 248-788-6500

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN

333 W. Fort St., Suite 2010, Detroit48226-3134 313-961-6675

RALPH C. WILSON JR. FOUNDATION

3101 E Grand Blvd., Suite 200, Detroit48202 313-885-1895

5

JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT/ UNITED JEWISH FOUNDATION

6735 Telegraph Road, Bloom eld Hills48301 248-642-4260

THE SKILLMAN FOUNDATION

6

7

8

100 Talon Centre Drive, Suite 100, Detroit48207 313-393-1185

MICHIGAN HEALTH ENDOWMENT FUND

7927 Nemco Way, #270, Brighton48116 517-374-0031

THE FRED A. & BARBARA M. ERB FAMILY FOUNDATION

215 S. Center St., Suite 100, Royal Oak48067 248-498-2503

MAX M. & MARJORIE S. FISHER FOUNDATION

ASSETS ($000,000) 2021/2020

TOP EXECUTIVE

RipRapson president and CEO

DarinMcKeever president and CEO

RicDeVore president

DavidEgner president and CEO

SteveIngber CEO

AngeliquePower president and CEO

NeelHajra CEO

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

2 Towne Square, Suite 920, South eld48076 248-415-1444

MCGREGOR FUND

333 W. Fort St., Suite 2090, Detroit48226 313- 963-3495

HUDSON-WEBBER FOUNDATION

333 W. Fort St., Suite 1310, Detroit48226 313-963-7777

ANN ARBOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

301 N. Main St., Suite 300, Ann Arbor48104 734-663-0401

HERRICK FOUNDATION

660 Woodward Ave., Suite 2290, Detroit48226 313- 465-7733

FORD MOTOR CO. FUND

1 American Road, Dearborn48126 888-313-0102

VERA AND JOSEPH DRESNER FOUNDATION

6960 Orchard Lake Road Suite 149, West Bloom eld Twp.48332 248-785-0299

THE CARLS FOUNDATION 6001 N. Adams Road, Bloom eld Hills48304 248-385-5517

THE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION 2 3011 West Grand Blvd., Suite 218, Detroit48202 313-964-6994

ETHEL AND JAMES FLINN FOUNDATION

333 W. Fort St., Suite 1950, Detroit48226-3134 313-309-3436

THE LLOYD AND MABEL JOHNSON FOUNDATION 10315 Grand River, Suite 301, Brighton48116 810-229-6380

THE HOPE FOUNDATION (THE HOPE FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH)

24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Suite 3600A, Ann Arbor48105 734-998-6888

DEROY TESTAMENTARY FOUNDATION

26999 Central Park Blvd., Suite 160, South eld48076 248-827-0920

THE JEWISH FUND

6735 Telegraph Road, Bloom eld Hills48301 248-203-1487

GRANTS AWARDED ($000,000) 2021/2020TYPE OF FOUNDATION PURPOSE OF FOUNDATION

$4,659.7 $4,221.7 $180.8 $110.2

$1,648.4 $1,444.9 $55.1 $51.7

$1,338.9 $1,113.3 $103.2 $100.9

$1,326.5 $1,300.0 $286.7 $115.3

$839.4 $675.9 1 $74.0 $69.4

$631.4 $519.9 $18.4 $17.0

$367.0 $302.2 $33.4 $36.1

NeilHawkins president $352.0 $296.0 $13.8 $12.0

Douglas BitontiStewart executive director $319.3 $281.1 $15.6 $18.0

KateMarkel president and secretary $233.3 $171.2 $8.8 $7.3

MelancaClark president, CEO, trustee $224.1 $195.3 $8.8 $7.2

ShannonPolk president and CEO $219.4 $177.5 NA $7.7

LisaHerrick Parker president; LindaHerrick and ToddHerrickII vice presidents

Private independent foundationThe organization's mission is to promote human progress. Kresge ful lls that mission by dismantling structural and systemic barriers to equality and justice and strengthening pathways to opportunity for low-income people in America’s cities through grants, loans and other investment tools

Private independent foundationTo advance for future generations the economic, cultural and civic vitality of Southeast Michigan, Israel and the Jewish community

Community foundation

Creates permanent, positive change in Southeast Michigan through philanthropy

Private independent foundationTo fund programs aimed at active lifestyles, preparing for success, caregivers and entrepreneurship and economic development in Southeast Michigan and Western New York

Community foundation

The foundation owns, manages and invests Jewish communal assets; it allocates funds for community needs and ensures that assets are available to promote the continuity of the Jewish people

Private independent foundationA private foundation that nurtures the genius of Detroit children and youth. We invest in people and organizations who support young Detroiters to be the designers of their future and who pursue transformational systems change that centers youth power and racial equity/justice

Private independent foundationSeeks to improve the health of Michigan residents and reduce the cost of health care, with special emphasis on children and older adults

Private independent foundationAdvancing an environmentally healthy and culturally vibrant metropolitan Detroit and a ourishing Great Lakes ecosystem

Private independent foundationEnrich humanity by strengthening and empowering children and families in need

Private independent foundationThe geography of principal interest is the city of Detroit and Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, and its grantmaking prioritizes basic needs, recovery and restoration, and transformational skill building opportunities for teens and adults in poverty

Private independent foundationTo improve the vitality and quality of life of the metropolitan Detroit community

Community foundation To enrich the quality of life in our region through knowledgeable leadership, engaged grantmaking and creative partnerships with donors to make philanthropic investments and build endowment

$190.6 $170.0 NA NA

MaryCuller chairman and president $173.8 $161.8 NA NA

VirginiaRomano CEO $160.0 $155.8 $5.8 $6.6

ElizabethStieg CEO, executive director $158.9 $148.1 $5.9 $4.4

LawrenceBurns 3 president and CEO $150.7 $138.0 $6.5 $6.8

AndreaCole executive director and CEO $79.0 $71.5 $3.0 $2.3

DanMiller executive director $70.5 $61.5 $3.0 $2.0

JohannaHorn president $67.0 $59.9 NA $1.4

JulieRodecker president and trustee $63.7 $58.5 $2.3 $2.5

MargoPernick executive director $63.2 $68.1 $2.4 $2.3

Private independent foundationTo improve the general welfare of society through support of education, medical and scienti c research and social welfare charitable organizations

Private corporate foundationOur mission is to strengthen communities and help make people’s lives better.

Private independent foundationTo transform lives through grants focused on health, youth and family and animal welfare

Private independent foundationSupports children's medical, including health care facilities and programs with emphasis on hearing impairment, human services for children, and preservation of natural areas through conservancies

Community foundation

The Children’s Foundation is a foundation focused on the health and well-being of the children of Michigan and their families by working in collaboration with other organizations in the community

Private independent foundationTo improve mental health services for children, adolescents and adults, with a primary focus on Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties

Private independent foundationTo reduce human su ering and enrich quality of life through health and education services and Christian ministries in Michigan

Public foundation

A public charity with the mission of raising and contributing funds for the treatment and prevention of cancer. The Hope Foundation supports the work of SWOG, one of the largest Cancer Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups, funded in part by the National Cancer Institute

Private independent foundationTo provide funding support for youth and adult welfare, community enrichment, education, health care, and arts & culture, in order to improve the quality of life and promote the well-being of individuals in the community.

