Crain's Detroit Business, March 9, 2015 by Crain's Detroit Business

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www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 31, No. 10

MARCH 9 – 15, 2015

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Page 3 Honigman hires Carl Levin to advise on government At Roush Industries, theme park biz ups, downs are OK

One year into life as a nonprofit mutual, expect more change, CEO Loepp says.

2 Cobo events allow young innovators to see the D CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS Hotel demand raises supply – that’s good, maybe, Page 15

COURTESY OF BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN

Blue Cross likes that mutual feeling

Insurer uses its new nonprofit mutual status to chart growth BY JAY GREENE CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The new Crainsdetroit.com: Check it out, give feedback Do you read Crain’s on your mobile phone? If so, your experience just got a lot easier. The new Crainsdetroit.com is “responsive.” That means story elements automatically resize to improve readability on every device, from your mobile phone to your tablet to your desktop. At its core, the site’s content hasn’t changed. New features include: 䡲 A streamlined home page so readers can browse breaking news but still find their favorite features. 䡲 A simpler method to share story links on social media or in an email. 䡲 A Top Stories feature box is at the top of every page, allowing busy readers an at-aglance look at the latest stories. 䡲 The Events section allows users to get all the information about an event from one page, with one click to register. Take a look and let us know what you think about the new site. — Nancy Hanus, digital strategy manager

Dan Loepp says there have been many changes at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan during its first full year as a nonprofit mutual health insurance company. But Loepp, who will reach his 10-year anniversary next month as Blue Cross’ CEO, says stay tuned: More big changes will come during the next 18 months. So far, the new corporate structure has: 䡲 Allowed Blue Cross to cancel two dozen money-losing individual market plans, which has saved the insurer up to $100 million annually in underwriting losses. 䡲 Entered specialty insurance product lines it was banned from before. 䡲 Participated the past two years in the Michigan Health Insurance Exchange, where it

has garnered more than 100,000 subscribers and arguably forced competitors to lower prices. “We have the opportunity to grow nationally as we are now a nonprofit mutual,” Loepp said. “We are in a spot where we are looking” at possible investments in health comLoepp panies or joint ventures with other Blues plans, he said. For example, Loepp said, the Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, a Blue Cross forprofit subsidiary that sells workers’ compensation insurance, “now has the ability to sell other lines of products, and they are looking at opportunities.” Michael Cox, former attorney general now heading Livonia-based Mike Cox Law Firm PLLC, said the Blues’ Accident Fund can now package workers’ compensation contracts with property casualty lines, long-term disability, life insurance and even auto insurance. “They can get into these higher-margin lines of insurance and bundle these products,” said Cox, who previously had sued Blue Cross to force the Detroit-based insurer to diSee Blues, Page 34

How to let go While growing a company, many a CEO faces this common pain point: How to delegate — and build and develop a team that the CEO feels comfortable delegating to. Turn to our Second Stage report that begins on Page 11 to hear from two companies that made the leap and for tips from experts.

LOOKING BACK Minoru Yamasaki was hired to design Brookfield Office Park, a high-end complex in Farmington Hills

COURTESY OF ETKIN LLC

Brookfield Office Park (above) was one of the final works of Minoru Yamasaki but one of many local buildings he designed, including Temple Beth El.

Yamasaki’s ‘cool’ legacy BY SHERRI WELCH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

hen Crain’s reported on the high-end Brookfield Office Park that Etkin Equities Inc. was developing in Farmington Hills 30 years ago, no one had any idea the project would be among the last designed by Minoru Yamasaki. The acclaimed Japanese-American architect, known for projects including the World Trade Center in New York City, died in February 1986, at age 73, less than a year after the story ran. But Brookfield Office Park and many of the other local buildings and structures Yamasaki designed, including One Woodward, Temple Beth El, the Yamasaki Building at the College for Creative Studies and the McGregor Memorial Conference Center at Wayne State University, stand on, as does Yamasaki’s architectural COURTESY OF ARCHIVES OF MICHIGAN legacy, experts said. Minoru Yamasaki left a Yamasaki “made miniconcrete legacy upon his malism cool,” said Mark death in 1986. Harvey, state archivist at the Archives of Michigan. The architect’s work has a worldwide following. See Yamasaki, Page 37

NEWSPAPER

ISTOCK PHOTO

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MICHIGAN BRIEFS Report: Grand Rapids area near the top in temp employment The Grand Rapids area was second in the nation among metro areas for its concentration of workers in temporary employment, reported MiBiz, citing a report from the jobs website CareerBuilder.com. The 24,739 temp workers in the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metropolitan statistical area constitute 4.7 percent of the workforce, more than double the national average of 2 percent. The only MSA with a higher concentration of temps was Memphis, Tenn., at 5 percent.

Amway kin buy piece of Cubs; let the countdown to regret begin … One of the families behind Adabased Amway Corp. appears poised to risk its empire. Rich DeVos and kin have bought a minority interest in the Chicago Cubs, MLive.com reported. DeVos, who owns the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association, is one of six new minority investors. The Ricketts family, which owns the controlling interest, recently sold minority interests in Chicago Baseball Holdings to help finance the $375 million renovation of Wrigley Field, informally known as “The Place Where Hopes Go to Die.” It’s unclear how much the DeVos family spent for a piece of a team that hasn’t won a World Se-

Planning a joint venture? Here’s a cautionary tale The lesson: Don’t let your startup start up. Kasey McDermott of Bay City, whose home was insured by Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co., had reason to think she was covered when her husband accidentally burned their abode to the ground. A number of complications, however. Her husband was producing marijuana in the basement. She and her husband failed to tell Nationwide. Or maybe it just slipped their minds. (Hmm.) The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Yes, that’s a complication. As reported by Crain’s sibling publication Busiries since shortly after the cannon smoke cleared from the skies over Fort Sumpter, thus commencing the Civil War.

MICH-CELLANEOUS Truven Health Analytics’ list of 100 Top Hospitals for 2015 includes four from Michigan: Holland Hospital, Southfield-based Providence Hospital and Medical Center and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers. Truven evaluates 3,000 hospitals on their clinical quality, extended 30-day outcomes, efficiency, financial performance and how patients assess the care they provide. Holland-based Motus Integrated Technologies, an automotive interi-

ness Insurance, the appeals court (and we’re a bit chagrined that this didn’t go to the Supreme Court, so we could refer to the high court) affirmed a lower court ruling that Nationwide wasn’t obliged to be on their side because McDermott and then-husband Brien Mathews, who had a medical marijuana card, neglected to inform the insurer that, hey, we’re growing pot back over by the furnace. Nationwide also is entitled to “subrogation for payments it made to the policyholder before it learned of the cause of the fire.” Translation: Fork over that $140K. So the takeaway: Even doobies need due diligence.

ors supplier that spun off of Johnson Controls Inc., acquired Leon Automotive Interiors, MLive.com reported. Kalamazoo-based Stryker Corp. boosted its share repurchase fund by $2 billion to the highest level in at least three years, damping speculation that the surgical-implant maker would make a takeover bid for London-based Smith & Nephew Plc, Bloomberg News reported. The website Stadium Journey ranked Van Andel Arena, home of the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League, the best place to watch a minor league hockey game, the Grand Rapids Business Journal reported. The Griffins are an affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. Meredith Bronk will become CEO of Grand Rapids-based Open Systems Technologies Inc. as co-

founder Dan Behm retires from the information technology company after 18 years, MiBiz report-

ed. Bronk is president of the company, whose presence includes an office in downtown Detroit. According to a report from MLive, the most expensive coffee in the world, civet beans, is made with Indonesian cat poop. So naturally, you’d want to bookend your day of ritualistic beverage consumption with a beer with coffee made with cat poop. Enter the folks at Perrin Brewing Co. in Comstock Park and their Big Konas, which will set you back $6 for an 8-ounce mug of the hairball of the cat. Find business news from around the state at crainsdetroit .com/crainsmichiganbusiness. Sign up for the Crain’s Michigan Morning e-newsletter at crainsdetroit.com/emailsignup.

CORRECTIONS

A story in the March 2 edition about the office building boom of the mid-1980s included two photographs on Page 21 that misidentified the individuals pictured. Steve Morris of Axis Advisors LLC and Doug Etkin of Etkin LLC are correctly identified here. Etkin In the March 2 story “Ap- Morris proaching funding cuts threaten federally qualified health centers,” the Wellness Plan Health Centers in Detroit was improperly identified as a federally qualified “look-alike” health center. The Wellness Plan has been certified as a federally qualified health center the past eight years.

Rocking the Intellectual Property World Warner Norcross & Judd attorneys blaze new trails in intellectual property law. Raymond Scott and Greg DeGrazia represent KISS Catalog, Ltd., providing trademark solutions and litigation that protect the licensing of the rock stars’ images. When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Ofﬁce said that faces of entertainers couldn’t be trademarked, they were persuaded to approve precedent-setting trademarks for the iconic face paint of KISS. Trademarks for the face paint and logo are now registered in more than 40 countries. Finding new ways to protect intellectual property is one way our attorneys go the extra mile for clients.

A BETTER PARTNERSHIP ® WNJ.com • 866.533.3018 Southﬁeld

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Ex-Sen. Levin to join Honigman

Inside

To advise government relations, regulatory practice group BY DUSTIN WALSH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Levin will advise Honigman on government relations and regulations.

Former Michigan Senator Carl Levin will join Detroit-based law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP in April as senior counsel. Levin, 80, retired from office, after choosing not to seek a seventh term in the U.S. Senate, in January. That followed a 36-year career representing the

state and previous posts serving on the Detroit City Council. At Honigman, Levin will serve as an adviser to the firm’s government relations and regulatory practice group, the firm told Crain’s. He will also assist Honigman’s corporate clients with internal investigations, crisis management, compliance issues and alternative dispute resolution, Honigman CEO David Foltyn said.

“A lot of this will be a walk in the park compared to where he’s coming from (Washington, D.C.),” Foltyn said. Foltyn said Levin will not participate in any of the firm’s lobbying efforts. Levin said it was his work with the late David Paige — a partner with the firm who died in July 2014 — on the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy that got him See Levin, Page 33

TechTown’s departing leader sits for exit interview, Page 4

Company index These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business: Archives of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Asset Acceptance Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chrysler Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cobo Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Coliant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau . . . . . . 15 Domino’s Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Dow Chemical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Edward Lowe Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 13 Etkin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Experience Grand Rapids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Foley & Lardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 General Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Generations Home Care Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 GiveYoung.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Greater Lansing Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau . 15 Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Impact Management Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 LARRY PEPLIN

Theme park work “utilizes all of the company’s core competencies and capabilities,” says Christopher Ableson of Livonia-based Roush Entertainment.

Michigan Association of Health Plans . . . . . . . . . . 34 Mike Cox Law Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Nikki’s Ginger Tea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Roush rides designed to thrill

PeachWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Prefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Roush Entertainment Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Roush Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 TechTown Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 TEDxGR Grand Rapids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

BY DUSTIN WALSH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Roush Industries LLC’s Building 50B on Plymouth Road in Livonia is part skunk works, part production plant. Inside the 450,000-square-foot space, Roush is building the widely-reported electric neighborhood vehicle for Google Inc. — which remains shrouded in secrecy. But the building is also home to one of

Company unit engineers, builds systems for world’s theme parks the longtime Ford Mustang performance retrofitter’s newest, and most surprising, divisions — Roush Entertainment Systems. The Livonia-based firm engineers, designs and builds ride seat systems, show-action equipment

and animatronics for the world’s top theme parks. Roush Entertainment has done work for The Walt Disney Co., Universal Parks and Resorts, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc. and others around the world.

Since establishing the division in 2007, it has grown to represent roughly 12 percent of Roush’s total business, which generated revenue of $440 million in 2014. Entertainment industry clients are now its fourth largest global clients, behind Ford Motor Co., FCA USA LLC and General Motors Co. “(Theme parks) are absolutely a growth market for Roush, as it utiSee Roush, Page 36

Toering Law Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Triad Services Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 University of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Van House Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Varnum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Wayne State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 36 West Michigan Policy Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 WhenToManage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Yamasaki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Department index BANKRUPTCIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 BUSINESS DIARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Conferences at Cobo set to attract young innovators

CLASSIFIED ADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 KEITH CRAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 MARY KRAMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

BY TOM HENDERSON CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

COURTESY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

During the Shell Eco-Marathon in the Philippines this month, students posted ideas on an interactive wall.

It has become a common sight in the past couple of years to see throngs of young people filling Campus Martius and the office buildings nearby that are part of the emerging tech and entrepreneurial scene in downtown Detroit. Later this month and in April, they will be joined by thousands of

THIS WEEK @ WWW.CRAINSDETROIT.COM

SPRING BREAK FOR THE SMART Engage International Investment Education Symposium: March 2627. Number of attendees: 2,500 Shell Eco-Marathon: April 10-12. Number of attendees: about 1,000 other young people converging from around the country for a pair of conferences at Cobo Center. One is focused on finance and the other

is about automotive technology. A common thread is putting Detroit in the center stage role of convening innovators. The first, March 26-27, is the Engage International Investment Education Symposium, where 2,500 students, professors and business professionals from the U.S. and Canada will gather for an annual conference aimed at finance stu-

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 OTHER VOICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 RUMBLINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 STAGE TWO STRATEGIES . . . . . . . . . . 14 WEEK ON THE WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

See Cobo, Page 36 Location, location, location ... his vocation So many buildings, it’s hard to keep track of real estate in real time. So catch up with Kirk Pinho’s blog, crainsdetroit.com/kirkpinho COSTAR GROUP INC.

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TechTown CEOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s departing vision: Helping midsize companies grow On Thursday morning last week, you could find Leslie Lynn Smith mixing pancake batter in the community kitchen of TechTown Detroit. The networking breakfast was part of her last day as the CEO of the business accelerator and incubator that she had led for the past five years. This week, she leaves for Memphis, where she will helm the Entrepreneurship Powered Innovation Center, a public-private partnership with a goal of creating 500 new companies and 1,000 new entrepreneurs by 2025. In the past seven years, TechTown, by comparison, has served 1,026 companies, which raised more than $107.26 million in startup capital and contributed 1,190 jobs to the local economy. It also created SWOT City Leslie Lynn Smith, (Strengths, Weaknesses, TechTown Opportunities and Threats) to offer technical support to small businesses in Detroitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighborhoods. In the first two years of the program, it assisted 225 existing businesses, such as Sweet Potato Sensations, and helped launch eight others. More than 90 percent of those it reaches are African-American. Now Smith turns over that work to Ned Staebler, Wayne State Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vice president for economic development. He will act as CEO and maintain his role at the university. This happens as TechTown prepares to remerge with the university, which founded the organization in 2000 and then later spun it off. Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Entrepreneurship Editor Amy Haimerl sat down with Smith last week to talk about what sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learned â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and the changes coming to TechTown as the organization prepares to roll back into Wayne State University.

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What is the future of TechTown? We have proactively positioned TechTown and Wayne State more closely together to leverage our longstanding relationships. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been together since the beginning and both have developed powerful, productive programs surrounding innovation and economic development and communitywide engagement. It also alleviates this pervasive challenge that TechTown has had to identify continuous reliable funding. President M. Roy Wilson has understood the value of TechTown since the day he arrived and that it adds valuable programs to the university. It sounds like TechTown is spinning back into Wayne State. Yes. As Ned says, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like the kid coming back to the family business. The kid goes out and learns all the tricks of the trade and matures and develops its own sense of self and then comes back and the strength of the relationship is obvious and apparent to everyone. And thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exactly how I feel. So

weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re spinning back in a mutually beneficial way. What are you most proud of in your tenure? The SWOT program. I think our decision to carry the resources and assets of the city center into Detroitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighborhoods, and the boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support of that, has fundamentally changed the way we talk about DAVID KIDD economic develop- TechTown Detroit CEO Leslie Lynn Smith is leaving Detroit for Memphis to lead the Entrepreneurship ment in the city. Powered Innovation Center.

How did you get the board to support that? I asked for it after I did it. We had been talking about it for a really, really long time, but once I had a committed partner in Kirk Mayes and the Brightmoor Alliance and a funder (the Marjorie S. Fisher Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation), I sort of said to them we have this opportunity to move into Brightmoor and pilot a program that is potentially provocative and powerful. So I brought them the partner and the funding and asked for support and they granted it. What is the most important lesson youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned? This work and funding of this work require a long-term vision and commitment to change and willingness to tolerate setbacks. One thing that concerns me is that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want this work to be transactional and not have transformed the nature of our city and the opportunities. That takes a long view. Where do you think Detroit is right now in looking at that long view? Is that happening? Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re coming to it. I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re beginning to understand. I really give Detroit Future City a lot of credit for this part of it. Detroit Future City laid out that extraordinary, visionary plan for the city and always said it was a 50-year plan. They forced us to think about the length of commitment in terms of decades, and I think it reset the conversations we were having about how long we had to do this work. And while we should continue to look for a series of sort of intermediate victories, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a long game. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the thing you would like to see happen here in terms of entrepreneurship? Because of the work weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done in the neighborhoods, I would love to see a focus on medium-sized companies that need expertise and investment to grow and to add new customers and jobs at a clip of five, six, 10 at a time instead of continuing to have an overarching focus on the startup economy, which is a

critical element of any comprehensive strategy, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only a single element. I feel like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is trying to get that. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m talking about the types of companies where the walker works. The injection molding firm with maybe 10 to 20 employees that with a little bit of technical assistance, advice and support and capital infusion could grow to 30 employees. I feel like if you took 50 companies and added 10 jobs at each, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big-ass deal. And those are real jobs. They provide living wage and benefits and all the things associated with a â&#x20AC;&#x153;job.â&#x20AC;? Founders are not that. We count them as jobs, but they are not sort of full-time, middle-class participative jobs. So I feel like we need to spend some time focusing on those midsized companies. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the strategies the SWOT team has been working on for the past 18 months. How do we do more B2B and deeper engagement with procurement opportunities? We need to figure out how to get the right sources of capital priced appropriately to meet the demands of the new contracts. And then we need to help them to manage that growth. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll tell you, they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know how to manage that growth. Amy Haimerl: (313) 446-0416, ahaimerl@crain.com. Twitter: @haimerlad

BANKRUPTCIES The following businesses filed for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit March 2-5. Under Chapter 11, a company files for reorganization. Chapter 7 involves total liquidation. A-1 Specialty Services Co. LLC, 214 Farrand Park, Highland Park. Chapter 7. Assets: $855; liabilities: $17,906. H&M Party Store Inc., 3355 Dix Highway, Lincoln Park. Chapter 11. Assets: $80,550; liabilities: $344,020. Infiniti Homes International Inc., 29193 Northwestern Highway, No. 721, Southfield. Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities not available. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Chad Halcom

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In the spirit of Girl Scout founder, Juliette Gordon Low and in celebration of Women’s History Month, Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan honors women for their outstanding contributions to our community with the “One Tough Cookie” Recognition. The Leadership recognition honors female leaders of character in their personal and/or professional lives and the Community Service recognition honors women for their volunteer/philanthropic activities in the community. We wish to recognize the 16 women that have been nominated for 2015. They are truly an inspiration to the next generation of female leaders.

2015 Honorees

Recognition for Leadership: TERRY BARCLAY CAROLYN CASSIN LYNN DRAKE THE HONORABLE PAM FARIS MICHELE HODGES LAURENE H. HORISZNY

KAREN PALKA CYNTHIA J. PASKY VICKY RAD MAXIMILIANE STRAUB KYM L. WORTHY

Recognition for Community Service: SHARON AGNEW BARBARA ELKRIDGE MICHELE HODGES COLLEEN PETERS KATRINA STUDVENT ELREE WATKINS

Past recipients of the recognition:

2014 Honorees

Recognition for Leadership: ELIZABETH L. ADERHOLDT SUE ELLEN EISENBERG SANDRA K. ENNIS MONICA L. MARTINEZ DARA T. MUNSON

DR. GLENDA D. PRICE THERESA RICH, Ph.D. ALICE RIEVES DR. TONI SOMERS JESSICA SUZIO

The top honoree for this category: DR. GLENDA D. PRICE

The top honoree for this category: BRENDA BROWN, Ph.D.

2013 Honorees

Recognition for Leadership: CHRISTINA CARLIN COURTNEY CARPENTER DR. NANCY CORATTI SHAPRINA EVANS JOANNE FAYCURRY LINDA D. FORTE GLENDA LEWIS DENISE WILLIAMS MALLETT FLORINE MARK

Recognition for Community Service: SHERRI ABBULONE BRENDA BROWN, Ph.D. JOAN FOGLER DEBORAH L. MACON DARCI E. MCCONNELL LYNN MARIE OATES ALICE RIEVES MARY TURNER COURTENEY ZAGACKI

KATHLEEN MCCANN PAMELA MOFFITT CINDY NORLIN DR. SUSAN PAURAZAS, D.D.S. NANCY L. PHILIPPART LISA SARKISIAN KATHLEEN SWANTEK CASANDRA E. ULBRICH, Ph.D. EQUILLA WAINWRIGHT

The top honoree for this category: LINDA D. FORTE Our 2015 honorees will be recognized at the annual Cookie Gala on March 25, 2015 at the DTE Energy Headquarters in Detroit.

