Crain's Detroit Business, Dec. 7, 2020, issue by Crain's Detroit Business

THE CONVERSATION

A pivot as commercial cleaning demand goes through the roof

Dr. Amir Kaki on what it’s like to use the smallest heart pump to save lives PAGE 42

PAGE 3

CRAINSDETROIT.COM I DECEMBER 7, 2020

A SHOT IN THE ARM

HEALTH CARE

Michigan could receive the first shipment of coronavirus vaccines as early as Dec. 15. | PATRICK T. FALLON/BLOOMBERG

State, health systems ramp up preparations to start delivering a pair of COVID vaccines BY JAY GREENE | The state of Michigan has identified 48 hospitals and 12 local

health departments that will receive the first shipment of coronavirus vaccines for distribution to frontline health care workers, possibly as early as Dec. 15. All major health systems will receive the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines once the FDA gives emergency use authorization and the CDC and each state directs which frontline health care workers and nursing home residents will be inoculated in the first wave. Health systems include the University of Michigan, Beaumont Health, Henry Ford

Ann Arbor VC CEO gets his ‘moonshot’ in COVID-19 vaccine maker Moderna BY NICK MANES

Health System, Spectrum Health, Mid-Michigan, Trinity Health Michigan and Ascension Michigan. They will most likely first vaccinate health care workers in COVID-19 medical units, emergency departments, intensive care units and operating rooms. See VACCINE on Page 37

Rizik

When Chris Rizik made a $4 million investment nearly a decade ago into a nascent venture capital fund, he hoped for “moonshot” companies to emerge. What he did not know at the time is that investment would help scale up a company that would go on to make a vaccine that’s likely to help bring an end

to the coronavirus pandemic that has killed nearly 275,000 Americans and 1.5 million worldwide in less than a year. Rizik is the CEO and fund manager of Ann Arbor-based Renaissance Venture Capital, a “fund-of-funds” that primarily invests in other funds rather than directly into companies. See RIZIK on Page 37

REAL ESTATE

Can Southfield support ambitious Northland residential vision? Big project that has raised high hopes faces some big questions BY KIRK PINHO

An ambitious vision to turn the Northland Center site in Southfield into a bustling residential hub — in

fact, the state’s largest apartment community — is being met with skepticism in some quarters. The core issue facing Bloomfield Hills-based Contour Companies

NEWSPAPER

LLC, run by David Dedvukaj, as it attempts to turn 97 acres of the site into thousands of residences and 337,000 square feet of commercial space in a two-phase redevelopment is demand. The question becomes whether it’s actually there in Southfield, and multifamily experts are torn over how much of the project will actually get built. The redevelopment, if completed as currently envisioned with 2,885 units, would bolster the apartment supply by nearly 24 percent in the city of about 73,000, based on data from CoStar Group Inc., a Washing-

ton, D.C.-based real estate information service. The city, known for its robust office market and central Oakland County location, currently has 12,136 apartments across 64 buildings, according to CoStar, with a market value of $1.2 billion, sixth-highest in the region. The vacancy rate in Southfield is 4.7 percent, compared to 5.4 percent for the region, and rents across studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms and three-bedroom units generally have a higher asking rent than the metro region as a whole. LARRY PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

See NORTHLAND on Page 38

NEED TO KNOW

PAYING FOR CARE

THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT  UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS START TO EASE THE NEWS: Michigan’s unemployment picture turned more positive last week after a significant rise in jobless claims the week before. For the week ending Nov. 28, 21,493 people in the state filed new jobless claims, down from 33,941 a week prior, according to date released Thursday. The previous week’s figures came after state health officials declared a threeweek “pause” in indoor dining, movie theater operations and some other indoor businesses. WHY IT MATTERS: The new numbers offer hope that the worst of the rise in unemployment from the shutdown of certain businesses may be behind us.

 OAKLAND TO OFFER RESTAURANTS $10M IN AID THE NEWS: Nearly 1,000 Oakland County restaurants will receive additional grant funds as they continue to find ways to stay viable during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Oakland Together Restaurant Relief Program is committing $10 million to aid restaurants that have been negatively impacted during the pandemic. About $7 million in Oakland County federal CARES Act funds, along with $3 million from the county general fund, will go toward supporting the restaurants.

WHY IT MATTERS: The state is in a threeweek “pause” that has halted indoor dining for the second time this year. Restaurants are permitted to only offer carryout, delivery service and outdoor seating until Dec. 8 in an order set by the state health department.

A health care worker performs a COVID-19 test at a Sparrow Hospital drivethrough in Lansing.

 FUNERAL HOME SETTLES TRANSGENDER LAWSUIT

DALE YOUNG FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

THE NEWS: A metro Detroit funeral home has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit that led to a groundbreaking decision that protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment. Aimee Stephens, 59, died weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court in June said she was covered by federal civil rights law. WHY IT MATTERS: The case was a landmark in extending employment protections to gay, lesbian and transgender people. Stephens worked as an embalmer and funeral home director at R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes in Garden City. She was fired in 2013 when she told her boss that she no longer wanted to be recognized as a man.

 LINEAGE ADDS TO EUROPEAN PORTFOLIO THE NEWS: Novi-based temperature-controlled logistics provider Lineage Logistics announced Tuesday the acquisition of Poland’s larg-

Insurers extend no-cost COVID coverage through March  Several Michigan health insurers and HMOs are extending nocost treatment for COVID-19 through March 31 as the pandemic continues to ramp up. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Blue Care Network, Priority Health and Total Health Care are among a growing number of insurers waiving cost sharing for the next four months, including co-pays, deductibles or coinsurance, for inpatient, outpatient, laboratory testing, ER visits, ambulatory services and medications and vaccines associated with the virus. Under an agreement in September with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services, more than 11 health insurers and health plans agreed to waive COVID-19 treatment costs through the end of this year. Temporary benefits began in March for some health insurers and were set to expire Dec. 31. est cold storage and logistics provider Pago Sp. z o.o. Under the deal, the company acquired six properties from Pago’s parent company, Tonnies Holding GmbH, the company said in a press release. Financial

terms of the deal were not disclosed. WHY IT MATTERS: The acquisition expands a growing footprint in Europe for what is already the world’s largest cold-storage supply chain company.

 MSU TO REQUIRE TWO YEARS IN DORMS THE NEWS: Undergraduates at Michigan State University will be required to live on campus a second year as part of efforts to help students toward graduating. A twoyear living requirement waived since the 1980s will be reinstated next fall, according to the school. WHY IT MATTERS: The school says graduation rates improve if students live in university-sponsored housing longer. The move also comes as colleges deal with the financial strain of dealing with the coronavirus.

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REAL ESTATE

SMALL BUSINESS

Housing market continues sales surge

Spring buying season still going strong BY KIRK PINHO

move germs, is the name of the game. That may include cleaning an office after a COVID-19 exposure. It requires new training and an arsenal of virus-combating tools like the backpacks with attached sprayers that hose down surfaces and kill 13 different viruses in 9 seconds. Workers also hand-clean high-touch areas like doorknobs. Detroit resident Chris Mann said he’s always been attentive, but 2020 cleaning requires a new level of detail. When he sprays and scrubs down day care centers, he thinks about how he’s a parent, too. “Kids put their hands everywhere, so you want to make sure you get in ... all the different surfaces, the mirrors, all the different cabinets, the rail of the crib ...” said Mann, Parker’s brother, who is working for the company full time. “You just don’t want to overlook any areas because they’re so hands on ... That one doorknob or that one common area could be the difference.”

The delay of the spring buying season prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic continues to fuel home sales into the colder months that are typically slower for the housing market. Data from Farmington Hills-based Realcomp Ltd. II released last week shows yet another consecutive month of year-over-year increases in pending and closed sales and median sales prices for October. Mike Moore, a Realtor with Real Estate One based in Dearborn, said supply and demand plays the biggest role in the current housing boom. “Inventory is low. When you’ve got two houses for sale when you should have eight, and you have 20 buyers, the house is going to go pretty quickly,” Moore said. “It’s crazy how much the ball is in the seller’s court.” Alexander Real Estate Detroit Realtor Alex Lauer said the city is a hotspot for buyers. A lack of quality housing, and prospective clients being in a good position to make a move are aiding the market, Lauer said. “A lot of people were cash heavy before the pandemic, so now they’re trying to steal the moment,” said Lauer, who was born in Detroit and raised in Southfield. “Prices are going to stay strong, too, because the moment one home sells, the neighbor is going to look to beat that price. The market for single-family homes under $250,000 is going like gangbusters. Houses are gone in a matter of days in the city.” In response to the global health crisis that erupted in the spring, killing more than 9,400 people and infecting more than 373,000 to date in Michigan, the state shut down in-person home tours and most nonessential business activity for weeks, causing the home-buying season to start later than it normally does.

See MAIDS on Page 40

See HOUSING on Page 41

CLEANING UP DURING COVID Commercial and residential cleaning service Detroit Maid has bumped up the amount of time it will take to clean its customers’ homes during the coronavirus pandemic, as extra attention is paid to disinfecting surfaces. Distancing and personal protective equipment measures are also followed.| DETROIT MAID PHOTOGRAPHS

Detroit Maid sparkles after navigating pandemic’s stumbling blocks BY ANNALISE FRANK

Detroit Maid’s cleaning professionals wear Ghostbusters-style backpacks as they sweep through offices, day care centers and production centers terminating norovirus particles. The 7-year-old home and commercial cleaning business was in “survival mode” at the beginning of the pandemic, but now demand has risen to more than Detroit Maid can handle, according to founder and CEO Danielle Smith Parker. Fortune magazine reported in May that a “cleaning boom is coming,” with hiring and equipment spending on a steep upward trajectory. As sanitization sits heavily in the forefront of consumers and workers’ minds this year, businesses want to show them that they’re clean. That puts companies like Detroit Maid, which has grown to serve 86 cities in metro Detroit and greater Chicago, in high demand. There’s been a shift from Parker’s previous focus, though. Her business flip-flopped from 80 percent residential cleanings and 20 percent commercial to more than two-thirds commercial.

Danielle Smith Parker (right), founder and CEO of Detroit-based home and cleaning service Detroit Maid, is pictured with her husband, Donnell Parker.

Before the pandemic, the main strategy was cleaning grime from surfaces, using some products that included disinfectants. But now full-on disinfecting, or using chemicals to re-

FOOD AND DRINK

Brewer looks for enthusiasts to become investors to survive BY KURT NAGL

Owners of the Ferndale Project rolled out doughnut, pizza and beer delivery businesses to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they’re turning to a community investment campaign to help make it through winter. The company began accepting individual investments about a month ago and has raised more than $180,000 with just less than a month left in the campaign. Co-owner Dayne Bartscht said he expects to hit the $250,000 ceiling soon. Investors receive a “revenue sharing

note” with a 1.4 multiplier. For example, a $100 investment will be repaid $140 by the company within five years. It does not come with an equity stake. “Back in March, we were just chasing revenue and trying to do everything we could to drum up business,” Bartscht said, a Crain’s 40 Under 40 honoree in 2019. “I didn’t want to do that again. (The fundraising campaign) is a good way to give back to the community, so as we find success, instead of paying interest to a bank, we can pay it to community members that supported us.” The investments are being managed by Mainvest Inc., a Massachusetts-based funding portal licensed by

the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It resembles the Detroit City FC campaign launched through Wefunder in July, which raised $1.8 million for the soccer club. In that campaign, however, investors received a small ownership stake in the club. Bartscht Ferndale Project opened in late February after Eastern Market Brewing Co. acquired the defunct Axle Brewing Co. Bartscht said the main reason behind the purchase was to add more brewing capacity after maxing out at its Eastern Market

facility. Since the pandemic, Ferndale Project has been doing a lot more than brewing beer. The company launched beer delivery March 16, the day the state halted dine-in service, and it took off quickly. Bartscht bought four delivery vans and rebranded the service as Peddler, a small local alternative to Uber Eats. It ships Eastern Market Brewing Co. beer and Ferndale Project food, as well as that of other craft brewers and restaurants. It also ships coffee from Ashe Supply Co., which Eastern

Market Brewing acquired in March. Vegan donuts and Detroit-style pizza, each cooked up in Ferndale, have also opened new revenue streams. The company launched Dooped Donuts a few weeks ago and will start a separate pizza brand this month while shopping around for more space, Bartscht said. “We had a full kitchen and kitchen team that were looking for things to do, and that’s kind of what led to it,” he said. “We made a conscious decision that we would try to do what we could to keep everyone busy.” See BREWER on Page 40

DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3

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The new apartment building under construction this summer on the site of the former Statler Hotel received a $78.5 million loan. | KIRK PINHO/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

New apartments in downtown Detroit get $78.5 million loan The City Club Apartments CBD Detroit development has received a $78.5 million loan for the 288unit project. Asia Capital Real Estate, a pri- Kirk vate equity firm, PINHO made the twoyear loan at a loan-to-value ratio of 69.7 percent, a spokesperson for the company said. The development by Farmington Hills-based City Club Apartments

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A news release says the property is 95 percent complete and that 40 percent of the units are preleased, with some residents expected as early as this month. There is about 11,300 square feet of retail space.

