Crain's Detroit Business, Nov. 25, 2019 issue by Crain's Detroit Business

THE CONVERSATION: Vaulting family business into pole position. PAGE 22

NOT SO SWEET How McLouth Steel demolition did in a Downriver sugar plant. PAGE 3

CRAINSDETROIT.COM I NOVEMBER 25, 2019

CANNABIS

A COMPLEX TALE

REAL ESTATE

‘Wild Wild West’ CBD industry gets local BY ANNALISE FRANK

West Eleven Office Park in Southfield. | FRIEDMAN REAL ESTATE

West Eleven Office Park gets new life with new owner BY KIRK PINHO

The former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan buildings in Southfield have a new owner, but it took a trail littered with tens of millions in unpaid bills and mortgages over several years to get there. The saga of the newly renamed West Eleven Office Park includes a double murder and an alleged $17

million mortgage scheme in Toronto, a property manager apparently living in the buildings with his spouse and pets in violation of zoning rules, buildings that tenants say were woefully neglected and mismanaged, a pair of dismissed Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings and a rare receivership request by main occupants, the former Federal Mogul Corp. (now Tennecco) and Stefanini Inc.

Ultimately, what U.S. District Judge Sean Cox may end up deciding is whether Morteza (Ben) Katebian of California or Arash (Ara) Missaghi, Laila Alizadeh and Troy Wilson of Toronto owned the 697,000-square-foot office complex, formerly known as Southfield Metro Center, through a company called Liberty & York Corp. See COMPLEX on Page 21

FOCUS | WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

West Eleven Office Park  Tower 100: 27100 W. 11 Mile Road, 114,400 square feet built in 1983 on 5.34 acres  Tower 200: 27200 W. 11 Mile Road, 266,600 square feet built in 1984 on 12.87 acres  Tower 300: 27300 W. 11 Mile Road, 161,500 square feet built in 1983 on 5.75 acres  Tower 400: 27350 W. 11 Mile Road, 154,600 square feet built in 1986 on 8.85 acres

The hype surrounding CBD is mounting while the infant Michigan industry maneuvers through a murky landscape. The cannabis-based chemical compound has long been side-eyed for its relation to marijuana, but is now gaining traction in Michigan and other states for touted health and wellness benefits. But there’s still a dearth of clear answers when it comes to regulatory practices. CBD — or cannabidiol, which doesn’t get you high — is now sold most everywhere in Michigan: Family Video stores. The Kroger Co. Boutique retailers. It is often sold as an oil, but lotions and bath products are becoming hits, too. Meanwhile, other buyers feed CBD to their horses or eat it in ice cream. Mother Earth Natural Health owner Arianna Welsh has been betting on CBD oil since 2016. Welsh and her brother Tory have opened retail shops in New Haven, Shelby Township and most recently this March in Royal Oak, with two more planned next year. They started after discovering CBD when their father sought alternative pain relief without the high of THC in medical marijuana. The Welshes are sitting on expected year-over-year sales growth of 300-400 percent for 2019. See CBD on Page 20

AUTO SUPPLIERS

Cutting back to the core

BRIDGE BUILDER  Julie Neph says she has any engineer’s dream job.

CEO chopping Adient’s way to profitability

PAGE 10

BY DUSTIN WALSH

NEWSPAPER

Adient plc President and CEO Doug DelGrosso | ADIENT PLC

Corporate employees at Adient plc will end the year on vacation. An unpaid vacation. President and CEO Doug DelGrosso held a companywide town hall at its Plymouth Township headquarters on Nov. 14 to explain the situation to employees. That their sacrifice was, after all, for the greater good of the company. The world’s largest automotive seating supplier spun off from Johnson Controls Inc. in October 2016 and has been in a relative tailspin

ever since. Its recorded more than $3 billion in losses over the past two fiscal years, heavily damaged by mismanaged launches, a botched attempt to move its headquarters to downtown Detroit that resulted in a $11 million loss before renovations were ever completed and an aggressive growth strategy gone awry. The board hired DelGrosso in October 2018, fresh from turning around troubled supplier Chassix, to restructure the ailing Adient. See ADIENT on Page 19

NEED TO KNOW

BUCKLE YOUR SEATBELTS

THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT  UAW PRESIDENT QUITS AS UNION SCANDAL PEAKS THE NEWS: United Auto Workers President Gary Jones abruptly resigned, capping a tumultuous day that saw union leaders move to oust him, and General Motors Co. accusing rival Fiat Chrysler in a lawsuit of bribing union officials to get more favorable contract terms from the UAW. Jones had been on leave since Nov. 3. The news of Jones’ resignation came shortly after the UAW’s International Executive Board filed paperwork to expel him and Regional Director Vance Pearson from the union over allegations raised by a federal investigation into union corruption that has resulted in multiple arrests starting in 2017. WHY IT MATTERS: The two developments on the same day brought a scandal that has grown for the UAW to a clear climax. Now, acting UAW President Rory Gamble will need to win back confidence that the union is acting in members’ best interest, while negotiating a new deal with FCA.

 TRANSIT PLAN HATCHED, MINUS MACOMB THE NEWS: Southeast Michigan political leaders have hatched a new plan to get a mass transit millage on the November 2020 ballot in Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne counties

while bypassing opposition in Macomb County — if state lawmakers are agreeable. The plan calls for asking the Republican-controlled Legislature to amend the Municipal Partnership Act of 2011 to allow the three counties to place individual property tax hikes for transit on the ballot next fall that could be pooled for improv-

ing mass transportation services. If the Legislature approves changes to the law, the three counties would have to craft a new regional transit service plan and the three county commissions would have to pass resolutions to place the plan on the ballot. WHY IT MATTERS: The effort seeks to take advantage of momentum from David Coulter’s ascendancy to the Oakland County executive seat. The requirement in the law that all four counties individually approve a transit plan has been a stumbling block, and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel has repeatedly said his constituents are not interested in paying for a transit expansion and that fixing roads should be the priority.

 MASCO TO SELL MASCO CABINETRY IN $1B DEAL THE NEWS: Masco Corp., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of branded home improvement and building products, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell Masco Cabinetry to ACProducts Inc. for $1 billion, the Livonia-based company announced in a recent news release. The company, whose brands include Behr, KraftMaid and Merillat, announced in March that it was seeking to divest from its cabinetry and window businesses, including Milgard, Ann Arbor-based Masco Cabinetry and UK Window Group. It said in June that it was hoping to sell each of the subsidiaries within six to nine months. WHY IT MATTERS: Masco plans to focus its business on lines that concentrate on home repair and remodeling. Plumbing and decorative products like Delta faucets are expected to be central to that strategy.

 H&M OPENS UP SHOP IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT THE NEWS: Hundreds of eager shoppers lined up as early at 5:30 a.m. Thursday for the noon opening of Detroit’s first H&M’s store. Landlord Bedrock LLC estimated more than 500 people streamed into the new downtown store from Hennes &

(Some) recreational pot sales just a week away The state of Michigan doled out the first licenses to a business planning to grow and sell marijuana for recreational use last week. The first retailer? Ann Arbor-based Exclusive Brands, which already has medical marijuana operations. It could start selling cannabis for recreational use (what’s sometimes called “adult use”) as soon as Dec. 1. That start date is coming much sooner than previously expected. Most estimates had retail sales unlikely to start until the first quarter of next year. One tricky aspect is that recreational marijuana may see a shortage until licensed growers harvest their first crop, possibly in March or April, since they also are mostly still awaiting licensing. . Also among the first businesses getting recreational licenses were PSI Labs in Ann Arbor, which tests marijuana, and Real Leaf Solutions, a Kalkaska-based company that plans to organize marijuana events. GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Mauritz Inc., which offers “fast-fashion” clothing and accessories for men, women, teens and children The Swedish retailer has 25,000 square feet across three Albert Kahn-designed buildings owned by Dan Gilbert’s real estate company at 1505, 1515 and 1529 Woodward between John R and Park Avenue. It will employ about 20.

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2 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

WHY IT MATTERS: H&M’s opening is another major step forward for retail in a downtown that was bereft of major chains for decades. It helps add critical mass in a district that now features Nike, Under Armour, John Varvatos, Lululemon and Bonobos, all of which have opened in Bedrock properties in recent years.

MANUFACTURING

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

McLouth Steel demo culprit in Taylor sugar plant closure Company used port, building at site BY CHAD LIVENGOOD

The long-sought demolition of the polluted former McLouth Steel plant in Trenton ended up derailing the operations of a sugar cane processing plant in Taylor that announced its impending closure last week. AmCane Sugar LLC, a subsidiary of Bay City-based Michigan Sugar Co., used the McLouth plant’s deep water port along the Detroit River to receive shipments of raw cane sugar, which was processed into liquid, specialty and brown sugars at its nearby Taylor plant. The company also used one of the warehouse buildings at the old steel plant for bulk storage of raw sugar, said Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive for Wayne County. Rahal said that storage lease ended as part of the county’s sale of the property to Crown Enterprises, the real estate arm of the Moroun family. Crown Enterprises and its subsidiary, MSC Land Co. LLC, are in the middle of an aggressive two-year demolition of the steel mill, which

“UNFORTUNATELY, A PERFECT STORM OF FORCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL HAS RESULTED IN THE NEED TO TAKE ACTION TO CONTROL COSTS.” — Mark Flegenheimer, CEO, Michigan Sugar Co.

has been deemed a Superfund cleanup site by the Environmental Protection Agency. In announcing a first-quarter 2020 closure of the AmCane Sugar plant, Michigan Sugar Co. CEO Mark Flegenheimer said the company looked for other ports to use, but to no avail. “Unfortunately, a perfect storm of forces beyond our control has resulted in the need to take action to control costs,” Flegenheimer said in a statement. “The decision was not made lightly and comes after an exhaustive examination of options for bringing consistency to our supply chain and gaining access to a new deep water port.” A Michigan Sugar Co. spokesman declined to comment on AmCane’s use of the McLouth plant and its port for delivery and storage of raw sugar. The closing, which will cost 100 jobs, is expected to be completed by mid-February, according to a notice filed with the state earlier this month. Some work is being transferred to its warehouse in Toledo. See SUGAR on Page 17

MyLocker CEO Robert Hake moves around inventory at the company’s recently expanded headquarters in the Corktown neighborhood in Detroit. | MYLOCKER

Custom creations in Corktown

MyLocker.com completes $15M expansion, looks to hire hundreds BY KURT NAGL

MyLocker.com LLC has completed a $15 million, 120,000-squarefoot expansion in Detroit’s Corktown and is looking to immediately hire 200 employees to handle demand for its custom clothes and products business. The company, launched as a website in 2004, has doubled revenue year-over-year since 2006, CEO Robert Hake said. It has nearly doubled employee count in the past year to 479. At its current trajectory, the company will employ 1,200 by

2022, maxing out capacity of its 220,000-square-foot manufacturing and design facility at 1300 Rosa Parks Blvd. “The term ‘Detroit grit’ gets used a lot, and I’m a witness of what that means,” Hake told Crain’s. The expansion involved consolidating a cluster of three buildings the company owned in Corktown and packing it with new equipment for direct-to-garment printing, dye sublimation and 3D diffusion printing and embroidery. Hake said the company could have saved money by moving out

of state, but incentives helped convince him to stay. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. last year awarded the company a $2.5 million performance-based grant and a $2.1 million Michigan Business Growth Fund Loan. The city of Detroit offered a 12-year property tax abatement valued at $2.42 million. Invest Detroit, backed by JPMorgan Chase’s $200 million commitment to Detroit, is allocating $7 million in New Markets Tax Credits, according to a news release.

“THE TERM ‘DETROIT GRIT’ GETS USED A LOT, AND I’M A WITNESS OF WHAT THAT MEANS.” — Robert Hake, CEO of MyLocker.com LLC

See MYLOCKER on Page 17

FINANCE

Tilton’s high-wire gamble with Dura backfires Founding CEO, financier replaced as stalking horse bidder BY DUSTIN WALSH

Financier Lynn Tilton, CEO of Auburn Hill-based Dura Automotive Systems LLC. | BLOOMBERG

Dura Automotive Systems LLC has secured new financing to replace a previous funding effort by embattled CEO and financier Lynn Tilton. The Auburn Hills-based supplier secured $84 million in debtor-in-possession financing through U.S. Bankruptcy Court Tuesday, replacing a previously approved $77 million commitment from Tilton, the company said. The financing from New York private equity firm Bardin Hill Investment Partners LP will be used to fund ongoing busi-

ness operations as the company moves toward a sale. The replacement financing appears to bear out that Tilton’s plan to place a profitable Dura into bankruptcy to rid debt and sell the company back to her equity firm has backfired. Tilton filed Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee for Dura and its domestic subsidiaries last month in hopes of clearing Dura from Tilton’s investment company’s obligations to repay a bond insurer in an unrelated legal dispute.

Tilton reached a legal settlement in May with bond insurer MBIA Inc. The agreement involved three bankrupt investment funds Tilton and MBIA had created to originate loans for distressed companies owned by her turnaround firm. Tilton’s Patriarch Partners, 73 percent majority owner of Dura, has sought to sell the maker of driver control systems, lightweight metal vehicle frames and battery trays for at least a year, with Bloomberg reporting a potential $1 billion price tag. See DURA on Page 18

NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3

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A view of the former site of the J.L. Hudson’s department store property earlier this month. | KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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What’s up with that sulfuric smell at the former Hudson’s site? If you’ve been near the site of the former J.L. Hudson’s site department store in the last several months, you’ve surely noticed a very ... um ... disKirk tinct smell. PINHO I’ve received a few questions from readers wondering, in short, “WTF?” about the heavy sulfuric odor, so here’s what’s going on. “While drilling for our deep tower caissons at the Hudson’s site we encountered ground water that contains trace sulfur which is contributing to an intermittent smell around the site,” a spokesperson for Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock LLC said in a statement. The development underway is expected to consist of two portions, a large skyscraper of an undetermined height and a smaller building referred to as the “block” on the northern portion of property. “The water is being pumped off the site and the smell should be completely gone once we complete drilling for the last caisson in January.” There are more than 150 caissons needed for the development. Still a hole in the ground, it’s been nearly two years since ground was broken on the project that up until a few months ago was planned to rise at least 800 feet into the air, making it the tallest building in the state. While it could still hit that height, Bedrock officials left wiggle room when asked about it this summer by Detroit Free Press columnist John Gallagher. Joe Guziewicz, vice president of construction for Bedrock, said the tower’s height is largely contingent upon what an undetermined hotel operator that could use the building wants. The ultimate height has been in flux for years. The first conceptual rendering of the development came in March 2015 when it was inadvertently leaked in a YouTube video discovered by the Detroit Free Press. Then, rumors began swirling about pre-

cisely how large the building would be, eventually with multiple sources confirming to Crain’s discussions of a building reaching 60 stories in October 2016. By February 2017, the first incarnation of the plan was revealed, with a tower reaching 734 feet, eclipsing the 727-foot Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center by a mere 7 feet with a total cost of $775 million. In September 2017, another 66 feet were tacked on, bringing the tower to 800 feet, adding a public skydeck and other features, which brought the project cost to $909 million. The skydeck has since been scrapped.

“WHILE DRILLING FOR OUR DEEP TOWER CAISSONS AT THE HUDSON’S SITE WE ENCOUNTERED GROUND WATER THAT CONTAINS TRACE SULFUR WHICH IS CONTRIBUTING TO AN INTERMITTENT SMELL AROUND THE SITE.” — a Bedrock LLC spokesperson

A year later, in September 2018, Bedrock publicly confirmed it was considering an increase in the tower height to up to 912 feet, saying a decision would be made by January 2019 just how tall the building would be. However, to date, a final height has not been revealed; the development’s website says it will be 912 feet. At the time of the December 2017 groundbreaking ceremony, the project was expected to be complete in 2022 and have 330-450 residential units; 103,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage space, plus a street-level market; 168,000 square feet of event and conference space; and 263,000 square feet of office space. Another 93,000 square feet of exhibit space was planned, along with at least 700 parking spaces in a below-ground garage. The development is now anticipated to be complete in 2023.