Cookie Gala Presenting Sponsor

Recognition for Community Service: MAGGIE ALLESEE DEBORAH I. KEY AMAL MAZEH KATHLEEN MCCANN BARBARA JEAN PATTON The top honoree for this category: MAGGIE ALLESEE

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Varnum to expand regional reach with Detroit law office BY CHAD HALCOM CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The new Varnum LLP office expected to open in Detroit’s Federal Reserve Building by July reflects a change in how at least one out-oftown law firm sees the region. The Grand Rapids business law firm expects to have 45 or more local attorneys within two years between its new Fed building lease from Bedrock Real Estate Services LLC and the metro Detroit office in Novi it opened in 2005. That would give Varnum the largest presence in the region of any firm not actually based here, sur-

passing the 40 attorneys in the city for Foley & Lardner LP and about 40 in Southfield and Sterling Heights for Grand Rapids rival firm Warner Norcross & Judd LLP. Metro Detroit has not been a destination for top national law firms to make major inroads in recent years — every local merger or acquisition reported since 2007 has either been an outbound transaction with a Detroit firm expanding outside the area, or two law firms combining here at home, according to legal management consulting firm Altman Weil Inc. But its recent manufacturing comeback, along with a surge in

technology startups and heightened federal regulation in certain industries, may make it more appealing lately to a small subset of firms elsewhere, attorneys said. “We had some debate about expanding by moving into a second suburb (of Detroit), but that debate didn’t last very long,” Varnum Executive Partner Thomas Kyros said about the new office. “It was not a target we were trying to shoot for, to be bigger than Warner or anyone else in that region. But we think we can be in that same kind of position in the market there that we have held in West Michigan, and we can’t get there

without a significant presence in downtown Detroit. That’s probably a key driver in the decision.” Kyros said Varnum, a 127year-old firm with about 145 Kyros attorneys, tried in fits and starts to enter Southeast Michigan in the 1990s with an occasional lateral hire. But nothing gained traction until one of its largest clients, Tower International LLC (then R.J. Tower Corp.), relocat-

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ed its headquarters from Grand Rapids to Livonia in 2004. Varnum followed with what was originally a small Novi office in 2005, but it expanded and added a local tax law focus by acquiring the attorneys of Raymond & Prokop PC, formerly of Southfield. Since then, it has picked up other business through a combination of programs assisting local tech startups, new client recruitment and a brisk local market for attorneys making lateral moves between Detroit firms, he said. The leadership team noticed something was going on about five years ago, Kyros said, during its effort to open a new Chicago office that never materialized. “... We had noticed Novi was really growing in an organic way. With laterals and new clients, Novi was picking up with practically no effort, while the Chicago expansion we were attempting was going nowhere, with tons of effort. So we regrouped.” The Novi office now has about 30 attorneys, including 10 that Varnum has added in the past year — many of them making lateral moves from positions in Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss PC or Keller Thoma PC in Southfield, Dykema Gossett PLLC in Detroit and the Bloomfield Hills office of Cleveland’s McDonald Hopkins PLC. In July, Kyros said, at least seven attorneys will relocate from Novi to the Federal Reserve Building, where Varnum will have nearly 10,000 square feet on the fifth floor, and he expects to grow to 15 attorneys or more within about two years. Meanwhile, he expects Novi will continue to add new attorneys. The firm also reports that about 40 of the 140 startup, early-stage and growing companies to take part in Varnum’s MiSpringboard legal assistance program since 2011 were in Southeast Michigan — 27 in Detroit and 13 in Ann Arbor. MiSpringboard is a Varnum initiative to provide $1 million of legal services to entrepreneurs and startup businesses. About 32 companies statewide that obtained free legal services through MiSpringboard have gone on to become paying Varnum clients, the firm reports. The firm is about halfway to its $1 million program goal, Kyros said. Like Varnum, Foley & Lardner also has a large number of automotive supplier and other manufacturing clients in the region — the large national firms with a larger manufacturing practice are more likely to be attracted to Detroit than their competitors. “The larger firms you see around the country are more financial services-centered, and are likely to look at markets with those clients like Chicago, or greater San Francisco,” said Daljit Doogal, Foley’s managing partner in the Detroit office; the firm’s headquarters is in Milwaukee. “But the firms who do come here are more likely to have a stronger manufacturing client base.” Foley has picked up six new attorneys in the past year, Doogal said, about half of which were lateral hires from other firms. Kyros said revenue for Varnum in recent years is “in the ballpark” of $50 million.

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Snyder, Schuette collide on Prop 1 S

pring thaws will produce more potholes, which may help strengthen support for Proposal 1, the May 5 ballot proposal asking for a one-cent increase in the state sales tax to steer more funding to Michigan roads. It wasn’t warm everywhere last week. In Lansing, we felt deep-freeze, historic lows after Attorney General Bill Schuette made his bid to succeed Gov. Rick Snyder official. (Actually, Schuette only issued a statement opposing Proposal 1.) Schuette didn’t even wait for some kind of public forum where he could be asked about Prop 1 to air his views. Instead, he issued a formal statement — an in-your-face act, considering his Republican colleague, Snyder, is pushing Prop 1. We’ll see how long memories are among major donors who support Snyder and his bid to put more money into roads.

Miller a Great Lakes defender U.S. Rep. Candice Miller has been an effective voice for her 10th District. As she prepares to retire late next year, her congressional colleagues can provide a special gift: support for stopping Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. An accomplished sailor, Miller knows how critical the lakes are, for everything from drinking water to tourism. The economic impact of fishing and recreational boating alone in the region is pegged at more than $20 billion. Last month, Miller, a Republican, joined U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, to introduce bipartisan legislation on these threats. Dubbed the Defending Our Great Lakes Act, the bills would give federal agencies the power to take specific and immediate actions to halt the spread of invasive species. And it would require federal agencies to work with local authorities to create long-term measures to block the species from advancing from the Mississippi River basin.

Quality, not quantity, for charters On his way toward retirement, state Superintendent Mike Flanagan last week offered an important recommendation to other state leaders: Cap the growth of charter schools. Flanagan favors school choice — just not the way Michigan has chosen to offer it. In public comments last week, he warned that allowing an unlimited number of charter schools dilutes strong performers and cripples schools trying to improve. Gov. Snyder is awaiting recommendations from a Detroit coalition of political “odd couples” before deciding how best to manage Detroit public schools. Some way to rationalize the supply of schools will be an important piece of that puzzle.

LETTERS Watch care, costs for seniors Editor: As the owner of an assisted living facility in White Lake Township as well as a private duty home care company and Medicare-certified home health agency, I wanted to comment on Crain’s article on senior housing developments (“Senior housing development surges as population ages, but low-income projects lag,” March 2, Page 11). There are two main points: 1) The rates quoted in this article do not include any form of actual care. So you are going to pay $2,8005,500 per month in rent. Then any type of care or assistance will be an additional charge. These are independent living facilities for people relatively independent. The comment is made that services are available as people’s needs increase so that they don’t have to move. This may be true up to a point, but do not be fooled. What is offered is nowhere near assisted living, and it is dangerous

Crain’s Detroit Business welcomes letters to the editor, provided they are signed and do not defame individuals or organizations. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Write: Editor, Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997. Email: cgoodaker@crain.com for someone who needs a high level of care. It’s been my experience, as I have worked with families for years, that keeping that apartment filled often outweighs doing what is best for the person, moving them to an environment that provides actual 24-hour care. These facilities have their place, of course, but it’s irresponsible to think that they can provide care to the end of life. That’s just not the case. 2) Why are we letting home care companies provide assisted living services? The best that they can do

is a check every two hours, and for people who have any form of dementia, that will not be safe. Sure, there are 24-hour home care services available, but that will be $10,000 or more per month just for the care services. Crain’s hit the nail on the head with the fact that we are just not developing enough low-cost options. Medicaid needs to be reformed to allow for more dollars to flow to home care and assisted living instead of directly to skilled nursing, as it does currently. But that takes Lansing making moves to stir up developers to start building that type of model, also. This industry is confusing for most consumers, and the way services are advertised makes things even more confusing. Nathan Mazur President Mazur Senior Care Services Inc.

See Letters, Page 9

KEITH CRAIN: It’s too soon for Candice Miller to retire Last week, my favorite Michigan secretary of state and seventerm congresswoman announced that she would not run for an eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Candice Miller says she is coming home to Michigan. I hope she is not through with public office. She would be a very formidable candidate for any state office in Michigan — particularly governor when Rick Snyder finishes his second term. At age 60 — I know, never tell a

woman’s age — Candice Miller is far too young to hang up her spurs and sit in a rocking chair. She was a remarkably good secretary of state and has done nothing short of a great job representing Macomb County. I have always marveled at how she really understands her role, as a House member, in the U.S. government. She understands

that her role is to represent her constituents in Macomb County and most of Michigan’s Thumb. Nothing very highfalutin’ about that — just represent the voters in her district and bring home the bacon. She has brought a lot of value to her district. She does her job without worrying about the next job — with little or no fanfare. She has

won re-election some years by 30-, 40- or nearly 50-point margins. When she is finished with the current term and returns to Michigan, it will be early 2017, so Miller she’ll have plenty of time to look around and see how Michigan could best use her talents.

I have no idea what her plans are at this time. And I am sure that if anyone asks her, she will tell you that she is intent on working hard at her present, elected job until her term is over, and she is only concerned about that at this time. Her official statement speaks to that. But I hope that there are plenty of folks in Michigan who understand that she has been a very effective elected official. It would be a real shame not to see that talent continue to serve folks in Michigan.

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OTHER VOICES: Michigan’s growth depends on natural gas Michigan’s natural gas In many ways, Michiwells produce only 18 pergan’s job providers reprecent of the state’s annual sent the very best of the consumption; the remainAmerican spirit. Despite ing 82 percent is delivered tough economic condiby an interstate transport tions, these companies — network that is dangerousfrom small companies to ly close to saturation. large manufacturers — We are facing a natural help keep the United gas traffic jam that could States running. create spot shortages and Michigan employers Jim Holcomb drive up cost. In fact, the have helped the state rebound from an unemployment rate Michigan Public Service Commisof more than 14 percent in 2009 to sion believes the state will face a just over 7 percent in 2014, and the generation capacity shortfall of 3 trend continues to improve. But to gigawatts by 2016. The facts speak for themselves; keep our economy growing, Michigan needs new access to afford- it is in Michigan’s best interest to able, clean and efficient energy sources without shackling growth to foreign energy sources. Affordable, domestically produced natural gas is a key component to jump-starting America’s manufacturing comeback. As the cleanest burning fossil fuel, it supports cleaner air and is also in high demand by manufacturers. Our challenge is to get the natural gas to the key utility points — and Michigan is definitely one of those points. Not only is natural gas key for many of Michigan’s industries, but in this state synonymous with cold winters, 80 percent of households are heated with natural gas. In contrast, Michigan’s demand for natural gas has never been matched by the state’s ability to produce it. According to recent data,

LETTERS CONTINUED ■ From Page 8

Mind infrastructure Editor: “A warning: Watch pension plans” (Mary Kramer column, March 2) was insightful and true. All local (and state) governments have to moderate future promises they make to their employees. Many refer to the pensions and other post-employment benefits municipalities have on their books (liabilities) as the elephant in the room. However, the bigger elephant is the cost of above- and below-ground infrastructure maintenance and replacement. A city could ultimately shed the liabilities associated with pensions and retiree health care. We have seen this in Detroit, and as your article pointed out, Lincoln Park will likely have to alter its past promises. But as a service provider, a local government must be able to push water, collect sewerage and have passable roads. If a large water main breaks, a sinkhole erupts or a bridge collapses, they must be fixed. Yet many local governments don’t have the reserves to deal with any cataclysmic infrastructure issues. It’s time the public pays more attention to what’s going on deep in their local governments (municipalities and schools). While residents don’t necessarily care about the accounting associated with a “discretely presented component unit fund,” they do want clean water to come out of the tap when they turn it on. Bob Kittle President. Munetrix LLC Keego Harbor

make sure the Rover pipeline is approved by federal and state authorities and is built as planned. For a natural gas-hungry industrial state like Michigan, Rover means the full benefits of American domestic energy sources will travel to Michigan and will support the resurgence of our state’s manufacturing sector. When complete, the Rover pipeline would stretch from Pennsylvania to West Virginia and Ohio. It would then cut north and cross southern Michigan and connect to existing pipeline infrastructure, bringing affordable domestic energy to the Midwestern market.

Rover would be a new underground superhighway for natural gas and would ensure Michigan’s natural gas supply for generations. Furthermore, Rover would bring a $3.7 billion capital investment by Energy Transfer Partners. It would also employ 1,500-2,000 locally skilled laborers for construction and have long-term operator positions. Natural gas pipelines are the safest way of transporting natural gas. Rover will meet or exceed state and federal safety requirements. It will be built and operated under the strict supervision of two federal agencies: the Pipeline Haz-

ardous Materials Safety Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While Rover would be overseen by the federal government, it would be financed by private investors at no risk to taxpayers — and the economic benefits would remain here in Michigan. The numbers add up: The Rover pipeline project is a win-win for our state. It would assure that Michigan’s growing economic recovery doesn’t run out of gas. Jim Holcomb is senior vice president for business advocacy and associate general counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

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FIGHT THE LAWSUIT ... OR SETTLE? Whatever the decision, a business should make a choice — and fast, Page 14

growing small businesses EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK Amy Haimerl is entrepreneurship editor and covers the city of Detroit. She can be reached at (313) 446-0416 or at ahaimerl@crain.com

Amy Haimerl

Pair unlikely city partners Dear Mayor Duggan: Let’s talk about small business. You’re a booster; I’m a booster. We agree that supporting entrepreneurs is critical to the future of the city. You’ve even hinted at a few bold new programs, from an “innovation corridor” along Woodward Avenue to Motor City Match, which will provide $2 million worth of grants, loans and in-kind services this year to help small businesses find and renovate space. But here’s what else we need: an advocate who can both assist small businesses with city licensing and permitting and coordinate the efforts of the many business development programs. Seriously. Our problem is not a lack of support but such a plethora — in an impenetrable fog of acronyms — that it is confusing to navigate. It’s not just me seeing this. A recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago found that “the city of Detroit is a resource-rich place” with thousands of programs to connect small-business owners. But it also found that black business owners feel disconnected from the resources, calling that “one of the most important impediments” to their growth and development. Big-think blue-ribbon panels are great, but we also need to put people such as Devita Davison of FoodLab Detroit in the same room as Antonio Luck, managing director of Endeavor Detroit. Historically, these two groups would never meet. One helps small food entrepreneurs; the other mentors companies facing explosive growth. But connecting the spectrum of entrepreneurship is good for our economy. After all, these small neighborhood joints and second stage companies make up 72 percent of firms in the U.S. and account for more than half of the country’s jobs, according to the Cassopolis-based Edward Lowe Foundation. There is power in numbers. Both feed off each other. One creates a sense of stability and strength in neighborhoods; the other provides jobs to support those neighborhoods. Detroit has the ability to be more than a collection of boosters talking about how entrepreneurs can save this city. Let’s show the country that it is possible to create, value and grow all entrepreneurs, from neighborhoodsupporting Good Cakes and Bakes on Livernois Avenue to high-growth Skidmore Studios downtown.

Even if Monique Sasser (right) could stand the heat, she got out of the kitchen where she was simultaneously concocting and building Nikki’s Ginger Tea. To be more accurate, says her top executive, Andrena, “I kicked my mom out.”

JOHN SOBCZAK

How to let go Leaders of growing businesses share lessons learned BY GARY ANGLEBRANDT SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

ino Signore speaks to hundreds of second-stage business owners a year. During his seminars, he likes to ask how many of them signed up to be managers when they launched their businesses? How many attended a business class? Not many hands go up for either question.

Nikki’s Ginger Tea LLC Owner: Monique Sasser Struggle: Rapid growth leading to inconsistent product

he last time Crain’s heard from Monique Sasser, she was on stage at the 2011 Salute to Entrepreneurs awards event, facing the crowd and a ballooning business. Sasser, owner of Detroit-based Nikki’s Ginger Tea LLC and a Salute winner that year, told the audience at Greektown Casino-Hotel how she’d gone from cleaning houses to getting her products into a Whole Foods Market store the previous month. Adding fuel to the

Signore is manager of entrepreneurial education at the Edward Lowe Foundation in Cassopolis, where he helps owners of second-stage businesses — defined as those with annual revenue of $1 million to $50 million and 10 to 99 employees — evolve from the seat-of-the-pants startup days to the more bloodless manager role. “Now all of a sudden they’re becoming more of an executive — becoming managers. Many of them don’t like that,” Signore said.

Delegation means giving up authority to people who may not have the same passion or appetite for risk, Signore said. But to grow the business into this stage, and someday out of it, the founder must accept this new reality by letting go and forming a management structure. Crain’s talked to Signore and two local businesses about their tips and mental approaches that can make this transition less painful.

fire was Jim Hiller, founder of Hiller’s Markets and guest speaker, who made the surprise announcement at the event that his stores would carry Nikki’s Ginger Tea. But with the growth came the problems. In the first months of 2012, as Nikki’s took up Hiller on his offer, product issues emerged. The bottles were swelling on the shelf and the taste was inconsistent from bottle to bottle. That’s when Sasser got serious about letting go and delegating more.

first were her daughter, Andrena Sasser, who became vice president, and Katherine Randolph, who was her kitchen manager. But it was a few years more before circumstances forced her to really let go. Or, more accurately, it was Andrena who forced her. “I kicked my mom out of the kitchen,” she said.

What precipitated the decision to put others in charge of operations? Sasser began selling her teas in 1997 to bring in some money on the side. It wasn’t until 2010 that she brought in managers. The

What tasks were delegated? Up to this point, Monique had been whipping up batches on the fly. “I’m like a mad scientist in the lab, stirring pots. Everything is in my head. We needed to get recipes,” Monique said. See Let go, Page 12

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This is when Andrena stepped in. “She would be throwing stuff together, and I said, ‘Mom, there’s no way to tell people the nutrition facts or why this batch is milder from another,’ ” Andrena remembered. Andrena dove into research on shelf stability and ingredients, developing the recipe and setting a repeatable process. This protected not just the consistency of flavor but also the stated nutrition facts on the bottle. Then she trained Randolph to take over the day-to-day kitchen management. Andrena now is in charge of making sure overall operations run smoothly, and watching orders and deliveries. She also manages current accounts, gets new accounts and attends meetings with corporate customers and vendors. “Any little problem, she won’t tell me she solved it. She doesn’t want me to get upset,” Monique said. Andrena brings Randolph with her to some of these meetings to build redundancy into the management structure and continue the line of delegation. That added managerial know-how will be needed this year as Nikki’s Ginger Tea expects to double the number of stores where its product appears to more than 120. What can the founder do now that managers have taken over operations? Delegation has uncluttered Monique’s days, giving her the clarity to take a longer view of the business. She talks to distributors, potential investors, lenders and economic development people as she looks ahead to next stages of growth. She also has the time to speak at events, meet with nonprofits and women’s groups, give presentations at schools and make appearances at product samplings. “People want to see the face behind the product,” she said. What was challenging for you personally in all this? What mental change did you make to let go?

Trusting a person in her 20s, who also happens to be her daughter, to manage her business was the biggest challenge for Monique. “People would say, ‘Why do you want to make her vice president? She’s so young.’ I wanted her to grow into that title. I was tired of wearing so many hats,” Monique said. She was able to let go by trusting her daughter — keep the personal separate from business when it comes to working with family, she advises — and reminding herself that the business would stagnate if she kept “doing things mom-andpop.” “It’s up to the younger generation to take this baby into the future.” What advice do you have to others who foresee going through similar growth? Change is tough, but it has to be done, even if that means giving up some degree of control and watching others make mistakes. “You’ll only stifle your business if you keep doing it the same way,” Monique said.

Coliant Corp. CEO: John Swiatek Struggle: Finding someone who can lead the day-to-day operations

oliant Corp. has been transitioning from an entrepreneurial culture to a professionally managed one during the past two years. Launched by three partners in 2004, the Warren-based company makes electronic powersports accessories, such as power outlets for motorcycles and heated clothing for riders. New corporate customers pushed the company into a cultural and structural reformation, as industry specialists were injected into the company and new heads of operations installed.

