Crain's Detroit Business, July 17, 2017 issue by Crain's Detroit Business

JULY 17 - 23, 2017

Meet the 2017 Crain’s Health Care Heroes

Now in its 14th year, Crain’s Health Care Heroes celebrates leaders whose work has saved lives in Michigan. Their stories begin on Page 7.

After 50 year hiatus, Detroit Restaurant Association relaunches.

Next Freep leader faces familiar challenges.

Page 3

Economic development

A mysterious but potentially massive project stokes speculation in Durand

What is Project Tim? CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

A 220-acre beet farm owned by Durand farmer Levi Zdunic is part of the 850 acres of land purchase options a real estate broker has amassed for “Project Tim,” a large-scale industrial development. By Chad Livengood clivengood@crain.com

NEWSPAPER

crainsdetroit.com Vol. 33 No 29

$2 a copy. $59 a year.

FLINT 52

127

475

DURAND 75

LANSING 496

96 59 24 96

Goodall Rd.

Bennington Rd.

Project area

Brown Rd.

ect Tim,” according to the document, which the city of Durand has been distributing to residents. “... It will be a high-tech industrial development unlike anything that you have probably ever seen before.” The company’s document describes a massive manufacturing facility unlike anything in Michigan — in terms of size — that promises to create 800 full-time jobs in “Phase 1.” The document describes a sprawling facility 6,200 feet long and 3,900 feet wide that would top 550 acres in size. (A square mile is 640 acres.) If built, the plant being proposed in Durand would be 50 percent larger than the 16 million-square-foot Ford River Rouge Complex. It also would be bigger than the tiny 499-acre nation of Monaco along France’s Mediterranean coast. Troy Crowe, an Owosso-based real estate broker, confirmed to Crain’s he has secured land pur-

Durand Rd.

DURAND — A mystery company has amassed 850 acres in land options to build a $5 billion industrial facility along I-69 and a railroad in Shiawassee County that local officials have been told would be the largest manufacturing plant in the country. The massive project is dubbed “Project Tim” in a document the company provided to local government and economic officials, who

have vowed to keep the company’s name and industry a closely-held secret while the land is being assembled. The document says the industrial development is being pursued by a “small group of globally leading companies and experts” who want to build a 24 million-square-foot facility that would be “the greenest facility of its kind anywhere in the world.” “As of this time we cannot share details on the precise nature of Proj-

69 Lansing Rd. Monroe Rd.

chase options for the unnamed company on 850 of the nearly 1,000 acres of land needed for the project.

NOVI

696

Crain’s map

The proposed footprint is northeast of the Durand city limits on mostly open farm land along I-69 — a location that would put it within 20 miles of Flint, 40 miles from Lansing and Saginaw and less than 90 minutes from the Blue Water International Bridge in Port Huron. SEE DURAND, PAGE 16

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

MICHIGAN BRIEFS Tax incentive bills approved Michigan’s pursuit of large Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn advanced last week as the state House passed a package of bills creating tax incentives for companies that create hundreds of jobs. After weeks of contentious debate over the incentives, dubbed “Good Jobs for Michigan,” the House voted 71-35 on each of the three bills in the package. The Senate, which cleared the bills in March, approved the House changes last Wednesday and sent them to Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for his expected signature. The legislation, opposed by Republican House Speaker Tom Leonard, passed by a wide margin and elicited support and opposition from both parties. “We are essentially in an arms race, not only with our border states” but with the country and world, Rep. Jason Sheppard, a Republican from Lambertville in Monroe County, said on the House floor before voting in favor of the bills. “If we do not equip our state organizations with the consistent and meaningful tools to attract new in-

panies that retained jobs. Retail stores, pro sports stadiums and casinos could not qualify for the new tax breaks. Lawmakers would have to reauthorize the program if they want it to extend beyond 2019.

Pew: Michigan saw structural deficits ANTHONY KWAN/BLOOMBERG

Billionaire Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn Technology Group. Michigan’s pursuit of the electronics manufacturer advanced last week as the state House passed a package of bills creating tax incentives for companies that create hundreds of jobs.

dustry here to create jobs, we’ll always be at a disadvantage,” said Sheppard, who has a background as a commercial real estate agent. The Michigan Strategic Fund could strike up to 15 deals a year. No more than $200 million in incentives could be awarded — a provision that backers say distinguishes the program from the old uncapped Michigan Economic Growth Authority program, for which the state is on the hook for billions of dollars in obligated credits and which also applied to com-

Michigan is one of 11 states that didn’t have enough revenue over much of the past decade to afford its bills, according to new research. Between 2002 and 2015, Michigan had 99.7 percent of the necessary revenue to cover its total costs, according to Philadelphia-based The Pew Charitable Trusts in a new data analysis. That is below the U.S. median of 102 percent, a balance that would afford a state more than enough money to pay its expenses. And though Michigan’s revenue picture has improved since Gov. Rick Snyder took office in 2011, Pew said, signs of a structural deficit here and in 10 other states could expose them to fiscal problems later — particularly if the states have deferred payments, a heavy debt burden and significant unfunded public retiree obligations. “This jeopardizes their long-term fiscal flexibility and pushes off to fu-

INSIDE ture taxpayers some past costs for operating government and providing services,” said Matt McKillop, an officer for Pew’s state and local fiscal health project. Pew released the analysis through its “Fiscal 50” project, which tracks states’ financial health via such measures as revenue, spending, debt and reserves.

Gov. Snyder signs pension law Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law that will steer more newly hired school employees into a 401(k)-only retirement plan, which critics say could eventually lead to new hires being barred from a traditional fixed pension. Republicans who control the Legislature hailed the law as a “historic” attempt to address debt that accounts for a third of payroll costs for K-12 districts. Michigan’s major teachers union said there are too many unknowns, including what sort of risk may face new hires who choose a hybrid plan that includes a pension and 401(k) instead of just a more generous 401(k). Starting Feb. 1, all new school hires will be automatically enrolled in a 401(k)-only plan like those that new state employees have received since 1997. They will have 75 days to opt out.

A DOUBLE DOSE OF

HEALTH CARE EVENTS

BANKRUPTCIES

CLASSIFIED ADS

KEITH CRAIN OPINION

PEOPLE

RON FOURNIER

For event sponsorship opportunities, contact Lisa Rudy at lrudy@crain.com or (313) 446-6032.

RUMBLINGS

WEEK ON THE WEB

COMPANY INDEX: SEE PAGE 18

Bill preserving Great Lakes cleanup considered Congressional budget writers are proposing to overrule President Donald Trump’s call for eliminating funding for Great Lakes cleanup efforts. A House appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to consider a bill Wednesday that includes $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The program started under President Barack Obama. It pays for removing toxic pollution from harbors and river mouths, restoring wetlands, fighting invasive species and preventing harmful algae outbreaks. The program enjoys widespread bipartisan support in the eight states adjoining the Great Lakes. Trump’s spending plan for 2018 recommends killing the program and others that support regional environmental cleanups.

Crain’s signature healthfocused event continues to serve as catalyst for networking among industry professionals and a means to discover ways to manage healthcare in a time of continued uncertainty. This year’s event includes a keynote address from Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

COMING FALL 2017

Stay tuned at crainsdetroit.com/events to learn more about combined ticket pricing and event features. Registration opens soon!

After a hiatus of nearly a decade, Crain’s Health Care Heroes returns as its own event! This celebratory breakfast will recognize honorees of the Crain’s Health Care Heroes nomination program. Attendees will also hear from individuals that have received or provided life-changing care.

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Publishing

Next Free Press leader will face familiar woes By Bill Shea bshea@crain.com

The loss of millions of online readers, a lack of consistently splashy journalism and the glacial pace of getting deeply-reported projects into print doomed the top editor of the Detroit Free Press. That’s the picture painted after a half dozen interviews with current and former Freep staffers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fears of backlash, and confirmed by a senior executive within the newspaper’s corporate ownership. The question now is if the replacement for executive editor Robert Huschka, who resigned on July 7 after less than two years in the job, will oversee the Free Press as a unique publication within the Gannett Co. Inc. media empire, or if the state’s largest newspaper

will become little more than a Detroit bureau of its USA Today Network of content and advertising shared across its 110 U.S. properties. Until that replacement is hired, which could happen by this fall, readers won’t know what’s in store for the Freep’s journalism, especially if the newspaper continues to follow Gannett and industry trends of slashing staff and outsourcing functions such as page design and copy editing to centralized operations elsewhere. One thing that is clear: unlike Huschka, who was a longtime page designer before becoming executive editor in August 2015, the new Free Press leader is expected to have a resume that includes newsroom management experience. SEE FREEP, PAGE 18

LISA SAWYER/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Nonprofits

Hospitality

More affordable housing coming to Oakland County By Sherri Welch swelch@crain.com

Owner Scott Lowell at Detroit’s Traffic Jam & Snug.

LARRY A. PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S

Detroit Restaurant Association relaunches after 50 years Group hopes to find strength in growing dining scene By Chad Livengood clivengood@crain.com

The Michigan Restaurant Association has helped a group of Detroit restaurant owners launch the city’s first local organization in nearly half a century. The group will focus on advocating for Detroit’s growing dining and hospitality industry. The Detroit Restaurant Association officially became a local chapter of the state organization in March,

marking a comeback for a city restaurant group that ceased to exist sometime after 2,500 businesses were looted or destroyed in the riots 50 years ago this month. “After the riots, which I participated in by living here, it took a long time for the restaurants to come back — the customers weren’t there. And the Detroit Restaurant Association faded into nowhere,” said Larry Charfoos, a retired attorney and for-

mer partner at the Detroit law firm Charfoos & Christensen, P.C. Charfoos said he was motivated in retirement to help friends who own Detroit bars and restaurants he’s patronized over the years rebuild an advocacy voice for their industry. In 2014, Charfoos helped Grand Trunk Pub owner Timothy Tharp create a Detroit Restaurant Association not-for-profit organization on paper. SEE DINING, PAGE 15

South Oakland Shelter is taking on the scarcity of quality, affordable housing in Oakland County by getting into the housing development business for itself. The number of low-income renters in Oakland County — which has the second highest median household income in the state — has increased since 2000. But safe, high-quality rental options have not kept pace with demand. So SOS is developing its own. Lathrup Village-based SOS has formed a nonprofit housing subsidiary and is teaming up with veteran developer Southwest Housing Solutions in Detroit to learn how it’s done. The new subsidiary, Spero Housing Group, and Southwest Housing are finalizing a purchase agreement with the city of Oak Park to acquire four and a half acres for $130,000, contingent on a successful application to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority for low-income housing tax credits. The Oak Park City Council approved the deal in June.

MUST READS OF THE WEEK

Ron Fournier Business executive Alan Kaufman talks about what keeps him awake at night. Page 5

The southern Oakland County site on the west side of Coolidge Highway north of Eight Mile Road has been vacant for more than a decade after a failed housing plan. The $13.25 million, affordable town home and ranch-style apartment development planned for the site will include green space and a community center. The goal is to begin construction in summer of 2018 and to have it done in time to begin leasing late in 2019, Hertz said. Rents will range from $628-$1,444 for one to three bedrooms. The project is the pair’s first aimed at bringing high-quality housing into Oakland County communities where SOS is already paying people’s rent for lower-quality apartments, said SOS President and CEO Ryan Hertz. “We’re not shipping in low-income people. We’re taking people who are already neighbors and making them eligible to live in much higher-quality housing, which will then hopefully encourage the private landlords in the surrounding area to step up their game.” SEE HOUSING, PAGE 17

Homecoming venue Michigan Central Station to be site of annual event’s kickoff. Page 4

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

SICK OF DEALING WITH PRINTERS? Luckily for you, we love it.

We’ll keep your printers and copiers running, manage your supplies, ramp up your security, and save you up to 30%.

“We recently switched to imageOne. Not only was it a substantial cost savings, but the overall experience has been extraordinary.” -Michael P. Kolb Chief Information & Security Officer Dickinson Wright

Possible is everything.