Bedrock seeks additional CDBG funding for Brewster Douglass project To the north, Gilbert and his team are working on a redevelopment of the former site of the Brewster Douglass housing projects near the Brush Park neighborhood and they are seeking a $262,000 increase in public funding to the $10.2 million already approved. In July 2018, Bedrock and the city revealed plans for the 22-acre site off I-75 south of Mack Avenue. At the time, they were to include 913 residences, comprised of 648 apartments and 265 for-sale units spread across dozens of buildings of varying heights. A development agreement that was reached as part of the $300 million-plus plan included a city commitment for $1.2 million in infrastructure improvements by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department; $3 million in federal Community Development Block Grants; and $6 million in federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds. According to a Detroit City Council briefing memo, an additional $262,000 in CDBG funding is being sought. “Development at the Douglass site has been delayed due to unexpected environmental and site due diligence activities that exceeded the initial project schedule,” the memo says. Closing on the property is expected by the end of the year, the memo says. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development signed off on the sale in May. The development agreement amendment is being referred to the Planning and Economic Development standing committee. Detroit-based architecture firm Rossetti Associates Inc. has done work on the project so far. Bedrock plans to jointly develop the site, which it is buying from the Detroit Housing Commission for $23 million, with Detroit-based Woodborn Partners LLC; Farmington Hillsbased Hunter Pasteur Homes; and New York City-based Jonathan Rose Companies LLC.

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of grant making and it totaled approximately $26 million. Those resources primarily landed in Detroit, but we are a Southeast Michigan funder, and so some of those resources landed in Oakland and Macomb Counties. We targeted grasstops organizations, including United Way, but also looked at grassroots organizations like SinaiGrace Guild Community Development Corporation. We are focused on neighborhoods—that’s one of our key areas of activity here in Detroit. The SinaiGrace neighborhood is in Northwest Detroit. Steve was actually born in that community. What better way to work in a community than with the hospital system? They are an economic driver. We saw activity that was happening in Northwest Detroit near Marygrove College, and the great work they were doing at Kresge and in the Grandmont-Rosedale area. But development efforts for the SinaiGrace neighborhood were missing, and they’ve made signiﬁcant investments in their infrastructure. They approached us about addressing the social determinants of health and we’ve started to work with them on a workforce development program to help get families into housing and residents to secure jobs at the hospital.

David Ripple, Vice President, Development, St. Joseph Mercy Health System and Amanda Sweetman, Regional Director, Farming and Healthy Lifestyles, Trinity Health Michigan

Larry Burns: Amanda, tell us about Trinity Health Michigan. Amanda Sweetman: Our mission is to grow a healthy community through food, education, and relationships. Burns: Tell us about The Farm at Saint Joe’s. Sweetman: With 365 acres, Saint Joseph Hospital, Ann Arbor has the largest health care campus in the country. We need to meet people where they are, join them on their path toward better health, and what better way to do that than through food? Burns: David, what’s happening in the five hospitals? David Ripple: Saint Joseph Mercy Health system and our five hospitals are owned by Trinity Health, which owns 92 hospitals around the country. The depth and breadth of care and expertise that our physicians and care providers can give to our patients, families and communities is significant. Here it includes St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, St. Joseph Mercy

Oakland in Pontiac and St. Mary Mercy in Livonia. We cover a large portion of the Southeast Michigan area, and the care we provide, not just in the hospitals, but through our attention and focus on community health and well-being, exempliﬁes our commitment to the community and growing our outreach. Burns: We’re very proud of The Children’s Foundation’s grant to The Farm at Saint Joe’s. Sweetman: The grant is a great representation of our partnership to care for children in our communities. One of the big things that came from the grant was the tractor that will help us grow a lot more food on campus. But the biggest part of that grant was to provide free farm shares to families who are food insecure. This program allows us to bring in food from 12 local farms, package it, and send it out to families in our community. We’ve seen amazing impacts around the program. For example, 84 percent of children in last year’s program asked for fresh fruits and vegetables as a snack.

Loretta Bush, President and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer, Authority Health

Larry Burns: Authority Health is a very strategic organization. Tell us about it and the way you deliver primary care in neighborhoods. Loretta Bush: We are the second largest graduate medical education teaching health center in the country. We have 71 residents who rotate between family health, internal medicine, pediatrics, and psychiatry. The difference between us and other residency programs is that we do rotate throughout the community, with over 51 partners. The residents we attract are those who want to work in underserved areas and want to understand the needs of those who seek care at Federally Qualiﬁed Health Centers or private practices embedded in the community. Many times these are resourceconstrained communities. In addition, the transportation constraints patients might face make it even more important for us to be able to rotate in health centers that are embedded in the community. Burns: How does the new grant from The Children’s Foundation relate to what you’re doing? Bush: The grant is being

used for trauma-informed care and training for our residents. What our residents have seen over time is one common social determinant: extensive exposure of children and families to trauma. Residents trained in trauma-informed care are able to use that training in diagnosis and the treatment. It also helps them to make sure they don’t further traumatize patients—either by being unaware of a history of trauma, or knowing of the history but not knowing how to factor that into the therapeutic environment. This will really take our residency program to the next level and prepare the physicians of the future. Burns: The idea your team came up with excited our grant people because we hear so much about trauma. To be able to train residents is very important to us. Bush: This is something that will live on into the future, because these are young physicians about to start their practice. They will be practicing for many years to come, utilizing what they have learned and impacting other physicians that follow them. Many of our residents are committed to continuing to practice in underserved areas. It’s sustainable and can go on into the future. Burns: What else is new? Bush: In addition to our residency program, we also acquired the Popoff Family Health Center on the east side of Detroit at 10809 Mack Avenue.

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CANNABIS REPORT

40 under 40 honoree Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II (left) chats with Fayrouz Saad, executive director of the Office of Global Michigan. | LARRY PEPLIN

More than 400 attendees joined together to recognize some of metro Detroit’s most impactful young leaders at Crain’s annual 40 Under 40/20 in their 20s salute last Thursday. One of the 40 Under 40 honorees was Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, who attended on the same day that he, as acting governor while Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is out of the country, signed his first bills into law. The annual awards programs seek to identify rising leaders in business, nonprofit and civic life who are having a major impact on their organizations, industries and the greater Southeast Michigan community. The programs have honored more than 1,600 leaders to date. To see the 2019 classes of 40 Under 40 and 20 in their 20s and all previous honorees, go to CrainsDetroit.com and look under the Awards menu.

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Visit crainsdetroit.com/cannabis 6 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The 2019 Crain’s 20 in their 20s honorees gather Thursday at the Roostertail in Detroit. |

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Crain’s Detroit Business Special Projects Editor Amy Elliott Bragg welcomes more than 400 who gathered Thursday at the Roostertail in Detroit. | LARRY PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S

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The 2019 Crain’s 40 under 40 honorees gather Thursday at the Roostertail in Detroit. | LARRY PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S

NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 7

COMMENTARY

Relationship between Shirkey, Retool blight removal bond Whitmer souring fast for automation reskilling During her first State of the State address in February, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took a few minutes to talk about how devoted each of the Legislature’s Republican and Democratic leaders are to their families. Chad “Mike Shirkey’s got 12 LIVENGOOD grandkids, ” Whitmer said about the silver-haired Senate Majority Leader from Jackson County sitting behind her on the rostrum in the House of Representatives.. “He’s rarely spotted around town after hours because he likes to hightail it home to Jackson to have dinner with his wife, Sue.” The gesture generated a shout from Shirkey’s wife on the House floor — and appreciative applause from the Michigan Senate’s Republican leader. If February was the month of polite gettingto-know-you admiration between Shirkey and Whitmer, November is the month when this relationship is in danger of imploding. It started earlier this month with Shirkey’s spokeswoman saying the governor “has proven herself untrustworthy” following a series of public events where Whitmer supported REPUBLICANS an organization — WHO CONTROL and then vetoed their state funding in her THE budget standoff with LEGISLATURE Shirkey and the GOP. Then Shirkey spoutHAVE BEEN AT ed off in a speech beODDS WITH fore a group of College at HillsWHITMER SINCE Republicans dale College, reportHER SHOCK-AND- edly painting Whitmer her fellow DemoAWE VETOES OF and crats as being “on the $941 MILLION IN batshit crazy spectrum,” The Hillsdale SPENDING. Collegian student newspaper reported. Whitmer and Shirkey’s public relationship has disintegrated since they were photographed smiling and yukking it up at the Grand Hotel at the Mackinac Policy Conference in May, when the governor signed sweeping reforms to no-fault auto insurance — Shirkey’s No. 1 legislative goal this session. Shirkey said Thursday that he apologized to Whitmer directly. “I regret what I said,” Shirkey said in a statement. “In times of peak frustration, we often say things we didn’t mean. But that’s no excuse for my offensive comment. It was disrespectful and unnecessary.” In an interview with Crain’s before the Hillsdale article was published, Shirkey did not back away from his office’s characterization that Whitmer is untrustworthy. Shirkey cited Whitmer’s veto of $750,000 in funding for a $10 million recovery home for opioid addicts in Jackson County that she helped him break ground on in April. Whitmer also has taken arrows from allies for nixing $1 million for the Autism Alliance of Michigan — after promising the group at its annual gala in April that she’d be their “ally” in Lansing.

BY IDA BYRD-HILL

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer jokes with Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey before she signed the no-fault auto insurance reform bill on the porch at the Grand Hotel on May 30. | DALE YOUNG FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“Because of all those actions, unfortunately, she set herself up to either be viewed as disingenuous or be strictly only interested in her own politics and not solving problems,” Shirkey said. Republicans who control the Legislature have been at odds with Whitmer since her shock-and-awe vetoes of $941 million in spending, followed by her flexing of executive muscle to re-arrange $625 million in spending. Shirkey, who professes to not be a political animal, said he’s responding “to what I’ve observed” of Whitmer’s leadership, which he characterized as “uber political.” Shirkey’s constant referral to Whitmer as “my governor” has been viewed by just about everybody in Lansing not named Mike Shirkey as a condescending put-down of Michigan’s second woman governor. Whitmer, for her part, is unmoved by the Senate leader’s rhetoric. In an interview before she left the state last week for a trade mission in Israel, the governor said she “got a second-hand apology” for Shirkey’s office calling her untrustworthy. “I don’t know if their emotions got the better of them — again — and they just were lashing out,” Whitmer told me. “But I think that kind of rhetoric is, No. 1, untrue and, No. 2, destructive. And I’m not going to return fire.” During former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s second term from 2007 through 2010, her acrimonious relationship with then-Senate Majority Mike Bishop was a leading cause of two short-lived state government shutdowns. Anyone in business looking to invest in Michigan at the time had good reason to turn around at the “Pure Michigan” signs at the Ohio and Indiana borders. So here we are with another Democratic governor and another Republican Senate leader named Mike at odds amid a budget impasse over spending priorities and power. And this sequel is not even about money. The state is flush with cash. Wait until they actually start fighting over real budget cuts when a recession starts depleting the state’s coffers. Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654 Twitter: @ChadLivengood

A city is the culture of its residents and not real estate. People migrate to San Francisco and Silicon Valley to garner the energy of the wild, wild West of software. People migrated to Detroit for the hard hustle work ethic of manufacturing. Ida Byrd-Hill is The book, “Invisible president of Talent Market,” highUplift Inc. lighted: “There are 92 post-secondary institutions in San Francisco Bay and 27 in San Francisco borders alone, not including the various coding academies or apprenticeship programs. In comparison, there are 79 post-secondary institutions in New York City, 54 in Boston Metro, 45 in Metro Atlanta, 28 in Metro Detroit and 20 in Washington, D.C.” It is easy to see San Francisco invested in its residents to become the epicenter of innovation and software development, leading Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist, to declare boldly, “Software is eating the world.” Detroit has the grand opportunity to boldly declare we are the epicenter for automation by investing in Detroit residents. Dell Chief Technology Officer John Roese just stated “extreme” automation will be required to produce an autonomous vehicle,

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Sometimes you can beat City Hall TO THE EDITOR: Happily, 78.1 percent of Washington Township voters rejected the 20-year tax and debt increase to pay $11.5 million for a money-losing business that Total Soccer and the township agreed was only worth $5.4 million on March 14, 2019, giving a special 32 percent tax cut to Total Soccer. Voters also rejected the dirty tricks of Supervisor Dan O’Leary including using taxpayer money to promote the stadium tax increase, blocking Vote NO viewpoints on public TV, granting an 18-month retroactive “temporary occupancy permit” to allow Total Soccer to delay health and safety improvements like handicap access, water and sewer connections, access roads, performance bonds and engineer safety inspections. If the O’Leary 20-year stadium tax and debt increase passed, taxpayers would have had to pay for these mandatory obligations. If Crain’s Detroit Business chooses to bring up negative history of the “Vote NO tax increase” leadership, as they did about me, then journalistic ethics and fair play should compel Crain’s Detroit Business to also list the negative history of the pro-20year tax increase leader O’Leary’s harassment of staff, voting himself a huge pay

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited for length or clarity. Send letters to Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48207, or email crainsdetroit@crain.com. Please include your complete name, city from which you are writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. 8 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

meaning every man, woman, boy and girl must be involved in automation. Detroit needs automation reskilling to train the entire community, thousands at a time, in the internet of things, mobility, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. I created Automation Workz Institute (autoworkz.org) to do just that. During our pilot, we engaged 757 Detroiters simul- DETROIT HAS taneously, with a blended (online in- THE GRAND structor-led course), OPPORTUNITY Introduction to IoT. While the city of TO BOLDLY Detroit declared our DECLARE WE ARE projects a failure for traditional 20th cen- THE EPICENTER tury workforce de- FOR velopment, they missed the fact that AUTOMATION BY Detroit needs radi- INVESTING IN cally innovative 21st century workforce DETROIT development. A $250 RESIDENTS. million general obligation bond executed for automation reskilling would shake up Wall Street as Detroit declares it is set to become the automation capital of the world while simultaneously creating income increases that would power “extreme” economic growth. Let’s power an extreme automation revolution. Retool the blight removal bond as an automation reskilling bond.

increase and that Total Soccer owners donated at least $500 to the Supervisor Dan O’Leary campaign. Going forward, Washington Township should insist that Total Soccer Stadium quickly install health and safety obligations and allow engineering inspections. Washington Township should adopt the Michigan Model Ethics Ordinance for local governments. The ethics ordinance should ban taxpayer money to promote or defeat ballot proposals, require equal time for all sides of local ballot issues on public TV, require tax elections to only occur on August or November during the year the tax expires and prohibit local elected officials from voting to purchase property owned by campaign contributors. Ethics rules will reduce the chances of our elected officials from being tempted by big business donors. Dave Jaye Chairman USATaxFighters.org

MORE ON WJR ` Listen to Crain’s Group Publisher Mary Kramer and Managing Editor Michael Lee talk about the week’s stories every Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. Mondays on WJR 760 AM’s Paul W. Smith Show.