It’s a work in progress. Coliant is in the middle of its third search for a company president in two years; the last two tries didn’t work out. “Going from an entrepreneurial state to a professionally managed state is the art of making 4,000 decisions in a two-year span. A lot of things are moving fast,” said CEO John Swiatek. What precipitated the decision to put others in charge of operations? Coliant for many years focused solely on the consumer market — motorcycle and powersports enthusiasts. Then three years ago, work started picking up for the companies that make those consumers’ motorcycles and powersports machines. And a third type of customer came along, too — the Department of Defense, for Coliant’s clothing products. Coliant suddenly was in multiple original equipment supplier relationships that called for different, and specific, business skills and experience than its consumer business relied on. About a year later, the company began searching in earnest for experienced account managers, project and product managers, and engineers. “I needed to bring in guys who could navigate the waters of a given industry,” Swiatek Swiatek said. As business grew, Coliant worked with more distributors of products instead of owners of independent powersports shops that its staff was used to working with. This required business travel and came with different professional expectations. It’s often said that people who are great for a startup business are ill-suited to the formal procedures of a professionalized company. Swiatek said that held true for his company’s transition. Coliant added five people to its staff of 20. About five existing employees were guided into the new way of doing things. Another five or so either chose to leave the new, more managed culture or were forced out. Swiatek wanted to keep as many of the trusted people who helped build the company as he could. Managing the cultural transition is the way to do this — communicating the direction of the company and what would have to happen, helping those who wanted to stay for the ride to do so and, for those who didn’t, giving them letters of recommendation. “Don’t come at this heavy-handed,” he said. What tasks were delegated? Swiatek’s spare time dwindled with the newfound work. “As I became busier as the face of the company and not the doer inside the company, I had less time for operational needs,” he said. It was important to identify See Next Page

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weaknesses, not to dwell on the company’s strengths, as is the tendency of most companies. A strong operations person, someone to mind day-to-day activities across all departments, was needed because the company didn’t have one, either among its staff or its two other founders, Adam Bonislawski, vice president of sales and business development, and Dave Meerhaeghe, head of finance and IT. “No matter how many founders you pull together, there always will be a hole somewhere,” Swiatek said. This is when it was decided that a company president was needed, in addition to managers with industry experience. But that task of delegation remains unfinished: Coliant has burned through two presidents and is looking for a third. The first two presidents came from much bigger companies, were used to having their own staffs and were well-versed in one subject matter but unaccustomed to the turbulent ways of a young company, Swiatek said. He advises other businesses in his situation to make sure they communicate to prospective hires precisely what they’re getting into. “These might be people who are used to having a staff. Can you actually be a doer also?” he said. He also recommends trial periods of about six months for top execs, an idea that was borne out of hard experience. “That’s what we’ll be doing on the next one,” Swiatek said. What can the founder do now that managers have taken over operations? Delegation of operational responsibilities has freed him to focus on matters of company direction, team building, company culture and raising expansion capital. The company plans to invest in all areas of the business this year, including equipment and hiring. What was challenging for you personally in all this? What mental change did you make to let go? Becoming a manager necessitated that Swiatek, whose background is in engineering, learn how to be a salesman. “The challenge was understanding how to move from a product-feature mindset to salesmanship,” he said. He took the challenge as an opportunity for personal growth and reminded himself that he has stakeholders and employees who depend on him. What tips do you have for others who expect to face the same challenges? Swiatek recommends building a strong board that can help find and vet managerial talent, as well as advise on compensation and incentives matters. Coliant is seeking new board members who have certain experience and credentials to bring to the table. He also said it’s important to let people make their own mistakes and learn from them; the default should be to trust them to do a good job and fix their own mistakes, rather than to assume they don’t know what they’re doing and micromanage them. “Trust and verify,” he said.

Tips to survive the transition, mistakes and all Mistakes will happen. Let them. Even if you see new managers stepping right into a mistake you once made, resist the urge to hold their hand — also known as micromanaging. Instead, let them learn it on their own. The emotional toll will ensure they don’t forget the lesson while creating a sense of ownership to the business. “Trust them. As they make mistakes, they’ll get it worked out through experience, as long as they have the passion. I made mistakes, too,” said Monique Sasser, owner of Nikki’s Ginger Tea. Here are five other strategies. 䡲 Don’t expect your top execs to be just like you. Expecting managers to have the same attitude and perspective as the founder is a common mistake, said Dino Signore, manager of entrepreneurial education at the Edward Lowe Foundation. “They say, ‘I don’t see why you’re not as passionate about the business as I am?’ Well, they’re not. They’re managers you hired,” he said. “You’re supposed to paint the vision. Then the executive team helps execute that vision.” 䡲 Don’t undercut. Not understanding the previous point leads to undercutting and micromanaging. The founder sees hires not doing things exactly the same way the founder would and jumps in. It is better to let the hires work out their own processes, give them a chance to be creative and provide the resources for them to do their job. “When entrepreneurs begin to hire managers, they often begin to second-guess them,” Signore said. “Get out of their way. Let them do their job. Observe but don’t interfere.” 䡲 Be prepared to let some people go. Some of the dedicated people who were invaluable during the early years simply won’t be up for

supposed to “ You’repaint the vision. Then the executive team helps execute that vision.

”

Dino Signore, Edward Lowe Foundation

working in a stiffer environment of procedures and processes. It’s understandable to feel a connection and want to promote them into managerial roles. But this can be dangerous and possibly unfair to the employees. Putting them in positions in which they’re destined to fail doesn’t do anyone any good. “And whose fault is that?” Signore asked. “You may want to get them back to doing the things they do well. That’s easier said than done,” he said. Then comes the awkward conversation where the employee is offered the old job back — with that role’s lesser pay and stature. Most choose to leave at this point. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try first. John Swiatek, CEO at Coliant Corp., advises clearly going through the new roles and expectations for those who want to grow their careers. Some work out; some don’t. But at least you tried. “You’re not just going to kick this

person to the curb; you’ll freak out the rest of the staff,” he said. Signore said part of becoming a professionally managed company is setting up the organizational architecture to match its strategy and customer needs: clearly-defined roles and job descriptions, and looking ahead to see what will be needed in a year or two as the company looks at longer-term goals. “Anticipate in advance the skill sets it will take to do it, as opposed to making it up as you go along, which is what happens in the first stage,” Signore said. 䡲 Delegation allows you to get back to being entrepreneurial. There is no getting around the fact that for some period of time the founding entrepreneur will have to be more of a manager and less of a visionary. But when the everyday operational matters are comfortably no longer your concern, you can get back to leading the charge, and being a leader is closer to the entrepreneurial spirit that got you in this business in the first place. Leading executives, team building, speaking at conferences, being creative and looking for opportunities are the job now, not monitoring orders. “You’re working on the business as opposed to in the business,” Signore said. 䡲 Seek psychological help. Consider sending executive candidates to a business or clinical psychologist to assess the candidates. After all, a lot will be invested in this person. “You may be surprised to learn that they were not telling the truth in the interview,” Signore said. But weigh this tactic carefully. You don’t want to turn off talented people unwilling to suffer the indignity of a psycho-plumbing just to get a job. — Gary Anglebrandt

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CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DETROIT BUSINESS

Second Stage

Businesses must decide quickly whether to fight suit or settle BY GARY ANGLEBRANDT SPECIAL TO CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DETROIT BUSINESS

The beginning of Generations Home Care Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s challenges started with a call from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2010. While on-site,

the agency realized that Generations, which provides in-home health care providers for the elderly, children and recuperating adults, was treating most of its nurses as independent contractors instead of employees.

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That sparked a thorough investigation of owner Vincent Salviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books, including interviews with employees, before the two sides reached a small settlement of $3,300. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They pretty much cleared us of everything,â&#x20AC;? Salvia said. That wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the end of his problems, though. Problem: In 2011, not long after the Department of Labor cleared him, an employee filed a civil suit claiming Generations owed overtime pay for all the hours worked beyond 40 during weeks while improperly employed as a contractor. The plaintiffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attorneys turned it into a class-action lawsuit, seeking about $1 million. Compounding the problem, many employees didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like working as employees rather than independent contractors. Under the old system, Generations paid its contractors more to help them manage payroll taxes and other expenses. Under the new system, it paid less and limited the hours to 40. At least a dozen people quit and business declined 20 percent. Solution: Salvia never disputed that he owed his employees the money; he disputed the contention that he willfully avoided paying them. A determination that he

GENERATIONS HOME CARE GROUP Location: Rochester Hills Description: Provider of at-home health care services President and CEO: Vincent Salvia Employees: 120 Revenue: $3.5 million in 2014

What I did was illegal, not willful. I will pay what I should pay, but not triple damages.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

â&#x20AC;?

Vincent Salvia, Generations Home Care Group

willfully wronged his employees would mean paying damages. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What I did was illegal, not willful,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I will pay what I should pay, but not triple damages.â&#x20AC;? He hired Andrew Baran of Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton PC in Troy,

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and later a second one, Charles Taunt of The Taunt Law Firm in Birmingham. He maxed out his credit cards and lines of credit to pay for the lawyers. He cut costs wherever he could. Meanwhile, Salvia still had a business to run. He insulated his employees, some of whom were plaintiffs, from the legal battle as best as he could to prevent it from being a distracA look at tion. problem-solving â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had to by growing present the companies right face to clients and employees,â&#x20AC;? Salvia said. He spent time praying and meditating. Frame of mind was important; it was about â&#x20AC;&#x153;fearing failure or seeking success,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I was going in fearing failure, I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have made it.â&#x20AC;? Generations also hired a human resources management firm, Human Capital LLC in Rochester Hills. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They can help a small company make a lot fewer mistakes in human resources. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re like my director of personnel,â&#x20AC;? Salvia said. Risks and considerations: When it all started, Salvia considered packing up and closing down. The cost would be so great that even if he won it would be like having to buy his company from the people coming after him. And if he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t win, he would probably have to shut down. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Is it worth it? Just to preserve my little business?â&#x20AC;? he asked himself. When it all washed out, Generations ended up paying the overtime amounts that Salvia agreed he owed â&#x20AC;&#x153;almost to the penny,â&#x20AC;? he said. Expert opinion: Douglas Toering of Toering Law Firm PLLC in Troy, who chairs a small-business forum for the State Bar of Michigan, said litigation can drain any small business of resources better applied to pursuing growth Toering and adversely affect relationships with vendors, customers and employees. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Although there certainly are circumstances where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appropriate for a business to take the matter to trial, in most circumstances it is best for owners of small businesses to resolve legal disputes as quickly and as efficiently as possible,â&#x20AC;? he said. Early mediation with a neutral party or offering to make special deals with business plaintiffs are two ways to speed things up. He advises quickly gathering as much information about the issue as possible and examining the costs of litigation, including the loss of executive time. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Then, make a business decision as early as possible about what is best for the business, and set aside the emotional issues,â&#x20AC;? Toering said.

STAGE 2 STRATEGIES

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PUBLISHER’S NOTEBOOK Contact Mary Kramer at mkramer @crain.com.

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS Mary Kramer

Prevailing-wage battle could hurt jobs initiatives

COURTESY OF GREATER LANSING CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

NEIL TYSON

COURTESY OF EXPERIENCE GRAND RAPIDS

Downside of demand Spurt in hotel development can flatten a rising market

See Hotels, Page 16

Michigan

Grand Rapids

47.3%

2009

57.6%

44.5%

2014

59.9%

47.5%

65.1%

Detroit

LansingE. Lansing

Michigan

Detroit

Grand Rapids

$78.06

$89.91

$82.09

$97.80

AVERAGE DAILY ROOM RATE

$78.92

There’s no arguing with the cyclicality of the hotel industry, said Michael O’Callaghan, executive vice president and COO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, which claims to be the first CVB in the world. “It’s basic supply and demand.” But O’Callaghan projects demand will rise for the next several years, even as more rooms come online. The renovated Cobo O’Callaghan Center and the revitalization in Detroit are attracting attention from meeting planners. So, too, is the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, he said. In 2013, it added 25,000 square feet of meeting space, giving it 80,000 total, and the 126-room Hyatt Place Detroit. Those have made the Suburban Collection Showplace competitive for state and regional association business, O’Callaghan said. Average occupancy rates for metro Detroit

$89.06

Pendulum swings

47%

AVERAGE OCCUPANCY

$79.20

hen are new hotel developments a mixed blessing? When the number of new rooms coming online outpaces increased demand in the market. Michigan and its top two meeting and convention markets, Detroit and Grand Rapids, saw a fifth consecutive year of increases in average hotel room occupancy rates last year. But the state’s third-largest meeting market, Greater Lansing, saw a slight decline in average occupancy rates in 2014 as more hotel rooms came on line, according to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based STR Inc. The market, as defined by STR, includes the Brighton, Howell and Hastings areas, which are not represented by the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the bureau’s CEO, Jack Schripsema. And the new hotel rooms in 2014 came online in those markets, not Lansing and East Lansing. Regardless, with only 4,400 hotel rooms in Greater Lansing as defined by STR, it doesn’t take much to shift the supply and demand growth rates equation, affecting average occupancy rates. The slip in occupancy rates there is a harbinger of what’s to come for Michigan and the U.S., STR said. Demand for rooms from corporate, group and leisure travelers is likely to continue to rise with U.S. GDP, said Jan Freitag, STR’s senior vice president for strategic development. Because performance metrics have been so strong the past couple of years, “we also expect new development of hotels will increase

... in 2015 and 2016,” he said. But continued increases in room supply eventually will catch up to the demand, leading to a flattening of occupancy rates across the state’s hotel markets, Freitag said. Michigan’s average occupancy increased to 58.9 percent last year but still lagged the national average of 64.4 percent, STR said. “You’re growing, but the nation on average grew faster,” Freitag said.

58.9%

BY SHERRI WELCH CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

$91.63

Early this year, state Sen. Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, a Republican from the Holland area, announced plans to repeal the state’s “prevailingwage law.” Timing is everything. And this assault on wages paid to construction workers at job sites financed by the state may seem poorly timed. At least to Gov. Rick Snyder. The Snyder administration has been working with skilled-trade unions on a couple of initiatives. First up: finding more jobs in construction for Detroiters — i.e., African-Americans. A new international bridge and the massive redevelopment around a new hockey arena on the edge of downtown — both are opportunities to lift some Detroiters out of poverty. And I’m pretty sure the guv wouldn’t mind having a few voices from organized labor — and political muscle — behind approving a sales tax increase in May to boost road funding. A battle over prevailing wage could harm both initiatives. Once again, this Republican governor seems bedeviled by members of his own party. The current leaders in the state House and Senate aren’t from Southeast Michigan, so maybe they don’t share the governor’s passion for leveraging these huge projects to help employ more Detroiters. And a lot of people elected to office in Lansing in recent years seem driven by ideology versus more of the “begin with the end in mind” strategy. In recent weeks, the furor over prevailing wage seems to be more muted. Maybe they’re waiting for the outcome on May 5 — and then the governor could be faced with a decision: Should he veto legislation to abolish prevailing wage? Since 1965, publicly financed projects have paid nonunion workers on school and government construction projects the same wages as those set by union workers in that area. Hence, the projects pay the “prevailing wage.” How you view that practice might depend on geography; West Michigan is less open to it than union-friendly metro Detroit. Meanwhile, 32 states have some form of a prevailing-wage law. If you’re keeping score at home, only 24 have right-to-work laws. Michigan adopted right-to-work in 2012, giving workers the chance to opt out of paying union dues, as had been required in unionized workplaces prior. Supporters of repealing prevailing wage insist it has cost municipalities and universities millions of dollars in higher wages over the years. Maybe an irony is whether the market today would insist on those wages because skilled labor is in such demand.

LansingE. Lansing

Source: STR Inc. Detroit data is for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia MSA, covering Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, St. Clair and Lapeer counties. Lansing-East Lansing data includes Brighton, Howell and Hastings, per the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau.

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increased to 65.1 percent in 2014 from 62.6 percent the year before, according to STR. Average daily room rates also rose, increasing 5.8 percent to $89.06. Metro Detroit hosted 12 or more “multiple hotel” meetings last year, twice the number in 2013, the DMCVB said early in the year. People attending events had booked about 236,000 hotel room nights in 2014, compared with 129,000 hotel room nights associated with meetings for all of 2013. Among the Detroit hotels opening in 2014 was the Aloft Detroit in the David Whitney Building, with 136 rooms. The Foundation Hotel, being developed in the historic firehouse and a nearby structure across from Cobo Center, is expected to open this fall with 100 rooms. And a Holiday Inn Express and possibly a Hampton Inn are expected to open in Dearborn, O’Callaghan said. “But a few hundred rooms relative to more than 40,000 in the region isn’t too significant.” The large number of hotel rooms and national and international “air lift” from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, along with the strong interest in Detroit, puts the region in a position to attract events ranging from trade shows to international events, O’Callaghan said. “I don’t think this metro Detroit hotel market bubble is ready to pop yet,” he said. “I think we still have about five good years.”

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Grand Rapids has seen similar growth in the past five years, fueled by increases in convention and leisure business, said Douglas Small, president and CEO of Experience Grand Rapids. The region saw a 10.1 percent increase in Small hotel room revenue last year, bringing total revenue to $160 million, up from $97 million in 2008, he said. Among other strategies aimed at increasing travelers from the corporate, group and leisure segments, the group began airing a national Grand Rapids Pure Michigan commercial two years ago. That was after a campaign of regional commercials. According to a study commissioned by the state, Experience Grand Rapids’ $677,000 investment in the commercial in 2013 alone brought 531,000 incremental visits to the region and $161 million in incremental spending in 2013 and into the first quarter of 2014. “We’re trying to create more brand buzz, and it’s driving new business we haven’t had before,” Small said. Last year, 378 groups booked by Experience Grand Rapids brought 237,390 people to the region for events at venues like DeVos Place Convention Center, DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. That totaled 40 more groups than in 2013 and over 17,000 more people

last year, Small said. “I expect the next couple of years we’ll start to really see the fruits of our labor.” As in Detroit and other places, the demand for hotel rooms is leading to development, Small said. A limited-service Hampton Inn & Suites is under construction about a mile from downtown Grand Rapids and set to open in October with 142 rooms. A 110-room, limited-service Hilton Homewood Suites in downtown is also set to open in December. “We feel we can absorb these rooms” and they won’t lead to an oversupply in the market, Small said.

Lansing area For the Lansing market, 2013 was the best year in a decade, and 2014 was better, led by doubledigit increases in demand for groups and conventions, said Schripsema, the Greater Lansing CVB’s CEO. Last year, girls’ high Schripsema school softball state championships were held in the region for the first time, and the boys’ high school softball state championships came back to Lansing for the first time in at least 25 years, as did other groups, Schripsema said. Though they have increased the past few years, “our average rates ... are still lower” than Detroit’s and Grand Rapids’, he said, which helps make the area competitive by price. As the state’s capital, Lansing is also attractive to state associations looking to meet with legislators or tap them as speakers at their events, Schripsema said. The region’s “sweet spot” is groups of 100-500 people with events booked at such venues as Lansing Center and the Breslin Student Events Center at Michigan State University. The Greater Lansing CVB has also begun pursuing regional and national association groups. New demand will help fill new rooms slated for the market this year. Hotels including a Residence Inn by Marriott, Hyatt Place Lansing Eastwood and Fairfield Inn and Suites are expected to bring 345 more rooms to the Lansing area, Schripsema said. Other projects, including a new full-service Hyatt as part of the $276 million redevelopment of the former Red Cedar Golf Course, and a boutique the city of East Lansing is considering as part of a multiuse redevelopment plan for several shuttered buildings just northwest of MSU’s campus, are planned. But Schripsema has a different outlook on what the new rooms — specifically the full-service ones — will mean. “Anytime we can add some full service, it helps us go after more of that conference business,” Schripsema said. Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694, swelch@crain.com. Twitter: @sherriwelch

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CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS

Use of social media widens event’s reach BY ROD KACKLEY SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

A communications team posted and tweeted snippet quotations and photographs on Facebook and Twitter to followers around the world last May from the fourth annual TEDxGR Grand Rapids. That same attention was given to live streaming and social media last September at the West Michigan Policy Forum in Grand Rapids. No one at either conference would have dreamed of asking members of the audience to silence their smartphones, tablets or laptops. Those devices played important social media communication roles for not only the audience but also event organizers. Eddie Tadlock, assistant general manager for the DeVos Place convention center, DeVos Performance Hall and Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, said attendees of meetings and conferences in his venues carry, on average, 2.5 devices — laptops, tablets and smartphones. Those with devices are connected to social media in the rest of their lives, so why shouldn’t they be at a business conference? “You want them alive, enthusiastic and engaged. And that can be facilitated through the use of technology,” said Adrienne Wallace, digital director for 834 Marketing and Design, a Grand Rapids marketing and communications agency. An audience full of people reaching for their smartphones is actually helping event organizers deliver their messages to the people within their networks who might not even be in the room. With social media, an event that attracts hundreds or thousands to a brick-and-mortar venue can be expanded to hundreds of thousands or even millions around the world who join the event through Twitter, Facebook or a live stream broadcast. Austin Langlois, who is in charge of public relations and communications for TEDxGR, said social media and live streaming of the event, held in the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre downtown, allows the organization to reach a worldwide audiLanglois ence. “If someone is tweeting a question or something someone just said, we kind of chime in as the official voice of the organization to steer the conversation,” he said. Any organization that plans to use social media during an event should have a war room ready to go with at least two or three people on duty, Langlois said. “It’s a lot of work for just one person to be posting at the same time as responding to comments and blocking spammers,” he said. Organizers of the West Michigan Policy Forum used a custom-made, temporary app in connection with

the forum’s existing social media platforms to conduct conversations and gauge feedback before, during and after its 2014 conference. A link to the app was given to forum attendees before the event so they could view speaker bios, conversation topics, a list of other attendees and key logistical information. Wallace and Langlois said keeping an audience engaged during an event is only one leg of a threelegged stool. Attraction and retention are also critical components of a social media strategy. Over the past four years, TEDxGR used Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to attract a total of more than 3,000 people to its annual events. Langlois said it is easy to share photos and pictures from previous TEDxGR events on Facebook, and sharing stories from people who have attended TEDx events in Grand Rapids has proved to be an excellent way to expand the audience the next year. Wallace said an event’s target population should drive how heavily an organization invests time and effort in social media to attract an audience. But it can’t be ignored, she said. “Creating an audience on social before you Wallace need them to work on behalf of the event is especially critical in this endeavor,” Wallace said. “Don’t build the bridge as you walk on it, if you can help it.” Langlois said the creation of an official hashtag before the event is also close to mandatory. It can be used to combine conversations into a single stream. But the hashtag is also one more thing to worry about and monitor. “When you have a really prominent hashtag, it catches the attention of a lot of robots online and a lot of spammers,” Langlois said. “There’s a big burst, and then it usually levels out and dies off in the first 30 minutes.” Wallace said using social media to stay engaged with your convention audience members after they have gone home can be as important as engagement during the event. She advised creating an established content calendar for recurring events that can be used year round to help create the event environment. “If you have an engaged audience, keep serving them content and share-reuse their content,” she said. “A big mistake planners make is only using social for the time that the event is taking place.” The most important thing to remember about social media, Langlois said, is also the most important thing about TEDxGR. “It is about engaging our community in a conversation,” he said. “Social media is a part of that strategy.”