Public foundation

To support the overall health care and social welfare needs of the Jewish and general communities in the greater Detroit metropolitan area

23

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN FOUNDATION

600 E. Lafayette Blvd. Mail Code 0210, Detroit48226 313-983-2924

AudreyHarvey executive director and CEO $61.9 $56.5 $2.1 $1.3 Public foundation

To support health care research and innovative programs designed to improve the health of all Michigan residents 24 THE NEW COMMON SCHOOL FOUNDATION 7401 Emily Street, Detroit48234 313-368-8580

The mission of the foundation is to build a sustainable model of excellence for a new common school within a broad beloved, and committed community and to replicate the model 25 RICHARD & JANE MANOOGIAN FOUNDATION 21001 Van Born Road, Taylor48180 313-274-8799 RichardManoogian president

W. ClarkDurant president and treasurer $40.2 $33.4 $0.0 NA Public foundation

1

2

COMPANY ADDRESS PHONE; WEBSITE

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Ann Arbor48109 734-764-1817; umich.edu

DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS COMMUNITY DISTRICT 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Fisher Building,Detroit48202 313-240-4377; detroitk12.org

3

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS 28123 Orchard Lake Road,Farmington Hills48334 248-553-2400; holocaustcenter.org

4 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR

5

3003 S. State, Suite 9000,Ann Arbor48109 734-764-6000; www.leadersandbest.umich.edu

MICHIGAN MEDICINE 1

1500 E. Medical Center Drive,Ann Arbor48109 734-936-4000; med.umich.edu

GIFT AMOUNT ($000,000)GIVER

$25.0Leinweber Foundation

$20.0MacKenzie Scott

$15.0Family of Alan Zekelman and Zekelman Industries

APPROXIMATE DATE ANNOUNCEDGIFT PURPOSE

Oct. 2021A gift from a metro Detroit tech executive will result in a new computer science building for the University of Michigan. The $25 million gift from the Leinweber Foundation, founded by software executive Larry Leinweber, will fund a 163,000-square-foot building on the university's North Campus and will be named the Leinweber Computer Science and Information Building.

Nov. 2022The district plans to use the funds to raise student achievement by implementing its literacy and math intervention model at scale, especially targeting lower grade levels, DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said.

Dec. 2021From the family of its board treasurer, Alan Zekelman and Zekelman Industries. The gift will support the center's goal to raise a $65 million board-designated endowment. The rest of the campaign will fund the center's operation over the next ve years, update its core exhibit to include personal stories from Holocaust survivors and expand virtual education opportunities.

$14.7Eileen Lappin Weiser Feb. 2022Alum Eileen Lappin Weiser is establishing The Eileen Lappin Weiser Learning Sciences Center in the School of Education. A press release from the university said that the gift will help reshape teaching and learning to meet the needs of all di erent kinds of learners and prepare them for the jobs of the future

$10.0Weil Family Foundation Jan. 2022To support research and innovation in critical care. In recognition of the gift, Michigan Medicine said it will rename its critical care institute the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan.

MOTOWN MUSEUM

2648 W. Grand Blvd.,Detroit48208 313-875-2264; motownmuseum.com

HENRY FORD HEALTH

$5.0 Gilbert Family Foundation and and Rocket Companies Aug. 2022Motown museum expansion 6

1 Ford Place,Detroit48202 800-436-7936; henryford.com

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF OAKLAND COUNTYINC. 150 Osmun St.,Pontiac48342 248-338-1843; habitatoakland.org

DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

6

5200 Woodward Ave.,Detroit48202 313-833-7900; dia.org

10 THE HENRY FORD (THE EDISON INSTITUTE INC.)

11

11

13

20900 Oakwood Blvd.,Dearborn48124 313-982-6001; thehenryford.org

MICHIGAN HUMANE

30300 Telegraph Road, Suite 220,Bingham Farms48025-4509 866-648-6263; michiganhumane.org

COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org

GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN

1333 Brewery Park Blvd. Suite 500,Detroit48207 NA; gssem.org

14

HENRY FORD HEALTH

1 Ford Place,Detroit48202 800-436-7936; henryford.com

$5.0 MacKenzie Scott

March 2022Gift will be used to expand the nonpro t's mission and continue to help address the housing crisis in Oakland County

$5.0 Heather and Ron Boji May 2022The donation will support the dynamic HFH + MSU partnership and help to fund the Health Sciences Center for joint research work, a facility that will serve as the initiative's epicenter of discovery and innovation. 6

$5.0 Mort and Brigitte Harris Foundation Sept. 2022The foundation of Mort Harris, the late co-founder of American Axle & Manufacturing, and his wife to the Detroit Institute of Arts will fund a new collection focused on automotive, industrial, and decorative design

$3.0 Mort & Brigitte Harris Foundation May 2022Will create the Mort Harris Health and Wellness Center in Dearborn. The Henry Ford said it will also name the central gallery space within the "Heroes of the Sky" exhibition in the Dearborn museum as the Mort Harris Aviation Gallery in recognition of the gift.

$2.5 Ralph Caplan

$2.5

$2.4 MacKenzie Scott

April 2022A director on Michigan Humane's board and retired former owner of a wholesale distributor, made a ve-year, $2.5 million lead gift to the new operating campaign. The gift will help the nonpro t close its budget de cit this year and fund increased operating costs in the years ahead

Oct. 2022Possible uses for the unexpected donation include: expanding science, technology, engineering and math programs for girls, particularly those pursuing the nonpro t's highest honor, a Girl Scout Gold Award; strengthening the organization's arts curriculum through real-world partnerships with local artists and other programs; create more equitable membership opportunities in communities that have been under-engaged through diversity, equity and inclusion and racial justice initiatives, reimagining the troop experience model to break down accessibility barriers, and collaborating with families and communities to support the well-being and development of all girls

$2.0 A.A. Van Elslander Foundation May 2022This gift is to establish the Philip C. Hessburg, M.D. – Art Van Elslander Chair in Ophthalmic Research, which will constitute a permanent endowment fund to support the educational research initiatives at Henry Ford Health by the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology (DIO).

14

HENRY FORD HEALTH

1 Ford Place,Detroit48202 800-436-7936; henryford.com

$2.0 Ruth Ann McVay July 2022This is a planned gift that comes from the estate of Ruth Ann McVay and is supporting research and innovation in 3 areas: ovarian cancer, lung cancer and stroke 14 COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org $2.0 Dominic & Frances Moceri Family Jan. 2022For the Dominic and Frances Moceri Medical Intensive Care Unit, Beaumont, Troy 17

HENRY FORD HEALTH

Max and Debra Ernst 2022 For the Max & Debra Ernst Heart Center, Beaumont, Royal Oak

1 Ford Place,Detroit48202 800-436-7936; henryford.com $1.5 Peter and Julie Cummings Dec. 2021The gift establishes the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Endowed Chair in Head & Neck Cancer Surgery to support innovative care and research. 17 COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org

BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT

7700 Second Ave, Suite 602,Detroit48202 313-309-9245; bbbsdetroit.org

3 MacKenzie Scott July 2022The $1.5 million is part of a larger $122.6-million grant Scott gave to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization. This is the largest donation the local chapter has received to date. 20

COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org

The Donald Ross Family Trust 2022 Area of greatest need, Beaumont, Farmington Hills 21

HENRY FORD HEALTH

1 Ford Place,Detroit48202 800-436-7936; henryford.com

Barbara L. Freedman Sept. 2021Gift supports the C. Paul Hodgkinson M.D. Chair in Obstetrics & Gynecology, which provides resources to advance education and research activities of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at HFH, with special emphasis on advancing the clinical excellence of gynecologic urology. 21

COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org

Lawrence O. Erickson 2022 For the Heart Fund for cardiac care, research and education, Beaumont, Royal Oak 23 COREWELL HEALTH (FORMERLY BHSH SYSTEM) 2 NA; formichiganbymichigan.org

Marjorie A. Mopper 2022 Coleman and Shirley A. Mopper Pancreas Cancer Fund, Beaumont, Royal Oak 24 FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN-DETROIT 2470 Collingwood,Detroit48206 313-757-8077; friendsdetroit.org

Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Family Foundation

2022 For the Marcia & Eugene Applebaum Simulation Learning Institute, Beaumont, Royal Oak

ORGANIZATION NAME CAMPAIGN NAME

DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY Comprehensive Campaign

CAMPAIGN GOAL ($000,000)

AMOUNT RAISED AS OF SEPT. 2022 ($000,000) CAMPAIGN START DATE TARGETED ENDING DATEWHAT THE CAMPAIGN IS PAYING FOR 1

$150.0 1 NA NA Dec. 31, 2023In the quiet stage of a $100 million-$150 million campaign that will include the money to redevelop 5.5 miles of the riverfront from Gabriel Richard Park to the Ambassador Bridge, beginning with West Riverfront Park, which will feature a variety of new attractions designed to bring people down to the riverfront

$150.0 $100.7 2 July 1, 2016June 30, 2024The campaign has ve focus areas: Student success; teaching research and discovery; campus expansion; community collaboration; and innovative programs 1

OAKLAND UNIVERSITY ASPIRE.ADVANCE.ACHIEVE. The Campaign for Oakland University

DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA DSO Endowment Campaign

$150.0 $121.0 Oct. 10, 2018June 1, 2023Will help The Henry Ford build digital and experiential learning tools, programs and initiatives to advance innovation, invention and entrepreneurship and launch the workforce of tomorrow

$125.0 $33.0 Jan. 1, 2014Dec. 31, 2023The goals are to increase the endowment to at least four times the operating budget and maintain no lingering capital debt

$125.0 $70.0 July 1, 2018Dec. 31, 2022 Unrestricted operating endowment; Phase II of long-term, endowment campaign 3

$100.0 $101.0 July 1, 2016June 30, 2023Will support student success, advance programs of distinction and help students excel in and beyond the classroom.