Ilitches before HDC on Dec. 9 A proposal by the Ilitch family's Olympia Development of Michigan for new residential development is on the Historic District Commission agenda for Dec. 9. The real estate company said last

“DETROIT’S DOWNTOWN HAS BEEN GROWING RAPIDLY IN RECENT YEARS AND IS SHOWING STRONG FUNDAMENTALS THAT SUPPORT PRECISELY THIS KIND OF LUXURY MULTIFAMILY DEVELOPMENT.” — Daniel Jacobs, head of origination for Asia Capital Real Estate

sits on the site of the former Statler Hotel and has been in the works since at least 2014. Jonathan Holtzman, co-founder and head of City Club Apartments, declined comment. The Statler Hotel opened in 1915 and was demolished in 2005 in advance of Super Bowl XL in Detroit in 2006. The site at Washington Boulevard and Park Avenue had sat vacant since. “Detroit’s downtown has been growing rapidly in recent years and is showing strong fundamentals that support precisely this kind of luxury multifamily development,” Daniel Jacobs, head of origination for Asia Capital Real Estate, said in a statement.

week that it, along with Lansing-based Cinnaire Solutions, is seeking to redevelop buildings it owns at Cass Avenue and Henry Street into about 170 residential units at a cost of $60 million. They are at 489 Henry St.; 459 Henry; 447 Henry; 439 Henry; 427 Henry; 2467 Cass; 2447 Cass; and a parcel at 467-469 Henry and 481 Henry. The Ilitches said in May 2017 that they, along with development partners, would build 686 new housing units in its District Detroit area. To date, none of those units has been built; only the Hotel Eddystone, with 96 units, is under construction. It's been 6 1/2 years since the Il-

itches announced plans for a 45- to 50-block area around the $862.9 million Little Caesars Arena that was to include new five new neighborhoods consisting of housing, retail, office and entertainment space sprouting up over the course of several years. However, the area remains a large sea of primarily surface parking lots and vacant buildings. While there has been some construction and renovation, the vision laid out in 2014 is largely unfulfilled.

Four apartment buildings sell Four apartment buildings totaling 144 units in Detroit have sold to a new owner, according to a press release today. The Southfield office of Berkadia says North Bergen, N.J.-based BSG Management sold the properties to Phoenix-based Urban Communities on Oct. 29. The buildings, which are a total of 92.4 percent occupied, are:  Parkview Court East, 24 units at 361 Covington Dr.;  Parkview Court West, 24 units at 381 Covington Dr.;  Parkway Apartments, 47 units at 661 Covington Dr.; and  Whitmore Plaza, 49 units at 300 Whitmore Rd. The sale price was not disclosed.

Hit me up Email: kpinho@crain.com Desk: (313) 446-0412 (I still check this voicemail, even when WFH) Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB

REAL ESTATE

First chief investment officer latest in string of C-suite hires Catherine Clark joins Bedrock after 22 years at New York-based RPT Realty Inc. BY KIRK PINHO

Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock LLC has hired its first chief investment officer, the latest addition under new CEO Kofi Bonner, who took the helm at the city’s most powerful and influential real estate company in September. Catherine Clark starts in the newly created role Dec. 7, according to a news release. She joins Detroit-based Bedrock after spending 22 years at RPT Realty Inc. (NYSE: RPT), the company formerly known as Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust that two years ago moved its headquarters to New York City. Her most recent role there was executive vice president of transactions. After that, she started CCR Partners, a commercial real estate advisory and consulting firm, the release says.

“Cathy’s years of experience in real estate and investment, along with her decades of experience in the Southeast Michigan market, made her a wonderful fit for Bedrock,” Bonner said in a statement. Clark’s hiring comes about a month after Bedrock announced three additional executive hires under Bonner: Ivy Greaner, COO, who started Nov. 16; John Costello, chief development officer; who started Nov. 2; and Nadia Sesay, the company’s first chief community growth and development who starts Friday. The influx of new executive leadership, including Bonner’s start two months ago, comes after a wave of C-suite members and others left the company in the last several years. Former CEO Matt Cullen and Mark Dunkeson, who was Bedrock’s presi-

“CATHY’S YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN REAL ESTATE AND INVESTMENT, ALONG WITH HER DECADES OF EXPERIENCE IN THE SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN MARKET, MADE HER A WONDERFUL FIT FOR BEDROCK.” Clark

— Kofi Bonner, CEO, Bedrock LLC

dent and COO, left in July and not long after were followed by seven others, including four department heads. Lawrence McLaughlin, the former chief development officer and executive vice president, left in September, bringing to 10 the number of executives and others who have departed in the second half of the year. The leadership musical chairs at

Bedrock began in September 2018 with the departures of longtime Gilbert confidants and lieutenants. Among those who have left Bedrock in the last two-plus years: Jim Ketai, the former chairman of the company; Dan Mullen, the former executive vice president of business development and, prior to that, former president; and Howard Luckoff, the former general counsel.

Bonner started Sept. 21. He previously was the co-COO at Irvine, Calif.-based Five Point Holdings LLC (NYSE: FPH), where he worked on major projects in San Francisco and elsewhere. Bonner is also the former chief administrative officer and executive vice president for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, the first Black person to hold that position. Bedrock, which owns more than 100 properties in and around downtown Detroit, is also working on a series of large-scale development and redevelopment projects, some of which have been beset by delays, cost overruns and substantial design changes. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

LAW

Dickinson Wright acquires Chicago firm, plans new office BY NICK MANES

Detroit-based law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC will expand to the Chicago market in the new year. The second-largest law firm in metro Detroit on Tuesday announced that it had acquired the Chicago law firm Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal will add another 12 attorneys to Dickinson Wright’s roster of nearly 500 lawyers, according to Crain’s data, and the Chicago location will be the firm’s 19th office. “Dickinson Wright’s entry into the major money market of Chicago is a natural progression of our national strategic approach,” Dickinson Wright CEO Michael Hammer said in a news release. “We look forward to joining the Chicago business community while

Stahl

Hammer

continuing to expand our offerings to our clients from around the U.S.” The Chicago office will be led by Jeffrey Stahl, a partner in the Chicago firm. He will become a member of Dickinson Wright’s real estate practice group. The office will handle real estate, corporate, litigation, employment and M&A as well as restructuring and arbitration matters, according to the news release. The attorneys

represent clients in banking, manufacturing, real estate, title insurance, agriculture, health care, private equity, technology and transportation. “We are thrilled to join Dickinson Wright and to help the firm establish a foothold in the Chicago market,” Stahl said in the release. “With strong relationships and a long-standing presence in the community, we look forward to continuing to serve our clients at the highest level of quality and expertise they have come to ex-

pect from us while giving them access to legal resources across Dickinson Wright’s expansive national and international platform.” Hammer told Crain’s in October 2018 that dealmaking was high on his list of priorities as he took over the firm. “I think the legal market has become more and more dynamic and competitive, and you can see it with mergers and acquisitions. That to me presents opportunities.” Other Southeast Michigan law

firms have also been growing via acquisition in recent years. In July 2018, Detroit-based Clark Hill PLC added 200 attorneys by merging with Strasburger & Price LLP in Dallas. Other large metro Detroit law firms with significant presence in Chicago include Detroit-based Honigman LLP and Detroit-based Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone plc. Contact: nmanes@crain.com; (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes

NONPROFITS

MOCAD board member Laura Hughes named interim director BY SHERRI WELCH

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit has appointed board member Laura Hughes as interim director of the museum while it continues a national search for a permanent director. Two senior-level staff had been providing oversight for MOCAD since late July when its board fired Executive Director Elysia Borowy-Reeder following an internal investigation into reports of racial and gender bias, poor management and employee harassment and bullying by a large group of employees. Hughes, 40, joins MOCAD from Casey Family Programs, where she will continue to serve as senior director in the technical assistance unit. At MOCAD she will take on a parttime role, assuming oversight from Marie Madison-Patton, director of finance and administration at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, and exhibitions manager Zeb Smith. Hughes joined MOCAD’s board last year and was appointed to the executive committee two months ago. She has re-

signed from her board position to take on the interim director role. Hughes brings corporate and nonprofit experience. Prior to Casey Family Programs, Hughes Hughes was principal consultant at Gusto Partners LLC, a company she launched. She also served as vice president of communications and community at Strategic Staffing Solutions for four years. Before that, she served as a program officer at the Detroit-based Skillman Foundation for a year and executive director of the Ruth Ellis Center for four years. As it continues a national search for a new director, the museum said it is emphasizing candidates who are Black, indigenous and other people of color who will work to serve Detroit. Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch

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OBITUARY

Joseph Hudson, ‘a true champion for Detroit,’ dies at 89

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Clark said. The Hudson-Webber Foundation dates its origins to 1939, when it was established with wealth creJoseph Hudson Jr., the former CEO of the J.L. Hudson ated by J.L. Hudson’s heirs. “He really inspired and led by example,” Clark said, Co. department store chain who helped create and nurture some of Detroit’s most enduring philanthropic institu- “going the extra mile and doing the work that was necestions, died Wednesday at his home in Grosse Pointe Farms, sary. “It wasn’t just about the dollars. It was about using the according to a statement from his family. He was 89. Hudson was chairman and CEO of the family firm for influence to bring others to the table and to inspire otheight years until its 1969 merger with Dayton. He went ers to action. That was an important lesson that I was on to serve as vice chairman and director of Dayton able to learn from him, for sure, in the time I had.” Hudson was elected as the first president and CEO of Hudson Corp. and then chairman and CEO for a decade the newly merged Detroit Medical Center in 1985, a role more before his retirement in 1982. Beyond his leadership of the iconic department store he held for five years. He led the United Foundation, now known as United chains, Hudson, 89, was known for his decades of giving back to his community, including founding the racial Way for Southeastern Michigan, and was a director of justice organization New Detroit, at the request of De- Detroit Renaissance, now known as Business Leaders troit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh and Gov. George Romney, for Michigan, for 17 years until 2007. He also supported the arts, following the Detroit riots in serving as president of the City 1967. “HE SAW THAT A REGIONAL, Detroit Arts Commission — He chaired the urban coaliCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION COULD WORK of the predecessor to the DIA tion until 1968 and continued to serve on its board of trustees ON THE ISSUES THAT WERE IMPORTANT, board — from 1979-90. Hudson was a longtime trustee and through the 1980s. COULD HELP BREAK DOWN THE trustee emeritus of the DIA, Hudson was also the driving BOUNDARIES THAT WERE PREVALENT and former chair of the museforce behind the founding of um’s building committee. the Community Foundation of IN THIS REGION, AND OF COURSE, HE “Today we all lost a true Southeast Michigan, which has COINED THE (PHRASE) ‘COMMUNITY champion for Detroit and our grown to more than $1 billion CAPITAL,’ MEANING PERMANENT DIA,” the museum’s chairman in assets and made more than Gene Gargaro said in a state$1 billion in grants since its COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT.” ment. 1985 founding. — Mariam Noland, president of “Words cannot properly ex“Joe Hudson was a visionary the Community Foundation press our sense of loss for our leader who worked to improve life for all in southeast Michigan,” said Mariam Noland, esteemed emeritus director, cherished museum patron and dear friend.” president of the Community Foundation. For his decades of service and philanthropy across so From chairing New Detroit in 1967 to leading the DIA for more than a decade, founding the Community Foun- many areas, Hudson was honored with many awards dation, chairing it for 19 years and serving as a trustee including: the Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture, until 2019, “his vision of building permanent communi- the George W. Romney Award for Lifetime Achievement in Voluntarism, the Alan E. Schwartz Community Leadty capital became a reality,” Noland said. “He saw that a regional, community foundation could ership Award from the Detroit Economic Club, the 1983 work on the issues that were important, could help Distinguished Network Service Award from the Nationbreak down the boundaries that were prevalent in this al Urban Coalition, the Mercy National Human Relaregion, and of course, he coined the (phrase) ‘commu- tions Award from the Greater Detroit Round Table of the nity capital,’ meaning permanent community endow- National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the B’nai B’rith Humanitarian Award. ment. Hudson is survived by his wife, Jean; four children, “Southeast Michigan, our state and our communities are better because of Joe Hudson, and we are forever Joseph Hudson IV (Lydie), Jean Witmer (Rick), Webber Hudson (Kelly) and Louise Hudson; and his brother Gil grateful,” Noland said. Hudson was a fixture on corporate and nonprofit Hudson. He was predeceased by sister Margaret Van boards.Over the years, in addition to Dayton Hudson Alstyne. He is survived by 10 grandchildren and five Corp., Hudson served as a director of National Bank of great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Detroit, Detroit Edison, Michigan Bell Telephone Co., The family requests that memorial gifts in Hudson’s National Steel, Bundy Corp., Masco Corp., and McCorname be made to the Community Foundation for mick Oil & Gas. He joined the Hudson-Webber Foundation board in Southeast Michigan’s COVID-19 Relief Fund and the 1956 and led the foundation as chairman from 1961 to Michigan Justice Fund. 1996, when he became a lifetime honorary trustee. Hudson still frequented his office at the foundation Contact: swelch@crain.com; up until a year ago, Hudson-Webber President Melanca (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch

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EDITORIAL

COMMENTARY

Continued shutdowns demand more transparency

Why state’s ‘overwhelmed’ contact tracing is underreporting COVID outbreaks

WHAT MAKES DINING IN A MALL FOOD COURT LESS DANGEROUS THAN A RESTAURANT AT 50 PERCENT CAPACITY? WHAT MAKES OUTDOOR DINING IN A TENT OK BUT NOT IN A LARGE INDOOR SPACE? THE RESTRICTIONS ON RESTAURANTS ACTUALLY COULD SPUR MORE AT-HOME GATHERINGS OF NON-RELATED PEOPLE IN MUCH SMALLER QUARTERS, WITHOUT MASKS. WHAT ABOUT THAT? other piece on the Crain website that week. The restaurant industry has bandied a statistic of less than 5 percent of outbreaks traced to restaurants. Is that true? What do the CDC, Johns Hopkins University and others tracking this pernicious virus find in terms of restaurants vs. other public venues? And what of movie theaters — with high ceilings, air circulation and socially distanced seating to ensure safety of moviegoers? Whitmer’s approval ratings in October remained high; not sure how they would show up this month, as more restaurant and entertainment workers remain jobless. Meanwhile, restrictions in neighboring states are tied to the COVID statistics for a specific city or county. Not here. It might be a different story if more policy makers had ever met a payroll as part of their resume. We encourage the governor to provide the actual data and research that leads to any extension of the current restrictions. The loss of jobs and the decimation of an entire industry demand more transparency.