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For convention that needs the unconventional ure, you can start your due diligence by perusing Crain’s list of the largest meeting venues in Michigan, on Pages 23 and 25 of this week’s issue. But what if unique is what you seek? Here are some options in Michigan for those occasions when PowerPoint shouldn’t be the high point of an event.

Ann Arbor

䡲 The University of Michigan Museum of Art, in the center of campus, features a variety of diverse spaces available in the Alumni Memorial Hall and the Maxine and Stuart Frankel and the Frankel Family Wing; umma.umich.edu/aboutumma/event-rentals.html 䡲 The Michigan Theater’s 200seat screening room is available for rental during the daytime. Rental of the historic lobby is also available; (734) 668-8397, ext. 21 䡲 A variety of settings are available through Michigan Athletics, with event rental available throughout Michigan Stadium. A rental request form is available at mgoblue.com/ specialevents/rentals.htmlmgoblue.com/specialevents/rentals.html Grand Rapids

Get in on the

䡲 The Goei Center is one of the newer conference and meeting venues in Grand Rapids. It also houses the International Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence. The center, on the southwest side of downtown, was started by businessman Bing Goei, who was appointed the first director of the Michigan Office for New Americans by

conversation

Gov. Rick Snyder; thegoeicenter.com 䡲 New Vintage Place, built in a renovated power plant on the northwest side of Grand Rapids, is scheduled to open this month; newvintageplace.com 䡲 The Cheney Place is a meeting space in an old warehouse on the northwest side of downtown Grand Rapids. When you rent it, you get all 14,000 square feet; thecheneyplace.com 䡲 The Bissell Tree House at the John Ball Zoo has to be the most unusual meeting and convention space in Grand Rapids; johnballzoosociety.org/rentalstreehouse 䡲 John Ball Zoo. If you need more than the Bissell Tree House, rent the entire zoo. What better way to impress on employees that it really is a jungle out there; johnballzoosociety.org/rentals-rentzoo

Kalamazoo

䡲 The Air Zoo is an aviation museum off I-94 that includes conference and meeting space; airzoo.org 䡲 The Henderson Castle Bed and Breakfast includes an inn, restaurant, spa, and meeting and convention space; hendersoncastle.com Muskegon

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䡲 Century Club Ballroom in downtown Muskegon was built in 1891. Seating capacity of 250 with free parking (lots of room to park in downtown Muskegon); centuryclubballroom.com

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Sure, you can rent the entire John Ball Zoo for an event. But also available is the Bissell Tree House (left and above), with its view of downtown Grand Rapids. If you like to view your motivational speeches through stain-colored glass, there’s Kirkbride Hall in Traverse City (below).

䡲 Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Muskegon offers the Hilt Building for meetings and conventions in addition to the Frauenthal Theater, Beardsley Theater and Bettye ClarkCannon Gallery; frauenthal.org

COURTESY OF KIRKBRIDE HALL

Luxury suites available: Sat, Mar. 21 – Pistons vs Bulls at 7:30 p.m. The Hitching Post – yes, a real barn.

Tue, Mar. 31 – Pistons vs Hawks at 7:30 p.m. Wed, June 10 – Bette Midler at 6:30 p.m.

Ravenna (between Grand Rapids and Muskegon)

Sun, June 14 – Rush at 6 p.m.

䡲 The Hitching Post is a

converted barn that offers space for meetings along with “fresh country air and a welcoming hay field”; hitchingpostevents.com

The Century Club in Muskegon

Traverse City There are two fairly new event spaces at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. 䡲 Cathedral Barn is the newer. It opened in February at what used to be the farm for the Traverse City State Hospital, now part of what’s called Historic Barns Park. This area is going to be the site of Traverse City’s botanical gardens, but the barn itself has been restored as an event space; gtrec.org 䡲 Kirkbride Hall opened in May 2014. This 129-year-old chapel building, once a venue for civic and cultural events for the entire community, is outfitted with all the modern-day amenities amid its original stained glass windows and domed ceiling. It can accommodate 250 for theater-style seating and up to 150 for banquets; kirkbridehall.com

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20150309-NEWS--0021-NAT-CCI-CD_--

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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

March 9, 2015

Monthly

Page 21

Egypt

WHERE MICHIGAN DOES BUSINESS Chrysler Group LLC Operations: Chrysler Group Egypt Ltd., a joint-venture with the Arab Organization for Industrialization, is based in Cairo. Employees: 24 Products: Assembly of the Jeep Cherokee sport utility vehicle, Wrangler and the J8 military Wrangler Top executive: Maciej Ratynski, CEO More information: Chrysler Egypt assembles about 3,000 units per year, representing roughly 55 percent of the over-2.0 liter sport utility vehicle market in Egypt.

gypt, with a 2013 GDP of $271 billion, year: A recent improvement in tourism and Each World Watch features a differ- manufacturing segments has helped Egypt’s has seen its fair share of economic chalent country. If you know of a Michilenges in recent years. economy grow by 4.5 percent in the first six gan company that exports, manufacThe country’s big economic drivers — months of the 2015 fiscal year. tures abroad or has facilities abroad, tourism, manufacturing and construction — Egypt’s major exports are crude oil, petroleemail Jennette Smith, managing editor, um products, metal products, chemicals and have been hit the hardest. According to a Febat jhsmith@crain.com. ruary analysis story from Bloomberg News, cotton. Its major export partners are Italy (7.9 Egypt’s economy has been trying to recover percent), India (6.9 percent), the United States from its deepest slump in two decades ever (6.8 percent) and Saudi Arabia (6.2 percent). since the 2011 ouster of former President Hosni Its major imports are machinery and equipApril: Russia Mubarak.Successive governments have tried to ment, food products, chemicals, fuels and May: Japan entice foreign investors to reinvest while the wood products. Egypt’s major import partners country grapples with protests and violence. are China (9.5 percent), the U.S. (7.6 percent), But things are moving in the right direction so far this fiscal Germany (6.7 percent) and Russia (5.3 percent).

COMING UP

Domino’s Pizza Inc. Based: Ann Arbor Operations: 21 locations throughout the country Employees: 400 Products: Pizza, chicken, bread sides and beverage products Top executive: Ibrahim Al Jammaz, CEO of Almar Foods Clients: Retail pizza customers

ISRAEL JORDAN Cairo

LIBYA

EGYPT

SAUDI ARABIA

Dow Chemical Co. Based: Midland Operations: One representative office in Cairo, and a polyurethane system in Ramadan City with a market development lab Employees: 80 Products/services: Polyurethane systems and Egypt representation Top executive: Mohamed Sabry, country manager Clients: Mayson Industrial Chemicals CYP, El Araby Co. for Engineering, Confortchem Inc., RKW, KAPCI, Eagle Polymers, Polymed Distribution Fze, Agrin Serve Co., KIRIAZI

General Motors Co. Based: Detroit

SUDAN Operations: Manufacturing facility in Cairo Employees: 2,000 Products: Opel passenger, Chevrolet commercial and passenger vehicles Top executive: Tarek Atta, managing director for Egypt and North Africa

COURTESY OF DOW CHEMICAL CO.

Midland-based Dow Chemical employs 80 in Egypt.

University of Michigan (project center) Based: Ann Arbor Operations: Projects and partnerships in Cairo

Employees: 20 Services: Social science surveys, training for health professionals, economic research, public health studies

Top executive: James Holloway, vice provost for global and engaged education, UM — Compiled by Natalie Broda

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20150309-NEWS--0023-NAT-CCI-CD_--

3/5/2015

2:00 PM

Page 1

March 9, 2015

Page 23

CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DETROIT BUSINESS

CRAIN'S LIST: LARGEST GREATER MICHIGAN MEETING FACILITIES Ranked by total square feet of meeting space Rank

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 16. 16. 16. 20. 20. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 27. 27.

Facility Address Phone; website

Top executive(s)

Total square Square feet Capacity of largest Number feet of of largest theater/classroom of meeting meeting banquet/cocktail meeting space space style rooms Amenities

DeVos Place Convention Center

& $ 5 &# + 5 #&-+ ) # + 5 ) * + # 5

240,000

.9= DDD

." 9D : , DDD .D 8<D : . DDD

+%$->6 -5 ;-5 6 >5&;B + > &-?&6> ) -*/ +B

Lansing Center

-;; &;$ /5 6& +; +

120,000

8= DDD

8DD : E " DDD : 9DD

-++ ; ?& 6(B@ )( ;- ;$ + @)B 5 +-? ; =9D%5--* &66-+ -; ) +6&+#2 )(&+# &6; + ;- *-5 ;$ + "D 56 + 5 6; >5 +;62

DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center

- ) +#)-&6 /5 6& +;

105,000

=" DDD

9 DD : = DDD . DD : = DD

&% & 3>&/* +; 5 +; ) -5 ;&+# 3>&/* +; ) 5# -+%6&; / 5(&+# =% --;%$&#$

&)&+# )- &+# - ( 5&? &+ --56

86,500

., DDD

= = D : . =DD . DD : E

-) >))%6 5?& 6/ &+ --5:->; --5 $ );$ )> &+ --5 @ ; 5 /) B#5->+ :/--)6 &+ --5 ; ++&6 5 ; &) 6$-/6 B 5 5 6; >5 +;6 ="%$->5 -# 5 &5/-5; 6$>;;) &% & ? &) ) 5 -+%6&; / 5(&+#

<D< -+5- E? 2 5 + /& 6 ", D< 09.91 8"=%9 DD7 ?-6/) 2-5# <<< 2 & $&# + E? 2 +6&+# " ,<< 0 .81 " <%8"DD7 ) +6&+# +; 52 -* = DD >5+ 5 E? 2 5 + /& 6 ", "" 09.91 <9"%,DDD7 ); /) A2 -*

&* -5* + # + 5 ) * + # 5 .DD 5 + 5 ? 56 &)) # )? 2 E * ",9.D 0 DD1 8" %D<D< : 0=<.1 <"%9DDD7 @@@2#5 + ;5 ? 56 5 6-5;2 -*

Grand Traverse Resort & Spa Wings Stadium Complex

& $ ) -5;)- (

&5 ;-5 - -/ 5 ;&-+6

64,400

.8 DDD

9 DDD : . ". . ". : . ".

$5 6 / 5 ; &)&;& 6 &+ -+ @&;$ .D

&;&-+ ) * ;&+# 6/ 67 ; 5&+# + --

6 5?& ? &) ) -+%6&;

Kalamazoo County Expo Center

?& $-@& C

&5 ;-5

62,000

=" DDD

= DD : . =DD . DD : . DD

>; --5 6;&? ) 6/ 5 / 5(&+# &% &

66 > &-

66 -+ 66&-+6 E -+%6&;

McMorran Place

&* E// ) # + 5 ) * + # 5

48,000

. DDD

E : E E : E

E> &- ?&6> ) 3>&/* +; + >)) ;$ ;5& ) 5 /&+#

Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

& $ 5 &++ /5 6& +; +

47,000

8 D

. .DD : 9DD 8=D : . . D

&#$; 5 6; >5 +;6 + )->+# 6 >6&+ 66 +; 5 @&5 ) 66 + @&5 $&#$%6/

+; 5+ ; > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; >))%6 5?& 6 )-+ + 6/ 6(B@ )( -++ ;&+# $-; ) ;- -6 ) -+? +;&-+ +; 5

Broad Art Musem

& $ ) >6$

&5 ;-5

46,000

" 9 9

.=D : " .=D : 8 D

+&3> ? +> @&;$ 6; ; %- %;$ % 5; > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; @ 5 %@&++&+# 5 $&; ;>5 + @-5) % ) 66 -+; */-5 5B 5;

Radisson Plaza Hotel of Kalamazoo

&* B* +

&5 ;-5 - $-; )6

44,000

.D DDD

E : E E : E

)-+ + 6/ ;$) ;& )> 6@&**&+# /--) - 6$-/ 6$&-+ ->;&3> ->5 >+&3> 5 6; >5 +;6 -+ & 5# )->+# .DD 6;

Grand Rapids Art Museum

+ 5&&6% +6 +

&5 ;-5 +

37,667

.D "<8

<DD : ."D < D : 8DD

E> &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +;

Boyne Mountain Resort

5& # + 5 ) * + # 5

37,000

.D DDD

. DDD : 9DD 8"D : . DDD

-) 6/ C&/ )&+ E? ) + $ B @ ; 5 / 5( 6(&&+# 6+-@ - 5 &+# &(&+# $-56 ;5 &) 5& 6 ; ++&6 !6$&+# #@ B ;->56 -*/)&* +; 5B &% & + / 5(&+# -+%6&; 5 6; >5 +;6

Shanty Creek Resorts

; &# -5

# + 5 ) * + # 5 +

36,000

, 9DD

. DDD : 8DD 8DD : . DDD

->5 $ */&-+6$&/ #-) ->56 6 ;@- *->+; &+6 @&;$ < E)/&+ 5>+67 6/ + !;+ 66

+; 57 ;@- &+ --5 + ;$5 ->; --5 /--)67 ; ++&6 ->5;67 !? 5 6; >5 +;67 &+%5--*

&+&+#7 -*/)&* +; 5B 6$>;;) 6 5?&

Boyne Highlands Resort

&( $>* ) 5 # + 5 ) * + # 5

31,500

, DD

"DD : =DD " D : DD

-) 6/ C&/ )&+ 6(&&+# 6+-@ - 5 &+# #@ B ;->56 -# 6)

&+# $-56 ;5 &) 5& &+# 6@&**&+# &++ 5 ;$ ; 5 &(&+# ; ++&6 !6$&+# - ;&+# -*/)&* +; 5B &% & + / 5(&+# -+%6&; 5 6; >5 +;6

Van Andel Arena

& $ 5 &# + 5 #&-+ ) # + 5 ) * + # 5

30,772

.= "8= : . DD "D : E

Dennos Museum Center

># + ++ * + A >;&? &5 ;-5

30,000

<98 : 8D =DD : "DD

$ &))&( + E> &;-5&>* $-) 6 <98 /)>6 $ + & // 6 ;&+#2 ; $ 6 ) 5# 6; # + >)) E / &;B2

Kellogg Arena

+ + )6 -/ 5 ;&-+6 * + # 5

30,000

E : E E : E

E ) ;-

-**- ; ? 5& ;B - ? +;6 5-* 6/-5;&+# ? +;6 ;- -+ 5;6 ;5 6$-@6 ;- * ;&+#62

Kewadin Casino Sault Ste. Marie

&6 &6$ 5 # + 5 ) * + # 5

30,000

E : E E : E

>))%6 5?& +3> ; &)&;& 6 + <. 5--* -+%6&; $-; ) )) -*/) ; @&;$ 6->+ )&#$;&+# > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; A 6 5?& + @&5 ) 66 &+; 5+ ; -+%6&; 6;

-+? +;&-+ --5 &+ ;-56

Wharton Center for Performing Arts

&( 5 +

A >;&? &5 ;-5 & + 5& > # + 5 ) * + # 5

30,000

8 D 2 $ @ + 6; +6&+# " =" 0 .81 < <%., =7 @$ 5;-+ +; 52 -*

.D DDD

=DD : E .9D : = D

->5 6; # 6 &)&;B 5 +; )6 ;->56

McCamly Plaza Hotel

- 5; -)6; + # + 5 ) * + # 5

25,000

E : E E : E

Frauenthal Center for Performing Arts

&+ * 6 ) 6 + * 5( ;&+# * + # 5

25,000

" 98D

. 8== : = D = D : = D

. 8==%6 ; $&6;-5& ;$ ; 57 5; # )) 5B7 +3> ; A$& &; + * ;&+# 6/

Grand Hotel

+ B@ 5

A >;&? ?& /5 6& +; +

* + #&+# &5 ;-5

24,450

8 D D

. DDD : <= . DD : . DD

- / + );B -5 #> 6;5--* ;;5&;&-+ -*/)&* +; 5B * ;&+# + >+ ;&-+ 6/

-*/)&* +; 5B @&5 ) 66 +; 5+ ; >6 - > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; - & ; +

) *-+ -5 * ;&+#6 -*/)&* +; 5B *>6& @&;$ /5&? ; &++ 5 & 6&5

The Groves Center at KVCC

5 &# 5 ?& /5 6& +; -5 6;5 ; #& +

-+-*&

? )-/* +;

22,374

< = D

E : .=" .DD : .="

&% & 5 -+? +& +; / 5(&+# 6 +& )- ;&-+ ?& - -+ 5 + &+# /-5; )

-*/>; 5 )

FireKeepers Casino-Hotel

++& > $* + 3> )&;B 6 5?& * + # 5

20,642

.8 DD

= D=" : ,<9 . ."" : . .""

+%6&; > &- + ?&6> ) 3>&/* +; 6>//-5; 6;

L.C. Walker Arena

&# ) @5B)&@ 66&6; +; * + # 5

20,200

.9 =DD

E : E E : E

Treetops Resort

>66 )) ) 6 B

&5 ;-5 - 6 ) 6

20,016

.D DDD

. DDD : DD D : . =DD

-) &+6;5> ;&-+ 6/ -@+$&)) 6(&&+# 6+-@*- &)&+#7 * ;&+# 5--*6 5 3>&//

;- $ + ) > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; + &+ )> $&#$%6/ +; 5+ ; -++ ;&-+6

JW Marriott Grand Rapids

-5# E3>&+# + 5 ) * + # 5

20,000

.= <=D

. . D : 8=D "D : . DDD

+%$->6 > &-?&6> ) 3>&/* +; 6 @ )) 6 5 ;&? &+%$->6 ; 5&+# ;- * ( B->5 ? +; ;5> 6>

662 -*/)&* +; 5B @ ; 5 + & 6 / +6 + / 6 5 &+ )> &+ $ * ;&+# 5--*2

Fricano Place

B 5)6-+ -/ 5 ;&-+6 * + # 5

20,000

.D DDD

DD : =DD DD : D

56 ?& @6 - >6( #-+ ( + ->; --5 ; 55 + -/ + !--5 /) + + /5 55

; 5 56 ;- $--6 5-*2

The Pinnacle Center

&)) -56; * + #&+# * * 5

20,000

.D DD

. DDD : 9DD DD : . DD

<9DD +5& ( 5&? ) * C-- ",DD. 0=9,1 <" %..= 7 @&+#66; &>*2 -* =,DD ( ;2 ) * C-- ",D" 0=9,1 < <% 88 7 ( ) * C-- A/- +; 52 -* 8D. -55 + )? 2 -5; >5-+ " D9D 0 .D1 , %9.997 @@@2* *-55 +2 -* . 8 -+5- E? 2 5 + /& 6 ", D< 09.91 88"%=DDD7 *@ B#5 + 2 -* "8 2 &5 ) 5&? 6; +6&+# " =" 0 .81 "%" DD7 5- *>6 >*2*6>2 > .DD 2 & $&# + E? 2 ) * C-- ",DD8 0=9,1 <"<%<<<<7 5 &66-+(C--2 -*

.D. -+5- +; 5 5 + /& 6 ", D< 09.91 <.%.DDD7 @@@2 5;*>6 >*#52-5# + -B+ ->+; &+ - -B+ ))6 ",8.< 0=<.1 ",%9DDD7 -B+ 2 -* 8 D $ +;B 5 ( - )) &5 ",9. 0=<.1 <<% 9=.7 6$ +;B 5 (2 -* 9DD &#$) + 5&? 5 -5 /5&+#6 ",8"D 0=<.1 =9%<DDD7 -B+ 2 -* .<D 2 >);-+ ;2 5 + /& 6 ", D< 09.91 8"=%99DD7 ? + + ) 5 + 2 -* .8D. 2 5-+; ;2 5 ? 56 &;B ",9 9 0=<.1 ,, %.D 7 @@@2 ++-6*>6 >*2-5# + *)B 3> 5 ;;) 5 ( ",D.8 0=9,1 ,9<%" DD7 @@@2( ))-## 5 + 2 -* =. 9 $>+( - >); ; 2 5& ",8 < 0 DD1 <,%=<"97 @@@2( @ &+2 -*

D /&; ) E? 2 ;;) 5 ( ",D.8 0=9,1 ,9<%8D D7 @@@2*

*)B/) C 2 -* "= 2 6; 5+ E? 2 >6( #-+ ",""D 0=<.1 8==%= ,D7 5 > +;$ )2-5#

+ 5 + E? 2 (&+ 6) + ",8 8 0,D91 "8%<<<.7 #5 + $-; )2 -* 8.D8 )* )) B 5&? ) * C-- ",DD, 0=9,1 < <%.= <7 (?

