CRAINSDETROIT.COM I MARCH 16, 2020
RISING TO A CHALLENGE CORONAVIRUS IN MICHIGAN
THE RESPONSE
A week we’ve not seen before Businesses in uncharted territory as caution halts many activities BY CHAD LIVENGOOD
This week will be like nothing most living Americans have ever experienced. Schools across Michigan are shut down for three weeks, displacing 1.6 million children and causing child care headaches for working parents and guardians. Large corporate headquarters like Ford Motor Co.’s Glass House in Dearborn and General Motors Co.’s Renaissance Center in Detroit will largely be deserted as white-collar workers have been ordered to work from home. Some Quicken Loans loan officers are going to be processing a mountain of refinancing applications spurred by low interest rates from their basements. Every sporting event from the Big Ten basketball tournament to the Detroit Tigers’ Opening Day on March 30 has been nixed. Novi’s boat show sunk. Seemingly every gathering of people with common interests is canceled.
THE IMPACT
Facts are the antidote to fear A week ago, we were wondering. Should we practice working from home? Should we hold our conference? Do we have enough hand sanitizer? As I’m writing this at mid- Michael day Friday, those concerns seem quaint. The governor just LEE announced a ban on gatherings of over 250 people less than a day after ordering schools closed. General Motors and Ford ordered all workers who can to work from home starting Monday. It’s hard to say what might be next. The arrival of the new coronavirus in Michigan is a constantly changing story, affecting every aspect of daily life and every business. We’re all going to have to get used to new habits, create new routines and processes, and figure out how to get our jobs done on the fly in circumstances that none of us have seen before. We’re here to help you do that, to tell you what you need to know today to get that job done. Facts are the antidote to fears, and reliable information is what will get us through this strange time. Last week, as a public service, we lifted the subscriber-only pay wall for all stories regarding the coronavirus and its impact on metro Detroit. See LEE on Page 28
Southeast Michigan housing market will take a hit as economic fears grow BY KIRK PINHO
The widespread impact over the spread of the coronavirus in Southeast Michigan will take a toll on the housing market. How that plays out will be felt by consumers and real estate agents alike with impacts ranging from possibly depressed inventory and home showings to fewer sales as a potential recession could dampen demand. News of the inevitable first confirmed cases in Michigan came last week with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announcing late Tuesday that two people — one in Wayne County and one in Oakland County — had tested positive for COVID-19. The aftershock of that was felt around the state in things ranging from postponed athletic events, concerts and parades to universities mandating online-only classes and delayed resumption of school. Within 48 hours of the first cases being announced, the state’s confirmed number of patients started to rise. A handful of people immediately pulled their houses off the market, said Dan Elsea, president of brokerage services for Real Estate One. That was Wednesday, one day after the revelation of the first confirmed cases. By Thursday, that could’ve been 20 or 30, Elsea said, noting that it’s still a comparatively small number of homes throughout the Southfield company’s network. That’s a bitter pill to swallow. Inventory remains low, driving up prices. According to Farmington Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd., on-market listings fell 7.1 percent, from 19,561 in January 2019 to 18,170 in January this year. That helps put upward pressure on median sale prices, driving them up 9.6 percent from $155,100 in January 2019 to $170,000 two months ago. Total sales fell 3.7 percent from 4,837 to 4,656 during that same time period. See HOUSING on Page 29
See LIVENGOOD on Page 29
NEWSPAPER
VOL. 36, NO. 11 l COPYRIGHT 2020 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
CRAIN’S DETROIT ILLUSTRATION
NEED TO KNOW
SHOW OF SUPPORT
THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT DETROIT-ANN ARBOR BUS SERVICE TO LAUNCH THIS WEEK THE NEWS: The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan is partnering with the Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority to pilot a nonstop bus service between Ann Arbor and Detroit. The service was scheduled to launch Monday between Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit and Fourth Avenue and William Street in Ann Arbor. The oneway base fare is $8. WHY IT MATTERS: The bus route is a service that transit riders and advocates have long requested — and while it’s designed to test the market for more transit options between Detroit and Ann Arbor, it’s being rolled out as the latest regional transit push stalled out in the Michigan Legislature before reaching the November ballot. Transit has been a divisive issue among Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties for years.
ART VAN FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY THE NEWS: Warren-based Art Van Furniture LLC filed its expected Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection request in federal court late last Sunday evening. The furniture and mattress retailer listed $100 million to $500 million in assets and liabilities in the 12-page Delaware bankruptcy court document that was signed by David
Ladd, executive vice president and CFO of Art Van. WHY IT MATTERS: Approximately 3,100 employees, including 262 at its headquarters in Warren, are scheduled to lose their jobs as the company winds down over the next 6-8 weeks, with all stores expected to be closed by May 31. Art Van stores across the region were in a state of mayhem last week as long lines, traffic jams and confused employees frustrated customers at liquidation sales.
HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM RECEIVES MAJOR GIFT THE NEWS: Henry Ford Health System plans to rapidly expand its life-extending precision medicine program in Detroit after the Jeffries family pledged $25 million to create a specialized center. It’s the largest single gift from individuals in Henry Ford’s 105-year history and one of the largest in the nation for a precision medicine program, Henry Ford officials said. WHY IT MATTERS: Precision medicine
— still a new frontier in cancer care — has only in the last few months become available for a host of new treatments. Doctors are now using precision medicine approaches to treat many other conditions, including cystic fibrosis, asthma, depression, heart disease, autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis. HFHS is a national leader in precision medicine, and the Jeffries expect that their gift will help the health system achieve transformational advancements in cancer treatment using precision medicine and personalized treatments.
Tri-county voters renew DIA’s early millage request Voters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties overwhelmingly supported the Detroit Institute of Arts’ early millage renewal request, extending it through 2031. About three-quarters of voters in Wayne and Oakland voted in favor, while in Macomb, the issue received approval from about 62 percent of voters. With passage of the measure, residents of the three counties will continue to receive the free admission, services and programs the museum has added since 2012 when voters approved its first millage. And the DIA will have another 10 years to build its endowment to a level that will eventually fund the bulk of its operations.
UM STRIPS PROVOST OF ROLE AMID SEX MISCONDUCT PROBE THE NEWS: The University of Michigan removed Martin Philbert from his job as chief academic officer after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him. Philbert will keep his faculty job for now. The university has said the allegations against Philbert don't involve students. WHY IT MATTERS: It's not the only scandal UM is facing at the moment. Separately, the university is investigating claims that a campus doctor, Dr. Robert E. Anderson, molested male athletes for decades. Anderson died in 2008. Last week Ron Weiser, the chairman of the UM Board of Regents and one of the school's largest donors, said he was abused by Dr. Anderson in the 1960s.
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NONPROFITS
CANNABIS
Samaritas aims to treat substance abuse Nonprofit to invest $4.7M across state BY SHERRI WELCH
Sales employees work at medical marijuana retailer House of Dank’s location on Eight Mile Road in Detroit, by the border with Warren. | HOUSE OF DANK
THE PERFECT BUDTENDER Medical marijuana sellers navigate the training landscape BY ANNALISE FRANK
Gage Cannabis is selling medical marijuana like Verizon Wireless sells phones — if handheld electronics sales required HIPAA privacy compliance, that is. Jessica Savaya, a former Verizon general manager, is retail and marketing director for the Troybased cannabis company that’s among the dozens of retailers in Michigan shaping the customer-facing side of the rising industry. Without widely used national standards for cannabis provisioning center “budtenders” or salespeople, individual companies must devise strategies for training their staff to sell a drug
“IT’S BASICALLY MAKING A CONNECTION WITH THE PATIENT, MAKING A DISCOVERY (ABOUT THEIR INTERESTS) BASED ON THEIR NEEDS, THEN MAKING A RECOMMENDATION ...” — Jessica Savaya, retail and marketing director, Gage Cannabis
that some see as taboo and others are used to getting through less formal channels. It entails walking a fine line — one that must tie together an innovative
retail strategy with medical care practices and government compliance. “I came from an environment where, basically, we used a process called ‘earn the right,’ which I’ve migrated into the medical marijuana space here with Gage,” Savaya said. “It’s basically making a connection with the patient, making a discovery (about their interests) based on their needs, then making a recommendation ... to me it was easy to migrate it and make it very similar.” Gage has three medical marijuana shops in Adrian, Ferndale and Detroit, with plans to open 10 more across the state.
Rules on medical marijuana workers The Medical Marijuana Facilities Licensing Act requirements include training employees and having an “employee training manual that includes, but is not limited to” safety, security, employee guidelines, product information and dosage, as well as point-of-sale training on CBD and THC (psychoactive ingredients), serving size and warnings, according to the text of the act. It also requires food handling training for edible products.
See TRAINING on Page 25
Detroit-based Samaritas plans to invest $4.7 million over the next three years to launch a statewide substance use disorder treatment program. The nonprofit will open the first of five clinics planned for this year in Eaton County near Lansing next month. Others are in development this year for Wayne County, west Michigan and southwest Michi- Beals gan. Those five will be the first of 10 Samaritas plans to open across the state within three years. Samaritas has seen rising need for substance abuse treatment and counseling services for youth in its foster-care program and their families for decades, President and CEO Sam Beals said. Over 80 percent of the young clients in its foster-care program come from families where caregivers — parents, grandparents or both — have substance abuse problems, he said. And many of the youth themselves are addicts. Samaritas has contracted with other service providers to provide some needed treatment at a minimal level in the past, Beals said. But increased federal dollars available through the state for opioid and other substance abuse treatment provided an opportunity for Samaritas “to step up our game and provide them in a much more robust way,” he said. Providing substance-abuse treatment itself will enable Samaritas to provide services immediately for youth and families in its foster care program, primarily, but the programs will also be available for refugee youth, people in its affordable housing and other clients struggling with addiction, Beals said. See SAMARITAS on Page 27
TRANSIT
Hertel out as SMART general manager despite contract extension BY CHAD LIVENGOOD ANNALISE FRANK
The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation board voted unanimously to oust transit authority general manager John C. Hertel over “inappropriate” use of SMART facilities and resources, while Hertel himself denies he did anything improper. Board chair Hilarie Chambers said at a meeting Friday that the board received information alleging Hertel had been using a SMART facility for parking his own vehicles, while put-
ting forward a motion to terminate his contract. Hertel had abruptly resigned Thursday night. The resignation came after 10 years of running SMART and one Hertel week after publicly touting that its regional governing board had extended his contract by another year, through April 30, 2022. “I suggest this motion based on in-
formation that has been provided to us, early in February, that indicates that Mr. Hertel has been parking his personal fleet of vehicles in a SMART facility and has been inappropriate using SMART resources,” Chambers said. She said she was “deeply disturbed” and “disappointed” by the information. Under Hertel’s employment agreement, Chambers said during the meeting, he will be officially terminated April 10 and not be given severance pay. It was not immediately known how the termination interplayed with Hertel’s recent resignation.
Chambers also directed SMART’s human resources department to turn off Hertel’s access to information technology resources, offices, facilities and terminals. A motion also passed Friday to turn over documents received related to the matter to the Michigan State Police. “I’ve been in public life for 48 years. I’ve never done anything improper,” Hertel said. “I did have some cars parked in a SMART garage, but I was using those personal cars because I didn’t have a SMART car. I was using them to follow bus drivers
and watching to see they were following laws and rules.” Hertel said he would rotate driving three different cars so drivers didn’t know it was him tailing them. He said he doesn’t agree with the board’s determination of improper conduct. Asked why he resigned, Hertel said that with the “big interruption” of coronavirus and its impact on SMART resources and time, he doesn’t feel like he’ll be able to carry out major projects like he has in the past. See HERTEL on Page 27 MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3
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Art Van Furniture LLC’s property on East 14 Mile Road in Warren. | COSTAR GROUP INC.
Art Van Furniture landlords face possible loan defaults Art Van Furniture LLC’s bankruptcy is raising concerns over the future of their properties locally. Not only are there several milKirk lion square feet PINHO that will become fallow as a result, but the commercial mortgage-backed securities debt on them could be in jeopardy as investors who bought the buildings three years ago in a series of sale-leaseback deals face the looming challenge of meeting their debt service without a key or sometimes primary tenant. Trepp LLC, a New York City-based data agency that tracks CMBS debt, says it is concerned about a $67.9 million loan that is secured by the company’s East 14 Mile Road headquarters and distribution center 100 percent occupied by Art Van, which is owned by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners. Data from Trepp shows that the most recent appraisal on the property is $100.85 million and a loan maturity date of March 2027. Trepp says there is $809.2 million in CMBS debt across 19 loans secured by 35 properties that count Art Van as one of their five largest tenants. Dennis Bernard, founder of Bernard Financial Group, a Southfield-based commercial real estate finance firm, said it’s too soon to tell how special servicers will react to the all-but-certain defaults. “Many (stores) are in very, very good locations, so many of them (landlords) are hiring brokerage firms to sell or lease these to try and help mitigate the default. It’s way too early to tell how special servicers are going to react to the borrower’s defaults. Are they going to take them back right away? Are they going to give them time with the market?� Landlords who bought the Art Van properties three years ago weren’t expecting such a sudden reversal from Art Van after their sale-leaseback deals.
“A sale-leaseback is typically done when a company wants to access cash so it can use it to grow and expand,� said Brian Whitfield, vice president in the Southfield office of Colliers International Inc. “A company will sell its property to an investor and lease it back from them at a set rental amount determined by the company, giving the investor a certain rate of return based on the credit of a tenant or its parent company. In some situations when a company is bought out the new parent company will sell the properties to investors and lease them back, not to grow and expand, but to strip it of its value leaving a trail of destruction for landlords and creditors.� David Ladd, EVP and CFO of Art Van, said in a court filing Monday that the proceeds of the sale-lease-
“A SALE-LEASEBACK IS TYPICALLY DONE WHEN A COMPANY WANTS TO ACCESS CASH SO IT CAN USE IT TO GROW AND EXPAND.� — Brian Whitfield, vice president in the Southfield office of Colliers International Inc.
back deals went to fund the Thomas H. Lee purchase of the furniture company. One landlord has sued in federal court already. Subsidiaries of Rochester, N.Y.based Broadstone Net Lease Inc. — Broadstone AVF Illinois LLC and Broadstone AVF Michigan LLC — say in the lawsuit that Art Van is bound by terms of a 2017 master lease agreement that does not permit the company to “discontinue operations at more than one location at any one time.� Broadstone also owns the following Michigan Art Van locations in addition to the property in Warren, according to the federal lawsuit. ` Novi: 27775 Novi Road ` Lansing: 8748 W. Saginaw Highway ` Flint: 4577 Miller Road
` Clinton Township: 33801 S. Gratiot Ave. ` Chesterfield Township: 50400 Gratiot Ave. ` Traverse City: 1775 Oak Hallow Drive ` Grandville: 4625 Wilson Ave. SW ` Grand Rapids: 3500 28th St. SE Much more on this retail real estate battle to follow.
Financing not yet secured for The Mid Earlier this year, I wrote about the condominium component likely being scrapped from The Mid development. Turkia Mullin, first vice president in the Capital Markets Group in the Southfield office of Los Angeles-based CBRE Inc., said in January that financing for the delayed project was expected to be complete by the end of February. I reached out to a spokesperson for the project last week, and she said there was no update on the financing. The Mid was revealed in March 2019 with two phases: Its first phase was slated to include a 25-story hotel and condominium building with 225 hotel rooms and 60 for-sale units, as of June when $58.3 million in brownfield financing was approved by the state. As part of a second phase, a 27-story residential tower with 180 apartments was planned, smaller than the 30-story, 250-unit residential tower that had been anticipated last spring. Also included in the second phase was a 12-story building with about 198 co-living units. Approximately 750 parking spaces were also part of the project mix, with 325 in a one-level underground garage and 419 spaces in a five-level deck above ground. Between 75,000 and 100,000 square feet of Woodward-facing and other interior retail was planned for things such as smaller neighborhood retail to grocery space. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB
DEVELOPMENT
The Godfrey Hotel will have 225 rooms with an average daily rate of $260 to $280 per night. | NEUMANN/SMITH ARCHITECTURE/ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS
Godfrey Hotel planned for Corktown neighborhood in $45 million project New boutique hotel would have 225 rooms, rooftop lounge BY KIRK PINHO
A $45 million boutique hotel is expected to rise in Corktown near Michigan Central Station. The seven-story Godfrey Hotel at 1401 Michigan Ave. by Farmington Hills-based Hunter Pasteur Homes and Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group LLC is planned to start construction in the fourth quarter and be complete in time for the North American International Auto Show in the summer of 2022, pending various city approvals. The project, which has been in the works for over a year, would join a crowded field of boutique hotels in varying stages of development in the greater downtown Detroit area. It would also mark the first major new development revealed in the Corktown neighborhood, about two years after it was first reported that Ford Motor Co. was redeveloping the train station on 15th Street and building an autonomous vehicle and electric vehicle campus in the neighborhood. A building on the site, most recently City Cab, that has been vacant for a couple of decades would be torn down to make way for the new project, subject to approval from the Historic District Commission. “We respect the process,” said
THE PROJECT, WHICH HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR OVER A YEAR, WOULD JOIN A CROWDED FIELD OF BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN VARYING STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE GREATER DOWNTOWN DETROIT AREA. Randy Wertheimer, president and CEO of Hunter Pasteur. The property is owned by Nemo’s Restaurant, which is on the other side of Michigan Avenue. The new hotel would have 225 rooms with an average daily rate of $260 to $280 per night, John Rutledge, founder, president and CEO of Oxford Capital, said in a Wednesday morning interview with Crain’s. Other features include a year-round rooftop lounge with the capacity to seat over 300 people, as well as 6,000 square feet of ballroom space that can hold up to 300 or 400 people for weddings and other events, said Wertheimer. A new restaurant is also expected as part of the project. Rutledge said the hotel is expected to employ between 200-225 full-
and part-time employees. In addition to Oxford Capital and Hunter Pasteur, other lead investors include Nathan Forbes, managing partner of Southfield-based Forbes Co., which owns Somerset Collection in Troy, and James Grosfeld, the former CEO of Pulte Group, Wertheimer said. Rutledge and Wertheimer declined to discuss financial specifics. But they said the project is fully financed and that Opportunity Zone status for the area made it easier to secure equity, which comes primarily from local sources, Wertheimer said. He declined to reveal other investors. It would be the fifth Godfrey hotel, behind Chicago, Boston, Tampa and Hollywood. Wertheimer said attracting a company of Oxford’s caliber is a positive reflection on the state of the city’s development ecosystem. The general contractor is a joint venture between Lansing-based The Christman Co. and Chicago-based Norcon Inc. The architecture team is Detroit-based Neumann/Smith Architecture and Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB
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HEALTH CARE
Anesthesiology group terminates contracts at Beaumont Anesthesia Associates of Ann Arbor provides care at four Oakwood legacy hospitals BY JAY GREENE
Beaumont Health is seeking a new anesthesiology provider for its four legacy Oakwood hospitals after Anesthesia Associates of Ann Arbor PLLC notified the Southfield-based system that it planned to terminate its contract Aug. 19, Crain’s has learned. A4 holds anesthesia contracts for Beaumont Health hospitals in Trenton, Wayne, Dearborn and Taylor, the hospitals once part of Oakwood Healthcare Corp., which merged with Beaumont in 2014. The dispute between the two health care providers appears to be over how much Beaumont reimburses A4 for anesthesiology se rvices. A4 contends Beaumont is paying the group below its operating costs and that it is losing money every day, company officials said. Beaumont contends that since A4 was acquired in 2018 by Siromed, a Florida-based medical group, A4 has taken “actions to increase profit,” according to a March 10 Beaumont internal memo. Carolyn Wilson, Beaumont’s COO, told Crain’s that A4 gave Beaumont 180-day notification on Feb. 21 that it would opt out of its multi-year contract, one month before it expires. She said Beaumont expects A4 to honor its contract until Sept. 30. “We appreciate and respect the talented A4 anesthesiologists who have served our patients well,” Beaumont said in a statement to Crain’s, adding: “We are already in the process of identifying another high-quality anesthesia group to serve our patients. There will be a smooth transition to a new provider. We will continue to provide exceptional anesthesia services for our patients and for the surgeons and proceduralists who serve our patients.” Gregory Bock, A4’s president, told Crain’s that the 120-member group issued the termination notice only after it unsuccessfully tried last fall to renegotiate a three-year contract with
Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn | BEAUMONT HEALTH
Bock
Wilson
Beaumont. He said A4 is losing money under the one-year agreement it is operating under. “We were trying to work through the current contract to get an increase in reimbursement to pay our doctors (market rates) and retain our physicians,” Bock said. “We need to be paid appropriately (by hospitals) to pay our doctors a competitive rate. We need support from our hospitals to pay our physicians more.” Founded in 1968 as an independent group, A4 two years ago joined Siromed, a group that is owned by J.W. Childs Associates, a private equity firm in Boston. Wilson said last summer A4 notified Beaumont it would be going “out of network” with its physician billing because it was planning to terminate contracts with insurance companies. “A4 is contractually prohibited from doing that. We are very focused for
doing what is right for patients. We didn’t find it acceptable that patients would get out-of-network bills,” Wilson said. “It was very troubling and the beginning of our challenges (with A4).” But Bock said last July, after A4 notified Beaumont it would be terminating payer contracts over its reimbursement dispute with health insurers, Beaumont gave A4 a 180-day termination notice. “They terminated our contract,” Bock said. “We went back into network because we didn’t want to lose the Beaumont contract” and cause problems for patients. At that point, Beaumont and A4 signed a one-year agreement, called the “resolution agreement,” Bock said. “We won’t go out of network. We just want a fair and reasonable rate (from hospitals and insurers). (Beaumont) didn’t want to pay us because they feared the impact on their business, which is what (insurance companies) want,” said Bock, adding that health insurers want hospitals to push back on provider contract increases to “fight their battles for them.”