NIC ANTAYA FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

federal judge has spoken: Michigan’s three-week ban on indoor dining in Michigan restaurants is valid. Even though the state order is issued through the state health department, it’s the work-around for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after a state court knocked down her ability to issue executive orders ad infinitum. Restaurateurs, their employees and their vendors might accept the lockdown more readily if “the science” were clearly stated. What makes dining in a mall food court less dangerous than a restaurant at 50 percent capacity? What makes outdoor dining in a tent OK but not in a large indoor space? The restrictions on restaurants actually could spur more at-home gatherings of non-related people in much smaller quarters, without masks. What about that? When Crain’s published Andiamo co-owner Rosalie Vicari’s essay about the effect on her industry, readers responded. The piece drew more page views online than any

Dr. Carl Palffy talks with a patient Oct. 28 at the Clarkston Medical Group’s drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in Clarkston.

That’s because the underlying inichigan bar and restauvestigations of COVID-19 cases by rant owners and business the state and local health departgroups representing them ments aren’t even coming close to are arguing that they shouldn’t be keeping up with the sustained closed because fewer than 5 persurge in cases — and haven’t been cent of outbreaks have been traced since early November. back to their establishments. Of the 44,000 new cases of But that argument is based on data COVID-19 the week of Nov. 21, just that public health officials in Michi- Chad gan now admit is an increasingly in- LIVENGOOD 8,700 or 19.7 percent of them were actually investigated to figure out the complete sample, casting doubt on infected persons’ close contacts, said the true extent of settings where Sarah Lyon-Callo, the state’s top epidemiologist. COVID outbreaks are occuring, including inThe previous week of Nov. 14, there were side dining establishments and watering holes.

See LIVENGOOD on Page 38

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Emotions run high on restaurant shutdowns

ast week's column by Joe Vicari Restaurant Group co-owner Rosalie Vicari on the shutdown of indoor restaurant dining brought a great response from readers on all sides of the issue. A sampling of reactions: As a small business owner the pandemic has taught me how important community and the government can be during crisis. The programs offered to my clients have kept them in their homes with heat and electricity. Local food banks have provided food for families. Instead of crying about restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the virus, I’ve chosen to find ways within the system to adapt and grow. Those condemning the governor and health department should consider channeling their energy at representatives blocking help for business and asking those blockers to open their minds to fit the crisis and provide assistance to their industries. Duane Balinski I truly believe what our governor is doing has nothing to do with safety. We are dealing with a flu that strikes and kills people, mainly the elderly. It is a fact of life that people die every day from something, heart attacks, cancer, car accidents, etc. Are we going to shut down everything until everything has

no other option but to stay closed? I feel the governor is doing this out of spite, “because she can.” I would love to see our state Legislature stop her and the health department in their tracks, like they did in Ohio. At least they have the smarts and guts to stop this nonsense. I would bet that the gov and our legislators haven’t lost much of their salary, if any. We need to reopen everything and let people have their lives back now. Nancy Atwell The decision to publish is dangerous. In the age of misinformation, that a once-respected publication such as Crain’s Detroit Business would choose to run a piece that pushes an aggrieved, science-phobic point of view in the middle of the latest, most serious stage of this pandemic is the height of irresponsibility. I’m not willing to say that this article is indeed active misinformation, but it is the closest thing to it without being it. The editorial staff should be ashamed of themselves, as should the author. This city, and our state, rightfully expects more from this publication. What a shame that we can no longer expect it. Albert Ford

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 | DECEMBER 7, 2020

45,000 new cases of COVID-19 and 9,800 or 22 percent of them got investigated, Lyon-Callo said. “The supply of case investigation isn’t able to keep up with the demand,” Lyon-Callo said in interivew. The implication of this contact-tracing system being swamped by the fall COVID surge is the investigations tracing the disease back to nursing homes, schools, restaurants or other locations are only capturing onefifth of the total cases.

Detroit residents have worked hard to follow the science and actually reduce the numbers of COVID-19 cases. However, if restaurateurs believe it’s okay to defy a public health order meant to safeguard customers from a contagious virus that case rates continue to climb daily, what other public health safeguards are they willing to defy? The worst case punishment for defying this order is not the loss of a lucrative liquor license, or fines, but the loss of respect and trust by the community patronizing their establishments. It is the indignant posture that there is more value in making money than keeping your customers safe. Moreover, becoming the problem by defying the state order if extended will only serve as a reminder to our community, that yes, even in a pandemic, profits over people is an accepted business practice. David Rudolph Vicari’s article is spot on. I'd like to see the governor take a major pay cut and lay three-quarters of her staff off. It's not right or fair, and restaurants with masks and social distance are as safe as any store. Frank Rewold

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

Don’t waste this chance to fix our roads BY RICH STUDLEY

In a year like 2020, the news that we may fix more roads next year is something to be optimistic about. Michigan is poised to spend more money on Rich Studley is road repairs president and than ever before CEO of the in 2021. UnfortuMichigan nately, governChamber of ment may also Commerce. waste more money than ever before unless we enact urgently needed reforms. Google searches bring up headlines like “Michigan has worst roads in U.S., study says,” but we didn’t need a study to know that. Michigan’s drivers and their cars bear the brunt of potholes, crumbling asphalt and even falling concrete every day. They pay the price in damaged cars, slower traffic and the frustrating, trust-eroding feeling that they are paying millions in taxes and fees but not seeing progress in return. Our businesses and economy suffer, too. Getting materials to factories and products to market takes longer and costs more when the roads are in bad shape, trucks get damaged and traffic is backed up. Michigan’s reputation is taking a beating as well. Bad infrastructure makes it harder for economic development leaders to make the case to potential investors that Michigan is the place to bring more jobs. Especially when other states do better. Getting the roads fixed is a statewide problem that is hurting us all, so it requires everyone to pitch in. To address this, last January Gov. Whitmer announced a plan for the state of Michigan to sell $3.5 billion in bonds to finance an aggressive road repair plan, something we support. Now we need to be sure those dollars are used as efficiently as possible to achieve the biggest economic impact possible. If the state of Michigan — that means you — is borrowing billions to achieve visible progress, then we better be sure government doesn’t waste a dime. However, that is exactly what will happen if we do not enact bipartisan infrastructure construction reforms introduced in the Michigan Legislature by Sen. Adam Hollier, D-Detroit, and Rep. Triston Cole, R-Mancelona. Here is the problem: Small groups of local naysayers are costing the entire state millions in government waste by repeatedly blocking the mining of high-quality sand and gravel that is required by state and federal officials when building long-lasting roads. Sand and gravel are the main ingredients in concrete and asphalt, without which we cannot fix the damn roads. Michigan is blessed to have these materials, but they are deposited in limited locations. And the best locations, as you’d expect, are closest to where major infrastructure repair projects are taking place. But, repeatedly across Michigan, when the infrastructure industry finds the aggregates required to

complete a road project, chronic complainers bully decision makers into refusing mining permits in one fashion or another. As a result, mil-

trucked from longer distances, sending transportation costs through the roof before a single pothole is filled.

place closer to where we need it, but only after holding mining companies accountable. This includes environmental, noise, appearance,

GOOGLE SEARCHES BRING UP HEADLINES LIKE “MICHIGAN HAS WORST ROADS IN U.S., STUDY SAYS,” BUT WE DIDN’T NEED A STUDY TO KNOW THAT. MICHIGAN’S DRIVERS AND THEIR CARS BEAR THE BRUNT OF POTHOLES, CRUMBLING ASPHALT AND EVEN FALLING CONCRETE EVERY DAY. THEY PAY THE PRICE IN DAMAGED CARS, SLOWER TRAFFIC AND THE FRUSTRATING, TRUST-ERODING FEELING THAT THEY ARE PAYING MILLIONS IN TAXES AND FEES BUT NOT SEEING PROGRESS IN RETURN. lions in tax dollars are wasted as the aggregate supply market tightens, sending material prices higher. Worse, our money is also wasted as protesters force materials to be

No wonder taxpayers are so frustrated with the lack of progress. The reforms before the Legislature fix this broken system by allowing aggregate mining to take

and traffic considerations to ensure we protect local communities while also fixing our statewide road crisis. We can do both and we must. If we are already wasting road

funding today on higher material costs and trucking fees, it upsets me to imagine how much more will be wasted when we inject billions in new taxpayer funding into the system. With these reforms, more roads will get fixed and our economic recovery will receive a boost. That is why we are part of the Build It Michigan Strong coalition of major union and business groups, which is urging the Legislature to pass these reforms into law. If we are going to spend more money on our roads, let’s stop government waste and make a difference that taxpayers can actually see — and feel.

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DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9

CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY

Meet Al Ruppert, restaurant proprietor, golf course builder and celebrated South Havenite BY TOM HENDERSON | Becoming

an icon was the furthest thing from Al Ruppert’s mind when he moved to South Haven in 1980. He had been living in Indiana with a young son who was deaf and fixing broken typewriters and adding machines at an office supply store when a salesman told him about a great teacher he knew in Michigan who was a whiz working with deaf children. There had been an outbreak of rubella in and around the village of Berrien Springs. Hearing loss is the major side effect of rubella, and enough children had gone deaf to require a specialized teacher. Ruppert thought that was a better option than sending his son to the Indiana School for the Deaf & Dumb. Ruppert found out there was an office-supply store for sale in South Haven, north of Berrien Springs, and he bought it and embarked on a journey that led to him becoming an unquestioned icon of the community. He’s now the owner of Clementine’s, a destination restaurant downtown where twohour waits in the summer tourist season are common; built HawksHead Links north of town, a golf course along Lake Michigan that was designed by legendary course designer Arthur Hills and looks and plays like a links course on the ocean in Scotland; and is a chainsaw artist known for his large wood creations, including the hawk that greets visitors to the golf course, and for the ice sculptings that star at the city’s annual Icebreakers Festival each winter. His son, Jon, got his education and now runs the kitchen at Clementine’s. At 76, Ruppert actively runs the business and is there most days.

Origins of an institution

Al Ruppert is the owner of Clementine’s, a destination restaurant in South Haven since the 1980s. | TOM HENDERSON FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

ALSO IN THIS CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS REPORT  South Haven co-working spot ThinkBar offers a place to work away from home. PAGE 11

 Family-owned business makes South Haven famous for its custom fire trucks. PAGE 11

10 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

 South Haven-based company makes twisted paper handles for paper bags, other uses. PAGE 12

 Fourth-generation farmer and his wife built a blueberry empire in Van Buren County. PAGE 12

In 1982, a local dive and pool hall in downtown South Haven called the E&B Saloon, which had been built in 1894, came on the market. It was definitely not a tourist joint. Its clientele was decidedly down-market. There had been a shooting there recently and reports of a woman raped, and state officials were in the process of revoking its liquor license. Ruppert was able to buy the bar and liquor license for $40,000, did a complete rehab on the place and reopened it as a family restaurant, the first iteration of Clementine’s. See RUPPERT on Page 33

FOCUS | CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Family-owned business brings South Haven renown for its custom fire trucks

ALL FIRED UP

work on fire trucks, currently repairing one for the city of Saugatuck. As an essential business, Spencer has worked steadily throughout the pandemic. “We had parts issues and delays with raw materials, but we never missed a day,” said Grant. Spencer’s big marketing event is the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference & Exhibition in Indianapolis, which draws some 35,000 fire fighters and municipal leaders each year. It is still scheduled to be held in 2021 from April 9-24.

BY TOM HENDERSON

South Haven is famous for its blueberry farms, billing itself as the blueberry capital of the world, and as a summer vacation destination. But famous for fire trucks? More than you might think. In October, the city of Pittsburgh got a delivery of seven brand new fire trucks, all of them made by South Haven-based Spencer Manufacturing Inc. The company has sold fire trucks to municipalities across the country and around the state. Its biggest order ever was for 13 trucks for Mason County two years ago and trucks have been bought by South Haven, Harbor Springs, Grand Rapids Township, East Lansing and Holland, with one currently being built for Fort Gratiot. The company has sold trucks around the U.S., from Maine to Seward, Alaska. All of that the farthest thing from Brian Spencer’s mind in 1983. He was a farmer, bored in winter and, with five kids, in need of some extra income. He was a volunteer firefighter for Casco Township, near South Haven, and the department badly needed a new fire truck. So Spencer took an old cement truck and reconfigured it into a fire truck. He did a second truck, then a third one, then branched out into repairing construction vehicles, too, out of a pole barn on his property. He formally

Blueberry business

Spencer Manufacturing’s biggest order ever was for 13 fire trucks for Mason County. | SPENCER MANUFACTURING/ANTHONY L. PIETRZYKOWSKI

launched the company with his wife, Peggy, in 1986. According to Grant Spencer, Brian’s son and the company vice president in charge of day-to-day operations, the company employs 45 at its 26,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the outskirts of town in the South Haven Business Park. The company built the building in 2001, with the brick front and entrance designed as an homage to a fire station. Grant started working at the company 20 years ago and has been running the business for 10. “I was sweeping floors, anything I could do,” he said. Brian is still active in the business and he and Peggy are majority shareholders. Grant said the company makes an

average of 35 trucks a year, each one taking about a year to complete and costing the customer about $500,000. The company also makes other emergency vehicles, including EMS, SWAT and emergency-responder vehicles. The time it takes to finish a truck and the growing volume of sales made things awfully cramped in the existing facility. The company will embark in the spring on a 30,000-square-foot expansion. “We had planned on doing the expansion in 2020, but COVID pushed everything back,” said Grant. “We’ll get it finished next year. We’ll be adding some employees but it’s not like we’ll be doubling our head count. It basically gives us more room to work.”