#5-? 6 +; 52 -*

...88 2 & $&# + E? 2 ;;) 5 ( ",D." E7 @@@2!5 ( / 56 6&+-2 -* , ->5;$ ;2 >6( #-+ ",""D 0=<.1 8=9%=,<,7 @@@2) @ )( 5 5 + 2 -* <,9= &)(&+6-+ - B)-5 ",8< 0, ,1 8<=%98..7 ;5 ;-/62 -* =< ->&6 */ > ;2 5 + /& 6 ", D< 09.91 ="=%. DD7 @@@2&)-? ;$ '@2 -* .D D 2 6; 5+ >6( #-+ ","". 0=<.1 8==%=9DD7 5& +-/) 2 -* <<<D &#$) + 5&? > 6-+?&)) ","=< 09.91 99=%<<<D7 ;$ /&++ ) +; 52 -*

E -A - ! 5 6; >5 +; + 5 -+ 66&-+6

&+ ))5--* + .9;$ !--5 5-- ;-/ 6/ D4 ! ; 6 5 + + 6->+

6B6; *

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* 5 6 + 5 -5 &+#7 )&? %6;5 * 5-

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@&5 ) 66 +; 5+ ;7 5 / 5(&+#7 6- ; 5&+(6 @&;$ &++ 5 0.DD / 56-+ *&+&*>*1

% %& " & ! & % % ! ##$"* & " # & "! " & $ %& %' & % ! ! '& "'&% " +! !

" % & ! ) "$ ( ! %&"! "'!& % ! "$ & "! % #$"( + & ( !' '! %% "& $) % !"& & % !"&

" # & %& ! '& & "%& " #$ !% ( ( &' , '$ % + ( $+ !"& ( - -

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20150309-NEWS--0025-NAT-CCI-CD_--

3/6/2015

10:42 AM

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March 9, 2015

Page 25

C RAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; S DETROIT BUSINESS

CRAIN'S LIST: LARGEST MEETING FACILITIES Ranked by total square feet of meeting space Rank

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 9. 11. 12. 12. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Facility Address Phone; website

Top executive(s)

Total square Square feet Capacity of largest Number feet of of largest theater/classroom of meeting meeting banquet/cocktail meeting space space style rooms Amenities

Cobo Center

%.+ .,,.67 $ , 6 * + , $ 6

902,500

:>= EEE

/> EEE ; : EEE - EEE ; /" EEE

/EE

6 '& ' > >EE .,&7'< 0 6)',$ 70.<7 ., ' 6$ , ?7', 77 ,< 6 .,&7'< < 6',$ .,<6 <.67 .,&7'< <. 06.@' 7 6@' 7 <. + <',$7 , <6 7%.A7

The Henry Ford

<6' ' ..6 ' , 06 7' ,<

544,020

>> EEE

:EE ; >EE :EE ; " EEE

.67 & 6 A, 66' $ 7 . * 6' 7 %'7<.6' 6.?7 * 7< + *. .+.<'@ %'7<.6' 6 & , <+ ,<7 ,< 6< ',+ ,< <.?67 ?6 <.67 ? '.@'7? * !6 A.6)7 $ 6 ,7 , 06'@ < .?6<C 6 7 A'<% +.7< @ ,? 7 .6$ ,' , *. * + ,?7 @ '* *

Joe Louis Arena

/- < @ D 6+ , 6'@ <6.'< # >>: 1=/=2 =-#&9"-=8 AAA3.*C+0' ,< 6< ',+ ,<3 .+

.+ '*7., 439,380 06 7' ,< , *C+0' ,< 6< ',+ ,<; <6.'< ',$7

=E /-9

>E EEE ; /E EEE > "EE ; = "EE

/>E

,'4? @ ,< *. <'., .6 + <',$7 @ ,<7 ?, 6 '7 67 06'@ < ' &7) <',$ 0 6<' 7 , .60.6 < B0 6' ,<' * .00.6<?,'<' 7

Ford Field

.+ A , 06 7' ,<

375,000

/EE EEE

:" EEE ; "EE / >EE ; = "EE

< 6 6 7< '?+ <.?67 .,&! * <'@'<' 7 << % 0 6)',$ 7<6? <?6 8 <% :" EEE 0 '<C <% <6 &7<C* '7 ?7',$ <% 7< '?+ 7 <',$8 0 '<C .6 . )< '*;7<6.**',$ 7?00 6&7<C* ', *? 7 <% ! * 8 ', ..6 B%' '< 6 ', *? 7 ! * , ., .?67 7

Suburban Collection Showplace

* '6 .A+ , .A, 6 , 06 7' ,<

350,000

>/" EEE

/> EEE ; : EEE : EEE ; : EEE

F<< % />:&6..+ C << * .< * >" EEE 74? 6 < . 06 & ?, <'., 70 / & ..< '*',$7 A'6 * 77 ,< 6, < 77 +.6 <% , > 9EE 0 6)',$ 70 7

The Masonic of Detroit

.$ 6 . 6 , 06 7' ,<

200,000

/- "EE

# #E# ; :"E / /## ; / /##

0 .6 .60.6 < ?, <'.,7 A'<% <A. <% < 67 +0* 6 )&.?< 6..+7 <A.

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Macomb Community College, south campus

+ 7 . 7 06 7' ,<

100,000

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Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center

%., .%,7., 100,000 6 $ , 6 * + , $ 6

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?* * ,<D 80,000 .?, 6 , % '6+ ,

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?* * ,<D 71,000 .?, 6 , % '6+ ,

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/ 7%',$<., *@ 3 <6.'< # >>: 1=/=2 99& 9998 AAA3 . . ,< 63 .+ >E-EE )A.. *@ 3 6 .6, # /># 1=/=2 - >&:EE/8 AAA3<% % ,6C .6 3.6$

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=-"=" .6 . ,<., .A,7%'0 # / 9 19=#2 9>/&=#":8 AAA3 + $', & ,< 6< ',+ ,<3 .+ ###>" 3 /> '* . .@' # =99 1># 2 #: &>--E8 AAA3 + $', & ,< 6< ',+ ,<3 .+ ##"9" 6! * . *',<., .A,7%'0 # E= &//=1" :2 #- &#/- 8 AAA3+ .+ 3 ?; @ ,<7 6@' 7 >EE 3 ', < .C * ) # =E9 1># 2 #/#&/EEE8 AAA3 + $', & ,< 6< ',+ ,<3 .+ : % +0'.,7%'0 6'@ F? ?6, '**7 # =>: 1># 2 =99&E/EE8 AAA30 * , <3 .+ :EE .A, ,< 6 6'@ 6 .6, # />: 1=/=2 "->&=:>>8 AAA3 . 6 .6,3 .+

>-E/ 6 , '@ 6 F@ 3 <6.'< # >E/ 1 ::2 9">&-:>>8 AAA3+.<.6 '<C 7',.3 .+ /9E-- % +0 '$, F** , 6) # /E/ 1=/=2 =

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95,000

75,000

This list of meeting facilities is an approximate compilation of the largest such facilities in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. Information is provided by the venue unless otherwise noted. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. NA = not available. B Formerly Detroit Science Center C Formerly the Hyatt Regency Dearborn â&#x2013; An expanded version of this list can be purchased crainsdetroit.com/lists LIST RESEARCHED BY SONYA D. HILL

Spotlight: Meetings, conventions and tourism

COMING ATTRACTIONS: BIG EVENTS OF 2015

BY THE NUMBERS

Largest local events, ranked by estimated direct spending in millions: Event Est. attendance Month Spending

Avg. occupancy rate

National Baptist Convention, USA

25,000

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Am. USA Volleyball Midwest Media Expo

1986 71%

2014 65%

June

$76.1

36,000

July

$35.0

10,000

May

$17.0

20,000

April

$8.0

1986 2014 13,500 40,000

American Society of Assoc. Execs

7,000

Aug.

$7.0

Avg. room rate

Pentecostal Assemblies of the World

6,000

July

$6.9

Avg. number of rooms

Youmacon

14,000

Oct.

$6.2

1986 $62

Shell Eco Marathon

32,500

April

$6.0

Direct spending events

6,000

July

$4.2

12,000

April

$4.1

1986 NA

Automotive Service Association SAE International

Source: Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau

2014 $89 2014 $214 million

Source: DMCVB

PARTYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OVER: MEETING, CONVENTION CENTERS OF THE PAST These facilities were on the original list in 1986 and have since dropped off: Name â&#x20AC;&#x2122;86 ranking History Michigan State Expo and Fairgrounds No. 2 The 157-acre property is vacant and being considered for redevelopment. Pontiac Silverdome

No. 3

After the Detroit Lions moved to Ford Field in 2002, its use has been sporadic. There is a contest for ideas on what to do with it.

Fairlane Manor

No. 11

In 1994, Ford Motor Co. turned the facility into a corporate training center. It now is owned by the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Veterans Memorial Building

No. 12

In 1995, the UAW and city of Detroit reached a lease agreement. It was sold to the UAWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ford department in 2014.

Crainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research

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11:49 AM

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Page 26

March 9, 2015

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Asset Acceptance, Encore to cut jobs BY CHAD HALCOM CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., the Warren debt purchaser that became a subsidiary of San Diego-based Encore Capital Group Inc. in 2013, may soon be less than half its former size by local employees and office space, after a second round of layoffs in less than two years. Encore Capital expects to trim about 150 positions from call centers in Warren and San Diego, including 125 Asset Acceptance employees, by May 1, according to the parent company and an Asset notice submitted to the state Workforce Development Agency in late February. Asset announced in August 2013 it would eliminate 73 positions in Warren and another 37 positions in suburban Tampa, Fla. The top two floors of its fourstory, 200,000-square-foot headquarters building along Van Dyke Avenue have been vacant and available for lease since its reduction as a tenant last summer, according to CoStar Group Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based real estate information service. Lisa Margolin-Feher, manager of corporate communications for Encore Capital, confirmed the layoffs and said employees were

notified of a planned consolidation last November. She would not comment on the size or head count of Asset offices in Warren or elsewhere, before or after the reduction. “The call center consolidation results in a workforce reduction of approximately 150 jobs across San Diego and Warren. Call center representatives had the opportunity to relocate to Encore’s call centers in Phoenix, Ariz., or St. Cloud, Minn., if interested,” she said in a statement to Crain’s last week. “This was a very difficult decision, and (we) have been supporting our employees throughout the transition.” The San Diego call center will close under the consolidation plan, Margolin-Feher said. Encore Capital (Nasdaq: ECPG) closed on the purchase of Asset Acceptance in June 2013 in a mixed stock and cash deal valued at $200 million. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act generally requires midsize and larger businesses to notify state and local officials 60 days before a plant or building closure affecting more than 50 employees, or for a non-closure major workforce reduction. Founded in 1962 in Detroit, As-

set Acceptance began expanding to satellite offices in 1997 with a Southfield location, followed by call centers and other offices in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, adding other locations via acquisition in Phoenix, Chicago and Maryland. Asset Acceptance Capital was formed as an entity in 2003, and publicly traded from 2004 until the Encore purchase. It first leased the Warren building in 2004 according to CoStar, and relocated its headquarters there in 2005. Asset Acceptance had nearly 840 local employees in early 2008 and revenue of $248 million for 2007, to rank among Macomb County’s largest employers at the time. But it had shaved head count to about 640 and reported revenue of $228 million shortly before the 2013 notice. The company has not furnished employment data to Crain’s since the Encore acquisition. The two layoffs together could put local head count around 440 later this year. The company also does not have to disclose smaller reductions or positions eliminated by attrition under the WARN Act. Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796, chalcom@crain.com. Twitter: @chadhalcom

BRIEFLY House panel votes to end state film incentives program

Chamber chooses neutral stance on state roads ballot proposal

Michigan’s film incentives could be coming to an end with a bill moving through the state House. The House Tax Policy Committee voted 8-3 last week, with two members passing on casting a vote, to approve a bill to stop the film incentive program, which gives money to movies, TV and digital productions in the state. Last year, the incentives were extended to last until the end of 2021. But the bill sponsored by Rep. Dan Lauwers, R-Brockway, Lauwers would end the program Oct. 1, the end of the current fiscal year. Gov. Rick Snyder had proposed allocating $50 million for the program in the next fiscal year. Supporters of ending the film incentives say the program hasn’t created enough jobs to be worth keeping. Film incentive advocates say the program has created good-paying jobs and that it’s a model other states are following. — Associated Press

The Michigan Chamber of Commerce has decided to neither support nor oppose a May ballot proposal that would increase the state sales tax as part of a road funding plan. Chamber President and CEO Rich Studley said last week there isn’t a consensus among the organization’s memStudley bership on Proposal 1. The chamber represents 6,700 employers, trade associations and local chambers of commerce. It has sought additional funding of deteriorating roads but favors a fuel tax increase instead of a 1 percentage-point sales tax hike to raise $1.3 billion more annually. Gov. Rick Snyder backs the proposal. Studley says the chamber is “very supportive” of Snyder and commends his “leadership ... to fix the roads.” If the chamber hadn’t stayed neutral, it might have spent millions advocating the proposal’s passage or defeat. — Associated Press

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20150309-NEWS--0027-NAT-CCI-CD_--

3/6/2015

9:50 AM

Page 1

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

March 9, 2015

Software firm moves to Southfield with new CEO, funding – and name BY TOM HENDERSON CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Veteran software CEO Mark Symonds was considered the right person to run a fast-growing software company. So much so, in fact, that the company has moved to Southfield from Norwalk, Conn., and in conjunction with his taking the helm, an Indianapolis-based venture capital firm has led a Series A investment round of $4 million. The company was formally named WhenToManage Inc. but as of last week had begun Symonds doing business as PeachWorks. PeachWorks makes cloud- and app-based tools for restaurant and food-service management, including recipe and inventory management, point-of-sale analytics and staff scheduling. Symonds said he will use the new investment round to roll out a new platform and beef up PeachWorks’ sales and marketing team. The round was led by Allos Ventures Management Co. Ltd. and joined by Huron River Ventures of Ann Arbor, Invest Detroit and Winter Park, Fla.-based Arsenal Venture Partners, through its Birmingham office. Symonds said the new platform will allow customers to create their own apps to solve their particular problems or needs. Current customers include Lone Star Steakhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Panera Bread, Olga’s Kitchen

WHO ARE STATE’S BEST CFOS? Crain’s is seeking nominations for the CFO of the Year Awards, a program that recognizes Michigan’s top CFOs. Winners will be selected by a panel of CFOs and other executives, evaluating the accomplishments of the candidates. In addition to a CFO of the Year honoree, there will be a rising star award. Profiles of the winners will run in the May 25 edition of Crain’s. The winners and finalists will be gathered together for a summer event to celebrate their accomplishments. To put yourself — or a colleague — in the running, go to www.crainsdetroit.com/nominate. Deadline for nominations is March 23.

and Kruse and Muer. Symonds said the company employs about 30, and he expects to hire about 12 more employees this year and about 25 next year. Symonds is the former CEO of Troy-based Plex Systems Inc., a provider of production-management software for manufacturers. He left the company in 2013 after 12 years, and helping grow revenue 10-fold, to form a consulting firm, Lake Angelus-based TruWin Partners Inc., to help early-stage tech companies plan their growth strategies. He has also been a business coach at TechTown. Symonds said he was introduced to WhenToManage founder Jeff Schacher in August 2013 by a private equity company looking to invest in a company he could run. He said a deal with the PE firm didn’t work out, “but I hit it off with the founder. When it came time for the company to raise an A

round, I decided to join. Originally, I was excited about the health care space, but this is wide open for someone to come in with powerful but easy-to-use software. There’s no dominant back-of-thehouse restaurant operator.” The company’s move here was a necessity because Symonds lives here and because of its investors. Allos only invests in Midwest companies, generally within a fivehour drive of offices in Indianapolis or Cincinnati, and Invest Detroit is affiliated with Business Leaders for Michigan. Symonds joined the company Nov. 1. The round was subsequently raised, and the company adopted PeachWorks and launched its new website, www.peachworks.com. Schacher, a native of Flint, will be chief product officer. Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337, thenderson@crain.com. Twitter: @tomhenderson2

Page 27

20150309-NEWS--0028-NAT-CCI-CD_--

3/6/2015

9:52 AM

Page 1

Page 28

THE MILLER LAW FIRM Changing the Odds in our Clients’ Favor

March 9, 2015

Impact acquires Chicago firm, plans to hire BY CHAD HALCOM CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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Southfield staffing company Impact Management Services LLC plans to nearly double its employee head count and add hundreds of new clients after recently acquiring the staff and clients of Chicagobased Brill Street LLC. Founder and CEO Pete Davis of Impact said the company began hiring last week and plans to add at least five employees to the new Chicago office of Impact by year’s end. All told, Impact plans to add 12 recruiting and nine sales employees to its offices in Southfield and Chesterfield Township, plus another five recruiters and two sales employees in Chicago. Davis Brill Street, which was founded in 2006, focused mainly on placing young talent within client companies, but Davis said Impact plans to broaden its range of services and employees. The acquisition via hires brings Impact’s current head count to just over 30, and Davis said it plans to reach nearly 60 in the coming months. Impact, which handles staffing, human resources consulting and some training for companies primarily in the manufacturing, engineering and accounting/financial segments, has more than 800 contract employees it places with customers and Davis said he hopes to expand that to 1,000 by year’s end. Davis said the company finished 2014 around $28 million in revenue and hopes to hit $35 million this year under the expansion plan. Impact focuses chiefly on talent placement, having outsourced its payroll service functions to a separate professional employer organization, or PEO, in 2011. The company primarily offers management and some IT professional employee placement to manufacturers and other client companies. Hiring will be coordinated through a vice president of sales who joined Impact this year. The Brill Street contract acquisition closed Jan. 9. “We had been branching out into accounting and finance for some time, even before this acquisition,” Davis said. “But this latest expansion was a very logical step for us.” Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796, chalcom@crain.com. Twitter: @chadhalcom

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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

March 9, 2015

Page 29

‘New-world’ nonprofit thinks young as it builds donor base BY NATALIE BRODA SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

GiveYoung.org and its parent organization, The Van House Foundation, are not your parents’ nonprofits, and they don’t follow traditional channels in fundraising or building awareness. There are no fliers sent to your mailbox, no $250 dinners and no 45-minute speeches at formal dinners. This is new-world charity, says founder and co-chairman Rick Van House II. Founded in 2011 in Detroit, the Royal Oak-based GiveYoung movement is an awareness-centered initiative focused on connecting younger generations with opportunities in the nonprofit community. Through tools such as social media and festive parties, Van House, 35, of Bloomfield Hills, and his organization hope to build a bigger support system for the nonprofit community in Southeast Michigan. Instead of asking millennials for their money, Van House said, the foundation is asking them to donate time to these nonprofits. It all began in 2011 when Van House and his wife, Nicole, attended an event at the Hamilton Room in Birmingham for the Alzheimer’s Association. “The event was targeted at our age group, targeted at a hip bar, so

Among those on the GiveYoung.org street team and event staff are (from left) Anna Karana, Catherine Belletini, Crystal Miller and Kelsey Cone.