Start your nursing career with a degree from

Lawrence Technological University.

i Bachelor of Science in Nursing i In partnership with St. John Providence health system i Four-year, direct-admit program Learn more at: ltu.edu/nursing Architecture and Design | Arts and Sciences Engineering | Management

admissions@ltu.edu

Detroit Homecoming to kick off with events inside Michigan Central Station By Chad Livengood clivengood@crain.com

The Michigan Central Station, the hulking train depot that has long served as an international symbol of Detroit’s decline, is getting a homecoming in September. Organizers of Detroit Homecoming announced Thursday the long-vacant train station will play host to former Detroiters coming to the city Sept. 13 for the fourth annual event showcasing Detroit’s revitalization. The 400-person event will mark the first significant private event in the 104-year-old train station since the mid-1980s, said Matthew Moroun, vice chairman of his family’s company, which owns the Michigan Central Station. Detroit Homecoming is a threeday event produced by Crain’s Detroit Business that brings former Detroiters back to the city each year to get them to re-engage in the city — and consider investing in Detroit. “What’s more symbolic of this city’s decline and rebirth than the images of the Michigan Central depot four years ago and the images today?” asked Mayor Mike Duggan, who has pushed Moroun to restore the old train station. “And what could more inspire expats who’ve got some business resources, you’ve got some vision, than to show all of these entrepreneurs the possibility?” Duggan, Moroun and Detroit Homecoming organizers announced the event in what was once the train station’s grand waiting room with 54-foot-tall ceilings, which showed major damage from years of vandalism and neglect. The Morouns’ family of companies have spent in excess of $8 million over the past five years abating the building, constructing a freight elevator in the shaft of the depot’s original smoke stack and installing 1,100 windows, said Michael Samhat, president of Crown Enterprises, the Morouns’ real estate development company. “(Redevelopment of) the depot is going to take a marathon, but we’re not at the beginning of the race, we’re a few miles into it,” said Matthew Moroun, whose father, Matty, bought the building in 1995. Until two years ago, the building had sat vacant without windows for several years, which made businessman Matty Moroun the subject of public scorn. Duggan said that when he took office in 2014, he sought to mend a “somewhat checkered” relationship the Morouns have had with past city administrations. The mayor said Matthew Moroun brought him “a list” of issues “he would like to have help on.” Duggan did not disclose what was on Moroun’s list. But he did divulge his demand for the billionaire owners of the Ambassador Bridge and a nationwide trucking and logistics business empire. “I said, ‘There’s one thing: Every time I read a damn national story

CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The Michigan Central Station has sat vacant since 1988 when Amtrak ceased passenger service to the 104-year-old train station in Detroit. about Detroit there’s a picture of the train station with the holes in the windows as the international image of the city’s decline,’” Duggan said, recalling his conversation with Moroun. “I said, ‘I want you to put windows in the train station. And if you do that, everything else will be just fine.’” The windows were installed after scenes for the film “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” were shot inside Michigan Central in 2014. Sitting in the middle of the grand waiting room are pieces of foam column left over the from movie shoot. Since the Morouns installed the windows in late 2015 at a cost of $4 million, Matthew Moroun said he’s had more interest from developers with “hundreds of great ideas” for a building that has sat vacant since 1988 when Amtrak ceased passenger service to the 104-year-old train station. Moroun estimates it would cost in excess of $100 million to renovate the train station. “We’re looking for the right idea that’s not only popular and motivating, but also economically viable,” Moroun said. “We’re getting closer all of the time.” Moroun indicated his company will use the Detroit Homecoming event to market the building to former Detroiters. Private tours are planned, he said. Duggan said the building could house a corporate headquarters or have high-end lofts on the 13th floor, which has a 360-degree view of greater downtown Detroit and the waterfront. “I’m not the one who has to make the numbers work,” Duggan said. “When the day comes, I’m going to do everything I can to help make the numbers work.” The Sept. 13 Detroit Homecoming dinner and festivities at the Michigan Central Station will be closed to the general public, with seating limited to 200 former Detroiters and 150 seats for sponsors of the event and host committee members. The freight elevator will be used to take attendees to the 13th floor penthouse, which was never completed when the intercity passenger rail de-

pot was built in 1912 and 1913. Detroit-born comedian Lily Tomlin will be honored at the event. Thursday’s train station announcement also was attended by Detroit-born former Olympic gymnast Wendy Hilliard, Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson and Detroit Homecoming Director Mary Kramer, who is group publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business and Crain’s Cleveland Business. “The star of the show this year, I think we’re standing in it,” Kramer said in the depot’s main floor. This year’s Homecoming speakers include billionaire developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green and TaskRabbit CEO Stacy Brown-Philpot. Ross, a native of Detroit, is the University of Michigan’s single largest donor, giving $310 million of his real estate fortune to the university, where the business school bears his name. Green is a native of Saginaw and was a star basketball player at Michigan State University from 2008 to 2012. Brown-Philpot is a Detroit native and former Google executive. Last year, she became CEO of TaskRabbit, a website that connects consumers with freelance handymen and home cleaners. Other events planned for the opening day of Detroit Homecoming include a screening of “12th and Clairmount,” a Detroit Free Press-produced documentary about the July 1967 riots. The Crain’s Detroit Homecoming initiative inspired the Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce to host its own Flint Homecoming, which is scheduled for Aug. 16-17. Hilliard’s New York-based gymnastics foundation has established a program for children in Detroit as a result of her past attendance of the homecoming event. “It’s so interesting to see Detroit in a different light,” Hilliard said. “Otherwise, you kind of just go to your home, you go to your friend’s house, but you don’t really see the potential.”

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

OPINION EDITORIAL

It’s time to measure success of Snyder’s economic policies

t’s a fact of life that states smaller businesses paid little or compete for jobs. Tax no tax, a boost to helping small breaks and tax credits are companies grow. In theory, that among the tools in an often ex- should have translated into job pensive competition. Gov. Rick gains in those smaller compaSnyder rode into office in 2011 nies. But the federal governwith a mantra of eliminating ment’s Affordable Care Act those tools. He believed that by threw many employers into distransforming the array, wondering state’s tax struc- Did right-tohow health care ture, Michigan costs would afwork make a could be more atfect their bottom difference? tractive overall. lines. And busiTimes change. How has a flat nesses are still In an about-face, recovering from the governor suc- corporate tax a steep economic ceeded last week played out downturn that in getting both in 2008economically? began Republicans and 09. So what’s the Democrats in the net effect? state House to endorse a packLikewise, Snyder signed age of economic incentives right-to-work laws in 2012. The that, in the short term, might aim was to attract employers lure Taiwan-based electronics who were put off by Michigan’s giant Foxconn to create a pro- strong labor-union reputation. duction facility in Michigan. Has it worked? We support the incentives. Jeff Mason, the newly-minted Even more, we appreciate the CEO of the Michigan Economic Republicans in the House who Development Corp., has an opbalked at House Majority Lead- portunity to use the new tools er Tom Leonard’s tantrum over endorsed by the Legislature. what he originally termed as But he also has a chance to Snyder’s back-room deal-mak- partner with an unbiased third ing with Democrats. (Note to party to measure the economic Leonard: Snyder is governor of results over the Snyder era. Did the state, not governor of Re- right-to-work make a differpublicans only.) ence? How has a flat corporate While we support the legisla- tax played out economically? tion, we also think it’s time to And last but not least, he can do a tally on just what Snyder’s make sure companies that are tax and economic policies have already here know what proproduced. grams the state or its partners In 2011, Snyder led the offer, whether it’s job training charge to replace the Michigan or the creative customer-venBusiness Tax with a flat 6 per- dor matchmaking program, cent corporate tax. The best Pure Michigan Business Conpart of that policy was that nect.

Talent is family matter for this CEO

n 1996, Herbert Kaufman was running a publicly-traded insurance company he founded in the late 1960s. His son, Alan Jay Kaufman, was an ambitious young attorney who thought the firm could blossom in private hands. His hands. So the son approached the father with an idea: He could raise money to buy out his father and other company stakeholders. He would take the company private. He would make it bigger and far more profitable. “How are you going to afford this?” a skeptical Herbert Kaufman asked his son. “It’s a big risk. You’re doing great in practicing law and I know you like it … Why do you want to do this?” “Because,” Alan Kaufman replied, “I think there is great opportunity.” The rest is a family’s history: With the company unshackled from quarterly earnings reports, Alan Kaufman could act in the long-term interests of his enterprise, making Alan Kaufman strategic acquisitions and investing in technology and other growth opportunities to create a global insurance giant. The H.W. Kaufman Group has more than 2,000 employees operating in 50 offices around the world, with more than $2 billion in annual revenue. It may be the best kept secret in Michigan business, what the Detroit Free Press once called “the biggest, most prestigious Michigan financial company that most people have never heard of.” I learned about this and more while visiting Kaufman at his Farmington Hills office as part of a series of columns about what keeps CEOs awake at night. He introduced me to his assistant Marilyn Heckel, who had worked for his father, and to his son, Danny, 32, who has been running the company’s Chicago office. It was Danny’s first day back home

company in Grand Rapids. The principle shareholder was Mark de Wall.)

RON FOURNIER Publisher and Editor

Ron Fournier is publisher and editor of Crain’s Detroit Business. Catch his take on business news at 6:10 a.m. Mondays on the Paul W. Smith show on WJR AM 760.

in Michigan, after being promoted to a position overseeing several offices. I asked Danny how long he has wanted to work at the firm. “All my life,” he replied. “I used to come here to visit my grandfather in the same office my father uses. The same assistant.” Alan Kaufman beamed. This is what he had in mind 21 years ago when he took over for his dad. He plans to hand his company over someday to Danny and Danny’s sister, Jodie Kaufman Davis. “Yeah,” Alan Kaufman told me. “I’ve paid my dues.” This transcript of our conversation is lightly edited for length and context. What keeps you awake at night? Talent. Talent is my number one issue. Specifically, succession planning. Who is going to be running parts of the company? Succession planning is an issue with everything we do, an issue when we acquire a company. We acquired a company in Grand Rapids recently ... the success story there was we were impressed with the person running the company and he was young enough, in his early 50s, and he wanted to stay at the company and we thought he was the right person for succession planning. (In June, Kaufman bought Chlystek & White Services, a regional insurance premium audit services

So you get the kind of company you were looking for and you get yourself another leader? Yes. We picked up more than 150 people and we now have a stronger foothold in the Midwest. [K]eeping me up at night is not whether I should make the acquisition; of course that is important. But keeping me up at night (are these questions): If you make an acquisition, how are you going to combine the companies, who is going to run it, how is the company going to be run, what the talent succession planning of the company we have? That is one form of succession planning. Let me ask about another. You have a son and daughter who are both involved in the company? I do. Are they part of that thinking? They are part of that thinking. Is it a given that one of them or both of them will be taking over after you leave? Yes, now that I have the good fortune of having two competent people, two children, to run the place. But they are still young and we have a lot of good senior people in place. Talk to me about the decision to take your father’s company private in 1996. If it was such an obvious thing to do, why didn’t your father do it and when did you realize this was an opportunity to do something? I started talking to my father about it six years or so before that, when I was practicing law full-time at Kaufman, Payton & Chapa. My father felt a public company was good for him, because if he was going to sell the company, being public at the time was best for his estate planning and for him to say good-bye. At that point, my father was not sure what he was going to do, but he knew he needed SEE FOURNIER, PAGE 6

Time to celebrate our history Whether we like it or not, we live in the motor capital of the world. Detroit is filled with all sorts of interesting history about the automotive industry, which celebrated its centennial in 1996, quite a while ago. This week will mark an important recognition of our heritage. On Thursday, the Automotive Hall of Fame will be inducting four more individuals into its ranks. The Hall of Fame is Detroit’s way of celebrating the men and women who have contributed to our industry’s fame. They have a wonderful dinner and award ceremony at Cobo Hall

KEITH CRAIN Editor-in-chief

and anyone lucky enough to attend will truly enjoy it. It is an evening that recognizes those who have contributed much to our motor industry and will join the Hall and the already-inducted indi-

viduals. The permanent home of the Automotive Hall of Fame is in Dearborn on the site of the Henry Ford Museum, a secret jewel in our city, just a quick drive from downtown. But if you want to drive, then be sure to put the Woodward Dream Cruise on your calendar. On Aug. 19, a million folks and tens of thousands of cars will show up in the most spontaneous celebration of the automobile. With a million people lining Woodward Avenue for 20 miles from Eight Mile to Pontiac, 20,000 or more automobiles in all shapes, ages and sizes will be cruising Woodward to reminisce about what

it was like when that street would host hot rodders from mechanics to automotive executives who came out to show off what they had and protect their bragging rights. This was a ritual known across the country, and a couple of decades ago the cities on the route decided by word of mouth to celebrate the Cruise on a Saturday in August. They couldn’t stop it today if they wanted. It is a celebration of the car, Woodward Avenue and cruising. People come from all over the nation to participate or just watch, but it is quite a sight. This year Ford Motor Company is the primary sponsor, which

seems appropriate since Ford and racing have gone hand-in-hand for more than a hundred years. Detroit has a great heritage and history. When you realize how many manufacturers were born and died in Motown, it is a remarkable history that few if any other communities can boast. We are the motor capital of the world. It is something that we have earned over the last hundred-plus years. Each year we are lucky enough to pause and celebrate our heritage. No one can take that away from us.

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

FOURNIER FROM PAGE 5

an exit plan because he knew at a certain point in his life he was going to retire, so a public company makes it easier (to retire). So I stepped up to the plate. It probably surprised my father that I would take the risk. And that kept me awake at night. How so? It was the risk of taking the company private myself. I had to raise the funds, use my funds and take the risk of being the sole shareholder of the company. So in effect, you bought it from your father? Yeah, I did buy it from my father, (but) my father was only one of hundreds of shareholders. I had to buy all the shareholders out, and my father was a significant interest in the company, but no means was the only large shareholder. What a ballsy thing to do. How old were you? Early 40s. Started talking to him in my late 30s. What kind of conversation were those? Were they contentious? No. My father was concerned. (My father said), “How are you going to afford this? It’s a big risk. You’re doing great in practicing law and I know you like it.”

HOW ARE YOU ENHANCING PEOPLE & IMPROVING BUSINESS RESULTS? For over 25 years, Ulliance has been delivering comprehensive services that keep your employees emotionally and physically healthy.