$100.0 NA Dec. 13, 2021Dec. 31, 2023To support the center's goal to raise a $65 million board-designated endowment. The rest of the campaign will fund the center's operation over the next ve years, update its core exhibit to include personal stories from Holocaust survivors and expand virtual education opportunities.

$100.0 NA April 1, 2018April 1, 2023Build, renovate and consolidate buildings and programs where Samaritas serves. A ordable living community developments. Senior living community development.

$55.0 $43.0 Oct. 17, 2016 Dec. 31, 2022 4 The Motown Museum expansion will grow the museum to a nearly 50,000-square-foot world-class entertainment and education tourist destination featuring dynamic, interactive exhibits, a performance theater, recording studios, an expanded retail experience and meeting spaces designed by renowned architects and exhibit designers. When completed, the new museum campus will have a transformative impact on the surrounding Detroit neighborhoods, providing employment, sustainability and community pride by serving as an important catalyst for new investment and tourism in the historic area. 10

$45.0 $39.3 NA Dec. 31, 2023To cover capital costs. 11 CHALDEAN

Chaldean

New

in a New Land $20.0 $15.0 Nov. 1, 2016Dec. 31, 2023A new 30,000 square foot Community Center to expand CCF’s services to clients and the community. Workforce development programs, mental and physical health services, life skills for the developmentally disabled, recreation and family fun are only a few of the new programs that CCF plans to roll out in the expansion to address the growing need of clientele. The Michael J. George Chaldean Loan Fund which provides loans toward the purchase of vehicles after clients become employed. A 135-unit Van Dyke Housing Development to support long-term housing for new Americans. Purchase and renovation of a 45,000 square foot Community Center in Oakland County

FISHER HOUSE MICHIGAN Fisher House Detroit $20.0 $13.0 NA Dec. 31, 2023 5 A "home away from home" for the families of military service members and veterans, while the veteran is in medical treatment at the John D. Dingell VA Detroit Medical Center

$19.5 $10.3 Jan. 1, 2020Dec. 31, 2025Delivering truly a ordable housing and health care. Campaign for the Ages provides vulnerable seniors health and wellness services at four Presbyterian Villages - Flint, Fort Gratiot/Port Huron, Pontiac, and Westland.

$18.0 $18.0 Sept. 1, 2018Sept. 30, 2024The purpose of this campaign is to fund a signi cant expansion and renovation of its Pediatric Services by renovating the Pediatric Inpatient Unit to create private rooms and incorporate the best practices in functionality and design, which will improve delivery of care and the patient and family experience. To build a Pediatric Emergency Department in the hospital that is separate and distinct from the current Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center that sees every kind of emergency. Move the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit so it is adjacent to the Pediatric Inpatient Unit which will facilitate easier ow between the areas for sta and doctors as well as enhance the experience for families. Create a dedicated Women’s and Children’s Entrance to the hospital to better accommodate women going into labor as well as injured or ill children and their families, making the journey seamless and easy.

$16.5 NA April 18, 2022April 1, 2030The organization has launched

THE HENRY FORD (THE EDISON INSTITUTE INC.) The Innovation Project

DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS DIA NOW, The Campaign for the Detroit Institute of Arts Endowment

EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION Give Rise: The Campaign for Eastern Michigan University

MOTOWN MUSEUM

Motown Museum Expansion Campaign

SCHAAP CENTER Capital Campaign

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Community Foundation

Lives

Council calls for EV perks to better position state in mobility

technology de velopment.

Creating a research and develop ment tax credit and a state incentive for electric vehicle buyers are among the ways Michigan can stay compet itive in mobility, according to the Michigan Council on Future Mobili ty and Electri cation.

e council, created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, released Nov. 16 a list of 16 policy recommen dations based on input from indus try experts, academics and compa nies including Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Stellantis NV, Toyota Motor Corp. and Rivian Au tomotive Inc.

e council puts forth recom mendations each year centered on growing the mobility industry and preparing the workforce, providing cleaner and safer transportation in frastructure, and leading in mobility and electri cation policy.

“ e council’s vision for mobility is rooted in this notion of responsive policy being a core asset,” Trevor Pawl, council leader and Michigan’s chief mobility o cer, said on a call with reporters. “We believe state leaders can build new policy frame works that account for future mobil ity.”

e council recommended the following:

` Invest in bus rapid transit and spend $10 million to revive the state’s mobility challenges to solve for employment and equity barriers.

` Fund a public relations campaign to enhance Michigan's sustainabili ty leadership.

` Scale the Michigan EV Jobs Academy.

` Create a global center of excel lence for responsible arti cial intel ligence.

` Expand Michigan’s Alternative Fuel Corridor opportunities for

clean hydrogen and commission a study on hydrogen applications in commercial tra c.

` Develop accessibility standards for EV chargers.

` Create a state EV consumer incen tive.

` Fund a $45 million bus electri ca tion program.

Butzel law rm names new president, CEO for rst time in 12 years

Paul Mersino takes over for Justin Klimko in March

KURT NAGL

Detroit-based law firm Butzel has selected Paul Mersino to be the new president and CEO as its longtime leader passes the reins to the next generation.

Mersino, 39, takes the helm from Justin Klimko, 66, who has served in the position for about 12 years and will continue his prac tice and advising Mersino at the firm.

Mersino, who will take on the el evated title in March, said profit able growth is a top priority.

“Our goal and desire is to give the best service and to be the most profitable for our shareholders,

Butzel’s leadership transition is the result of a nomination process launched by the firm after Klim ko’s decision to step down.

and his juris doctor degree from Ave Maria School of Law in Flori da.

Mersino has been involved in complex commercial litigation, in cluding multimillion-dollar trade secret cases. A large part of his practice centers on disputes among automotive suppliers — the “bread and butter” of Butzel’s business.

` Expand use of sinking funds to support electric school bus deploy ments.

` Support phase two of the MDOT work zone safety pilot program.

` Design a clean fuels standard that works for Michigan.

` Invest $30 million into UAS (un manned aerial systems, or drones)

` Pass legislation to preserve Michigan’s uni form, statewide automated vehi cle policy.

` Keep up the an nual support for state mobility agencies’ capacity.

` Pass legislation to create a mobility research and development talent tax credit.

` Continue advocating to federal policymakers on important con nected vehicle issues.

e recommendations were cre ated after a series of work groups throughout the year with corporate representatives and industry experts from the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, Peracchio and Co. in Grosse Pointe Shores and the American Center for Mobility in Ypsilanti.

“To remain the worldwide leader in mobility, Michigan must continue to reinvent public policies, invest in high-quality communities and in frastructure and continue deploying and testing mobility innovations,” Susan Corbin, director of the Michi gan Department of Labor and Eco nomic Opportunity and chair of the council, said in a news release.

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

and those two things can be very much aligned,” Mersino told Crain’s. “We want to add top rate, quality attorneys, and we want to do so in a profitable way, so we never want to add numbers just for the sake of adding numbers.”

“We are excited to transition Firm leadership to the next gener ation of leaders,” Klimko said in a news release. “Paul will be an en thusiastic and effec tive presi dent. Work ing with the rest of our board, he will strive to continue our culture of collegiali ty and excellence.”