COURTESY OF GIVEYOUNG.ORG

we went and there were only four people there,” Van House said. “It got us thinking, maybe we could get more people here.” Within the year, the foundation was established. GiveYoung has launched several strategies to attract young folks to nonprofits, such as its Cause Finder and its annual fundraising event, Engage. “It’s not easy to convince them to get involved, or else we wouldn’t be doing this. But we’re using different methods, we’re creating new-world charity, which is fun

parties, dancing, no sitting down,” Van House said. “We’re communicating in short bursts over social media, making things more affordable, like $40 ticket prices.” Van House said he believes these methods will create an avenue to interact with younger people, to help build a future donor base for the nonprofit community. “In the rebirth of a city like Detroit is going through, the youth is where that activity is coming from. They have the drive, they can do anything. They’re not tied

NEW DAY FOR DETROIT

Launching March 30

NEW LOOK FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

down by children or geography. In a rebuilding city, you need to build a bigger workforce and a better support system, and what a better way than to get them involved in nonprofits?” Van House said. The Cause Finder, located at GiveYoung.org, is one way the organization is trying to connect young people. Launched in midsummer 2014, the Cause Finder matches participants to nonprofits based on geography and areas of interest, such as animals, children or the environment. It features nearly 500 nonprofits from Michigan and Ohio, with 95 percent of them offering volunteer opportunities. Engage, an annual fundraising event to sustain the organization for the following year, is another way GiveYoung celebrates newworld charity. This year’s event will be held at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit on March 27. Along with dancing and cocktails, event attendees will have a chance to interact with this year’s featured nonprofits: Oak Park-based Forgotten Harvest, Detroit-based The Empowerment Plan and Pontiac-based Humble Design. “It’s called Engage because it’s not a normal event; we create an engaging environment,” Van House said. “At last year’s event, the American Diabetes Association had two guys riding bikes in the

ballroom all night. Why? Because no one will forget that, and because the organization has a bike ride they do every summer, so to bring awareness to that as well.” At this year’s event, food rescue organization Forgotten Harvest will bring in two large palettes of food to be packed into boxes on the ballroom floor. Those who don’t wish to throw on a hairnet can check out the equipment and textiles it takes to make an Empowerment Plan coat, designed to be converted into sleeping bags by the nonprofit that employs homeless women to sew garments distributed to the homeless. Humble Design, which works with local homeless and abuse shelters, will disrupt the crowd all evening as it furnishes an empty space in the ballroom. The sponsors will be in on the action as well. Whole Foods Market, which has sponsored the event for the past two years, will bring in a six-table produce department to promote healthy and sustainable eating. The Westin gave away a night’s stay for the evening of the event. Tickets for Engage are on sale for $40 apiece at GiveYoung.org. Revenue from the tickets will be used by the foundation to further its mission in the coming year. For the 2014 fiscal year, the foundation brought in about $145,000.

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20150309-NEWS--0031-NAT-CCI-CD_--

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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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CALENDAR THURSDAY MARCH 12 The New Office. 7:30-9 a.m. WWJ Newsradio 950. WWJ/FOX 2 Business Editor Murray Feldman moderates a panel on new office trends that are changing today’s workplace. Panelists include Kelly Deines, leader designer, Rossetti, and adjunct faculty, Lawrence Technological University; Mark Phillips, business services sales manager, Comcast Business; and Melissa Price, CEO, dPOP! Lawrence Technological University, Southfield. Free. Contact: Rob Davidek, (248) 3272777; email rpdavidek@cbs.com; website: detroit.cbslocal.com/the-leadersinnovators-series-2014.

UPCOMING EVENTS CEO Luncheon Series. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. March 17. Troy Chamber of Commerce. Kirk Steudle, director of Michigan Department of Transportation, discusses MDOT innovations and moving people and goods faster, safer and cheaper. MSU Management Education Center, Troy. $27 chamber members, $37 nonmembers. Contact: Jaimi Brook, (248) 641-8151; email: theteam@troychamber.com; website: troychamber.com/events.

NASCAR: The Importance of Stakeholder Collaboration. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. March 19. Detroit Economic Club. Luncheon’s featured guest is Brian France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR. Dearborn Inn Marriott, Dearborn. $45 DEC members, $55 guests of members, $75 nonmembers. Ticket sales end at noon March 18. Contact: (313) 963-8547; website: econclub.org.

Taste of Leadership Oakland. 4:30-7 p.m. March 19. Leadership Oakland. Event features an address by L. Brooks Patterson, presentation of

Rothwell, president and CEO, Business Leaders for Michigan; HansWerner Kaas, senior partner and director, McKinsey & Co.; Ray Leach, CEO, JumpStart Inc.; Brian Hicks, president and CEO, Hicks Partners, and chief architect of Ohio Third Frontier; Steve Arwood, CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corp.; Michael Jandernoa, board of directors, Perrigo Co.; Charles “Chip” McClure, managing director, Michigan Capital Partners LLC; and Sandra Pierce, chairman and CEO, FirstMerit Michigan. Lansing Center, Lansing. Free. Contact: Jennifer Hayes, (313) 2595400, email: jenniferh@businesslead ersformichigan.com; website: busi nessleadersformichigan.com/events.

2015 Great Lakes Business Intelligence and Big Data Summit. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. March 26. WIT Inc. Summit is a cross-industry educational and networking event for IT and business executives interested in big data topics and trends. Keynote speakers include Boris Evelson, vice president at Forrester Research, and Don Farmer, vice president of innovation and design at Qlik. Somerset Inn Hotel, Troy. $149. Contact: Amanda Mansour, bisum mit@witinc.com or (248) 641-5900, ext. 244; website: greatlakesbisummit.com.

Business Leaders of the Year. 6-9 p.m. March 26. Harvard Business School Club of Michigan. Dinner and awards ceremony honoring Gordon Krater, managing partner, Plante Moran, and Sandra Pierce, vice chairman, FirstMerit Corp., and chairman and CEO, FirstMerit Michigan. MSU Management Education Center, Troy. Private reception for sponsors, 5:30 p.m. Tickets $150 and up, available at http://www.hbsmi.org/store.html? event_id=258. Contact: Amanda Schubeck, (248) 930-4614 or amanda.schubeck@gmail.com.

Women Leaders: Driving Our Future. 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. March 27. Henry Ford College. HFC’s 42nd annual Women’s Recognition Luncheon, supporting student outreach and student emergency fund, features panel including Lila Lazarus, president of Kids Kicking Cancer and former reporter/anchor for WDIV-Channel 4; Jackie Lovejoy, president, Dearborn Area Chamber of Commerce; Haifa Fakhouri, president and CEO, Arab American and Chaldean Council; and Beth Chappell, president and CEO, Detroit Economic Club. Student and Culinary Arts Center, Henry Ford College, Dearborn. $15 luncheon ticket; sponsorships range from $100 to $2,500. Donation deadline is March 20. Contact: Kathy Dimitriou, kdimitriou@hfcc.edu or (313) 845-9620, or donate online at https://my.hfcc. edu/RegForms/donation.asp.

CALENDAR GUIDELINES If you want to ensure listing online and be considered for print publication in Crain’s Detroit Business, please use the online calendar listings section of www.crainsdetroit.com. Here’s how to submit your events: From the Crain’s home page, click “Detroit Events” in the red bar near the top of the page. Then, click “Submit Your Entries” from the drop-down menu that will appear and you’ll be taken to our online submission form. Fill out the form as instructed, and then click the “Submit event” button at the bottom of the page. That’s all there is to it. More Calendar items can be found on the Web at www.crainsdetroit.com.

“Leader of Leaders” awards, a silent auction, strolling hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Troy Marriott, Troy. $25 members, $40 nonmembers. Contact: (248) 952.6880; email: info@ leadershipoakland.com; website: leadershipoakland.com.

Smart tax planning is

good design

Women’s Entrepreneur Conference. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. March 20. JoAnne Purtan, host of WXYZ-TV’s noon report, emcees, and Alison Vaughn, founder and CEO of Jackets for Jobs Inc., is the keynote speaker. Walsh College, Troy. $45. Contact: Jan Hubbard, (248) 823-1392; email: jhubbard@walshcollege.edu; website: walshcollege.edu/eyouconference.

At ShindelRock, we know that minimizing tax liability doesn’t just happen. We design and implement strategies that reduce tax liability and prevent end-of-year surprises. This allows our clients, like Ideation, to focus on the fun stuff – like designing innovative brands and spaces.

DEC Presents. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. March 24. Detroit Economic Club. Stuart Hoffman, senior vice president and chief economist, PNC Financial Services Group, is the featured speaker. Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. $45 DEC members, $55 guests of members, $75 nonmembers. Ticket sales end at noon March 23. Contact: (313) 9638547; email: info@econclub.org; website: econclub.org.

“ShindelRock brings a valuable perspective right when I need it. Their year-round attention makes my business more predictable.”

Inside the CEO Mind. 3 p.m. March 25. Detroit Regional Chamber. Frank Venegas Jr. of The Ideal Group will speak; a tour follows the presentation and question-and-answer session. The Ideal Group Inc., Detroit. $25 chamber members, $50 nonmembers (cost goes toward membership). Contact: Maggie Oldenburg, (313) 596-0482; email: moldenburg@detroitchamber.com; website: detroitchamber.com/events.

~Daren Bossenberger

RAM: Redefining a Brand. 6-8 p.m. March 25. Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit. Joe Benson, head of Ram brand, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, speaks. Golling Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, Bloomfield Hills. $45 MSED members, $60 nonmembers. Contact: (248) 643-6590; website: msedetroit.org.

Business Leaders for Michigan Leadership Summit. 8 a.m.-noon March 26. Business Leaders for Michigan. Speakers and panelists include Doug

Daren Bossenberger, President

Steve Wisinski, Partner

Contact for Inquiries Steve Wisinski, CPA, CFE, CFFA Partner www.ShindelRock.com | 248.855.8833 28100 Cabot Drive Ste. 102 | Novi, MI 48377

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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

PEOPLE CONSTRUCTION

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Morpace Inc., Farmington Hills, has announced the promotion of two executives. Duncan Lawrence was named CEO and president, and Sharna Morelli was named COO and executive vice president. Lawrence has Lawrence been with Morpace since 1994, when he joined as senior vice president of automotive. He was promoted to executive vice president, and in 2011 became COO and president. In addition to his new role, Lawrence retains his title as chairman and remains a member of the executive board. He takes over as CEO from Frank Ward, one of Morpace’s founders. Ward remains with Morpace as a chairman and member of the executive board. Lawrence, 57, has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and an MBA

Ronald McClelland to senior project manager, White Construction, Detroit, in marketing, both from Michigan State University. He also went through the Fuqua School of Business executive education program at Duke University, and he has served as board chairman of Morelli the Masters of Marketing research program at MSU. Morelli joined Morpace Data Operations in 1994 and spearheaded improvements in data operations and information technology, leading to her being named vice president in 2005 and executive vice president of operations in 2011. As vice president, Morelli takes the title Lawrence partially held before his most recent promotion. Morelli, 53, attended Oakland Community College and Walsh College.

and April Thiel to senior manager, from manager.

from principal, RMcClelland Consulting, Las Vegas. Also, Darryl Young to project manager, from financial manager, D & D Wealth Management LLC, Southfield.

CONSULTING John Fitzgerald to president, LeadingClass Advisory Group LLC, How-

Eleazar

ell, from senior manager, health care advisory, Ernst and Young LLP, Detroit.

Vandercook

LAW Fitzgerald

FINANCE Kevin Granger to senior vice president, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. , Troy, from vice president. Matt Mazure to senior staff accountant, MRPR Group PC , Southfield, from staff Granger accountant. Hannah Thoms to principal, Gordon Advisors PC , Troy, from senior manager. Also, Carmen Jaeger , Jill Knop

Miranda Welbourne Eleazar and Jill Vandercook to shareholder, Sullivan, Ward Asher & Patton PC, Southfield, from associate.

MARKETING Rick Dennis and Tim Teegarden to global executive creative director, Commonwealth/McCann, Detroit, from creative director, North America. Also, Adam Glickman to creative director, from senior vice president, creative director, DDB Chicago; John Fiebke to creative director, from creative director, Energy BBDO, Chicago; Tim Mattimore to creative director, from freelancer, Chicago; and Craig Feigen to creative director, from creative director, DDB Chicago.

SERVICES Maria Geller to meeting and events manager, Special D Events Inc., Ferndale, from account manager, HelloWorld Inc., Pleasant Ridge. Jane Owen to president, Vistage Michigan, St. Clair Shores, from performance improvement coordinator, Edw. C. Levy Co., DearOwen born.

PEOPLE GUIDELINES Announcements are limited to management positions. Email them to cdbdepartments@crain.com or mail notices to Departments, Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 482072997. Releases must contain the person’s name, new title, company, city in which the person will work, former title, former company (if not promoted from within) and former city in which the person worked. Photos are welcome, but we cannot guarantee they will be used.

BUSINESS DIARY ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc., the parent company of Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., Novi, announced the completion of its purchase of Huayu Automotive System Co.’s share in Huayu-Cooper Standard Sealing Systems Co. Ltd. Cooper Standard is now 95 percent equity owner of the business with 5 percent retained by the

Shanghai Zhaotun Collective Assets Managing Co. Cooper-Standard is now the largest automotive sealing manufacturer in the domestic Chinese market with nine manufacturing facilities and two technical centers, including its recently opened Asia Pacific Technical Center and headquarters in Shanghai. Website: cooper standard.com.

CONTRACTS Clark Construction Co., Lansing, has been construction manager for Ma-

YOU CAN TELL FROM OUR BUILDING WE MEAN BUSINESS. The GVSU Seidman College of Business full- or part-time M.B.A. program will get you to the top. West Michigan’s premier business school now has an equally premier building, enhancing downtown Grand Rapids’ growing skyline and economic climate.

comb County government’s campus in downtown Mt. Clemens. The Macomb County Board of Commissioners recently approved a $65 million plan to renovate five buildings and constructnew parking deck. A groundbreaking is planned for April and the project is projected to be completed in September 2017. Websites: clarkcc.com. macomb gov.org. Joe Muer Seafood restaurant, Detroit, has named Simons Michelson Zieve Inc., Troy, as its advertising agency of record. Websites: smz.com, joemuer.com.

DriverSource Inc., Dearborn, a temporary staffing and recruiting company for commercial truck drivers, opened an operating center providing commercial truck leasing and recruiting services at 600 Three Mile Road NW, Suite 202, Grand Rapids. Telephone: (616) 2727054. Website: driversource.net. RE/MAX of Southeastern Michigan, Troy, announced the opening of RE/MAX Eclipse, 28780 John R, Suite 202, Madison Heights. The office is a conversion from ECO Realty. Telephone: (248) 439-1630. Website: eclipseagents.com.

EXPANSIONS

MOVES

Cordell & Cordell PC, St. Louis, Mo., a

Eklund-Easley Law Firm moved from

domestic litigation firm focusing on representing men in family law cases, has opened an office at 290 Town Center Drive, Suite 420, Dearborn. Telephone: (313) 465-1999. Website: cordellcordell.com.

19111 W. 10 Mile Road, Suite 106, Southfield, to 24901 Northwestern Highway, Suite 302, Southfield. Telephone: (248) 213-3909. Website: eklundeasley law.com. JMC Electrical Contractor LLC, a certified Women Business Enterprise electrical contracting firm that specializes in commercial, industrial and institutional electrical installations, has moved its headquarters from 22920 Industrial Drive E., St. Clair Shores, to 33651 Giftos Drive, Clinton Township. Website: jmcelectricllc.com.

NEW PRODUCTS Michigan

Mittens, Pontiac, has launched a new line of merchandise including a limited edition camouflage print Michigan Mittens. A percentage of proceeds from the sale of these mittens will be donated to The Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund of Michigan. Website: michiganmit tens.com.

DIARY GUIDELINES Email news releases for Business Diary to cdbdepartments@ crain.com or mail to Departments, Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 482072997. Use any Business Diary item as a model for your release, and look for the appropriate category. Without complete information, your item will not run. Photos are welcome, but we cannot guarantee they will be used.

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Best brews to help weather the winter blues What to do as winter weather winds down? How about sampling a Michigan-made thick stout or porter, or an experimental draft? The following list include a description of the flavors, followed by more serious beer connoisseur information. I’ve included scores out of 100 from BeerAdvocate.com and RateBeer.com, two leading beer indexing sites. Also included: Alcohol by volume (ABV), the percentage used to display how strong your beer is; and International Bittering Units (IBUs), which are often used by brewers to Sean Genereaux display how freelance bar and bitter your beer will be restaurant writer (the higher the number, the more bitter). The list below is just a “flight” of favorites; it is not meant as a comprehensive Michigan beer report. Consider this a starter guide to some of the beer to sample as The Winter That Never Ends finally winds down.

Eat & Drink

Arcadia Brewing Co., Battle Creek • Bourbon Barrel Shipwreck (Porter) Details: Dark, aged 12 months, malty, robust, 12% ABV, 50 IBUs Ratings: 93 (BeerAdvocate.com), 99 (RateBeer.com) Atwater Brewery, Detroit • Decadent Dark Chocolate Ale (Stout) Details: Rich dark chocolate, deep, complex, 5.5% ABV Ratings: 83 (BA), 75 (RB) Bell’s Brewery Inc., Comstock • Hopslam (Imperial Pale Ale/Double IPA) Details: Hoppy, citrus, grapefruit, complex, famous, No. 26 on RateBeer’s Top 50 beers in the world, No. 63 on BeerAdvocate’s Top 250 beers in the world, 10% ABV, 70 IBUs Ratings: 99 (BA), 100 (RB)

• Expedition Stout (Imperial Stout) Details: Dark fruits, complex, malty, bitter, No. 15 on RateBeer’s Top 50 beers in the world, No. 2 on RateBeer’s Top 50 winter seasonal beers list, 10.5% ABV Ratings: 94 (BA), 100 (RB) Dark Horse Brewing Co., Marshall • Double Crooked Tree (Imperial/Double IPA) Details: Hoppy, malty, bold, smooth, caramel, 13.6% ABV, 98 IBUs Ratings: 93 (BA), 99 (RB) Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids • Black Rye (Specialty Grain) Details: Big hops, rye malts,

MORE BEER 䡲 An extended list is at

crainsdetroit.com/winterbeerguide

toffee, 7.5% ABV, 78 IBUs Ratings: 91 (BA), 98 (RB) • Imperial Stout Details: Robust, malty, smooth, complex, rich, No. 11 on RateBeer’s Top 50 winter seasonal beers list, No. 189 on BeerAdvocate’s Top 250 beers in the world, 10.5% ABV, 90 IBUs Ratings: 97 (BA), 100 (RB) Griffin Claw Brewing Co., Birmingham • Imperial Bourbon Coffee Stout

Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren • Imperial Michigan Mud (Imperial Milk/Sweet Stout) Details: Vanilla bean, cocoa, toasty, strong, 12.5% ABV Ratings: 89 (BA), NA (RB)

KIRK PINHO/CDB

Jolly Pumpkin's Midtown location is decorated with reclaimed wood.

Midtown Jolly Pumpkin to open Midtown is almost ready to meet its newest microbrewery. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales is still about a month away from opening its doors to customers on West Canfield Street, but media had the chance to get a peek inside the 5,000-square-foot microbrewery, distillery and pizzeria in Detroit last week. Adorned with about 16,000 linear feet of reclaimed wood, Jolly Pumpkin seats about 100 and will have about 70-75 full- and part-time employees, said Tony Grant, CFO and COO of Dexter-based Northern United Brewing Co. Northern United Brewing brews

Jolly Pumpkin and North Peak Brewing Co. beers, more than 30 of which will be served at the new location. Jolly Pumpkin will also serve gourmet pizzas, salads, sandwiches, burgers and desserts. Northern United had more than $10 million in revenue last year, he said. The company expects to top the 10,000-barrel figure in 2015 production, Grant said. Jolly Pumpkin also has locations in Ann Arbor, Dexter and Traverse City. The Detroit space is in the historic Willys Overland building at 441 W. Canfield. — Kirk Pinho

■ From Page 3

tion work in the city. While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Committee on Armed Services. Levin ran for Senate in 1978, defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Robert Griffin. Levin was reelected in 1984, 1990, 1996, 2002 and 2008 before announcing his retirement in 2013. He is the longest-serving senator in Michigan history and was the fourth longest-serving senator in the U.S. Senate. Before serving in the Senate, Levin was a member of the Detroit City Council from 1969 to 1977, serving as president in 1974-1977. He also served as general coun-

sel for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission from 1964 to 1967. Levin earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a law degree from Harvard Law School. The Democrat isn’t the only one from a political family at Honigman. G. Scott Romney, brother to the former governor of Massachusetts and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, is a partner in the firm. George Romney, Scott’s and Mitt’s father, served as the governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969. Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042, dwalsh@crain.com. Twitter: @dustinpwalsh.