Dispute with Trinity Last summer, a similar dispute erupted between A4 and Trinity
Health, a Livonia-based health system with 10 hospitals in Michigan and 83 hospitals in 21 other states. A4 had threatened to terminate several payer contracts, including Priority Health and Aetna, because it hadn’t had a reimbursement increase in at least six years. Trinity Health sued to prevent A4 from putting its patients in a “surprise billing” situation. A4 counter-sued to prevent Trinity from recruiting its anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists. In September, Trinity and A4 settled various lawsuits and reached a new five-year agreement. The agreement allows A4’s anesthesiologists to continue treating patients at Trinity Health’s five Southeast Michigan hospitals. Bock said A4’s new contract with Trinity is working out for both parties. But he said the dispute with Beaumont is different because Beaumont didn’t agree to raise rates or address other concerns. He said A4’s anesthesiologists at Beaumont are paid well below market rates. Under A4’s three-year contract, Beaumont guarantees a set hourly rate per hour that each physician works. As long as revenue from insurance reimbursement and patient billing falls below the hourly rate guarantee, A4 will receive an additional subsidy amount. However, should A4 improve efficiencies or negotiate better rates for themselves from insurers, the increases essentially offset some of the subsidy that Beaumont would have to pay. “Even if we got increased reimbursement, or we saved money because of efficiencies, those dollars go to Beaumont,” Bock said. “Our subsidy was decreasing.” Bock said the subsidy amounted to $2.9 million annually to A4. Because of efficiencies and small increases in reimbursement the subsidy has decreased each year and is expected to be zero in the third year of the con-
tract, he said. Subsidies to anesthesiology groups are commonly paid by health systems because reimbursement from payers is not enough to cover the going rate for anesthesiologists, he said. When negotiating with Beaumont last fall, however, Bock said Beaumont officials were unconcerned about A4’s reimbursement rates and arguments for a contract pay hike. Wilson said Beaumont honored the contract it signed with A4 in 2017. “The financial terms have not been renegotiated or changed since that time. Following the Siromed acquisition of A4, they have not only taken actions that violate the contract terms, but they have demanded changes to financial terms that differ from what is required by the contract,” Wilson said. “For the benefit of patient care, we expect Siromed and A4 to abide by its contract with Beaumont until the contract ends in August.” While the two providers could not agree on a new contract, early last fall Beaumont and A4 signed a “resolution agreement” whereby A4 agreed to stay in network with insurance payers but essentially kept its current reimbursement arrangement, a situation that Bock said was untenable. Bock said A4 hoped to work out a new contract with Beaumont. By early February, however, the group came to the conclusion that it could not continue sustaining losses and that Beaumont wanted to go in a different contract direction anyway. A4 notified Beaumont it would terminate its contract on Aug. 19 instead of the contract end date of Sept. 30 “because it is costing us money to pay our physicians,” Bock said. “We are losing money at Beaumont at the current rates.” Wilson said it would be unfair if A4 terminated its contract with Beaumont before it runs out on Sept. 30. Contact: jgreene@crain.com; (313) 446-0325; @jaybgreene
EDUCATION
Marygrove Conservancy names Tom Lewand as first CEO Operations veteran Racheal Allen named COO as college expands oversight of campus BY SHERRI WELCH
The Marygrove Conservancy named former Shinola/Detroit LLC chief and Lions executive Tom Lewand as its first CEO as it expands oversight of the Marygrove College campus in northwest Detroit. Operations veteran Racheal Allen has joined the conservancy as its first COO. Allen joined the conservancy in December and Lewand in January, but their appointments were not announced until this week. The Troy-based Kresge Foundation, which committed $50 million to the cradle-to-career education concept and efforts in the surrounding neighborhood, led development of the campus plan. It spurred creation of the Marygrove Conservancy in 2018 to keep the campus from going dark and the P-20 plan with seven partners, led by Detroit Public Schools 6 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
Marygrove Conservancy CEO Tom Lewand and COO Racheal Allen will lead day-to-day administration and strategic development of the campus. | MARYGROVE CONSERVANCY
Community District and the University of Michigan School of Education. With the cradle-to-career plan well on its way to becoming a reality, the conservancy is taking on those management roles. “We’re hoping that (P-20 campus) will take off, (and) we’re hoping to reach out to the community to make sure the campus becomes a center to meet their needs, as well,” said conservancy Chairwoman Sister Jane Herb, who is president of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which sponsored Marygrove College for 92 years. Lewand and Allen take on responsibility for shepherding day-to-day needs for the 53-acre campus, coordination of the P-20 plan and continuing to build relationships with the community and new partners, as part of a master planning process that is underway. Lewand, 50, led Shinola for just shy
of four years. Before that, he was with the Detroit Lions for 20 years, holding roles including president and COO. As CEO of the Marygrove Conservancy, he will focus on fundraising, donor relations and creation of a long-term development plan for the campus. Allen, 36, is a Marygrove alumna who brings 15 years of operational experience. Most recently, she served as operations strategist and consultant for Operations School. Prior to that, she led operations for the Education Achievement Authority, the Block By Block/Downtown Detroit Ambassador program of the Downtown Detroit Partnership and New Urban Learning. As COO of the conservancy, she will direct day-to-day operations and financial management of the campus, while overseeing community engagement and partnership strategies. As part of that, she will work closely with current partners and tenants to plan and coordinate future projects.
Lewand and Allen will report to Herb. The pair “exponentially expand the conservancy’s capacity to develop a financially sustainable model while engaging the local community,” Herb said. Kresge is providing support for the Marygrove Conservancy’s operations as part of its larger $50 million commitment to the campus. “I view this as an opportunity to be involved in what could very well be a transformational project for the city, especially that part of the city, and chance to work with some incredible partners,” he said. “To me that is a great way to really be involved in something that is impactful (and) different than the impact you can have by being a part of an organization like Shinola … or the Lions.” Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch
COMMENTARY
Stop telling us not to panic about COVID-19 pandemic
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks Wednesday at a press conference at the state’s emergency operations center about efforts to mitigate the potential spread of coronavirus in Michigan. She was joined by Labor and Economic Opportunity Director Jeff Donofrio (far left), the state’s chief medical officer Joneigh Khaldun and Captain Emmitt McGowan, deputy state director of homeland security for the Michigan State Police.
EDITORIAL
With power comes responsibility
T
he coronavirus crisis will be a test for all leaders. It’s not just the government’s job to slow the spread of the virus so it doesn’t overwhelm our hospitals. It’s the job of every leader — in all sectors. A handshake was the standard greeting in the business world; that’s now in the past. Fist bumps — or better, elbow bumps — have replaced it as the currency of the realm. Face-to-face contact has long been the gold standard in business dealings. Nobody ever closed a billion-dollar deal LEADERS NEED over Skype. RelaTO LOOK OUT tionships matter, FOR THE LONG- and a real relationship requires faceTERM HEALTH to-face contact. For a time, we’ll AND SURVIVAL have to get business OF THEIR done with much less that. It’s the reBUSINESSES AS of sponsibility of everyWELL AS THE one to do what they can to slow the virus’ HEALTH AND spread. And it’s the WELL-BEING OF responsibility of leaders to help and THEIR guide their employees to do the same. EMPLOYEES. Much was made last week about “bending the curve.” This disease spreads quickly enough that, unchecked, severely ill patients would overwhelm our hospitals. It happened in Wuhan, China, and is now playing out in Italy. Hospitals in some parts of the U.S., especially Washington, are nearing the tipping point.
We’re a long way from knowing what damage this crisis will do to businesses and the economy. Some form of government help may wind up being necessary to prop up some industries, especially hardhit airlines and hotels. But mitigating the spread of the virus sooner rather than later could reduce that long-term economic pain. Steps that can be taken should be taken aimed at forestalling a need for the full lockdowns that have emptied streets in Wuhan and Milan are the way to do that. Not all businesses can operate on a work-from-home basis. Only a little over a quarter of workers have jobs that are equipped to do so. Those businesses need to think and plan now about what kind of work stoppage they can weather and what needs to happen to keep it as brief as possible. At the same time, leaders need to look out for the long-term health and survival of their businesses as well as the health and well-being of their employees. Nobody wins when a business shuts down. It’s going to require thoughtfulness and tough choices. Businesses will be called on to help reduce the spread of the virus, and businesses will bear costs from that. But decisions where an investment now pays off later are nothing new. This is one of those times.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to the health and well-being of everyone. One of the most important factors in limiting the spread of the disease and mitigating the threat is open, honest, frequent and transparent communication Matthew Seeger from officials and subject is a professor of matter experts. Officials crisis have been less than forthcommunication coming and honest, howand dean at ever, likely because they Wayne State are afraid of creating soUniversity. called mass panic. News reports have emerged suggesting that fear of panic has been an overriding consideration in decisions about what to communicate and when. Federal officials have made the assurance “There is no need to panic” part of almost every major statement about the outbreak. The sluggish decision to declare COVID-19 a pandemic, even when it met all of the World Health Organization’s criteria for a pandemic, may also be explained as part of a need to reassure the public. There are now rumors that the decision to initially limit testing was a strategy to avoid reporting on the scope of the outbreak. But the reality is that widespread public panic is a very rare condition in times of crisis. Thirty years of research in a variety of disasters has found very few cases of public panic. In fact, panic is classified by disaster researchers as a pervasive myth, often propagated by the media. In general, people act in fundamentally rational, logical and even altruistic ways, given the conditions they face, the information they have access to, and their trust in the ability of government to protect them from harm. Public response to COVID-19 includes significant concern, purchasing things that the public believes or has been told can help protect them, and changing behaviors. Community preparedness for crises has always emphasized having a three-day supply of food and water and in fact Ready.Gov has promoted this kind of preparation for many years. It is not at all surprising in light of a disease outbreak that may require social distancing and in some cases, self quaran-
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.
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 | MARCH 16, 2020
tine, that people are stocking up at their local Costco. It is logical behavior given the circumstances and what is being observed elsewhere. Similarly, hand sanitizer has been recommended as a mediation strategy. Face masks, especially for healthy persons, are of very limited utility, nonetheless, to the untrained person they make sense as a way to limit exposure. Limiting financial exposure and risk, especially when high levels of uncertainty exist about the long-term implications of COVID-19, are logical and rational responses and likely would be recommended by most financial advisers. Avoiding WHEN travel and large crowds that can in- UNINFORMED crease exposure is OFFICIALS USE not panic. Rather, these are logical and FEAR OF PANIC rational social disAS AN EXCUSE tancing strategies. Not only is panic a FOR rare response during crises and disasters, WITHHOLDING people tend to act in INFORMATION, supportive and resilient ways. They check THEY INCREASE on their neighbors, DISTRUST AND help organize community response ADD TO THE teams, and ensure SUSPICION THAT that those who are harmed receive help THINGS ARE and care. MUCH WORSE When uninformed officials use fear of THAN OFFICIALS panic as an excuse for ARE WILLING TO withholding information, they increase ADMIT. distrust and add to the suspicion that things are much worse than officials are willing to admit. Research shows that in the absence of credible information, dangerous rumors develop and go viral. This distrust will also tend to increase the very kinds of behaviors officials wish to avoid. Over reassurance is a fundamental mistake in crisis communication. When an official makes a statement such as “There is no need for public panic,” it indicates a limited understanding of how people behave during disasters. Moreover, it reflects a fundamental distrust in the tendency of the public to generally do the right things when given the right information.
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER’S OFFICE
BY MATTHEW SEEGER
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
Pushing to make Michigan a center for electric vehicles BY MARK REUSS
At General Motors, we have talked extensively about our vehicle electrification plans, and recently we showed them to employees, dealers, investors, policyMark Reuss is makers and president of media. The preGeneral Motors view included Co. our new Ultium battery system, our approach to building an EV charging ecosystem, and 13 all-new electric vehicles that will represent all four of our brands, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC with its GMC Hummer EV and Buick. Our intent was to showcase the efforts of thousands of GM scientists, engineers and designers who are working to execute a historic reinvention of the company. It’s an exciting step forward in our journey to reach a world with zero emissions. It’s also the latest step in our efforts to keep Michigan at the center of the transforming auto industry. Much of the world-class design and engineering work we spotlighted this week is driven out of GM’s Warren Technical Center — the heart of American innovation since 1955, and where we invested $1.5 billion to renovate and revamp the campus. Three years ago, about 20 percent of the work done in Warren was on EVs. Today, it’s close to 60 percent — and growing, including all the terrific work done around the cell-making capability giving life to the Ultium battery — which is the key to unlock cost and performance for our EVs. In fact, the $28 million expansion of our battery lab in Warren, which was already one of the largest in the world, brings the facility to more than 100,000 square feet. The recent $2.2 billion-dollar investment in our Detroit-Hamtramck
assembly facility will support production not only of the GMC Hummer EV, but multiple EV models including the Cruise Origin shared self-driving EV, creating more than 2,200 jobs. DHAM will be our first assembly plant 100 percent devoted to electric vehicle production. Our Orion Assembly plant in Lake Orion is home to the Chevrolet Bolt EV, using batteries provided by LG Chem’s Hazel Park facility. Last year, we announced an additional $300 million investment in Orion Assembly to produce a new Chevrolet EV based off the Bolt EV platform that will bring 400 new jobs to our area. Our unique combination of ad-
vanced technology, flexibility, speed and scale will allow us to come to market with an EV for every customer. GM’s talented engineering and manufacturing employees — including here in Michigan — are a critical part of our competitive advantage. And we want to continue to work together as we position Michigan as an industry hub for technology and sustainability. That means not just making EVs here — but also making it easier for Michiganders to drive and enjoy them. Our new modular EV platform allows GM’s creative designers to reimagine vehicle style and space, starting from the ground up. With
less space needed for batteries and more room for people, we can create vehicles with improved passenger comfort, and bolder, more dynamic exteriors — not to mention 0-60 mph times that we anticipate will turn a lot of heads. We’re also striving to make charging simpler and easier for Michigan residents. We’ve just announced plans to triple the number of chargers available for GM employees in the United States and Canada, and we support increasing incentives for infrastructure and EV purchases to help expand access to both vehicles and charging stations. Finally, we salute our Michi-
gan-based business partners, our competitors and our supplier teams working across the state. We’re all pushing one another as we try to win — and the whole state will benefit, and more quickly, as a result. Throughout my life, I’ve seen some remarkable milestones in this state and at General Motors. This company has had its ups and downs, and it has learned, adjusted and emerged better every time. This is a historic moment for the company, as it marks the turning point toward a future with zero emissions. And for Michigan, it marks the start of another century leading the automotive industry into a new era.
LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE!
CALLING ALL HEROES.
CRAIN’S AWARDS
Health Care Heroes: A last chance to nominate You have one more chance to nominate a Health Care Hero. The deadline for nominations has been extended until Friday, March 20. We’re seeking stories of health care professionals who are breaking down barriers in health care delivery, improving access to care, changing the system and saving lives. Nominations are accepted in five categories: Corporate Achievement; Administration or Executive; Physician; Allied Health; and Medical Research Innovation. Winners will be featured in our June 1 issue. To nominate, visit crainsdetroit. com/nominate. For questions, contact Amy Bragg, special projects editor: abragg@crain.com or (313) 4461646.
Crain’s Detroit Business is seeking nominations for Health Care Heroes, a special report on health care professionals that will run in the June 1 issue. The program will honor top-notch medical innovators and patient advocates dedicated to saving lives or improving access to care.
A panel of health care judges will choose winners in five categories: ■ Corporate Achievement in Health Care ■ Administrator or Executive ■ Physician ■ Allied Health ■ Medical Research Innovation
NOMINATION DEADLINE: March 20 | CrainsDetroit.com/Nominate MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9
FOCUS | WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
THE LIP BAR
HER OWN COURSE Melissa Butler, CEO of The Lip Bar.
Melissa Butler, CEO of The Lip Bar, on not taking no for an answer BY RACHELLE DAMICO | SPECIAL TO CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
When Detroit-native Melissa Butler graduated from college, she moved to New York and began her career on Wall Street, where she aimed to earn enough money to make a good living. But once Butler arrived, she realized her job wasn’t all she hoped it would be. “I was miserable. I was essentially just following someone else’s playbook, and the rules that were created by society,” Butler said. “I quickly learned you have
to follow your own course.” Butler indeed followed her own course. Motivated by a job that dissatisfied her, Butler started making lipstick in her kitchen by mixing essential oils and carnauba wax. “I didn’t have a retail background, and I was not a makeup artist,” Butler said. “This was a completely new industry for me.” See BUTLER on Page 11
“I WAS MISERABLE. I WAS ESSENTIALLY JUST FOLLOWING SOMEONE ELSE’S PLAYBOOK, AND THE RULES THAT WERE CREATED BY SOCIETY. I QUICKLY LEARNED YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW YOUR OWN COURSE.” — Melissa Butler
10 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
FOCUS | WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
BUTLER
The Butler File Education: Bachelor’s degree in business finance from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
From Page 10
Frustrated with an industry that marketed a narrow standard of beauty, Butler created vegan, paraben-free, nontoxic lipsticks made to flatter a variety of skin tones. “Lipstick is that one thing that changes your entire look,” Butler said. “It gives you a little bit more confidence and power to take on the day with super minimal effort.” With her product developed, Butler spent years pitching to investors in order to grow her company. In 2015, she earned a spot on ABC primetime TV show “Shark Tank,” the reality television series where entrepreneurs present to a panel of five investors who decide whether or not to invest in their company. The investors rejected her business and insisted she would never get market share. That didn’t stop Butler. Today, The Detroit-based company has 18 employees, $2 million in funding and is sold in about 500 Target stores across the nation. Last year, The Lip Bar opened its first flagship store in Detroit and expanded its product line to include beauty products such as foundation, eyeshadow and blush. In an era of multiple beauty and skin care steps, Butler takes a minimalistic approach to beauty. Many of The Lip Bar’s products are multi-benefit, such as the brand’s Skin Serum Foundation that includes hyaluronic acid, which moisturizes skin. “I plan to be the brand that people think of when you think about your five minute makeup routine,” Butler said. ` Why did you start with The Lip Bar? I started The Lip Bar because I was frustrated with the beauty industry, its lack of diversity and its excessive amounts of chemicals. I was frustrated with this idea that women were being told they need to look a certain way in order to look and feel beautiful within society. I thought, this linear beauty standard is not what most women look like. I decided instead of complaining about it, I could create a solution for it. That solution was The Lip Bar. What we do is challenge the beauty standard and instill confidence within our customers by increasing representation, telling their stories and letting them know that they don’t have to be anything other than themselves in order to be enough. (The Lip Bar features diverse models in its campaigns.) In 2012, no one was talking about inclusivity or diversity. It was rare that you saw black women, Indian women, Asian women, white women who were plus size, white women with tattoos ... anything that looked outside of traditional European beauty standards. Nothing on this planet is one-size-fits-all. For a long time, companies ignored that. ` How did you start the company? For the first three years, every single product came from my bare hands. I used all of my personal savings, invested in packaging and started doing a ton of research. I was still working my Wall Street job for the first year and a half, which was very demanding. I would come home from work, make the products, do social media and customer service, and work on the website. When I quit my job, The Lip Bar wasn’t even making enough to replace my salary. I wanted to take the risk rather than live with regret. I knew that my business wasn’t going to give me 100 percent if I
Career ladder: After graduating from college in 2009, Butler worked as an analyst for Barclays, a multi-national investment bank and financial services company headquartered in London. Butler worked in Barclays’ New York office, where she provided stockbrokers, fund managers and stock market traders with financial information, advice and recommendations obtained from global investment data. While continuing to work her corporate job, she started her company, The Lip Bar, in 2012. She left Barclays in 2013 to focus on The Lip Bar full time. Current role: Founder and CEO, The Lip Bar Even when The Lip Bar launched in Target stores, Butler struggled to raise money. “There are tons of people who get investment based on ideas, and I have a purchase order from (Target) and could not get funding.” But “I just kept pitching,” she said. | THE LIP BAR
didn’t give it 100 percent. ` How did you get your product into consumers’ hands? Beauty is a very intimate product. It goes on your face and people want to see it and feel it. I knew I needed to get the product in the hands of the consumer, but we weren’t ready to go into retail yet. Retail is expensive. You have to be able to pay for the inventory. In 2013, we built a mobile store by gutting the insides (of a truck) and outfitting it into a beauty store. We went on tour and I personally drove a 26-foot truck all over the country and to Toronto. It was amazing and allowed people to interact with the product and spread the story. That’s probably one of the accomplishments I am most proud of. People still will reach out and say, “I remember when you came to our college,” or “I remember when I saw you in (Washington) D.C., and I bought something off of the truck.” ` When you appeared on Shark Tank, they rejected The Lip Bar and basically told you that The Lip Bar didn’t have a shot. What motivated you to continue? Resilience got me here. Nothing made me want to stop. You get told “no” as an entrepreneur all the time. I think that was my first lesson in understanding that you have to know your audience and know how to talk to specific communities. The (investors) simply weren’t my audience, and I decided that I was going to find my tribe. ` How did you get your product into Target stores? I thought Target was the perfect partner because they’re innovative and multicultural. They have always celebrated every population, and they’ve been really successful at creating an environment that feels welcoming for everyone. I spent a couple of months trying to figure out who their buyer was. I stalked (potential Target buyers) on LinkedIn and started blind emailing people. Finally, I got to the right contact and I pitched to her. She thought it sounded wonderful. I sent her a sample and she said that our packaging was amazing. We did a test by launching on their website and we did well online. From there, we started selling in 40 Target stores in February 2018. Within four months, they asked us to go into 450 stores. We weren’t ready (to fund the purchase order) so we did it within 9 months. Now we’re in about 500 Target stores.
` What challenges did you come across when supplying to a major retailer? When we were launching into Target stores, we needed money to fund our purchase orders and couldn’t get investment. Meanwhile, there are tons of people who get investment based on ideas, and I have a purchase order from a national retailer and could not get funding. So ridiculous. I just kept pitching. Then, I met someone who is incredibly committed to the beauty industry (who) decided he would start investing in black women. (Butler’s investor is SheaMoisture CEO Richelieu Dennis.) Black women are starting businesses faster than any other group in this country, but we are getting less than 1 percent of
venture capital dollars. He believed in me. When having a conversation with someone who on the other side of the table looks at you in the same way as someone else who just gets the benefit of the doubt, then the conversation is a lot easier. They’re able to actually see the business, hear the business and think about it as an actual viable business opportunity. ` Why base a beauty company in Detroit rather than in New York City? I grew up in Detroit. I went to Cass Tech High School and left Detroit for college. New York is an exciting place for fashion and beauty, and it absolutely lives there, but I saw the narrative of Detroit changing. Before, everyone was talking about how Detroit was in ruins. Now,
Fun fact: Butler lived in Beijing for six months while studying abroad in college.
people are talking about how Shinola is making watches here and that there’s a startup hub here called Ponyride. I thought I could do a lot more in my own city. I wanted to be a part of the renaissance. Detroit has also supported me so much. Our customers are our super fans. We didn’t really start growing until I moved back home. I was able to focus, operate at a lower cost and I could hire people. ` Do you have any advice for women who are thinking about starting a business? Don’t be afraid of saturated markets. Don’t be afraid of not knowing. Don’t be afraid of the naysayers. Just make sure you’re solving a problem and building a community and you’ll be fine.