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

OTHER VOICES

Giving Tuesday should bake a bigger pie BY KELLI DOBNER

It’s that time of year again, when all of us in nonprofit leadership race toward making Giving Tuesday a meaningful time to attract donors and shine the light on what Kelli Dobner is we do. During chief this time, let’s advancement make sure to stay officer of true to the origiSamaritas. nal intent of this special day and work together to inspire a spark of generosity for all missions. This year, I would like to suggest that all of us in the nonprofit sphere enhance the message of Giving Tuesday to be one of collaboration and collective, rather than an urgent give-to-my-organization plea. Collaboration is a necessity if we are to build a brighter, stronger future for the community of social service nonprofit organizations. Giving Tuesday is a great example of that potential because it’s a day when everybody tries to grab a piece of the generosity pie. And yet, talking about it as a pie to divide into portions limits the possibilities of this season — and of giving in general. We need to bake a bigger pie through collaboration. Giving Tuesday is the perfect time to change the narrative because the initiative itself was born out of collaboration. In 2012, the 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation came together to designate a day devoted to celebrating the generosity of giving as a great American tradition. The simple concept behind it was to encourage people to do good. In the past seven years, Giving Tuesday grew into a global effort that has inspired hundreds of millions of people to come together in what is now the world’s largest giving movement. This past July, Giving Tuesday became its own organization, focused on “unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.” It’s not just about donating dollars. It is about truly coming together to improve the world. We all benefit when we find ways to collaborate toward increasing attention for the missions we are working toward and the impact that comes from that attention, rather than trying to raise as much money as we can for ourselves. Helping one organization helps all. The more people resolving societal problems, the better. Gone are the days of supporting a single organization. Most Americans have many causes and concerns grabbing their attention and their pocketbooks — as it should be. We must respond to this by joining hands and leveraging our partners and our networks to send a collective message of generosity — in time, deed, and yes, resources — far and wide. Bigger pie, bigger message. I love the way Giving Tuesday shines a light on the importance of giving. But it troubles me how the day has become a way to clamor for

dollars — straying somewhat from Nonprofits in America are responsiits integral message of generosity. It ble for about 10 percent of the GDP; now feels like nonprofits compete we must band together as one colfor attention and a finite pool of do- lective, sharing an abundance mennation dollars during one 24- NONPROFITS IN AMERICA ARE hour period. As U.N. Foun- RESPONSIBLE FOR ABOUT 10 PERCENT OF dation President THE GDP; WE MUST BAND TOGETHER AS and CEO Kathy Calvin has said, ONE COLLECTIVE, SHARING AN “Giving is not ABUNDANCE MENTALITY THAT WE just about making a donation. It TRANSMIT TO THE WORLD. is about making tality that we transmit to the world. a difference.” Historically, empires fell when We must return Giving Tuesday to its core of building a spirit of giving. they looked inward. Looking out-

ward, even to the point of referring people to other causes and organizations, leads to growth and strength. Generosity multiplies. It’s the Law of Karma — what you put out comes back to you, often manifold. We need to celebrate what other people do in the nonprofit space because all ships rise with the tide. Once communities realize their potential, they help others do the same. It’s a pay-it-forward mentality, an investment in the greater good. The more of us who can speak about this and embrace a changed perspective of Giving Tuesday, the

easier it will be to act upon, without fear of losing donors. Especially in these times, we don’t need more politics impacting our nonprofit space or the important work we can all accomplish. The year ahead, 2020, is a census year, which will impact the dollars Michigan residents and nonprofits receive for important initiatives. The best thing we can do for our collective community is encourage everyone to participate in the census to lift up what is possible for all of us. Giving Tuesday is a great platform to hammer home that collective mentality and truly lift all of us up to our highest place yet.

DON’T LET YOUR BUSINESS LOSE OUT

ON THE NEXT HOLIDAY PARTY, GIFT EXCHANGE OR FAMILY OUTING It’s holiday season and the perfect time to highlight your catering service, venue space, gift catalogue or restaurant. Our classified advertising section offers business owners a variety of options to boost their marketing efforts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES, contact Suzanne Janik at sjanik@crain.com or 313-446-0455.

NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

SHAWN MALONE FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

SHE HAS AN ENGINEER’S DREAM J0B Julie Neph, chief engineer of the Mackinac Bridge Authority.

New chief engineer of Mackinac Bridge Authority keeps 4 million motorists safe every year BY RACHELLE DAMICO

Julie Neph always had an appreciation for buildings. As a student who excelled in math and science, Neph recognized that engineering would be her likely career path. “I knew I wanted to work with buildings,” Neph said. “I wanted to know why a building was standing the way it was.” While doing on-the-job training at the Michigan Department of Transportation’s engineering development program, she was one of only three or fewer women among 30 engineers. “I had expected there not to be a lot of women, especially in civil engineering,” Neph said. “It was just the way it was, and it was OK with me.” Now, as the chief engineer of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, Neph makes sure the Mackinac Bridge’s maintenance projects are seen through. Neph has worked as a civil engineer on the Mackinac Bridge for nearly three decades, helping to keep the bridge safe for the nearly 13,000 people who cross it a day.

10 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Since Neph has been with the authority, she’s overseen major projects and inspections for the bridge, including an in-depth cable inspection. The inspection involved a team of workers who were tasked with opening up the main cables of the bridge to examine the condition and safety of the individual wires inside. “People cross the bridge, see the toll collectors and think that’s all we do here,” Neph said. “I don’t think many people realize what a large maintenance department we have here at the bridge, and that we’re out here all the time.” The iconic bridge is nearly five miles long and opened to traffic in 1957. Known as “The Mighty Mac,” it’s one of the largest suspension bridges in the world. See ENGINEER on Page 11

“THE THING I LIKE ABOUT MY JOB THE MOST IS ACTUALLY BEING OUT ON THE BRIDGE. CLIMBING ON IT AND BEING OUT UNDERNEATH IT IS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. LOOKING OUT AT ALL THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BRIDGE AND SEEING THE WAY IT MOVES IS PRETTY FABULOUS. ” — JULIE NEPH, CHIEF ENGINEER, MACKINAC BRIDGE AUTHORITY

FOCUS | WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

ENGINEER

The Neph File

From Page 10

Education: Bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University

Last year, more than crossed 4 million motorists crossed the bridge. “It’s an attractive job and a wellknown bridge,” Neph said. “To work on it is like a dream come true.”

Career ladder: After graduating from Michigan Tech, Neph joined the Michigan Department of Transportation’s engineering development program in 1991. The program gives up-and-coming engineers exposure to different divisions of MDOT to allow them to learn what MDOT does and what department they may see themselves in. About a year later, Neph was hired as the assistant bridge engineer for the Mackinac Bridge Authority. The authority, which is comprised of board members who are appointed by the governor, sets the Mackinac Bridge’s policies and tolls and approves its spending for the year. As the assistant bridge engineer, Neph assisted the chief engineer with managing in-house and contracted projects for the maintenance of the Mackinac Bridge and its facilities. She remained in her role for 27 years until she was promoted to chief engineer this November.

` What goes into maintaining a bridge of this size? We have an annual inspection every year that takes a large amount of time to accomplish, sometimes up to two and a half weeks. We look at the bridge from the waterline up. That includes everything in between and from end to end. From there, we hire a consultant to write a report that tells us what they found. They give us recommendations to think about as far as what repairs need to be made or what to monitor. We implement the recommendations and make sure we have the appropriate amount of employees to do the job, the appropriate materials and the appropriate methods. We then carry out those repairs, inspect them and make sure everything looks good. ` What’s the largest construction update you’ve helped manage? In the late ’90s, we replaced and upgraded the finger joint system at each of the towers. The finger joints at the towers are really complicated. They are responsible for a lot of the movement of the bridge. The Mackinac Bridge moves longitudinally, laterally and up and down. It can raise or lower depending on the temperature and the load on the bridge. One finger joint was done over two months during the fall of one year, and the other finger joint was done over two months during the fall of the following year. There were approximately 20 employees on the project. ` Do you ever get on the bridge yourself to oversee maintenance? Is it dangerous?

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Current role: Chief engineer, Mackinac Bridge Authority A mentor: Neph’s older brother, Dave Walter, who studied mechanical engineering at Michigan Tech. “He brought the world of engineering to me,” Neph said.

If I need to see something out there that someone wants me to look at, yes. I do go out there to look at various things and to accompany some of the inspections. I’ve been out on the cables and underneath the bridge on the steel underneath. Of course it’s dangerous because there’s always the chance that you could fall, but we all wear fall protection. I’ve never felt like I was in a dangerous position. The thing I like about my job the most is actually being out on the bridge. Climbing on it and being out underneath it is a wonderful experience. Looking out at all the different parts of the bridge and seeing the way it moves is pretty fabulous. ` What’s the most challenging part of your job? Public speaking. It doesn’t come naturally to me. I know I’ll be speaking with the media and TV stations that may come up if they’ve heard about something going on with the bridge. I'll also be doing a lot more presentations for the public, to our board and to the media. Preparation for me is the biggest tactic. I am more comfortable looking at something on the bridge with fall protection on than public speaking.

Us engineers are more introverted and being out in the public eye is not something that’s comfortable to most of us. ` What do you find most rewarding about your job? Watching the maintenance team accomplish something that was challenging for them. For instance, we recently fabricated and installed a flag reel for the bridge. It was an in-house project, where we designed and fabricated a reel that reels a 30-by-60foot American flag up and down off of the North tower of the bridge. We hang it six times per year on Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Patriot Day and Veterans Day. A lot of the team has pride in that. ` Part of your job is to ensure that the people who cross the Mackinac Bridge are kept safe. What would you tell those who may be nervous to cross a bridge of such scale? The people at the Mackinac Bridge know that it is their job to make sure everyone gets across the bridge safely, and they work hard at making sure this is accomplished.

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COMMERCE

Whitmer makes deal with nonprofit to attract Israeli mobility companies

Organization pledges to identify opportunities for investment BY CHAD LIVENGOOD

On a weeklong trade trip to Israel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer forged a new state partnership with a startup-tracking Israeli organization that has pledged to identify opportunities for Israeli mobility companies to invest in Michigan. Whitmer last Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Israel nonprofit Start Up-Nation Central that’s focused on linking Israeli startups developing self-driving vehicle technology that improves quality of life. “This MOU can offer a blueprint on how to optimize mobility to improve transportation options for citizens who may not be looking for a self-driving car, but who do need an affordable, reliable way to go to the bank, get to an appointment or meet friends for coffee,” Whitmer said in a statement. The MOU builds on an earlier partnership the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator entered into with Start

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers a speech Tuesday on the Great Lakes and fresh water at the Water Technology and Environmental Council Conference in Tel Aviv.

Up-Nation Central to create a webbased database portal called StartupMichigan.com that tracks the progress of 398 startups with 64 investors. StartupMichigan.com provides a free, publicly available searchable list

of startup companies, investors and services with pertinent information such as employee count, funding and funding stage and contact information for the founders or executives. Whitmer signed the MOU on the same day she delivered a speech about the Great Lakes and fresh water at the Water Technology and Environmental Council Conference in Tel Aviv. Before departing for the seven-day trade mission, Whitmer told Crain’s she hoped to forge some partnerships on water technology with the Israelis. Whitmer also met with Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of energy, to discuss ways to grow the cybersecurity industry in Michigan, according to the governor’s office. The first-year governor also visited General Motors Co.’s Advance Technical Center near Tel Aviv. She also planned to tour a Ford Motor Co. research center in Tel Aviv that the Dearborn-based automaker opened in June. NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 11

NONPROFITS

Nonprofit Dutton Farm to spin off part of soap business

Goal is to create inclusive workplace, jobs for clients with disabilities, help social enterprise increase revenue BY SHERRI WELCH

Dutton Farm is spinning off part of the social enterprise it launched three years ago to provide job training and jobs for its developmentally disabled clients and a source of revenue to support programs. The nonprofitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clients or â&#x20AC;&#x153;farmersâ&#x20AC;? make all-natural soap, body products and candles sold under the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dutton Farm Marketâ&#x20AC;? brand at the Rochester farm through one of several programs aimed at giving clients skills they can take into workplaces. The products have attracted a following at local farmersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; markets and retailers, especially in Oakland County, including Morgan Stanley, Buschâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fresh Food Market and the Detroit Athletic Club, Dutton Farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-founder and CEO Jenny Brown said. Brown And this year Dutton Farm will be among the vendors featured at the Bedrock Holiday Market in downtown Detroit, said Brown, whose sister Rebecca â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beccaâ&#x20AC;? Smither, has Down syndrome. Inspired by her sister, Brown passed on law school to launch the nonprofit with their mother, Michele Smither, a decade ago. But the social enterprise still hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t generated the revenue needed to cover its costs. Operating it as part of job training for clients also meant sacrificing some

Dutton Farm workers make all-natural soaps and body products | DUTTON FARM

production efficiencies, Brown said. And because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a service provider, Dutton Farm has been denied the approved employer status that would entitle its employees with disabilities to job coach benefits through Medicaid that could help fund the services. By spinning off marketing and distribution, to start, to a new, low-profit, limited liability company, employees with disabilities working at the new company will be able to attract federal entitlements to support job coach benefits, said Brown, who will also

serve as CEO of the new L3C. Beyond the financial imperatives of shifting the social enterprise to the L3C, the larger goal is to create a model to show other employers inclusive workplaces can be profitable. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hiring people with disabilities is not just charity or a bad decision,â&#x20AC;? Brown said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It can be good for business.â&#x20AC;?

Separating services Dutton Farm provides job training

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and other services and programs aimed at helping clients integrate into the community through activities like volunteerism. It serves 120-150 adults each year, Brown said. Beyond coordinating volunteer opportunities for clients and things like transportation services, it provides job-training programs in areas including animal care, gardening and landscaping, custodial, clerical, customer service, child care assistance, and through the Dutton Farm Market production, fulfillment, distribution and customer service operations that launched in 2016. The social enterprise program was meant to create jobs for clients as well as provide training. But Dutton Farms hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been able to tap federal funding to support the coaching itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s providing to employees with disabilities. With the move toward Employment First â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a national movement to provide meaningful jobs at competitive wages in integrated workplaces for people with disabilities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; â&#x20AC;&#x153;we canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be both employer and service provider,â&#x20AC;? said Dutton Farm chairman Dave Mingle, the Detroit-based global industry leader of automotive for Utahbased Qualtrics. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to offer (clients) that employment opportunity, so that employer has to be its own legal entity.â&#x20AC;? The marketing and distribution functions, along with three of 12 employees, will transfer to EveryBody L3C in January, creating an inclusive workplace right from the start. Two employees are neurotypical, Brown said, and one employee, who has autism, will join the new company as a sales associate. Though it could take investments, the new company will launch with a donation of $45,000-$50,000 from Brown to ensure it has sufficient cash flow. She wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seek to recoup that â&#x20AC;&#x153;investment.â&#x20AC;? Instead, any profit from the L3C will flow to Dutton Farm to support its mission, Brown said. Still, she said sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be open to considering future investment if investors were looking for a social return rather than a financial return. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m taking the risk with my own money to show that a business can become profitable by employing a workforce thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been overlooked â&#x20AC;Ś

for fear that it would drag company profits down,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe in the potential of this and really care deeply about my sister and want this program to be sustainable ... (and) to see as much of a financial return going back to the mission as possible.â&#x20AC;? For now, Dutton Farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clients will continue to make the products, building job skills as they do. That job training is supported by federal benefits. The nonprofit will continue to carry the costs of making the product, since they are currently tied to job training funded by Medicaid and donations, Brown said. EveryBody will focus on expanding distribution of products purchased from the nonprofit, first locally, then nationally, she said, ramping up social media marketing, looking to expand its sales in Detroit and the region as a whole and targeting families with loved ones who are disabled. EveryBody will also look to expand sales through local merchants and private label agreements, like the one it has in place with Great Lakes Coffee of Detroit to make private-label soap with its used coffee grounds. Dutton Farm is operating on a $1.2 million budget this year, funded largely by grants and donations and Medicaid benefits clients bring with them. Last year, sales of Dutton Farm Market products generated about $80,000, Brown said. With its presence at the Bedrock Holiday Market, she expects to hit $150,000 in revenue this year toward the programs annual costs of $220,000. Next year, revenue generated by the L3C as it takes on all sales and distribution is expected to rise to $200,000, Brown said, before hitting $275,000 in 2021 to finally cover all costs associated with the social enterprise at the L3C and the nonprofit.