Mersino, a 2021 Crain’s 40 Un der Forty honoree, interned at Bu tzel while in law school and has been with the firm 14 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwood University in Midland

Business has been good as of late, for Butzel and other law firms around town. The supply chain snarls of the past two years are still rippling throughout the industry and leading to discord between suppliers and automakers.

Mersino, who has served on Bu tzel’s board of directors the past two years, said expanding and up holding the firm’s 170-year legacy is top of mind.

Butzel has added a dozen attor neys in the past year for a total of about 150. Mersino sees opportu nity for growth in numbers and reach.

“We’ve already added a lot of great attorneys this year and the past few years, and we’re excited about some new growth coming up that we’ll be announcing soon,” he said.

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

KURT NAGL

Developing accessibility standards for EV chargers is among the recommendations the state mobility council recommends to help cement Michigan as a transportation leader. | BLOOMBERG

Pawl

Mersino Klimko

and others as a warning against over reliance on tax incentives?

For now, leaders of the region’s top two economic development agencies are taking a “wait and see” approach. Meanwhile, an academic expert says the Whitmer administration’s overall strategy might not change much, but the state may loosen the purse strings for workforce development and invest more in economically distressed parts of West Michigan, where precedence has often gone to centrally located projects like Grand Rapids’ Arena Dis trict, Medical Mile and Hotel District.

Most agree that right-to-work laws, which prohibit labor contracts from requiring workers to pay dues to unions, will likely be repealed, a move that could a ect West Michigan’s abil ity to attract new investments.

A view from academia

Michelle Miller-Adams, a professor of political science at Grand Valley State University specializing in eco nomic development, said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer established herself as a “business-friendly Democrat” in her rst term, and it’s unlikely many macro changes to her strategy are coming down the pike.

“A lot of the things that she’s done in terms of economic development have enjoyed bipartisan support,” Mill er-Adams said, citing tax incentives, workforce development initiatives like the Michigan Reconnect program that allows high school graduates to earn tuition-free degrees and certi cates from community colleges, and investing in the Going PRO Talent Fund that helps upskill or reskill work ers.

She said Grand Rapids has histori cally been a place where conserva tive-leaning philanthropists have em braced state funding for projects in the health care and higher education sectors — including the Medical Mile, backed by the DeVos and Van Andel families — and she doesn’t see that changing.

“I have studied philanthropy in Grand Rapids a bit, and it’s always surprising to me how willing these quite conservative philanthropists are to use public money for their projects, and I think they’ll continue to be will ing to use public money,” she said. “When it comes to public-private partnerships in the city or incentives to lure Michigan State’s med school to Grand Rapids, they have been very happy to work closely with the gover nor, with the MEDC, etc., and I think they’ll continue to do so. I don’t think anyone in the Legislature is going to say, ‘No, we shouldn’t cooperate with these right-leaning donors in Grand Rapids.’ Grand Rapids is a really im portant place for the state,” she said.

Miller-Adams said the manufactur ing sector in Grand Rapids, Kalama

zoo and Muskegon has already been working toward transitioning some of its workforce into higher-tech indus tries, and she hopes that will continue.

Although places like Muskegon and Grand Rapids have been working to develop their downtowns and rezone land to maximize natural resources — including turning industrial areas around Muskegon Lake into tourist attractions and sprucing up the river in downtown Grand Rapids — many neighborhoods and business districts aren’t bene ting from those invest ments.

Miller-Adams said Whitmer and the Legislature could take the state’s budget surplus as an opportunity to invest in those economically dis tressed areas with high concentra tions of people of color, like the west and south sides of Grand Rapids and parts of Muskegon and Kalamazoo that have historically been ignored while the Republican-controlled Leg islature focused on luring big busi nesses to the state with incentives.

“A good example (is) the issue of targeted aid, maybe to create more

jobs in communities that have higher unemployment rates or higher mark ers of distress,” Miller-Adams said. “… at would be nice, to have those eco nomic development bene ts get dis tributed with a greater eye to equity.”

With more federal money on the ta ble from COVID-19 relief and a path way to raising taxes the Republican Legislature had previously blocked, rural broadband and new infrastruc ture investments also might be on the table — both statewide and in West Michigan, Miller-Adams said.

“I think I see (the blue wave) more as a reordering of priorities, rather than anything really qualitatively to do a totally new approach,” she said.

Lakeshore Advantage

Jennifer Owens is president of Lakeshore Advantage, an economic development organization serving Ottawa and Allegan counties.

Major employers in the counties in clude auto suppliers Gentex and LG Energy Solution Michigan, furniture makers MillerKnoll and Haworth, pharmaceutical company Perrigo, As cension health system and Grand Val ley State University.

Owens said although Lakeshore Advantage doesn’t take a position on right-to-work, most manufacturing employers in the county support it and would like to see the policy con tinue.

“(Right-to-work) is often a key sell ing element of Michigan for compa

nies outside of here looking to grow and expand,” she said.

As a nonpartisan organization, Lakeshore Advantage is committed to working with the new Legislature re gardless of party politics, Owens said, adding that she’s pleased with the col laboration Lakeshore had with the ad ministration in Whitmer’s rst term.

“ e governor is well-respected na tionally and internationally, and I think she’s a fabulous salesperson for our state,” Owens said. “I hope to see her continue working alongside eco nomic development partners to at tract businesses in, so it will be great to have her and the lieutenant gover nor continue on our side. I have often had her be part of pretty key and im portant meetings, and that’s made a huge di erence.”

One challenge this term will be ed ucating new lawmakers, Owens said. She currently chairs Economic Devel opment Leaders for Michigan, a group formed two years ago by the state’s top 12 regional economic development organizations, which provides advo cacy and education sessions for new legislators. e organization includes groups like Lakeshore Advantage, e Right Place, the Detroit Regional Part nership and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership, or LEAP.

“ ere is so much for those legisla tors to learn about governing, and usually it takes one to two years before they really understand their role fully,” Owens said. “So we need to work very hard to help them understand who we are, what we do and what tools are im portant. … With this large freshman class, (it’s) continuing to take time with them, educate them and bring them up to speed, so they can hit the ground running.”

Owens said she is hopeful the state will continue the momentum of pro grams like Going PRO and the Strate gic Outreach and Attraction Reserve or SOAR Fund. e Michigan Strate gic Fund in October awarded Muskeg on County $60 million to upgrade a wastewater system that extends into Ottawa County and will help food and dairy companies expand without overwhelming municipal sewers. e Legislature is expected to vote on transferring SOAR funds to that proj ect during its lame-duck session. If that doesn’t happen, Owens hopes the incoming House and Senate bud get committees will see it as a priority.

e state also approved a $189 mil lion incentives package this year for LG Energy Solution’s planned $1.7 billion expansion in Holland, and Owens hopes the state’s new leader ship will continue to authorize such investments.

She also hopes the state will contin ue prioritizing talent attraction.

“ at is a huge challenge for our state right now. e No. 1 barrier to growth for employers is access to tal ent,” she said. “We’re certainly seeing extraordinary rates of retirees and peo ple falling out of the workforce, given the baby boom and COVID. So we

would love to see MEDC and the Legis lature continue to focus on a way to at tract people to Michigan and build that brand that it’s not just about Michigan business, it’s about Michigan talent. We have so much to o er here in the state, and we need to start tooting our own horns and getting people to relo cate to this area. I was very excited that the governor put that as one of her highest priorities, and hopefully, the new Legislature will agree that that’s a really important thing.”

The Right Place

Randy elen is president and CEO of e Right Place, which serves Kent, Ionia, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Mont calm, Newaygo and Oceana counties. Top industries in its service area in clude health sciences, advanced man ufacturing, information technology, and food processing and agribusiness.

elen said while e Right Place is a nonpartisan economic development agency, his hope is the new state gov ernment can put Michigan in a more competitive place than it has been the past few decades.

He said southern states have been using consistent economic develop ment strategies to rapidly industrialize, gradually chipping away at Michigan’s historic edge in manufacturing, partic ularly in the automotive industry. Meanwhile, Michigan’s strategy has uctuated.