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HEALTH CARE
David Brooks joins Patient Education Genius IT company Software program designed to improve communication between patients, doctors BY JAY GREENE
Breaking down communication barriers between patient and doctor and improving the health care delivery system is why Tom Hartle founded Troy-based Patient Education Genius in 2013. Too often doctors and health care experts say failure of patients to understand treatment recommendations or comply with medication orders leads to poorer outcomes and higher health care costs. Over the past decade, hospitals and physician organizations have installed complicated and bulky electronic health records to help doctors keep track of patient medical records, avoid service duplication and improve quality. The EHRs also have web portals for patients to review personal health records and to communicate with providers. But Hartle felt something was missing with the electronic health record systems. “By partnering with the industry’s largest EHR companies, we were able to build a revolutionary communication channel that enables providers to easily and securely send critical education and other information directly to the patient’s phone,” Hartle said. “It’s a very simple concept, but we have made a dramatic difference in how patients come to know and appreciate their doctor’s care. It’s excit-
Brooks
Hartle
ing and it works.” It works through Patient Education Genius’ software program that is integrated into electronic health record systems that include Cerner, Epic, Allscripts and AthenaHealth. The system allows doctors to send specific health care education material to patients based on their visit. PEG is marketing services to physician organizations, hospitals and health systems and health insurers. So far, the company has about 200 physician clients, but Hartle expects those numbers to radically increase in the next several years. Hartle hired David Brooks as the company’s chief strategy officer to give PEG insight on how health care system’s work from a veteran hospital executive. Brooks, 58, was president of St. Joseph Mercy Health, Ann Arbor and Livingston, from 2015 to 2018 and president of St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit and senior vice president of the East Re-
gion for Ascension St. John Providence Health System from 2012-2015. A Detroit native, Brooks also is president-elect of the Midwest chapter of the American College of Health Care Executives. He holds a master of health services administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Wayne State University. Hartle said hiring Brooks will give Patient Education Genius more insight into how to communicate with the doctors and health systems the company wants to reach. “Dave is key to forward momentum at Patient Education Genius,” Hartle said in a statement. “Physicians and patients are looking for innovative ways of communicating, and Dave’s 35 years of health care expertise provides the final piece we need to truly take our product to the next level and into even more physician practices.” Brooks, who recently left as director of Wayne County Health, Human and Veteran Services, said he was intrigued by Hartle’s approach to improving health outcomes. “We have the opportunity to build more durable, impactful connections with patients individually as well as collectively with population health management,” Brooks said. “Spending most of my career in faith-based health care, I know the
importance of empowering patients to better understand their health and be in control. Patient Education Genius does that better than any product on the market today.” Brooks said PEG’s software seamlessly integrates into most types of electronic health record. It works like this. When a patient visits a physician to discuss results of a test, procedure or just a physical examination, the doctor asks questions and takes notes, sometimes typing directly into the EHR system or making notes to add later in the day. At the top of the EHR screen, there is a tab that is labeled “Patient Education Genius.” Once the visit is over, the doctor selects the PEG tab and then is presented with a variety of options to click that provides patient education materials. For example, if the patient visit was to discuss risks of blood clots, the doctor might select three health education materials that could include information on taking warfarin and how to manage home therapy. Once doctors select the pertinent educational materials, patients receive a text or an email with the information. PEG doesn’t create its own patient educational material. “We have over a 70 percent open rate for the texts,” Brooks said. “That’s an incredible success compared to any benchmark. It means
we are delivering patient education and materials at the right time, in the right way from the patient’s perspective and have the best chance to help make a positive impact on their health and well-being.” Brooks said one of the problems with compliance with doctor’s orders is that few people actually sign up for EHRs and view their customized patient portals. In addition, many doctors simply tell patients what to do orally, or they print out materials for patients who end up not reading the information. Many provider practices still operate this way, as they did in the 1980s, Brooks said. The PEG text messages and emails also can be used to reinforce and promote other critical parts of the health care service. They can encourage people to sign up for those EHR patient portals, know what other services may be available to them, or know how to access support and education programs, Brooks said. Brooks believes that Patient Education Genius and the new team he is part of can positively impact what is referred to as the “quadruple aim” in health care: better outcomes, improved patient experience, lower overall costs and improved clinician experience. Contact: jgreene@crain.com; (313) 446-0325; @jaybgreene
RETAIL
Michigan’s first Amazon-branded store opens in Somerset Troy outpost to carry items with four-star and above ratings, selection of local products BY ANNALISE FRANK
Michigan’s first Amazon.com Inc.-branded retail store opened Wednesday at Somerset Collection. Amazon 4-star opened in approximately 4,500 square feet in the Troy mall. It’s the latest addition to Amazon’s roster of brick-and-mortar outposts across the U.S., and sells a selection of home goods, electronics, books and other products that are highly rated on the e-commerce behemoth’s website. While some brick-and-mortar-first retailers attribute their slowing sales to online shopping and Amazon’s eclipsing prominence, the Seattle-based retailer itself sees a market for in-person shopping. The Somerset store is Amazon’s 12th 4-star location. Others are in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts, Washington and New York. The first opened in New York City in fall 2018. The company has more than 60 physical stores: Amazon 4-star, Amazon Books, Amazon Go convenience stores and Amazon Pop-up stores. And Amazon now owns Whole Foods Market, selling products there. Amazon has opened “pop-up” stores in Whole Foods locations in metro Detroit, including in Rochester Hills. 4-star employees look at pre-orders, sales, reviews, 4-star-and-above ratings and trends on the site to determine what they’ll sell, according to materials supplied by Amazon. Sections throughout the stores advertise “Most wished 12 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
METRO DETROITERS ARE “GEARING UP TO STAY HOME RIGHT NOW,” BUYING BOOKS, COOKBOOKS AND HEATED PET BEDS — AMONG OTHER THINGS. — Celeste Donahoe, director of Amazon’s Physical Stores division
for on Amazon.com,” “Top sellers in sports and outdoors” or “Top-selling children’s books,” for example. A localized section called “Trending around Detroit” will feature “products that (metro) Detroit customers are buying at an increased rate right now,” said Celeste Donahoe, director of Amazon’s Physical Stores division. It tracks customers by ZIP codes in the region, she said. Metro Detroiters are “gearing up to stay home right now,” she said, buying books, cookbooks and heated pet beds — among other things. 4-star’s products are mostly those popular on Amazon, but it does “sprinkle in” some local products, Donahoe said. She declined to disclose the amount Amazon spent to build out the store. Crain’s requested comment from a Somerset representative. An Amazon 4-star store in Norwalk, Conn., is pictured. Amazon will open its 12th 4-star store Wednesday at Somerset Collection in Troy. | AMAZON.COM INC.
Contact: afrank@crain.com; (313) 446-0416; @annalise_frank
OBITUARY
CRAIN’S AWARDS
Carl F. Rose, founder of Carl’s Golfland, dies at 91
Deadline extended to nominate an HR pro
Started grocery store, opened restaurant before entering golf business BY KURT NAGL
It took a while for Carl F. Rose’s driving range to get off the ground. Rose worked as a restaurant owner, clothing merchant and test car driver for General Motors before his golf business reached sustainability. Sixty years later, Carl’s Golfland has become a mecca for golfers and one of the most successful golf businesses in the region. Rose, who founded Carl’s Golfland more than 60 years ago, died Thursday at age 91 of natural causes, according to an announcement from Donelson, Johns and Evans Funeral Home. Rose could be found at the company’s location in Bloomfield Hills, the city where he resided, up until a few months ago. Carl’s Golfland evolved from a small driving range on the outskirts of Pontiac into two metro Detroit golf complexes that have become regional destinations. The company has thrived through the booms and contractions of the golf industry, even as driving ranges and courses have closed across Michigan and the country. “Our secret sauce was my dad,” said son Carl E. Rose, who took over the business from his father starting around the mid-1990s. “He was honest as the day is long. You never felt
like he was trying to sell you anything. If you traded with him, you’d probably think he was just one of your buddies.” Born and raised in Pontiac, Rose was an avid golfer Rose and baseball player. He worked as a caddie at Pontiac Country Club and took advantage of access to the course by racing around it every Monday, trying to fit in 54 holes. Before entering the golf business, Rose started the Newberry Market grocery store with friend and auto shop owner Rudy Mazza. They also opened an accompanying restaurant, Skipper Drive-In, working as cooks as their wives served patrons. After selling the business, Rose and his wife Donna bought a small driving range at Dixie and Telegraph roads in Pontiac in 1958. He moved the business to its current Bloomfield Hills location in 1962. During that time, Rose also drove cars at the GM proving grounds and worked at Osmun’s clothing store during the winter to make extra money for the golf business. Over time, his passion became a year-round business enterprise. The golf center on Telegraph Road
POPULAR PROMOTIONS SUCH AS “DEMO DAYS,” WHICH ALLOWS CUSTOMERS TO TEST THE NEWEST CLUBS FROM A ROTATION OF MANUFACTURERS, HAVE POSITIONED THE BUSINESS AS A REGIONAL DESTINATION. started as a 750-square-foot shack. Rose built it into a 43,000-squarefoot complex sprawled across 15 acres with a large driving range that is open all year and equipped with heated tees and ball-tracking technology. The business boomed as the popularity of the game peaked in the 1980s and 1990s. When golf courses and driving ranges struggled, Carl’s bucked the trend by expanding. The company opened a second location in 2000 in Plymouth. The 12,000-square-foot store at the St. John’s Golf and Conference Center also has a year-round driving range. Last fall, it underwent a $1.6 million renovation. The company carved a niche for die-hard golfers by providing state-
of-the art equipment and club fitting services, and for budding players by offering lessons incorporating the latest in swing analytics. Popular promotions such as “Demo Days,” which allows customers to test the newest clubs from a rotation of manufacturers, have positioned the business as a regional destination. Son Carl said he has also invested significantly in its online store, making the golf center into a national and international company that advertises nationally. Running the business and exploring ways to expand and improve takes up most of Carl E. Rose’s time these days, but he often thinks back to his first job: shagging golf balls from his dad’s range in an old Ford tractor at age 9. “I was so fortunate. He would take me to work most every day all summer long,” he said. In addition to son Carl, Rose is survived by daughters Barbara Rose and Paula Rose, and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Donna, and daughter Christine Rose. Services were last week. Memorial contributions can be made to Central United Methodist Church or Liberty Youth Ranch.
The deadline to nominate an excellent HR professional or team for Crain’s Excellence in HR Awards has been extended to Friday, March 20. Though they often operate behind the scenes, human resources leaders are the nerve centers of their businesses and can make or break an organization’s strategic goals.
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN OUR JUNE 15 ISSUE. Winners will be announced in our June 15 issue in six categories: Overall Excellence / HR Team of the Year; Compensation and Benefits; HR Innovator; Employee Experience; Diversity and Inclusion; and Finding and Growing Talent. Visit crainsdetroit.com/nominate for more information or to submit a nomination. Contact special projects editor Amy Bragg with questions: abragg@crain.com or (313) 4461646.
Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl
Together. Delta Dental, along with our customers and partners, supports healthy, smart, vibrant communities in southeast Michigan. Together we are building brighter futures. We invest in initiatives that attract and retain talent, grow business, and make our cities and neighborhoods better places to live. We volunteer. We contribute. We serve.
Delta Dental of Michigan | www.deltadentalmi.com | www.buildingbrighterfutures.com
MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 13
Influential leadership inspires change for tomorrow. Congratulations, Amy McKenzie, M.D., medical director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network congratulate Amy McKenzie for being honored as one of the Crain’s Detroit Business 2020 Notable Women in Health. Just like her friends and colleagues, we recognize the positive change she has made within Blue Cross and for all of Michigan.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
They’re executives and fundraisers. Nurses, physicians and researchers. They’re advocates, educators and mentors. Leaders. Meet Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Health: 41 women who are making a difference for patients, their businesses and
in the field. Those who know them praise their vision, acumen and tirelessness. And because of their work in the community and their mentorship of future health care leaders, their work will continue to make an impact for some time to come.
GETTY IMAGES
METHODOLOGY: The women featured in this Notable Women in Health report were selected by a team of Crain’s Detroit Business editors based on their career accomplishments, track record of success in the field, contributions to their community and mentorship of others, as outlined in a detailed nomination form. Notable Women in Health was managed and written by Leslie D. Green. For questions about this special report, contact Amy Elliott Bragg at (313) 446-1646 or abragg@crain.com. To learn more about Crain’s 2020 Notable Women awards and other awards programs, visit crainsdetroit.com/nominate.
MARGARET ANDERSON
LAURA APPEL
DEBRA BRINSON
MAUREEN CHADWICK
Senior Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Health Alliance Plan Margaret Anderson believes tenacity is an essential skill and employing a data-based approach to problem solving is a necessity. Anderson developed HAP’s 2019 Medicare Advantage sales plan in West Michigan, which enrolled 5,700 new members, grew market share by 1 percent and increased organizational performance by 300 percent compared with 2018. Her plan includes expanding the program statewide. “Margaret combines unusual strengths as a strategic thinker who is also capable of crossing over to operational implementation. She sees the big picture and has the leadership and organizational skills to bring the product or service to market,” said David Fields, president and CEO of Dean Health Plan. As a member of the Winning Futures Board of Directors, Anderson helps provide high school students with the resources to become successful, productive adults.
Senior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Michigan Health & Hospital Association Laura Appel represents the interests of Michigan’s community hospitals in legislative and regulatory arenas including federal health care reform and Medicare. She also assists in educational content development and provides strategic direction in health care data, workplace violence and social determinants of health. “I have worked directly with Laura for nearly two decades at the MHA... Her expertise in the realm of public policy and advocacy — at both the state and federal levels — is unmatched,” said MHA CEO Brian Peters. Appel collaborated with congressmen John Dingell and Sander Levin to get the Obama Administration to add language to the Affordable Care Act that supports improvements in patient safety and quality. She also was integral to the creation of Michigan’s Healthy Michigan Plan, a Medicaid expansion that now covers more than 650,000 people. Now, Appel leads the MHA’s new behavioral health initiative to standardize guidance for care of Emergency Room patients in psychiatric distress.
CEO, Honor Community Health and Interim-Executive Director, SchoolCommunity Health Alliance of Michigan When Debra Brinson joined Honor Community Health (then Oakland Integrated Healthcare Network), the organization was on the brink of closing. So, she implemented systems for long-term sustainability while Honor established itself as a Federally Qualified Health Center. Then, she and her team grew Honor to more than 30,000 patients from 4,000, increased the budget 600 percent and more than tripled the number of locations, including primary and behavioral health centers, school-based centers and a dental center. They also added a mobile dentistry unit, partnered with Uber to provide rides for patients and collaborated with homeless services organizations to meet people where they are. “With her acumen and keen insight with policy and state and national legislators, Deb has gained a national reputation for understanding how services are funded as well as being able to think creatively to secure additional services for children,” said Kathleen Conway, director of Pediatrics for Henry Ford Health System.
Chief Nursing Officer, Michigan Market Executive Team Ascension Michigan Maureen Chadwick leads more than 13,000 associates in Ascension Michigan’s Nursing, Nursing Support, Pharmacy and Laboratory services. Her success story includes ensuring consistent clinical practice standards, employing evidence-based leadership practices and reducing nurse turnover rates 11 percent. Chadwick accomplished this by standardizing nurse orientation, nurse residency and education. In addition, Chadwick sponsored the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration grant for Ascension Michigan’s Zero Suicide Collaborative Network to dramatically decrease suicide rates. She also sponsored a $3.6 million grant from the Ralph Wilson Jr. Foundation for its THRIVE Program for caregiver retention. The grant provides caregivers with life infrastructure and career path support and provides a learning management system. As a mentor, Chadwick encourages others to learn from their mistakes and to not second guess themselves when their views are grounded in facts.
CHRISTINE COLE JOHNSON Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Henry Ford Health System and Researcher and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University
In 2016, Christine Cole Johnson earned the Foreign Policy Magazine Global Thinker Award for her research on health disparities and environmental and behavioral epidemiology and intervention studies. “Christine …successfully leads teams of investigators with diverse expertise to focus on complex questions, such as how environmental exposures may contribute to a child’s developing immune system and their risk for immune-related disorders such as allergy and asthma,” said Edward Zoratti, division head of Allergy and Immunology for HFHS. Currently, Cole Johnson is leading a national consortium of six health care systems (including HFHS) for one of the National Institutes of Health’s Precision Medicine Initiatives. The goal is to advance medicine by recruiting patients into the largest national research platform created and study how differences in lifestyle, environment and genetics influence a person’s health.
ARE WOMEN IN HEALTH CARE RESPECTED AT WORK? Whether you perceive your organization to be a fair and equitable place to work depends on who you are. A survey of 700 physicians found that women were far less likely than men to feel that they were equally respected in their organizations — 69 percent of men said they were, compared to 34 percent of women. And whereas 12 percent of men said that gender equity was “poor” in their workplace, 41 percent of women said it was. ARE YOU TREATED DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE OF YOUR GENDER?
NEVER
SOMETIMES
MOST OF THE TIME
Male perspective Patients Nurses
Female perspective
42% 42% 42% 42%
Administration Physicians Other staff
42%
49% 47% 30% 35% 44%
9% 9% 9% 6% 5%
14% 23% 25% 24% 24%
66% 55% 55% 62% 64%
21% 22% 19% 14% 13%
Source: CompHealth, 2019
MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 15
TERRISCA DES JARDINS
DORRIE DILS
MARGARET FREY
MICHELLE GAYARI
SARAH GILBERT
VE
COO Physician Organization of Michigan Accountable Care Organization LLC
CEO Gift of Life Michigan
Director of Muscular Dystrophy, Neuromuscular and Epilepsy in the Institute for Neuroscience Memorial Healthcare
Executive Director of Global Operations MMS Holdings Inc.
Senior Vice President of Operations St. Mary Mercy Hospital
Pres Hen
Michelle Gayari attributes her success at MMS Holdings, a data-focused clinical research company, to having a high level of curiosity, an open mind and the ability to speak up to advance an initiative. Now, she leads the company’s technical operations, which includes medical writing, biostatistics, safety and regulatory affairs. “Michelle’s leadership for more than a decade has enabled the organization to enhance its global footprint and allowed for more effective leaders at every level of the organization,” said MMS Chief Scientific Officer Uma Sharma. Gayari’s teams have supported about 50 new drug submissions globally and have grown operations in South Africa by 125 percent. They also help clients save money with a time-saving cloud-based application that performs quality control and style checks for medical writing, pharmacovigilance, clinical trial transparency and other types of documents in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries.
Previously executive director of Surgery, Cardiovascular, Rehab and Planning, Sarah Gilbert now oversees St. Mary Mercy’s diagnostic, ancillary and support services, including supply chain and planning, design and construction. “Sarah’s greatest strength is her ability to bring smart people from different perspectives together and to get them working towards a common goal,” said Shannon Striebich, interim president of St. Mary Mercy. Gilbert was integral to the hospital’s partnership with the city of Livonia to increase health support and improve quality of life for residents, as well as its partnership with Growth Works to pair coaches with patients with substance abuse disorders and support them during hospital stays, recovery and their reentry into the community. Last year, Gilbert directed the addition of a new hospital chapel for Christian worship, a prayer room for Muslim worship and a venue for quiet reflection for patients, colleagues and visitors.
Prev COO to se old “R
Terrisca Des Jardins directs operations and strategy for Physician Organization of Michigan Accountable Care Organization, which collaborates with 45,000 Medicare beneficiaries, 4,100 providers and communities to improve population health. Under her leadership, POM ACO has saved nearly $90 million for taxpayers and secured more than $40 million in shared organization and provider savings. She also has worked to give Medicare recipients a greater voice in their care and established a Medicare Beneficiary Advisory Committee comprised of actual Medicare beneficiaries. Now, Des Jardins is implementing an initiative to align community benefit priorities and investments across hospitals and geography to better support issues related to social determinants of health. In addition, Des Jardins, who is a lecturer at the University of Michigan, is a mentor supporting women in the School of Public Health’s H-net Mentorship program.
Gift of Life Michigan, which serves 168 hospitals, has experienced year-over-year increases since Dorrie Dils joined the organization. After building a senior leadership team, employee engagement reached 75 percent and the numbers of organ and tissue donors and numbers of Michiganders on the state’s Organ Donor Registry improved. Moreover, Dils restructured the Gift of Life Governing Board to include more members of the community and board committees. She also directed the organization’s adoption of a new electronic medical record service provider used by 75 percent of the organ recovery organizations in the world. Dils, a member of the Ethics and Legislative and Regulatory Affairs committees for the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations, advises other women in her field to build their education and experiences so that they are prepared when an opportunity presents itself.
Margaret Frey’s expertise and ability to effectively communicate with patients, pharmaceutical leaders and physicians led to her rising to a leadership role at Memorial Healthcare. In 2016, Frey founded a new MDA-ALS Care center at Memorial that now serves about 200 patients with rare neuromuscular diseases. She also advocated for patients to gain easier access to Nusinersen, a $120,000-per-dose medication known to help improve quality of life and delay or minimize deterioration. Her efforts have included collaborating with billing and insurance professionals, anesthesiology and interventional radiology to bring this life-saving treatment to Memorial. Frey is a member of the Biogen Nusinersen Advisory panel and on the boards of the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America and the Board of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at Memorial.
®
From the Heart When people love what they do, you feel it, because it matters to them. Congratulations to Candace Smith-King, MD, FAAP, and Leslie Jurecko, MD, MBA, our Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Health. Thank you for bringing your hearts to work and sharing your curiosity and compassion with your teams and our communities. Improve health, inspire hope and save lives.™
Candace Smith-King, MD, FAAP Vice President, Academic Affairs, and Designated Institutional Official Spectrum Health System Leslie Jurecko, MD, MBA Senior Vice President, Delivery System Quality, Safety and Experience Spectrum Health System
16 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
Spectrum Health System
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VERONICA HALL
MAYA HAMMOUD
LENORA HARDY-FOSTER
MELISSA HOLMQUIST
PATRICIA JOBBITT
President, Henry Ford Hospital Henry Ford Health System
Associate Chair for Education for Obstetrics and Gynecology; Professor of Learning Health Sciences; Director of the Center for Education, Clerkship Director for Obstetrics and Gynecology University of Michigan Medical School
President and CEO Judson Center Inc.
President and CEO Upper Peninsula Health Plan
CEO Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, Detroit Medical Center
Lenora Hardy-Foster has made significant changes since joining Judson, which provides foster care and adoption services among other programs. “Lenora’s focus on building Judson’s first integrated health center, (which) offers therapy, counseling and primary health care all in one site, is a marvel. The health center is unique because at the same site location there are also autism services, early head start and child and family programs,� said Khadija Walker-Fobbs, chief strategy officer at Judson. Hardy-Foster integrated the nonprofit’s primary health clinic and behavioral health program, expanded autism services and increased revenue 60 percent. In addition, Hardy-Foster is treasurer of the Michigan Federation for Children and Families, chair of the Finance committee for Hannan Center and an advisory board member for the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities.
Melissa Holmquist started her career at Upper Peninsula Health Plan as a receptionist and worked her way up to president and CEO in 2018. Her climb gave her insight into both the organization and the needs of the UP’s 300,000 residents, who often suffer from poor nutrition, poor access to health care and lack of reliable transportation. Her team is addressing social determinants that impact residents’ health by adding network providers, empowering customer service employees to prescreen members to identify potential health needs and collaborating with clinics to become patient-centered medical homes. With Holmquist at the helm, UPHP has implemented the Healthy Michigan Plan, which provides health coverage to nearly 16,000 UP residents; launched the Connected Communities for Health initiative to connect residents with local resources to help them meet basic needs; piloted a remote patient monitoring program to help keep patients out of the ER; and expanded the transportation department to get members to and from doctor’s appointments.
Previously chief nursing officer and COO, Veronica Hall is the first nurse to serve as president of the 105-yearold hospital. “Ronnie’s ‌strategic thinking and unwavering commitment to Detroit is fueled by her strong desire to positively impact the health and well-being of the communities we serve,â€? said Richard Davis, senior vice president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System South Market and Henry Ford Hospital. Hall, an executive board member for the Wayne State University Board of Visitors, is co-leading the master planning of Henry Ford Hospital’s 53-acre campus. And in recent years, she facilitated the health system’s merger and integration of Allegiance Health System and was key to HFHS implementing electronic medical records at five hospitals and more than 40 medical centers. As CNO, Hall developed and implemented nursing protocols, created nursing dashboards with quality indicators and regulatory requirements, helped enhance nursing compensation, recruitment and retention and led the development of an RN-BSN program at University of Detroit Mercy.
“Dr. Maya Hammoud is a national physician leader and educator working to advance health care delivery through innovative educational programs that will impact the future of medicine,� said Marschall Runge, executive vice president for Medical Affairs of UM and CEO of Michigan Medicine. “Her leadership in health systems science implementation and academic coaching strive to align physician training with the health care needs of the future.� Hammoud works with medical schools and residency programs nationwide to introduce new required competencies for Health Systems Science students. She also develops health care providers who are culturally competent to care for Arab American and Muslim populations. At Michigan Medicine, Hammoud is improving efficiency and safety in the labor and delivery unit and collaborating with health care centers to increase patient access.