New Holland Brewing Co., Holland • Cabin Fever (Brown Ale) Details: Robust, roasty, rye, raisin, caramel, 6.5% ABV, 25 IBUs Ratings: 83 (BA), 77 (RB) • Java Chip Mint Stout Details: Cream, mint, chocolate chip, coffee, 6% ABV Ratings: 87 (BA), 97 (RB) Short’s Brewing Co., Bellaire • Goodnight Bodacious (Black IPA) Details: Malty, hoppy, earthy, dark fruit, 9% ABV, 90 IBUs Ratings: 92 (BA), 98 (RB)

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Levin: Not retiring in his retirement interested in the firm. “David was a dear friend of mine, and to so many,” Levin said. “He and I spent quite a bit of time together, and he’s really the one that suggested Honigman as a possibility (after leaving Congress).” Levin said he plans to dedicate some of his time to law, but also plans to teach. He’s also excited to return to Detroit. “I want to come home,” Levin said. “That’s the most important thing for me.” Levin, who lives in Lafayette Park with his wife, Barbara, said he’d also like to become involved with some of the nonprofit founda-

(Imperial Stout) Details: Black, coffee, cocoa, earthy, robust, 11.5% ABV Ratings: 89 (BA), 94 (RB) • Me So Ornery “Combative Quadruple” (Belgian Quadruple) Details: Rich, dark fruit, sweet, malty, 10% ABV Ratings: Not rated (BA), NR (RB)

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Blues: Insurer ‘can now compete fully in the marketplace’ ■ From Page 1

vest the Accident Fund that he claimed the insurer had improperly acquired. “They can afford to invest because they have this huge cash cow on the health care side that wasn’t taxed for years and can use that (surplus) to invest in other product lines that other companies can’t compete against.” Cox said he is concerned that Blue Cross’ dominant size as an insurer “can act as a disincentive to other players that may want to come into the market.” While there have been many other legal and statutory changes at Blue Cross since it formally merged its company into a mutual on Dec. 31, 2013, Loepp said that in other ways the company hasn’t changed at all in its commitments to customers, providers and its contributions to nonprofit organizations. “We are still committed to the social mission we have and committed to the core cities (like) Detroit. We still spend $1 million (a year) on free clinics,” Loepp said. The new governance structure is somewhat self-explanatory; a nonprofit mutual is a member-owned entity with nonprofit status. Still, Loepp acknowledges that Blue Cross has changed immensely from when the Michigan Legislature in 1980 approved Public Act 350. The law required Blue Cross to become the state’s “insurer of last resort” and limited it to selling only health, dental and vision policies.

residents, not to diversify into other business ventures. So, for the past 30 years, Blue Cross operated as the insurer of last resort, growing to control 72 percent of the health insurance market in Michigan and generating a nearly $3 billion surplus and $8.1 billion in assets. As a mutual, Loepp said, “we can now compete fully in the marketplace, and that is fair.”

(Blue Cross) can afford to invest because they have this huge cash cow Court action on the health care side During the past two months, Crain’s has conducted more than a that wasn’t taxed for dozen interviews with former Blue Cross executives, competiyears . tors, hospital administrators, gov-

“

”

Mike Cox, former Michigan attorney general

Blue Cross never liked that moniker or the restrictions placed on it. In fact, the Blues sued the state in a case that ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against the Blues in 1985, when Public Act 350 finally went into effect. Over the following years, Blue Cross executives would complain and ask legislators for various types of relief from PA 350. For example, in the late 1980s, then-Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley told the Blues he opposed mutualization because he felt the state’s largest health insurer should only exist to offer low-cost health insurance to

ernment officials and interested parties. Some critics of Blue Cross, most of whom preferred to remain anonymous, agreed that Blue Cross hasn’t changed much from the standpoint of how large it is compared with other health insurers and how it uses its size to gain competitive advantages. “They were insurer of last resort. That was a good thing for Michigan residents because they were perceived as quasi-governmental,” said a health care lawyer who asked for anonymity. “Now they are relieved of those responsibilities, but they used their prior unique status to build a juggernaut.” For example, Aetna Inc. sued Blue Cross in 2011 for $2 billion in an antitrust lawsuit that charges Blue Cross used unfair contract practices in its “most favored nation” contracts with hospitals. The lawsuit is ongoing. Before the state banned them in 2013, most-favored-nation agreements mandated that hospitals give Blue Cross not only the best price, but allegedly required hospitals to charge competing insurers more. A similar lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bill Schuette and the U.S. Department of Justice appears close to resolution with a $30 million settlement deal on the table. In addition, some 52 self-insured companies and municipalities have sued Blue Cross, with at least 10 reaching out-of-court settlements and six others nearing settlements, for allegedly charging them hidden fees on their administrative services contracts. The American Medical Association also has released several reports the last few years showing that Michigan is now the nation’s third least-competitive market because of Blue Cross’ dominant market power. Blue Cross officials have dismissed these criticisms in court filings and in interviews as sour grapes. They counter with a 2009 report by the Kaiser Foundation that showed the rate of premium increases in Michigan was the lowest of all 50 states from 1999 to 2009. Blue Cross also says it uses its size to extract discounts from hospitals and doctors that help reduce premium rates for its 4.5 million members.

Negotiating power But the fact that few agreed to go on the record with their comments

FEATURES OF BLUE CROSS’ NONPROFIT MUTUAL STATUS New products. Change allows the Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, a for-profit Blue Cross subsidiary, to sell a variety of other insurance. It had been limited to workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance and act as a third-party administrative services organization for selfinsured workers’ compensation plans. Sources say the Accident Fund now might offer property and casualty insurance, disability and auto insurance. Diversification. Blue Cross invests its profits and premium dollars into many different business lines that it couldn’t before under Public Act 350. Some include such specialty insurance policies as accident, life, critical illness, and short and long-term disability. Plans to invest in out-of-state companies (yet-to-be-determined business ventures). Uniform treatment. The change allows Blue Cross to file and use new insurance rates like other health insurers. Before, it needed to file its rates and gain approval from the state insurance department and attorney general’s office. Reporting. Blue Cross files annual reports to the insurance department, but the information required is much less in scope than before. Governance. Reduces the number of board of trustee committees to eight from 13. Board still has 35 members. Timely decision-making. The change gives management more decision-making authority on business ventures or products. Before, the full board had more oversight and required approval when it met every three months. Reinvestment. Under PA 350, Blue Cross was technically owned by Michigan’s 10 million residents. The proceeds of any sale, however, would go to the state. Now, as a mutual, Blue Cross is overseen by a board that is appointed by a vote of its 4.5 million policyholders, more than 1.1 million of whom live out of state. As before, if Blue Cross is sold, the state would receive the proceeds. Sources: Interviews with Crain’s sources and Blue Cross officials

tells a story in itself. Blue Cross, as a mutual, still wields enormous clout, maybe even more since it has been unfettered from the 30year ties of PA 350. One executive who agreed to speak on the record is Rick Murdock, executive director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans. The 16-member HMO association, which eventually supported Blue Cross’ conversion, warned that without changes in the insurance code allowing managed care plans to become more competitive, the legislative changes allowing mutualization would only solidify Blue Cross’ market dominance. To compete in the new health care market under Obamacare, Murdock said, Blue Cross and other health insurers are “being very aggressive in going after new markets and changing the nature of their contracts.” But Murdock said Blue Cross is

issue “ Ourcontinues to be that Blue Cross is the dominant carrier in Michigan and how they use their size.

”

Rick Murdock, Michigan Association of Health Plans

different than other health insurers because of its immense size. “Our issue continues to be that Blue Cross is the dominant carrier in Michigan and how they use their size,” Murdock said. Murdock said talks are underway with Blue Cross and the Michigan Department of Financial and Insurance Services about further amendments to the state insurance code that could help level the playing field. Cox said the size of Blue Cross is a concern for him now as it was when he was attorney general from 2003 to 2010. “As they grew from 1939 — when they were chartered as the insurer of last resort — until now when they have 72 percent dominate monopolistic power, I always believed if you unleashed them from the moorings of the law (PA 350) that they would have a huge competitive advantage over private entities — the Cignas, the Priorities (Priority Health), the Aetnas,” Cox said. While Cox said he supported allowing Blue Cross to convert to a mutual, he said he would have pushed for a better deal for the state that would have increased the annual funding of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund by Blue Cross and required Blue Cross to slowly phase-in its transition to a mutual. Loepp said Blue Cross’ new freedom to enter other lines of business put it on more equal footing with other top insurers in Michigan. “It is so good to be a mutual. We don’t have to go to (Wall) Street every quarter,” he said. “We can look at things over a longer-term time period.” Being a mutual, Loepp said, is more about “taking away disadvantages.”

Financial results In 2014 — its first full year as a mutual insurer — Blue Cross earned $295 million compared with a loss of $85 million in 2013, according to a state filing last week. One reason for the financial turnaround is a complete reversal on previous losses in underwriting. For example, Blue Cross last year earned $97.6 million on its insurance operations compared with See Next Page

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losing $269 million in 2013. Why the turnaround? A major change between 2013 and 2014 is that Blue Cross was allowed to cancel money-losing individual market policies. Over the past decade, Blue Cross lost nearly $1 billion in the individual market. By raising rates by 6 percent to 9 percent and adding more than 100,000 new customers, revenue rose 11.3 percent, to $7.445 million from $6.688 million. Blue Cross still loses money in the individual market, Loepp said. But he expects that to change this year. “We don’t look at huge margins. Our advantage, now as a mutual, is we can play very successfully on a 1 percent to 2 percent margin. Some competitors can’t do that,” he said. But despite nearly 14 months as a mutual, Loepp said, Blue Cross still is under financial constraints placed on it by the state Legislature. “This is still a financial burden on the company,” he said. “Making huge amounts of investments (in new products or company acquisitions or joint venture partnerships) in the short term isn’t

THE MOVE TO A MUTUAL How Blue Cross has changed as a nonprofit mutual health insurer from when it was Michigan’s insurer of last resort under Public Act 350:

2013

䡲 Blue Cross canceled moneylosing individual market plans that cost the insurer annually nearly $100 million. Legislation enabling the Blue Cross mutual conversion allows the insurer to discontinue individual or group plans with notice to policyholders and the state insurance commissioner. 䡲 Terminated participation in Michigan’s MIChild health insurance program for children of low-income working families, saving an estimated $20 million to $30 million annually, according to the Michigan Department of Community Health. Blue Cross said the state made the request and suggested the contributions to the endowment fund made up for the subsidy reduction for MIChild. 2014

䡲 Blue Cross began paying about $100 million annually in state and local taxes that it previously was exempt from. Blue Cross last year paid $28.6 million in federal income taxes. 䡲 Blue Cross began paying millions of dollars annually into the Michigan Health Endowment Fund over an 18-year period until $1.56 billion has been reached. Critics said the negotiated contributions were too low as they said the value of Blue Cross could be more than $2.5 billion. In 2014, Blue Cross paid $100 million and is expected this year to pay $50 million. 2016

䡲 Blue Cross will be allowed to stop subsidizing Medigap coverage for seniors. Each year, Blue Cross pays out about $180 million. However, those dollars come mostly from taxes on selfinsurance business paid by companies that do business with Blue Cross and individual policies. From 2017 to 2021, the endowment fund will subsidize Medigap premiums, but only at $24 million per year, for a total of about $120 million.

going to happen.” For example, Blue Cross still is liable for about $180 million per year in Medigap coverage costs for the next two years, although most of it came from a surcharge on its self-insured business and individual customers. Blue Cross also is paying $100 million in state and local taxes and it contributes $50 million to $100 million annually to the endowment fund. Loepp predicted it will take Blue Cross at least another 18 months to fully transition into a complete nonprofit mutual insurer. Nationwide, there are at least 16 other Blues plans that operate as mutual companies, including Blues plans in Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii and Louisiana. At least two of those Blues plans have converted into investor-owned companies, including Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., and Triple-S Salud Inc. of Puerto Rico, said a report by San Franciscobased Consumers Union.

Mutual advantage Loepp said the most important change at the moment is the freedom to compete on the Obamacare health insurance exchange in Michigan as one of 16 players selling policies. “There is no way, based on PA 350, we could have played on or off the exchange,” Loepp said. “It used to take us 12 to 18 months to get our rates approved, and it was a public process. All our competitors would have known our rates. It would have had a negative impact on consumers.” Loepp said Blue Cross’ premium rates on the exchange in 2014 were the lowest in 80 of the state’s 84 counties. This year, Blue Cross raised its rates about 9 percent, but other insurers lowered them this year to better compete. “Michigan is one of the most competitive states on the exchange,” he said. “No way we could have done that without being a mutual.” Kirk Roy, the Blues’ vice president of health reform, said Blue Cross “fostered competition in the market. Last year, there were 14 plans; this year there are 16 and there is much more price competition this year.” “This year Roy other companies reduced their prices. We increased prices 6 percent to 9 percent” and Blue Cross still garnered a lion’s share of the insurance business, Roy said. As a mutual, Blue Cross also is allowed to sell a number of other insurance products that it can package, or bundle, with its health, dental and vision plans. Specialty insurance policies include shortand long-term disability, accident, critical illness and life insurance. Last year, Blue Cross signed cobranding deals between its subsidiary LifeSecure Insurance Co. and Dearborn National Life Insurance Co. In 2011, Blue Cross also purchased a third share of Minneapolis-based Bloom Health, along with Anthem and Health Care Service Corp., two other Blue Cross Blue Shield Association-affiliated companies. Blue Cross also invested in Amer-

iHealth Caritas, a Pennsylvaniabased Medicaid managed care company that also was approved in 2011, Loepp said. “We are going to do more deals like this,” he said. But Loepp said Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has no interest in expanding by acquiring other Blues plans. “We are talking a lot more about our common opportunities to share resources to keep administrative costs down,” he said. As a mutual, the company has created business efficiencies and lowered its overhead costs, said Andy Hetzel, Blue Cross vice president of corporate communications. For example, Roy said, the way PA 350 was written, it required Blue Cross to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra mailings and postage to send explanation of benefits (EOBs) to its members within one week of service, regardless if a balance was owed or not. “Now we group the EOBs and send in 30 days and allow people to receive it online,” Roy said. Loepp said the expertise of Blue Cross in managing insurance costs also will enable it to sell consulting services to help other Blues plans with their efforts, especially with its success in managing Medicare Advantage senior products. “Bill Schuette, Frank Kelley, Jennifer Granholm and Mike Cox (all former attorney generals) made it difficult for us to compete as an insurance carrier,” said Loepp, noting they were doing their job under PA 350. “We now have a relatively free rein to take a look at other investment opportunities and we will do so,” he said. Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325, jgreene@crain.com. Twitter: @jaybgreene

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Cobo: 2 conferences give Detroit a chance to pitch to students ■ From Page 3

dents considering a career in financial management. The second will bring about 1,000 students to town April 10-12 for the annual Shell Eco-Marathon, where teams will compete on a 0.9-mile road circuit around Cobo to see who can deliver the best gas mileage in their experimental vehicles.

Engage symposium The investment symposium is hosted by Wayne State University and Mainstay Capital Management LLC of Grand Blanc in association with the United Nations Global Compact. For the past 14 years, the event had been in Dayton, Ohio, and was hosted by the University of Dayton. David Kudla, CEO and chief investment officer at Mainstay Capital and the event’s executive director, approached WSU officials last year to see whether they would host. Speakers will include Dennis Lockhart, president and CEO of the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank; Fred Tomczyk, president and CEO of TD Ameritrade; Robert Reynolds, president and CEO of Putnam Investments; Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds Inc.; and Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments. “The list of speakers is a ‘who’s who’ of the investment industry,”

said Robert Forsythe, dean of the business school at WSU. The schedule includes several panel discussions, keynote addresses, breakout sessions and the announcement of which of the approximately 300 colleges that have student-run investment funds did the best job of managing money in the past year. Registration closes Sunday. Fees are $200 for students and $400 for faculty and business professionals, who can earn continuing-education credits by attending. Registration is available by going to engage.wayne.edu and clicking on the “registration” button. Forsythe said he hopes this will become an annual event in Detroit. “We will have discussions soon after the event about our future plans,” he said. CNBC will broadcast live throughout the event. Steve Liesman, the network’s senior economics reporter, will report live throughout the day March 26. The network’s “Fast Money Halftime Report,” hosted by Scott Wapner, will broadcast live from the symposium from noon to 1 p.m. March 27. The event has reserved a block of rooms at the Westin Book Cadillac. Forsythe said that when organizers realized many of the attendees aren’t leaving town until March 28,

a Saturday, they organized bus tours of downtown and Midtown that begin after the conference ends Friday afternoon. “I haven’t been here that long,” said Forsythe, who was named business school dean last June, “and I’m already sick of hearing the national media talk about how bad things are here. Hopefully, the conferForsythe ence and the bus tours will convince some of these students to come back here and take jobs.”

3,000 miles to the gallon Royal Dutch Shell plc hosts three eco-marathons each year, one of them in Asia and one in Europe. This year’s Asian event was Feb. 26March 1 in Manila, Philippines, and the European event will be May 2124 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The ninth American challenge, and the first in Detroit, will include about 140 teams from 100 high schools and colleges, including entrants from Canada, Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. This is the first year of a three-

year commitment by Shell to have the eco-marathon in Detroit after six straight years in Houston. For the event, Shell paid to have a half-mile of road surface repaved near Cobo. “Three years ago, I attended the Shell Eco-Marathon in Houston, and I immediately knew we needed this event in our city and state,” said Bud Denker, a senior vice president at Penske Corp. Glenn Stevens, vice president of MichAuto and strategic development for the Detroit Regional Chamber, said, “It’s just absolutely perfect that you have teams of students from around the world who are designing, building and testing vehicles coming to the auto capital of the world. “But this could not have happened without Roger Penske’s team. It would not have happened without their involvement.” Of the more than 1,000 students expected to participate — all with a passion for autos — Denker said: “What a great opportunity for our local companies and universities to attract and recruit talent while also showcasing our city to those attending from around the world.” Student teams compete in two categories. The prototype class focuses on maximum efficiency with passenger comfort at a minimum; the urban class encourages more practical considerations.

Each category is split into internal combustion engines and electric mobility, which can mean either hydrogen fuel cells or lithium-ion batteries. Over several days, teams can make as many attempts as they want at seeing how far they can go on a liter of fuel. And that can be far, indeed. The champion team the past two years, from the Universite Laval in Quebec, will be back to defend its title and try to improve on the record it set in 2013 of 3,587 mpg. Two students who will take part in the challenge posted comments on the Eco-Marathon website after making preliminary trips to Detroit. “When Shell first announced that (the eco-marathon) was going to Detroit, I was apprehensive. But it’s impressive how much revitalization is taking place in downtown Detroit,” wrote Bob Nelsen of Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Ind. “I was skeptical about Shell hosting an event in what has recently been described as a problematic city. But our visit, and the hospitality that was given to the advisory committee, made a believer out of me,” wrote Ricky Lewis of James B. Dudley High School in Greensboro, N.C. Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337, thenderson@crain.com. Twitter: @tomhenderson2

Roush: Theme parks promise to be a thrill ride – in a good way ■ From Page 3

lizes all of the company’s core competencies and capabilities,” said Christopher Ableson, senior manager of sales, marketing and business development at Roush Entertainment. “We were very wary of a cyclical segment when we got into this business, but the theme parks divisions of these companies are generating tremendous revenue and there is no reason we won’t see a reasonable growth rate for another 10 to 20 years.” Disney and Universal declined to comment for this story on its use of vendors for rides at its theme parks, per corporate policy. But the specialty work has been a boon for Roush.

Forging new tracks Entering the theme park market wasn’t easy, though it was serendipitous for Roush. In 2007, as the auto industry began to slow ahead of the Great Recession and Roush executives were tasked with diversifying the business, a call came in from a surprising source. Former automotive engineers now working in the theme park business — who were familiar with Roush’s work in the performance racing parts market — were looking for a lightweight seating system for a new ride. “We ended up developing a ground-up seating module, but where the car is evolutionary with similarities between each model, this was completely new to us. Theme park rides are all snowflakes; each one is unique,” Ableson said. “For us, this was jumping into the pool with a straight jacket on.” But the pool of business is deep

for the growing market of theme parks. The leisure industry, which includes theme parks, is the second-largest jobs creator in the U.S., according to the Themed Entertainment Association. The top 10 theme park groups worldwide also saw attendance of more than 377 million in 2013, up 5.4 percent from 2012, according to a report by the association. Abelson said theme park attendance, and spending, dropped sharply following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but picked back up again in 2008 — at just the right time for an auto-centric firm. “Growth has been huge, but because of 9/11, it didn’t happen through 2008,” Abelson said. “At that time, they were spending when auto stopped (spending).” The opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter area in 2010 at Universal Studios Florida’s Islands of Adventure changed the game for theme park vendors, Abelson said. Universal contracted several vendors and used them again when it subsequently opened up a Harry Potter park in Osaka, Japan, and another in Los Angeles scheduled to open next year. “What Universal did with the Harry Potter theme parks was create a fully-themed environment, which clearly woke up Disney and others,” Abelson said. “This allowed us to look at each themed park like a division of an auto company where we’re seeing global platforms, where win a ride (contract) in one park, we can leverage it in another park.” Abelson declined to say whether Roush performed work for the Har-

Where the car is “ evolutionary with similarities between each model, ... theme park rides are all snowflakes; each one is unique. For us, this was jumping into the pool with a straight jacket on.