SUMMER HOURS

The company buys cabs from from Freightliner, Kenworth, Ford and General Motors, then custom fabricates the bodies at its large machine shop to fit a wide range of customer specifications. It also does repair

Spencer has a sister manufacturing business across the street, Haven Harvesters LLC., which makes blueberry harvesters. That company was launched in 2014 when BEI International, a South Haven company that had been making harvesters since 1965, defaulted on a bank loan of $1.5 million, had its assets seized and its factory padlocked. The loss of locally available new blueberry harvesters and a repair facility for older harvesters was a blow to the commuSee FIRE TRUCKS on Page 34

THE TRANSFORMATION BEGINS HERE

South Haven co-working spot ThinkBar offers a place to work away from home BY TOM HENDERSON

The grand opening of South Haven’s first co-working space was delayed a few months because of COVID-19, but it is now up and running. ThinkBar LLC occupies 2,000 square feet on the top floor of a historic building on Phoenix Street, South Haven’s main downtown drag. The two-story building, which just celebrated its 100th birthday, originally was home to the Tri-County Telephone Co., and later a retail store called Biddy Murphy that sold Irish-related souvenirs and knickknacks to the tourists who flock to town during summer months. South Haven-based NL & JM Holdings LLC bought the building in 2018. The ground floor was occupied by an accounting firm, which is still there. The top floor was vacant. “NL & JM” stands for the first names of the holding company’s co-founders, Nick Loafman and Jay Marcoux. Loafman’s wife, Suzanne Sutherland Loafman, Lynzee Krohne and Kayla Weich run the ThinkBar, which was, after a complete renovation, scheduled to open in April before COVID delayed it. Loafman is a public relations and marketing specialist who was working as a freelancer out of her home

before COVID. Krohne and Weich are founders of an online marketing firm, Leo & Laine, that they ran out of their homes. Weich will manage the co-working space day-to-day, with the other two actively involved. “We moved here from Chicago in 2012, and as I got to know the people of South Haven, I saw the need for a

“WE MOVED HERE FROM CHICAGO IN 2012, AND AS I GOT TO KNOW THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH HAVEN, I SAW THE NEED FOR A CO-WORKING SPACE.” — Suzanne Sutherland Loafman

co-working space,” said Loafman. “There are a lot of people here who work remotely for companies in Chicago and Detroit, and while they work out of their homes, there is a need sometimes to have a more formal work setting and access to office equipment.” She said that is especially true in summer months, when families retreat to their vacation homes or summer rentals and people might need a place to work away from kids, dogs or noisy neighbors. They missed this past summer season and are counting on being ready for a big season next summer.

Loafman said the delay in opening until September actually helped. “It bought us time to rethink the space, to arrange it better,” she said. As is standard with co-working spaces, there are a wide range of pricing options and access to Wi-Fi, private and semiprivate work areas, printers, scanners and faxes, video conferencing and private conference rooms. Costs range from $25 for a day pass and a seat at a communal table to a private office for $25 an hour. A private conference room for five costs $50 an hour or $300 a day. Loafman said the space is run following CDC guidelines for COVID safety, with work stations at least 6 feet apart, a strict cleaning protocol and masks required in communal areas. Because ThinkBar is run by three marketing and PR professionals, Loafman said tenants will be offered small-business marketing seminars and given lessons in how to manage Google Analytics and market themselves across social-media platforms. The owners also have installed a small studio to allow tenants to do photo shoots. For more information, go to thinkbarcoworking.com.

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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Tom Henderson: (231) 499-2817 Twitter: @TomHenderson2 DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 11

FOCUS | CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

BLUEBERRY FIELDS FOREVER

How a fourth-generation farmer and his wife cultivated a blueberry empire in Van Buren County

BY TOM HENDERSON

Shelly and Dennis Hartmann were married in 1990. Three years later, they decided to become blueberry farmers in Grand Junction in Van Buren County, near South Haven. The decision was a natural one for Dennis, who became a fourth-generation blueberry farmer. His family began farming in 1944. Their True Blue Farms LLC started with a modest operation of 25 acres. Today, they bill the farm as one of the larger blueberry growers in North America and one of the five largest in Michigan, producing more than 2 million pounds of blueberries annually. Its 12 main varieties ripen at different times throughout much of the summer growing season. Shelly said that through 12 acquisitions over the years, True Blue has grown to more than 500 acres. In March 2018, McLean, Va.-based Gladstone Land Corp. (Nasdaq:LAND), a publicly traded company that owns 75 farms and more than 63,000 acres in nine states, announced that it had bought a 176acre blueberry farm in Van Buren County for $2.1 million. After completing the acquisition, Gladstone signed a 10-year lease with True Blue Farms to manage the property. Besides managing that farm, the Hartmanns own a processing facility that processes berries for about 50 other local growers. True Blue also manages farms for older growers who no longer can do all the work themselves, and it packs and processes cranberries for growers in Wisconsin. In 2019, Vietnam lifted prohibitions against blueberry imports and Shelly said True Blue hopes to begin exporting there sooner rather than later. It does some modest exporting to Canada. Closer to home, True Blue supplies a large quantity of blueberries each year to Traverse City’s iconic bakery, the Grand Traverse Pie Co. — enough to make 50,000 pies. True Blue has expanded in other ways, too. At the site of its original farm, it op-

Dennis and Shelly Hartmann (center in blue shirt and striped shirt) with members of their staff on their blueberry farm in Van Buren County. | TRUE BLUE FARMS/JIM GEBBEN PHOTOGRAPHY

erates the True Blue Farms Country Store and offers customers a chance to enjoy a you-pick experience in their field. There’s a picnic and kids play area, and tired you-pickers can refresh themselves by purchasing ice cream and other treats. The Hartmanns have a warehouse called TBF Sales Inc. in South Haven, which has a small store out front. Customers can order products in person at the warehouse or online at theblueberrystore.com. The website lists dozens of blueberry products for sale, including fresh and frozen blueberries; blueberry pancake syrup; blueberry pancake, muffin, scone, cornbread and cookie mixes; blueberry jams, pepper jams and jellies; blueberry barbecue sauce, vinaigrette and mus-

tard; blueberry jalapeno salsa and blueberry tomato salsa; blueberry pie filling and blueberries foster; dried blueberries; blueberry jerky; blueberry ice wine; dark chocolate with blueberries, blueberry granola bars, blueberry yogurt covered pretzels and much more. The Blueberry Store on Phoenix Street in downtown South Haven also offers hard cider, blueberry wine, blueberry-themed art works, hot pads and hand towels. The store is run by Shelly’s sister, Hillary Fisher. The store opened its doors in 1990 as a farmers’ co-op and was bought by the Hartmanns in 2008. The Hartmanns never imagined such a mini-empire when they startThe Blueberry Store in downtown South Haven. | TRUE BLUE FARMS

See BLUEBERRIES on Page 34

American Twisting does big business in a tiny niche South Haven-based company makes twisted paper handles for paper bags, other uses BY TOM HENDERSON

Dozens of rolls of bright yellow paper are stacked four high on the factory floor at South Haven’s American Twisting Co. They are bright, giant proof that just because you have the nichiest of niche businesses, it doesn’t mean you have a small business. American Twisting is as niche as they come. It makes the paper handles on retailers’ bags, enough of them to fill two large factories across the street from each other with machinery and employees. It is a business, unlike most, that has had a boom year because of COVID-19, as carry out bags have proliferated by the millions thanks to customer take out and home delivery of restaurant

meals by such food-delivery companies as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub. If the bags have handles, chances are they were made by American Twisting. The huge yellow rolls will makes hundreds of thousands of miles of handles for carry-out bags at McDonald’s. They are tinted a color known as Pantone 123 C, an exact match for the fast-food giant’s trademark arches. Each roll weighs 1,750 pounds and will be sliced and twisted into 100 miles of handles for customers who no longer want to, or, depending on the franchise, are no longer allowed to, eat indoors. American Twisting’s handles are on carry-out bags from Nordstrom, Starbucks, Macy’s, Panera Bread,

12 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

Tom Phelps Jr. and Toni Phelps Gohn in front of rolls of yellow paper that will be used to make handles for McDonald’s bags. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Chanel, Tim Horton’s and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others. It doesn’t supply those companies directly but sells to the Duro Bag Manufacturing Co. of Florence, Ky., the largest maker of paper bags in the world. American Twisting also makes paper covered wires that are used by home-furniture makers in couches and chairs and for seats in mobile homes and cars and trucks. A Tier III auto supplier, American Twisting supplies paper-wrapped wire to every Ford Series truck, for example. The company also makes a line of twisted paper and metal products for the decorative crafts market. One interesting market? Supplying twisted cord a quarter-inch in diameter to casket makers, who line the interior of caskets with it and then tack velvet or satin to it. See TWISTING on Page 36

CIO OF THE YEAR

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FOCUS | CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

Al Ruppert in front of the bar at Clementine’s. TOM HENDERSON/ CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

TAKING CARE OF YOU. AND YOUR BUSINESS.

RUPPERT

From Page 10

In 1989, Ruppert took on a huge project a few blocks away, at what is now the site of the current Clementine’s: the former Citizens State Bank building, which opened on South Haven’s main downtown street of Phoenix Street in 1896. When Ruppert bought the building, the bank was long bankrupt, the roof was mostly caved in and the windows were broken or bowed out. The building seemed destined for demolition. Ruppert also bought the adjacent building, which, in South Haven’s early-20th-century heyday as a vacation destination for ferries making the trip across Lake Michigan from Chicago, catered to a Jewish clientele, selling religious-themed souvenirs and other goods. He put in all new windows and installed interior arches that came from an old bank building in Benton Harbor to create a series of rooms. Behind the bar, he installed a massive mirrored backdrop that had been in the E&B Saloon. Decades earlier, it had been painted pink. Ruppert stripped the paint off to reveal gorgeous quarter-sawn oak. In all, it took 18 months to get the place finished and reopened. The restaurant is filled with antiques and the walls are lined with wonderful old black and white photos of South Haven in its glory days. The interior has exposed brick and repurposed architectural pieces Ruppert found here and there, including mahogany arches that came from a bank building in Benton Harbor. Two of the bank’s original vaults are now used for storage. On one wall of the bar, a huge elk head has been mounted, wearing, in this time of COVID, a huge blue mask. Clementine’s was so successful that in 1992, Ruppert opened a sister restaurant, Clementine’s Too, in St. Joseph.

Building a golf course In the early 1990s, Ruppert, an avid golfer, unsuccessfully tried to buy a local golf course. “They didn’t want to sell, so I went to the county offices to look into land to buy so I could build my own course,” he said. He found 480 acres for sale three miles north of South Haven, on the north branch of the Black River, and bought them for $3 million. Then he called Arthur Hills, one of the most famous golf course designers in the world, to see if he could interest him in the property. Hills told

When our area businesses felt the negative impact from COVID-19, our bankers stepped up to help fund over $197

him he was going to be on his way to look at some land in Boyne City, where he would eventually build the course at the Boyne Highlands Resort, and would be able to visit to Ruppert on the way. Hills has designed more than 200 new golf courses, including such famous courses as Bonita Bay in Naples, Fla., The Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga., the Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., The Champions course at Keene Trace Golf Club in Lexington, Ky., Wolfdancer Golf Club in Lost Pines, Tex., and Palmetto Dunes in Hilton Head, S.C. Other Michigan courses Hills has built include Red Hawk Golf Club in East Tawas; the 27-hole Bay Harbor Golf Club in Bay Harbor; Stonebridge Golf Club in Ann Arbor; Fox Hills in Plymouth and the Pine Trace Golf Club in Rochester Hills. Ruppert said they took a tour of the land and at the end, “Hills asked me,

“HE’S AMAZING. WHEN YOU MEET AL, YOU GET THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. THE MORE YOU GET TO KNOW HIM? HIS STORIES, OH MY GOD.” — Kathy Wagaman, executive director of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce.

‘Who else are you going to call?’ I told him I didn’t know. He said, ‘Don’t call anyone else. I’ll do it.’” It turned out the land had once been the bed of an ancient lake, which lent itself to naturally sculpted sand dunes on the course. In 1996, Golf Digest named HawksHead as the best new golf course in the U.S. The Inn at HawksHead offers fine dining, and reservations can be made at one of nine guest rooms in a restored English Tudor-style mansion that had been on the property.

Community icon “He’s amazing. When you meet Al, you get the tip of the iceberg. The more you get to know him? His stories, oh my God. He’s definitely loved by the community,” said Kathy Wagaman, executive director of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce. Ruppert sponsors area sports teams and recently volunteered to learn some dance moves for a Dancing with the Stars fundraiser put on by the Al-Van Humane Society (“Al” standing for Allegan and “van” for Van Buren County). He or his son Greg, the manager of HawksHead,

win the annual chili cookoff most years at the Icebreakers Festival, and Al eagerly helps folks wildly decorate their small boats for the yacht club’s annual Blingy Dinghy Parade. “There’s always a risk when you tell someone about a restaurant and they go there, it might not be that good. Not Clementine’s. The service and the quality of the food is always good. It’s got great burgers, great soups, great steaks, and it’s not overpriced,” said Wagaman. “His ability to retain employees says a lot about him and his leadership. Typically, in the restaurant world, there is a lot of turnover. But you see a lot of his waitstaff year after year.” Off-season, Ruppert employs 110 at the original Clementine’s and 75 in St. Joseph, and more in the summer. He employs 120 at the golf course during the season. The South Haven restaurant sells 14 tons of yellow lake perch a year in non-COVID years and during the tourist season will sell 600 pounds of onion rings a day. They are served on wooden pegs, either six or 12 inches high, and Ruppert claims they sell eight miles of them a year. Fare ranges from typical burger and sandwich fare to pastas, fine dining (charbroiled salmon topped with sundried tomato basil butter or potato crusted Canadian walleye, for example), dinner salads and burritos. The restaurants were closed from March until June because of COVID, then opened at 50 percent capacity, with tables removed for social distancing. It shut down for indoor seating in November in response to Gov. Whitmer putting restrictions in place as COVID cases climbed rapidly in the state. Ruppert said the restaurant averages about 1,200 meals a day in the summer and, before the shutdown in November, was selling 500 meals a day during the slow season. Ruppert is a folk artist of some renown. Much of the top floor of Clementine’s is taken up by his large workshop, with various works of art in progress. Bored in the winter of 2005, he built a detailed six-foot replica of Clementine’s out of cherry wood and it sits prominently in the restaurant. Carla Ruppert, one of his daughters-in-law, owns a kids’ clothing and toy store next to Clementine’s called Oh My Darling; and another daughter-in-law, Theressa Ruppert, owns a souvenir store around the corner called Divine by Design that specializes in local works of art.

million loans to our communities throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. We’re proud to lend our financial expertise to help communities survive these tough times and as things return to normal, you can bet we’re committed to bringing that same level of dedication to the areas we serve.