Our Life Advisor EAP and Wellness Solutions Include:

• Resolution EAP Model focused on resolving personal concerns • International provider network of counseling professionals • Wellness coaching by licensed behavioral health experts • Personalized wellness plans and consumer education • Dedicated account managers to help keep your program on track

Contact Ulliance at 866-648-8326 or www.ulliance.com

Was there also something you saw in the advantage of being a private firm? I did. I saw the advantage of longterm thinking, of not worrying about Wall Street and the big costs of being public. My father actually enjoyed being public in the sense that he was a great communicator. He enjoyed (communicating with Wall Street) and was good at it. Very good at it. I do not have the patience or the desire to do that. I wanted to focus on expanding the company. Getting back to the original question, your father’s succession plan was to sell the company and retire. You had to pretty much start thinking about it differently as soon as you took over the company. Right. I am taking it private, thinking long-term, and at that time my mind was (focused on the fact) that I

“I saw the advantage of longterm thinking, of not worrying about Wall Street and the big costs of being public.” had children and if I can build up a successful company, I am probably going to have at least one of my children or son-in-law or someone (from the family taking over). I wanted to build it up in Michigan and have a place for them to come and live here. I would like to have my family close and perpetuate the company for the next generation and maybe there will be another generation, not just after my children, but even grandchildren. My success to me was perpetuating a company that would outlive (not only) me, but outlive my children. You’re are not quite done with it yet? No, not at all. What else do you need to do to perpetuate the business for your family? I don’t know what more I have to do actually. I think right now, if something happened to me, I think they would be in pretty good shape because of the total leadership of the company. We have great leaders in the company now. Because of what’s been keeping you awake? All these years? Right. That’s got to be a great feeling — to know that you got this company in that kind of position. Yeah, I have paid my dues for that by not only mentoring and working with the people, but (by) compensating and taking care of them to keep them excited, enticed and motivated. That’s what keeps you awake at night — how to constantly feed that engine? Right. I am constantly thinking of who else are we looking for and we are looking for people at all levels. That’s why I go back to the subject of talent, we have dozens of openings around the country and here for talent.

BANKRUPTCIES The following businesses filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit July 7-13. Under Chapter 11, a company files for reorganization. Chapter 7 involves total liquidation. J Delta Business Center LLC, 6632 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Hills, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities are not available. J Crossroads Business Center LLC, 6632 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Hills, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities are not available. J Green Bay Business Center III LLC, 6632 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Hills, voluntary Chapter

11. Assets and liabilities are not available. J Anika LLC, 6632 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Hills, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities are not available. J Oshkosh Business Center III LLC, 6632 Telegraph Road, Suite 350, Bloomfield Hills, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities are not available. J Paradocs Properties LLC, 1011 Hill Crest Drive, Dearborn, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets: $3.01 million; liabilities: $1.95 million. J 625 Shelby LLC, 625 Shelby St., Detroit, voluntary Chapter 7. Assets and liabilities are not available.

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

SPECIAL REPORT:

HEALTH CARE HEROES By Jay Greene

jgreene@crain.com

t the heart of it is a human life. Now in its 14th year, Crain's Health Care Heroes celebrates outstanding achievements in health care in Michigan. Each Hero has either directly saved lives or significantly contributed to alleviating human pain and suffering. All have

Meet the Physician 2017 Crain’s Health Care Heroes honorees

Ken Peters Beaumont chair of urology, Page 7

improved the quality of lives of the people or patients they touch. This year we expanded the number of categories to eight from five and added additional medical research areas to accommodate contributions beyond clinical care. We also added an administrator category to honor executive leadership. Our six judges vigorously debated the nominees. They asked to have

Two of the new research categories are heart and vascular care and research, won by Robert Dunne, an emergency physician at St. John Providence Health System and Wayne State University School of Medicine, and oncology care and research, won by Lisa Newman, director of the breast cancer unit at Henry Ford Hospital. In the other health services research

Dan Haddad Laser Eye Institute founder, Page 9

Patrick Patterson Volunteers of America, Page 8

Corporate Achievement

Lisa Newman Henry Ford breast cancer unit, Page 9

Patty Wagenhofer-Rucker Genesee health center, Page 11

Rose Khalifa Metro Solutions, Page 11

Rob Casalou St. Joseph Mercy Health System, Page 8

category, which is a renamed category from the former advancements in health care, Crain's judges couldn't select a single winner. The co-winners are David Rosenberg, M.D., Wayne State's chair of psychiatry, and Eishi Asano, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at DMC Children's Hospital. Crain's Health Care Heroes event also will be moved to its own venue sometime in September. Stay tuned.

Heart and Vascular Research

Administrator

Oncology Research

David Kwon Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Page 9

co-winners and multiple runners-up because the candidates were so close in doing good. They graded each nomination on a point scale of 1-10. Point totals were very close for the top five in each category. They finally decided on 19 winners, runners-up and one honorable mention — William Fileti, founding CEO of the IHA medical group in Ann Arbor. Fileti unexpectedly passed away in April.

Tom Watkins: Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority, Page 8

William Fileti IHA medical group, Page 8

Robert Dunne EMS, St. John, Wayne State, Page 10

Mahir Elder DMC Heart Hospital, Page 10

Mark Sakwa Beaumont cardiac surgery, Page 10

Allied Health

Other Health Research

Board Member

Natasha Brown: Detroit VA homeless vet program, Page 12

Eishi Asano DMC Children’s Hospital, Page 13

Sister Betty Granger Ascension board, Page 14

Ghada Abdallah pharmacist, Page 12

David Rosenberg Wayne State psychiatry, Page 13

Cheryl Korpela Advomas, Page 14

Judges for this year’s health care heroes were: Physician winner Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, pediatrician at Hurley Medical Center, Flint; corporate achievement winner John Cornack, Eisenhower Center, Ann Arbor; allied health winner Shannon Pearce, R.N., health and wellness coach, St. John Providence Health System, Warren; advancements in health care winner Dr. Carmen McIntyre, chief medical officer, Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority; Detroit trustee runner-up Robert Lenihan, former chair with Crittenton Hospital and attorney, Harness, Dickey and Pierce PLC.; Jay Greene, Crain’s Detroit Business health reporter.

Winner: Physician

Kenneth Peters

M.D., chair of urology, Beaumont Hospital Urologist Kenneth Peters has a theory. It could all be about the muscles. Peters, chair of urology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, has been studying and treating patients with bladder pain for 30 years. For some time, he has wanted to know precisely why some patients complain to him that no one had been able to diagnose their chronic pelvic pain or urinary frequency urges. “I started asking, has anyone done a pelvic exam on these patients to see if those muscles are tight?” said Peters, who also is medical director of Beaumont’s Women’s Urology Center. The center was created eight years ago and uses a multidisciplinary team approach to diagnose and treat women. “It takes a two-minute exam. You push that (bladder area) and they jump off the table. They feel it,” said Peters, known as a national expert with more than 75 research studies on interstitial cystitis research, pelvic pain and prostatitis. Now, in a four-year, $3.8 million, single hospital site research program at Beaumont, Peters will get a chance to prove his team’s theory. Do a good number of women suffering from pel-

“The bladder may be an innocent bystander in a larger pelvic process and that is why focusing treatment towards the bladder often fails to improve symptoms.” Kenneth Peters

vic pain and urinary frequency — diagnosed as having interstitial cystitis — simply have unusually tight and tender muscles within the pelvis causing the symptoms? In other words, Peters’ potentially groundbreaking theory is that interstitial cystitis may not be caused by the bladder at all. It could be caused by the pelvic floor muscles. “The bladder may be an innocent bystander in a larger pelvic process and that is why focusing treatment towards the bladder often fails to im-

prove symptoms,” said Peters, adding that focusing treatment on muscle spasm may improve pelvic pain, urinary frequency and sexual dysfunction in millions of patients suffering from the disease. Peters’ research project, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, will compare “bladder directed therapy” versus “pelvic floor directed therapy” for women diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. “In the military this is a very common diagnosis. When active military

gets this, they often don't get back to work. We argued in the grant that we may be looking at the wrong problem. It may be areas other than the bladder,” Peters said. His goal is to sign up 128 patients for a randomized trial. Half of the patients would be given traditional therapy and the other given the pelvic floor physical therapy using intravaginal myofascial release, a technique to relax painful muscle spasms. “My personal feeling is that 85 percent of patients diagnosed with interstitial cystitis have pelvic floor muscle spasm causing much of their symptoms rather than their bladder,” Peters said. Patients at Beaumont are treated in a spa-like setting to alleviate stress and create a calming atmosphere, Peters said. “We work with physical therapists to relax muscles. We use valium in the vagina or rectum to create a calming effect when muscles are tense and tight,” Peters said. Other treatments used include acupuncture, reiki therapy and guided imagery, he said. “Patients come from 30 states, spend a week with us in a mini-re-

treat,” said Peters, adding that a male patient from Norway will be coming soon for treatment. “I talked with him on FaceTime and got all his medical records ahead of time. We try to maximize the time they are here.” Peters also makes international house calls. Over the past decade, Peters also has volunteered for medical missions in Africa. Prompted by his wife, Diane, who learned through a television documentary that African women have severe urological problems, Peters champions an Africa Fund within the Beaumont Foundation to pay for the medical trips. Every January, Peters and one of his medical partners, Larry Sirls, M.D., take two residents and travel to Africa. For the last six years, they have gone to central Zambia to work at a mission hospital and take care of a waiting list of 50 to 100 patients. They also train local doctors and bring extra medical supplies. Peters graduated from the University of Michigan in 1986, went to Case Western Reserve University for medical school in 1991 and completed his residency and fellowship at Beaumont Hospital. Jay Greene

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

SPECIAL REPORT: HEALTH CARE HEROES

Winner: Administrator

Patrick Patterson

“We are delighted with the organization. It has brought hope and dignity and respect to our folks.”

CEO, Volunteers of America Michigan Sparrow Hospital’s ER was never intended to function as a primary care center. Yet Patrick Patterson saw homeless clients of the Volunteers of America Michigan’s center in Lansing take a daily ambulance trip to the hospital’s ER a mile away. Patterson knew the costs of providing these services to people with physical disabilities and mental illness were expensive to the city and Sparrow. So, in 2013, Patterson convinced Sparrow to open a medical clinic at the VOAMI’s New Hope Day Center. A multi-disciplinary team at the center provides wraparound services for single mothers, veterans, seniors and other homeless people. Other services include providing food, shelter, permanent supportive housing and job training. “We had ambulances coming more than once a day here. Before the ACA (Affordable Care Act), ev-

eryone was uninsured,” said Patterson, who became CEO on July 1, succeeding Alex Brodrick, who retired in June after a 35-year career with VOAMI. “I had to start advocacy campaigns to fund (health care services for clients).” In March 2014, Patterson’s dream was realized when Sparrow Hospital opened the clinic. It has nine exam rooms with a physician, nurse and medical technicians on staff. More than 3,500 patients regularly use the facility. “It has cut ER admissions and the costs of care in half,” he said. “We are delighted with the organization. It has brought hope and dignity and respect to our folks.” But Patterson wanted to do more with dental care. Many of VOAMI’s clients still went to the ER with rotted teeth, exposed nerves or other dental issues. On Feb. 14, Patterson successfully raised about $533,000 in capital and $100,000 more for operational

costs to launch a dental practice in the medical clinic. The Delta Dental Foundation provided funds for construction and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation, Ingham Health Plan and individuals contributed thousands more to help subsidize the uninsured care. “We have pulled 170 teeth” so far, said Patterson, noting that more dental work is needed because so many homeless people have missing front teeth. “The homeless are badly embarrassed when they don’t have front teeth. One of our missions is restoring those teeth.” About 85 percent of VOAMI’s clients have either Medicaid, Medicare or commercial insurance, but each day the center has 18 new homeless people a day. “We sign them up to Medicaid expansion if we can,” he said. Patterson also realized his clients needed legal counseling and opened

Patrick Patterson

the Ability Benefits Clinic in November 2015. The clinic so far has filed claims for 592 chronically disabled homeless people. Patterson’s next project is to open a vision care center some time in 2018. “Everybody needs vision care after age 40. You need longer arms or bifocals,” he said. Depending on space and equipment, the vision clinic may offer to do exams and optometry. VOAMI also is one of 13 state providers of the Program of All-Inclusive

Runner-up: Administrator

Rob Casalou

CEO, St. Joseph Mercy Health System Rob Casalou takes spefor selling sick care. It’s cial pride in keeping paabout walking our daughter tients out of his hospitals. down the aisle, enjoying As CEO of St. Joseph Meryour kids, walking down the cy Health System, a regional beach,” he said. Catholic system based in An active cyclist and Ann Arbor, Casalou has sportsman himself, Casalou been a vocal proponent of created biking and walking building healthier commupaths around Ann Arbor nities with a focus on outpaand St. Joe’s to encourage Rob Casalou: tient, preventive and holistic exercise. He also initiated a Wants people to care. sponsorship with the live life to fullest. “What has driven me all Schoolcraft College sports my life is that I want for the dome to enable local teams community and the people, my family to practice all year. He works with sevand my friends to live life to its fullest,” eral Detroit sports teams to ensure Casalou said. “I don’t want be known their menus and concession offerings

include healthy options. Casalou likes to talk about the social determinants of health, including food insecurity, housing and educational opportunities. He encourages St. Joe’s doctors and managers to develop innovative programs that encourage better health among patients and the community. One program is the Prescription for Health, where doctors “prescribe” tokens to low-income patients to purchase produce at area farmers’ markets. Casalou also oversaw the restructuring of the hospital’s retail food service model, taking out fried food and

offering healthier options, including fresh vegetables grown on the campus farm. As chairman in 2016 of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, Casalou challenged his fellow hospital executives to become more transparent about prices, quality, safety and outcomes. He believes patients do better when they are armed with information and motivated to improve their health. Casalou has been with St. Joseph Mercy since 2009 and regional CEO since 2015. St. Joseph Mercy is a part of Livonia-based Trinity Health, the nation’s second-largest nonprofit system with 86 hospitals. He also spent 20 years with the St. John Providence Health System and was the founding CEO of Providence Park Hospital in Novi. Jay Greene

Runner-up: Administrator

Tom Watkins

CEO, Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority Tom Watkins has led the throughout DWMHA,” said Detroit Wayne Mental Mayor William Wild of WestHealth Authority over the land, who nominated Watpast five years through a kins as a Crain’s Health Care major restructuring and a Hero. move to a larger building in Earlier this year, Watkins New Center. He has foannounced he will resign as cused on reducing taxpayer CEO from the authority efcosts of serving the authorifective Aug. 31, after a series ty’s 80,000 behavioral of public disagreements health clients and increas- Tom Watkins: with the board. ing the hourly wage of di- Reduced costs After he was appointed to fund rect caregivers by $2. CEO, Watkins realized in “Tom has instilled the programs. 2013 he needed to transition mantra of being consumerDetroit Wayne from an and community-focused, evi- agency of Wayne County to an indedence-based and data-driven pendent authority to improve efficien-

cies and withdraw from county bureaucracy. The move was timely. In April 2014 the state of Michigan began to add 650,000 people to Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and the state changed the formula for its payment rates to DWMHA and the other nine regional prepaid inpatient health plans in the state. Some highlights of Watkins’ tenure at DWMHA include: J Generating $30 million in new Medicaid funding for the authority, which operates on a $700 million annual budget, with better financial and data management.