Workforce development In tandem with spinning off the social enterprise, Dutton Farm is ramping up its workforce development. It will look to expand its job coach services, which pair a client with developmental disabilities with a neurotypical coach. Currently, it provides job coaches for 15-20 clients working in the community, Brown said. Among them is a coach working with Mingleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son Logan, who has autism. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Being able to go out and compete for a job on his own is just not practical for him,â&#x20AC;? Mingle said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;His ability is severe enough (that) heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d have a hard time working independently at a competitive rate.â&#x20AC;? But with job training for the past couple of years at Dutton Farm and a job coach provided by the nonprofit, his son recently found work as a custodian at the North Oakland YMCA. At age 27, his son received his first-ever paycheck in October, Mingle said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He has a job coach that is there with him full time, helping him stay on task and build the skills to work more and more independently, over time, with the goal of reducing or eliminating ... someday the need for any assistance.â&#x20AC;? Sherri Welch: 313 (446-1694) Twitter: @SherriWelch

LEGISLATURE

Bills would let landlords crack down on support animals Legislation would allow eviction of apartment building tenants who falsely claim need BY KIRK PINHO

gan, or licensed in the state in which the person resided the previous 180 days, and would have to have a physical office where patients are treated and where the person was prescribed the animal received treatment during the previous 180 days, according to a legislative analysis of the bills. The residentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s documentation would have to establish that the health care provider has treated them for at least six months, that the person has a disability and what the effects of it are, and how the emotional support animal helps address those. Violation of what would be known as the Misrepresentation of Emotional Support Animals Act could be a up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500 and/or up to 30 days of community service. Lehman said she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t discount the benefits emotional support animals can provide. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I believe wholeheartedly they can be a very valid form of therapy,â&#x20AC;? she said. The bills are sponsored by Rep. Matt Hall, R-Marshall, and Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, and were the subject of a hearing in the Regulatory Reform Committee last month. They were introduced in September. The Senate bills are 608-610 and are sponsored by Sen. Dale Zorn, R-Ida. They were introduced last month and referred to the Senate Committee on Local Government, where they had a hearing late last month.

Lansing lawmakers are considering legislation that proponents say would help harness tenants looking to exploit loose rules on emotional support animals in apartment buildings. A pair of House bills, 4910 and 4911, would let landlords evict tenants who lie about needing an emotional support animal to help with a disability, as well as make it a misdemeanor for a health care provider to prescribe one when not needed and for a tenant to falsely claim that they are needed. There is also similar legislation in the state Senate. Under the legislation, landlords could ask for â&#x20AC;&#x153;reliable documentation from an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health care providerâ&#x20AC;? proving that he or she has a disability and needs an emotional support animal, which the legislation Under the legislation, landlords could ask for â&#x20AC;&#x153;reliable documentation from an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health care providerâ&#x20AC;? proving that he or defines as â&#x20AC;&#x153;a common domestic ani- she has a disability and needs an emotional support animal. | GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO malâ&#x20AC;? prescribed to a person with a Lehman said if an apartment com- the likelihood of someone who has partment of the Lansing-based â&#x20AC;&#x153;mental, emotional, psychological or munity denies an emotional support made a false request for an emotion- Michigan Protection & Advocacy psychiatric condition or illness.â&#x20AC;? Yet some housing advocates con- animal to a tenant, even if they think al support animal suing a housing Service Inc., which advocates for tend that the proposals donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ad- itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not needed, they run the risk of providerâ&#x20AC;? is slim. people with disabilities, worried that dress one of the key causes of the facing litigation and complaints to Data on the number of emotional the bills could have a chilling effect. problem, which are websites that, the Michigan Department of Civil support animals isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easy to come â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a shame that somebody might with little to no supporting evidence Rights and the U.S. Housing and De- by, but the National Service Animal be turning out sham letters to take or psychological assessment, pro- velopment Department. Registry, which sells emotional sup- advantage of something thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are forced to accept these paid port animal certificates, says that as needed for persons with disabilities,â&#x20AC;? vide letters prescribing the use of letters because, if we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, they are of Nov. 7, there were more than Davis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a legitimate concern the animals. Karlene Lehman, vice president sending us threats stating that if you 200,000 registered with it alone. The but we want to see it addressed in a with Bloomfield Township-based donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t accept this, we will file a com- state civil rights department does not way that wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t create additional multifamily landlord Princeton En- plaint,â&#x20AC;? she said. keep track specifically of complaints burdens.â&#x20AC;? Jim Schaafsma, a housing attorney involving emotional service animals, The legislation would make it so terprises LLC, said her company, that a health care provider prescribwhich has 25,000 units in 15 states with the Michigan Poverty Law Pro- a spokeswoman said. and 100 properties in Michigan, said gram in Ypsilanti, said the legislation, Chris Davis, supervising attorney ing an emotional support animal Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412 the number of people saying they however, does practically nothing to for the Information and Referral De- would have to be licensed in Michi- Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB need emotional support animals at address the problem and may violate their complexes has doubled. From the federal Fair Housing Act. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These bills donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t very accurately May 1 to Oct. 31 last year, there were (;&(37,21$/ 3523(57,(6 ,1 7+( &,7< 2) %/220),(/' +,//6 92; during that same period this year, target the stated concern, or they are not narrowly tailored to meeting the there were 183, she said. 3Ę˛ĘĽĘłĘĽĘŽĘ´ĘĽĘ¤ Ę˘Ęš .ĘĄĘ´Ę¨Ęš %Ę˛ĘŻĘŻĘŁĘŤ $ĘłĘ¨ĘŹĘĽĘš &Ę˛ĘĄĘŠĘŽ â&#x20AC;&#x153;Princeton received 261 modifica- objective of regulating these online tion and accommodation requests bad actors,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They go beyond (under the Fair Housing Act) in the what is necessary. Our fear is espelast six months. That should be cially when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re considering popuspread out over all these differentâ&#x20AC;? lations that have a legitimate right to types of changes to housing that can ESAs, people with disabilities, people dealing with be requested unhealth der the Fair â&#x20AC;&#x153;PRINCETON RECEIVED 261 mental challenges, this is Housing Act, she going to create said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seventy MODIFICATION AND fear and confupercent were for ACCOMMODATION sion for them.â&#x20AC;? an emotional 5HJDO 0DQRU ZLWK 8QSDUDOOHOHG 4XDOLW\ &RYHWHG /RFDWLRQ 8SGDWHG WR 3HUIHFWLRQ He pointed to support animal. REQUESTS (UNDER THE +ĘŠĘŹĘŹĘˇĘŻĘŻĘ¤ 'Ę˛ĘŠĘśĘĽ %ĘŹĘŻĘŻĘĘŚĘŠĘĽĘŹĘ¤ +ĘŠĘŹĘŹĘł 0ĘĄĘ˛Ę´ĘĽĘŹĘŹ 'Ę˛ĘŠĘśĘĽ %ĘŹĘŻĘŻĘĘŚĘŠĘĽĘŹĘ¤ +ĘŠĘŹĘŹĘł a North Dakota It is overwhelm- FAIR HOUSING ACT) IN THE law that says ing. I received landlords may three requests LAST SIX MONTHS. ... request â&#x20AC;&#x153;reliable just today.â&#x20AC;? SEVENTY PERCENT WERE supporting docuEmotional mentationâ&#x20AC;? from support animals FOR AN EMOTIONAL a tenant seeking and service ani- SUPPORT ANIMAL. IT IS permission to mals are different have an emobecause the lat- OVERWHELMING.â&#x20AC;? tional assistance ter are trained to â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Karlene Lehman, vice president, animal, and that do specific Princeton Enterprises LLC documentation things. I. Matthew Miller, a member of the has to come from â&#x20AC;&#x153;a physician or property management section for medical professional who does not Farmington Hills-based law firm operate in this state solely to provide Swistak Levine PC who is also on the certification for service or assistance chairman of the Property Manage- animals.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think we would be opment Association of Michigan, said the websites are a problem but not posed to that,â&#x20AC;? he said. Schaafsma also was skeptical easily regulated in Michigan because they generally arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t incorporated in about the claim that there would be rampant litigation if landlords chalthe state. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For anywhere between $30 and lenged tenants on the legitimacy of $199, they promise to write you a let- the emotional support animal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They can deny it,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There ter that will allow you to keep your &ĘĄĘŹĘŹ .ĘĄĘ´Ę¨Ęš ĘŚĘŻĘ˛ ĘĄ 3Ę˛ĘŠĘśĘĄĘ´ĘĽ 9ĘŠĘĽĘˇĘŠĘŽĘ§ _ 3Ę˛ĘŠĘŁĘĽĘł 8Ę°ĘŻĘŽ 5ĘĽĘąĘľĘĽĘłĘ´ animal, notwithstanding whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is some risk. They face the risk of a _ ĘŤĘĄĘ´Ę¨Ęš#ĘĘĄĘ¸Ę˘Ę˛ĘŻĘŻĘŁĘŤĘ¨ĘŻĘĘĽĘł ĘŁĘŻĘ _ ĘŤĘĄĘ´Ę¨ĘšĘ˘Ę˛ĘŻĘŻĘŁĘŤ ĘŁĘŻĘ a pet-free community, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Fair Housing Act administrative complaint, or a court complaint, but permitted breed,â&#x20AC;? he said.

NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DETROIT BUSINESS | 13

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CRAIN'S LIST: MICHIG MICHIGAN AN VETER VETERAN-O AN-OWNED WNED BU BUSINE SINES SSE SES S Ranked by 2018 revenue Company name Location Contact info

Majority owner(s)

Revenue ($000,000) 2018/2017

Percent change

Local employees Jan. 2019/2018

Percent VeteranOwned

Branch of service

Years served

Type of business

Wolverine Packing Co.

Jim Bonahoom president

$1,265.0

-2.9%

750 600

50.0%

Army

Wholesale meat packer and processor; wholesale meat, poultry and seafood distributor

Barrick Enterprises Inc.

Robert Barrick president

573.1

7.2

17 17

100.0

Army

Petroleum retailer and wholesaler

Populus Group

Bobby Herrera CEO

505.0

36.9

134 105

51.0

Army

Populus Group helps companies manage their non-permanent employees with HR-related services.

Petoskey Plastics Inc.

Paul Keiswetter president and CEO

147.0

1.4

9 NA

80.0

Marines

Environmentally focused film, bag and resin manufacturer.

Chemico LLC

Leon Richardson CEO, chairman, president

146.0

17.7

281 215

100.0

Marines

Chemical management and supply

James Group International Inc.

John A. James chairman

119.0

-7

120 114

100.0

Army

Logistics and supply chain solutions

8.6

75 81

100.0

Army

Real estate building, development and sales

-14.7

106 106

95.1

Army

Structural steel contractors

98.0

-3.9

190 190

50.0

Army

Provides secured communications, networks and technologies to business locations across the US.

5 6

2535 Rivard, Detroit 48207 313-259-7500; www.wolverinepacking.com 4338 Delemere Blvd., Royal Oak 48073 248-549-3737; www.barrickent.com 3001 West Big Beaver Road, Ste. 400, Troy 48083 248-712-7900; www.populusgroup.com 1 Petoskey St., Petoskey 49770 231-347-2602; www.petoskeyplastics.com 25200 Telegraph, Suite 120, Southfield 48033 (248) 723-3263; www.thechemicogroup.com 4335 W. Fort St., Detroit 48209 313-841-0070; www.jamesgroupintl.com

$1,303.0

534.4

369.0 1

145.0 1

124.0

128.0

MJC Companies

46600 Romeo Plank Road, Suite 5, Macomb 48044 586-263-1203; www.mjccompanies.com

Michael Chirco founder and president

116.0

Midwest Steel Inc.

Gary Broad chairman

116.0

BullsEye Telecom Inc.

William Oberlin chairman

Trendway Corp.

Donald Heeringa chairman and CEO

61.6

-5.1

NA NA

Army

Home and office furnishings

MCL Jasco Inc.

Louis James president and CEO

52.3

63.4

162 78

100.0

Army

Energy efficiency and program management, warehousing and distribution, quality inspection and containment, MRO fulfillment/ government-contracts, call center and outreach services.

Multi-Bank Securities Inc.

David Maccagnone chairman and CEO

45.9

-30.9

65 69

62.0

Marines

Broker-dealer that has served the investment and funding needs of banks, credit unions, municipalities and other institutional clients funding needs of its clients. Registered with the SEC and MSRB

Argent International Inc.

Frederic Perenic president and CEO

42.0

2.4

NA NA

Marines

Designer and manufacturer of pressure sensitive adhesives and material composites for automotive, medical and industrial markets

CMAC Transportation LLC

David Christie CEO

40.0

14.3

NA NA

Air Force

Logistics company

13 14

2525 E. Grand Blvd., Detroit 48211 313-873-2220; www.midweststeel.com 25925 Telegraph Road, Suite 210, Southfield 48033 248-784-2500; www.bullseyetelecom.com 13467 Quincy , Holland 49424 616-399-3900; www.trendway.com 7140 W. Fort St., Detroit 48209 313-841-5000; www.mcljasco.com 1000 Town Center, Suite 2300, Southfield 48075 800-967-9045; www.mbssecurities.com 41016 Concept Drive P.O. Box 701007, Plymouth 48170 734-582-9890; www.argent-international.com 20450 Sibley Road, Brownstown 48193 800-524-4255; www.cmactrans.com

106.9

136.0 1

102.0

64.9

32.0

66.4 2

41.0

35.0 1

Progressive Mechanical Inc.

Randy Hosler president

39.3

10800 Galaxie , Ferndale 48220 www.progressivemech.com

NA NA

Army

Mechanical, plumbing, process piping and fire protection contractor specializing in the management and construction of HVAC, mechanical process piping and plumbing systems for the commercial, industrial, institutional and municipal markets

Elliott Tape Inc.

Richard Hugh Elliott founder

36.1

1.6

NA NA

Army

Automotive tape supplier

1882 Pond Run , Auburn Hills 48326 248-475-2000; www.egitape.com

35.6 1

Automation & Modular Components Inc. Richard Shore chairman & Affiliates

34.6

-9.2

86 97

70.0

Navy

Manufacturing - material handling, automation systems, conveyors, test equipment and aluminum extruded products

Contract Professionals Inc.

Steve York chairman and CEO

33.5

1.5

458 425

78.0

Air Force

Staffing company

Arrow Strategies LLC

Jeffrey Styers president and CEO

31.3

-3.7

NA NA

Marines

Staffing firm specializing in placement of professionals in the information technology, engineering, professional and health care services industries

Imperium Logistics LLC

A. Rocky Raczkowski president and founder

28.7

1.8

86 83

100.0

Army

Logistics and supply chain services

TAG Holdings LLC

Joseph Anderson chairman and CEO

23.3

-5.9

30 31

78.0

Army

Have a variety of business ownership in companies that provide manufacturing, modular assembly, warehousing and other value added services for customers across a range of industries.

WDS Enterprises Inc.

Willian Switzer owner and president

20.7

15.2

NA NA

100.0

Army

Trucking company

RB Construction Co.

Russell Beaver president

15.7

5.6

12 7

100.0

Army

General construction company, SBA 8(a) certified minority business enterprise, service disabled veteran-owned small business

Ross Structural Steel Inc.