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Tom Henderson: (231) 499-2817 Twitter: @TomHenderson2 DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 33

FOCUS | CRAIN’S MICHIGAN BUSINESS | SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN

BLUEBERRIES

A brief history of cultivated blueberries

From Page 12

“We didn’t have this all planned out on our whiteboard when we were starting out, that we’d grow into what we’ve become,” she said. “When you love what you do, it’s not work. It just morphed into something no one imagined.” During the busy summer season, True Blue employs about 400 people, from pickers in the field to those in the processing plant and stores, and employs more than 50 year-round. After Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced mandatory COVID-19 testing for farm workers last summer, about 100 of True Blue’s pickers left the fields. The farm uses machine pickers for much of its harvest, but relies on hand pickers for fruit that will be shipped to fresh-food markets. “We had to use machines instead of hand pickers, and the value isn’t as much as when we hand pick the fruit for the fresh markets,” she said. With coronavirus vaccines seeming to be on the horizon, Shelly hopes to return to a normal harvest season next year. In 2017, Gov. Rick Snyder appointed Shelly Hartmann to the Michigan Blueberry Commission, where she still serves and is board secretary. She is also on the board of the Michigan National Blueberry Festival Committee and is vice president of the board of the United States Highbush Blueberry Council. She had been a board member of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce, but was term-limited out after the second of her three-year terms. “Shelly has served our community in more ways than I can mention,” said Kathy Wagaman, executive director of the South Haven chamber. “She gives and gives. Not only money, but her time and a caring heart ... One morning at our 8 a.m. board meeting, she showed up quite disheveled and apologized for being a few minutes late. She had been out in

Dennis and Shelly Hartmann have been growing blueberries since the early 1990s. | TRUE BLUE FARMS

“WHEN YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO, IT’S NOT WORK. IT JUST MORPHED INTO SOMETHING NO ONE IMAGINED.” — Shelly Hartmann, co-owner, True Blue Farms LLC

It was once thought that wild blueberries could not be cultivated successfully. But in the early twentieth century, a New Jersey woman named Elizabeth Coleman White reached out to a botanist named Frederick Coville to see if they could change that. She provided the labor and land and he the advice and in 1916, they produced the first cultivated blueberry crop in the world. Today, cultivated highbush blueberries are grown around the world, but the U.S. is dominant. In the early 1920s, a Michigan State University researcher named Stanley Johnston established a test planting at the school’s South Haven Agricultural Research Farm. Soil in the region turned out to be perfect for growing blueberries, mostly acidic sandy loams, much of which is on ancient lake beds. Those soils are poorly suited for other crops but blueberries thrive. Also beneficial are the moderating effects of Lake Michigan, generally just a little west of the area’s farms. Commercial planting soon followed the test plantings. Blueberthe fields all night trying to save the crop from a hard, late frost. They use sprinklers to spray water to keep the frost off the delicate new berries.” Until last winter, Shelly had been a backup singer for six years in an Elvis tribute band called Sounds of Elvis. “We had the best of times. We went

FIRE TRUCKS

From Page 11

Spencer had been supplying frames and other components for BEI and decided to go into full production. Haven Harvesters employs 12 and averages 10-12 machines a year, which can sell for between $180,000 and $250,000. It, too, has a broad client reach, selling to farmers in California, Georgia and the east coast, in addition to South Haven area growers. Garrett Spencer, one of Grant’s brothers, is general manager. “That was so important for the community,” said Kathy Wagaman, executive director at the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve got a lot of blueberry farmers, and there was a tremendous need. Harvesters are such a specialized piece of equipment, you’re not going to go to the local farm-supply store and buy one.” Grant Spencer is the chamber’s chairman, two years into his second three-year term. His company has been a sponsor of numerous community events and organizations, including the South Haven High School’s robotic team, the Our Town Players, the South Haven Junior Youth League’s baseball and softball teams. “Grant is second generation, and sometimes when there is a transfer of

Grant Spencer is second-generation leadership at Spencer Manufacturing, where he is vice president. | TOM HENDERSON FOR CRAIN’S

“GRANT IS SECOND GENERATION, AND SOMETIMES WHEN THERE IS A TRANSFER OF LEADERSHIP, THERE CAN BE A FALL OFF. BUT THERE WASN’T WITH SPENCER MANUFACTURING. HE RUNS IT WITH DILIGENCE AND VISION. AS BUSY AS HE IS, HE TAKES TIME TO GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY.” — Kathy Wagaman, executive director, South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce

34 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

leadership, there can be a fall off. But there wasn’t with Spencer Manufacturing,” said Wagaman. “He runs it with diligence and vision. As busy as he is, he takes time to give back to the community.” Dave Glotzbach is fire chief of Muskegon Township and considers

ry acreage reached 2,200 acres by 1950 and 9,700 acres by 1976. Today Michigan has about 21,000 acres of blueberries on about 600 farms, some in the northern lower peninsula, but most in southwest Michigan, in Allegan, Berrien, Muskegon, Ottawa and Van Buren counties. Wild lowbush blueberries are abundant in the northern Lower Peninsula and particularly abundant along Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula. Thirty-eight states now cultivate blueberries, but 10 states — California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon and Washington — account for more than 98 percent of commercial production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2019, Michigan ranked fourth nationally with 84.9 million pounds of cultivated blueberries, with a yield of 4,120 pounds per acre. Washington was first in total harvest at 162.8 million pounds, Oregon second at 154.1 million and Georgia third at 94 million. The cash value of the Michigan crop was estimated at $75.3 million.— Tom Henderson all over the place,” she said. Even that had a blueberry connection. The band’s Elvis was Steve Otto, a fellow blueberry farmer who, to Shelly’s chagrin, decided to retire as King. Tom Henderson: (231) 499-2817 Twitter: @TomHenderson2 himself a very happy Spencer customer. He said the township first bought a Spencer truck in 2008, a mini-pumper, has since bought three full-size fire trucks and is in the bid process for another full-size truck. “One of the neighboring departments in the county had bought a couple of trucks from them and highly recommended them,” said Glotzbach of that first purchase. “We put it out for bid. Low bid doesn’t necessarilty mean best product, but in their case, we got a good product and it came with family-values service. I can’t say enough good things about them.” Glotzbach said one anecdote he loves to tell that sums Spencer up was when he drove a piece of equipment his township had bought from another vendor to Spencer for some repair work. He got there early in the morning and the job was supposed to be done by noon, but the repairs took longer than scheduled. “Grant’s mother was there and she offered me the keys to the car and said to take it if I wanted to go to town and get some lunch,” said Glotzbach. “Then she said they were having leftover lasagna for lunch and I was welcome to join them. So I had lasanga with them. That’s what I mean by family values.” Tom Henderson: (231) 499-2817 Twitter: @TomHenderson2

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TWISTING

From Page 12

“Every steel casket made has 18 feet of cord,” said Tom Phelps Jr., the company’s president. His sister, Toni Phelps Gohn, is vice president. Another growing market is supplying cord to the hop industry, with paper cord replacing more expensive cord made from coconut husks to attach growing hop plants to their wooden braces. American Twisting sells cord to Custer-based Michigan Hop Products LLC, a supplier to the state’s hop industry. The cord comes in pre-cut lengths of 20.5 feet or in coiled rolls of 4,000 feet, with the twine tested to manage a tensile strength of 100 pounds. “It’s not a big business, yet, we’re just working into it,” said Tom Phelps. The green movement has been a big driver of growth in recent years, as companies replace plastic bags with paper ones.

“IT’S NOT A BIG BUSINESS, YET, WE’RE JUST WORKING INTO IT.” — Tom Phelps Jr., president, American Twisting

In all, American Twisting slices and twists 50,000 pounds of paper handles and cords a day, which works out to 15 million feet a day. Ninety percent of that is made from post-consumer recycled paper and corrugated cardboard, much of it supplied by UP Paper LLC in Manistique. American Twisting is a member of the Forest Stewardship Council. As an essential business, both plants have worked steadily, with workers on two shifts consistently doing 60-hour work weeks. Everyone gets their temperature checked at the door each day, and everyone wears masks. Driven by the carry-out demands of COVID, employment is at an alltime high, approaching 70, up from a past high of 45. “We’re still looking. We could use 10 more, but it’s a small local labor pool,” said Tom.

An old family business American Twisting was founded in 1924 by a distant relative of Tom and Toni’s as a supplier to the Grand Rapids furniture industry. In 1950, their grandfather, Norm, and three partners bought the business. In 1979, their father and mother, Tom Sr. and Jeanne, bought the company. The next year, Tom Jr. began working there as a night-shift janitor as a high school co-op student. “I went to Northwood University for a year and a half and then thought, ‘who the hell is going to teach me to twist paper here?’” He quit school, returned to South Haven and went back to work. “I ran every machine in the place before getting into sales.” In 1990 he joined the management team and became president four years ago. Tom Sr. is still active in the business at age 80. Over the years, he designed most of the 125 machines on the two factory floors, all of which were built in-house. Toni joined the company in 1989, helping with quality control. Though she subsequently left to attend Grand Valley State University on full-ride scholarship to play basketball, “I always knew I wanted to go into the family business. When I got done with basketball, the family was waiting for me.” As VP, she is quality-control manager and is involved in inventory management and purchasing and ordering inks, such as the yellow tint the color of the golden arches. 36 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

SMALL BUSINESS

$10 million in new COVID-19 relief grants available to Michigan small businesses

Grants of up to $15,000 can be used for working capital and general costs BY NICK MANES

Struggling small businesses across Michigan will soon have access to another $10 million in relief funding. The board of the Michigan Strategic Fund, the state’s main pool of dollars for economic development activities, on Monday afternoon approved $11 million for the Pure Michigan Small Business Relief Initiative. The money comes from federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) CARES Act funding, a part of the federal stimulus program passed in March as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the nation’s economy. Some $10 million will be put toward grants of up to $15,000 each for businesses around the state, while the additional $1 million will pay for administrative costs associated with the grants, according to a memo from the state. Businesses eligible for the grants include bars and restaurants, travel and tourism destinations, and various entertainment and meeting venues, according to the memo. Businesses must “self-certify” that owners are in compliance with state orders related to COVID-19 restrictions. “We continue to prioritize getting critically-needed relief into the hands of those small businesses that need it most,” said Mark Burton, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the quasi-public organization that administers the state’s economic development funds. Speaking on a call with reporters Monday, Burton said the MEDC expects to have one or more administrators for the grants selected by later this week, and will begin taking applications from businesses by the middle of December or earlier. The grants will be able to be used for working capital and various other costs of doing business. It is expected that the funds will

Struggling small businesses, like restaurants barred from serving customers indoors, will soon have more relief dollars available. | CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

be divided into 10 regions around the state, with $3.55 million, or 35.5 percent, being made available to

”WE CONTINUE TO PRIORITIZE GETTING CRITICALLY-NEEDED RELIEF INTO THE HANDS OF THOSE SMALL BUSINESSES THAT NEED IT MOST.” — Mark Burton, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

businesses in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, according to the briefing memo.

The new Small Business Relief Initiative makes for the 20th response program launched by the MEDC and the MSF since March. The MEDC says that since that time it has supported more than 18,500 companies in all of the state’s 83 counties, resulting in nearly 147,000 retained jobs. The infusion of more relief dollars for small businesses around the state comes amid a three-week “pause” ordered by the state’s health department earlier this month that has resulted in the closure of indoor food and beverage service statewide. Restaurateurs have said that the order could spell doom for many establishments, and some have

called for the orders to be defied. Burton with the MEDC declined to specifically address those calls, but acknowledged that an economic recovery remains elusive while the coronavirus spreads. “We certainly, strongly believe that we will never realize an economic recovery unless we’re able to appropriately contain and move beyond the virus,” Burton said. “To be able to do that we need to follow all guidance that’s put forward, not just from national and global scientists and health care leaders, but also those right here in the state.” Contact: nmanes@crain.com; (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes

MANUFACTURING

Kenwal Steel names third-generation CEO Kenneth Eisenberg retiring after leading Dearborn company for 50 years BY JASON DAVIS

The top job at Dearborn-based Kenwal Steel will stay in the Eisenberg family. Stephen Eisenberg is the new chairman and CEO of the full-service steel service center company, effective Nov. 12. Eisenberg takes over for his father, Kenneth Eisenberg, 78, who is retiring after leading Kenwal for 50 years. Stephen Eisenberg, 53, who served as president of the company from 1992 until taking the chair and CEO posts, is the third Eisenberg to lead the company. Sol Eisenberg, Stephen’s grandfather, founded the company in 1947. Stephen Eisenberg, now the majority shareholder in the private com-

pany, said it’s a privilege to take the top spot in the company he loves. “It’s an honor to lead the exceptional men and women who helped Stephen Eisenberg have make Kenwal Steel a critical part of manufacturing across the nation,” he said in a news release. “The legacy of my father and grandfather taught me the importance of fostering and honoring the partnerships we’ve formed with our customers and mills, as well as those with our employees, who remain our most vital resource.”