Patricia Jobbitt increased outpatient business, developed the DMC’s virtual spine center and was the lead executive behind its Sports Medicine Institute — slated to open this year — before becoming RIM CEO. Since then, she has increased employee engagement and set RIM on a path to exceed 2018 earnings. She transformed RIM with a Return to Play initiative that includes injury prevention, a hotline for appointment scheduling, easier access to surgery and therapy and sports performance training. Jobbitt also facilitated a partnership that resulted in the DMC opening its first Sports Performance Powered by EXOS site in Pontiac. “Patty’s vision of creating the RIM Way of excellence is inspirational and from the start has been readily embraced by RIM staff,� said Ted Gillary, executive manager of the Detroit Athletic Club and former RIM trustee. Jobbitt’s RIM Way initiative revamped employee orientation and developed an annual training refresher for employees.
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MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 17
LESLIE JURECKO
SHEILA KASSELMAN
ANNEMARIE KELLY
JONEIGH KHALDUN
TRACY KRAMER
LAU
Senior Vice President, Delivery System Quality, Safety and Experience Spectrum Health System
Founder and CEO Sky Foundation Inc.
Assistant Professor, Attorney, Health Administration Eastern Michigan University
Chief Medical Executive, Chief Deputy Director for Health Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
Director, Strategic & Business Planning, Project Management, Henry Ford Hospital West Bloomfield, Henry Ford Health System
Vice Netw Barb
As head of the Detroit Health Department, Khaldun’s team responded to the city’s hepatitis A outbreak by coordinating screening and vaccination at major emergency departments, which subsequently vaccinated more than 8,500 people. She also designed and launched a new reproductive health clinic and partnered it with a rideshare company to make care more accessible. “She is building on her accomplishments in Detroit as she oversees some of Michigan’s most important statewide health programs,” said John Ayanian, director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at the University of Michigan. At MDHHS, Khaldun oversees the development and implementation of Michigan’s opioid epidemic response plan and oversees the policies and response efforts related to emerging threats including COVID-19, youth vaping, measles, lead exposure and mosquito-borne diseases.
Tracy Kramer directs 100-day lean workouts at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital to reduce the cost of care while improving quality and operations and creating nontraditional leadership opportunities for staff. She’s seen results: The hospital saved about $14 million, generated more than 2,500 hospital changes and expanded margins to 8.5 percent in 2019 from zero four years ago. Recently, Kramer led an Orthopedic Rapid Cycle Improvement team to develop strategy for orthopedic walk-in clinics and create a senior services business development plan to provide coordinated care to aging patient populations. The senior program will be integrated with the hospital system’s population efforts. She also was integral to improving ambulatory access and growth. Moreover, Kramer advises other women in her field through HFHS’s mentorship program.
Leslie Jurecko used geo-mapping to reveal how Spectrum Health has been providing different levels of care and, therefore, receiving inconsistent outcomes for patients in different regions. That information is helping Jurecko’s team improve care by aligning access, quality, safety and experience throughout Spectrum. Results include more focused leadership, improved outcomes, $3 million in savings and Leapfrog Group naming two Spectrum facilities Top Rural Hospital. She also established a new clinical care governance model that includes more than 150 expert improvement teams and helped lead the acquisition of a three-hospital system in St. Joseph, now called Spectrum Health Lakeland. “Dr. Jurecko has effectively positioned quality, safety, patient experience and caregiver experience all under one umbrella, resulting in a reduction of harm for patients and families,” said Spectrum Health President and CEO Tina Freese Decker.
Sheila Kasselman takes Sky Foundation personally. She founded the nonprofit in 2008 while recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery. The foundation seeks to find an early detection method that increases survival rates of those with pancreatic cancer. “Sheila Sky Kasselman … has done monumental work in spreading the awareness about this disease. She has tirelessly spent over a decade on bringing this often neglected yet very deadly and unmet clinical problem to the forefront. Her work through Sky Foundation Inc. has impacted the lives of patients, relatives and the scientific community,” said Asfar Azmi, director of Pancreas Cancer Research Initiative and co-leader of Tumor Biology and Microenvironment Research Program at Karmanos Cancer Institute. In addition to advocacy and fundraising, Kasselman spends time with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer patients then works closely with Henry Ford Health System, Karmanos and the University of Michigan to match patients with the right physician.
Annemarie Kelly is an educator and advocate endeavoring to enhance protections for vulnerable adults, including those with developmental disabilities. She is co-founder/ director of EMU’s Special Needs Planning and Policy Center, set to launch this spring as a clearinghouse, coordinating unit and outreach center for people who have a family member with special education needs. In 2019, Kelly testified before the Michigan House of Representatives Committee for Families, Seniors and Children, successfully influencing the creation of HB 4076. If passed, the bill would create stronger protections against online exploitation, aggression and bullying. Previously, as the state of Michigan’s administrative manager of Health Business and IT Services, Kelly administered a $242 million IT budget and managed a $1.5 billion portfolio of 133 IT vendor contracts.
Congratulations Kathleen Spencer, DNP, MSN, MA, RN, ACNS-BC, CNE Oakland University School of Nursing is proud to honor Dr. Spencer, an outstanding steward for service within the community, for her recognition in Crain’s Notable Women in Health. Many lives have been improved because of her compassion and commitment to excellence.
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18 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
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LAUREN LAWRENCE
MOLLY MACDONALD
LYNNE MATALLANA
AMY MCKENZIE
LISA MCLAUGHLIN
Vice President, Karmanos Cancer Network Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute
Founder and CEO The Pink Fund
Founder, President and CEO Community Health Focus Inc.
Medical Director Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Co-CEO and Co-Founder Workit Health
Molly MacDonald’s Pink Fund provides a financial bridge for patients actively receiving breast cancer treatment. The fund often provides help with housing, transportation, utilities and insurance. In 2019, EyeforPharma recognized MacDonald’s efforts with its Patient Champion Award/North America. And AARP named her a 2019 Purpose Prize Fellow for using her life experience to make the world a better place. MacDonald talks with oncologists, patient navigators and pharmaceutical executives about the financial straits that women face when dealing with illness and treatment. “Molly … has shown that she can work with others to identify and implement practical solutions to reduce financial toxicity associated with health care expenses,” said A. Mark Fendrick, director of the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design. MacDonald’s fund is collaborating with researchers at the University of Michigan to examine and measure the short- and long-term impact of Pink Fund support on patients’ ability to adhere to treatment protocol.
Lynne Matallana never wavers in her determined efforts to help a community of people who are living with life-altering pain, said Muhammad Yunus, clinician, researcher and professor of Medicine, Section of Rheumatology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. Matallana founded the National Fibromyalgia Association, authored “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fibromyalgia” and was key to raising $20 million for the NFA and related nonprofits to fuel advocacy, facilitate research and provide medical education and patient assistance. She advocated for a national and international Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, helped create the Leaders Against Pain scholarship program and worked with biomedical and pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer and Lilly, to develop fibromyalgia treatments. And, in partnership with Johns Hopkins, she helped create the Fibromyalgia Circle of Care, which addresses the challenges health care providers face in diagnosing and treating patients.
“As the lead physician for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s clinical partnerships, (Amy McKenzie’s) leadership is contributing to practice improvements that are saving lives, improving outcomes, and making care more accessible and affordable,” said Tom Simmer, senior vice president and chief medical officer for BCBSM. “Dr. McKenzie has forged an effective partnership with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the University of Michigan and numerous physician organizations to support dozens of primary care practices in Michigan to begin offering (life-saving Medication Assisted Therapy).” Collaborative by nature, McKenzie supports partnerships with Emergency Physicians and prison systems throughout the state to coordinate their efforts to address opioid addiction. She also partnered with physician community leaders to launch BCBSM’s new Collaborative Quality Initiative to lower primary C-section rates in response to patient concerns and to improve sepsis care in the state.
Lisa McLaughlin and Robin McIntosh learned about the significant gaps in care for people with substance use disorder after losing friends to overdoses. The pair used that experience to found Workit Health, which provides health plan-covered, evidence-based digital addiction care using clinicians, counselors and other experts. “Lisa’s vision and ability to develop a program that is rooted in deep learning and compassionate care for all those who are struggling with addiction and addictive behaviors is one of the foundations of Workit Health,” said Robin McIntosh, co-CEO and co-founder of Workit Health. Workit patients can use an app, created with the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan, to access tele-MAT (Medication Assisted Therapy) treatment. The service is crucial in regions where people cannot access medication for opioid addiction. McLaughlin’s organization also partnered with Washtenaw County to launch a hepatitis A pop-up clinic during the height of the outbreak in the state.
Lauren Lawrence’s “experience and understanding of complex geo-political considerations makes her an essential executive for Karmanos Cancer Institute,” said Karmanos Cancer Hospital President Justin Klamerus. Lawrence navigates complex issues and unites relevant stakeholders to expand access to the cancer institute’s therapies, personalized treatment plans, clinical trials and other life-saving options. In doing so, she expanded genetic counseling services to rural regions, helped build a new cancer center in Port Huron and on the campus of Michigan State University, upgraded the radiation therapy department in Macomb and built a proton beam therapy center in Flint. Additionally, Lawrence is co-leading the launch of the Karmanos Specialty Pharmacy to improve service and lower costs. She is also co-directing the design, development and activation of oncology-specific electronic medical records, the McLaren corporate EMR platform and artificial intelligence applications.
Well deserved. Melissa Holmquist Chief Executive Officer
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Congratulations to our fearless leader on being named one of Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Health! Thank you for your commitment to a healthier UP.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Lisa Rudy • lrudy@crain.com MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 19
MOLLY O’SHEA
LEE ANN ODOM
MEREDITH REESE
PAMELA REEVES
KATHLEEN ROEDER
BA
Medical Director, Owner Birmingham Pediatrics + Wellness Center; Campground Pediatrics + Wellness Center
Interim President, Beaumont Hospitals Taylor, Trenton and Wayne President, Shared Services Beaumont Health
Chief Integrated Behavioral Health Officer Vista Maria
Medical Center Director John D. Dingell VA Medical Center, Department of Veteran Affairs
Director of Speech and Language Pathology Adult Services Beaumont Health in Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe
Pres Mac Offic Hen
Molly O’Shea is known in the region as Dr. Molly, author of the “Ask the Pediatrician” column that once ran in The Detroit News. Yet the work she does for the community runs deeper. “Her strong commitment to and compassion towards her patients and their families drive her to always advance the way pediatric care is delivered,” said Luanne Thomas Ewald, COO of Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. O’Shea develops unique models to improve access to care, reduce anxiety and create ease for 3,500 families in metro Detroit. She does this by having staff wear street clothes rather than medical attire. And she has decreased the number of patient emergency room visits and hospitalization rates by providing parents with staff members’ email and cellphone numbers. Her organization also conducts home visits to families with newborns.
Meredith Reese is responsible for directing physical and mental health Lee Ann Odom diligently worked initiatives and championing the her way up from a clinical physical improvement of overall health for the therapist to her current leadership youth Vista Maria role, overseeing serves. She is pharmacy, doing this by emergency and moving the team clinical proto a trauma-ingrams. formed integrated “Since the approach. formation of Reese, who Beaumont, I have leads Vista Maria’s trusted (Lee Ann) Residential to take on more Treatment, Independent Living and and more responsibility,” said Foster Care Divisions, Health Services Carolyn Wilson, executive vice and admissions and referrals, has president and COO of Beaumont added on-campus psychiatric Health. “Lee Ann consistently goes providers and pediatricians to ease above and beyond to manage access of care of care and lower costs. important projects, overcome In addition, Reese is member of the challenges and get things done. She Michigan Human Trafficking has been instrumental in our plans Taskforce board and chair of a to expand mental health services in trauma-informed subcommittee our community and has led created to develop a toolkit for first Beaumont’s mental health hospital responders. And, under her leaderefforts from the beginning.” 0 ship, Vista Maria will support female The mental health strategy Odom 4 DER UN victims trafficking when it is leading includes consolidation, 0 4 of9human opensethe Helen L. DeRoy Treatment development of a training program 3 , n ass unity this year. and dedicating a new hospital to ya Eli Commlater AnCenter land , Oak etwork … is a mentor and patients and community members CFO lth“Meredith N Hea inspiration to many at our agency in need. especially in making sure that our In her role as interim president of employees and clients have the a three Beaumont hospitals, Odom ys on re pa make education and understanding increased revenue, improved cato n’t ealth does e. ally, h sis. This volum toric ba care , just e ” ic the best treatment and“Hishealth Trenton’s quality rating and e om s from that. serv tc ru o o -f fee away good g e g in ura mov decisions,” said Kelly Small, strategic developed a strong orthopedic is enco re a alth c All he initiatives director at Vista Maria. robotic surgery program. CR
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Pamela Reeves leads nearly 2,000 full-time employees at the 267-bed Detroit VA, a component of Wayne State University’s medical school teaching program. “Dr. Reeves is leading the organization’s efforts in virtual care and population health intended to support veterans’ maximum health and wellness, self-care and busy life style,” said Belinda Brown-Tezera, associate director for Patient Care Services at the Detroit VA Healthcare System. As such, Reeves and her team implemented the VA Mission Act, a collaborative initiative to provide veterans with outpatient clinic and urgent and emergent care at VA-contracted community providers. “Dr. Reeves (also) supports and participates in mentorship across her senior leadership team, which extends to frontline staff. She er, 35 c. understands the Dbenefits etwilO, SpinTech Inof d r a E C d governance atWthe line and t anfront iden Pres has integrated shared governance into the strategic plan for our health care system,” added Brown-Tezera.
Kathleen Roeder’s love of commuUnd nicating and relating to people of Hen varying backgrounds has helped ope her forge strong physician partnerships that enhance the care her department provides. As a result, her team has improved response time and can ensure same-day evaluations for new mas patients. towe Roeder also improved access to Ope care by expanding the health colla system’s Speech and Language add Pathology Inpatient Service Line, M and she championed the develop$40. ment of telemedical care. She also activ led an initiative to improve the the delivery of oral medications to Cou patients with swallowing disorders edu and led the development of the protocols for patients with faith tracheostomy and ventilator and dependency. “B “Kathy Roeder rides past the willi . s r te boundaries of her job. Kathy makes that mat inno big ly n house calls to patients who can’t natu eo is th ips h come to see her and establishes ahea s ion elat friendships with all Lind on r her patients,” ig b g Bein Royal Oak Pulmonsaid Beaumont Fam ologist Marc Dunn. an
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t mos ute attrib liassen be an t Anya E not s. bu ” may CFOs, best skill munity ivity reat ate with e of her d Com funds n ci d asso ders it on Oakla limite for the es of si d con anag ide care s, intel13 an CFO ov As tup en m es ly 20 otherstar liass ces to pr tal illn bstance in Ju k, E tech , has ing l with m d goen su ur the cost an etwor ng so with m s and serves. r of ced it al king an n of Michig Spinle ie lth N -changi ly lit op tera r n rolle or al ea bi inpa pe H cn fo a ve theast cont e bala while w aid ever annu l disa ,000 illio ly redu u busi iler, g m w n So ed to 14. Sh from than 27 pmenta agency al prep ealth Net n et re .2 p ot is D on you iation ic et e ity in ising $1 are shar brain d ard prom in July 20 two child r to mor l/develo e publ s 10 regi unity H al budg ke mun ra w ento an Assoc ership e m th soft spected tia, stro com nished CFO , raising am ig lectua sorders ichigan’ nd Com ion annu icaid, th ose afi . g the been e Mich ide lead M la di just Inc., wh such su , demen MRI m mill hood school Med gh has ndin Oak th use one of in ry ith to also rough , a statew t throu surer. ch ans, es a $319 l funds, local fu tes. s. d w g ju lt pl As Te in in ts en en d su n th th ea ss n ag rs en sp ra k e si heal Elia tives Office She w ard’s tr ing the patie ic brai eed to g that re E. Mar man e gene grants an l servic years u e ec m tient in Troy at h n , at bo . ca w ov ex m e tion m e ti se agin wit ical enof st ogram 300 lo last fe k You ness abilita progra ow is th for impr es th s as trau ’s disea s the im in 2017 pr wor a mix s. an ed e) n ce n eh th t n y ga d om e r th ur sands of R pmen 13 and vocate em. order rkinso sharpen mpan and bi from y Michi ate mor e (ove ng so value an 00 lo thou necst y Pa co di re lth er tim in 20 00,0 an ad lth sy eds of and e deve the . olog and Hea s to op a lot of our fun t good rect ca emy been of th ices, hea undr es — ounded r of radi iversity tional $5 oceeds ge s l al ce ad di t in ta to in cu r ur rn ac as h ch di h -f so pr Un so spen s, with the box pay fo d inte men pports e sole fo ose serv . “I She He co a profes ne State ing an ad ith the veloper id “We “I’ve eative blic th su ide es an ” to w e sa e, is s pu ay ith th ged. de proval sy of g rvic outs g cr hods aack ng at W he is ra round, ftware blic state’ is systemy year w e qualit llars,” sh ealth sy enga makin H ap bein to think ng met using se . pu g as A ri id so g n ds edie d en “Th e ever 9 en’t d th er do tal h han ginee wiler sa e fundi ur more tting FD y, 40 m have p fundi itals, ho id Eliass er amon e-base , 201 t styl . We ar es. It is im eopl rvices an taxpay blic men into the lu lo s. sp BER 2 Det out th e or fo rs emen liv entl d ge ram of p off deve ers, ho costs, sa a lead ping va ization e PTEM re anag numbe eople’s d prog . e pu not get ene e an t. Curr are. ry se ofiting os n th m id e lo is ar th sa es cl e // S E h id iv ga w p ke re ve es n an re s) ft g G to sa hir or ar rvic prov istrat ftw s her k wit NESS ical e su on pr in de ctin e so (doe — Jay she g to her r se oizatio to m the so in f ” BUSI scribe just wor e impa the clin does, level pr r not t to mak ic and goin ing th to go adm e organ agencies s and ot rses fo ce mea ing ions. bl eEsTs oR O I T n’t s. We ar tand prov t year are test ency entry- ing he Th n lth wan ays pu ganizat ider reimbu forman D do im ag re ea S rs ov ’ ex e h a rt ly N pr l ng yn tal rearn per t or m st in an om unde r pa at th obal C R AisIe aw earl men acting to ntracti ality ltura for-se t- ca tant to t” of wh r career 99. After tration fr ce te for-profi tes gl qu co tr an is ou of a fee19 nd cu por aspec g cal si g to ra d he con based omes, es. min a fin in N in arte ic ci ys on tc egood re orkin onomic a ople livin mat ssen st at OCH siness ad ed into aster’s Valu on ou efficien care pa urage ealth ca are w d h pe bu e mov st rm h Elia t job was you to l, ec base and co , healt n’t enco id. “All “We ee in en sh ed he after 12 enta 33 million s el want lly rem ’s degr 2008, e m earn shortly e od s n e cu sure istorica is does ssen sa W u o iler m or “ in t tw ir el d four n. Sh lia the e to “H sis. Th Ward De env men italizag v .” bach College nizatio 2013 an e,” E at.” and a ay in in e h p m c s p r m ba lu er ga ti th s ba t if Anya Eliassensues fa Bak e or Baker in e new d hos rven full neve vice , just vo from and at th five Lake is e, bu es ay on th reduce isis inte sed oys role ce from man at ea com ing aw began reat devic lyn G th r oors it has of cr d incr empl u Eve ov e k an u td ier o id m o or y ow Jav th fin , sa w is an show ar. d ou in yn mber pan deSince Eliassen the nu ousing ave to ilor an monthly r this ye ncom ssen id sa d 15, rlie ro . le h you h The e. an av Now,” a sion ea of envi 33 stab served 21, Elia in 20 reduce n so m a ti al e of s, s ded levi eness ple part wiler is tion ng th he n get Lake blic Te provi t of peo cial staff a ci ar 0 c et at fa s, 3 D re in,” es e aw it Pu in an tion ymen of “G Detro to rais ral issu kes bas saila fin lo tion host ed on ltu kes, emp aging king is at La injec ch wor ic and cu e Gre d the la ying th Man un .” e la s ar th n nd munity “We econom ing in d arou ise enjo om DecoCo send fr m liv w an l, r tal ple her (au , in hou enta e to CFO, Oaklatwork really, weers) are ibute mostmmillion peoew up onting and otunder anat feels lik escape attr In wh sort of akbe an m e un “I gr se n h e. . m in sse Health Ne cauty” not id liv y g, sa d Elia e ma e sa in ctor e but An rya fish place w uck blin is not th reativi tern s, -injewitnhg CFthOs, attet skills. es g, to ew d w m in l h a th sh ateusi . fu ic bes associ Ross Nor . s, ca ofoherde vice mmunity beauti n be in ess, wh .” ilk. all ers itinone e n the Co from ca ic achio n in m n e Inc the nd consid everited funds troit, I wildern ig cities degree BA from higan in pist ei io med O ak ofesOakla Alerj b to n lim e , ic to n prot 32 mill e M Mic s. As wCF ics ho m nt ma der, younages ai vice e for the pristin in most lerg his ar sse r de onom en got versity of te Angel car t eyo u Elia wan se ou ec Foun Evelyn is inal — the mof roughlychildrenri, vate vid ge rk, e good pro ll u , two in W Ne , th Uni t an yo rceus to ave to l illnin got the ess, inte n r sou Health e to ing e go in 2005 at the Grosse Po d he’s ntaion case the life millio hrine. P tions h avie ang av H me d h nce h u r-ch s sta n of or. wit 6 an the rsity if yo injesctand sub from eve ines people tera st on an fish e, and cluding of epinep od reac cord. an litie n 27,000 but l ge abi Unive of Bus viser to t pers ss, a ve gel inve ise fo lif s ves nta dist ds.” annuallyhaser more tha ad ar ol ro His icans, in makers lactic 2016, ac t that a evelopme canlic age nncy lerje paipd inpaScho He is an very sm Terry C gtime an lped ra . hy e l/d d er co ofi tua th ap he m A an lec . n pr d , A r, ionalobpre 30 se 10 fareg t tile apalth ers the pub ds of of an n 2007 , a non y bille 2012 ard is a ,” said and lo inTech company s, s Hele’s Ne ar c. use disord Michigan’So el ee e han aims v“W its munityApp the sense unity in Sp chst get of edmm in th nce cl nt betw ealth In privat e life-sa nd chCo As one o-bud kla andanneual mon p comm investor viser to roit Te a very e H Oa ra un pr on ce m th id ns, ir Th la lion su , er pla . et ad co