“We’ve got to nd a way in economic development to have a growth strategy and a growth agenda that bridges be yond politics and is really more geared toward how we grow this state,” he said.

“… We had a life sciences corridor for a stretch, and that was getting some good traction, and then we had invest ment in core communities for a stretch, and then today, we’re investing in EV and battery. We’ve got to stay the course on some of these kinds of things if we want to see the full bene t of an eco nomic development strategy at a high level.”

While he said it’s “a delicate issue,” elen believes Michigan’s right-towork law is one of the policies that has been a factor in drawing big invest ments to the state since it was enacted in 2013, and a potential repeal could impact job creation pledges in the state.

elen said e Right Place does not lobby for speci c policies, but he does want to see state leadership take a more consistent approach to economic de velopment policy.

“If we nd ourselves in a situation where the pendulum is swinging wildly right or wildly left from a policy stand point, that creates uncertainty. … We’ve got to nd a way as a state to provide a sustained, consistent set of tools and set of rules so that (businesses) know the environment in which they’re in vesting. at’s what you’ve seen in the South over time — the past 40 to 50 years — and it’s proven to be pretty ef fective.”

Contact: rachel.watson@crain.com (989) 533-9685; @RachelWatson86

Accounting rm namesake Jack Rehmann dies at age 92

NICK MANES

Jack Rehmann, the namesake of the metro Detroit accounting rm Reh mann died on Nov. 16. He was 92.

Born Jacob Joseph Rehmann, the Northern California resident started his career in accounting in 1954 at the rm Wagar Lunt & Oehring in Saginaw, according to Rehmann’s website. In 1961 the rm was renamed Wagar, Lunt and Rehmann. e rm grew

over the years with a series of acquisi tions starting in 1979. e compa ny was renamed Rehmann Robson Osburn & Co. in 1985, then simply Rehmann in 2009.

He retired from the company in 1995, but continued working part time

for many years.

“ e entire Rehmann family mourns the loss of Jack,” Randy Rupp, CEO of Rehmann, said in a news release an nouncing Rehmann’s death. “At Reh mann, our values guide not only how we interact with clients and associates, but also how we interact with our local communities. Jack embodied our core value of Exhibit Unwavering Integrity and we continue to honor him by living that value every day. Our thoughts and

prayers are with his wife, Connie, and family, and our deepest sympathies go out to them at this di cult time.”

e Troy-based Rehmann today stands as the fth largest accounting rm in Michigan, with about 715 em ployees in the state, according to Crain’s data.

“Even after his retirement, Jack stayed involved with the rm and was so proud of everything we’ve been able to achieve,” Stacie Kaiser, the rm’s

COO and incoming CEO, said in the release. “As we take Rehmann into the future, we will always remember and be grateful to Jack for all he gave us and all he taught us. He will be deeply missed.”

Allen and Dahl Funeral Chapel in Redding, Calif., is handling arrange ments.”

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

Lakeshore Advantage President Jennifer Owens touted a $60 million SOAR grant the Michigan Strategic Fund approved in October for wastewater infrastructure upgrades in Muskegon and Ottawa counties as a good example of the Whitmer administration’s business-friendly approach. Shown is Continental Dairy and Fairlife’s shared dairy processing campus in Coopersville, which will bene t from the upgrades. PHOTO VIA FACEBOOK

The state approved a $189 million incentives package this year for LG Energy Solution’s planned $1.7 billion expansion in Holland, and Lakeshore Advantage President Jennifer Owens hopes the state’s new Democratic leadership will continue to authorize such economic development investments. | LAKESHORE ADVANTAGE

Thelen Owens

Rehmann

a couple of years of discounted interest rates with the hope that buyers will be able to re nance at a better number before too long.

“Marry the home and date the rate,” the saying goes, said Bob Powley, the vice president of operations for M/I Homes Detroit, whose corporate parent recently sold out of a 5.875 percent interest rate it paid for up front, in order to guarantee the rate for potential buyers.

Powley said it can cost anywhere from a few million to several million dollars to secure enough funds to provide several dozen loans; the company has done so three times since this summer. For M/I Homes, the purchase can amount to a four to ve basis point hit — the equivalent of 4 to 5 percent of the purchase price of a home — on each sale. It’s worth it, he said, because it helps customers’ budgets while maintaining a sense of “normalcy” in home shopping.

“You’re maintaining pricing as opposed to discounting,” Powley said. “It’s de nitely a customer value.”

He said he’s convinced the company is selling more homes today than it would be otherwise because of the discount. He expects M/I Homes will continue the program until there’s some shift in the economy — at least through the rst part of next year. Each rate purchase has lasted about 45 days, he said.

At Robertson Homes, chief operating o cer Darian Neubecker said he’s able to take between one and a half and two points o a xed-rate mortgage — with another half-point o an adjustable rate — by contributing funds to the lender up front.

e builder has been “marketing it extensively,” Neubecker said, but

hasn’t gotten as much buy-in as he would have expected — instead, people are more likely to simply take the cash equivalent as an incentive, he said. e program has been running since this summer, as well.

“It’s complicated, so you’ve got to do a good job explaining it,” Neubecker said of some of the challenges of rate buydown programs. “Simplicity’s a good thing on a purchase like this.”

High interest rates, he said, are currently the industry’s biggest challenge. But there are plenty of marketing opportunities to tell people that there are ways for them to pay less than listed rates.

At In nity Homes, CEO Rino Soave said he started o o ering in-

terest rate locks, but buyers who thought rates might come down weren’t particularly interested. He then began o ering $7,500 for closing costs or as an interest rate buydown, subsidizing mortgages by two points for the rst year and one point for the second. at program has been o ered for about three weeks.

“We think it’s an awesome program,” Soave said. “It’s an incentive for new buyers walking in the door.”

Just a few customers have taken advantage of the o er so far, he said, but he said he sees it as a “great hedge” that “takes the uncertainty o the table for the next couple years.”

“Who’s to say what the hell may happen in the next year?” he said.

“ e biggest fear is the unknown. is takes some of the unknown out of the equation in purchasing.”

At Pulte Homes, spokesperson Jim Zeumer said he didn’t have data on the local market in Detroit, but in its third quarter earnings call, the company said incentives were focused on mortgage rate locks and buydowns in most markets when demand began to slow. Incentives have become more aggressive — including price reductions — as rates have continued to rise.

Rate buydown programs can make a tangible di erence in buyers’ monthly costs, said Loren Yates,

the branch manager at Mortgage Right in Novi. Yates is working with In nity Homes on its buydown program, and said for a $325,000 house with 5 percent down and a 30-year xed rate of 6.75 percent, the company’s program could temporarily reduce what would be a $2,003 monthly payment to $1,611 a month. e rates are not considered adjustable; what they will be at the end of the rate reduction is clear.

“People are struggling with payment shock right now,” Yates said. “It’s how you can help them get in homes while we’re waiting for the dust to settle.”

If interest rates fall, buyers have the option to re nance their loans and pocket any remaining incentive funds that weren’t already used, he said.

Yates said the method was last used after the 2008 nancial crisis; in more recent years, interest rates were so low that it wasn’t necessary to o er that kind of incentive.

Both he and Powley, with M/I Homes, said the rate discount was preferable to discounting the homes themselves. at way, those who bought earlier in the cycle won’t feel like their home has lost any value.

Buyers would still have to qualify for the actual 30-year xed rate, Yates said, ensuring they can make the payments once the promotional rate expires.

“It’s kind of a win-win for everybody,” he said. “Because it’s seller funded, the buyer has nothing to lose. It’s all gain for them.”

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

to-go law

BY DAVID EGGERT

LANSING — e liquor industry is asking Michigan lawmakers to make permanent a COVID-19 pandemic-spurred law that lets people order cocktails for pickup or delivery from bars, restaurants and distilleries’ tasting rooms.

e “cocktails-to-go” law, which was enacted in summer 2020, is e ective through 2025. A bill that the Senate approved 35-1 on Nov. 10 would extend the law inde nitely. Supporters want the House to pass it before year’s end, after which the legislation would have to be reintroduced in the next two-year session.