J Paying off nearly $30 million in legacy health care and pension costs. J Merging two substance use disorder programs — the city of Detroit and Wayne County — and saving $4 million and redirecting that to services. J Sending $500,000 to help Flint with its water and social services crisis. Now, Watkins said he looks forward to his next leadership role “where I can continue to add value and make a difference.” Watkins has held a number of public management positions, including state school superintendent of public instruction from 2001 to 2005 under Gov. John Engler; CEO of the economic council of Palm Beach County, Fla., from 1996 to 2001; and special assistant to the president of Wayne State University from 1990 to 1996. Jay Greene

Care for the Elderly, or PACE, which is licensed to serve 250 seniors. PACE provides nursing home-like services for elderly people in their homes. Founded in 1896, Volunteers of America is a Southfield-based agency that offers a variety of services to help the underprivileged and homeless. It provides affordable housing for seniors in Southeast Michigan, a shelter and services for the homeless in Lansing and assistance to veterans through 25 outreach offices in the state. Jay Greene

Honorable Mention: Administrator

William Fileti Former CEO, IHA

William Fileti was a visionary medical administrator who in 1994 was the founding president of Integrated Health Associates, a multi-specialty group practice based in Ann Arbor. He successfully merged the practice with St. Joseph Mercy Health System in 2011. After an unexpected serious William Fileti: illness, Fileti Ushered in passed away in transformation. April at age 67. He had announced plans to retire from IHA this November. After the merger with St. Joseph’s, Fileti oversaw IHA’s doubling in size to more than 650 providers, including 492 physician and 160 nurses, to 70 clinic sites, 1,600 employees and 470,000 patients. “Bill ushered in cultural and physical transformation health care delivery models that many thought were impossible,” said Robert Breakey, M.D., chair of IHA governing board and a physician at IHA Family Medicine in Arbor Park, in a nomination letter. “His vision and pursuit of excellence significantly affected the health care of hundreds of thousands of people.” Jay Greene

D H

L brea Can canc Detr sear tion A Hen the New aggr calle that Ame tien case laps mor rate N con and orat W brea Mic gan with obst prog John

Ru Re

D K

M Ca Ce

C ody time D

Da Des car

K way whi K Hea surg Hou to H beco med Can Tyle

hich ACE ices

s of gens to mesing n, a mevetes in

medwas ated ialty ctice Aressthe h St. ercy m in

nexious ileti y in 67. anthis

ph’s, ze to ding o 70 and

and care ught bert ernIHA in a and ntly reds

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Winner: Oncology Research

Runner-up: Physician

Director, breast cancer unit, Henry Ford Health System

M.D., founder, Laser Eye Institute

Lisa Newman Lisa Newman, M.D., director of the breast cancer unit at the Henry Ford Cancer Institute, has expanded breast cancer prevention and treatment in Detroit. She also has advanced research and care to diverse populations across the world. As the founding medical director of Henry Ford’s International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes, Newman has honed in on a rare but aggressive form of breast cancer — called triple negative breast cancer — that disproportionately affects African American women and young patients. It accounts for 15 percent of cases in the U.S. and Europe, but relapses occur more frequently and more rapidly, leading to higher death rates. Newman has also made significant contributions to global oncology care and research, in part through a collaboration with Henry Ford. While Newman was director of the breast care center at the University of Michigan from 2002 to 2015, she began cultivating medical relationships with physicians in Ghana. UM has an obstetrics and gynecology exchange program with Ghana under Timothy Johnson, M.D., longtime chair of the

UM ob-gyn department. As a result, Henry Ford has been working with Komfo Anoyke Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, to understand race- and ethnicity-associated variations in breast cancer since 2009. Henry Ford and Komfo have exchanged staff to share clinical care secrets for breast cancer treatment. Henry Ford’s telemedicine system also allows local specialists to consult with Komfo staffers. The partnership studies breast cancer subtypes in women with African ancestry in Ghanaian and Ethiopian women. Henry Ford has created a research registry of breast tissues from the women that is helping pave the way for better diagnosis and treatment. Moreover, Henry Ford is establishing additional breast cancer program collaborations with hospitals in India, Haiti and Canada. In August, Henry Ford’s international center is sponsoring its inaugural Breast Cancer Symposium in Kumasi, Ghana. Cancer researchers from Africa and the Henry Ford Cancer Institute will be presenting. Newman, born in New York City,

Runner-up: Oncology Research

David Kwon

Medical Director, Cancer Surgery Center, HFHS Cancer patients must work with an odyssey of providers. It’s a stressful, time-consuming process. David Kwon, M.D., worked with Madelyn Van Tassel to design “Cancer Care Pathways” for 15 cancer types to assure that patients see the right provider at the right time. Its goal is to improve David Kwon: outcomes and Designed cancer address individcare pathways. ual patient needs. Kwon’s team designed its first pathway for melanoma in August 2016, which helped identify best practices. Kwon joined the Henry Ford Health System in 2003 as a general surgery resident before leaving for Houston in 2009. He returned in 2011 to Henry Ford in surgical oncology, becoming division head in 2015 and medical director of the Center for Cancer Surgery in 2016. Tyler Clifford

Daniel Haddad

“I am very excited about our international program serving as a model for others...” Lisa Newman

received a public health master’s degree in 2001 from Harvard University and her medical degree in 1985 from the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn. Her own heroes are her parents, who “instilled their great appreciation for education, family, community and country” into Newman and her two siblings. Jay Greene

Daniel Haddad, M.D., was a pio- patients can wear makeup, play footneer in vision correction years be- ball ... and resume physical activity fore the popular Lasik surgery in the much sooner.” early 1990s. Using a laser, Haddad makes a As the first ophthalmolless than 4-millimeter inciogist in Michigan to persion below the surface of form small incision lentithe eye with a small side cule extraction surgery, or cut, creating a lenticule, a SMILE, Haddad is still the small disk-like sliver. Once pioneer. the lenticule is removed, Haddad, founder in the cornea reshapes itself 1987 of the Laser Eye Instiand vision is corrected. tute in Troy, is breaking Haddad said SMILE is new ground for Michiganjust another medical proders with SMILE, a Daniel Haddad: cedure that is moving to third-generation vi- Pioneer in vision minimally invasive. sion-correction procedure correction. “This is a natural prothat allows patients to regression in refractive surcover much faster and with better gery to reshape the cornea at the suroutcomes. face,” Haddad said. “We now do the On March 22, Haddad performed whole thing inside the cornea.” the state’s first SMILE procedure, esIronically, the U.S. was just the sentially correcting vision as Lasik 62nd nation to receive SMILE procedoes but without having to surgically dure approval. But the Food and create a flap across the eye that can Drug Administration approved weaken the cornea, he said. SMILE only to treat spherical myo“There are numerous advantages pia, or nearsightedness. over Lasik, since there is no flap “We cannot treat astigmatism, there are no flap complications such which is disappointing,” he said. as wrinkled flap or dry-eye postoper- Astigmatism is a defect in the eye or atively,” Haddad said. “There are also lens that can cause distorted images. very few limitations to post-operaSo far, Haddad has performed 75 tive activities. The patients can re- SMILE procedures using his new SEE HADDAD,PAGE 13 sume normal activities the next day,

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

SPECIAL REPORT: HEALTH CARE HEROES Winner: Heart and Vascular Research

Runner-up: Heart Research

Robert Dunne

Mahir Elder

EMS director at St. John and EMS Fellowship director, WSU Robert Dunne, M.D., 51, is dedicated to saving lives, and has some results to prove it. His leadership has helped to improve the cardiac arrest survival rate in the city of Detroit where he is vice chair of the east side's St. John Hospital & Medical Center Emergency Department and EMS Fellowship director at Wayne State University. Detroit’s EMS was devastated during the 2013 bankruptcy. Emerging from bankruptcy, the city made EMS a high priority, Dunne said. Meanwhile, Detroiters had the worst chance of surviving cardiac arrest out of any other city in the country. “You can’t fix what you can’t measure,” Dunne said, which is why Wayne State and the city partnered on creating a cardiac arrest registry. With the system, Dunne said researchers could use compare the quality of EMS response in Detroit to other parts of the country. Cardiac arrest victims in Detroit had less than a 1 percent chance of surviving, compared to Michigan's 8.8 percent rate. “We know that there is a lot of different factors that affect survival,” he said. “The first part is somebody recognizing that someone is in cardiac arrest — so the citizens must be educated in some way.”

Dunne said it starts with someone calling 911 and administering CPR, followed by EMS response time and care in the initial response, then hospital care. Each of these steps can determine the patient's outcome, which the registry measures. Part of Dunne’s strategy to improving the survival rate is educating the community on CPR and providing 91l call-taker coaching. He secured grants to create a program to give residents CPR training in areas with frequent rates of cardiac arrest. “We taught people at various events and then they go home and teach other people,” Dunne said. “We know if someone doesn’t get CPR by the person who they are with when it happens, they have a low chance for survival.” Furthermore, Detroit adopted 911 call-taker assistance, which is modeled after departments across the country. “Some people may know CPR and be scared to do it, so the call-taker coaches them through the way,” he said. “Many communities in Michigan do not provide call-taker CPR instruction. That’s one of the most important things you can do.” Today, Detroit’s survival rate is up from less than 1 percent to more than 6 percent, a rate Dunne hopes

M.D., director, cardiac care unit, DMC H

“We know that there is a lot of different factors that affect survival.” Robert Dunne

the city can double over the next three years. He said it took the reorganization and enthusiasm of coming out of the 2013 bankruptcy to get the ball rolling. “Detroit has the most cardiac arrests in Michigan,” Dunne said. “There are roughly 4,000 arrests in the data from around the state and almost a thousand are from Detroit. Improving Detroit improves the state.” A Rochester, N.Y. native, Dunne arrived in Michigan in 1984 to study at the University of Michigan where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1988 and M.D. in 1992. Tyler Clifford

Six years ago, cardiologist Mahir Elder sponse Team) is activated,” said Elder. began to notice a few patients in the ER at The patient is then transferred to DMC’s DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital suffer- catheterization lab at the Heart Hospital ing from what emergency physicians first for an emergency procedure. diagnosed as heart attacks. The PERT team — formed in But Mahir suspected somecollaboration with DMC’s ER, thing else was going on. He repulmonary, medical intensive searched the issue and concare unit and interventional racluded some patients were diology departments — inserts actually having pulmonary ema thin plastic tube through a bolisms — when a blood clot large vein in the patient’s groin dislodges from the leg and travarea. The catheter tube is maels up into the lungs, blocking neuvered through the patient’s blood flow. This can lead to carcirculatory system and deep indiac arrest, or a heart attack. It’s Mahir Elder: side the pulmonary artery close one of the most common caus- Research found to the blood clot. Once in place, es of sudden death. cardiologists break up the clotpatients were Elder’s research found that misdiagnosed. ted blood with ultrasound and thousands of heart attack painject anticlot medications. tients were being misdiag“The procedure takes about nosed. He discovered cardiologists at 30 minutes and we are done,” Elder said. Massachusetts General Hospital in Bos- “It takes another four to six hours, deton were finding similar problems and pending on the size of the clot, to dissolve soon developed a new diagnostic check it.” for ER doctors. Since 2011, Elder and his PERT team The recommended guidelines include — known internally as the Clot Busters doctors giving 15 minutes of CPR, order- — have saved the lives of more than 500 ing an IV, cardiac monitor and EKG, con- patients with massive or submassive PEs. ducting blood tests and giving the patient They have documented 325 lives saved in heparin. the past four years with a lifesaving rate “ER doctors will perform a cardiac ul- greater than 90 percent, far higher than trasound or CT scan of the lungs to con- the 42 percent rate documented in other firm diagnosis (of PE). Once confirmed, studies where patients received the the (DMC Pulmonary Embolism Re- blood-thinning drugs tPA or heparin.