”

Chris Ableson, Roush Entertainment

ry Potter theme parks, as the firm has non-disclosure agreements with its entertainment clients.

Engineering feats Back inside Building 50B, Roush engineers are currently in the beginning stages of a ride system project for an upcoming ride based on one of the highest grossing films of all-time. (Specific details are confidential.) But Michael Deneau, director of engineering for Roush Entertainment, called the 192 modules for the upcoming ride “revolutionary” in the theme park business. Roush is also completing a vehicle project for a safari ride at a theme park in Florida. The project includes retrofitting 43 Ford F-650 commercial trucks with its propane conversion fuel systems from its

Roush CleanTech LLC subsidiary. Again, details on the client couldn’t be disclosed for this report. Propane is a cheaper alternative to diesel, usually lower than $2 per gallon. The project also puts to work Roush’s fabrication, composite and other departments, Deneau said. Other portions of the Ford trucks were strengthened to endure the rigorous use of a theme park vehicle, said Deneau. The trucks will be used 16 hours a day, seven days a week for 15 years, Deneau said. Because most rides last three to four minutes, cycle more than a million times and are safety-critical, customer requirements are stricter than even the aerospace industry, Deneau said. Every part, down to the bolts, is documented and reinforced to ensure the highest safety requirements. “We have people in vehicles worldwide, every day,” Deneau said. “But to do that, we have to compete in a tough environment with intense requirements.” Dave Bjerke, president of Madison Heights-based engineering firm Triad Services Group Inc., said the theme park industry is a “very competitive, cost-driven business” that requires a disciplined team that can be onerous for many companies. Triad engineered and built the ride systems for Disney and Universal from 1989 through 1998, including the Great Movie Ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando. The ride features a guided vehicle that uses animatronics, actors, special effects, and projections to recreate scenes from 12 films.

Triad still bids on projects but won’t do so at the behest of its other divisions, Bjerke said. “That business requires a very disciplined team; it’s much more technical than people think,” Bjerke said. “While we haven’t been successful lately (in winning new business), we are interested as long as the projects make sense for us.” Rochester Hills-based Prefix Corp., which is also doing work on the Google car as well as being the sole coating supplier to the Dodge Viper, performed coatings work for the Cars Land themed environment at Disney California Adventure — a $1.1 billion expansion that opened in 2012. Prefix originally launched its entertainment business to capture work during Michigan’s short period of offering tax incentives for the film industry. Kim Zeile, CEO of Prefix, said Prefix isn’t planning to expand more into the theme park business, but it will continue to bid on projects that fit within its normal scope of operations. Ableson said Roush’s entry into the business has made its other divisions better. “There was a lot of discussion after being in this business for a couple of years whether we should continue; there was an awful lot of pain and struggle,” Ableson said. “What we’ve found is that the requirement of this segment, and industry, have forced us to be better in everything we do; it’s taken many of our capabilities to the next level.” Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042, dwalsh@crain.com. Twitter: @dustinpwalsh

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Yamasaki: His creations ‘stood the test of time’ ■ From Page 1

While he’s best known as the lead architect of the original World Trade Center, destroyed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he amassed a large body of work both inside and outside Michigan. Some other notable non-local works included the Century Plaza complex in Los Angeles, the Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Air Terminal, the U.S. Consulate in Japan, the Federal Science Pavilion at the Century 21 Exhibition in Seattle and the Civil Air Terminal in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In addition, the legacy of his firm continues to draw interest. A re-incorporated design firm in Birmingham and New York City carries Yamasaki’s name, and Michigan is working to curate an online collection of his sketches and other items that are held as part of the state’s historical records.

www.crainsdetroit.com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith E. Crain GROUP PUBLISHER Mary Kramer, (313) 446-0399 or mkramer@crain.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Marla Wise, (313) 4466032 or mwise@crain.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Cindy Goodaker, (313) 4460460 or cgoodaker@crain.com MANAGING EDITOR Jennette Smith, (313) 4461622 or jhsmith@crain.com DIRECTOR, DIGITAL STRATEGY Nancy Hanus, (313) 446-1621 or nhanus@crain.com MANAGING EDITOR/CUSTOM AND SPECIAL PROJECTS Daniel Duggan, (313) 446-0414 or dduggan@crain.com SENIOR EDITOR/DESIGN Bob Allen, (313) 4460344 or ballen@crain.com SENIOR EDITOR Gary Piatek, (313) 446-0357 or gpiatek@crain.com WEB EDITOR Kristin Bull, (313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com RESEARCH AND DATA EDITOR Sonya Hill, (313) 446-0402 or shill@crain.com WEB PRODUCER Norman Witte III, (313) 4466059, nwitte@crain.com EDITORIAL SUPPORT (313) 446-0419; YahNica Crawford, (313) 446-0329 NEWSROOM (313) 446-0329, FAX (313) 4461687 TIP LINE (313) 446-6766

REPORTERS

Design inspirations

COURTESY OF ETKIN LLC

Doug Etkin recalls watching Minoru Yamasaki sketch Brookfield Office Park in Farmington Hills (above and left). Most famously, Yamasaki is known for adding significantly to the skyline of New York City – something missing from this model of Manhattan in the 1960s (below right) and today: the World Trade Center.

Yamasaki is considered transitional in design and one of the leaders of the midcentury modern movement, but also a polarizing architect, Harvey said. “The people who didn’t appreciate modern design said (his buildings) ‘looked like a box,’ and others criticized his ‘ornamentation.’ ” Yamasaki talked about his designs as being “human-focused modernism,” said Joss Kiely, a doctoral candidate in architectural history and theory at the Taubman College Kiely of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. The famed architect traveled to Japan early in his career and came back with the idea of “serenity and delight” that he wanted to translate to his designs, said Kiely, who is doing his dissertation on Yamasaki. The Seattle-born architect was also influenced by his ventures into the Washington wilderness and by the Alaskan landscape he grew to know well during the summers he worked at salmon canneries there while attending the University of Washington, he said in his book, A Life in Architecture. Yamasaki moved from New York to Detroit in 1949 to work for Smith Hinchman & Grylls Inc., now known as the SmithGroup Inc. After a few years there, he broke off and formed his own firm, Minoru Yamasaki and Associates Inc. And his designs began rising up as part of the Detroit landscape in the mid- to late 1950s, Kiely said. Yamasaki used historic architectural references in his designs, like abstracted Gothic references in the World Trade Center and abstracted Islamic references in the buildings on the WSU campus in Detroit, Kiely said. “People were interested in that ... and he used ... those historical references as a selling point with corporate clients.”

struction before Yamasaki’s death, said Doug Etkin, principal of Southfield-based developer Etkin LLC. It was, Etkin said, to his knowledge the last building that “Yama” (as he refers to him) was involved with. He recalls watching the famed architect sketch Brookfield out during various meetings. His father, Alex Etkin, owner of A.J. Etkin Construction Co., and Yamasaki had become good friends, his son said. The two worked together first on Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills and later on the Brookfield Office Park. The 1985 Crain’s story spoke of the extensive marble, polished oak, decorative lighting, wood molding and trim and brass accents planned for the high-end buildings. “The lobbies remain timeless, and the below-grade parking installed in each building has ensured great tenant loyalty,” Etkin said. The buildings total 422,000 square feet in three structures; the former Compuware Corp. headquarters, now known as the Trott Financial Center, is the largest. The buildings at Northwestern Highway and Middlebelt Road have been in high demand since they were constructed, with past clients including Cellular One and Exxon Mobil Corp., he said. Today, they serve as the headquarters for companies including Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust and RouteOne LLC and boast 95 percent occupancy. “The buildings that Yama and his team were involved in have certainly stood the test of time ... (and) have turned out to be very strong economic performers,” Etkin said.

The making of Brookfield

The firm

The first building at Brookfield Office Park was well under con-

After Yamasaki’s death from stomach cancer, his firm continued

Jay Greene, senior reporter: Covers health care, insurance, energy utilities and the environment. (313) 446-0325 or jgreene@crain.com Amy Haimerl, entrepreneurship editor: Covers entrepreneurship and city of Detroit. (313) 4460416 or ahaimerl@crain.com Chad Halcom: Covers litigation and the defense industry. (313) 446-6796 or chalcom@crain.com Tom Henderson: Covers banking, finance, technology and biotechnology. (313) 446-0337 or thenderson@crain.com Kirk Pinho: Covers real estate, higher education, Oakland and Macomb counties. (313) 446-0412 or kpinho@crain.com Bill Shea, enterprise editor: Covers media, advertising and marketing, the business of sports, and transportation. (313) 446-1626 or bshea@crain.com Dustin Walsh: Covers the business of law, auto suppliers, manufacturing and steel. (313) 4466042 or dwalsh@crain.com Sherri Welch, senior reporter: Covers nonprofits, services, retail and hospitality. (313) 446-1694 or swelch@crain.com

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as Yamasaki Associates Inc. until the end of 2009, when it laid off its last employees amid lawsuits filed by the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth and the state Unemployment Insurance Agency. The lawsuits were over unpaid employee taxes and by contractors and consultants claiming they were collectively owed more than $2.5 million. The firm’s CEO, Ted Ayoub, subsequently sued the firm’s former principal Robert Szantner, who left after a falling-out in 2009, for fraud and allegedly leaving with the firm’s largest client, Harvey said. In December, Ayoub lost an appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals in a case against Szantner and others. Szantner is now operating a firm known as Yamasaki Inc., an international planning, architecture, engineering and project management firm incorporated in December 2013, from offices in Birmingham and New York City, according to corporation filings with the state of Michigan and a company website. As for the tangible assets left at Yamasaki’s Troy office, Oakland County seized the office for unpaid taxes and held an auction in March, 2010, Harvey said. “They sold everything from every computer on every station

right down to posters on the wall and colored pencils,” he said. When he learned Oakland County had ordered the shredding of sensitive papers in the firm’s Troy offices to shield itself from liability, Harvey contacted the county and was given just a day before the public auction to collect whatever he could. Subsequently, the state archivist said, Ayoub later passed other items of historic significance on to be preserved. The state has 15,000 transparencies and slides of Yamisaki’s designs dating back to 1949, some original drawings and some personal effects like Yamasaki’s drawing compass, Harvey said. Harvey later met with some of the principals of Yamasaki’s firm to take oral histories so he could get an idea of how the office worked, since he wasn’t able to make note of that during the “dash-and-grab operation” to preserve things from the office. Harvey is still waiting for some of the principals to sign a waiver that enables the state to use their oral accounts. When Yamasaki’s firm closed, it was “an open wound” for the principals, he said. “They’re just very protective of his legacy.” The Archives of Michigan plans to launch a website on the Yamasaki collection late this year or early in 2016, Harvey said.

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RUMBLINGS Famed SEAL to speak for soldiers fund obert O’Neill, the former U.S. Navy SEAL purported to have killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011, will be the keynote speaker at the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund’s 10th annual anniversary gala and fundraiser at the MGM Grand Detroit next month. The Bloomfield Hillsbased nonprofit’s event, which raises funds for injured Michigan soldiers and their families, is scheduled for 5 p.m. April 25. The gala will include dinner, open bar, entertainment, a silent auction and presentations by wounded Michigan soldiers and their families. Tickets are $150 and can be bought at fwsf.org. Sponsorships are also available, starting at $1,500. Nearly 95 percent of donations are spent on soldiers and their families, the organization said. Since its 2006 founding, the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund has raised more than $3 million, including more than $535,000 in 2014. O’Neill, a highly decorated sailor who left the Navy in 2012, also reportedly was involved in the commando operations that became the movies “Captain Phillips” and “Lone Survivor.” He is employed now as a public speaker.

WSU medical prof pens heart health e-book Joel Kahn, M.D., an “interpreventional” cardiologist, as he calls himself, has written a new e-book, Dead Execs Don’t Get Bonuses: The Ultimate Guide to Survive Kahn Your Career With a Healthy Heart, which includes a chapter on Imre Molnar, former provost of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. The irreverently named book has a serious point about the importance of heart health. Up to 90 percent of the 1 million heart attack deaths per year can be prevented by a number of heart-healthy strategies outlined in the book, Kahn told Crain’s.

March 9, 2015

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The book also is dedicated to Molnar, who died on Dec. 28, 2013, at age 61 while riding his bike on vacation in California. “He was beloved by many before he tragically died of an unMolnar known heart disease,” said Kahn, an author of several books and local Fox 2 News medical contributor who also is known as “America’s Holistic Heart Doctor,” a name coined by Reader’s Digest. “An autopsy showed his arteries were 99 percent blocked,” said Kahn, clinical professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine and director of cardiac wellness at Michigan Healthcare Professionals PC. The book is on sale now at Amazon.com in a digital Kindle version for 99 cents.

‘Walking Dead’ could fuel local Comic Con record The dead could bring Suburban Collection Showplace to life in record numbers this May, when Motor City Comic Con summons to Novi its largest turnout yet of stars from AMC ratings heavyweight “The Walking Dead.” Michael Goldman, owner of Farmington Hills-based Motor City Comics and promoter of the convention now in its 26th year, said he expects attendance to top 45,000 and could even approach 50,000 at the event May 13-15. That would crush last year’s record of just over 40,000. That’s mainly because Southeast Michigan would be at its best equipped to cope with a zombie apocalypse that weekend, by hosting six cast members from the TV series. Actors Steven Yeun and Alanna Masterson — or Glenn and Tara to devotees of the show — will join recently departed regulars Chad Coleman, Emily Kinney, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. and Scott Wilson — or Tyreese, Beth, Bob and Hershel, respectively — at Motor City Comic Con. “This year, we’re a little

WEEK ON THE WEB FROM WWW.CRAINSDETROIT.COM, WEEK OF FEB. 28-MARCH 6

Davidson Foundation hires program officer he Troy-based William Davidson Foundation hired Darin McKeever, a deputy director from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as its first chief program and strategy officer. At the Seattle-based Gates Foundation, he most recently led a team to improve the effectiveness of philanthropy and charities worldwide.

NEW LOOK FOR DOWNTOWN DETROIT?

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Motor City Comic Con annually attracts creatively dressed fans to Novi’s Suburban Collection Showplace.

more focused on ‘Walking Dead’ than in some past shows,” Goldman said of the celebrity focus. “It’s regularly the top-rated entertainment show on television. There are some conventions hosted in other cities that are entirely devoted to the show, so it has a very supportive audience and we decided to capitalize on that. It’s also regularly number one in the 18-49 demographic, which is also the audience we try for.” Past conventions have featured series fan favorite Norman Reedus (or Daryl Dixon), and Wilson as a media guest, but Goldman said this is the largest contingent of the show’s actors yet at a single Novi convention. Yeun, 31, grew up in Troy and his father, Je Yeun, owns Golden Beauty Supply Inc. in Detroit. Other media guests with local ties this year include Dean Cain, or Superman of the 1990s TV series “Lois and Clark” who was born in Mt. Clemens, and Robert Englund, or Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” horror movie series, who attended Cranbrook Theatre School in Bloomfield Hills. More guest appearance information is available MotorCityComicCon.com.

Tim Hortons sells Red Wings doughnut this week The “I Love the Red Wings” doughnut is back. Sporting an edible Detroit Red Wings logo and red and white sprinkles, the fried dough confectionaries went on sale Friday at all Tim Hortons Cafe & Bake Shops in Michigan to benefit the Detroit Red Wings Foundation. At $1.25 retail, they will be sold through March 15. This is the sixth year for the doughnuts, and in that time sales have raised more than $145,000. This year’s goal is $80,000, the team said in a statement Friday. Tim Hortons — named for the late hockey player Tim Horton, who co-founded the chain in 1964 — is the Wings’ official coffee supplier at Joe Louis Arena.

ON THE MOVE The American Red Cross Michigan Region named Kimberly Burton as CEO of its consolidated Michigan operations. The new position oversees employees and offices that had operated as part of three separate divisions. Burton, a consultant for the past year, succeeds Tim Yenrick, CEO of American Red Cross Northwest Ohio Region and interim regional executive of the Michigan region since October. Scott Eathorne, M.D., was promoted from interim CEO to CEO of Detroit-based Together Health Network. Eathorne, a family and sports medicine physician, formerly was president of Partners in Care, a physician hospital organization representing the partnership between The Physician Alliance and St. John Providence Health System, an Ascension Health subsidiary. The Engineering Society of Detroit named Robert Magee as executive vice president. He had been named interim last August, replacing Darlene Trudell, who resigned from the Southfield-based organization after 12 years to pursue other opportunities. Stephen Henderson, the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial page editor of the Detroit Free Press, was named host of WDET-101.9 FM’s “Detroit Today” talk show. Henderson, who will remain with the newspaper, will begin hosting the public radio show March 16.

COMPANY NEWS Chassix Inc., the Southfield-based auto parts maker owned by billionaire Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity LLC, said its bondholders agreed to refrain for a month from pursuing a default after the company missed an interest payment, Bloomberg News reported. Chassix’s 30-day grace period on the missed payment of about $17 million ended last week.

COURTESY OF SHOP ARCHITECTS LLC

What might the 2-acre former Hudson’s site on Woodward Avenue look like once developed? According to this rendering, Dan Gilbert and Rock Ventures are going for something futuristic. The site is being designed by Detroit-based Hamilton Anderson Associates and New York City-based Shop Architects PC. Rock Ventures hopes to announce final design and details this year, Gilbert said in a statement.

Detroit-based DTE Ener-

gy Co. and Vectorform, a Royal Oak-based technology company, plan to form a joint venture, Powerley, to market and sell an energy tracking and software device to other utilities. Cranbrook General Underwriters of Bingham Farms will merge with Bloomfield Hills Insurance Agency on May 1 and become Cranbrook Bloomfield Hills Insurance Agency. The new agency will employ 20 people in Bloomfield Hills. Exxodus Pictures LLC, based in the Madison Building in downtown Detroit, was awarded $1.3 million in incentives to shoot three feature-length films in Michigan. Georgia-based aluminum giant Novelis Inc. and German supplier Henkel AG & Co. signed an agreement to develop advanced bonding technologies for aluminum-intensive vehicles. The first product, a pretreatment that helps paint stick to aluminum, will be produced at Henkel Adhesive Technologies in Warren, Automotive News reported. The Fountain Bistro restaurant at Campus Martius Park postponed its planned closure this month for renovations, instead opting to close for about a month between mid-September and mid-October. The City of Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System sued IBM Corp. in federal court, alleging the company misled investors about the value of its microchip manufacturing business before agreeing to sell it at a loss, Bloomberg reported. The Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program, a Detroit nonprofit focused on youth development, won a $34,000 grant from the West Bloomfield Township-based Dresner Foundation to hire drivers for vans to carry participants to and from the after-school program. P.F. Chang’s, the popu-

lar Asian-inspired eatery, opened for business in the McNamara Terminal of Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

OTHER NEWS Republican U.S. Rep. Candice Miller said she will not seek re-election to Michigan’s 10th District seat in 2016 when her seventh term ends at the end of next year. Paul Howard, a co-owner of nightclub and restaurant Cliff Bell’s and the Bronx Bar in Midtown, said he plans to open a new downtown Detroit bar and restaurant this summer in the building at 25-35 E. Grand River Ave. that used to house the Biegas Gallery. Howard declined to disclose the name of the bar. Ndamukong Suh can test the open market when National Football League free agency begins this week after the Detroit Lions decided not to use the franchise tag on the star defensive tackle. Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township received a $10 million endowment from a Birmingham couple, Sarah and Harold Gottlieb, to establish a cantorial chair in memory of their son, Stephen, who died in 2006, AP reported. The endowment will support the music program. The Southeast Michigan Purchasing Managers Index bounced back to 56 in February from a sudden drop to 50 in January. The threemonth PMI average is 56.7, with a value above 50 suggesting economic growth.

OBITUARIES John L. Cullen, a retired commercial construction contractor’s representative (the JL Cullen Co.), died Feb. 26. He was 89. Jeffrey Surnow, founder and owner of Birminghambased real estate firm Surnow Co., died March 1 from injuries sustained in a bicycle crash in Hawaii. He was 63.

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