Thomas Ross president

15.6

20.2

NA NA

Army

Steel fabricator

Commoneo LLC

Robert Jones CEO

12.0

192.7

NA NA

Air Force

Payroll service

Resistance Welding Machine & Accessory

Clif Adams owner

12.0

14 12

100.0

Army

Manufacturer and distributor of resistance welding supplies and equipment

20 21 22

10301 Enterprise Drive, Davisburg 48350 248-922-4740; www.amcautomation.com 4141 W. Walton Blvd., Waterford 48329 (248) 673-3800; www.cpijobs.com

27777 Franklin Road, Ste. 1200 , Southfield 48034 248-502-2500; www.arrowstrategies.com 700 E. Big Beaver Road, Ste F., Troy 48083 (248) 250-9410; www.goimperium.com 30260 Oak Creek Drive, Wixom 48393 248-822-8056; www.taghold.com 9369 E. Blanchard Road , Shepherd 48883 989-828-4900; www.wdsenterprises.com 249 Cass Ave., Mount Clemens 48043 586-264-9478; www.rb-construction.com 110 E. Robinwood , Detroit 48203 313-893-787; www.rosssteel.com 50170 Schoenherr Road , Shelby Township 48315 855-587-2575; www.commoneo.net

255 Palladium Drive, Saint Joseph 49085 269-428-4770; www.resweld.com

38.2

33.0

32.5

28.2 1

24.8

17.9 1

14.9

13.0 1

4.1 1

12.0 1

Want the full Excel version of this list â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and every Crain's list? Become a Data Member: CrainsDetroit.com/data SOURCE: NATIONAL VETERAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL This list of veteran-owned businesses is an approximate compilation of the largest businesses in Michigan. Crain's collaborated with the National Veteran Business Development Council to compile the list. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. NA = not available. 1 From National Veteran Business Development Council. 2 Company estimate. NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DETROIT BUSINESS | 15

CALENDAR

Advertising Section

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

To place your listing, visit www.crainsdetroit.com/people-on-the-move or for more information, please call Debora Stein at (917) 226-5470 or email dstein@crain.com. CONSULTING

FINANCIAL SERVICES

INSURANCE / FINANCIAL SERVICES

Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc.

DFCU Financial

H.W. Kaufman Group

Christien Brow joins DFCU Financial’s Commercial Banking team as Vice President, Treasury Management Manager. She brings Brow over ten years of Treasury sales and service experience with focus on Commercial client relationships. Christien’s experience includes leadership of Treasury Management for Monroe Bank & Trust, with product development and risk mitigation responsibilities. DFCU Financial welcomes Credit Terrill Manager Cindy Terrill to its Commercial Banking team. Cindy brings nearly 40 years of commercial lending and credit analysis experience from such financial institutions as Chase and Monroe Bank & Trust. Her background in middle-market lending and risk management will be of special benefit to DFCU’s Commercial Banking initiative.

H.W. Kaufman Group, a global network of insurance companies, announced the addition of Richard S. Fusinski to its executive team as Chief Information Officer. Fusinski will set and oversee strategy for IT at Kaufman while working closely with key leadership, ensuring IT remains at the forefront of firm-wide deliberations. He will also lead short and long-term planning while overseeing execution of strategic projects for all 15 Kaufman companies.

ECT’s board of directors unanimously voted Bobbi S. Westerby to the position of president & chief executive officer. She joined the firm in 2018 as vice president & national director of the natural resources service line and has served as interim president for the past six months. During Ms. Westerby’s first year she led the natural resources team to a 30-percent increase in total revenues, made numerous key strategic hires, and expanded ECT’s client base and geographic footprint.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

DFCU Financial Michael Stolnack, Chief Credit Administration Officer, joins DFCU with 30 years of commercial banking and financial institution related experience. After completing an extensive credit training program at Comerica Bank, he held positions at other financial institutions as a commercial loan officer, credit reviewer and credit manager. He also worked for the State of Michigan as a bank examiner. Mike obtained his M.B.A. from Wayne State University and a Master of Science in Accountancy from Walsh College.

HEALTH CARE

Health Alliance Plan Health Alliance Plan has named Laurie Doran senior vice president and chief financial officer. Doran’s 30-year career includes serving as CFO of BMC HealthNet Plan, one of the largest Medicaid health plans in Mass., and 12 years at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She most recently was a consulting partner to the Association of Community Affiliated Health Plans. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Yale University and a B.S. from the University of New Hampshire.

NEW GIG? Preserve your career change for years to come.

NEW HIRE? PROMOTION? BOARD APPOINTMENT?

NONPROFITS

Judson Center Khadija Walker-Fobbs joins Judson Center as chief strategy officer. She will lead the Child and Family Services/ Child Welfare division, ensure alignment of the organization’s mission, vision and core values, and explore new service opportunities. Judson Center, in its 95th year, serves thousands of children and families annually through Autism Connections, behavioral health, foster care and adoption, employment services for persons with disabilities, and primary care for all ages. STAFFING & SERVICES

Centric Solutions Group LLC Centric Solutions Group announces Rick Van Heukelom SVP of Executive Search. He most recently served as Global SVP of HR at International Automotive NEW HIRE? Components with direct PROMOTION? oversight of the global HR BOARD APPOINTMENT? function. Rick was the VP of HR at Lear with a responsibility of a $10B business unit prior. Rick’s extensive knowledge of global HR and talent strategy will serve him well as he builds out the executive retained business division and gains market share while delivering superior customer service.

C O N TA C T

Plaques • Crystal keepsakes Frames • Other Promotional Items Crain’s People on the Move showcases industry achievers and their companies to the Detroit business community.

Laura Picariello Reprints Sales Manager lpicariello@crain.com (732) 723-0569

16 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Contact: Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com

Crain’s People on the Move showcases industry achievers and their companies to the Detroit business community. Contact: Debora Stein at dstein@crain.com

` MONDAY, NOV. 25 Tech Over Torque: Priorities Shift from RPM to EPM (Experiences Per Mile). 11:30 a.m.1:30 p.m. Detroit Economic Club. Harman President and CEO Dinesh C. Paliwal Paliwal will look to 2025, discussing the path toward a connected world. MotorCity Casino Hotel. $45 members, $55 guests of members. Website: econclub.org

` UPCOMING EVENTS Modern Healthcare Critical Connections: Social Determinants of Health Symposium. 7 a.m.-5 p.m.. Dec. 3. Hosted by Modern Healthcare. A symposium that examines the health care industry’s role in addressing the social determinants of health such as housing, family issues, income, residence location and other issues. Keynote speaker: Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO, Henry Ford Health System, who will speak on “How Healthcare is Uniquely Qualified to Lead the Charge in Addressing Social Determinants of Health.” Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. Tickets are sold out, but waiting list is available at modernhealthcare.com/events. Cannabis Summit & Simulcast. 7:3011:30 a.m. Dec. 5. Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants. Leaders in Michigan’s marijuana industry will discuss risk management, professional liability concerns and the latest in regulation and business valuation procedures. Speakers include: Ronald Seigneur, managing partner, Seigneur Gustafson LLP, Lakewood, Colo.; Marc Lichtman, partner, UHY LLP, Farmington Hills; Kareyna Miller, founder and president, LC Solutions Michigan PLLC, Flint; Christopher Rosmarin, principal, Rehmann, Grand Rapids; Jennifer Piggott, manager, Adult-Use Licensing, Marijuana Regulatory Agency, state of Michigan and James Baiers, chief legal officer, Trion Solutions, Troy. MSU Management Education Center, Troy. $145 members; $220 nonmembers. Contact: Kamal Webster, email: kwebster@micpa.org; phone: (248) 267-3700. 2019-2020 State of the Region. 10 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Dec. 5. Detroit Regional Chamber. The sixth annual State of the Region will reveal new data on Southeast Michigan’s economic health and how the region compares to peer regions. The re-

port analyzes economic indicators related to business growth, talent, innovation and international commerce. Ford Field, Detroit. $75 members; $150 nonmembers. Contact: Katy Palahang, phone: (313) 596-0384. Outlook 2020. 6-9 p.m. Dec. 9. Startup Nation and Venture Catalysts. Program will highlight Michigan’s business ecosystem and tech trends for 2020. Platform, Birmingham. $35. Contact: Gary Cohn, email: gary@startupnation.com Positive Links Speaker Series: Authenticity on One’s Own Terms. 4-5 p.m. Dec. 12. Center for Positive Organizations. Speaker Patricia Faison Hewlin, associate dean of undergraduate programs and associate professor in the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, will discuss how people can be authentic on their own terms by identifying thresholds of authenticity as well as personal values that can be integrated into the workplace to: increase work engagement, foster positive relationships and enhance overall personal well-being. Ross School of Business, Ann Arbor. Free. Contact: Center for Positive Organizations, email: cpo-events@umich.edu; phone: (734) 764-0544.

Donofrio

Swonk

2020 Michigan Economic Outlook. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Jan. 7. Detroit Economic Club. Grant Thornton chief economist Diane Swonk and Jeff Donofrio, director of Michigan’s Labor and Economic Opportunity Department, discuss the 2020 Michigan Economic Outlook. MotorCity Casino Hotel. $45 members, $55 guests of members. Website: econclub.org 2020 Detroit Policy Conference. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Jan. 29. Detroit Regional Chamber. The 2020 Detroit Policy Conference: Defining a Decade, will discuss Detroit’s path to economic sustainability Local and national leaders will highlight the work underway, new ideas, opportunities and challenges that will define the next 10 years for the Detroit region. MotorCity Casino Hotel. $169 members; $245 nonmembers. Contact: Katy Palahang, phone: (313) 596-0384.

DEALS&DETAILS ` CONTRACTS

neighborhooddefender.org

` The Neighborhood Defender Service, New York, N.Y., a public defender's office, has opened new offices in the Guardian Building in Detroit to provide legal services for at-risk residents in Wayne County. Under a contract approved by Wayne County in June, NDS will handle about 4,000 to 5,000 adult felony cases per year. The office is funded by nearly $8 million of a larger $17 million state-funded grant from the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. Website:

` NEW SERVICES `Whatsyoursign.net, Fraser, a sign and graphics business division of Fremont, Calif.-based American Graphics Printing Co., has installed a 126-inch wide Vutek inkjet printer from Electronics For Imaging Inc., Foster City, Calif., a technology company, allowing the company to increase printing capacity. Website: whatsyoursign.net Submit Deals & Details items to cdbdepartments@crain.com

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

November 25, 2019

Advertising Section

CLASSIFIEDS To place your listing, contact Suzanne Janik at 313-446-0455 or email sjanik@crain.com www.crainsdetroit.com/classifieds

MyLocker has completed a 120,000-square-foot expansion of its Corktown headquarters as the custom printing business booms. | ANNALISE FRANK/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

MYLOCKER

From Page 3

MyLocker is an internet-based retailer that sells direct to consumers on MyLocker.com as well as subsidiary site Spiritshop.com, a college apparel retailer that Hake bought for $2 million four years ago. It’s projected to do $8 million in revenue this year. He declined to disclose overall company revenue. Its business-to-business service Customcat.com drives most of the company’s sales — 75 percent and growing. Through the “web-to-product” service, independent retailers can make a custom-designed product online and contract MyLocker to manufacture and ship it directly to the retailer’s consumers. It allows retailers to run a business without taking on inventory. The printing machines at MyLocker’s headquarters are equipped with proprietary software that automates the process of designing, manufacturing and fulfilling, Hake said. Products, which include T-shirts, hoodies, hats, sandals and coffee mugs, are shipped to customers in two to three business days on average, according to its website. Custom printing is a seasonal business that surges during the holi-

days, Hake said. The company is aiming to hire 200 full-time machine operators and for other roles, such as receiving and shipping. MyLocker is hosting a job fair 1-7 p.m. daily at its Corktown headquarters. Those interested in a job can apply and gather more information on site. Nearly 75 percent of MyLocker employees are Detroit residents, and more than two-thirds are women. Hake said the company emphasizes cross-training employees. An inquiry was left with a company spokeswoman regarding the starting wage of the jobs. MyLocker moved from Warren to Corktown six years ago. It purchased three properties at 1300 Rosa Parks Blvd., 1661 Porter St. and 1641 Porter, which were combined into a single address through the expansion. The project was originally tabbed at $18 million, but to decrease costs and speed up completion, the design was changed from a masonry build to precast concrete, Hake said. “We had to turn down quite a bit of business while the expansion was being completed because we didn’t have the footprint to handle it,” he said. Kurt Nagl: (313) 446-0337 Twitter: @kurt_nagl

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RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY

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SUGAR

From Page 3

Wayne County took possession of the sprawling 180-acre industrial complex in the summer of 2017 after the county foreclosed on the property’s previous owner, Detroit Steel Co. LLC, for $3.7 million in unpaid taxes dating back to 2006. The steel mill has been shuttered since 1996, when the former McLouth Steel Products Corp. filed for bankruptcy. Detroit Steel Co. bought the assets out of bankruptcy and used some of the buildings for storage and transfers of bulk materials, including steel, aluminum, salt and sugar cane. In April 2017, Trenton’s city administrator told Crain’s there were 19,000 tons of sugar cane being stored inside one of the McLouth buildings. AmCane’s Taylor plant processed 80,000 and 100,000 tons of raw sugar annually into liquid, specialty and brown sugars supplied to food manufacturers, according to the company. Michigan Sugar, which owns the Pioneer and Big Chief sugar brands, bought AmCane in 2016 to bulk up

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its offerings and open a new revenue stream. The company said then that the acquisition would add $60 million in yearly sales and increase sales volume by 15 percent. Most of Michigan Sugar, which is cooperatively owned by hundreds of farmers, focuses on products made from sugar beets rather than cane. It is the largest employer in Huron county and second-largest in Bay and Sanilac counties. Crain’s reporter Kurt Nagl contributed to this report. Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654 Twitter: @ChadLivengood

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NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 17

REAL ESTATE

Capital One Café planned in $10M overhaul of 511 Woodward Building has been vacant more than 20 years BY KURT NAGL

The state’s first Capital One Café, a glassy new façade and pedestrian-friendly patio are in the works for the long vacant 511 Woodward building in downtown Detroit. The Elia Group, based in Birmingham, added another Detroit property to its portfolio after closing Wednesday on the $4.65 million purchase of the 30,000-square-foot building from Wayne County. Construction will begin immediately to overhaul the exterior and white box the inside, said Zaid Elia, founder and CEO of The Elia Group. All told, including purchase price, investment in the building is expected to top $10 million. “This property sits in the heart of the city and has been vacant well over 20 years,” Elia said. “We buy properties in phenomenal locations that have been sitting derelict and bring them back to life, and make sure they are functional but mean something to the community where it sits.” The four-story building rests at the footsteps of the Guardian Building and holds its HVAC system on its roof. The empty structure fronts downtown’s main thoroughfare near Spirit Plaza and Campus Martius Park. Wayne County bought the building in 2008 for about $2 million, financed by bonds it issued to also buy the Guardian Building for $14.5 million. The bonds became callable last year, when the county began aggressively marketing 511 Woodward, said

“WE BUY PROPERTIES IN PHENOMENAL LOCATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN SITTING DERELICT AND BRING THEM BACK TO LIFE, AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE FUNCTIONAL BUT MEAN SOMETHING TO THE COMMUNITY WHERE IT SITS.” — Zaid Elia, founder and CEO of The Elia Group

Khalil Rahal, assistant Wayne County executive. “It’s part of the larger financial recovery strategy” of the county, Rahal said. “One of the many ways we kept increasing our financial capacity is putting real estate assets back into productive use.” Virginia-based Capital One Financial Corp. will establish its first branch presence in Detroit with its Capital One Café, which will take up 7,000 square feet on two floors, according to a news release. It will include a Peet’s Coffee shop, along with community work space. The bank café will offer traditional banking services, ATMs and complimentary financial education programs. Around 25 new jobs would be created there after the company’s anticipated build-out of more than $1 million. Crain’s left an inquiry with the bank’s communications representa-

A dramatic renovation to the exterior of 511 Woodward is planned in the $10 million overhaul of the long vacant building. | YAMASAKI

tive for more details. The bank café is expected to open when building renovations are complete in September, Elia said. Detroit-based Walbridge Aldinger Co. is the general contractor and Detroit-based Yamasaki Inc. is the architect. The project is being supported with $1.56 million in brownfield tax incentives, Elia said. The city of Detroit and the Historic District Commission (the building sits within a historic financial district) have given the green light on construction.