Elde fessor o gust, sa team w the lar paper o DMC many h has ha Southe tals. A UMass the wor across and tho Elde Hero. I physici interni a Leg, ports p disease revascu He medica July tak refugee a coun overwh “As a Detroit health in the h Jay Gre

Runner-up: Heart Research

Marc Sakwa

M.D., chief of cardiac surgery, Beaumon Mark Sakwa, M.D., is known national- and has trained hundreds of cardiac surly for his pioneering work in minimally geons around the world. invasive valve surgery at Beaumont HosIn the early 2000s, Sakwa performed pital in Royal Oak, where he is chief of the first robotic heart surgery in Michicardiovascular surgery. gan. But he doesn’t do robotic At Beaumont, which has one surgery any longer because of the highest patient volumes minimally invasive surgery can in the nation for heart surgery, now be done totally by a surSakwa and his cardiac team pergeon with the same 3-inch inciform aortic, mitral and tricuspid sion, he said. valve repair and replacement In 2007, Sakwa and Shanthrough 2- to 3-inch incisions. non visited a surgeon at anothMany cardiac surgeons are still er hospital to observe a typical opening chests for these procerobotic procedure. While their dures, he said. procedure was safe, the BeauMark Sakwa: “Not too many of us are do- Pioneering work mont doctors felt the proceing minimally invasive, at least in minimally dure could be performed betnot in the volume we are doing invasive valve ter, safer and faster using better it,” said Sakwa. “There are only surgery. without the robot. two or three centers nationally, Sakwa said he came back to including Beaumont, that are doing high Beaumont and practiced in a lab for volumes. The reason is surgeons are not hours to perfect his robotic skills for always willing to change how they (prac- valves. tice). ‘If it’s not broken, why fix it?’ they “Once I got my skills in place, and it say.” was a long learning curve to adapt it to Beaumont conducts more than 300 valves, I took my team back to Florida” in minimally invasive surgeries a year. 2008 to watch a cardiac surgeon friend, Sakwa and his partners, Francis Shan- Joe Lamelas, perform minimally invasive non and Jeffrey Altshuler, share duties. surgery without the robot, Sakwa said. They recently added Alessandro Vivac- Lamelas is now at the Baylor Clinic in qua, a cardiac surgeon in Troy, to the Houston. team. “It was the best thing I ever did. I got Sakwa is also a professor of cardiovas- complete buy-in from my team. Somecular surgery at the Oakland University times it takes longer because it is a new William Beaumont School of Medicine way. But we have never looked back,”

Sakwa Onc role in gical te ed a m mont w valve c ate and vasive t said. But cedure “We We kne had a thing d conven But surgery now it i “The Now it he said return patient Sakw securin such a Center which vascula Shapiro Care U mont’s Jay Gre

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Winner: Corporate Achievement

Patty Wagenhofer-Rucker

t, DMC Heart Hospital Director of Integrated Physician and Mental aid Elder. Elder, who will become a clinical pro- Health, Genesee Community Health Center to DMC’s fessor of medicine at Wayne State in Au-

t Hospital

formed in DMC’s ER, intensive ntional ra— inserts through a ent’s groin be is mae patient’s d deep inrtery close e in place, p the clotound and tions. kes about Elder said. hours, deo dissolve

ERT team ot Busters e than 500 assive PEs. es saved in aving rate gher than d in other eived the eparin.

gust, said that later this year the PERT team will publish what he believes will be the largest single-center data research paper on PE interventions. DMC’s program is being replicated at many hospitals in Michigan, and DMC has had more than 100 referrals from Southeast Michigan and Toledo hospitals. A PERT Consortium formed with UMass doctors and DMC is spreading the word on PE evaluation and treatment across the world to hundreds of hospitals and thousands of doctors. Elder is a rare repeat Health Care Hero. In 2012, he was a co-winner in the physician category with Don Tynes, an internist in Benton Harbor, for the “Save a Leg, Save a Life” program that transports patients with peripheral arterial disease from West Michigan to DMC for revascularization treatment. He also volunteers for international medical missions and was in Jordan in July taking care of some of the 1.2 million refugees from the Syrian civil war. Jordan, a country with 8 million population, is overwhelmed. “As an American medical doctor from Detroit I am familiar with disparaging health care. I felt compelled need to help in the humanitarian call for assistance.” Jay Greene

performed in Michido robotic because urgery can by a sur-inch inci-

nd Shann at anothe a typical While their the Beauhe procermed betsing better

me back to a lab for skills for

ace, and it adapt it to Florida” in on friend, ly invasive kwa said. Clinic in

did. I got m. Somet is a new ked back,”

a recovery coach or social worker to find them and bring them in for services within seven days,” she said describing the process. “We continue to be engaged with them to provide them the support they need. We address social determinants such as housing, money for utilities, access to food, access to clean water and basic needs, we support them and we have a primary care clinic that provides the care they need.” The model has since been picked up by health centers across the Midwest, Wagenhofer-Rucker said. She advocates for a transdisciplinary team of primary care, oral health, mental health and substance abuse service providers. Wagenhofer-Rucker said Flint reminds her in many ways of her hometown in Iowa: Waterloo is home of agricultural machine manufacturer John Deere and Flint is the historic home of car manufacturer General Motors Co., now based in Detroit. The two factory towns were greatly affected by the economic downturn in the 1980s and face sim-

Runner-up: Corporate Achievement

Rose Khalifa

Beaumont Hospital

ardiac sur-

Patty Wagenhofer-Rucker just wants to help people. What she calls a simple passion has led to elaborate changes at the Genesee Community Health Center: unnecessary emergency visits have been reduced by 80 percent in the past three years. This change was powered by Wagenhofer-Rucker’s background as a social worker. She implemented a program that helps address challenges of Flint-area residents to preempt emergency visits. The Waterloo, Iowa-native who earned her social work degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 1983, soon after moved to Lapeer with her wife and later earned her master’s in social work from Michigan State University in 1990. With access to local hospital medical records, Wagenhofer-Rucker, who became integrated health director at the Genesee health center in 2014, said the program’s staff examines emergency visits every morning to see who was admitted. “If they are our patient, we assign

Sakwa said. Once Sakwa understood the surgeon’s role in the procedure, the rest of the surgical team defined their roles. They created a multi-disciplinary clinic at Beaumont where cardiologists, surgeons and valve coordinators meet weekly to evaluate and determine the best and least invasive treatment plan for each patient, he said. But the first surgery with the new procedure was not without drama. “We had the equipment and the plan. We knew we probably could do it, but we had a bailout, a backup plan, if something didn’t work, we knew could do it conventionally,” he said. But the first minimally invasive valve surgery in 2008 went without a hitch, and now it is a standard of care, he said. “The surgery used to take six hours. Now it can be done in two to three hours,” he said. “Most importantly our patients return to their life activities sooner than patients undergoing open heart surgery.” Sakwa also has played a major role in securing significant philanthropic gifts such as the Suzanne & Herbert Tyner Center for Cardiovascular Interventions, which opened in 2012, the Ernst Cardiovascular Center and the Sara and Asa Shapiro Heart and Vascular Intensive Care Unit to support the work of Beaumont’s heart team. Jay Greene

CEO, Metro Solutions

Rose Khalifa, CEO of Metro Solu- Henry Ford Hospital as a nurse in tions in Southfield, sees her job pri- the geriatric department. She has marily as serving the elderly and dis- worked at Metro Solutions since abled population. It is a job she takes 2003 and became its executive direcseriously, because many of the peo- tor in 2007. ple she works for are one false step Under the MI Care Link program, away from a nursing home. Metro Solutions manages Metro Solutions is a vencare for about 415 people. dor for the Detroit Area Metro Solutions also Agency on Aging and the runs background checks Senior Alliance for the MI on the caregivers, pays the Health Link Program. MI caregivers’ monthly payHealth Link is the federroll and the employers’ al-state demonstration business taxes, and purproject that coordinates chases workers’ compenMedicaid and Medicare sation policies in case benefits for people eligible Rose Khalifa: caregivers are injured on for both, known as “dual-el- Wants to make the job, Khalifa said. igible.” Metro Solutions also sure of best care Khalifa, a registered possible. offers a variety of other nurse by training, wants to services to nonprofit make sure seniors and individuals companies and agencies, including with disabilities get the best care project planning and management, possible. One way of doing that is grant writing and administration, making sure recipients hire the best accounting and coalition-building. personal caregivers. Under Khalifa, Metro Solutions MI Choice, a state-funded pro- has grown from a staff of contract gram managed through the Detroit workers and one full-time employee Area Agency on Aging, allows recipi- to eight full-time employees. ents to hire personal caregivers, who In 2003, Khalifa also founded the could be friends or family members, National American Arab Nursing or to work with a home health agen- Association, an organization dedicy. cated to advancing Arab American Metro Solutions receives, manag- men and women, and expanding es and disburses federal or grant cultural diversity in the nursing funding for a variety of agencies, said field. Khalifa, who worked four years at Jay Greene

ilar racial tensions, though Flint is more liberal about social issues than Waterloo, she said. Before joining Genesee Community Health Center, Wagenhofer-Rucker started her career in Michigan as a sexual assault therapist at the YWCA followed by nearly a decade as a mental health/substance abuse therapist at Insight Recovery Center; the latter is still a part of her work after she started a program two years ago that provides opiate dependents access to vivitrol shots, the largest program in the region. “We have an opiate epidemic in our city, our state, our country. We can offer vivitrol, which is a once-amonth injection, that reduces cravings and urges to use,” she said. “Every time someone gets an injection, it buys them 30 days of recovery. We’ve served maybe 600 or 700 people, administering about 2,000 injections.” Wagenhofer-Rucker also started a program to help people recover from alcohol and drug dependency by employing 14 recovery coaches to help connect people to community resources.

“We have an opiate epidemic in our city, our state, our country.” Patty Wagenhofer-Rucker

Since 2007, Wagenhofer-Rucker has garnered more than $1 million in grants for health services including naloxone to treat drug overdose, addressing preventable emergency department admissions and housing-supporting integrated primary care, among other services. Tyler Clifford

Celebrating ÷ú Years! “Resolving your money matters” A national leader in revenue cycle management and call center services. We offer state-of-the-art technology along with proven recovery strategies to provide consistently superior results for our clients. We offer a range of national recovery customized services as well as early-out, primary, secondary, tertiary, billing services, bill pay & call center services with vast experience in all industries. Serving some of the largest health systems, utility companies, financial institutions, government entities, educational institutions in Michigan and across the United States. With over 16 years of experience in the health care industry we have a health care dedicated team.

L J Ross Associates, Inc. 4 Universal Way, Jackson, MI 49202 (517) 544-9100 www.ljross.com

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

SPECIAL REPORT: HEALTH CARE HEROES

Winner: Allied Health

Runner-up: Allied Health

Natasha Brown

Ghada Abdallah

Nurse practitioner, John Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center Natasha Brown’s mission is to serve homeless veterans and coordinate medical care, food service, clothing needs and basic living needs to the hundreds of former warriors who seek care at the John D. Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Detroit. Brown, an adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner, is the primary medical provider at the Detroit VA Veterans Community Resource and Referral Center at 301 Piquette St., where she coordinates the H-PACT Center. H-PACT stands for homeless-patient aligned care team. Brown started working at the H-PACT Center in 2015 and estimates she has helped more than 500 homeless veterans with their outpatient medical, housing and food needs. She also coordinates mental health or substance abuse counseling with other providers and works with Gleaners Community Food Bank to coordinate about 60 home-delivered food packages each month to homeless and low-income veterans, who also receive various toiletries from H-PACT. And every

Friday, Brown leads health talks for homeless veterans to answer questions about medical or social issues. At a lunch and learn program in 2016, Brown met Richard LaBelle, who at the time was jobless and sick. “I received amazing care from Ms. Brown, and where I receive judgment from many people in other places, from her and her staff I get only kindness and caring and selfless service,” said LaBelle, an Army veteran who served from 1983 to 1996. He nominated Brown for Crain’s Health Care Heroes. “I am truly humbled, grateful and thankful.” LaBelle now has a job with the Detroit Employment Solutions Corp., Mayor Mike Duggan’s workforce development board. He also has a startup called Complex Systems Experts Inc. Brown said her veteran patients range in age from 23 up to 70, with average patients in their 60s having served in Vietnam. “It is really refreshing to see them enter the clinic with obstacles, link them to social workers and see them

Owner and pharmacist, Park Pharmacy, Grosse Pointe Park

“They can have a variety of issues with underlying mental health concerns.” Natasha Brown

overcome substance abuse or mental health issues and find permanent housing and jobs,” Brown said. “I encounter many patients that have success stories and are able to find jobs and housing,” Brown said. “I really enjoy my role here. It keeps me humble. I hear testimony from the veterans, and it touches my heart.” Jay Greene

Ghada Abdallah, pharmacist and owner of the Park Pharmacy in Grosse Pointe Park, lost her 38-year-old cousin to a heroin overdose in April 2015. A month after her cousin died, Abdallah organized a continuing medical education course for pharmacists to teach them how scripts are filled and share information on opioid problems in the Dearborn area. Abdallah heard from pharmacy technicians from across Southeast Michigan thanking her for the training. She shared her class with others and now many have changed how they fill prescriptions. “I believe that there was a fundamental shift in the way pharmacists viewed prescriptions for controlled substances,” she said. She also is working with sober homes and recovery clinics. She has a collaborative practice agreement with two physicians, Alok Shukla in Roseville and Michael Fox in Livonia, that allows her to give Vivitrol injections in the pharmacy. Vivitrol is a long-acting medication that helps prevent relapse for people who have completed opi-

oid detox. Abdallah said such agreements are not very common. “I would love to see more pharmacists picking up on this. Easier access to Vivitrol Ghada Abdallah: would fill a vacuOrganized um ... because training for doctors’ offices pharmacists. are booked up as it is,” she said. Abdallah advised state Medicaid officials in late 2015 to ensure recipients have adequate access to Narcan, a lifesaving drug for overdoses. Last year, she worked with Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority and SAFE to provide Narcan training to the public. Abdallah earned her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Wayne State University College of Pharmacy in 2002 and trained at DMC Harper Hospital. She opened Park Pharmacy in 2006. Jay Greene