mil in th tu y p s in 9ro lth data nwhile i- , the by Fa a $31 dicedaid And star pply earl 2013 and 377 is an d at D “Ward’ rogant, tient hea y manageson Me still ds, th g tech was an d and e mal fun rose research analyzes s. Mea short su declared rl is ting in July Tro to War tors. fun ot ar and by din genera un work in m st ller of cos it all with mothe tting en and loc e’s n ry open of state iOSm,of Cross rrent ro he met s. gents m oved ing to s and ce clai ne is in ion fir H gra ed to contro site y. mix gog pr e a h. th da ri g it ct n apal serdvic from progra Dru cess vi promoted 2014. She balanc ile working and ce loc istrat sists to undin e’s ve its cu ss said ere bo rtner w colle h insura epineph n 300 years Michigan wh fo e. H l.” few ctorO in July er dmin l de p, od) an hich lt Cro last w Healthy reCF morecatha children ey w to pa ple ar on ia . Fothe hea edicine Drug A and it p lem by startu n, rces.m-You gen a ciate di stem,d, raising two U.Ser s to operate of tim ee (ov e th person eore paco busiys n io ob e rce is p ng d er m 18 at sou co sou pr h th g, you Th so p g g an ay 20 n w is . din s to ac ue and in nt a lot ble , he ntor to fun n alttuh cae and r was as Health Sytohoo inistr star M Food 2016 in fundi slim mar school. lve th “I’ve spe reeacally pe d20val hin our Adm ho been a me Associatio . agori t of operativ wiledo s ing to n’t U.S. tage in t to so c. in 00 to get goo ative wit a e car also has h the Michigan 20 direct “Hist et is ryes ship ies a box a lo Ford oduct In elyn ou or 50,0 Eliassen being cre k outside theEv 6, .DThH earlyfor dl like very co ba01 sis e of rna ide leader the a sh elyn set Alerje than $6 that carr with an throug en ated pr e. l l toinpay ice -2 thin a statew cutives h e ired rents, el Ev based plish evicmesidanddiinte tiona r-ss,erv have to methods” 2013 at the cas, idea ness exe Officers, mor ne case se, pa re-rjust volum nt throug rer. th fee-fo pa ’s ad funding itlitation is ca h She we ised ing ser From ationsoutco asu ltme ors, e an mpany . develop ls, housin of Rehabi Detro has ra smartpho or. The hea od ov program. is the board’s tre g the erat -injector oraisn. t.” sse hospitais alsod Elia go co pu n blic , id 12 ent ge op tha ct ers e in to ch sa on a pm m vid je ura vin ke 1 to ong rs fro pro em , whi ng on develo nycosts,trsai elyn bas ying puder sh tham 3 and now te for impro to-in ive ed enco of ping ta Hende ge to 91 the au . Th n ki ving away mpa y in 201 d, is ato lea 22g, Ev ksta cotrat valBueadvoca hel caTo admeinis union ine au alerts vers if ergency rmatio l wor academ pin rozat s. ion dev elo20 ity l aczation tem. h — remis mo d been an ThThe di ephr gi fo “We org ngani n by mill es in healt usands inor gura anim ket. She has mental health sys epin will sen r care in an em tyle in d a labe un to engaged. $3 agenci izatio e oth s of tho e- All inauer org he es s. vicDes ed-f style as cialers blic and necand ser hundred n lth mervid making seme th ntaliohea d at app, s or ot the case lpful lif book an allergen us of the state’s pu tem supports nagement ers. We aren’t . m pro ber of reim en ses lfor ’s mill ctingcoto a se s, boar me he c sole foc es, her ma ombur ngth $2 alshamb It is imthat niamance spou ed from ovide e recipe specifi olumbu “This sys contra se servic tractin scribes r with the rg w ill mem ’s lives. nW uct to ed with nu enfor tho in le device con t, yea fo a ti rk ple per of ry pr af in od ov C mwo to es ac peo us is r lity t lity eve pr ue-bas qua ting qua ch said. “I progra tal will a yn rem en-s e user at the ; re ratoes, on the M k. — D don’t jus of people le com and the er dollars,” she lerg are impac ospi paical and r rtion said. Val Evel onacout s 6 in built app th es ce al We d. H t an clin r-se ts vic re ac es le es. ts. sai B -fo is ser s er bi ary nd the a fee ce health sys s, she taxpay ave car par a re Evelyn t to baseted servcienci easu as an will al . Allerg ildren’s nt of it the roit cos dencare pays on mental understa the agency doe level pro- ess outfiting off ts h e has ., m andt effipenlth D to ” d h , and blic n t an .V pro hands al ce rs it ft C such er that es pu goo tan w N on the n sur unde le por e dehea se age not per e the entrymbe meo into e an is re n of what lly, ide fo“HistoFirica g her en u ctive. W e to use t encour rst In eer in an lth care make sur (does) not get Myl e incu so aspect” scan e need ationw than 40 en they half wer sn’ nin to car th hea tic l ear nt doe , her ma ene “Al en er s wa N Aft hav “Th r wh oit’s is. Thi u at er wh ghly started vice blic and Th n said. Jay Gre proa in 1999. ion from fo u stays pu anizations.” — ased that few hrine Eliassen y de ool of s to not is on yo be- victre bas ” Eliasse HN trat e, e ro tem -b OC m inis um n at del -i ol org job just vol mad ... find sch inep ho did, red. vice Ohio found ch, iness adm into a finance e to ment mo auto m that.” comes, for-profit curement the d ep w pi ree in bus e th e. Our de approa ved in of om g away fro on the new pay spitalizathen 2017 carrie those had ex is for an half-inch helor’s deg ac 8, she mo master’s ho u hav re fr is movin 360 t ts rk began artreduced en- bac College in 200 . She earned her after was “We’ sure yo e first pl e and tien , and of ine that design than a Since wo en said it has iv e ion sis interv th rtly ic Baker y ed sm to se er of cri organizat Eliass hou ng med liminar and less expand rtable , mak vice in a cohes 3 and sho reased in 2015, role at the m Baker in 201 yi the numb sing and inc fo le re e e de It’s carr rje’s p wid fro reduced hou of an e com examp - th times. ns, nce ble es tio ze sta le fina r or A vided you to e si inch ved. it m nds. Fo ctor man t all ssen detions, pro of people ser or 2 ughly th aking “We want of 21, Elia bra to-inje cal gian ject ent m ial staff her ti ry, au k, ro employm to use a financ thic e batte ed to ot y used aceu SS Managing arm never have el SINE phon compar ost wid ania ph T BU if y TROI lv m vice, but carr de , the Pennsy N’S DE r AI ou en R CR EpiP ured by W FO you KO to, ct W ufa u have B LE
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wiler, 35 Ward Detd CEO, SpinTech Inc. an President
startup the tech , has eran of ler, a vet Michigan nSpi ard Detwi in Southeast llion for nity g $1.2 mi rply reduccommu sin rai ed re sha just finish brain dis ose softwa wh ted ., ke h suspec Tech Inc entia, stro with suc ts dem ien e pat I ma injury, nd in MR es the tim umatic brain d to spe tra ults. orders as son’s disease nee aging that res rk Ma im E. kin and Par rpens the y in 2017 with enand sha pan medical chines — nded the com gy and bio He co-fou fessor of radiolo y. a pro Universit $500,000 te nal Sta Haacke, itio an add at Wayne ceeds gineering said he is raising nd, with the pro pers, rou Detwiler re develo al funding re softwa rov out the or four mo getting FDA app di to close hire three 40 meditware and going to rrently, g the sof to market. Cu vin pro im go tware. t year to g the sof early nex bally are testin glo ss of cal sites
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five full employs pany now can get an an and The com doorsm that or and out e. in 30 ly show avid sail part tim injection is also an Now,” a month s, ler this year. twi hew De n earlier Lakes hios, cas Fo “Great Televisio s.” environto pistac lic of milk. nd of t in s Pub rgic co hos it nes se 33 Detro protein aware lyn is alle million nched on rking to raise facing the the main avier Eve lau es 32 — y issu ein ghl wo cas in,” he tural (au“We are life of rou fish and ldren, are c and cul Great Lakes bas saillly, we , and the ing 6 million chi Private economi the cause rea makers) are His life the lakes, this mental, living in r s, includ nephrine. around people 3e to-injecto Page sam enjoying , in and American the makers of epi food reactions million Dew up on and otherwise ng the tic of m gre usi lac ds fro ord “I r tter phy all hou said. nting in the han claims of ana 2016, acc no ma t under an ing, hu like total 2007 and medicine the device. live. In profit tha ing, fish at feels insurance cent between kes place we d in wh escape Inc., a non per billed who ma never beautiful be in a duck blin not the sort of rose 377 Fair Health on privately you to is earch by data We want our device, it, I can life-savs, which tro es the , ing to res nes lyz hile der use wil western The and ana ims. Meanw you have to pristine supply. big cities.” ree from North Ross collects cla have to, in short in most urance lared ics deg but if you injection in from the you get hrine is first dec health ins an an econom n got his MBA Michigan in ine epinep ministration can get He got y of 5, the today. ing medic Drug Ad s. onds.” y in 200 at the Universit persists ng and it sec rsit d ndi has An 30 ive and Foo fou nte gel Un ess U.S. Alerje d m by y 2018 Grosse Poi of Busin got goo So far, ge in Ma solve this proble The startup, app School iser to the son and he’s a shorta its mobile out to is an adv n of the g, is in 2016. art per launched and Apple’s 2012. He Evelyn set Alerje Inc.16 a vetera estor. in fundin id a very sm ry Cross, inv $650,000 ries a slim ased on Andro l in the pro“Ward is said Ter longtime angel re than ” Detroit-b car e mo t se, stil ed is tha sen n rais ped rais h an and case iOS and commo the medimunity which has a smartphone paired wit s, nTech, hel pany. ting e, com Spi p get cas in rtu of or on The cess parent ed by CRAIN’ tech sta ly invest to the com hstars, njector. working rators, John Haji S D E T R cal device approv Drug s an ear adviser ne auto-i 911 ope ctor is troit Tec Cross wa and is an O I T B. U epinephri d and auto-inje moalerts to t round rd at De ard’s a very U.S FooS I Nwh ren s if the Wa l send ich t the cur wil ver The E , me its y. “W egi S S // S app car enc rs. Ryan Hertz d he tration, E arrogant, or other an emerg information, omAdminis CroPssTsai E M reB botRh mento case in spouses es to acc le h. He’s not open to they we Epar , 2 label tne2r wit d from the e helpful lifesty 0 ’s1 9 Evelyn hop 2020. very where to Gwen Jimme remove k and a vid ly are. He person ipe boo re will pro rgens. of a plish in ear agreeable startup people ial.” n-safe rec bile app cific alle middle of congen director an allerge rt the user to spe Columbus, Roslyn Karam itional o in the like a lot cooperative and was associate such as l ale tem, y is als to raise an add at the wil y oko t in ler pan ver ists y’s tha twi tal alth Sys rrDe pan ideas, The com round, trying scanner d is real. Allerg ildren’s Hospi Ford He 3-2016, the com to ma d. ing its paFrom 201 s at the Henry to push The nee wide Ch products gth. Evelyn sai cent of seed-fund to $3 million e-related the ed Nation er than 40 per ovation by 2022, hes in len ice that’s age car inn bas left inc tion kst lion lth y io6 of liza Bac mil hea Oh few ral $2 a dev en the e 12 asures mercia nd that react, ority e built ping tak n N.V., me the inaugu t to com hrine wh ghly half were n; rso hel hav of min lan duc nep 2017 fou er ctio ts nde My pro epi and He a rea umben d. ried a memb did, rou men ket. — Tom rd at De “The inc en someone has it,” Evelyn sai Evelyn is rator for wo tients car of those who . nuse expired lennial boa Walsh ele and nt to de for wh device, then an auto-i that had troit acc house, on the Mil . We wa stin ch ma d my ign is for medicine use De proactive and serves nce Bank. — Du have to carrying preliminary des s than a half-in - then ... fin the school of founders nde ls to not from st Indepe you at and les ed smart Alerje’s e the too “We’re wideoth ice is on be- troit’s Fir expand anput ing inches le to e you hav place. Our dev 2 of tab sur ch, e s tor for ke siz a roa jec smile on ma the first 360 app ghly the qui more com exa mple, John dev Hajice ve and i’sinface thick, rou ter y, makingteit likendas. sho For ut-o n- the a cohesi bra ut on soctim bat es. It’s from ctor ma other one phone o-inje of authis nt all ial media pared to cus cal gia ers. ely used utitom carry com most wid“All it take armace the lvania ph s to make me hap EpiPen, guy wea S py is see ring Pennsy INES the by BUS soc red ing a T ksIN’S orDET tieROIthat ufactu box
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SEPTEMBER 2 - 8, 2019 | crainsd
Motawi Tileworks molds its future
etroit.com
With bre ano big
40 40
John Haji, 32
Founder, The
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Gentleman’s
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Roslyn Ka
CEO,
Détroit is t that month FOR CRA they got from “I was the guy our LEWKOW ,” said the fou box JACOBpan ITS BYcom oslyn Karamo y The Gentlem nder of subscription PORTRA k an’s Box. The Gentlem who dressed for ing fashion an’s Box cate sc roughly 40,0 rs to a com munity org munity of 00 men who aniz the job I wante fashion acc receive lifes essories on Her compan tyle and d either a mo y terly basis. brand — a nthly or qua Each box is recognizab rrather than the topped off copy of GQ tote bags and with the late Magazine. T-shirts a st The Gentlem But at its core job I had. I dre an’s Box gen , it exi million in erat loca sse es l clos bra d revenue ann nds and des e to $3.5 ig ually, said earned his bution that in a shirt and bachelor’s a brick and degree in exe Haji, who tie from Grand “There’s not rcise science Valley State hing sup University. become an there are coll when other guy He planned exercise phy ectives all o to s siologist, he didn’t take said . “I just thin any bus said, and k that th would wear After graduati iness or marketing clas me doing it.” ses. ng, Haji wor director of ked as the Prior to laun the Imports ching he polos.” Center at The assistant Collection, Seattle nati overseeing Suburban ve worked six dealers as during that and Singapore. hips. It was time that a Since then female frie about her in differen nd told him Birchbox sub t spaces arou scription. The women’s bea n G.R. N’Namd uty box got monthly i Gallery an the wheels turning. Cor ktown, eventu in Haji’s hea d ally settli year, Haji “I thought manent flag is excited that there nee ship location abo like ded ut i that for men Woodward how the nex to be somethi PHOTOGRAPHS BY JACOB LEWKOW FOR CRAIN’S t five Avenue, nex ng years will unf week and did , like me, who worked t Madewell. old. He’s 70 n’t have tim also co-f e to get to the hours aPages 8-29 said. “Every year ounded store,” he the city has a REAL ESTATE trade asso Focusing The be the brand has ciation and Gentleman’s been differen has a no-brainer created an Box on fash has been diff t for Haji. annual ion was erent,” Karamo conference “I was the guy true nature k for subof this city who dressed scription box rather than and a for the job I uncertain all the job I had compawanted of this is.” ,” he says. “I nies. shirt and tie Through app dressed in when other By Kirk Pinho lica a tion guys would ers would ask And when I’d s, DIT “More con signers and kpinho@crain.com “There’s a dearth of this wear polos. year or the Summit walk into me sult bra Place ing Mall to propnds lift that kind the on of up space,” and outreac cousaid a quarte dealership my pan Luke ld see ny partnered ty primed erty that’s just been torn down, fort legs my Bonner, that and h is what’s If anything, 2019 so far has been a space in Southeast my cow it’s good to see crazy socks.” so they major CEO with Pure Mic of orkAnn on deck. The Now thateconomic these properties turned over.” tion industry is to launch the hig big year for big sites. Michigan. It’s difficult milestones for large, and in some cases incentive, realArbor-based subscripThe Gentlem a bubble that brand acceler estate and economic I’m real an’s has not bur Details previously troubled, properties have Boxofisthe ato The most recent example: A devel- to find 20 acres, The compan in planned st yet, so development consulting company its fifth Silverdomely looking forward to let y’s indepen project by Atlanta-base he said where things been met since the beginning of the year. oper has been revealed for the Ponti- alone dent sists of casu d Seefried . — Jaishree InBonner Advisory Group LLC. will 50 to al 100 go,” Dre acres. den pau dustrial Properties Inc. have been im, accessor Real estate experts see the progl-Bruder ac Silverdome property, a 127-acre along with “These larger sites at some point scarce These lifes are good tyle so far, although there is a Sept. ress as signs of optimism for new deproducts suc swath that for years had been a major sential oils. were going to come down and accomThose items 18 public hearing of the Pontiac things.” velopment, particularly industrial blemish in the Oakland County seat. are mostl modate that. There’s a dearth of space in Planning Commission scheduled for and distribution, in one of the naWhether it’s the Palace of Auburn — Luke Southeast Michigan. It’s difficult to find Founwealthiest Bonner, CEO der, Natur the project, according to a notice tion’s Hills that’s facing the wrecking ball later counties. alicious 20 acres, let alone 50 to 100 acres. These of Bonner Advisory Group LLC posted last week to the city’s website. “It’s representative of the need for are good things. The market’s been pretn 2015, Gw SEE SILVERDOME, PAGE 32 en Jimmer e, founder hair care pro crainsdetroit.com Vol. 35 No. 35 of natural duct compan $5 a copy. $169 a year. © Entire contents copyright 2019 by y Naturalicio came the Crain Communications Inc. All rights first reserved us, hold a patent African American wom bean to for a natura l hair produc She was surp t. rised when she learned blazing acc Michelle Aristeo Barton, 34 and Anne Aristeo Martinelli, 39 omplishmen of her trailt. “I thought ‘Are you kidding don40 me? No one e this UNDER ?,’” Jimmer 40, Page else has e said. “It’s8 M Black History bee n surr eal. Every Month I get tons of med and invitatio ia inquiries ns toTO BROUGHT YOU spe BYsch ak at myDELTA picture DENTAL MICHIGANools. Teachers hav up onOF bull e etin boards like Dr. Mae next to peo Jemison and ple Martin Luth Jimmere is er King Jr. happy to sha with young re her success ” and old alik story e. It started she was laid in 2013, when off from a cus hy corporat Motor Co. e job at For The timing d was terrible who had rece for Jimmer ntly left an e, abusive mar was the new riage and ly single mo messy m of a
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Silverdome deal seals 2019 as a big yea r for big properties DEADLINE TO NOMINATE: May 4 NOMINATE A CANDIDATE TODAY: CrainsDetroit.com/Nominate Gwen Jimmer e, 37
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20 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
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Since 1991, Crain's Detroit Business has gathered 40 of the community's overachievers for a special salute. Past winners have started companies, found success at a young age, established businesses and made nonprofits stronger. Honorees will be featured in a special section on Sept. 7* and honored at the 20s and 40s Celebration in November.
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EACH WEEK DON’T MISS OUT ON CRAIN’S SPECIAL REPORT!
8
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // S E P T E M B E R 2 , 2 0 1 9
ichelle Aristeo Barton and Anne Aristeo Martinelli are the next generation of leadership at the growing Livonia-based Aristeo Construction Co., founded by their father Joseph Aristeo and grandfather Agostino Aristeo in 1977. They are also a bit of a rarity: Women in the male-dominated construction industry, in which more than 90 percent of the workforce is men, according to data from the National Association of Women in Construction. The health of the automotive and supplier and utility markets has been key for the company, which employs more than 700, as it has gone from about $448.6 million in 2017 revenue to $470 million last year, an increase of 4.77 percent (the company expects revenue to remain flat this year). In 2004, it had 220 employees and $100 million. “(The) automotive and utility sectors, the growth of the Michigan Three plus Toyota and Nissan have helped fuel our expansion,” Aristeo Martinelli said. The sisters took different paths to their current president and chief strategy officer positions, respectively. Aristeo Barton graduated from Duke University (BA) and the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business (MBA), but got her first taste of working in the family company when she was just 7, when her father “let her” answer phones on Saturdays. After college, she returned to take an HR role and rotated through various positions, including leading Aristeo’s minority business enterprise, Stenco Construction LLC, from 2014-17 before beginning the transition from Aristeo EVP to president, starting a year ago. “I have been here since I was a punk kid,” Aristeo Barton said, chuckling. “I did little odds and ends, a couple internships and then started full time.” Aristeo Martinelli, however, worked for 15-plus years in the retail and consulting sectors in the Bay Area and Chicago after graduating with her BA and
40 40
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President Chief Strategy Officer Aristeo Construction
MBA from Stanford University. “[Swimming] She worked for Gap Inc. and The Boston Consulting Group. taught us at a She most recently served as very early age COO/senior practice manager for McKinsey & Co.’s North ... that you American Consumer Practice in Chicago before returning to have to work metro Detroit to become Aristeo’s chief strategy officer, for something.” which puts her in charge of strategy, marketing and busiAnne Aristeo ness development. Martinelli “In the spring 2017, my dad called me and said, ‘I think we need to start going through our official transition,’” she recounted him saying. “‘This is your last opportunity to officially be involved in the business in a way
“I have been here since I was a punk kid.”
you would want to be for awhile. Would you like to consider moving back to Detroit?’ At that point, we talked about what that would look like for our family and how I could help the rest of the management team in the transition.” Both sisters are also accomplished swimmers; Aristeo Martinelli swam for Stanford, while Aristeo Barton swam for Duke. “There is a lot of delayed gratification. You are training for a decade to have a race that’s two minutes long, and it ties with what we are doing,” Aristeo Martinelli said. “It taught us at a very early age, outside of academics, that you have to work for something.” — Kirk Pinho
Michelle Aristeo Barton
W
e may live in the connected era, but connection, besides being an old-fashioned adage of business success – “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” – is part of the basic business of human society. Our lives depend on collaboration, community and what we do together in our organizations, institutions and neighborhoods. These 40 leaders embody connection: some went to the same schools, or the same business accelerators, or share coworking space. More importantly, they’re connected to each other through their work on Michigan’s most pressing issues: technology, inclusivity
Pages 16-17 John Haji
Ryan Hertz
Gwen Jimmere
Roslyn Karamoko Pages 18-19 Tina Kozak
Alexander Leonowicz Lisa Ludwinski Pages 20-21
Jason Mars and Lingjia Tang Nathan Martin
Brian McKinney
Palencia Mobley
y
BARBARA ROSSMANN
CANDACE SMITH-KING
KATHLEEN SPENCER
MONIQUE STANTON
President and CEO, Henry Ford Macomb Hospitals and Chief Nursing Officer Henry Ford Health System
Vice President, Spectrum Health Academic Affairs Spectrum Health System
Special Instructor, School of Nursing Oakland University
President and CEO CARE of Southeastern Michigan
After noticing that 500 colleges and universities nationwide provided recovery programs for students needing to get and stay sober, Kathleen Spencer added launching one to her duties. Now in its second year, OU’s Grizz Recovery group empowers students through 12-step meetings, alcohol-free activities, service work opportunities, educational programs and designated scholarships. In partnership with Graham Health Services, students also have access to counseling and health care services. And Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities provides naloxone training to students and members of the community. Spencer is also working with a community partner to build a sober-living facility near campus. She also volunteers as a consultant on the 52nd District Court 3rd Division Specialty Treatment Court team. “Her knowledge of substance abuse and appropriate treatment options for those dealing with addiction has been invaluable,” said 52nd-53rd District Court Judge Julie Nicholson.
Monique Stanton has developed partnerships with Ascension, McLaren, Henry Ford and Beaumont health systems, drug courts and the Macomb County jail to expand access to behavioral health and substance use disorder treatment and recovery services. “Under her leadership, CARE is considered a leader in peer recovery coaching and health care initiatives in the region and state,” said Darlene Owens, Substance Use Disorder director at Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority. CARE’s certified peer recovery coaches screen, intervene and coordinate treatment for people with substance use disorder. The coaches, who are in long-term recovery, have served more than 5,000 people. In December, CARE also partnered with Medstar Ambulance and the Macomb County Sheriff ’s Department to develop an interdisciplinary team to visit homes where overdoses previously occurred and provide resources to treatment and recovery services. Crain’s reported last month that Stanton will step down in July to join her husband in his career-related move to St. Louis.