Kenwal Steel operates steel service centers, providing a variety of grades and types of flat-rolled steel products to customers in the automotive and manufacturing industries. Along with the Dearborn headquarters, Kenwal operates out of Burns Harbor, Ind., and Lebanon, Tenn. The company also has offices in Canada and Mexico. Kenwal Steel operates a network of seven steel slitting lines and a high-volume pickling line, used to remove impurities, rust and scale from the surface of the material, with inline tension leveling. The company in 2019 posted $930 million in revenue, down from $1.05 billion in 2018. Stephen Eisenberg, who has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from

the University of Michigan and an MBA in finance from New York University, took over the company’s Gary, Ind., facility in 1996, helping triple the facility’s sales over the next five years. That led to the opening of the Burns Harbor service center in 2004. Kenneth Eisenberg, stepping away from the business completely, believes his son is the right person to lead the company going forward. “(Stephen) has more than demonstrated to our customers and partners his considerable skill for sourcing the highest-quality steel with unparalleled customer service,” he said in the release. Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981

RIZIK

From Page 1

In early 2012, Rizik said he was hopeful the investment into Cambridge, Mass.-based venture fund Flagship Pioneering would lead to major discoveries and changes. That appears to be on the verge of happening. In 2010, Flagship Pioneering launched Moderna Inc., a biotechnology company that is now one of three companies expected to deliver a vaccine that could bring about the end of the COVID-19 pandemic by sometime next year. That’s good news for Rizik and his investors, not to mention the broader society benefits after nearly a year drained by a pandemic. “It’s good news that the vaccine works, and obviously it’s nice to have a stake in the company,” Rizik said. “It’s kind of changing the world in a good way and doing well in the process.” The venture capitalist declined to disclose the payout his fund may be looking at upon an exit, other than to say, “it’s really good.” Based in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) has seen its stock price rise by more than 600 percent over the past year from $21.27 to $157.26 as of Thursday. The company now has a market capitalization of about $60 billion. As of Sept. 29, Flagship Pioneering stood as Moderna’s second-largest shareholder — behind Fidelity Investments Inc. — holding 7.8 percent of the company worth about $2.18 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.

VACCINE

From Page 1

It is also believed CVS Health and Walgreens will receive shipments from vaccine manufacturers or through McKesson Corp., which holds a delivery contract from the federal government, to administer to nursing home residents and health care workers, most likely in early January. Bob Swanson, director of immunization with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said the state’s goal is for all hospitals and local health departments to receive the first round of vaccine shipments so frontline health care workers and nursing home residents can be protected. “We are planning to get vaccines to every hospital in the state. We are waiting for a couple hospitals to enroll before we can ship to them,” Swanson said. “Not everybody will get the Pfizer vaccine (because they lack ultra-cold deep freezers). Some will get the Moderna vaccine a week behind.” Swanson said the state was told last week that it would get 90,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, a number lower than the initial allocation of 300,000. He said 90,000 health care workers, or about 36 percent of the state’s 250,000 hospital workers, will receive their first of two doses. The state expects a second shipment from Pfizer before the second dose is required after 21 days. Swanson said the federal government asked each state to designate five hospitals that would be the first to receive vaccination shipments, expected about Dec. 12, to preposition for quick administration once approvals are finalized. Those five hospitals are University of Michigan Hospitals, Mid Michigan Health, Beaumont Hospital Troy, Spectrum Butterworth and Ascension Macomb. The five hospitals will not begin vaccination until after the FDA’s Vaccines

“IT’S GOOD NEWS THAT THE VACCINE WORKS, AND OBVIOUSLY IT’S NICE TO HAVE A STAKE IN THE COMPANY. IT’S KIND OF CHANGING THE WORLD IN A GOOD WAY AND DOING WELL IN THE PROCESS.” — Chris Rizik, CEO and fund manager of Renaissance Venture Capital The new coronavirus vaccine from Moderna could make some local investors wealthy. | JOEL SAGET/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES VIA BLOOMBERG

surprised when told that a company like Moderna had grown out of the Ann Arbor venture community. “In one sense, I’m not surprised that any of these deals that our venture capitalists engage in turns out to be a home run,” said Brophy, adding that he’s always disappointed when a company such as Moderna winds up based in an area like Boston, one of the nation’s primary hubs for VC dollars. “I would love it if we had the home run in our ballpark.”

Rizik’s fund has made several follow-on investments into Flagship Holdings since 2012, and he acknowledged that at the time he was unaware of Moderna. But the work Flagship was doing with its labs at the time would likely lead to such companies, he said. “(Flagship) certainly had a history of investing in health care startups,” Rizik said. “But they were creating something — they called them Flagship labs — with the idea of looking at white spaces in the world of phar-

maceuticals and biotech, and identifying great moonshot ideas, and starting up companies in their offices to test their theses. And you’re sort of creating a process of going from startup ideas all the way to company formation, with gates along the way, as milestones were met.” David Brophy, a finance professor at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and a longtime observer of the state’s venture capital market, was hardly

and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meets Dec. 10 and makes a recommendation to the FDA about whether to authorize the vaccine. If the Pfizer vaccine is approved, the five designated hospitals will begin vaccinations and the remainder of the state’s vaccine allo- Swanson cation will be released about two days later, Swanson said. After designated frontline workers are vaccinated, Swanson said essential workers and those over age 65 or with chronic medical conditions will receive the two-dose shots, most likely beginning in January. The vaccine distribution timetable is heartening because over the past month in Michigan the numbers of positive COVID-19 tests, hospitalizations and deaths has been increasing at double-digit rates, a trend infectious disease experts expected as people flocked indoors as the weather turned chilly in November. Michigan’s 9,580 deaths from COVID-19 ranks third in the country as of Dec. 3, according to the CDC. Older patients continue to be hit harder by the virus. Only 9 percent of the COVID deaths were among individuals under 60 years of age, said the state Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, the state’s chief medical executive, said the general public will most likely receive the vaccine in early spring. “Because there will be such a limited amount (of vaccine) in the beginning, our first priority will be to keep our health care systems operating and to protect those who are the most vulnerable,” Khaldun said. To prepare to store the Pfizer vaccine at -70 degrees Celsius, 48 hospitals and 12 local health departments purchased super-cold freezers in preparation for mass vaccinations, Khaldun said. For example, Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System said it began in-

the county’s health officer. Macomb County is working on identifying a site where the county health department can give 2,000 vaccination shots during an eight-hour period daily, Ridella said. To track patients receiving the vaccine, each hospiPillen Fischgrund tal will maintain records, stalling the specialized freezers to be Swanson said. ready as soon as one or both of the proposed vaccines from Pfizer and Mod- Hospitals prepare erna are approved for use. While the freezers are available Dr. Rosalie Tocco-Bradley, chief commercially, many of the units are clinical officer for Trinity Health on back order as states, local health Michigan in Livonia, said six of the departments, health care providers Catholic system’s eight hospitals have and businesses including Ford Motor nine ultra-cold deep freezers required Co. scramble to get them. to store the Pfizer vaccine. Only the Swanson said another 100 hospi- two small hospitals in Livingston and tals will receive the Moderna vaccine Lakeshore in western Michigan won’t after it has been approved and re- have the Pfizer vaccines to distribute. leased. The FDA advisory committee Tocco-Bradley said details on how is scheduled to meet Dec. 17 on con- the system will administer the two-dose sider Moderna’s EUA. vaccines to designated health care “We’re working with all of these workers are still being developed. sites to make sure they have what Trinity formed a multidisciplinary they need to start administering the vaccination workgroup to manage vaccine the moment it becomes the administration plan for frontline available,” Khaldun said. health care workers and eventually After front-line health care work- the public, Tocco-Bradley said. The ers are vaccinated, the state will pri- committees include receiving, stororitize workers and residents in nursing and handling the vaccine, logising homes and other congregate tics in how to administer it, docuresidential facilities to be vaccinated mentation and tracking patients and “hopefully” in January, Khaldun said. education and communications “All of this is dependent on how about vaccine safety, she said. quickly vaccine becomes available “We are running a survey now about from the manufacturer,” Khaldun said. those who will receive the vaccine,” she Swanson said 12 local health de- said. “It’s not mandatory right now (acpartments across the state, including cording to the emergency use authoriDetroit’s, will also receive an initial zation requirements), but I suspect shipment of the Pfizer vaccine. He many will agree to take it.” said emergency service personnel Tocco-Bradley said the side effects and unspecified others will be vacci- of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, nated at the health departments. as the companies have described, are The Macomb County health de- minor and include sore arms, headpartment has purchased five freezers aches and general lethargy. and placed them at different sites “We don’t want to vaccinate the across the county, said Bill Ridella, entire ER in the same day” in case

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, developed with support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is reported to be 94 percent effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus, and the first doses could be available yet this month. The Moderna vaccine and its ability to be stored at fairly mild temperatures for days is seen as more logistically friendly for distribution than that which was developed by rival pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. That vaccine, which was in part developed in Portage near Kalamazoo, requires storage at a temperature as low as -70 degrees Celsius. As the epicenter of the state’s venture capital sector, as well as a hub for biotechnology and life sciences, Ann Arbor is no stranger to big, impactful ideas growing into profitable companies. Entrepreneurs and scientists in Ann Arbor have created life-changing drugs including Lipitor, the record-selling pill taken each day by millions of Americans to control cholesterol. Similar to Moderna, many of those discoveries and the bets on them play out over a decade or more. As such, Rizik said patience is the name of the game. “It’s not a world where you get quick results,” Rizik said of the realities of venture capital investing. “The process of investing — particularly in this case, growing a company that started in the office of a venture capital fund — it just takes a while to get to the end point.” Contact: nmanes@crain.com; (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes there are side effects where people feel sick, Tocco-Bradley said. “If there are reactions, some people might not want to come to work for a day (to recover). We will most likely phase it in across several areas.” Heidi Pillen, Beaumont’s senior director for pharmacy services, said Beaumont has nine ultra-cold deep freezers located at each of its eight hospitals and corporate office in Southfield. “We are prepared. We have freezers at all hospitals and the administration building,” she said. “The final plan has not been completely flushed out yet.” Like Trinity, Dr. Jeffrey Fischgrund, Beaumont’s chief of clinical services, said it has formed a vaccine steering committee composed of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, ethicists and administrators to coordinate the administration effort. “We have a Beaumont vaccine committee that will independently review vaccine safety for staff members,” said Fischgrund. “Our mandate is to take care of those most at risk and those are the frontline workers with the highest exposure,” Fischgrund said. “We did an antibody study in the spring (and found) the frontline workers with the highest exposure are mostly nurses, respiratory therapists and phlebotomists.” Fischgrund also Beaumont plans to counsel and provide education to frontline workers who aren’t comfortable receiving the vaccine because federal rules prohibit mandatory vaccinations as a condition of employment. “We have to respect their wishes,” he said. “I am completely confident that the COVID vaccine is safe and effective. If there are questions, we would counsel them. Our advice would be not to place yourself at risk.” Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood contributed to this story. Contact: jgreene@crain.com; (313) 446-0325; @jaybgreene

DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 37

NORTHLAND

From Page 1

“We are confident in what we have planned for the redevelopment of the Northland site and are glad to have the steady support from the City of Southfield,” Dedvukaj said in a texted statement. “We believe in the growth of Southfield and in the revival of a historic site, one that is a landmark for this city. Our first phase of development includes 1,500 plus units, with the second phase currently being finalized.” Some have reservations. “From our sense of the market, it would seem to go way beyond current demand for that product type, particularly in that location,” said Larry Goss, partner at Bingham Farms-based Dominion Real Estate Advisors LLC, a commercial real estate firm, referring to the site near Eight Mile Road and Greenfield. “That being said, if the plan was rolled out over an extended period of time, it might be possible to absorb that many units, but the timeline would be difficult to predict.” Goss, who specializes in multifamily housing for Dominion, said in some of the region’s top-tier markets like Royal Oak, Troy, Plymouth and Birmingham, the demand is only “a few hundred units in each.” Jeffrey Kaftan, president of Southfield-based Kaftan Communities, which owns and manages about 2,400 apartments in the region including a Detroit complex across from the Northland site, said even the $285 million first phase of the project, which envisions around 1,500 apartments in 14 five-story buildings and 254 loft-style residences in the mall’s former retail space, would be testing the upper limits of what could be absorbed. “I don’t think that’ll happen,” he said of the full 2,885-unit vision. “I don’t think there is enough demand in the market, which is a big one, but I don’t think there is enough demand to finish all the phases and absorb that many units, especially at the price point you’re going to have to be in today’s market. Sixteen hundred or 1,700 is probably the top.” According to a third-quarter market report from the Southfield office of Berkadia, a multifamily real estate firm focusing on brokerage and lend-

LIVENGOOD

From Page 8

“There’s probably an underreporting of some of the outbreaks because we’re unable to do this many cases when you’re getting so many case investigations at one time,” said Bill Ridella, director of Macomb County health department. In other words, when the state reported last Monday that 10 percent of current outbreaks have been traced back to retail stores, about 9 percent can be linked to an office setting and just 3 percent stem from social gatherings, that data is only gleaned from a fraction of actual cases. They don’t actually know definitively. Plus, as I’ve previously reported, these outbreak reports are generated by a weekly survey on Survey Monkey that can be up to 10 days old when it’s finally made public every Monday afternoon. As a result of the fall surge, MDHHS sent local health departments guidance Nov. 9 through the Michigan Health Alert Network instructing them to prioritize individuals over

Many developers have explored the Northland site for projects that never materialized. | LARRY PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

ing, not one apartment has been built in the city this year, and while 44 more apartments were occupied in the third quarter, the city still has 14 fewer apartments filled total than it did at the beginning of the year.

Pent-up demand?

However, he noted, the scope of the project “may be a stretch.” “It’s well needed,” said Cary Belovicz, executive managing director for Greystone Bel Real Estate Advisors in West Bloomfield, a multifamily real estate company. “If you were somewhere else, I’d say filling it up

“I DON’T THINK THERE IS ENOUGH DEMAND TO FINISH ALL THE PHASES AND ABSORB THAT MANY UNITS, ESPECIALLY AT THE PRICE POINT YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE IN TODAY’S MARKET.”

Berkadia, said there is pent-up demand for new multifamily construction since much of the region’s apartment product is aged. “There’s a bright future for a development of this magnitude when delivered in a timely manner to the marketplace,” he said. “This has been an extremely well thought-out development that will significantly bolster the Southfield housing market.” He noted that the region’s apartment market is 97.6 percent occupied as of the third quarter.