M ne

A and and seiz have test brai zure for s E tor o a p DM Mic team sity deve elec can acro guag Th sign of l neu seiz pub 16 is tific

teste surg

FRO

The Face of Advocacy Advomas Health Care Heroes

Congratulations Cheryl Korpela for being awarded 2017 Health Care Heroes Board Member Runner-Up! All of us at Advomas are proud to work alongside Cheryl, and we are delighted to see her commitment recognized. Thank you for 30 years of dedication.

advomas.com

$450 that ond sers B tien on said use stan S mus nos for t “ pro mak ston visio dur In the pro tion prov toda dur (no tute “ cha them ed t mys H York ong to h of th and Jay

said ents omould more sts on acitrol acuause ffices p as

caid cipican, Last ayne E to blic. lor’s yne macy rper macy

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Co-winner: Other Health Services Research

Eishi Asano

David Rosenberg

M.D., director, neurodiagnostics, pediatric M.D., chair, Department of Psychiatry neurologist, DMC Children’s Hospital and Behavioral Neurosciences, WSU After 10 years of study guage deficits. The Brain and development, children study included 100 of those and adults with epileptic patients. seizures or brain tumors “I am very much proud have a proven diagnostic to help children achieve test that can “map” their freedom from seizure,” Asabrain to detect where seino said. “Many patients zures or tumors are located (who have undergone treatfor surgeons to fix. ment) have achieved what Eishi Asano, M.D., directhey want to do. ... They tor of neurodiagnostics and have a better quality of life a pediatric neurologist at and better career.” DMC Children’s Hospital of Asano said the proceMichigan, and his research dure is not painful, and the team at Wayne State Univerpatients are comfortable sity School of Medicine have during the testing. “I am very much developed 3-D and 4-D Asano, who was born in electronic technology that Japan, received his medical proud to help can create a map of neurons degree from Tohoku Unichildren achieve across the speech and lanversity in 1996, but he gathfreedom from guage centers of the brain. ered data for his doctorate The new technology can thesis while he was in Deseizure.” significantly reduce the risk troit at Children’s Hospital Eishi Asano of language deficits after on a neuroimaging and neurosurgery to minimize neurophysiology research seizures or remove tumors, according to a study fellowship from 1999 to 2004. He became direcpublished by Asano and his team in the March tor of neurodiagnostics at Children’s Hospital in 16 issue of Brain, a leading international scien- 2004. He also received a master’s degree in clintific journal based in the United Kingdom. ical research design and statistical analysis from Since 2006, when the first procedure was the University of Michigan School of Public tested, 200 patients have undergone corrective Health in 2007. surgery for their problems with speech and lan- Jay Greene

David Rosenberg, M.D., glutamate abnormalities, comes from a family of surcaused by specific genes, geons. Born in New York, can impact structure, chemhis family moved to Deistry and functioning of the troit’s Lafayette Park when brain’s arousal center and he was five, where his dad lead to adolescent OCD. was a professor of surgery at “One of the hardest parts Wayne State University. of being a child adolescent Rosenberg followed his fapsychiatrist is telling good ther into the medical and children and families that education fields: he is chair they are not to blame for and professor at Wayne their problems,” he said. State’s Department of Psy“Developing treatment is chiatry. this idea that they can see “It’s such an exciting time the problem. I’ve seen parto be a part of child adolesents and children relieved cent psychiatry,” Rosenberg that they can see the brain “Millions of said. “New research is telling American children abnormality and hear what us clearly that there are brain we can do to change it.” don’t have access abnormalities that can norRosenberg’s work has malize with effective treat- to good behavioral landed him appearances on intervention.” ment.” ABC’s “Primetime” and The University of MichiWXYZ-TV’s “20/20” to disDavid Rosenberg gan medical school alum, cuss his psychiatric research class of 1988, uses MRI to reand the variations of OCD search obsessive compulsive disorder and cre- in adolescents. Rosenberg also wrote the first ate treatments for the behavioral problems, textbook on pediatric psychopharmacology. which has made him a top voice in the field. The London-based scientific journal Faculty Rosenberg said his method brings science into a of 1000 Medicine recognized Rosenberg’s pubnew era of psychology treatment and psychiatric lished glutamate research as one of the top artidisorders, “a revolution in our field right now.” cles published in the field of medicine. The MRI techniques can measure how brain Tyler Clifford

HADDAD FROM PAGE 9

$450,000 laser, the Zeiss Visumax, that applies 500,000 pulses per second, one of the most advanced lasers of its kind. But only about 20 percent of patients can qualify for SMILE based on the condition of their eyes, he said. As a consequence, he also uses the Zeiss laser to conduct standard Lasik procedures. SMILE patient candidates first must go through two hours of diagnostic tests before they can qualify for the special procedure. “We have a lengthy consultation process,” Haddad said. “We want to make sure we do not leave any stone unturned and they are a good vision candidate for the procedures.” In the 1990s, Haddad developed the Custom RK (radial keratotomy) procedure, a form of vision correction before Lasik that vastly improved tracking technology used in today’s lasers. The first RK procedure was done at Harper Hospital (now DMC) at the Kresge Eye Institute. “Our whole approach was to change people’s lives by getting them out of glasses. I never accepted the status quo and I challenged myself to get better outcomes.” Haddad, a 1983 graduate of New York Medical College, also provides ongoing ophthalmology education to his peers as a lecturing member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Jay Greene

Leaders in Complex Business Lawsuits and Class Action Litigation www.millerlawpc.com (248) 841-2200/ www.millerlawpc.com 950 West University Drive / Suite 300 / Rochester / Michigan / 48307 / (248) 841-2200

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

Winner: Board Member

“Hospitals are going to gain more resources to improve our mission to make communities we serve stronger and healthier...”

Elizabeth “Betty” Granger Board member, Ascension Michigan

Sister Elizabeth “Betty” Granger has been in a unique position to guide Catholic health care since the 1999 merger of the health systems of two leading congregations that formed Ascension Health, the largest nonprofit health company in the

U.S. with 131 hospitals and 150,000 employees, and the almost simultaneous local merger that created what is now called St. John Providence Health System in Southeast Michigan. As a member of the Sisters of St.

Joseph of Nazareth in Michigan for 61 years, Sister Betty served on the first Ascension board for nine years and helped to form the governance structure for six-hospital St. John Providence.

Sister Elizabeth “Betty” Granger

SEE GRANGER, PAGE 15

Runner-up: Board Member

ADVERTISEMENT SECTION

ENGINEERING & CONSULTING

LAW

Cheryl Korpela

Chief administrative officer, Advomas ACCOUNTING Brandon Balogun, CPA Manager

The Siegfried Group, LLP Brandon Balogun, CPA, MBA, joins Siegfried’s Detroit Market as a Manager. Balogun has worked in Riveron Consulting’s Transaction Advisory group and at Deloitte. To tackle business challenges, he uses his progressive experience and commitment to working cohesively. He earned his Bachelor of Science in accounting and Master of Business Administration from Central Michigan University.

Devi Bala

Associate Manager The Siegfried Group, LLP Devi Bala, MBA joins Siegfried’s Detroit Market as an Associate Manager after gaining five years of combined audit experience at Deloitte and Moore Stephens Australia. She has a passion for building strong and productive client relationships to truly understand client needs. Bala earned her Bachelor of Engineering in computer science and her Master of Business Administration with concentrations in accounting and finance from the University of Tasmania.

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM Stephanie Kelly

Senior Sales Manager Westin Southfield Detroit The Westin Detroit Southfield announced today that Stephanie Kelly has been appointed senior sales manager. She will oversee government, multicultural and religious markets. Kelly has served in sales and banquets for Sheraton Detroit Novi, Doubletree Novi, Doubletree Detroit Metro Airport, Crowne Plaza Detroit Metro Airport and the Holiday Inn Metro Airport. Call 888-6627-8558, or go to westinsouthfielddetroit.com to book meetings, events and guestrooms.

Richard N. Collins President and CEO

Steven J. Enwright Partner

Commonwealth Associates, Inc.

Kostopoulos Rodriguez, PLLC

Collins is a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and is actively involved in the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power Engineering Society (IEEEPES). He previously served as the firm’s Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Line Engineering and Environmental Services where he also oversaw the firm’s Land and Right of Way Services group. A 1984 alumnus of the University of Michigan, Collins resides in Jackson, Michigan with his wife Tami.

Birmingham-based business law firm Kostopoulos Rodriguez, PLLC (KORO) is pleased to announce that Steven J. Enwright has joined the firm as a partner in its corporate group and Leslie Rosenberg has joined KORO as an associate (previously an associate at Enwright Advisors). “We’re very excited to be joining forces with the talented and entrepreneurial team at Enwright Advisors to enhance our existing national corporate practice” said K. Dino Kostopoulos, KORO’s Managing Partner.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Anthony Belloli

Matthew Shane

Plante Moran Trust

Q10 | Lutz Financial Services

CEO

Anthony Belloli has been named CEO of Plante Moran Trust. In this role, he’ll guide the strategic direction of the chartered trust company while leading a team of 30 trust professionals responsible for the administration of personal trusts and foundations, settlement of estates, and management of family office-bill pay arrangements. Belloli joined Plante Moran Financial Advisors in 2002. Seven years later, he moved to Plante Moran Trust and was named partner in 2015.

Managing Director

In his 15 year career, Matt has closed 250 transactions representing $1.2 Billion real estate transactions including multi-family, office, industrial, retail, hotels, and medical office buildings. His other financing specialty is arranging loans on single tenant transactions. Mr. Shane’s clients include local and national developers and family trusts, who are either acquiring or refinancing properties.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE provides an opportunity

to announce the selection, promotion, appointment, leadership or role responsibility expansion of an employee, colleague or team member across industries and sectors. For more information or questions regarding advertising in this section, call Lynn Calcaterra at (313) 446-6086 or email: lcalcaterra@crain.com

Cheryl Korpela has used experience gained over a 40-year career to help guide a company that helps hospitals find financial resources for thousands of uninsured patients and to also advise several associations on how best to navigate health care challenges. “I have been fortunate enough to learn in great detail about Michigan’s complex health care reimbursement environment and develop a Cheryl Korpela: unique skill set to resolve issues for patients and Resolves issues health care organizafor patients, tions which make both organizations healthier,” Korpela said. Over the years Korpela has served on five boards and currently is on the board of the East Michigan Healthcare Financial Management Association and is program chair for the newly formed Michigan Revenue Cycle Association. “My board involvement is my way of giving back to the community by imparting my knowledge to others so they can do the same,” she said. Korpela recently joined the Michigan Health and Hospitals Association Legislative Policy Panel to advise on Medicaid policy. She also has been a long-standing active member of the Michigan Association of Health Plans. After a decade at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services as a Medicaid case worker, she has spent the past 30 years as chief administrative officer of Troy-based Advomas, overseeing a 100-person team of insurance eligibility professionals as they connect the uninsured with insurance coverage or other ways to pay large hospital bills. “The more knowledge we obtain, the better we can serve our provider and health plan clients,” she said. Korpela and her team find the uninsured coverage sources including COBRA, auto no-fault, workers compensation, commercial insurance, Veterans Administration benefits and liability insurance along with Medicare and Medicaid. “Our diverse knowledge working with all payers and government programs, combined with our hands on experience working with the uninsured and the underinsured, allows us to share critical information to assist in designing programs and legislation to provide coverage opportunities and outcomes to them.” Korpela said. Jay Greene

CRAIN ’S DBETROIT CRAIN’S DETR OIT U S IB NUSINESS E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

July 17, 2017

DINING FROM PAGE 3

But the DRA was slow to get organized until Tharp and Traffic Jam & Snug owner Scott Lowell sought operational assistance from the Michigan Restaurant Association last year. “Unfortunately, restaurateurs are chronically stretched too thin and I didn’t have the time to put into it as much as I would have liked to,” said Tharp, who has owned Grand Trunk Pub on Woodward Avenue since 2005. MRA President & CEO Justin Winslow said establishing a local presence in Detroit made sense given the growth in new bars and eating establishments throughout the city. “It’s the largest city in the state of Michigan with some challenges for restaurateurs to navigate the local trappings,” Winslow said. “But it’s also a city with what feels like unlimited potential and opportunity, which excites us.” Winslow recruited one of MRA’s community advocacy consultants, Herasanna Richards, to be director of the DRA. Richards had been working on the MRA’s efforts to better market its member restaurants in Detroit as a consultant with Grassroots Midwest, a Lansing-based advocacy firm. MRA mostly focuses on statewide issues and advocacy on behalf of its members at the Capitol. “(The DRA) allows us to have direct and very personal relationships with city council and the mayor’s of-

GRANGER FROM PAGE 14

“The two powerful metro Detroit systems struggled to merge cultures, develop cohesion and efficiency,” Gwen MacKenzie, market leader for Ascension Health Michigan, said in her nomination letter for Granger. “Sister Betty ... (along with the board) decided to change the system name to St. John Providence to cement mutual standing and unification of both legacies.” Sister Betty, who was asked in the mid-1980s by her congregation to change ministries to health care after spending 20 years in education, also was senior vice president of mission integration for St. John Providence, retiring in 2013. She also was vice president of sponsorship for Genesys, another Ascension Michigan subsidiary in Grand Blanc Township. “Betty personally led and exemplified an internal culture of spirituality and inclusion, promoting associate spirituality and care for patients in body, mind and spirit,” MacKenzie said. “She is one of the most memorable and colorful figures in St. John Providence and Ascension Michigan history, and is personally known and loved by thousands of associates, patients and physicians.” After more than 30 years of board and health care management, Sister Betty stepped down last month from the Ascension Health Michigan board. Over the years, Granger has