Candace Smith-King strives to improve access to care and increase quality of that care. She created Spectrum’s Resident & Fellow Diversity Council because, she says, it is important for medical students of color to see faculty and residents who look like them. And she successfully developed and implemented eight new accredited residency and fellowship programs. Under her leadership, Spectrum’s primary care clinics are equipped with allied health professionals who help residents gain access to various community organizations. The pediatric clinic gives children ages 6 months to 8 years old books at every well child exam in partnership with the Reach Out and Read program. “Using supreme organizational skills, a no-nonsense attitude and passion for inclusion, she sees to it that anybody willing to work hard and be part of a team will get there,” said Jeri Kessenich, pediatric hospitalist for Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
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Under Barbara Rossmann’s direction, Henry Ford expanded and replaced operating rooms and interventional radiology and catheterization/ that electrophysiology care labs, opened a ent 19-bed observaa tion unit to am support changes d in patient-care e delivery models re and launched a master facility plan for a new patient tower. She also co-sponsored to Operation Rx, a county-wide collaborative to prevent opioid abuse, addiction and overdose. e, Moreover, her team contributed op$40.3 million to community outreach lso activities. And, in partnership with the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, supported graduate medical ders education, charity care, a clinic for the uninsured, school health and faith community nursing networks and a diabetes prevention program. “Barbara Rossmann … is always willing to go the extra mile, be . s r te akes that mat innovative and inclusive and ig ly b naturally puts the needs of others e’ton s ahead of her own,” said retired Judge s,” Linda Davis, executive director of onFamilies Against Narcotics. .
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“SHE SEES TO IT THAT ANYBODY WILLING TO WORK HARD AND BE PART OF A TEAM WILL GET THERE.” Jeri Kessenich,
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Roslyn Karam oko, 34
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oslyn Karamo ko’s work in Detroit’s bur ing fashion geonscene fuse s business munity org and comanizing. Her compan y, Détroit is brand — a the New Black, recognizable is a one that you tote bags and can catch on T-shirts all over the city But at its core . , it exists to local brands incubate and and designe advance rs searching bution that for the dist a brick and rimortar spa “There’s not ce has to offe hing super r. new about there are coll this model ectives all ove — r the country said. “I just think that ther ,” Karamoko e’s no one me doing it.” that looks like Prior to laun ching her first Seattle nati pop-up ve worked as a retail buy in 2015, the and Singapo er in New Yor re. Since then k , the brand in differen t spaces arou has operate d nd the city G.R. N’Namd , including i Gallery and the Corktown, Ponyride in eventually Det roit sett ’s ling manent flag in May in its ship location in downtown first perWoodward Avenue, nex Detroit on t door to Madewell. clothing stor e “Every year the city has been differen the brand has t, every yea been differen r has been diff t, erent,” Karamo every year our location true nature ko said. “It of this city feels like the and a true uncertain all expression of this is.” of how Through app lications, DIT signers and NB brings brands on a quarterly bas in local deny partnered is. The com with Pure Mic pato launch the higan Busines brand acceler s Connect ator program The compan . y’s indepen dent in-hous sists of casu al denim, e label con accessories, along with hats and mor lifestyle pro ducts such e, sential oils. as can Those items are mostly pric dles and esed under $10 0.
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Margaret Frey, D.O. MEMORIAL HEALTHCARE INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCE
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“There’s nothin g super new abo ut this model. ... I just think that the re’s no one that looks like me doing it.”
Memorial Healthcare is honored to congratulate Dr. Frey for her recognition in Crain’s Notable Women in Healthcare. We celebrate her commitment to providing compassionate world-class neurologic healthcare throughout the State of Michigan.
“That’s real ly cessible piec the ace of the business and [it] really invites peo ple from all walks of life to participate in the brand experience,” she said . DITNB also houses international brands, suc h as pieces by Detroit native Tracy Reese, that may be look ing to test a new market. Since its laun ch, DITNB has mad e well over $1 million future, Kar in sales. In amoko said the she could pand the reta potentially il co-op mo exdel she has troit to new built markets. She may also laun in Debrand, which she describ ch a new es as a “series of dresses.”
For more information on Dr. Frey’s accomplishments, visit MemorialHealthcare.org.
MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 21
Congratulatio
ns to the 20
19 class of Cr ain’s
NANCY SUSICK
NUTRENA TATE
ROSALIE TOCCO-BRADLEY
President, Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak Beaumont Health
Associate Dean, College of Health Professions and McAuley School of Nursing University of Detroit Mercy
Chief Clinical Officer Trinity Health Michigan
Nancy Susick is the first nurse to serve as president of the hospital. While working her way up the ladder, she also served as a U.S. Navy Reservist, retiring with the rank of captain. “Nancy is a dedicated and compassionate leader who consistently exceeds expectations and encourages others to do their best,” said Beaumont Health COO Carolyn Wilson. At Beaumont, Susick developed and executed a $200 million plan to construct inpatient rehabilitation, oncology, hospice, joint and spine and critical care units along with a comprehensive cancer center, a foot learning center and an operating room expansion and renovation. She also launched Project Search, a one-year school-to-work program for post-secondary students with intellectual and developmental disorders. Her work has earned her numerous honors, among them Becker’s Hospital Review named her one of its 130 women to know in health care five years in a row. The U.S. Navy presented her with a Bronze star and several other commendations.
“Nutrena is a woman of action,” said Neal Rosenburg, dean of the College of Health Professions and McAuley School of Nursing at Detroit Mercy. “She is a fabulous collaborative leader who communicates eloquently and graciously at all times.” Since becoming associate dean in 2019, Tate has been facilitating a merger between Mercy Primary Health Care and McAuley Health Center, streamlining faculty workload to ensure the college’s financial stability, cultivating community partnerships and refining collegewide processes. Tate previously served the community as a pediatric nurse practitioner at a school-based health clinic in Detroit and a caregiver to teenage clients at a homeless shelter. She also studies ways to eliminate health inequities in childhood obesity in populations of color and health disparities in general.
Rosalie Tocco-Bradley previously was chief medical officer for Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor and Livingston, where she organized a multi-specialty task force to improve service to patients with substance use disorder. Continuing those efforts, her team at Trinity developed a screening tool and alert system for substance use disorder, established medication-assisted treatment and created prescribing guardrails to assist physicians caring for medical and surgical patients. “Her energy and passion are infectious and have been a driving force behind the delivery of safe, high-quality patient care throughout the state,” said Ane McNeil, chief Human Resources officer of Trinity Health Michigan. Tocco-Bradley, a gubernatorial appointee to the Michigan Board of Medicine and chair of its Operations Committee, also established and directed the Integrated Clinical Leadership Team to address issues in inpatient care, population health and make processes and outcome metrics transparent.
KRISTINE VAZZANO
TSU-YIN WU
CAROL ZUNIGA
Co-Founder and Clinical Director Center for Eating Disorder Assessment, Recovery & Support
Director, Center for Health Disparities Innovation and Studies; Professor, and Ph.D. Program Director, School of Nursing Eastern Michigan University
Executive Director Hegira Health Inc.
Kristine Vazzano and Patrizia Jesue established CEDARS to fill treatment gaps and provide intensive, individualized care for people with eating disorders. Vazzano also runs a private practice. “Kristine Vazzano, in her role as co-chair of the Academy for Eating Disorders’ Advocacy and Communication Committee, played in integral part in a number of important initiatives of the AED,” said Lauren Muhlheim, a fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders. Through AED, Vazzano speaks out about the adverse impact of BMI testing in schools, weight stigma in adolescent TV programming and body-shaming in advertising campaigns. In addition to treating patients, she raises awareness about eating disorders, which includes creating training programs for parents, clinicians, athletic coaches and trainers who are positioned to help children develop healthy body images and healthy relationships with food.
Skilled at identifying urgent but overlooked needs, Tsu-Yin Wu directs researchers, faculty members and staff in the study and intervention of disparities in health outcomes, particularly in Asian Americans. Taking a hands-on approach, Wu also visits the Bangladeshi community in Hamtramck, where she educates people on enrolling in health plans, colorectal cancer screening, lead poisoning prevention and other health and wellness programs. “People of our community are so fond of her that no one wants to miss her in any events to listen to her wonderful deliberation and loving manner,” said Saiful Mohammad Saiful Islam, bilingual CMS-certified navigator and executive director of Community Services and Welfare Services of North Detroit.
Carol Zuniga’s accomplishments include helping to develop Hegira Health’s children’s specialty division, doubling its staff size and more than tripling revenue to $29 million. Hegira is a behavioral and primary care treatment organization. Zuniga also was crucial to the redesign of Wayne County’s adult psychiatric crisis services, enabling it to serve more people and creating a more reliable system for collecting and storing necessary data. “Recognizing a need to strengthen the position and profile of behavioral health providers in Wayne County, Carol Zuniga … was crucial in launching a collaborative of providers to bring stability to an unstable system. She is … impact-driven and wants to see a positive outcome that will protect providers and their consumers, and she won’t stop until we see those results,” said Daniel Cherrin, lead facilitator of MI Behavioral Health & Wellness Collaborative North Coast Strategies.
‘Never sell yourself short’ Q&A: CASSANDRA WILLIS-ABNER Senior Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Experience Officer Trinity Health
Cassandra Willis-Abner proved more than capable of improving patient satisfaction and employee engagement when she employed a variety of philosophy, standards and communications tools to train more than 20,000 leaders, physicians and staff at the University of Michigan Health ` What are some significant System. She joined Trinity in highlights or initiatives of your 2017. work? “Cassandra has led Trinity Health’s systemwide efforts to I have the privilege of working establish a robust diversity and with exceptional colleagues and inclusion strategy that extends to together we have made every aspect of the organization, significant strides toward the including governance, talent achievement of the health development, culturally system's D&I goals. A sample of welcoming and inclusive the cultural transformation environments, supply chain and successes includes expanding elimination of health disparities,” the D&I Team by onboarding five said Duane Elliott Reynolds, regional D&I directors, all president and CEO for the African American women … and Institute for Diversity and Health forming 21 executive councils Equity and vice president of the around the country to steer American Hospital Association. The first African American woman to serve on Trinity “I ENJOY AND EXCEL WHEN Health’s executive leadership GIVEN BLANK-PIECE-OFteam, Willis-Abner continues building bridges for and with PAPER OPPORTUNITIES.” others. She has increased participation in Trinity’s Trinity Health’s D&I efforts at mentoring program by 200 local levels. percent and directed the training of more than 3,600 leaders and ` What is your greatest strength board members on unconscious or special skill? bias. ` How have you improved patient care, access to health care or other services at Trinity? My responsibility includes working with leadership and front-line teams to improve the patient’s experience with Trinity Health — no matter where we touch their lives. I lead the creation and implementation of an experience strategy at the enterprise and operational level. To this end, my focus is on creating consistent behaviors across all access points of care, an effort that will help reduce disparities in care and create meaningful and memorable experiences for colleagues, providers, suppliers, patients, members and guests.
I enjoy and excel when given blank-piece-of-paper opportunities. This incorporates the ability to use my strengths related to formulating strategy, building collaborative partnerships and leading change. I love taking a CEO’s or Board’s concept and turning it into a reality. My friends and colleagues say that I never meet a stranger. ` What advice would you give to other women in health care? Volunteer often and never be hesitant to pursue opportunities — even stretch roles. Never sell yourself short. If you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to do so.
WOMEN BETTER-REPRESENTED IN HEALTH CARE A 2018 McKinsey report found that women were better-represented in health care from entry level up to the C-suite — where 30 percent of health care executives are women — compared to other corporate sectors. However, the share of women in health care does drop off farther up the ladder, especially for women of color, who hold 22 percent of entry-level jobs in health care and just 4 percent of C-suite level jobs.
63 percent
of entry-level health care workers are female compared with 48 percent in corporate America.
58 percent
of health care managers are female compared with 38 percent in corporate America.
Source: Women in the Workplace 2018, a joint report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey 22 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
50 percent
of health care senior managers/ directors are female compared with 34 percent in corporate America.
42 percent
of health care vice presidents are female compared with 29 percent in corporate America.
31 percent
of health care senior vice presidents are female compared with 23 percent in corporate America.
30 percent
of C-suite health care executives are female compared with 22 percent in corporate America.
LAST CHANCE To NOMINATE
A TRIBUTE TO Metro Detroit’s leading human resources professionals who are building companies with the best people, talent, development and culture. NOMINATION CATEGORIES: OVERALL EXCELLENCE / HR TEAM OF THE YEAR | COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS HR INNOVATOR | EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE | DIVERSITY & INCLUSION FINDING AND GROWING TALENT
Winners will be announced in our June 15 issue.
NOMINATION DEADLINE: MARCH 20 | CrainsDetroit.com/Nominate
CRAIN'S LIST: MICHIG MICHIGAN AN W WOMAN-O OMAN-OWNED WNED BU BUSINE SINES SSE SES S Ranked by 2019 revenue Company Address Phone; wewbsite
Ilitch companies
Majority owner(s) 1
Marian Ilitch founder and chairperson
Revenue ($000,000) 2019
$3,624.0
2
Revenue ($000,000) 2018 $3,523.0
2
Percent change
Michigan employees Jan. 2020/ 2019
Percent womanowned
Type of business
2.9%
NA NA
NA
Food, sports and entertainment industries. Companies include Little Caesars Pizza, Olympia Entertainment, Detroit Red Wings, Blue Line Foodservice Distribution, MotorCity Casino Hotel, Ilitch Holdings Inc., Champion Foods, Olympia Development and Little Caesars Pizza Kit Fundraising Program
1
2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit 48201 313-471-6600; www.ilitchcompanies.com
2
Dakkota Integrated Systems LLC
Andra Rush chairman and CEO
565.0
675.0
-16.3
1250 710
55
Complete assemblies for original equipment manufacturers
Aristeo Construction Co.
Michelle Aristeo Barton, president; Anne Aristeo Martinelli, chief strategy officer
467.8
470.0
-0.5
568 462
NA
General contractor and construction manager. Excavation, concrete, structural steel fabrication and erection and equipment installation services. Serves the manufacturing, industrial, energy and higher education markets
Detroit Lions Inc.
Martha Ford owner, chairwoman
385.0
6.6
NA NA
NA
National Football League franchise
3 4
123 Brighton Lake Road Suite 202, Brighton 48116 517-993-7700; www.dakkotasystems.com 12811 Farmington Road, Livonia 48150 734-427-9111; www.aristeo.com
222 Republic Drive, Allen Park 48101 313-216-4000; www.detroitlions.com
3
361.0
3
5
645 Griswold St., Suite 2900, Detroit 48226 313-596-6900; www.strategicstaff.com
Strategic Staffing Solutions Inc.
Cynthia Pasky president and CEO
380.7
342.0
11.3
NA NA
87
Consulting and staff augmentation services, managed service provider and vendor management programs, outsourced solutions, executive search services, call center technology and a domestic IT development center
6
Buff Whelan Chevrolet
Kerry Whelan president
254.5
243.3
4.6
180 174
100
Automobile dealership
Vesco Oil Corp.
Marjory Epstein, chairman; Lillian Epstein Stotland, president; Lena Epstein, general manager
195.0
192.0
1.6
191 193
60
7
16055 W. 12 Mile Road, Southfield 48076 248-557-1600; www.vescooil.com
Distributor of automotive and industrial lubricants, petroleum and aftermarket products and chemicals
8
Bowman Chevrolet
Katie Bowman Coleman president and owner
172.4
170.6
1.0
129 135
100
Automotive dealership
EHIM Inc.
Mindi Fynke president and CEO
147.1
146.5
0.4
NA 148
100
Pharmacy benefits management services, third-party administration and consulting services
Mahar Tool Supply Co.
Barb Mahar Lincoln CEO
118.5
121.7
-2.6
92 86
100
Tool management partner and industrial distribution, commodity management, gauging, staffing
Rush Trucking Corp.
Andra Rush founder and chairwoman
102.0
99.0
3.0
107 111
100
Truckload transportation
12
Wolverine Truck Sales Inc.
Lynn Terry president
99.4
98.2
1.2
171 168
100
Truck sales, parts and service
13
BlueWater Technologies Group Inc.
Suzanne Schoeneberger president
75.0
75.0
0.0
230 220
80
Audiovisual consultant. Handles large-scale audiovisual operations for sporting events, trade shows, corporate facilities and retail applications.
Systrand Manufacturing Corp.
Sharon Cannarsa president and CEO
73.8
78.9
-6.3
203 208
100
Precision machining and assembly of automotive products
Productions Plus - The Talent Shop
Margery Krevsky Dosey CEO
67.8
67.2
0.9
54 53
100
SAG franchised talent agency and event staffing agency
Motor City Stamping Inc.
Judy Kucway CEO and CFO
64.3
67.9
-5.3
NA 300
52
Stamping plant; automotive welding, assembly, dies and prototypes
ARC Supply Chain Solutions Inc.
Greta Elliott president
61.0
59.5
2.5
42 43
75
Third-party logistics service, freight bill audit and payment, freight optimization
18
Seko Worldwide Detroit
Tanya Bartelo owner
48.8
45.0
8.5
32 32
51
Global logistics provider, including air, ocean and domestic transportation, as well as customs brokerage services and export crating
19
MVC
Linda Torakis CEO
42.5
56.1
-24.2
16 14
56
Automotive decorative trim components including chrome plating both hexavalent and trivalent, paint, injection molding and assembly
20
G-TECH Services Inc.
Mara Kalnins Ghafari owner, secretary
41.8
48.9
-14.5
323 397
100
Technical staffing firm specializing in the placement of engineers, IT and finance and accounting professionals on a contract and direct-hire basis
21
Contract Direct
Elizabeth Hammond president
34.9
36.4
-4.1
66 73
51
Facility maintenance services company
Automotive Quality & Logistics Inc.
Sangeeta Ahluwalia CEO
34.1
32.6
4.6
149 301
51
Staffing and service to the automotive manufacturing facilities and their suppliers. OEMs like Ford, GM, Mercedes, VW and tier-one and tier-two suppliers
23
Dowding Industries Inc.
G. Christine Dowding-Metts CEO
29.7
29.8
-0.2
188 178
100
Precision machining, metal fabrication, progressive die stampings, welded assemblies, custom laser cutting, double disc grinding, rapid response prototyping
24
McNaughton & Gunn Inc.
Julie McFarland president
27.7
25.1
10.1
155 155
75
Book manufacturing for short to medium print runs for web, sheet-fed and digital printing.
Blue Chip Talent
Nicole Pawczuk CEO
26.3
23.5
11.8
222 209
51
IT, engineering and professional staffing
9 10 11
14 15 16 17
22
25
40445 Van Dyke Ave., Sterling Heights 48313 586-939-7300; www.buffwhelan.com
6750 Dixie Highway, Clarkston 48346 248-575-5000; www.bowmanchevy.com 26711 Northwestern Highway, Suite 400, Southfield 48033-2154 248-948-9900; www.ehimrx.com 112 Williams St., Saginaw 48602 989-799-5530; gomahar.com 35160 E. Michigan Ave., Wayne 48184 800-526-7874; www.rushtrucking.com 3550 Wyoming Ave., Dearborn 48120 313-849-0800; www.wolverinetruckgroup.com 24050 Northwestern Highway, Southfield 48075 248-356-4399; www.bluewatertech.com 19050 Allen Road, Brownstown Township 48183 734-479-8100; www.systrand.com 30600 Telegraph Road, Suite 2156, Bingham Farms 48025 248-644-5566; www.productions-plus.com 47783 N. Gratiot Ave., Chesterfield Township 48051 586-949-8420; www.mcstamp.com 13221 Inkster Road, Taylor 48180 877-272-3523; www.arc-scs.com
6800 S. Cypress, Romulus 48174 734-641-2100; www.sekologistics.com/detroit 27087 Gratiot Ave., Roseville 48066 586-491-2602; mvcusa.com 17101 Michigan Ave., Dearborn 48126 313-441-3600; www.gogtech.com 24300 Southfield Road, Suite 221, Southfield 48075 248-395-1166 ; www.contractdirect.net 14744 Jib St., Plymouth 48170 734-459-1670; www.aql-inc.com
449 Marilin St., Eaton Rapids 48827 517-663-5455; www.dowdingindustries.com 960 Woodland Drive, PO Box 10, Saline 48176-0010 734-429-5411; www.bookprinters.com 4
43252 Woodward Ave., Suite 240, Bloomfield Hills 48302 248-858-7701; www.bctalent.com
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This list of woman-owned businesses is an approximate compilation of the largest such businesses headquartered in Michigan. Percentage of the company that is woman owned may not be solely held by the leading shareholder. Number of full-time employees may include full-time equivalents. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. Crain's estimates are based on industry analyses and benchmarks, news reports and a wide range of other sources. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies. NA = not available. 1 Marian Ilitch is the chairperson of the company after the death of husband, Michael Ilitch, on Feb. 10, 2017. Excludes revenue from Detroit Tigers. 2 Crain's estimate. 3 From Forbes. Net of stadium revenue used for debt payments. 4 Parent company is Computer Consultants of America Inc. 24 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
TRAINING
From Page 3
Its training program, dubbed Gage University, brings employees under its corporate culture umbrella, makes them brand ambassadors and follows them through a mentoring process as they learn compliance, dosing and other industry specifics. Another medical marijuana chain, House of Dank in Detroit, crafted an approximately 10-page manual that gets updated as practices and regulations change, said Lavia Yousif, a House of Dank manager and registered nurse. She is also owner of Taste Buds, a Detroit dispensary in the process of converting into a House of Dank franchise. New hires train with a veteran employee for 21 days, and the mentor and manager must sign off on a checklist of abilities. So-called budtenders are often customers’ first point of contact with the industry — one Michigan voters first approved in 2008, but was slow to start. Then recreational use was approved in 2018 and recreational sales started in December last year. The national marijuana industry is expected to balloon to $30 billion by 2025. Michigan retailers reported $9.8 million in recreational marijuana sales and $25.2 million in medical in January, according to the state’s most recent monthly report. Two hundred medical provisioning center licenses were active as of January and 42 recreational retail licenses. More than 243,000 people worked full time in the nearly $11 billion legal cannabis industry as of January, a 15 percent increase over last year, accord-
Retail associates, or “product specialists,” train ahead of the opening of Gage Cannabis’ Cookies-branded store in Detroit at the end of January. Troy-based Gage has exclusive rights to the California weed brand in the Michigan market. | GAGE CANNABIS
ing to weed resource site Leafly’s Cannabis Jobs Report. Michigan supports more than 8,000 jobs, Leafly reports, but saw a recent slowdown in legal cannabis employment due to a “bumpy implementation” of a new regulatory system. Cannabis users vary greatly in age and background, making it essential that sales staff learn a bit about who they are and what medical conditions they have, trade publication Cannabis Industry Journal wrote in a 2018 article on training in the industry. Their duties aren’t unlike those of a pharmaceutical tech, the journal says. HempStaff, a Florida-based medical marijuana recruiting and training company, says it has trained dispensary employees in 24 states, including more than 100 workers in Michigan. Its fourhour entry-level course ($199 per student, with discounts for five or more) is 20 percent retail skills and 80 percent cannabis know-how. It ranges from Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance for medical privacy to the science behind various products. “Michigan does require in their law that every employee be trained,” HempStaff CEO James Yagielo said. “So each company can create their training program and a lot do, but there’s other, smaller companies that don’t really have someone with that specialty and that’s where we come in.” Gage’s training materials also go through dosages and product recommendations, with health care industry-like attention to compliance, Savaya said. Gage employs 150 in Michigan, approximately 40 percent of whom are in retail. Those employees go through a 10- to 15-day training period. Hires go
from first-day orientation to talking about how to connect with customers and recommend products. They have workshops and take floor shifts alongside mentors. Various departments are brought in: legal, compliance, safety, code of conduct and others, according to Savaya and Jason Desentz, executive vice president of human resources. Gage declined to estimate the amount spent on training. “In this industry, just the basics doesn’t work. It can work in recreational, but can’t work with medical. There’s so much more to know,” said Yousif of House of Dank. House of Dank employs 20 at its biggest location, on Eight Mile Road on the border with Warren, and 12 at its southwest Detroit location. A third location set to open in a couple of weeks at Livernois and Michigan avenues will employ another 20-25; the former Tastebuds on Eight Mile Road, now House of Dank, employs nine. “With a facility like ours (House of Dank on Eight Mile), it’s a huge store, a huge operation with 12 registers,” Yousif said. “We definitely have managers on the floor with staff, but a lot of the care that’s being provided to the patients is one-to-one. So I have to be more than comfortable to know you, know what you’re saying, you can properly give the patient what they need. “As far as the one-to-one with the patients, I would consider it comparable to nursing. It’s not weird to say I feel that way, because when you go to the hospital, you expect the person who is going to take care of you is going to be knowledgeable, to take care of you.” Contact: afrank@crain.com; (313) 446-0416; @annalise_frank
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MICHauto, a statewide economic development initiative of the Detroit Regional Chamber, welcomes Carolyn Sauer as senior director. Sauer will promote MICHauto’s mission centered on advocacy, talent, convening, and next-generation mobility. She will also manage stakeholders and events, as well as support operations, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. Sauer brings more than 20 years of industry experience in marketing, sales excellence, and management in the global Tier 1 supplier base.