But if the development is spread out over time and paced accordingly, there could be a reason for optimism about the project’s likelihood of success. Saab Grewal, director of asset management for West Bloomfield Township-based multifamily developer Singh Development Co., was more optimistic in an email. “The project will be a great addition to the area — there is a need for infill and affordable housing in all of our communities,” Grewal said. “(It’s) very astute of the developer to recognize the need and put this project together. Southfield is forward-looking and we are glad to see them working well with the developer. A strong public/private partnership is key to this and all successful developments.”

might be an issue, but look at the city of Southfield’s position and freeway infrastructure, where it could pull from and the amount of businesses in the city. It could support this.” And Kevin Dillon, a senior managing director in the Southfield office of

If the Contour proposal for Northland Center doesn’t materialize, it would join a long list of previous visions and possible suitors that didn’t make it across the finish line. Mayor Kenson Siver said in an interview last month that there have been myriad uses proposed for the 120-acre site. He said a plan for what the Southfield Sun reported in August 2019 as 10.4 acres of Greenfield land that involved a retail development by Bloomfield Hills-based AF Jonna De-

age 65 and under age 22 for COVID case investigations, followed by schools, nursing homes and health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. In talking to multiple public health officials this week, they did not have a firm answer about what is happening to the individuals between ages 23 to 64. Some are eventually getting contacted, others don’t answer phone calls, some overwhelmed counties are handing off cases to the state, which is scrambling to hire more case investigators and train state workers in other departments to become COVID contact tracers. “We have definitely exceeded our capacity to do case investigation in the manner that we used to do it,” said Martha Hall, health officer for Lenawee County. There are anecdotes of people never being contacted after being exposed to someone who tested positive for the virus. On Thursday, during a legislative committee, state Rep. Julie Calley said one of her Ionia County constitutents was contacted about an exposure on the 14th day after being in

contact with someone who tested positive. That kind of information at the end of a quarantine period doesn’t do anyone any good. Lyon-Callo said state officials are “definitely concerned” about 80 percent of people contracting COVID-19 not getting their cases investigated to inform the people they may have passed the virus to. “If we’re not able to get to all of the cases, we may be missing outbreaks,” she said. “So it may be that our visibility on all of these outbreak types is diminished if we’re not able to fully contact trace in the way that we can when our case numbers are lower.” The visibility of outbreaks and where they’re occuring matters greatly for the hospitality industry, which has been shut down by the health department’s order for nearly three weeks. The expiration of the MDHHS shutdown order for restaurants, bowling alleys and the Detroit casinos is scheduled for 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, though no one believes Whitmer is going to lift the ban on indoor dining anytime soon. That’s largely based on the experience with the spring shutdown,

which lasted 10 weeks and was followed by summer-long limitations on the number of patrons inside restaurants and bars. Whitmer said last week that her reopening decision would be based on three factors: ` The percentage of positive COVID tests ` The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 ` And what she called “the context” In the first two measures, the data shows a worsening picture since the new three-week “pause” began, because testing and hospitalizations tend to lag. And we still don’t know the full extent of spread of the virus over the Thanksgiving holiday — and may not for weeks, health experts say. On Nov. 16, the day after Whitmer announced the new shutdown through a public health order, the positivity rate was 14.4 percent and Michigan hospitals reported 3,190 COVID-positive patients. On Thursday, the positivity rate was 15.9 percent and 3,793 people were hospitalized for COVID. Whitmer said “the context” revolves around what the contact-trac-

38 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

— Jeffrey Kaftan, president of Kaftan Communities

Other proposals fell flat

velopment LLC fell apart earlier this year. That was around the time that discussions with Contour began, Siver said. “When the deal collapsed, (City Administrator) Fred Zorn suggested they look at developing what Arkan Jonna and his partners walked away from,” Siver said. “They said, ‘Yeah, we are very interested.’ They said, ‘We can do more than 10 acres. How about 33 acres?’ Anyhow, today they are taking 97 acres. Not only are they developing our vision, but they are exceeding it.” In addition, a plan for medical office space for Acension Providence ultimately fell through, although about 5 acres of the site has been reserved for a parking lot, Siver said. The Southfield Sun also reported in August 2019 that Northland Renaissance Place Development was to pay $8 million for about 80 acres of the site that would be turned into “a medical campus, housing, retail and a medical marijuana facility.” Among the other suitors that never panned out: Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), which was considering a Costco Business Center location at the property, and Emagine Entertainment Inc., which toured the property, according to Siver. Paul Glantz, founder and chairman of Emagine, said in an email last month that his company looked at the site but nothing materialized. “We look at lots of sites and we considered the Northland opportunity several years ago,” he said. “The most promising location was in the former Target building that the city ultimately razed. Apparently, we didn’t move fast enough, but the additional challenge was finding others to join us at the time.” City Council President Lloyd Crews said in a statement last month that various proposals have also been “turned away,” including “factories, light manufacturing, medical marijuana, big-box retail, warehouses and logistics centers.” Instead, he said, the city “held out for development that would grow our tax base and population.” In an interview, Siver added: “It was worth the wait as we went through a lot of ideas and proposals. It paid off to keep selling our vision.” Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB ing investigations are showing about where the virus is spreading. She too acknowleged that contact-tracing is effectively running on one cylinder in Michigan right now. The breakdown in the public health infrastructure can be blamed on years of disinvestment in these systems. There’s no debating that Michigan and the country were wholly unprepared for this pandemic. But these data-collection systems matter. They’re keeping an entire industry tied to 350,000 jobs in Michigan reduced to curbside pickup and delivery. Justin Winslow, CEO of the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association, said his members are relying on the state’s data to make their argument that dining establishments are no more risky than workplaces that don’t face the general public. “If I can’t trust this, why should I also be trusting the decision making coming out of the department of who’s open and who’s not?” Winslow asked. Contact: clivengood@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @ChadLivengood

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BREWER

nue stream, but it’s nice to see people out enjoying a beer,” Bartscht said. According to SEC documents, Ferndale Project will use $100,000 of the capital investment raise for pandemic reserves and $47,000 for capital investment, while $15,000 will go to Mainvest for management fees. Ferndale Project anticipates that in five years it will reach nearly $5 million in annual revenue with $925,000 in gross profit. Most of the company’s revenue still comes from beer sales. Bartscht said it is brewing at capacity in Ferndale and Eastern Market for a total of 4,000 barrels per year. Bartscht declined to say how much revenue the nonbrewing business ventures are generating, but said it is significant and growing. Still, the capital raise will provide a nice cushion if things go south again this winter. “We’ve got all these different activities, and some are turning into new ventures, and I just didn’t want to have to spend more time coming up with new means to generate revenue and instead wanted to focus on the businesses that we have,” he said.

From Page 3

Since the pandemic started, total employee count across the businesses has tripled to around 50 full and part time. The company has avoided making layoffs, and Ferndale Project is on track to meet its first-year revenue projections of $2 million, Bartscht said. “We just didn’t meet them the way we thought we would,” he added. That revenue is separate from sales generated at Ashe Supply and Eastern Market Brewing, which opened in 2017 and was set to hit $1 million in sales last year. It took a big revenue hit from the pandemic, Bartscht said, but he declined to elaborate. He said the companies received Paycheck Protection Program funding that amounted to less than $150,000. The taprooms in Ferndale and Eastern Market are closed for indoor seating during the state-mandated “pause” that many in the industry expect will be extended past its intended Dec. 8 expiration date. The outdoor seating areas will remain open until people no longer want to brave the cold. “It’s not really a meaningful reve-

MAIDS

From Page 3

Detroit Maid charges by the hour, and extra disinfecting takes longer. Residential packages now start at a two-hour session for $120 — the company eliminated its one-hour “quick clean” option — and go up to $300 for five hours, per its website. Rates for commercial spaces vary by needs and size per contract, Parker said. Most commercial customers are offices, though there are some production facilities and a couple of storefronts. Parker projects the company’s 2020 revenue will fall short of its goal by $60,000, totaling around $240,000 for the year. But it’s still up from 2019’s $198,000.

Ferndale Project was born out of Eastern Market Brewing’s purchase of the former Axle Brewing. | FERNDALE PROJECT

Hiring issues The raging need for workplace cleanliness is tempered by hiring struggles. “Hiring has never been more difficult than now and we’ve never actually had more demand than we’ve had now,” she said, calling it a “really weird space” to be in. “We have a waiting list and we’ve toyed with the idea of signing bonuses, grading bonuses, increasing the hourly rate, but there’s such a struggle to get people to come on board now.” The cleaners are contract employees, and hiring has ebbed and flowed with the pandemic: Detroit Maid had nine workers in late 2019 and surged to 17 in early 2020. By April, staff was down to 14 and then to eight in June, through a combination of layoffs and workers not

wanting to potentially expose themselves to the virus. Parker is now up to 13 workers and aims for 22 by January. Financially it hasn’t been easy, either. When the state shut down businesses in March, Detroit Maid had to refund residential customers a total of $12,000-$13,000. The company got a $5,000 grant through TechTown Detroit that allowed it to retain two employees who went to free COVID-19 Zoom trainings as the company sought new commercial clients. “It was really hard, but we were able to get back on track,” she said. By May, Detroit Maid had commercial clients but needed more training and new equipment, which it helped finance with a $25,000 Invest Detroit grant. It also got $15,000 through the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

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Mark Davidoff, one of Detroit’s most recognized and active leaders, has joined the board of directors of AutoLeadStar, a global private company offering a complete marketing automation platform to accelerate growth in the auto dealer segment. Davidoff is coming at a pivotal time in AutoLeadStar’s growth as the company offers a single platform to drive the entire marketing to sales process, creating one-to-one matches and treating each shopper and vehicle as an individual transaction.

Stephen Eisenberg has been named Chairman and CEO, and is the majority shareholder of leading flat-rolled steel service center, Kenwal Steel. Mr. Eisenberg’s appointment marks the third generation of Eisenberg leadership. He joined Kenwal in 1992, assuming the head of the company’s Gary, Ind. facility in 1996 and tripling its sales. Mr. Eisenberg holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

40 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

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Dandridge Floyd, 37

UNDER

Assistant Superintendent of Human Relations and Labor Relations, Oakland Schools

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 space and civic October 30,nonprofits 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 • Office 6,000-squarethe effect food insecurity 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 use free of charge announced 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

UBS to open downtown Detroit office Bedrock LLC

Kenwal Steel

Americas, to lease 13,000 square UBS will lease 13,000 feet from Bedrock LLC starting around mid-2018 in two buildings: the Grintown Detroit in mid-2018, theplans company • Office to include 6,000-squarefeet on the connected sixth floors of nell Building (center left) at 1515 Woodward Ave. and the Sanders Building (center right) at 1529 have made for me.” announced Monday. foot space nonprofits and civic 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 and the Sanders Buildingalong (centerthose right) at 1529 Bush said. and are undergoing said left) lines,” hold another six toAve. eight new staff memon in the 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 John Bush, 60, WoodMichiganWoodward market head UBS’s investment in the new ofbers, Bush said. It will act as an extension neighboring 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 to move open ato new The twoCanadian buildings built around 1900 arefor us “uniqueness Bush is based the Birmingham adequate office space to hostcomes do- at a price.” He said will the downtown office out to ofor 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 others and will meetings nor events 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 a 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: theless 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 a price.” He saidnext year, depending Bush is based outothers, of the he Birmingham out process early said. New York-based architecAve. a neighboring buildings office at 1515 Wood- toWoodward in Detroit is our support govision what’s for this particular 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 to the officelocation to or will who grew Garden “Wedowntown commitment contracts finalized. The Detroit have aon less UBS, based in Switzerland, employs Co. has signed as general contractor.yet to be owned by Detroit-based Bedrock nor events or board or things start, the office has the capacity really felt likeLLC we wanted tobut have a physThe company plans to start its buildtraditional, moreto“urban” than the outmeetings the city.” 60,000 across 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 area onin when tureasfirm Verderameto Cale will design theother a n aBush gem e n tand cas, according to a news release. UBS nonprofits and organizations, 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 the Birmingham to has Bush based has signed on as Woodward general contractor. metro De- out ofCo. ploys 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 could not an estimate others and the city.” 60,000 across 54 countries. About 34 Detroit. plans towill rent will out half of yet the provide troit offices in are based in metro aim to showcase Detroit’s history ing on in the city,” said Bush, on the cost the build-out, asthem some spending Detroit branch. UBS a Detroit Wealth B be percent in the Amerioffice — 6,000 square feet at noofcost irm i n g h a time m , in the wealth management business and a — hub-and-spoke layout ofwill re- workThe native who grew up in Garden City. contracts have yet tocas, be finalized. Manag e m“We e n t Troy, The Detroit locationtowill have a and less other according to a news release. UBS 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 ical presence downtown reinforce has to metro De- others, he said. New York-based outdesign process early year, depending architecploys 280 in Michigan, 225 of whom Woodward Gallery. Its and art next John Bush and Dearborn. erate and provide services in the city 7 percent increase over last year. our vision for this particular area and troit offices in ture firm Verderame Cale when renovations on the buildings the on based in metro Detroit. will will aimdesign to showcase Detroit’s history are 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. office — 6,000 squareerate feet — at no cost services Management to nonprofits and other organizations, cas, according to a news release. UBS Reprinted with permission from Crain’s Business. Crain Communications Inc. All Rights reserved. Americas also Wealth Management Americas emBush said. The space will be Detroit called 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 and Dearborn. erate and provide services in the city 7 percent increase over last year. Bedrock LLC

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AUTOMOTIVE

Mixed bag Ann Arbor-based house cleaning franchise Molly Maid has also been adjusting its operations. It’s still focusing on homes, but has made scheduling and price estimates contact-free and established COVID-19 distancing guidelines, according to a June news release. “All equipment that cannot be laundered is wiped down between each home and sanitized cloths are used in each home to prevent cross contamination from one home to another,” the release said. Nationally, cleaners have seen a mix of higher and lower demand, with many offices or schools shutting down while other facilities seek out more and deeper cleanings than usual. The U.S. commercial cleaning industry is worth $117 billion, made up mostly of small businesses, according to market research company Marketdata LLC. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that as of 2019, nearly 1.9 million people were employed as maids, janitors or commercial or home cleaners, with 86,000 of them in Michigan. Parker’s residential customer base has fallen off during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean no one’s getting their house cleaned. Take Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House coronavirus adviser: His home was being cleaned professionally every two weeks as of July, per the Washington Post. Comfort levels among workers and customers have varied, with much residential business dropping off early in the outbreak or entirely shutting down. Some house cleaners are donning goggles, gloves and masks while limiting contact with homeowners while they clean.