“From a business person’s perspective, I believe we needed to band together to get some representation down at City Hall and ... get a place at the table when it comes to regulation.” Scott Lowell

fice rather than having someone come down (from Lansing) once a week or once a month,” Richards said. Tharp said the restaurant group will be focused on advocating for changes to a permitting and inspections process that can still be cumbersome, despite improvements made in recent years under Mayor Mike Duggan. Restaurant owners routinely spar with city inspectors who take inconsistent enforcement actions, Tharp said. “As a herd, it’s going to be a lot safer together than if they can’t pick us off one-by-one,” said Tharp, who also owns the Checker Bar on Cadillac Square. The new DRA has 120 members among the nearly 900 eating and drinking establishments the Detroit. Annual memberships to the DRA and MRA start at $315 and go up based on gross sales, Winslow said. Lowell, owner of Traffic Jam & Snug, a 52-year-old institution on West Canfield in Midtown, said the new Detroit Restaurant Association should give restaurateurs “credibili-

ty” in political circles. “From a business person’s perspective, I believe we needed to band together to get some representation down at city hall and ... get a place at the table when it comes to regulation,” Lowell said. The DRA is already working with the Duggan administration and the Detroit Public Schools Community District on building a better pipeline of workers to fill labor shortages some downtown and Midtown restaurants are experiencing, Richards said. A city-organized culinary arts program at the state’s Detroit Reentry Center on Ryan Road is graduating 20 to 30 incarcerated residents each month for jobs as line cooks when they’re released from prison, said Jeff Donofrio, executive director of workforce development for Duggan. “We’re definitely trying to work with individual restaurant owners to fill this talent gap,” Donofrio said. “There’s clearly a need to grow the capacity around training for hospitality and restaurants.”

faced a number of tough issues as a board member. They ranged from employee layoffs and change of CEOs to nursing union disputes. But Granger said one of the hardest positions she ever took was to address the problems with the merger in Michigan that ultimately formed St. John Providence Health System. Initially, the name of the merged entity was called St. John Health System. But that did not sit well with the former managers of the Sisters of St. Joseph Health System and the Nazareth, Mich.-based sisters. “About three years before I retired in 2013 we were talking about the name of St. John Health System,” Sister Betty said. “The Providence side (Daughters of Charity) always perceived it as a takeover (by St. John Health System) and weren’t always comfortable with the new culture. The physicians felt the same way.” Sister Betty said someone on the board suggested that further study should be conducted on using the name St. John Health. “I said no. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done,” she said. “I said ‘I move we change the name to St. John Providence Health System.’ We did. It was no magic antidote, but it at least was a move” in the right direction to mend the two cultures. “The Daughters were a big national system and were more centralized. The Sisters of St. Joseph were in Michigan and gave local markets and CEOs more control.

They liked that,” Sister Betty said. “Gradually over the years, it’s been obvious that Ascension, as a big national system, has been centralizing things.” But decisions don’t happen overnight. For example, during the 2000s, the Ascension Health board talked endlessly about a national branding campaign. “It didn't happen then, but now 17 years into it, they are talking about branding across the country. Hospitals in Michigan and Wisconsin are the starting place,” Sister Betty said. “I think it is going to be a place to use the Ascension name for everything. Hospitals are going to gain more resources to improve our mission to make communities we serve stronger and healthier and uniting providers for a more diverse range of doctors and access to care.” While Sister Betty has been in the health care trenches and served on a variety of boards, she said one of her biggest contributions to Ascension has been her embrace and honoring all faiths. She said she is a strong advocate for inclusiveness. “My knowledge gained mostly through experience on how it should be done and not done, having organizational memory from the early days of Ascension is also very important,” she said. “It is important to have some recollection of what has brought us together. What is important to continue and what needs to be changed.” Jay Greene

Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654 Twitter: @ChadLivengood

Page 15

MARKET PLACE

REAL ESTATE

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

OFFICE SPACE

’Suite’ Deal for Little Caesars Arena! Don’t be left Suiteless!

OFFICE BUILDING FOR LEASE DOWNTOWN FERNDALE

Rare opportunity for 12 ’Royalty’ all event seats in the open-air Section 22 Suite in Little Caesars Arena with great views facing the stage for all LCA controlled events, including Wings and Pistons. Five-year deal gives your company logo/ design placement, catering, concessions and parking preferences included with the suite. Offer won’t last.

Available Immediately. Call Aaron ~ 248-388-3333

Email: Sbologna@comcast.net BUSINESSES FOR SALE

Machine Tool Business: Asset Sale - Warren OH

160 Vester. Total Space 4,900 Sq. Ft., Includes 9 Parking Spaces.

VACANT LAND

DOWNTOWN ROCHESTER

3.4 Acre Vacant Land Walk to Downtown Borders Clinton River & Pollyann Trail

Call Chuck 248-821-0752 WATERFRONT PROPERTY

μ 45 year history; recent financial challenges μ Annual Revenues $15-$18 million μ Asking Price: $2.2mm; excludes accounts receivable μ $3.0mm backlog; 45 employees; going-concern μ Site visits and data room available μ APA available - auction sale date pending - July, 2017 μ Subject to hearing and approval of United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Case No. 7-cv-802-PAG). Call Jack Teitz Compass Advisory Partners for additional information 412-855-7625

û TURN-KEY USDA û FACILITY IN DETROIT FOR SALE/LEASE û Approx.14,000 Sq. Ft.

û Blast Coolers û Freezers û Walk-In Refrigeration û Floor Drains Throughout û Indoor Vehicle Parking û Proximity to all Major Freeways û Ample Parking

Serious Inquiries Only CALL BRAD - 313-530-1456

WALGREENS OAKLAND COUNTY, MI 7.35 Cap, Price $4.99M, 2 Yrs Remaining, Walgreens Sales $6 Million. David B. Weiss ~ Broker ~ Call or email (248) 763-8814 ~ noflame@bignet.net

INDUSTRIAL SERVICES

C.W. JENNINGS INDUSTRIAL EXCHANGE Global Industrial Consulting Construction • Acquisitions Exporting • Financing (855) 707-1944

Call Us For Personalized Service: (313) 446-6068 FAX: (313) 446-0347 E-MAIL: cdbclassified@crain.com INTERNET: www.crainsdetroit.com/section/classifieds

See Crainsdetroit.com/Section/Classifieds for more classified advertisements

FAMILY HOME ON A LAKE!!

Truly enjoy Family and Friends like nowhere else on your own Waterfront Property in Northern Michigan! • Prices still LOW... from $400,000 to $10 Million! • Causal to Formal settings! • Joe Blachy will serve as YOUR Buyer Broker! • Call at any time between 7 AM and 10 PM…7 days a week!

Joe Blachy

(231) 409-9119 Call anytime between 7am & 10pm

Email: joe@joeblachy.com Website: joeblachy.com 420 Howard St., Petoskey, MI 49770

JOB FRONT MISCELLANEOUS

SURVEY ANALYZE MATCH

CrainsDetroit.com/JobConnect |

DURAND FROM PAGE 1

A Canadian National Railway railroad runs through the industrial facility’s proposed footprint, which local officials have said is bounded by I-69 and Goodall, Brown and Lansing roads in Vernon Township. But aside from the vague document and local officials vouching for the authenticity of the major development, Project Tim is cloaked in secrecy. Crowe identified Tim Nichols of Labor-Management Fund Advisors LLC in Novi as the “coordinator” of Project Tim. Nichols, a former president of the Michigan State Building Trades Council, confirmed he’s involved in the project, but not working under contract for the company behind Project Tim. “We’re in the very critical stage and if we get much publicity on it, it’s more apt not to be a project than be one,” Nichols told Crain's. Two property owners who have signed land purchase agreements told Crain's that Nichols presented himself as the company’s representative at a recent landowner meeting held at Sheridan Realty & Auction Co. in Owosso, a company Crowe is a partner in. “I am working with several individuals— not working for, working with," Nichols said. “Everybody’s trying to build a story out of something that’s not a story yet.”

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

“Does it really matter what it is if it creates 800 jobs? It’s no different than any other business — you don’t go out and tell your competition what you’re doing.” Durand farmer Levi Zdunic

CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Durand farmer Levi Zdunic is the largest landowner in the 1,000-acre footprint of the “Project Tim” industrial development in the works in Shiawassee County. He has signed land purchase agreements with the company’s real estate broker for an undisclosed number of acres. He stands here in a 220-acre beet field that stretches along I-69, north of the Durand city limits.

Some residents concerned In Durand, the story of Project Tim has spread among residents through social media and at recent public meetings. Speculation has swirled about the project based on what little information local officials have given out — and what they’ve refused to say. “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but things just don’t smell right,” said Dr. William Foster, a fourth-generation veterinarian and owner of Fries Veterinary Clinic in Durand. “We haven’t been told a whole lot — and that’s the real issue here.” Foster has formed a grassroots group opposed to the project, based on its immense size. One of the landowners who has agreed to sell the largest portion of land in the 1,000-acre footprint said it’s not surprising the company is not ready to go public. “Does it really matter what it is if it creates 800 jobs?” asked Levi Zdunic, a Durand farmer who has signed land option agreements to sell “a couple hundred” acres of his 6,000acre family farm to the project’s developer. "It’s no different than any other business — you don’t go out and tell your competition what you’re doing.” Durand has published the mystery company’s document on the city’s website as well as a map showing a “rough idea of project area” and a projected $16 million windfall in new annual local tax revenue from the project. According to the document, the plant would require 10.5 million

CITY OF DURAND

The City of Durand’s website includes this landing page for Project Tim.

CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The proposed footprint for the “Project Tim” industrial complex is adjacent to I-69. Proponents are using the easy interstate highway access as a selling point. construction hours to build at an estimated cost of between $4.5 billion and $5 billion. “This would certainly be one of the biggest projects we’ve ever seen in Shiawassee County, certainly for the state and maybe even the country,” said Justin Horvath, president and CEO of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership. “They're trying to see if this project is even still feasible.” Horvath and Durand City Manager Colleen O’Toole both declined to divulge the industry or type of plant the prospective company wants to build. “What I can say is I think this par-

ticular project — as it’s been presented to us — is going to be pretty much like nothing else anyone’s ever seen,” O’Toole said. “There’s not going to be anything else it like in the world.” Horvath’s organization has shared the company’s document with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. “We don’t comment on projects we may or may not be working on,” MEDC spokeswoman Emily Gerkin Guerrant said. The company’s document attempts to dispel rampant speculation in Durand that a pollution-spewing factory is coming to town.

“A major component of this project is clean energy and the community can be assured that the company is not only willing to make sure it has a positive environmental impact but due to the nature of our funding source, this will be a key requirement,” the document says. “Thus, any project that has an adverse impact on the community will not go forward until those issues are addressed.” Officials in Durand and neighboring Vernon Township say they have entered into non-disclosure agreements with the company while Crowe tries to assemble land inside a proposed industrial footprint through his firm, Crowe Real Estate LLC. Since the end of 2016, Crowe has been actively securing options to buy out residents and farm land owners in Vernon Township, which could be annexed into Durand if the project comes to fruition. O’Toole said the city of Durand already owns about 125 acres of farmland in the Project Tim footprint and has options to buy 364 acres in the township, including a 220-acre plot owned by Zdunic that he planted sugar beets in this summer. Rod Hall, a 62-year-old retired railroad engineer, said he has signed a land option to sell his eight-yearold home and 7.5 acres at the corner of Lansing and Brown roads. Hall said he was “pleased” with the buyout offer for what was supposed to be his retirement home. “I was going to stay here until they buried me,” Hall said. “But now I’m going to go build my dream retirement home.”

“Durand needs this” Horvath and other local officials have steadfastly declined to identify the company, or companies, and the actual industry behind Project Tim. “I do know the name of the company. I do know what it is. I cannot

tell you anything,” Vernon Township Supervisor Bert DeClerg said at a June 12 township meeting. At the township board meeting, DeClerg read from a document the company gave him, detailing the size and scope of the project, according to a video recording of the meeting published by the DurandNow.com news website. “At the time it is complete, they’re looking at 800 full-time jobs — jobs between $25 and $30 an hour jobs,” DeClerg said. “One of the reasons for the area ... was it’s between Flint and Lansing, large areas, tracts of land available, highway access, railroad access, proximity to high voltage powerlines and another one is access to a skilled workforce.” Durand, a city of 3,300 residents, has a long history as a railroad town at the intersection of the Canadian National Railroad, the Great Lakes Central Railroad and the Huron & Eastern Railway. The city’s 114-year-old union station is the Michigan Railroad History Museum, and Amtrak still stops in Durand twice daily on its Chicago-to-Port Huron Blue Water passenger route. Two of Durand’s downtown watering holes have railroad-themed names: D-Railed Bar & Grill and the Iron Horse Pub. “This project, if it were to go through, it would change Vernon Township and it would change the city of Durand — there’s no doubt about that,” DeClerg told residents last month. Foster and other residents fear a heavy industrial use could be hazardous to Durand’s country setting — and the value of their property. “Twenty-four million square feet is not little,” Foster said. Durand is home to two main manufacturers: Cardboard box maker Webcor Packaging Solutions and Terex Simplicity, which makes heavy equipment for the road construction industry. “Our location is ideal for some kind of industry because we’re right on I-69 and we’re an hour from the Canadian border,” said Kathy Olund, executive director of the Durand Chamber of Commerce, who said she’s been left in the dark about the company behind Project Tim. Horvath, the county’s economic development leader, said the prospective company has not made any requests for zoning changes or environmental permits. “As I’ve told folks in the community, we want this project to happen with the community, not to the community,” Horvath said. Horvath said 800 new jobs would likely spur new commercial and housing development in Durand not seen in generations. “Durand needs this,” he said. “Shiawassee County needs this.” As a landowner who is ready to sell, Hall acknowledged the sheer size of the proposed factory for an unspecified use “is the most negative thing.” “That scares a lot of people,” Hall said. “This is like walking into Costco for your first time. It’s overwhelming.” Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654 Twitter: @ChadLivengood

C R A I N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

HOUSING FROM PAGE 3

Right now lower-income people are forced to choose between affordable and quality in Oakland County, he said. And many are one catastrophe â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a medical emergency or car repair, for example â&#x20AC;&#x201D; away from being homeless. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A person shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be forced to live pay check to pay check because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not sufficient stock of high-quality and affordable options in our community,â&#x20AC;? Hertz said. Plans for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Coolidge Placeâ&#x20AC;? project come on the heels of another affordable housing development planned for Oak Park that was announced in late June. The nonprofit Community Housing Network is serving as developer of the $16.9 million â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jefferson Oaksâ&#x20AC;? project for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Michigan. The project will renovate a former school and build affordable town homes around it. As that project has been developed over the past year, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gotten inquiries from 1,600 people for the 60 units of housing it will create, said Kim Marrone, economic development and communications director for Oak Park. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge need for affordable housing,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We feel there should be different types of housing provided.â&#x20AC;?