David Mannarino has been named president and commercial bank sales leader for KeyBank’s Michigan market. He will serve as senior executive and spokesperson, as well as lead the organization’s economic and community development efforts. Mannarino most recently served as senior vice president and head of commercial banking for Fifth Third Bank in the Cleveland/ Akron market. Mannarino is a native of Michigan and was credit trained at NBD. He earned his MBA at the University of Detroit Mercy.
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Commercial real estate consulting firm Plante Moran Cresa is pleased to announce Art Eckert has rejoined as senior vice president. Eckert will work with clients on the early stages of construction programs to ensure they are positioned for success from day one. In his more than 23 years of construction and program management experience, Eckert has worked on more than 3 million square feet in capital improvement programs for healthcare, industrial, mixed use, and corporate office clients.
John Nantau joins Reputation.com as the general manager and vice president of global automotive. His successful career includes leadership roles in technology companies such as Compuware, Pansophic, Sybase, Netscape and i2. Most recently, he served as regional vice president at Salesforce.com, where he was tasked with creating a team focused on the Automotive vertical. John attended Central Michigan University where he graduated with a double major in MIS and Marketing.
Trial lawyer Katherine Wachter has joined Hubbard Snitchler & Parzianello PLC, a full-service business, estate, probate and securities law firm. Wachter served as Assistant State’s Attorney in Pinellas County, Florida and was named Prosecutor of the Year 2019 for the 6th Judicial Circuit of Florida for her work on complex white-collar criminal cases involving fraud, racketeering and embezzlement. She will continue to focus her practice on complex business litigation in Michigan and in Florida.
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Erik S. Dunbar, J.D., a Cleveland-Marshall College of Law graduate, is now a partner in Dunbar Mechanical, Inc., making the firm 100% familyowned for the first time in 20 years. Erik was named Dunbar’s General Counsel in 2007, Chief Operations Officer in 2014 and President in 2019. Serving Northeast Ohio from their Cleveland Office, Dunbar is headquartered in Toledo. Dunbar is a $75+ million-dollar mechanical contractor and one of the 100 largest full-service mechanical contractors in the U.S.
Health Alliance Plan has named Steve Selinsky vice president of product, marketing and community outreach. Selinsky’s 25-year career includes senior sales leadership positions at several major health insurers. In 2017, He received the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award from the National Association of Health Underwriters, recognizing him as the Health Insurance Person of the Year. Selinsky earned a bachelor’s degree from Albion College, and is a graduate of Leadership Oakland and Leadership Detroit.
The Walters Family Foundation is pleased to announce Libby Levy as their Director. Levy is a Michigan native with 20 years of experience in community development, philanthropy and urban planning. As Director, Levy will focus on building relationships statewide with organizations that embody the foundation’s priorities of conserving the natural environment, enhancing economic vitality, advancing learning initiatives and broadening access to the arts for underserved children and families.
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40 40
Dandridge Floyd, 37
UNDER
Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations and Labor Relations, Oakland Schools
T
hroughout Dandridge Floyd’s careers — whether as a social worker, attorney or assistant superintendent of Oakland Schools — making change has always been a center point. When United Way pitched a framework to Oakland Schools for a countywide breakfast program to address poor nutrition as a way to improve academic achievement, Floyd — who experienced food insecurity growing up — knew firsthand the powerful impact it could have. To secure the needed funds, Floyd led a team that earned support from all 28 local districts to finance the program — despite the fact that a majority of them would see no benefit. “The local districts were phenomenal,” Floyd said. “The biggest surprise was how quickly it happened. Education is a democratic system and democracy can be very slow, but this happened in six to seven months. That showed how committed people were to making sure the students of Oakland County have everything they need to be successful.” In a county where over 7,000 children suffer from hunger, and only two in five eligible students access a school breakfast, Floyd said a common misperception is that “Oakland County is rich.” “That makes this program all the more important, because if that is the bias or the thought process people have about Oakland County, then these kids would have never gotten help.” In a groundbreaking public/nonprofit partnership between the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, Oakland Schools and United Way, Oakland County is Better with Breakfast was born. “I’m impacting lives now,” Floyd said. “I know the effect food insecurity had on me and my peers growing up, and this was an opportunity to make a change that I wish an adult could have made for me.” — Laura Cassar
October 30, 2017 | crainsdetroit.com
UBS to open downtown Detroit office By Annalise Frank
October 30, 2017 | crainsdetroit.com
• UBS plans to open wealth management office in Detroit in mid-2018 • Office to include 6,000-squarefoot space30,nonprofits and civic October 2017 | crainsdetroit.com
UBS to open downtown Detroit office By Annalise Frank
groups • UBS plans to open wealthcan use free of charge • Bedrock-owned buildings
office in Detroit “I’m impacting lives now. management I know undergoing renovations in mid-2018 6,000-squarethe effect food insecurity• Office had onto includeUBS plans to open an office in downfoot space nonprofits and civic town Detroit in mid-2018, the company Annalise Frank growing groups meByand my peers up, andcan useannounced free of charge Monday. • Bedrock-ownedUBS buildings Group AG’s U.S. and Canadian UBSan plans to open wealth this•was opportunity toundergoing make a renovations wealth management business, New Jermanagement office in Detroit sey-based Wealth Management change I wish an adult UBScould plans to open an office UBS in downin that mid-2018 Americas, to lease 13,000 square town Detroit in mid-2018, theplans company • Office to include 6,000-squarefeet on the connected sixth floors of have made for me.” announced Monday. foot space nonprofits and civic
UBS to open downtown Detroit office Bedrock LLC
Dunbar Mechanical, Inc.
UBS will lease 13,000 feet from Bedrock LLC starting around mid-2018 in two buildings: the Grinnell Building (center left) at 1515 Woodward Ave. and the Sanders Building (center right) at 1529
buildings at 1515 Wood- Woodward Ave. Group AG’sneighboring U.S. and Canadian groups can use free UBS of charge ward Ave. and Fourteen metro Detroit employees don’t really have adequate resources wealth management business, New 1529 Jer- Woodward Ave. • Bedrock-owned buildings The twoManagement buildings built around 1900 are will move to the downtown office to or adequate office space to host dosey-based UBS Wealth undergoing renovations by Detroit-based will lease LLC 13,000 feet from Bedrock LLC starting around mid-2018 buildings: Grin- meetings or things nor events the or board start, but the office has the capacity toin two Americas, plans toowned lease 13,000 square UBSBedrock nell Building (center at 1515 Woodward andnew the Sanders Buildingalong (centerthose right) at 1529 Bush said. and are undergoing said left) lines,” hold another six toAve. eight staff memon inthe connected sixth floors of renovations, Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Detroit Business. © 2019 Crain Communications Inc. All RightsUBS reserved. plans to open anfeet office downAve. for bers, Bush said. It will act as an extension John Bush, 60, WoodMichiganWoodward market head UBS’s investment in the new ofneighboring buildings at 1515 Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.crainsdetroit.com. #CD1134 town Detroit in mid-2018, the company UBS Wealth ManagementFourteen Americas.metro of fice will resources be “significant,” he said, as its the other wealth management offices. don’t really have adequate Detroit employees announced Monday. ward Ave. and 1529 Woodward Ave. “The real impetus open atonew The twoCanadian buildings built around 1900 arefor us “uniqueness Bush is based Birmingham office space to hostcomes do- at a price.” He said willto move the downtown office out to ofortheadequate UBS Group AG’s U.S. and office inBedrock Detroit is to support what’s owned by Detroit-based LLC he could or not yet provide an estimate but travels to to the will meetings norothers eventsand or board things start, but the goofficeoffice, has the capacity wealth management business, New Jering renovations, on in the city, ” saidhold Bush, a Detroit and are undergoing said on the be spending in thealong Detroit branch. those lines,” Bush said.cost of the build-out, as some another six to eight new stafftime memsey-based UBS Wealth Management nativemarket who grew City. “We John Bush, 60, Michigan headup forin Garden have yet The location have atheless UBS’s investment in the new of- to be finalized. said. will act asDetroit an extension fromBush Bedrock LLCItstarting around mid-2018 in twowill buildings: Grin- contracts Americas, plans to lease 13,000 square UBS will lease 13,000 feetbers, UBS Wealth Management Americas. really felt like we wantedofto have a physfice will be “significant,” hecompany said, as its the other wealth management offices. The plans to start its buildtraditional, more “urban” feelright) than 1515 Woodward Ave. and the Sanders Building (center atthe 1529 feet on the connected sixth floors of nell Building (center left) at “The real impetus for us to open new ical presence downtown to reinforce “uniqueness comes at saidnext year, depending Bush is based outothers, of the he Birmingham outa price.” processHe early said. New York-based architecAve. a neighboring buildings office at 1515 Wood- toWoodward in Detroit is our support go-particular vision what’s for this areatravels and toture he will could not yet an estimate office, but the firm others and will Cale on when renovations on the buildings Verderame design the provide ward Ave. and 1529 ing Woodward don’t really have adequate resources Fourteen metro Detroit employees on in theAve. city,”tosaid Bush, a Detroit reinforce our on Barton the cost of the build-out, as some be spending time inspace; the Detroit branch. are complete. Southfield-based Malow The two buildings builtnative around 1900 areup in adequate office space to have host dowill moveCity. to tothe officelocation to or will who grew Garden “Wedowntown commitment contracts finalized. The Detroit have aon less based in Switzerland, employs Co. has signed as general contractor.yet to beUBS, owned by Detroit-based Bedrock nor events or board or things start, thea physoffice has the capacity really felt likeLLC we wanted tobut The company plans to startacross its buildtraditional, moreto“urban” than the outmeetings the city. ” have 60,000 54 countries. About 34 UBS feel plans to rent about half of the and are undergoing renovations, along those lines,” Bush said. early next year, depending hold six to eight new he staff memical presencesaid downtown toWealth reinforce others, said. New office York-based architecUBS another — 6,000 square out feetprocess — at no cost percent of them work in the AmeriJohn Bush, 60, Michiganour market head UBS’s investment the renovations new of- on the buildings bers, said. It will act an extension vision for for thisMparticular oninorganizations, when tureasfirm VerderametoCale will design theother a n aBush g e marea e n tand cas, according to a news release. UBS nonprofits and UBS Wealth Management will beMalow “significant,” he said, as its of the other also wealth management offices. ficeBarton to Americas. reinforce our Americas are be complete. space; Southfield-based Bush said. The space will called UBS Wealth Management Americas em“The real impetus for commitment us to open a new “uniqueness comes at a price.” He said is based out of the Birmingham to has Bush based Co. has signed on as Woodward general contractor. metro Deploys 280employs in Michigan, 225 of whom Gallery. Its UBS, design and in artSwitzerland, office in Detroit is to support what’s go- office, but travels to theUBS heabout couldhalf not an estimate others and the city. ” 60,000 across 54 countries. 34 Detroit. plans towill rent will out of yet the provide troit offices in are basedAbout in metro aim to showcase Detroit’s history ing on in the city,” said Bush, on the cost the build-out, asthem somework in the Amerispending Detroit branch. UBS a Detroit Wealth B be percent office — 6,000 square at noofcost irm i n g h a time m , in the The wealth management business andfeet a— hub-and-spoke layout ofwill renative who grew up in Garden contracts have yet tocas, be finalized. M a n a gCity. e m“We e n t Troy, The Detroit locationtowill have a and less other UBS according to a news release. nonprofits organizations, Farmington recorded operating income of $2.13 flect the city’s road system. really felt like we wanted to have a physAmericas also Hills, The plans to startManagement its buildtraditional, more “urban” Wealth Americas em- quarter of 2017 — a Bushfeel said.than The the space will becompany called Plymouth in the third “Some of theUBS organizations that op- billion reinforce ical presence downtown has tometro De- others, he said. New York-based outdesign process early year,280 depending architecploys in Michigan, 225 of whom Woodward Gallery. Its and art next John Bush erate and Dearborn. 7 percent increase over last year. and provide services in the city our vision for this particular area and troit offices in ture firm Verderame Cale when renovations the buildings the onDetroit’s in metro Detroit. willwill aimdesign to showcase history areonbased to reinforce our B i r m i n g h a m , space; Southfield-based complete. Malow arelayout The wealth management business andBarton a hub-and-spoke will reReprinted with permission from Crain’s Detroit Business. © 2019 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights reserved. commitment to Troy, Farmington Co. has signed on as general UBS, basedis prohibited. in Switzerland, employs income recorded operating contractor. flectFurther the city’s road without system. duplication permission Visit www.crainsdetroit.com. #CD936of $2.13 Hills, Plymouth the city.” billion in About the third “Somehalf of the organizations that op60,000 across 54 countries. 34quarter of 2017 — a UBS plans to rent out about of the John Bush and Dearborn. UBS Wealth 7 percent and provide city work percentinofthe them in theincrease Ameri-over last year. cost services office — 6,000 squareerate feet — at no Management to nonprofits and other organizations, cas, according to a news release. UBS Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Crain Communications Inc. All Rights reserved. Americas also Wealth Management Americas emBush said. The space will be Detroit calledBusiness. UBS © 2019 Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.crainsdetroit.com. #CD936 has metro DeWoodward Gallery. Its design and art ploys 280 in Michigan, 225 of whom troit offices in will aim to showcase Detroit’s history are based in metro Detroit. Birmingham, The wealth management business and a hub-and-spoke layout will reCRAINSDETROIT.COM I MARCH 9, 2020 I Troy, Farmington recorded operating income of $2.13 flect the city’s road system. THE CONVERSATION Hills, Plymouth “Some of the organizations that op- billion in the third quarter of 2017 — a John Bush erate and provide services in the city 7 percent increase over last year. and Dearborn. Bedrock LLC
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CONSTRUCTION
Albert Berriz talks workforce housing, Ann Arbor and Cuba
Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Detroit Business. © 2019 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights reserved. | BY KIRK PINHO Further duplication without permission is prohibited. Visit www.crainsdetroit.com. #CD936
MCKINLEY INC.: Ann Arbor-based real estate company McKinley Inc. saw the writing on the wall for its retail portfolio a few years ago and cut bait, turning its focus primarily to its large crop of tens of thousands of workforce housing units across the country. One of the people at the helm of that decision was Albert Berriz, CEO and managing member, who came to America as a young boy fleeing Cuba and now steers a large company with a portfolio valued at more than $4 billion. `Crain’s Detroit Business: Can you talk a little bit about how the McKinley portfolio began and where it’s at today? Berriz: McKinley started in 1968 in Ann Arbor, and it was founded by (former U.S.) Ambassador Ron Weiser. It started in the student housing business and eventually transitioned into more traditional multifamily housing, and in addition to that, office and retail, as well. Today, we’re primarily a workforce housing multifamily operator. We have essentially disposed of our retail and office assets in an effort to really focus on multifamily and also focus on an asset class that I think is more in line with our current goal, which is to have a generational multifamily real estate enterprise and a pool of assets that really are long term in nature. ` Explain workforce housing versus affordable housing. We’re not in luxury housing. Our residents are working. They’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work. Our average rents are, for example, in Washtenaw County, about $1,100 to $1,200 or in Orange County, or Seminole County, Florida, $1,400 or $1,500. So these are affordable rents. And the difference between us and affordable housing is our buildings are not subsidized. They’re all market rate, and they’re all privately owned. The owners are not receiving any form of subsidy, nor are the residents. However, if you wanted to sort of assess residents and low-income housing tax credit deals compared to ours, they’re probably not too dissimilar, the median incomes. The McKinley residents in, let’s say, Washtenaw County, when you look at the numbers are probably not going to be too much different than what you would see in a traditional LIHTC deal. But again, our buildings, the primary differences, our buildings are market rate and they’re not subsidized any way.
`I don’t think it’s overblown to use the word “crisis” for Ann Arbor’s affordable housing situation. Give us your perspective on how the city should go about addressing it. I think it’s a supply issue. The reality is that Ann Arbor has not really welcomed solutions from the private sector and has only sought solutions from the public housing side or the community nonprofit side. And both of those groups, while I think they’re very well intentioned, don’t have the capital and the expertise to resolve the problem at the scale it’s needed. To put it in perspective, you know, the Washtenaw County study that came out had a need of about 3,000 units. And if you look at the cost per unit today, and let’s say $250,000 or $300,000 per unit to build a brand new unit today, you know, it’s an $800 million to a $1 billion problem, so I don’t think that’s a problem that gets resolved on the public side or on the community nonprofit side. You know, they have to go to places to seek capital and there just isn’t enough capital, nor do they have enough resources or expertise to resolve the problems. So the city I think, by and large, has attempted to do this in those ways because they really haven’t welcomed the private side. And there is a lot of expertise and there’s a lot of capital that could do this, from the private side perspective. It just hasn’t been the way that Ann Arbor operates, so you see what has happened in Ann Arbor year over year, decade over decade is there’s a lot of conversations about affordable housing, but there’s no solutions. `You were talking a little bit earlier about how McKinley got out of retail and office. What led to that decision and how has that reflected or shaped your business strategy? It was a risk profile that we were just not comfortable with. We are a generational business and so we look at our assets in
a way that we never expect to sell them. We expect to invest in them so they last for long term, and we just couldn’t see that on retail. We saw a significant degradation of our rent rolls. We had buildings that were, let’s say, 70 percent to 80 percent investment-grade credit tenant composition and then we saw that we saw that quickly degrade. We just didn’t see a place where we could really have an asset class retail that would last for the long run. And then office in many ways, the same way. The way people are shopping and the way people are occupying offices today, the risk profile is very different than it was, let’s say, when we were making those investments 20 and 30 years ago, so for us, it was the right move. It’s paid off because, had we held many of the assets today, they would be significantly compromised. I think they would be worth a lot less. We started those sales about six years ago, and we sold a lot of that early on, so we sold them still at a time they were being valued significantly more than they would be worth today, in our opinion. And we sold some big buildings. I mean, these weren’t small buildings. We sold a 1 millionsquare-foot shopping center, for example, in Norfolk, Va., which is one of the largest power centers in the state of Virginia. So these weren’t small assets. So they were important for us to move them out at the right time, and for people that thought that was there was a good upside for them, so we actually sold them at good prices, and certainly we couldn’t have sold them at those prices today.
trajectory was to where you are today in terms of the head of McKinley. I left (Cuba) compliments of Fidel Castro in early 1959 because of the Cuban Revolution. We had to flee. It was survival to leave the country at the time and my parents relocated to Miami. We were fortunate for that. We’re fortunate to have left alive, fortunate to have resettled in what is without question the greatest country on the planet. I was not born here. I was born in Havana and I emigrated as a Cuban refugee just before I was 4 years old with my parents. `What consumes your day outside of the office? My wife and I walk. We like to boat, so those are the two things. In our summers we live at Saugatuck, and it’s a great place to live. We’d live there year-round, but it’s a little too cold in the winter.
`Can you give thumbnail sketch of coming here and what your
Albert Berriz, CEO and managing member, McKinley Inc.