“Cocktails to go continue to provide a stable source of revenue as Michigan businesses cope with the lasting challenges related to the pandemic, including sta shortages, supply chain disruptions and in ation,” Andy Deloney, vice president of state government relations for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in a statement.

More than 35 states began allowing cocktails to go during the COVID-19 outbreak via executive orders or other measures. Eighteen have since enacted laws permanently authorizing sales. Fourteen have laws with end dates.

“Cocktails to go were instrumental in helping many Michigan distilleries

navigate and survive the challenges of COVID,” said Jon O’Connor, president of the Michigan Craft Distillers Association and owner of Long Road Distillers, which has locations in Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. “Making permanent cocktails to go will allow consumers to enjoy safely, comfortably and responsibly from home the amazing spirits made here in Michigan and will help Michigan distilleries to recover and thrive as hospitality trends continue to change with consumer demands.”

A message seeking comment on the measure was left with House Speaker Jason Wentworth’s o ce. e bill is sponsored by Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., an East Lansing Democrat.

e Legislature is scheduled to return this week. It is unclear how long the “lame-duck” session will last.

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

JANE

KYLE

MATT

SIMON WHITELOCKE

MAUREEN DONOHUE KRAUSS President & CEO Detroit Regional Partnership

MODERATOR

Creating opportunities amid a changing energy landscape Statewide leaders will provide insight into how the changing energy landscape and policy changes will impact electri cation and economic development now – and in the future.

A Robertson Homes house for sale in Novi.

“WHO’S TO SAY WHAT THE HELL MAY HAPPEN IN THE NEXT YEAR?”

Rino Soave, CEO, In nity Homes

POLITICS & POLICY

Liquor industry wants cocktails-

to become permanent

A cocktail to go. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

e new owners added a catering option, including everything from birthday parties and corporate events to weddings and graduation parties. e couple, who married in 2021, also participated in ve Royal Oak Farmers Market food truck ral lies and worked an event for Gucci’s Tastemakers program prior to the opening of the luxury goods retailer’s downtown Detroit store.

Each of the Eddlestons have prior experience operating small business es. Lindsey Eddleston in 2014 helped launch fast-casual salad concept Sal ads Up. Jason Eddleston for the last decade has run day-to-day opera tions for his family’s Ham tramck-based business, Sterling Ser vices Ltd., which produces chemicals and petroleum.

Under the Eddlestons’ ownership, Ray’s has collaborated with local businesses, including Green Dot Sta bles and Franklin Cider Mill.

Green Dot owner Jacques Driscoll is a longtime acquaintance of Jason Eddleston. Driscoll’s Detroit sliders restaurant earlier this fall got its own boozy bourbon butter pecan ice cream. Franklin Cider Mill, also a third-generation, family-owned business, worked with Ray’s to create a avor made of vanilla ice cream, caramel and chunks of the cider mill’s beloved spice doughnuts.

Melanie Radner, co-owner of Franklin Cider Mill, said her 15-yearold daughter is the inspiration be hind the new ice cream avor. Rad ner said the ice cream sells out whenever it’s o ered.

“One weekend we did doughnut a la modes. It keeps selling out,” Rad ner said. “Obviously it’ll be a season al thing. It’s been great. We’ll bring it back every year. We’re thinking of something else to do with (Ray’s) –maybe bring in more products.”

Terms of those deals were not dis closed.

Jason Eddleston, 45, said local col laborations will be key for Ray’s going forward.

“We live in an age where everyone talks about ‘local’ — buy local, sup port local. With the relationships we have, we’ve reached out to other

DEBT

From Page 3

Plainti s must include the credi tor’s name, the account number for the debt and the balance due, but do not have to submit a breakdown of fees and interest or establish their ownership of the debt. Other states require more documentation and have taken steps to better implement a new federal rule requiring collectors to give information that substantiates the amount of debt owed.

Kathryn Hennessey, the work group’s co-chair and former general counsel for the State Bar of Michigan, said if people do not le a written re sponse to a complaint, the judge can enter a default judgment — or auto matic win for the plainti — without the facts being tested in court. Most cases, 68 percent, end that way.

“When we entered into this work, we knew anecdotally that many con sumers did not le a written response to the complaint and then only began to engage in their lawsuit after the de fault judgment had been entered or even more commonly after the wages have started to be garnished,” she said. “From an access-to-justice per

businesses to create collaborations,” he said. “We’re not going to touch the ice cream or the classic avors that have been around since 1958. We’re going to create new ones. ose col laborations will help us expand our audience.”

That audience expansion has come at a minimal cost.

Lindsey Eddleston, 32, fancies herself a social media maven. Since taking over the business in the summer, Ray’s has doubled its Ins tagram followers, which now stands at a little more than 2,300. And the company’s Facebook following has grown by 20 percent, according to Jason Eddleston, to 7,200. Videos posted of Ray’s staff in action mix ing up new flavors earn thousands of views.

Eddleston calls advertising via so cial media economically e cient.

“When Vernors released the black cherry avor, their rst new avor in a long time, we thought that would look good in a milkshake,” Eddleston said. “We called a bunch of our gro cery partners and asked about ship

ment dates and purchased a number of (Vernor’s) products. We put it on (social) media. Typically our posts get about 50 likes and a handful of shares. is particular post got 2,000 likes and 750 shares. We had people driving from an hour away just to try the black cherry Vernors oats. at got a lot of people in the door.”

Lindsey Eddleston also works full time as a commercial Realtor with Mid-America Real Estate — Michi gan Inc., which led her to learn that Ray’s was for sale.

Using Ray’s social media channels to boost business is rewarding, she said, and allows the new owners a chance to further engage with the community.

“Ray’s always had a social media presence, but we thought we needed to be more active on (Facebook and Instagram),” Lindsey Eddleston said. “We use it to let people know when new avors will be released. We kept them informed when we began o er ing events and catering. Ray’s has a very loyal fan base from near and far. People love going on social media

More debt-collection lawsuits are led against people in majority-Black neighborhoods than in majori ty-white neighborhoods, at all income levels. In low-income neighborhoods, the ling rate against consumers in majority-Black areas is 1.9 times high er than in majority-white areas.

e report said racial disparities in credit scores may point to problems that occur much earlier in the lending process.

and seeing the ice cream being made. It gives them a behind-the-scenes look.”

ose peeks pale into comparison to a visit to Ray’s shop, according to Jason Eddleston. e ice cream par lor, with two full-time employees and 15-30 part-timers depending on the season, will remain a welcoming venue for ice cream lovers to hang out and share laughs and memories. Ray’s has seating for 25 people in its 1,800-square-foot retail space.

During most of the year, Ray’s pro duces 150-200 gallons of ice cream each day, according to Jason Ed dleston, with production running six days a week in the summer. e busi ness runs through 1,750 pounds of chocolate each year.

e most-requested avors vary. Inside the Royal Oak ice cream shop, the most popular avors include cookies and cream, butter pecan, mint chocolate chip, co ee and Heath, along with some seasonal of ferings. On a wholesale level, vanilla, French vanilla, vanilla bean and chocolate are most sought-after at

“What the research in Michigan shows us is consistent with what we’ve seen in our research around the coun try, which is that debt-collection law suits have been overwhelming state court dockets,” said Erika Rickard, who leads Pew’s civil legal system modernization project. “ is is a big shift that has largely gone unnoticed by state leaders and yet has profound, lasting implications for states, for tax payers and for consumers.”

partner retailers. Cinnamon and peppermint are popular during the holidays.

Ray’s has a long-standing relation ship with a variety of local retailers, and its tubs of ice cream can be found in Meijer, Holiday Market, Nino Sal vaggio, Plum Market, Randazzo Fresh Market and Papa Joe’s stores.

“We know a lot of people just want to grab a pint when they’re at the store,” Jason Eddleston said. “It used to be you’d go to the store and get one avor for the family. Now somebody wants chocolate, somebody else wants Rocky Road, so it’s a lot. We want to ensure we keep those rela tionships with the retailers alive.”