Wayne County is continuing to market real estate assets for sale, Rahal said. It approved the $4.9 million purchase of the 650-acre Pinnacle Race Course site in Huron Township in October and has other potential deals developing, he said. Elia’s portfolio in Detroit includes the Ford Building, the Parc Detroit restaurant and Cadillac Tower, which he put up for sale in March just a couple of months after buying it. Elia said he is in discussion with the Downtown Detroit Partnership as a potential tenant as well as “na-

DURA

From Page 3

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That obligation was preventing prospective buyers from placing bids on the company, Marcus Hudson, executive director of Birmingham-based turnaround firm Calderone Advisory Group, told Crain’s when Dura filed for protection in October. “Someone has probably put a claim on the assets of Dura, and it’s holding up a sale of some shape or form,” Hudson said. “If everyone agreed upon a value, we wouldn’t be in bankruptcy court. This seems to be a creative way of trying to negotiate a deal that probably should be done out of court.” A source familiar with Dura’s situation who spoke to Crain’s on the condition of anonymity called the filing “financial engineering.” Generally, bankruptcy protection is reserved for unprofitable companies or those headed for insolvency, Hudson said. Dura is profitable. Dura generated revenue of $1.4 billion in 2018, according to estimates by Automotive News. It generates around $90 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, according to a Bloomberg report. According to the October filing, Tilton was looking to sell the profitable company to herself through the court. Tilton committed $77 million of debtor-in-possession financing to purchase Dura’s assets and take on all employee, customer and trade obligations through an investment arm. But things don’t appear to be going as planned. MBIA countered Tilton’s move and

tional tech companies” he declined to name. Detroit-based Iconic Real Estate is leasing the space on behalf of Elia. Rahal said Elia’s vision for activating a dormant piece of downtown helped seal the deal, and securing a lease with Capital One speaks to his real estate savvy and the attractiveness of Detroit. “Bankers know where the money is going,” Rahal said. Kurt Nagl: (313) 446-0337 Twitter: @kurt_nagl filed a motion in another ongoing bankruptcy case for funds previously controlled by Tilton only hours after Dura’s filing in Tennessee to move the case to Delaware. The fund claims in a court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware that Tilton is violating the terms of the settlement by placing Dura into bankruptcy. The agreement states Tilton is to repay the fund “whether through sale or refinancing” of portfolio companies, including Dura. The fund alleges Tilton “ignored alternative third-party financing that would have avoided a Chapter 11 filing.” The judge agreed and Dura’s Chapter 11 case was moved to Delaware, where the judge approved Bardin Hill’s bid to replace Tilton as the debtor-in-possession financier. Dura intends to complete a sale of the company within 120 days, but if another bidder is not found within that time frame, Bardin Hill plans to acquire the company by paying off all creditors in full. “Bardin Hill’s commitment provides Dura with the capital required for us to continue business as usual and ensure our customers, vendors and employees are compensated during our restructuring process,” Marc Beilinson, Dura’s appointed restructuring officer, said in a press release. “This critical funding will allow us to continue our expedited sales process as we work to find a buyer that will not result in any supply disruptions to customers or impairments to trade obligations. We look forward to Bardin Hill’s ongoing support as we seek to best position the company for future success.”

ADIENT

From Page 1 More than a year at the helm and DelGrosso has acted as a field surgeon — severing the company’s ties to its veteran leaders and employees, applying a tourniquet to its bleeding business units and ultimately asking its corporate employees to share in the pain. Roughly 1,300 non-plant salaried employees will not work or receive pay for the weeks of Thanksgiving, Nov. 2529, and New Year’s, Dec. 30-Jan. 3. “We’ve been pretty up front about what needs to be done,” a stoic DelGrosso said from his corner office earlier this month on Halyard Road in Plymouth Township. “I thanked them for taking the burden on. With so much uncertainty, I decided to take decisive action. I think people get it. They probably don’t like it, but it was the right thing to do. We’re continuing on the path we’re on.” That path is for the company to break even in 2020.

Failure to launch Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls Inc.’s board decided to part ways with its car parts units following its $16.5 billion acquisition of Ireland-based Tyco International plc. The move allowed JCI to focus on its higher-margin building controls business while lowering its tax bill by inverting the company to be incorporated in Ireland, which has a low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent. The publicly traded spinoff, Adient, would be operationally headquartered in Plymouth Township, but also incorporated in Ireland. “As an independent company, Adient will have the focus and resources necessary to thrive as the world leader in automotive seating, and Johnson Controls is now uniquely positioned for growth as the global leader in products, technologies and integrated solutions for the buildings and energy sectors,” then JCI CEO Alex Molinaroli said in an October 2016 press release. The new company was met with great fanfare, exacerbated by thenCEO Bruce McDonald’s announcement the company would spend $100 million to move 500 employees to a new headquarters in the Marquette Building at 243 W. Congress St. in Detroit. The state supported the move with a $2 million tax incentive. Only a few weeks earlier, Adient’s top competitor Lear Corp. had opened an innovation center in the city. But JCI loaded Adient with debt before completing the transaction. Adient took on $3.5 billion in debt to fund a $3 billion dividend payout to JCI, leaving the supplier with a debt load roughly twice its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. From the onset, Adient recognized the move as a risk, reporting in a regulatory filing at launch that significant leverage put the company at a competitive disadvantage and could limit its ability to perform. Adient also faced $1.5 billion in impairment charges related to the spinoff. In other words, the company was birthed in a hole and the only way through was stellar performance. However, previous management also saddled the company with integration missteps from two previous acquisitions. As part of its aggressive growth strategy, JCI acquired seating supplier Keiper, and its specialty seat business Recaro, and C. Rob. Hammerstein Group, both of Germany, to grow market share. Those acquisitions proved a disaster for its seat structures and met-

Adient’s location in Plymouth Township.

als and mechanisms division. It spent years integrating those companies while bleeding cash. Adient closed out its first full year of existence in 2016 with a $1.5 billion loss — JCI separated financial reporting of Adient ahead of its October 2016 spinoff.

Only weeks before it reported a net loss of $1.7 billion, about $32 million a week, on revenue of $17.4 billion in 2018, Adient hired DelGrosso to implement an even stronger restructuring plan.

Limping along

DelGrosso has experience fixing sinking auto suppliers. He joined Chassix in 2016 to help the supplier emerge from bankruptcy and has since led a turnaround. Chassix was born leveraged in April 2013, when Tom Gores-owned Platinum Equity formed it by merging Wixom-based Diversified Machine Inc. and SMW Automotive Inc. of Troy. Platinum had acquired Diversified Machine from The Carlyle Group in December 2011. The debt proved insurmountable, and Chassix filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2015 with $556.7 million in total debt and $34.3 million in assets after missing bond payments, but reorganized and emerged in July of that year. Since emerging, DelGrosso led a $50 million expansion in Europe and a roughly $30 million acquisition of Austrian conglomerate Benteler International AG’s automotive casting business. “He brings the right vision, leadership experience and operational expertise needed to drive Adient’s transformation forward,” John Barth, then interim chairman of the Adient board, said in a news release. Since his arrival, DelGrosso has terminated several executives, including Byron Foster, executive vice president overseeing the seats and mechanisms business, and Brian Grady, vice president of the commercial business, and realigned the businesses to operate on a regional basis. “There are some similarities between Adient and Chassix,” DelGrosso said. “Both are the result of poor execution and an aggressive growth strategy. We had a few tough launches, but only a minority of plants in the U.S. and Europe were troubled. I saw this as an opportunity to reflect on how we were operating the businesses. I decided to push accountability and responsibility back to the regions. Leaders in those regions now have the autonomy to operate efficiently.” DelGrosso said the company was too centrally focused and bloated with centralized upper management. The differences in operations regionally were distinct enough that the centralized control led to the problems. He calls his plan, and Adient’s new internal mantra, “Back to Basics.” While competitors Lear and Magna International have managed strong growth by investing away from seating, DelGrosso maintains the company will

The company recovered slightly in 2017 reporting net income of $877 million in its fiscal 2017. Meanwhile, Adient maintained its diversify and grow at all costs strategy in early 2018 with the creation of a joint venture with Boeing, in hopes of growing non-automotive seating revenue to more than $1 billion by 2022. But the financial troubles returned. Adient reported a net loss of $168 million on revenue of $4.6 billion in its second fiscal quarter of 2018 and abruptly parted ways with McDonald in June 2018 and hired former General Motors

“THERE ARE SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ADIENT AND CHASSIX. BOTH ARE THE RESULT OF POOR EXECUTION AND AN AGGRESSIVE GROWTH STRATEGY.” — Doug DelGrosso, Adient president and CEO

CEO Fritz Henderson to rescue the supplier. “It’s been one misstep after another,” David Lim, senior equity analyst with Wells Fargo Securities LLC, told Crain’s in 2018. “The communication and expectation has been really disappointing. During this time, the value destruction on the stocks has just been horrendous.” Adient shares plummeted by as much as 17.5 percent following the announcement of McDonald’s departure and were down nearly 40 percent in the first half of that year. Henderson’s first move was to scrap the planned move to Detroit. Adient suffered an $11 million loss on the deal, as it paid $36.13 million to acquire and improve the property, according to city property records, before selling it for $25 million. But its seats structures and mechanisms division continued its troubles, lowering Adient’s income by $120 million in the first quarter of 2018 alone. The division was crippled by uncompetitive plants, unprofitable contracts with customers and other inefficiencies that resulted in shipping parts via air at a considerable premium to meet contractual obligations, according to its investor presentations.

Skilled with the scalpel

stay the course. Colin Giles, a research analyst focused on supply chain and technology, for Southfield-based IHS Markit, said managing the core portfolio may play well for Adient. “Investing in the right products and technologies is crucial, particularly as the technological adoption and development trend in the auto industry is accelerating rapidly,” Giles said. “While it is important to keep an eye on the future, companies must not lose focus on the present. Smart asset management and continuous improvement now produces the capital necessary for investing in the future.” For Adient, that means rightsizing the company’s seat structures and mechanisms division. The goal is to pair down that division’s $3 billion in revenue by $400 million by letting bad contracts run their course and ending supply to competitors. “We’re reducing revenue on selling across the broader range,” DelGrosso said. “We were selling not only to customers but to competitors and it created challenges and diminished our returns on that scale. We’re allowing for an organic roll off, letting contracts expire.” Much of what DelGrosso is implementing is just that, allowing operations to expire. He indicated much of the company’s problems can be attributed to lusting after acquisitions and diversification. “A lot of that activity moved us away from the formula of Adient,” DelGrosso said. “(Former executives) wanted to expand to adjacent products, like the Boeing JV and Futuris and Ricaro. That diluted a lot of resources, took us away from our core business. Diluted ourselves to a point where we weren’t executing on launches and were not com-

mercially focused.” On Oct. 18, Adient reduced its stake in the JV with Boeing from 50.01 percent to just 19.9 percent. Adient also secured a deal to refinance its debt in May to the tune of $750 million, pushing its debt maturing out until 2024. Wall Street has responded to DelGrosso and his moves. Shares are up 23.4 percent year-to-date to $20.20 in afternoon trading on Nov. 21. “With what we see as the right team in place to fix Adient’s woes, more time to reduce debt, and option value from nonautomotive markets, such as business-class airplane seats and perhaps higher-dollar automotive seating content from autonomous vehicles, we think Adient is a compelling opportunity for investors willing to ride out the volatility of a turnaround story,” David Whiston, autos stock analyst for Chicago-based Morningstar Inc., said in an Oct. 14 analyst note. “The stock isn’t for everyone, though, because the turnaround is likely to take a long time. However, we don’t think the transformation has to be completed for investors to make real money.” With the improvement plan executed, DelGrosso is shifting Adient to its next goal — catching its competitors. Lear and Magna International enjoy margins higher than 11 percent compared to Adient’s at just over 5 percent. “In a stable environment, that’s not theoretical, that’s a reasonable target,” DelGrosso said. “This is a really good company. We’re rebuilding its credibility. We’re executing things as fast as we can without creating more problems. We’re a very capable company, and I think that’s becoming apparent.” Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042 Twitter: @dustinpwalsh

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on the consumer side, mass data is lacking on who buys the stuff and why, Malone said. To that end, he expects to release a survey around Wednesday with MSU and University of Delaware that looks at who U.S. CBD consumers are, how they consume it, prices and future demand. Preliminary results would likely be available Dec. 4.

CBD

From Page 1 Arianna expects less growth — 100 percent — in 2020 as she watches a tide of businesses swoop in around Mother Earth to claim a piece of the pie. The state’s first crop of industrial hemp since World War II will help fill out the local market: It will be possible to sell CBD made entirely in Michigan. Farmers harvested this fall through a state pilot program that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer touted in a news release as not just an agricultural opportunity, but a potential business creator. As of early November, the state issued 572 grower licenses and 433 processor-handler licenses. “It’s just such a rat race ... that it’ll take time to weed itself out,” said Keith Hagen of Ubly-based Hempure Farm, which had 340 acres of hemp in production this year and aims to grow into a big Michigan wholesaler for those selling CBD. He said those in the supply line should be locking in relationships with other businesses now, and that “next year will be bananas.” Both Mother Earth and Monroe-based manufacturer Urban Roots CBD LLC have been reaching out to hook into the chain. “It isn’t a super easy thing to locate and connect with,” Arianna Welsh said. “It’s not like you can open up a phone book of hemp growers and producers.” Nevertheless, she said she hopes to see Michigan-made oil available by December or January. Urban Roots has been sourcing CBD from out-of-state growers and extractors to make its own tinctures, topical solutions, pet oil, gummies and ice cream; it expected to open a retail shop in the front of its production facility last week. But co-founders Brandon Koz and Alex Kolpacke want to become nearly 100 percent Michigan-sourced, they told Crain’s over the phone while driving to meet with a hemp farmer they declined to name.