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ramp up, Muller said. “We are in 40 From Page 3 different cities in lower Michigan. Samaritas is in talks and considerOur intent is to ing sites in Wayne County, Kalamabegin services in zoo, Lansing, Jackson and west several of those Michigan, he said. “Wherever there’s counties this first a gap and we have an opportunity to year,” he said. get a license and a contract to pro- Muller Samaritas will vide the service, that’s what we’re open the new clinics in leased spacpursuing.” Samaritas provides services in es or existing available space in over 40 cities around the state, from places it’s already operating, he said. It will also look to integrate with senior living, affordable housing and emergency shelter to disability primary care, where possible, said services, transitional foster care for Chief Advancement Officer Kelli immigrant children coming to the Dobner. “If there’s the opportunity to find U.S.-Mexico border and long-term foster care and adoption for unac- a spot where we can integrate with companied refugee children. It’s op- the primary care and share informaerating on a $120 million budget this tion as much as we can ... that’s the best thing ... (to make) that connecyear, Beals said. To gain a foothold as a provider of tion between primary care and substance abuse treatment, it hired mental health and substance use.” In Wayne County, Samaritas is two people with specialized credentials, connections and many years of considering the launch of an inexperience in the field. Both were tern-staffed prevention program in hired from Grand Rapids-based Wayne County, Dobner said. It’s considering locating the program at Wedgewood Christian Services. Life RemodA n t h o n y eled’s Durfee InMuller joined novation Society Samaritas as vice “WE ARE IN 40 DIFFERENT center. president of sub- CITIES IN LOWER Beals said the stance use disorfirst center in Eader services in MICHIGAN. OUR INTENT IS ton County January. He is TO BEGIN SERVICES IN should break leading developeven within 12ment of the new SEVERAL OF THOSE 18 months of outpatient mediCOUNTIES THIS FIRST opening. cal intervention “Everyone and counseling. YEAR.” who gets into it, And Holly Wix- — Anthony Muller, vice if they provide on, director of president of substance use really good clinisubstance use disorder services, Samaritas cal services and disorder serhave their act tovices, is working alongside him as director of admin- gether around licensing, credentialistrative services for substance use ing, billing … the demand is there,” he said. disorders. There’s more need today than Muller had served as director of clinical and business development there was five years ago for treatfor Wedgewood for 23 years. Wixon ment, Muller said. “And there’s dollars to support had been with the west Michigan-based nonprofit for just shy of that from the federal government seven years, the past two as associ- and commercial insurance companies.” ate director. Samaritas’ Eaton County site will launch first in April, building to a Contact: swelch@crain.com; team of seven this year as services (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch
HERTEL
leaving the organization he has led since 2010. A week ago, Hertel told Crain’s he From Page 3 wanted to remain general manager “It is with some regret that I must of SMART until 2022, the next year inform you that I have decided to the public transportation system’s four-year operend my service ating millage is as SMART’s up for renewal General Manag- “THIS YEAR MARKS MY in Macomb, er, effective as of 10TH YEAR SERVING Oakland and the close of Wayne counties. business tomor- SMART, ITS CUSTOMERS, Hertel, who row, March 13,” ITS EMPLOYEES, AND THE earned $179,962 Hertel wrote in as SMART’s genhis resignation GENERAL PUBLIC OF eral manager, letter sent SOUTHEASTERN also said he Thursday to wanted to conboard members. MICHIGAN, IN tinue leading “This year FURTHERANCE OF the agency in marks my 10th coming year serving EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT AND the years as regional SMART, its cusSAFE PUBLIC TRANSIT IN leaders worked tomers, its emtoward a longployees, and the OUR REGION. “ term solution on general public of — John Hertel improving pubsoutheastern Michigan, in furtherance of effec- lic transit options in metro Detroit. “Whatever happens, I’d like to be tive, efficient and safe public transit in our region. I will miss that ser- around to help shepherd us through vice, but the time has come for me that time period,” Hertel told to allow others to continue the work Crain’s. “And the board members we’ve begun and accomplished to- wanted that too.” gether.” The resignation letter did not Contact: afrank@crain.com; specify why Hertel was abruptly (313) 446-0416; @annalise_frank
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MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 27
FROM PAGE ONE | CORONAVIRUS IN MICHIGAN
Big and small businesses struggle to adapt as BY NICK MANES
Monica Wheat was slightly ahead of the curve. The afternoon of Friday, March 6, Wheat, the executive director and co-founder of Detroit-based startup economy consulting firm Venture Catalysts, learned that the annual South by Southwest tech and music festival in Austin, Texas, had fallen victim to concerns of spreading COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Wheat was to take part in four events during the festival. She had dozens more conferences and events between now and November as part of her “ecosystem development” work. Now that’s all down the tubes, as events large and small are canceled around the country amid concerns that the virus will only continue to spread the more people congregate. “This is absolute chaos,” Wheat said of the toll that the spread of the virus has played on her business and other industries. “It was really, really fast, and it made my head kind of spin,” Wheat told Crain’s of the speed of cancellations. “Pretty much my entire calendar just kind of opened up.” The drastic changes to Wheat’s life foreshadowed what unfolded in recent days as life in America has neared a screeching halt in an effort to stop the virus’ spread. Health experts generally agree that the cancellation of large events and implementing “social distancing” policies could go a long way toward preventing the American health care system from becoming overwhelmed, now commonly referred to as “flattening the curve.” The lack of such actions early on in places like Wuhan, China, and in Italy have been blamed for large numbers of deaths. But it’s a balancing act. Some economists worry that it’s too much and could lead to the ruin of the economy. While acknowledging the serious health implications, economist Patrick Anderson with East Lansing-based consulting firm Anderson Economic Group said in a statement that there needs to be more of a push to help companies affected by the spread.
“IT WAS REALLY, REALLY FAST, AND IT MADE MY HEAD KIND OF SPIN,” WHEAT TOLD CRAIN’S OF THE SPEED OF CANCELLATIONS. “PRETTY MUCH MY ENTIRE CALENDAR JUST KIND OF OPENED UP.” — Monica Wheat, executive director and co-founder of Venture Catalysts
Monica Wheat, executive director and co-founder of Venture Catalysts. | ALI LAPETINA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
“While some of the decisions made this week were necessary, panic is not a long-term strategy,” Anderson said in a Thursday statement. “There are clear, obvious, and constructive steps we should be taking now, including providing support for small businesses struggling to keep their employees and those losing income due to public health restrictions. However, scaring people unnecessarily is not a helpful response — and we are clearly doing that.”
Changes abound Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the state’s first two confirmed cases of COVID-19 late in the evening of March 10, immediately declaring a state of emergency in an effort to mobilize more resources. By
Friday evening, that number jumped to 16 confirmed cases. “We are Michiganders,” Whitmer said during the announcement. “We are tough, and we will get through this.” Since then it’s become crystal clear that even beyond the obvious public health implications, the virus will cause pain. By Wednesday evening all of the state’s public universities had canceled in-person classes for at least several weeks. All K-12 schools in Michigan are closed until at least next month. Ford Field and Little Caesars Arena will sit dormant for at least the rest of the month, if not longer. Comerica Park won’t see action until at least the middle of April as Major League Baseball has delayed the start of its
LEE
From Page 1
And to give our readers a one-stop outlet for the news they need to navigate the day and navigate their businesses, we have created a daily newsletter rounding up Crain’s coverage of the coronavirus and the most important stories by other outlets nationally. You can sign up for that newsletter at crainsdetroit.com; click on “Newsletters” at the upper right of the page. In addition, for those used to getting their print edition in the office who might be stuck working from home, we offer the full print issue to paid subscribers in a PDF format every week on our website. Just click on “This Week” in the black navigation bar at the top of our website. You’ll also be able to find that electronic edition in all of our daily email newsletters. 28 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
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journalists who are working round the clock to bring you quality reporting on this defining story of our times. We’ll see a thousand acts of heroism in our businesses by people working together to keep the ship afloat. I already have seen them over the past week in our own newsroom.
season. As the disease makes its away through Michigan and the rest of the country, companies big and small are taking unprecedented steps as they navigate an event unlike anything anybody alive has seen. Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. has banned all nonessential travel, both domestic and international, through at least March 27, Crain’s sister publication Automotive News reported this week. U.S. automakers, however, say they’re not yet seeing a major hit to production, according to Reuters. For airlines, the virus is causing chaos. Calls to Delta Air Lines’ main customer service line on Thursday afternoon were taking up to six hours. Lisa Gass, a spokeswoman for Detroit Metro Airport said the interna-
tional gateway expects to see a decrease of 100,000 passengers between February and April.
WE’LL SEE A THOUSAND ACTS OF HEROISM IN OUR BUSINESSES BY PEOPLE WORKING TOGETHER TO KEEP THE SHIP AFLOAT. I ALREADY HAVE SEEN THEM OVER THE PAST WEEK IN OUR OWN NEWSROOM.
could humanly make it. And I can tell you the Crain’s coronavirus Slack channel is a mighty active place, full of information and camaraderie for whomever needs it. It’s all a result of reporters and editors who are committed to their jobs, committed to our readers, committed to the public good. I don’t have to ask them to jump on this story; it would be more of a challenge to stop them. We want to know: What’s going on in your companies? What questions do you have about how coronavirus will affect business and government life? What can we do for you? Share your own tales of heroism, the lessons you’ve learned about navigating this temporary new world at crainsdetroit@crain.com, and we’ll share the most interesting and useful with Crain’s readers everywhere. We’ll get through this together. In the meantime, be safe.
I’ve seen acts of cooperation and helping that make me proud to be here. From Jay Greene and Chad Livengood teaming up on the first news of coronavirus cases in Michigan — on an election night no less — to the full-team effort that led to the issue in front of you, as current as we
Small business implications COVID-19 does not discriminate between big and small businesses, and the disease’s toll is being felt at all levels. Royal Oak-based Two Unique Caterers & Event Planners lost $100,000 in business on Wednesday alone, just after the first cases were confirmed. The company said that would likely grow to $500,000 by the end of last week. “We recognized a couple days ago it started feeling a little precarious,” chef and co-owner Kelli Lewton said. “We started brainstorming ideas.” The business has 50 part-time and
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FROM PAGE ONE | CORONAVIRUS IN MICHIGAN
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full-time employees and 100 server contractors. Aside from the obvious precautions — monitoring employees for illness, heightening cleaning processes — Two Unique is also offering catering customers individually packaged meals instead of shared food trays for no additional cost. “We’re also talking about, if things seem to become more precarious ... reinstating our home delivery (meal) service, which we did for years and years,” Lewton said. “We want to meet the needs of the public who are afraid of going out.” Financial institutions are also making major changes. Pontiac-based Michigan Legacy Credit Union has begun offering unlimited paid time-off for employees who become infected or need to go into a state of quarantine due to contact with someone who’s become infected. The credit union says it will also examine — “on a case-by-base basis” — “financial solutions” for members’ loan payments who experience a financial disruption due to the impact of the virus, according to a statement. Despite the sweeping physical and economic pain caused by the virus, some entrepreneurs have found ways to bring about new business. William McCray owns Willpower Fitness Gym in Clawson and in recent days has gotten a boost due to offering online classes, he told Crain’s. “I’ve seen a huge peak in that,” McCray said, noting that by Thursday morning of last week he’d signed 12 new clients for online classes that include basic core training, jumping jacks and other exercises that can be done in the home without much equipment. Before coronavirus hit, McCray said his online classes had little demand. “I may see 12 online clients in a month,” he said.
WFH The rise of the virus is understandably driving people to hunker down in their homes and that also means a rise in remote working. For some, “WFH,” or “work from
home,” is hardly new. About 29 percent of U.S. workers have the ability to do their work at home, according to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Large companies like Detroit-based Quicken Loans were having groups of employees work remotely this past week as a way of testing the company’s connectivity in case an office suddenly has to close. Crain Communications Inc., the parent company of Crain’s Detroit Business, is undertaking similar steps.
“I’VE SEEN A HUGE PEAK IN THAT.” — William McCray, owner of Willpower Fitness Gym, on clients seeking online fitness classes
Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler on Friday began telling salaried workers who are able to work from home to stay home. Automotive manufacturer Mahindra Automotive North America in Auburn Hills, is also pushing a more flexible work environment as the virus spreads. “This is especially important right now given all the uncertainty of what lies ahead and we are reinforcing this with our employees,” Rich Ansell, vice president of marketing for the company wrote in an email to Crain’s. Kevin Hayes, the chief information security officer at Ann Arbor-based nonprofit IT consulting firm Merit Network acknowledged
that large-scale change to a remote workforce is likely to cause some pain points for many companies. However, he believes that as long as companies have solid security and network protocols in place, they should function and continue performing mission-critical aspects during a crisis. His advice: Stay the course. “We’re straddling kind of a crisis and emergency mode right now and the best thing any organization can do is just take a short step back, breathe, and determine what the best course is moving forward without compromising the security controls that in many cases they spent years to decades implementing,” Hayes said. Reese Serra, vice president and COO of Troy-based telecommunications firm ManagedWay, said the rise of the virus and the potential need for workforces going remote could provide a small bit of silver lining for companies. “This is a really good exercise and opportunity for companies to reevaluate their architecture, make sure they have redundant internet service providers ... that their employees can work remotely,”Serra said. The idea of a universal remote workforce has some wondering: Can the internet handle it? Sources in the telecommunications world generally agreed that in cases where there are two parents working at home, using large amounts of data, at the same time as their kids are home due to canceled school could put some stress on the overall infrastructure of the internet. If everyone is using all their devices at the same time, that could lead to strain on the system, said Hayes with Merit Network. That advice is in line with what most are saying about how bad the virus’ effects might get on any number of fronts. “It’s too early to tell,” said Hayes. “Be patient. We’re all in this together.” Crain’s Detroit reporters Annalise Frank and Chad Livengood and Automotive News contributed to this report
HOUSING
From Page 1
“There are sellers who are nervous about people coming into their homes. We expect to see potentially maybe up to a 10 percent decrease in homes for sale,” said James Cristbrook, president of the Greater Metropolitan Association of Realtors, which has about 9,500 members. “And that would be true either people not putting their home on the market or taking their home off the market for the time being, especially older folks or homes with children. They’re worried, perhaps rightfully so. So, how that affects the market overall, is that we’re already struggling with a very constricted inventory.” For those who keep their homes on the market, the changes may be more subtle, according to the National Association of Realtors. The associ-
Farmington Hills-based Realcomp II Ltd. said Metro Detroit on-market listings fell from January 2019 to January of this year, putting upward pressure on median sale prices.
ation that has more than 1.4 million members says that nearly one in four homes sellers is doing things like not having open houses, requiring hand washing or hand sanitizer use from
possible buyers and other changes. Elsea said Real Estate One going into 2020 had predicted a down year, but the first two months were up 10 to 15 percent in terms of total home
LIVENGOOD
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And just nine days after presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders held a campaign rally with 6,000 supporters inside TCF Center, more than 250 people can’t find refuge together Sunday in a house of worship — at least not at the same time. Catholics have called off Mass altogether in metro Detroit through April 5, Palm Sunday. The jarring upending of everyday movement, commerce, pleasure activities and hand-to-hand human interaction is an unprecedented bid to stop the spread of the coronavirus, an infectious respiratory disease that can be fatal. With a dozen confirmed case of coronavirus in Michigan and expectations for that number to grow as more people get tested, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used her emergency powers as chief executive to curtail daily activities where Michiganians may be in close proximity of each other. And Whitmer has more emergency powers she could exert in the event the current measures don’t slow the spread of the coronavirus, which humans can carry for up to 14 days. “The governor has pretty broad tools at her disposal to do quite a lot — quickly,” said attorney Steve Liedel, managing member of the Dykema law firm’s Lansing office. Liedel was former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s chief legal counsel during her final three years in office and was general counsel for Whitmer’s 2018 gubernatorial transition team. He has studied emergency declarations by governors dating back to the end of World War II. Those orders have been used sparingly during other emergencies, both natural and manmade. During the Detroit riots in 1967, then-Gov. George Romney issued an order closing establishments that sold alcohol, Liedel said. After the 1978 blizzard, then-Gov. William Milliken used emergency powers to restrict traffic, much of which was brought to a standstill by two feet of snow that blanketed the Lower Peninsula. But the public health crisis and Whitmer’s swift actions are unlike anything her predecessors ever faced. “We’ve never been through this as a world, as humans on a planet,” said Bill Rustem, a former adviser to Milliken and ex-Gov. Rick Snyder. “It’s been predicted, these pandemics, but people haven’t listened.” sales. However, this month they are tracking down 3 or 4 percent, Elsea said. “It looked like in January and February we were way pessimistic on our numbers,” Elsea said. “I’m anticipating that probably our original analysis will still be right on because that gain from January and February, we’ll probably lose some of that in March, April, May.” A stock market in freefall and interest-rate cuts don’t automatically mean a recession is on the way, but if one is, that would put a crimp in home sales as potential buyers sit on the sidelines. But Elsea, Crisbrook and Taralo all said that they believed any coronavirus impact on the home sales market would be relatively temporary. “I guess the consolation of all this is that whenever it’s a steep ‘V’ in terms of fast drop, it bounces back pretty quick. So history has shown
The state laws granting the governor extraordinary power to rectify a state emergency date back to 1945. The Legislature beefed up the statutes after the 1967 Detroit riots and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Liedel said. Those tools include the power to force evacuations, quarantine individuals in a single building or entire town, commandeer private property such as a parking lot for emergency operations and ration fuel supplies, Liedel said. “She also has the ability to suspend regulatory statues, orders or rules,” for hospitals to make space for triaging a flood of patients, Liedel said. The governor also could shut down individual manufacturing or warehousing facilities if state public health officials believed the business wasn’t “taking sufficient measures to protect the public health,” Liedel said. Whitmer’s executive order Friday banning large gatherings of more than 250 individuals in the same shared space exempted manufacturing plants, grocery stores and big-box consumer goods stores. If epidemiological investigators can trace the spread of coronavirus at a nightclub or bar, state law allows the governor to shut down specific facilities. “It’s all going to be driven by the recommendations of public health experts,” he said. “But if the benefits outweigh the negatives and you’re concerned about a rapid increase, you’re going to look at any measure that might be effective.” On Friday, Whitmer was asked an ominous question during a radio interview. “Could we get to a position where it’s sort of like martial law, where everything’s closed and everybody stays home, like it is in Italy, for instance, where you only have the hospitals and the drugstores open?” radio show Michael Patrick Shiels asked the governor on “Michigan’s Big Show.” “I think we have to make decisions based on where the facts and science dictate,” Whitmer responded. “At this juncture it’s too early to make any statements — it wouldn’t be responsible to make any statements on that front.” The second-year Democratic governor vowed to be transparent in her decision making during this crisis. “And we will always put the health and safety of the people of the state first and foremost,” Whitmer said, “and that will drive all decisions.” Contact: clivengood@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @ChadLivengood that this will be intense down but also probably pretty quick coming back up again. But since we don’t know where it is or what the bottom looks like, it is a little difficult,” Elsea said. Maureen Francis, associate broker with Coldwell Banker Weir Manuel in Birmingham, says she hasn’t seen any slowdown in the early stages of coronavirus’s arrival in Michigan. “My phone is still ringing. I'm showing houses tomorrow,” said Francis, who is the new board president for Michigan Realtors, a trade association. “I was out with a bunch of realtors yesterday and everyone was talking about what they had just sold. “We still have really strong market fundamentals with low interest rates and low inventory.” Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB MARCH 16, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 29
THE CONVERSATION
Mat Ishbia sees opportunity for growth in challenging times Mat Ishbia, CEO of Pontiac-based mortgage lender United Shore Financial Services LLC, touts his time on a championship Michigan State University basketball team. Now as CEO of a homegrown mortgage lender with over $100 billion in loan origination last year, he’s focused on steady growth in a cyclical industry. “The 14th best player on a 14-person team,” Ishbia credits things he learned under MSU coach Tom Izzo. “That shaped me in so many ways, learning how to be the best part of the best team,” he said. | BY NICK MANES ` Crain’s Detroit Business: Just a few years ago your company was around 2,000 employees. Now it’s well over 5,000. Talk about managing such rapid growth. Ishbia: The reason we’re growing is because I got great people. It’s all about our people here. We get almost 200 a day that apply to work here. So that’s 4,200, 4,400 a month ... that want to come work at our company. And we pick the best 200 team members to join. And so we’re hiring a lot of people, but it’s great quality people. And it’s because of (our office) environment and most people are referred from their friends and family, so we’ve really grown the business based on people. ` What else is helping the company to grow? We have great technologies ... but the technology was built by my 800 awesome people. So our tech stack has been completely built internally. A lot of people in the mortgage industry use a loan origination software. We built ours from scratch. Everything is proprietary. Every aspect of what we do from a technology perspective is proprietary, which gives us a huge advantage. When you’re a company that uses technology, you’re partnering with vendors and a vendor’s job is to build technology, so that it helps (offer) solutions for many companies ... 25 companies, 100 companies. They have to sell it. We only build it for one company. So we can customize exactly what we need and ... we don’t do anything that doesn’t help our business. We can be very focused on that and so we built the business with our technology and our technologies made it so we can close mortgages faster than everyone else in the country.
` The company’s growth has obviously come during a lengthy economic expansion, which won’t last forever. How is United Shore planning to be sustainable during a downturn when people slow their mortgage-buying? Our model is a distributed model with brokers throughout the country. They purchase (loans) in Lexington, Kentucky, Indianapolis. So we have our hands throughout the country. And so therefore we’re much more localized and it’s not commercial, call in, lower your payment. That works in a low-rate environment. We’re expecting that when rates go up and when the (economy) changes, we’ll do a lot of purchase business. Will we grow at the same rate? Probably not. But at the same time, we’ll still outperform our competition, which is a market share play. ` What would happen to a company like United Shore if a 2008-style economic collapse happened again? We’d grow. We’d win, and this is why: Our business model is set up for sustainable growth. Mortgage markets are very cyclical. When it’s good for everybody, it’s not as good for United Shore. When it’s bad, it’s not as bad (for us). We’re kind of in a much tighter window based on our business model. If 2008 happened obviously we wouldn’t grow more, but we’d still grow our market share.
time in the U.S. economy, what’s going to happen is the mortgage broker channel will grow. So we’ll go from 20 percent of the market to 30 percent, or 40 percent. So the mortgage market has shrunk from $2 trillion down to $1 trillion, we went from 20 percent to 40 percent of the opportunity. ` You’ve mentioned Quicken Loans a couple of times. Your company and theirs don’t specifically compete since United Shore is on the brokerage side and they do a lot of retail loans. But what’s it like having the two biggest mortgage lenders both headquartered in metro Detroit? Yeah, it’s great. They’re doing great things and we’re doing great things. We also have Flagstar and HomePoint. We have four of the top 20 if you think of it that way. I think it’s great for metro Detroit to have three or four strong companies. Obviously Quicken and us are significantly bigger than the others. I think what Dan Gilbert and Quicken have done down there has been great and they’re great for the city of Detroit. It’s good
when you compete with people and they make us better and I’m sure we make them better. It’s good. ` So peek into your looking glass for a minute. Where do you see this company in three to five years? You know, we’re going to be focused on what we’re best at, which is being a wholesale mortgage lender, and continue to invest in our technology and our people. I have said before that our goal is by 2025 to be doing over $200 billion of business. We know it’s not going to go to $100 billion to $200 to $300 billion. There’s only so much business out there and we want to do it the right way for the long term. Mat Ishbia, CEO, United Shore
REPORTERS
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` Can you share how? The mortgage broker market used to be 56 percent of the market. It dropped down to 12 or 14 percent. Now it’s back up to 20 percent. We only get to play in 20 percent of the market. Quicken Loans plays at 100 percent of the market because they do retail and wholesale. Well, in the next recession or the next struggling
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Bell’s no longer on board for Bayview Mackinac Race ORGANIZERS OF THE POPULAR Bayview Mackinac Race have tapped a new sponsor for this year’s event after longtime supporter Bell’s Brewery Inc. pulled its sponsor dollars. Detroit-based Atwater Brewery is the new presenting sponsor of the Port Huron-to-Mackinac Island sailboat race, which is entering its 96th year and scheduled for July 11, according to an announcement last week. Financial terms of Atwater’s oneyear deal were not disclosed. The announcement of the new sponsor signals a change in the event’s sponsorship structure and comes as organizers try to make the race more appealing to a younger demographic. That means changes in the competition and race day activities.
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Bell’s Brewery sponsored the Bayview Mackinac Race for 11 years. | ELEMENT INC.
Comstock-based Bell’s had been title sponsor of the race for the past nine years and the official beer sponsor for two years before that. Owner Larry Bell had been a
30 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | MARCH 16, 2020
staunch supporter of the historic race and was credited with putting the wind back in its sails when it needed sponsor funding. “We had a great run supporting
that race as title sponsor. Unfortunately, taking a look at this year, being title sponsor, we just couldn’t make the numbers work,” Bell told Crain’s. “We told Bayview that if there was an opportunity to be a beer sponsor, we wanted to do it, but they changed how they are doing (the sponsorships).” Bell said the brewery will not have any involvement in the event, and he will not participate in the race as he has several times in the past. He declined to say how much money the company had contributed to the race as title sponsor. “This is how it goes,” he said. “We’ve had a blast being associated with the race for 11 years. There may come a time when we are associated with the race again, so we look forward to that time.”
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Crain’s Detroit Business is published by Crain Communications Inc. Chairman Keith E. Crain Vice Chairman Mary Kay Crain President KC Crain Senior Executive Vice President Chris Crain Secretary Lexie Crain Armstrong Chief Financial Officer Robert Recchia G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) Editorial & Business Offices 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI 48207-2732; (313) 446-6000 Cable address: TWX 248-221-5122 AUTNEW DET CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS ISSN # 0882-1992 is published weekly, except the third week in December, by Crain Communications Inc. at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI 48207-2732. Periodicals postage paid at Detroit, MI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 07925, Detroit, MI 48207-9732. GST # 136760444. Printed in U.S.A. Contents copyright 2020 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content in any manner without permission is prohibited.
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