Since taking over Ray’s, the Ed dlestons have gotten its products into the nearby Meijer store at 5150 Coolidge Highway in Royal Oak. e owners say that move was a big one because that store is among the re tailer’s busiest.

Adding Ray’s Ice Cream products to another location was an easy deci sion, Meijer Ice Cream Buyer Monica Nevenzel said in an email to Crain’s. Ray’s Ice Cream is now o ered at 11 Meijer stores.

“As a Michigan business, it’s im portant to us at Meijer to support other local family businesses, and we know it’s important to our customers as well,” Nevenzel said. “Ray’s is a lo cal brand we’ve carried for several years because it brings that nostalgic joy that customers look for in ice cream — it makes you feel like a kid again.”

e new Ray’s owners believe that feeling will remain for future genera tions. Jason and Lindsey are new par ents and they want to make sure Ray’s is around for a long time.

“Oh, yeah. at’s our goal,” Lind sey Eddleston said. “Being a young, growing family, we want to keep this business in our family for genera tions.”

“I grew up in the area. I went to college in (Philadelphia) and lived in New York for a while. When I moved back here in 2006, I felt a responsibil ity to come back and get into the fam ily business and lead it. My hope is that our children want to do the same.”

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

BACKLOG

From Page 3

Trouble lies further ahead, how ever. Labor shortages that have plagued manufacturing plants and restaurants alike are only expected to worsen. It could stunt the econo my, experts warned.

spective, this is highly problematic because consumers have fewer op tions to challenge the plainti ’s claims or raise viable defense after the judg ment is entered.”

Debt related to store-sponsored credit cards can be especially confus ing, Hennessey said.

More than three in four cases that are not dismissed result in garnishments being issued, most commonly the in terception of state tax refunds. Michi gan was among ve states given an “F” grade by the National Consumer Law Center on how well its garnishment ex emption law protects consumers’ abili ty to state a oat while paying o debts.

Lorray Brown, co-managing attor ney of the Michigan Poverty Law Pro gram, said the work group focused on ways to remove barriers so more consumers participate in the debt-collection process and respond to collection lawsuits.

Recommendations include:

` Modernizing service-of-process rules.

` Increasing what information plain ti s must include in complaints.

` Creating easy-to-use documents and forms.

` Optimizing the use of court records and data.

` Conducting a study focused on con sumers’ experiences in debt collec tion, and ` developing pilot projects to nd al ternatives to litigation.

She called the report “ground breaking” because it appears to be the rst time a state judiciary has exam ined and shared detailed data about debt-collection lawsuits statewide, including neighborhood-level dispar ities in lings and case outcomes.

Angela Rigas, who co-chairs the Justice for All Commission with Su preme Court Justice Brian Zahra, said it will next work to implement the rec ommendations by changing court rules and taking other steps.

“ is debt-collection report rep resents an important step to making the civil court system more workable for consumers, creditors and courts,” Zahra said.

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

“We are even more concerned now than we were back then about the long-run speed limit that slug gish growth in the labor force will impose on Michigan’s economy,” the report said.

Bottom line, economists are ex pecting continued job growth in Michigan even with a looming re cession — an anomaly to historic trends. If the past couple of years have o ered any lesson, though, it’s that the future is tough to predict.

“Overall, we are very satis ed with our forecast errors from last year’s forecast given the many chal lenges to interpreting the econo my’s trajectory as private activity took the baton from federal sup port,” the report said.

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

After more than 60 years, Ray’s Ice Cream in Royal Oak is under new ownership.| JAY DAVIS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“THIS

FOR TAXPAYERS AND FOR CONSUMERS.”

— Erika Rickard, leader, Pew civil legal system modernization project

Court orders Recovery Park to repay $750,000 in MSF loans

SHERRI WELCH

An Ingham County Circuit Court on Nov. 16 ordered Detroit-based Re covery Park to pay the state back $750,000 in Michigan Strategic Fund loans.

In a lawsuit led in May, assistant attorneys general representing the Michigan Strategic Fund said Recov ery Park and its for-pro t subsidiary, Recovery Park Farms, failed to meet a nal milestone for forgiving the loans made in 2017 by failing to hire at least six more employees.

Made in two installments, the money was part of $1 million in fund ing extended to the nonpro t and would have been forgivable had it met all benchmarks set by the state. But it failed to create at least six new jobs to bring it to a total of 18 by the end of calendar 2017 and subse quently failed to make the rst of two payments required to pay back the loan in late March 2021 and to cure the delinquency by May 3 of that year, according to court lings.

It’s the latest setback for the De troit nonpro t, which provides job training and support for returning citizens and recovering addicts. It launched the for-pro t Recovery Park Farms in 2013 to create busi nesses and jobs around the food and agricultural industry for those peo ple. In the past few years, it has had troubles with investors pulling nancial support from the project and two have joined a for-pro t hydroponics business.

e state case against Recovery Park had been scheduled for a pretri al conference in May 2023, but in mid-October, attorneys made a mo tion for summary disposition. An In gham County Circuit Court judge on Nov. 16 granted it, ordering Recovery Park to repay the loans and related fees.

Amber McCann, communica tions director for the attorney gener al’s o ce, declined comment on the case after the hearing, saying the

AG’s o ce does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Recovery Park Chairman Pat Cros son, owner of Wolverine Flexograph ic Manufacturing Co. in Farmington, said the organization’s board will consult with its attorneys in guring out its response to the court’s order.

“We’re a little confused and frus trated to say the least. We met every single milestone except the last six employees,” he said.

Recovery Park is in a position to work with the state to pay back the money if that’s what it has to do, Crosson said, but it will take money away from other initiatives Recovery Park is pursuing to provide jobs for returning citizens.

The purpose of the money

e goal of the state funding was to build the high tunnels, hire employ ees to work in them and get leafy greens in the market place as a step

ping stone to building a greenhouse to create more jobs, Recovery Park CEO Gary Wozniak said.

e six or more new jobs were to have come as the greenhouse came online.

But the planning, permitting and nancing for the greenhouse took longer than expected, Wozniak said. Recovery Park requested and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. granted three forbearances on the $750,000 in loans between the end of 2017 and October of 2018.

A year later, Recovery Park peti tioned the state for loan forgiveness, something it needed to secure loans from the U.S. Department of Agricul ture and Pace Loan Group to wrap up nancing for the planned green house, Wozniak said.

e state voted to do a forbearance for another 240 days with new mile stones, and Recovery Park started working with the MEDC on the mile stones during the pandemic by

email, Wozniak said.

Crain’s reached out to the MEDC for comment on the forbearance.

But Recovery Park wasn’t making su cient progress on the green house at that point, he said.

And it subsequently had to lay o all of its sta besides Wozniak when investors pulled more than $4 mil lion in investment.

e onset of the pandemic, which prevented the overseas shipping of materials needed to erect a green house on Detroit’s east side further delayed its plan for further growth and hiring, Wozniak said, though it simultaneously provided funding that coupled with new investments has since helped the nonpro t restart operations and rehire employees.

“When COVID hit, we along with the rest of country ceased operations until things started to open back up,” Wozniak said. “I don’t know why you would send me a bill for a payment that is due in the middle of a pandemic.”

What happens now

e lawsuit is the latest hurdle in Wozniak’s now 14-year bid to establish sustainable, agricultural and food in dustry businesses that employ return ing citizens and recovering addicts, an e ort launched initially by Detroit non pro t SHAR Inc. where he worked at the time.

Crosson and Wozniak said the non pro t still has a distribution agreement with Del Bene Produce, has expanded into a beekeeping program, is nalizing the acquisition of a Dearborn catering company and negotiating with a Colo rado-based Mexican chain to become a franchisee and open restaurants here in Southeast Michigan.

It also still has commitments from other lending groups for the green house, Crosson said.

Earlier this year, Recovery Park re solved a cease and desist order with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory A airs for issuing promisso ry notes to former investors that the state said constituted unregistered se curities. It also settled a lawsuit with RPD Holdings LLC and principal Darin McLeskey, enabling it to repurchase 347 parcels of land on the city’s east side that it assembled for its plan to erect a glass greenhouse and other initiatives, Wozniak said.