No high, still fly Hemp is a cannabis plant variety with 0.3 percent or less THC content, while the marijuana variety is regulated differently, having more THC (the element that produces a high). The non-psychoactive chemical compound CBD can be extracted from either marijuana or hemp, whose use the federal government approved in December as part of the federal farm bill, exempting it from the Controlled Substances Act that applies to marijuana. Some marijuana products also contain significant amounts of CBD. But what one sees on Kroger shelves, for example, is hemp-derived. The Bureau of Marijuana Regulation and the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development released guidelines in March on CBD and industrial hemp. But as rules shift, they are being interpreted differently. As recently as Oct. 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released new interim rules for industrial hemp production that are still subject to change. Neither MDARD nor the marijuana authority, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration govern CBD sales within Michigan, according to representatives from each. As of publishing, no one Crain’s contacted was able to definitively say if and by whom sales of

Uncertainty and growth

Tory (left) and Arianna Welsh founded CBD product retailer Mother Earth Natural Health in 2016 after their father saw success using CBD to treat pain. They now have three locations in New Haven, Shelby Township and Royal Oak. | MOTHER EARTH NATURAL HEALTH

Urban Roots has been sourcing CBD from out-of-state growers and extractors to make its own tinctures, topical solutions, pet oil, gummies and ice cream. Urban Roots sells CBD for dogs with salmon oil flavor. | URBAN ROOTS

20 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

hemp-based CBD are regulated here. CBD is praised by some for easing pain, stress and anxiety, and helping with sleep. There’s strong evidence it can treat child epilepsy syndromes, according to a Harvard Health blog post. But doctors say more study is needed on benefits and long-term health effects. The substance is “volatile” and “in its infancy” as a consumer good in the U.S., according to The Nielsen Co. “Because the regulations have changed so rapidly, and, we’ll call it haphazardly, there are a lot of open-ended questions as to how this supply chain can develop,” said Trey Malone, a Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics assistant professor and extension economist at Michigan State University who has studied CBD and hemp for around two years. “I don’t know where this market is going to go,” Malone said when asked to describe the CBD landscape in Michigan. “I don’t know if anybody knows ... Keep in mind all this stuff was Schedule 1 (a class of drugs) illegal not that long ago.” Like other emerging industries, CBD is casually referred to as a “Wild Wild West.” Quality varies — as does certainty about regulations, legality and promises of health benefits. And

A prominent example of the lack of regulatory clarity on CBD is its presence in food. The Detroit Health Department has cracked down on CBD-infused drinks, as reported by WXYZ-TV (Channel 7). And according to the March state guidelines, “at this time, the FDA has not approved CBD for use in food or drink or as a dietary supplement.” But stores including Family Video — which has inexplicably dived into the industry — are selling CBD water, gummies and other edible products in Michigan. Urban Roots sells ice cream, Mother Earth Natural Health sells gummies and the oil itself can be consumed. Meanwhile, Armada-based Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill grew hemp this year and wants to offer canned CBD teas. But it is waiting for more legal clarity. Leonard’s Syrups, the Detroit-based company known for rainbow-emblazoned delivery trucks, has had “discussions through multiple partners” about potential CBD drinks, but is staying out of the business for now, according to marketing director Bob Arthur. Hemp byproducts are, “arguably,” not federally approved as food additives, said Scott Roberts, owner and managing attorney of Detroit-based Scott F. Roberts Law PLC. But that rule is generally not being enforced, amid an “interim period of uncertainty” for the industry, he said. With the “potential legalization of edible CBD from hemp,” the wider market could grow to $6 billion by 2025, The Nielsen Co. found in June, with beverages and foods making up $1.7 billion and $950 million respectively. Brightfield Group, a market and consumer information firm, predicts the U.S. CBD industry will be worth $5 billion by the end of 2019 and see heftier growth to $23.7 billion by 2023. The Reef Detroit, an Eight Mile Road medical marijuana dispensary, says its investment in CBD is paying off: It has seen a 30 percent uptick in CBD sales since opening a section of its store in August for shoppers seeking the cannabis products that don’t require medical marijuana cards. One surprising slice of the market that The Reef, Mother Earth and others call up-and-coming is CBD for anxiety and pain in pets. The Reef and Urban Roots sell CBD for dogs with salmon oil flavor and Mother Earth sells CBD treats. “We work with a lot of customers that use (CBD) for their horses,” Welsh of Mother Earth said. “One lady uses them for her gecko. One gal who uses it, she has a younger horse that she does training with and barrel racing and she said he is far less skittish, because he’s calmer. There are next to no targeted horse products, and the reason you would target that is because with larger animals, you want to have stronger product. I think that’s gonna be an interesting thing ... you can really fine-tune and tailor it down to that niche market.” Annalise Frank: (313) 446-0416 Twitter: @annalise_frank

COMPLEX

400 is empty, “shuttered by debtors, and is presently unfit for occupancy.” Stefanini’s problems with the property were immediate, with their occupancy delayed by three weeks in May 2017, according to Farbman’s filing. Gas was shut off in October 2017. On three days in June and July last year, there were no working elevators. Elite Fire Safety Inc. was owed $30,000 for fire alarm equipment and monitoring and, when it wasn’t paid by Skymark, removed the fire alarm system, the response says. Stefanini paid the bill and requested a rent credit. “Stefanini Inc. is pleased with the direction and outcome of the legal proceedings to date, and is looking forward to continuing its tenancy ... under the property’s incoming ownership group,” Stefanini said in a statement.

From Page 1

Katebian claims in court that he was fraudulently left saddled with a $20 million-plus commercial real estate mortgage debt that he personally guaranteed when the other three allegedly schemed to have him removed from Liberty & York corporate ownership documents, therefore removing him from ownership of the office complex and a building outside of Atlanta. They then, he claims in court filings, “diverted those funds for their own use and benefit,” one of the reasons for default on the loans, in addition to him being removed from corporate ownership. It’s that default that has allowed Farmington Hills-based Friedman Real Estate, which has a niche for turning around distressed office properties in the suburbs, to pick up the office complex. Millions in renovations are planned as the federal court battle between Katebian on one side and Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson on the other continues. It’s far from the first time the previous building owners didn’t pay their bills. There have been dozens of liens and claims filed against them, totaling no less than $1.4 million, in Oakland County. The companies allegedly bilked range from small mom-andpop contracting businesses owed a few thousand dollars to global firms like Los Angeles-based brokerage CBRE Inc. and energy giant DTE Energy Co., owed hundreds of thousands. “They had no problem screwing me,” said Tim Drobot, owner of Bloomfield Hills-based contractor Drobot Custom Building Inc., which had a $89,000 claim against the building owners in federal bankruptcy court, although his lien says he was owed $104,200. He said that is about 10 percent of his annual revenue. “We have pretty much given up on them. They can’t pay us.” Emails were sent to an attorney for Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson seeking comment.

Seeking transfer In a federal lawsuit filed in October 2018, Katebian says that Alizadeh, who is Missaghi’s wife, “transferred” all of her stock in Liberty & York to him in August 2016. Through that stock ownership, Katebian says, he owned and controlled other entities in which Liberty & York is the sole member or shareholder: Skymark Properties Corp.; Skymark Properties II LLC; Skymark Properties III LLC and Skymark Properties SPE LLC. The complaint says that through two of those entities, Skymark Properties II and Skymark Properties SPE, Katebian took out a $17.35 million mortgage at the end of 2016 from GreenLake Real Estate Fund LLC, a subsidiary of South Pasadena, Calif.-based GreenLake Asset Management LLC, on the four buildings at 27100 W. 11 Mile Road, 27200 W. 11 Mile Road, 27300 W. 11 Mile Road and 27350 W. 11 Mile Road, which Blue Cross left vacant earlier this decade to move to downtown Detroit. The mortgage carried an 11 percent interest rate with a balloon payment due Dec. 31, 2019. In addition, the complaint says that in May 2017, Skymark Properties III took out a $3 million loan from Northridge, Calif.-based Extensia Financial LLC for a building in Morrow, Ga., south of Atlanta.

The newly renamed West Eleven Office Park in Southfield. | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Katebian says in the complaint that he personally guaranteed the two loans, which both required that Katebian be the owner, as in the case of the GreenLake loan, or that there be no change in ownership or management of the corporate entities without approval, as in the case of the Extensia loan. Changes to either of those would constitute a default. But at some point, Katebian alleges that Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson “prepared and/or caused to be prepared” falsified meeting minutes and emails purporting to give his ownership interests in Liberty & York, and therefore the other Skymark entities, to Alizadeh. That gave the three “complete control” over Liberty & York’s bank accounts and cash, and the trio allegedly “diverted those funds for their own use and benefit,” Katebian says. The GreenLake and Extensia loans then went into default. “It is an irrefutable fact that I do not have any interest in Liberty & York Corporation,” Katebian is alleged to have written in a Feb. 6, 2018, email to attorneys as well as Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson. “This retraction is being provided to you of my own free will, without the influence of any other party.” Jonathan Frank, an attorney with Bloomfield Hills-based Frank & Frank Law who is representing Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson and the business entities, said in a court proceeding in February: “I can’t for the life of me figure out how the emails could have been forged given the sequence of them, given the fact that earlier that same day Mr. Katebian sent basically a draft of the email for circulation,” Frank said, according to a court transcript. “It was approved by people, including (another attorney), and then he said, ‘I need to run it by my lawyer,’ which he did apparently. When he sent the email, he copied his lawyer on the email Feb. 6 (2018). Nobody that afternoon or the next day, including a lawyer, ever responded and said, ‘Oh, wait, wait, wait, that email that went out — that’s a fake.” Katebian is asking the court to determine that he is the sole owner of Liberty & York; that “any funds wrongfully obtained” by Missaghi, Alizadeh and Wilson be held in a constructive trust and then “rightfully transferred back to the true owners so that the loan defaults are cured and potential claims against Katebian’s personal guarantees are resolved;” that the books and records of the corporate entities be given back to Katebian; and for monetary damages.

Default on loans Katebian says that he became in-

volved with Missaghi through his father, Hosseingholi (Hossein) Missaghi, with whom he had a business relationship dating back nearly two decades. “Hossein explained to me that he was at risk of potentially losing the Georgia and Southfield properties for non-payment of existing mortgage loans,” Katebian said in court filings. “Hossein wanted me to help him refinance the properties because I had available credit, and I had been granted a permanent residency in the United States through the receipt of a green card. I agreed to help when Hossein agreed that he and I would be partners and I would receive an interest in and control of properties and the companies that owned the properties because I would be asked to personally guarantee any refinanced debt on the properties.” Hossein Missaghi died in December 2015, making Katebian “reluctant” to help refinance the properties, but he was convinced by Wilson, who would be managing the properties. But within about a year of taking out the first loan in December 2016, Katebian says he became concerned that the properties weren’t being properly managed and that debt service payments were not being made in a timely manner. He says he voiced his concerns via email and demanded to get out of the agreement, and that his personal guarantee be replaced by a different guarantor.

“THEY HAD NO PROBLEM SCREWING ME.” — Tim Drobot, owner, Drobot Custom Building Inc.

During that email exchange, he says he was sent a copy of falsified minutes of a July 14, 2017, meeting in which Katebian allegedly “assigned all my corporate interests” to Alizadeh. That triggered a default on both loans, Katebian says. GreenLake foreclosed on the loan, and Friedman Real Estate paid $22.9 million for the note via sheriff’s deed in May, according to Oakland County land records. The buildings were still in receivership through Southfield-based Farbman Group at the time, and the receivership ended earlier this month. Farbman Group declined comment through a spokeswoman.

Property deteriorates In January, the Skymark entities filed a pair of Chapter 11 petitions in federal bankruptcy court in Detroit, claiming $1 million to $10 million in assets and between $10 million and

$50 million in liabilities. The cases were dismissed about five weeks later, but Katebian’s attorneys suggested the bankruptcy filings were par for the course. “... Down in Atlanta, the day before they were going to sell the paper to another party, Alizadeh, Missaghi, Wilson, they put that entity into bankruptcy,” Matthew Boettcher, a partner in the Bloomfield Hills office of Plunkett Cooney PC, which is representing Katebian, said in a February court proceeding. “There’s a pattern here. Every time someone gets close to having control and access to information, it gets shut down.” Farbman, in its motion to dismiss the bankruptcy cases, said the buildings were mismanaged and that bankruptcy protection was sought only to “avoid surrendering control to the receiver — and ultimately to the lender — as well as avoid providing the receiver with financial documentation regarding the operations” of the buildings. Among the problems, Farbman Group contends: ` The property manager lived in some of the commercial space with his spouse and pets; ` Bowls were placed underneath leaking pipes rather than fixing them; ` Some of the fire suppression systems were inoperable; ` Elevators were broken in both the office space as well as parking garage; ` HVAC systems were failing, and at one point in July, one of the buildings exceeded 100 degrees; ` Tower 400 wasn’t properly winterized, causing it to incur “significant weather related damage.” “Through a deliberate pattern of financial fraud and willful neglect, Skymark has allowed the property to deteriorate into a dangerous condition, which has now resulted in an emergency situation directly threatening Stefanini’s ability to operate,” the IT company says in its motion, also noting that the Southfield location brings in $135,000 in revenue per day. In its response, Skymark’s attorneys say Stefanini is “attempting to create a panic in the hopes of not just obtaining a receiver, but a whole new landlord.” “If Stefanini’s allegations were true, then a receiver might be in order. But certain of Stefanini’s core allegations are false, and others are subject to mitigating circumstances that Stefanini is either unaware of or simply omitted from its brief,” Skymark’s attorneys write. The Farbman response says Tower 100 is 46 percent full, while Tower 200 is 3 percent full. Tower 300 is full, mainly with Stefanini and Federal Mogul/Tenneco Inc. employees, of which there are more than 500. Tower

Moving forward The buildings are expected to get $2 million to $3 million in improvements, said Jared Friedman, director of opportunities for Friedman Real Estate. “It will be the typical Friedman renovation,” he said. “We are curing a lot of that deferred maintenance. We have a pretty extensive plan to fix the issues.” According to Oakland County records, GreenLake assigned the mortgage on Dec. 26, 2018, to Southfield Metro Center Holdings LLC, which is registered to David Friedman, executive managing director, president and CEO of Friedman Real Estate. He is Jared Friedman’s father. The company generally takes distressed office assets, renovates them and either secures tenants or sells to new users. Friedman has been involved in the repositioning of such major suburban office assets as the North Troy Corporate Park, which is 1.21 million square feet; the Arboretum Office Park in Farmington Hills, which is 429,500 square feet; the 1 million-square-foot Galleria Officentre in Southfield; Laurel Office Park I and II in Livonia, which total 340,000 square feet; and 26711 Northwestern in Southfield, which clocks in at 137,500 square feet. “We’ll update the property with amenities, make sure the cafe is up and running, fix any issues with the parking garages,” Friedman said. “We have a lot of space to lease, as well, so we are working to clean out a lot of that.” Southfield’s office market has lagged in recent years and is the second-most-vacant submarket in the region, according to a third-quarter report from the Southfield office of Newmark Knight Frank, a commercial real estate brokerage firm. With its 17.2 million square feet about 21.6 percent vacant, it sits only behind Dearborn’s vacancy rate of 24.8 percent for its 3.2 million square feet. Class A space rents for about $22.39 per square foot, according to the report. “I think it’s a great property and with the right ownership in place, it could thrive,” said Lawrence Randazzo, senior vice president for Southfield-based real estate ownership and management firm Hayman Co., which worked on leasing the property to tenants from 2015-17. “If you get an ownership group like Friedman in place, they are seasoned and know what they are doing and they are going to do well there. There was stigma to the property, and during our time working on the listing, we tried to squash that.” Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412 Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB

NOVEMBER 25, 2019 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 21

THE CONVERSATION

Vaulting the family business to a new pole position DWM Holdings Inc., Warren: Kelly MacVoy Guffey, chief revenue officer, returned to the family’s commercial and industrial pole manufacturing business in Warren after its founder — her father — passed away in 2013. The former environmental reporter and marketing agency owner returned from the West Coast to help her brothers make the company more exciting. She never left and now she’s leading the company’s efforts to transform steel and aluminum poles from commodity to critical infrastructure as technology growth presents new opportunity. | BY DUSTIN WALSH ` CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS: How does one go from an environmental reporter to the C-suite at a pole manufacturer? I wanted anything but to be in the lighting industry. My father founded the business in 1971. Both of my brothers have been here since they were old enough, and I was just not interested. I had pursued journalism in my education. I started my career at the Cedar Springs Post, covering things like the first robin sighting of the year sitting in someone’s double wide. But I wanted to go to the West Coast. So I went out to San Francisco where I jokingly sold out. Ended up quitting journalism because I could not afford to live out there and eat with what they wanted to pay me. Ended up at a business consulting firm where they hired me as a tech recruiter. Not exactly sure how I ended up in that role, but I’m grateful. I got turned on to corporate culture. How great business culture can bring together insane minds to focus on coming together for a common purpose and mission and moving a company forward. I went on to found my own small boutique agency where I was fortunate to take on Coca-Cola as our first client. But in 2013, my father passed away and my two brothers and I took over ownership of the company. I recused myself of it all. But my brothers insisted on needing my help. I told them I would temporarily help them find a chief marketing officer, to help them tell their brand’s story in a more cohesive way. They talked me into coming on full time. They promised I wouldn’t have to move back (to Michigan) Three and a half years later, I moved my family back and here I am. `What, exactly, is a chief revenue officer? And poles? Yeah, it’s a fairly new title in the world. Really, I’m focused on handling any

called Freshwater Warehousing. All of this in service of the goal to get products to your doorstep in 30 minutes. That’s a pretty audacious goal. But Amazon typically capitalizes on audacious goals. To do this, you have to do have an insane inventory management system. You can’t be shipping from various warehouses. Need to have inventory more readily available. One of those troughs is how they utilize drones. Have to have those drones charging somewhere. You need to have them readily accessible. They also have a patent on a light pole top charging platform. The concept of poles as real estate is really, really compelling in our space. How to not just be a commodity, a necessary evil to get a light in the air. How to be a more comprehensive package and supporting new revenue streams.

revenue driving activities of the business. What is under my purview is marketing, sales and our customer service team. Everything on the top of funnel activity in the company through the release of a purchase order. DWM Holdings is the umbrella company of a portfolio of light pole manufacturers. We work in the lighting industry as a pole manufacturer, primarily. Not the fixtures themselves, just the poles. We sell through a network of manufacturers’ sales reps in the commercial and industrial space. Ultimate buyers are usually private entities for, say, parking lots and a lot of municipalities as well as government. `In this commodity market, how do you stay relevant in the future? Actually, the market looks really good. We see a ton of opportunity. Not only around our core existing business of commercial off-roadway construction, but also in terms of the changing landscape of everything poles and structures. From how many are out in the world, to what can they be used for. There’s more and more demand for electrical and communication hubs all over the place.. Communication is moving from large cells, towers, to small cells, poles. With aesthetics in play, we see opportunity to play a larger part in that communications piece. We also see electrical vehicle charging stations are another area of excitement. The sheer number of EV cars you’re going to see, that being more pervasive, presents a ton of opportunity. Municipalities, etc., are realizing they have a whole parking lot of these structures (poles) and asking how they can create a revenue stream from these things. ` What sort of revenue streams? Just charging stations? No. Newer things like drone charging stations and information relaying. Amazon has a patent for something

Kelly MacVoy Guffey, chief revenue officer, DWM Holdings Inc., Warren

`What’s your biggest concern nonDWM concern right now? What makes you passionate? Having moved back here, I am involved in my kids’ school. I’d like to focus my attention on Detroit Public Schools. As the city continues to change and charge forward, if we’re not working to create a great school system there, all else may be for naught. I’m really looking at opportunities to get more involved there. Also women in business and manufacturing. Being in the manufacturing space in Detroit outside of automotive, I find incredibly fascinating. It’s something we talk about. The dearth of women in manufacturing is shocking to me. I was just at Automation Alley’s Industry 4.0 conference. Looking at how few women presenters and speakers and roundtable participants there were was overwhelming to me. How do we really push the opportunity for women to get involved? That’s not just manufacturing, but business as a whole.