How it started

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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Contact: knagl@crain.com; (313) 446-0337; @kurt_nagl process and eventually got $10,000 through a Detroit Dolphin Tank pitch competition in 2017 to expand. A contract to clean sets for the “Transformers” movie being filmed in Detroit propelled Detroit Maid into commercial work. The company is based out of downtown coworking space Bamboo Detroit, but during the pandemic has operated almost entirely remotely. Detroit Maid also has four workers covering cities around Chicago is planning another expansion with three cleaners in the Washington, D.C., area by April. Detroit Maid oversees and pays the workers, as opposed to franchising. Parker is still also working toward a pre-pandemic goal of making Detroit Maid the Uber of cleaning services:

“HIRING HAS NEVER BEEN MORE DIFFICULT THAN NOW AND WE’VE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD MORE DEMAND THAN WE’VE HAD NOW.” — Danielle Smith Parker, founder and CEO of Detroit Maid

simple for customers, with workers scheduling from their phones and getting paid after each cleaning. She sees this as a leaner and more organized way to expand. “We continued as a traditional janitorial service for a few years until 2019 ... We kind of pivoted to actually function as a marketplace, so as we continue to grow the team, we added Chicago, and that really helped us to grow significantly,” she said. “We realized that it would help employ independent cleaners and give people faster service. So we kind of tested it out and it was working really well in Chicago, working really well in Detroit.” Parker entered a tech entrepreneur program in 2019, TechTown’s Start Studio, to solidify the “marketplace” concept. “This year it kind of came to a screeching halt,” Parker said. “We’re really just now picking up building out the marketplace functionality ... The last seven months have been just maintaining and surviving.” Contact: afrank@crain.com; (313) 446-0416; @annalise_frank

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“When things really shut down (in March), you had people cut off their real estate dealings for a couple of months. The holiday season is when things usually slow down, but there’s been no slowdown at all,” Moore said. In the multiple-listing service, home and condominium sales increased 18.6 percent from 8,161 in October 2019 to 9,681 in October 2020, while pending sales, an indicator of future sales activity, also increased by 16.4 percent, up to 8,922 in October from 7,663 the year before. Median sale prices also increased on plunging inventory, with prices rising 13.9 percent to $205,000 in October from $180,000 the previous year. Inventory fell 41.2 percent in that same time period, from 25,168 to 14,808 homes and condos for sale, according to Realcomp. In addition, new listings also dropped 10.1 percent from 11,744 in October 2019 to 10,561. Sellers received on average 99.1 percent of their asking prices, up 2 percentage points from the previous year. The metro Detroit region — which Realcomp defines as Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Livingston counties — experienced similar year-overyear patterns. Sales rose 18 percent from 5,194 in October 2019 to 6,130 while prices increased 15.8 percent from $190,000 to $220,000 on an inventory that fell 41.8 percent from 15,546 to 9,052 homes and condos for sale. It took five fewer days on average to sell a home, dropping from 35 to 30 days in the region, according to Realcomp. Record-low interest rates hovering around 3 percent are pushing prospective customers to purchases new homes, according to Andrew Larsen, a Realtor with Royal Oak-based Jim Shaffer and Associates. “People can borrow more money than ever,” he said. “A lot of people are looking to invest in themselves. Millenials are the biggest group of buyers since the baby boomers. It’s just the right time for a lot of people.” Options available to first-time buyers have played a role in the spike, Moore said. It’s no longer necessary to put 20 percent down on a home. Customers are getting into homes with just 3 percent to 5 percent down. “Because of the (initial pandemic lockdown), people have realized their home is more important than they believed in the past,” said Maureen Francis, who operates a Cold-

well Banker Weir Manuel office out of Birmingham. “People really value those spaces. When you can’t go shopping or out to a restaurant, you realize what you have is pretty great, so people are really looking for a space they can fall in love with.” Moore said he thinks prices will remain strong for the foreseeable future. “I think anyone who sees a crash coming is confused,” Moore said. “I don’t think the current pandemic is similar to 2008. Real estate caused the 2008 crash. Real estate is getting stronger now.” Lauer said he sees the city of Detroit going in an interesting direction. He doesn’t believe the market will slow

“I THINK ANYONE WHO SEES A CRASH COMING IS CONFUSED. I DON’T THINK THE CURRENT PANDEMIC IS SIMILAR TO 2008. REAL ESTATE CAUSED THE 2008 CRASH. REAL ESTATE IS GETTING STRONGER NOW.” — Mike Moore, a Realtor with Real Estate One

down. Lauer said neighborhoods will continue to improve, and pricepoints are still low on a national level, which will attract buyers, he said. “You can get space here. You can start a business here, and you can get something for less than what your rent would be in another city,” Lauer said. “I think people will come to the city from (the suburbs) and from other cities across the country for a while. Being in the city presents some great opportunities.” Following is a breakdown of how the city of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties fared in October: City of Detroit: Home and condo sales increased 13.8 percent from 363 to 413 between October 2019 and October 2020. Realcomp says median sale prices increased by 50 percent during that time period from $40,000 to $60,000 as inventory fell 43.1 percent from 2,536 homes and condos on the market to 1,444. Homes also spent an additional 10 days on the market, an increase of 20.8 percent from 48 days in October 2019 to 58 days in October 2020.

Wayne County: The county experienced a 16.9 percent bump in sales, rising from 1,879 in October 2019 to 2,197. With inventory falling 40.8 percent from 6,084 to 3,601, median sale prices rose 13.6 percent from $142,000 to $161,250, according to Realcomp. Homes sold five days faster, falling from spending 35 days on the market to 30. Oakland County: The largest bump in sales in the area was in Oakland County, rising 21.9 percent in October from 1,783 to 2,173 homes and condos sold, according to Realcomp. There was a 13.6 percent increase in median sale prices, rising from $250,797 to $285,000 with an inventory that fell 39.8 percent from 5,438 homes on the market to 3,271. It also took four fewer days to sell a home on average, falling from 36 to 32 in October 2020. Macomb County: The available homes for sale on the market took the biggest plunge in the region here, falling 45 percent from 3,139 in October 2019 to 1,727 in October 2020. That helped drive a 13.5 percent increase in median sale prices ($170,000 to $193,000) and homes spending nine fewer days on the market, falling from 35 to 26. There was a 13.7 percent increase in sales, rising from 1,254 to 1,426 in October 2020, according to Realcomp. Washtenaw County: There was only a slight increase (3.3 percent) in home sales in Washtenaw, rising from 418 in October 2019 to 432 in October 2020. In addition, the county saw the smallest drop in inventory, falling a comparatively small 19.2 percent from 1,455 to 1,175, Realcomp says. Prices crept upward slightly as a result, rising 4 percent from $295,000 in October 2019 to $306,750. It took 11 fewer days on average to sell a home in Washtenaw, dropping from 47 days to 36 in October 2020. Livingston County: Sales here increased 20.1 percent from 278 to 334 and a 10.5 percent increase in median sale prices, from $272,500 to $301,000, was realized as inventory dropped 48.8 percent — the largest percentage plunge year-over-year in the region — from 885 homes to 453 on the market. On average, it took 37 days to sell a home in Livingston in October, compared to 36 in October 2019. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

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DECEMBER 7, 2020 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 41

THE CONVERSATION

What it’s like to use the smallest heart pump to save lives Ascension St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit: Recruited to Detroit in 2012 by Mike Duggan, the former CEO of Detroit Medical Center and now Detroit mayor, and Dr. Ted Schreiber, one of the nation’s preeminent cardiologists, Dr. Amir Kaki, interventional cardiologist and director of mechanical circulatory support at Ascension St. John, has always been at the cutting edge of heart medicine. Born and raised in the Florida Everglades, Kaki completed his medical residency at the University of Tennessee. A draw to Detroit is that his wife, Dr. Reema Hasan, a medical transplant doctor at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor, is a native Michigander. They have three children, two girls and a boy born in early November. In late November, after this inteview, Kaki and his family contracted COVID-19 and are recuperating at home. | BY JAY GREENE ` What is the story behind you and the Impella heart pump, which temporarily keeps the heart beating during repair procedures? I implanted my first pump in 2012 along with Dr. Mahir Elder in an initiative led by Dr. Ted Schreiber and Dr. Cindy Griner to deliver the highest quality cardiovascular care with cutting edge innovative care to the city of Detroit. Another local luminary in the field is Dr. Bill O’Neill at Henry Ford Hospital. Bill and Ted really kind of led the charge for this type of treatment for the very sickest patients in Southeast Michigan that resulted in the Detroit Cardiogenic Shock Initiative, a treatment that has transformed treatment across the world. ` You also performed a heart operation using the Impella on a patient with COVID-19 at Ascension St. John in Detroit? We had a patient present in the emergency room to Dr. Schreiber this past spring with COVID-19 and breathing problems at the height of the pandemic at Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren that turned out to be a large pulmonary embolism. When they did the ultrasound, we found she had a huge clot in the right side of her heart. There was no real way to get a clot out without some heroic measures. We brought her to St. John Hospital and put her on cardiopulmonary bypass. We were able to suck this clot out through her neck, but some of the clot that embolized made her PE worse. Then her right ventricular failed and we did emergency CPR until we put the Impella pump in. Based on our knowledge of those cases, we thought it’d be reasonable to put the pump in there to save her life. The patient survived and is doing very well. What we have found is that COVID-19 is thrombogenic, which means

the coronavirus makes people clot. We actually did the first procedure on a COVID patient using the Impella like this. The FDA recognized the value and granted emergency use authorization in June. ` How does the coronavirus affect the heart? We have seen data from Asia, Europe and the U.S. that COVID-19 affects the heart in several ways. Coronavirus is an infection that often affects the lungs, filling air sacs with fluid and mucus, but it also can cause myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle. A lot of the manifestations of the heart from coronavirus are on the right side because Covid patients are more likely to form blood clots from a pulmonary embolism arising from deep venous thrombosis or clots in the legs. About 10 percent to 20 percent of the patients we have seen at St. John have had some cardiac manifestations of Covid. As a result, more patients are getting blood thinners. `How is the Impella heart pump used? The pump is used for elective procedures, what we call high risk PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention). It’s also used for emergency situations in patients who have impending death present with cardiogenic shock, which have 50 percent survival rates without intervention. There are two uses for the pumps on the left side of the heart. It supports the patient transiently during the duration of the PCI, usually for 60 to 120 minutes. Or we put it in a patient who has profound cardiogenic shock. It often stays in for days to allow the heart to recover. If the heart does not recover, there are more advanced therapies such as durable LVAD (a left ventricular assist device) implanted permanently to act like a heart or heart transplantation.

` You are involved in a small clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a new Impella pump model that is believed to be the world’s smallest? The FDA has mandated a safety study on five patients. So far we have completed successful operations on four patients and I’ve done the first and third here at St. John. After the fifth, the FDA will decide if it is safe to continue the trial with a larger group of up to 20 patients. I’m optimistic. The first patient with massive pulmonary embolism was done Oct. 16 and the second was on Oct. 23. Both were very successful. The second patient did not want to undergo open heart surgery. We offered using the Impella and did a complete revascularization where we took out all three of his arteries successfully. He went home the next day and is doing wonderfully.

risk of vascular injuries. You also increase access for patients because the normal Impella sometimes is too big to fit and patients who have severe peripheral arterial disease can bleed from it. Now you have a device that can be much more broadly available for patients because it is three millimeters at the access point. Once it goes into the body, it expands..

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` What is the improvement with the new Impella pump? This one is much smaller, nearly half the size at the entry point. Anytime you can make these devices substantially smaller, you reduce the

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Dr. Amir Kaki, an interventional cardiologist and director of mechanical circulatory support at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit

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Pistons make sponsorship deals with betting companies The Detroit Pistons have signed multiyear sponsorship deals with DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group as the city’s professional sports teams and gaming companies pair up ahead of legal online betting in Michigan. Both the Boston-based DraftKings and the New York City-based FanDuel are “official sports betting partners of the Pistons,” according to a Monday news release. The NBA franchise is the first pro sports team to have simultaneous deals with both fantasy sports betting giants. Terms of the deals were not disclosed. Online betting in Michigan is mocing ahead after a rules committee approved regulations last week, according to The Associated Press. The sponsor agreements with the Pistons come with arena signage and activations, as well as television and digital advertising for both gam-

The FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity Casino is partnering with the Detroit Pistons to offer fans exclusive gameday experiences. | PLAYMICHIGAN

bling platform providers. They also receive access to the team’s trademarks and logos. Signing with both companies allows for “increased en-

42 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 7, 2020

gagement and opportunity for our fans,” according to the team. The deal signals DraftKings’ entry into the Michigan market. FanDuel

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operates the sportsbook at MotorCity Casino, owned by Marian Ilitch. As part of the deal with the Pistons, the FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity will offer “exciting game day experiences” such as giveaways and viewing parties, the release said. Through the DraftKings and FanDuel mobile apps, Pistons fans can compete for experiential prizes, including an away-game trip, a group outing at Little Caesars Arena and a “Piston for a Day” VIP experience. The apps will support betting of real money once online betting is implemented in Michigan. The Michigan Gaming Control Board said it aims for online betting to go live by the end of the year. Michigan casinos launched in-person sports betting in March right before the coronavirus pandemic shut them down.

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