And it hired back eight returning cit izens to work in its farming and mainte nance programs, Crosson said.

“We’re not going to go away... we have a plan to go forward.”

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

Former Tigers owner's Palmer Woods mansion hits market

ARIELLE KASS

e one-time home of a former owner of the Detroit Tigers is on the market, with many of the original details still intact.

e house, at 1701 Balmoral Drive in Detroit, belonged to Walter Owen “Spike” Briggs Jr. Briggs inherited the baseball team upon the death of his industrialist father, in 1952, and was forced to sell it in 1956, accord ing to an obituary from e New York Times. e ballclub did not make for a “prudent” investment for the family trust fund, lawyers said at the time.

e team was sold to an 11-per son syndicate that included radio executive John Fetzer for $5.5 mil lion. e Tigers’ stadium was known as Briggs Stadium from 1938 to 1961.

e family that bought Briggs’ for mer home in Detroit’s Palmer Woods neighborhood in June for $800,000 decided to sell it when they learned they were having a third child, said Stetson Jarbo, a Realtor with @prop erties Christie’s International Real

e

e projects they completed, Jar bo said, included the restoration of

the slate roof and plaster in the home, as well as xing the plumb ing, electricity and a sprinkler sys tem so it’s in working condition. e current owners also have a modern ization plan that’s available for the new buyer, he said.

e 8,774-square-foot house has seven bedrooms, six full bathrooms and three half-baths, Jarbo said. It has original hardwood oors, win dows, doors and hardware, as well as chandeliers and sconces that have been restored. e wood throughout the house is varied, Jar bo said, and includes oak, maple, mahogany, cherry and pine. Flint Faience tile is in a summer room and on a limestone replace.

e home also includes a safe that was used during Prohibition to store liquor — and which has since been converted to a wine cellar — and an original mural on the ceiling of the “poker room” of players and a deck of cards.

ere’s also a 1,000-square-foot carriage house and a three-and-ahalf car garage.

Jarbo said the Palmer Woods house, next door to the Fisher Man sion — which earlier this year sold for $4.9 million, the most expensive sales price ever for a Detroit home — was priced for $1 million under its market value because the owners wanted to “move it” and knew that there was work to be done yet to up grade the house.

“I sell a lot in the neighborhood, and it’s a very, very, very fair price for the size and caliber of the home,” Jarbo said. “ e house is operation al.”

He said there have been a number of showings since it was listed, but no o ers yet.

e Tudor was designed by archi tect Clarence E. Day, who designed a number of prominent homes in the region.

e house will be the site of a Dec. 3 soirée as part of the Palmer Woods Holiday Home Tour, Jarbo said; tick ets are $150.

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

A greenhouse at Recovery Park. | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Crosson Wozniak

Estate in Birmingham, who listed the house for $1.095 million.

current owners — Jake and Erin Cohen, according to property records — were just the third owners of the 1925 property, and had start ed renovation work before they de

cided to sell. Jake Cohen is a partner with Detroit Venture Partners, Dan Gilbert’s venture-capital investment arm, and a co-founder of Signal Ad visors.

The Tudor was designed by architect Clarence E. Day, who designed a number of prominent homes in the region. | SKYVIEW EXPERTS

Cindy Ciura on why residential and retail will always be tied

BY | KIRK PINHO

` We’ve all seen the headlines screaming that retail is dead, or retail is thriving, but really it’s more like evolving, right?

Those of us in retail know that shopping is never going to go away. Brick and mortar stores are never going to go away. It’s never going to be where, if I want to buy something, I’m only gonna go to my computer and Amazon is going to deliver it. No. 1, shopping is a tactile event. It’s so much easier to go to the store to buy something, try it on, see if it ts, see if you like it, and bring it home ... There’s a higher rate of return when you buy online, and for that reason, and I think whether you’re shopping alone, whether you’re shopping with friends, with your kids, it’s an activity that people enjoy doing ... So it’s kind of like (what retailers) are evolving. What are the brands that are emerging? Because we see that happening and we see luxury brands are emerging. Lululemon is emerging as a major player. The new one in Somerset Collection is like a department store. I do the shopping district in downtown Naples, Fla. That shopping district is getting a large Lululemon. The mall nearby is getting one. Their stores are doing amazing sales.

` Does that break down on generational lines?

At the end of the day, we know that the younger you are, the more apt you are to shop online. That said, those speci cally targeted younger customers are the ones driving some of the brands. With Warby Parker, you can buy glasses online but then when they opened a store, they see the sales increase three-fold and it is the younger customer (driving that). It doesn’t matter that it is a younger customer; the same e ect is happening. You build that store, and they will come.

RUMBLINGS

` What does that look like when it comes to something like a shopping mall vs. a downtown shopping district?

It’s no secret that malls aren’t doing the kind of business they once were. Shopping malls are a little bit on the downswing, but I want to asterisk that. Your mixed-use developments and downtowns are on the upswing. This was happening before COVID. In many cases when a retailer is looking at expanding and adding seven to 10 locations nationally, let’s say, they are looking at downtown areas. That’s why you see some of the malls having vacancy and challenges because there are those retailers seeing better or equal sales in a downtown setting. But my asterisk is that there are some tenants that say they only go into malls.

` How does this market compare to a Longwood or a Naples or the Carolinas? What sort of di erentiating factors are there?

It’s the urban cores that are successful, the Birminghams of the world, that are really doing well and that is national. If you’re looking at downtown Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Orlando, Naples — the cities that have this residential development and have businesses that have returned, those are on re. Where you’re struggling a little bit are your (Class) B or C malls in smaller markets. If you were a city in Iowa that doesn’t have the population and a regional B mall, those are the areas that are having a hard time lling space.

` What do you do to keep busy when you’re not working?

I’m kind of a workaholic. I spend a lot of my time reading trade publications and trying to keep up with the trends. When I’m not doing that, I’m very active. I do Pure Barre and a lot of exercise, and I do a lot of sailing. As a family, we do boating and sailing.

Pistons star’s endorsement deal enmeshed in crypto meltdown

DETROIT PISTONS STAR Cade Cunningham last year received a bonus payment for an endorsement deal entirely in cryptocurrency as a way of educating “future generations onnancial wellness.”

Now, as crypto companies implode and the value of the currencies falls, that deal might not be looking so good.

Cunningham, a guard who the Pistons drafted No. 1 overall in 2021, signed an endorsement deal with cryptocurrency exchange BlockFi in August of that year, and received a signing bonus in bitcoin, according to a news release at that time. e bonus was “paid directly” into a BlockFi account held by the Pistons player.

Now, the New Jersey-based BlockFi “is preparing for a potential bankruptcy ling after halting withdraw-

als of customer deposits,” according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.

e Journal report said Block has “signi cant exposure” to FTX, the Bahamas-based crypto ex-

change that led for bankruptcy last week and now faces myriad investigations for allegedly investing customer funds into other related ventures without their approval.

Terms of Cunningham’s endorsement contract with BlockFi have not

been disclosed, but a source familiar with the deal said the bitcoin bonus payment that was part of the deal was “insigni cant” and separate from the overall cash payment the basketball player received from the crypto company as part of the endorsement deal.

e deal with BlockFi has no connection to Cunningham’s contract with the Pistons, reportedly worth about $45.6 million over four years.

It’s unknown whether or not Cunningham may have converted the cryptocurrency payment into dollars or other traditional currency after receiving it.

e value of bitcoin has plummeted more than 66 percent since Cunningham’s deal with BlockFi was announced last August.

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Cindy Ciura is a longtime retail consultant in the region, having done work for Oakland County and the city of Birmingham, just to name a few, since starting her Bloom eld Hills-based company, CC Consulting LLC, in 2005. Recently, she has picked up Orlando and downtown Naples, Fla., as clients, and has helped bring new stores like Faherty, Brilliant Earth and CB2 to Birmingham. She has also worked for Forbes Co., Schostak Bros. & Co. and General Growth Properties. The West Bloom eld Township resident spoke with Crain's about the state of the retail industry today.

Cade Cunningham NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

Cindy Ciura

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