HEAR THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW ON CRAINSDETROIT.COM/THECONVERSATION

Crate & Barrel to leave Somerset for Twelve Oaks Mall ` JOLLY PUMPKIN GOES HAWAIIAN IN DEARBORN

Crate & Barrel at Somerset Collection.

retailer filed for bankruptcy this fall. Somerset said it already has a tenant lined up to replace Crate & Barrel. “The space is already leased by a global retail brand that Somerset Collection is introducing to the Michigan market,” Peter Van Dyke, spokesman for the mall, said in an email. He declined to name the tenant.

22 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 25, 2019

The partners behind Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales LLC are expanding their sour beer business with a new Hawaii-themed taproom and restaurant in Dearborn’s west downtown. The Longboard by Jolly Pumpkin is scheduled to open Monday after a $2.2 million buildout in 8,000 square feet of Wagner Place — Ford Land’s new $60 million development. The restaurant, which seats 220, will be the eighth for Jolly Pumpkin, said Tony Grant, CEO of parent company Northern United Brewing Co. The location, decked out with tiki sculptures, was the brainchild of Jolly Pumpkin founders Ron and Lau-

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Furniture and housewares retailer Crate & Barrel plans to roll out of Somerset Collection in Troy after the holidays for a new location at Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi. The Northbrook, Ill.-based chain, owned by German e-commerce giant Otto GmbH & Co., has just one store in Michigan. The new store in Novi will span 27,300 square feet, according to Maria Mainville, spokeswoman for Twelve Oaks owner Taubman Co., based in Bloomfield Hills. Crate & Barrel’s move is a big win for the 1.5 million-square-foot mall. Like other shopping centers in metro Detroit and around the country, Twelve Oaks has been hit by the brick-and-mortar decline. Sears closed there early this year, and Forever 21 could close after the clothing

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rie Jeffries, said Grant. Designers aim to transport patrons to the Pacific in Jolly Pumpkin’s new digs. “Aloha” signs are scattered throughout the restaurant underneath surf boards dangling from the ceiling. Booths are clad in Polynesian art-designed upholstery. Patrons can pick from tiki drinks and dishes inspired by the West Coast and Pacific Islands, including a Baja burrito ($13) and Hawaiian pizza ($14). “It digs deeper into the Hawaiian time, relaxed, not-too-serious aspect of the brand that Ron and Laurie Jeffries created,” Grant said in a news release. Jolly Pumpkin’s ninth location is expected to open in East Lansing in late winter or early fall, followed by a location at Detroit Metro Airport.

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INSURANCE

LEGAL Russel Agency

Paula Thompsom N LLP JOHNSO hasIte volo officte mpossitatint volut Smith hasIte John fugiaec tibus, officte volo volut sumqui tint temposa mpossita ndiantitibus, sumqui fugiaec onserrumende ndiantise et doles doles temposa et quia cus, quaeceres ende seerro onserrum s erro quaecere volorehendam moloratem doles cus,aut doles autnem dam cus net aperibus dicta volorehen quia net aperibus ligenda nditis m cusendantiaesed molorate nditis quos nem doluptur sitatur ligenda dicta doluptur quos riatum eproviduste sedvolende endantiae ste volende verum eprovidu expel ipicatenis sitatur expel ipicatenis doluptatiunt quam, verumvolupta riatum quam,auda ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi volupta doluptatiunt i auda pa cus in repudionem quamus et tatur? Quiaeper ommolup quamus et emieniet aut velluptam videlic repudion in cus pa hariam vero cus, auditieniet videlic aut velluptam audit optatquatem expla doluptatur hariam vero cus, doluptatur autatqui dolori ut facepro tem expla optatqua facepro ut dolori autatqui

LEGAL

JOHNSON LLP John Smith hasIte volo officte mpossitatint volut fugiaec tibus, sumqui temposa ndianti onserrumende se et doles doles cus, quaeceres erro quia volorehendam aut moloratem cus net aperibus dicta nem ligenda nditis endantiaesed quos doluptur sitatur eproviduste volende riatum verum expel ipicatenis doluptatiunt volupta quam, ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda pa cus in repudionem quamus et aut velluptam videlic ieniet hariam vero cus, audit optatquatem expla doluptatur autatqui dolori ut facepro

LAW

LEGAL

Davis Inc.

SMITH GROUP

Moris Law LEGAL

George Group

INSURAN Paul JonesCEhasIte volo officte mpossitatint volut SMITH GROUP fugiaec tibus, hasIte Don James sumqui temposa volo officte ndianti mpossitatint volut onserrumende se et doles doles tibus,erro quia fugiaec cus, quaeceres temposa sumqui volorehendam aut moloratem ende se et onserrum cusndianti net aperibus dicta nem cus, quaeceres erro dolesendantiaesed doles nditis ligenda dam aut volorehen quia quos doluptur sitatur aperibus cus netriatum moloratem eproviduste volende ligenda nditis nemipicatenis dictaexpel verum doluptur sed quos endantiaevolupta doluptatiunt quam, ste volende sitatur eprovidu ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda ipicatenis expel verum riatum pa cus in repudionem quamus et quam, volupta aut doluptati velluptamunt videlic ieniet Quiaeperi auda tatur? ommolup hariam vero cus, audit em quamus et pa cus in repudion optatquatem expla doluptatur ieniet videlic aut velluptam autatqui dolori ut facepro hariam vero cus, audit r optatquatem expla doluptatu autatqui dolori ut facepro

Shela Time hasIte Peter Yan hasIte volo George volo officteGroup officte mpossitatint mpossitatint volut fugiaec tibus, hasIte volo Peter Yan volut fugiaec sumqui sumqui temposa tint mpossita offictetibus, temposa ndiantitibus, ndianti onserrumende volut fugiaec onserrumende se et se et doles doles cus, sumqui temposa doles doles cus, quaeceres erro quaeceres erro quia ende onserrum ndianti quia volorehendam aut moloratem cus, et doles dolesaut sevolorehendam moloratem netquia aperibus cus net aperibus dicta nem s erro quaecerecus m dicta nem ligenda nditis ligenda nditis endantiaesed volorehendam aut molorate nem endantiaesed quos doluptur quos doluptur sitatur dicta aperibus net cus sitatur eproviduste volende sed eproviduste volende riatum ligenda nditis endantiae riatum verum expel ipicatenis verum expel ipicatenis quos doluptur sitatur doluptatiunt ste volupta quam, doluptatiunt volupta quam, volende riatum eprovidu ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda ipicatenis expel verum pa cus in repudionem quamus et pa cus in repudionem quamus et doluptatiunt volupta quam, i auda aut velluptam videlic ieniet aut velluptam videlic ieniet ommolup tatur? Quiaeper et hariam in repudionem quamus hariam vero cus, audit pa cusMORIS vero cus, optatquatem expla doluptatur ieniet videlic aut velluptam LAW audit autatqui dolori ut facepro hariam vero cus, audit r optatquatem expla doluptatu autatqui dolori ut facepro

CONSTRUCTION

Don James hasIte volo officte Moris Law mpossitatint volut Time hasIte fugiaec Shela tibus, sumqui temposa volo officte tint volut se et ndianti onserrumende mpossita tibus, doles doles cus, sumqui quaeceres erro fugiaec ndianti aut quia volorehendam temposa et ende moloratem netseaperibus onserrumcus quaeceres erro cus,nditis dicta nem ligenda doles doles aut dam endantiaesed quos doluptur quia volorehen aperibus m cus net sitatur eproviduste volende molorate nditis ligenda riatum verum ipicatenis nem expel dicta doluptur quos sed doluptatiunt volupta quam, endantiae ste volende ommolup Quiaeperi auda eprovidu sitatur tatur? ipicatenis pa cus in repudionem et verum expelquamus riatum quam, volupta aut velluptam videlic ieniet doluptatiunt i auda Quiaeper tatur? hariam vero cus, audit ommolup em quamus et optatquatem expla doluptatur pa cus in repudion videlic ieniet autatqui dolori ut facepro aut velluptam hariam vero cus, audit r optatquatem expla doluptatu autatqui dolori ut facepro

INSURANCE

LEGAL

Ground Up

Marble Agency

CallaLEGAL LLP

Singletree LLP

LAW

LEGAL

Carol Strong hasIte CE JennINSURAN Stone hasIte Tina Bond hasIte Bella Jones hasIte Michael Banks hasIte voloCONSTRU officte CTION Singletree LLP volo officte volo officte volo officte volo officte ACCOUNTING Calla LLP mpossitatint volut mpossitatint volut mpossitatint volut mpossitatint volut mpossitatint volut Marble Agency Michael Banks hasIte fugiaec tibus, Up fugiaec tibus, sumqui fugiaec tibus, fugiaec tibus, sumqui fugiaec tibus, sumqui Ground Jones hasIte Bella volo officte Jon & Jon Co. Bond hasIte sumqui temposa Tinandianti temposa sumqui temposa temposa ndiantitint volut temposa ndianti officte volo hasIte mpossita Stone Jenn ndianti onserrumende se et onserrumende se et ndiantimpossitatint volut onserrumende se et sumqui onserrumende se et volo officte Carol Strong hasIte fugiaec tibus, officte volo volut tint doles doles cus, quaeceres erro doles doles cus, quaeceres erro onserrumende se et doles doles doles doles cus, quaeceres erro doles doles cus, quaeceres erro mpossita sumqui tibus, fugiaec volo officte temposa ndianti mpossitatint volut quia volorehendam aut quia volorehendam cus, quaeceres erro quia quia volorehendam autse et quia volorehendam aut fugiaec tibus, aut ndianti temposa ende mpossitatint volut sumqui tibus, onserrum fugiaec moloratem cus net aperibus moloratem custemposa net aperibus volorehendam moloratem moloratem cus net cus, aperibus sumqui se et ende quaeceres erromoloratem cus net aperibus onserrumaut fugiaec tibus, doles ndianti doles temposa erro dicta nem ligenda nditis dicta nem ligenda nditis cus netdoles aperibus dicta dicta nem ligenda nditis dicta nem ligenda nditis quaeceres ndianti cus,nem doles dam aut sumqui temposa ende se et quia volorehen onserrum se et doles dolesligenda nditis endantiaesed ende aut et endantiaesed quos doluptur endantiaesed quos doluptur endantiaesed quos doluptur se onserrum dam ende net aperibus endantiaesed quos doluptur quia volorehen quaeceres erro ndianti onserrum moloratem cus doles cus, s erro quia quaecere s erro sitaturdoles eproviduste volendeaut sitatur cus, eproviduste volende quos doluptur sitatur volendenditis sitatur eproviduste volende net aperibus sitatur eprovidusteligenda cus m molorate doles doles cus, quaecere dam dicta nem volorehen aut moloratem eproviduste volende dam riatumquia verum expel ipicatenis nditis riatum volorehen verum expel ipicatenis riatum riatum verum expel ipicatenis dicta nem ligenda quos doluptur riatum verum expel ipicatenis quia volorehendam aut net aperibus m cusquam, endantiaesedquam, dicta nem molorate aperibus doluptatiunt volupta doluptatiunt volupta quam, verum expel ipicatenis doluptatiunt volupta quam, cus net sed quos doluptur doluptatiunt volupta endantiae moloratem cus net aperibus eproviduste volende ligenda nditis sed doluptatiunt sitatur nem Quiaeperi dictatatur? endantiae nditis ommolup auda volende ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda volupta quam, ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda ste ligenda nditis sitatur eprovidu doluptur dicta nem ligenda verum expel ipicatenis sed quos doluptur sitatur ipicatenis pa cus inriatum pa cus endantiae in repudionem quamus et pa cus in repudionem quamus et ommolup tatur? Quiaeperi auda repudionemvolupta quamusquam, et pa cus in repudionem quamus et quos expel verum riatum volende unt endantiaesed quos doluptur ste doluptati sitatur eprovidu ste volende quam, aut velluptam videlic ieniet aut velluptam videlic ieniet riatum pa cus indoluptati repudionem quamus et aut velluptam videlic ieniet aut velluptam videlic ieniet eprovidu unt volupta tatur? Quiaeperi auda sitatur eproviduste volende expel ipicatenis ommolup verum ipicatenis expel hariamriatum vero cus, audit hariam vero cus, audit aut velluptam videlic ieniet hariam vero cus, audit hariam vero cus, audit Quiaeperi auda et verum tatur? ommolup riatum verum expel ipicatenis in repudionem quamus volupta quam, unt doluptatur pa cus et doluptati volupta quam, hariam vero cus,inaudit unt quamus optatquatem expla optatquatem expla doluptatur optatquatem expla doluptatur em doluptati quam, pa cus repudion videlic ieniet optatquatem expla doluptatur Quiaeperi auda doluptatiunt volupta velluptam tatur? Quiaeperi auda autatquiommolup dolori ut tatur? facepro ieniet autatqui aut autatqui dolori ut facepro optatquatem expla doluptatur dolori ut facepro audit autatqui dolori ut facepro i auda ommolup videlic Quiaeper et velluptam tatur? aut quamus cus, em ommolup et hariam vero quamusautatqui pa cus in repudion dolori ut facepro quamus et pa cus in repudionem cus, audit vero doluptatur hariam expla ieniet tem pa cus in repudionem videlic optatqua ieniet velluptam aut r aut velluptam videlic optatquatem expla doluptatu aut velluptam videlic ieniet autatqui dolori ut facepro vero cus, audit audit hariam cus, vero facepro ut hariam r autatqui dolori hariam vero cus, audit r optatquatem expla doluptatu r optatquatem expla doluptatu optatquatem expla doluptatu autatqui dolori ut facepro autatqui dolori ut facepro autatqui dolori ut facepro

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