Affluence creates challenges There are more lower-income renters looking for housing in Oakland County than there are safe, quality options they can afford, Hertz said. In Oakland County the number of low-income renters increased by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2014 to 30,989, according to a report issued by the Urban Institute in April. During the same period, the number of adequate and affordable rental units in the county increased just 12 percent to 9,127, according to the study. For affordable housing scarcity, one common measure is estimating the households spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, said Erica Raleigh, director of Data Driven Detroit. In Oakland County in 2015, 27 percent of households or about 135,000 homes met this threshold and were â&#x20AC;&#x153;housing cost burdened,â&#x20AC;? including both renters and owners, across all income levels. At the same time, rental assistance rates for the county are calculated regionally. Housing rates in the less affluent Macomb and Wayne counties factor into the equation. Current fair market housing rates for the three counties range from $701 for a one-bedroom to $1,300 for a four-bedroom. That means those getting rental assistance have to stay within those rent levels when looking for a place to live. In Oakland County, those are typically low-quality dwellings located in â&#x20AC;&#x153;pockets of poverty,â&#x20AC;? Hertz said. Changing the way fair housing rates are calculated by narrowing the

Ryan Hertz: More renters looking than options available.

Timothy Thorland: Teaming up made sense.

area where rent averages are assessed could be one way to improve the situation. Under that scenario, Oakland County rental assistance recipients could possibly get larger subsidies and get into higher quality housing. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is proposing at a national level. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a temporary fix to the shortage of quality, affordable housing, Hertz said. It would enable SOS and others to provide rental assistance to some families for nicer housing, but they would still have to figure out how to make the rent after the assistance runs out.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A person shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be forced to live pay check to pay check because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not sufficient stock of high-quality and affordable options in our community.â&#x20AC;? Ryan Hertz

And if the assistance being provided is for permanent supportive housing, it would reduce the number of people SOS and others can assist, because the rent for each would be more. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If fair market rents go up, that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily mean (our) contract for rental assistance goes up,â&#x20AC;? Hertz said. Oakland County has the second-highest median household income in Michigan, according to American Community Survey oneyear estimates, second only to Livingston County with $76,455. In the U.S., Oakland County ranks 135th on median household income among counties with a population of 65,000 or more, said Erica Raleigh, director of Data Driven Detroit. Median household income for Oakland County residents in 2015 was $69,998, according to ACS data. That was about 1.4 times the statewide median household income and 25 percent higher than the national household median income.

More cost-efficient than shelters Moving into housing development is the next step to build communities that end homelessness, a revised mission SOS adopted in recent weeks,

Hertz said. SOS coordinated rotating shelter at faith-based sites in Oakland County from its founding in 1985 up until the recession. Demand for its services increased as many found themselves homeless for the first time after the recession. But there werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough rotating shelter beds available, as congregations facing their own issues consolidated and closed, Hertz said. As another way to help get people off the streets, SOS began offering one to six monthsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of rental assistance in 2009-10 when those dollars became readily available as part of the federal stimulus plan. And it began providing case management services for a year after to assist recipients with gaining financial stability. It added permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless â&#x20AC;&#x201D; people facing mental health issues or severe disabilities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; around 2012. That segment of the homeless population accounts for about 20 percent of the roughly 600 people the shelter provides direct financial assistance to each year, COO Jenny Poma said. SOS spends the bulk of its $3 million budget helping the chronically homeless. They are the least likely to be able to find their way out of homelessness, Hertz said, and the most expensive not to help. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Studies show that it costs a community more money to leave a street population to its own devices than it does to pay their rent and provide them supportive services,â&#x20AC;? he said. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, providing access to housing can save communities money because housed people are less likely to use emergency services such as hospitals, jails and emergency shelter than those who are homeless. It pointed to a 2007 study that found an average cost savings on emergency services of $31,545 per person, over the course of two years, and other figures that showed putting dollars behind rental assistance programs is more cost-efficient than shelter costs.

Nonprofit collaboration Spero, as lead developer, and Southwest plan to apply for $11.5 million in low-income housing tax credits in October to fund the bulk of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Coolidge Placeâ&#x20AC;? development in Oak Park. Ethos Development Partners is providing Spero with technical assistance on the tax credits. The developers are proposing local payment in lieu of taxes totaling 15 percent of annual rents or about $75,000 annually. Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas Inc. is serving as architect on the project. Spero is also tapping Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien Construction Co. as general contractor, Dykema Gossett PLLC as legal counsel and KMG Prestige Inc. as property manager. Spero plans to submit a site plan to the city within the next month, Hertz said. The Oak Park project will be Southwest Housingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first multi-family, affordable development outside of Detroit. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s developed 20 affordable housing developments in Detroit since it got into development 20 years ago

and has a history of helping other nonprofits break into housing development. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collaborated on that front with nonprofits including Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development in Detroit and U-Snap Bac and the Northeast Guidance Center for developments in the Mack Alter community, Executive Director Timothy Thorland said. Those nonprofits â&#x20AC;&#x153;could go to the private real estate market and hire any one of the folks we know to build ... develop ... and maybe own it,â&#x20AC;? he said.

But nonprofits arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t operating at cross purposes when they collaborate, Thorland said, since they manage to a double-bottom line, and collaborating creates stability and capacity for the nonprofit sector as whole. Teaming up with SOS made sense because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looking to bring more affordable housing into Oakland County, just as Southwest has done in Detroit, Thorland said. Sherri Welch: 313 (446-1694) Twitter: @SherriWelch

EXPERIENCE THE BENEFITS OF PRIVATE AVIATION. :KHWKHU \RX DUH WUDYHOLQJ IRU EXVLQHVV RU OHLVXUH SULYDWH aviation allows your trip details to be customized to your unique UHTXLUHPHQWV DQG LWÂˇV PRUH DIIRUGDEOH WKDQ \RX WKLQN SECURITY EFFICIENCY

COMFORT FLEXIBILITY

One of the most awarded private aviation companies in the country!

CONVENIENCE SAFETY

SERVICE

PRASE SURVEY

888-426-8999 | PentastarAviation.com | Private Jet Charter | Aircraft Management | Advisory Services | Aircraft Maintenance Avionics Services | Interior Services | Executive Terminal ÂŠ2017 Pentastar Aviation. Air charter transportation services are provided by Pentastar Aviation Charter, Inc., a U.S. FAR Part 135 RQ GHPDQG DLU FDUULHU RU E\ RWKHU 8 6 )$5 3DUW FHUWLĂ&#x20AC;FDWHG RQ GHPDQG DLU FDUULHUV DUUDQJHG E\ 3HQWDVWDU $YLDWLRQ //&

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

FREEP FROM PAGE 3 www.crainsdetroit.com Editor-in-Chief Keith E. Crain Executive Vice President KC Crain Publisher/Editor Ron Fournier, (313) 446-1674 or rfournier@crain.com Group Publisher Mary Kramer, (313) 446-0399 or mkramer@crain.com Managing Editor Michael Lee, (313) 446-1630 or malee@crain.com Director, Crain Custom Content Kristin Bull, (313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com Product Manager/Marketing and Events Kim Winkler, (313) 446-6764 or kwinkler@crain.com Digital Product Manager Carlos Portocarrero, (313) 446-6056 or cportocarrero@crain.com Creative Director David Kordalski, (216) 771-5169 or dkordalski@crain.com News Editor Beth Reeber Valone, (313) 446-5875 or bvalone@crain.com Special Projects Editor Amy Elliott Bragg, (313) 446-1646 or abragg@crain.com Design and Copy Editor Beth Jachman, (313) 446-0356 or bjachman@crain.com Research and Data Editor Sonya Hill, (313) 446-0402 or shill@crain.com Newsroom (313) 446-0329, FAX (313) 446-1687, TIP LINE (313) 446-6766

REPORTERS Tyler Clifford, breaking news. (313) 446-1612 or tclifford@crain.com Annalise Frank, breaking news. (313) 446-0416 or afrank@crain.com Jay Greene, senior reporter Covers health care. (313) 446-0325 or jgreene@crain.com Chad Livengood Covers Detroit rising. (313) 446-1654 or clivengood@crain.com Kurt Nagl Breaking news. (313) 446-0337 or knagl@crain.com Kirk Pinho Covers real estate. (313) 446-0412 or kpinho@crain.com Bill Shea, enterprise editor Covers the business of sports. (313) 446-1626 or bshea@crain.com Lindsay VanHulle Lansing reporter. (517) 657-2204 or lvanhulle@crain.com Dustin Walsh, senior reporter Covers economic issues. (313) 446-6042 or dwalsh@crain.com Sherri Welch, senior reporter Covers nonprofits and philanthropy. (313) 446-1694 or swelch@crain.com ADVERTISING Sales Inquiries (313) 446-6032; FAX (313) 393-0997 Director of Sales Lisa Rudy Senior Account Manager Katie Sullivan Senior Account Manager/Political Specialist Maria Marcantonio Advertising Sales Gerry Golinske, Sharon Mulroy, Diane Owen Classified Sales Manager Angela Schutte, (313) 446-6051 Classified Sales Lynn Calcaterra, (313) 446-6086 Events Manager Kacey Anderson Marketing and Sales Promotions Manager Christina Fabugais-Dimovska Senior Art Director Sylvia Kolaski Special Projects Coordinator Keenan Covington Sales Support Suzanne Janik Media Services Manager Hussein Abdallah CUSTOMER SERVICE Main Number: Call (877) 824-9374 or customerservice@crainsdetroit.com Subscriptions $59 one year, $98 two years. Out of state, $79 one year, $138 for two years. Outside U.S.A., add $48 per year to out-of-state rate for surface mail. Call (313) 446-0450 or (877) 824-9374. Single Copies (877) 824-9374 Reprints Laura Picariello (732) 723-0569 or lpicariello@crain.com To find a date a story was published (313) 446-0406 or e-mail infocenter@crain.com Crain’s Detroit Business is published by Crain Communications Inc. Chairman Keith E. Crain President Rance Crain Treasurer Mary Kay Crain Senior Executive Vice President William A. Morrow Executive Vice President/Director of Strategic Operations Chris Crain Executive Vice President/Director of Corporate Operations KC Crain Vice President/Production & Manufacturing Dave Kamis Chief Financial Officer Bob Recchia Chief Information Officer Anthony DiPonio G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) Editorial & Business Offices 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI 48207-2732; (313) 446-6000 Cable address: TWX 248-221-5122 AUTNEW DET CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS ISSN # 0882-1992 is published weekly by Crain Communications Inc. at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI 48207-2732. Periodicals postage paid at Detroit, MI and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS, Circulation Department, P.O. Box 07925, Detroit, MI 48207-9732. GST # 136760444. Printed in U.S.A. Contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content in any manner without permission is prohibited.

“We definitely want an experienced newsroom leader with hard news chops who understands digital transformation and metrics,” said Amalie Nash, a regional executive editor for the USA Today Network and a former Free Press assistant managing editor. She’s aiding top Indianapolis Star editor and former senior Free Press editor Jeff Taylor as interim Free Press editor while a fulltime replacement is sought. “When you have a property the size of Detroit, you want someone that has run a newsroom or been a No. 2, and understands the complexities of a large organization,” Nash said. They declined to discuss potential candidates, including WJBK Ch. 2’s M.L. Elrick, the former Freep reporter who won a 2009 Pulitzer Prize at the paper and who told Crain’s on Friday that he’s interested in the job. He also interviewed for the job before Huschka was hired. “I love the Free Press, and if you love the Free Press, it’s an intriguing opportunity,” Elrick said.

Closer to Gannett Whoever is hired will have to quickly deploy a plan to stem audience declines while cracking the code on how to do it with a shrinking newsroom. One of the internal criticisms of Huschka was that he lacked that leadership experience, and has never been a reporter. Nash would not comment on Huschka’s performance. Several Free Press journalists told Crain’s that investigative and project journalism took months or even years to get into the paper, such as the newspaper’s in-depth analysis of police accountability that published July 9. Freep insiders attributed the problem to an overtaxed and shrinking newsroom that has lost much of its veteran leadership and lacked a charismatic leader at the top who could quarterback enterprise journalism in a timely manner. While a new editor will have to solve internal work flow issues, Nash and Taylor both emphasized the new leader’s role in the USA Today Network collaboration. The new editor will be asked to “contextualize stories for Michigan and the country” because the Free Press will be a “huge contributor” to the USA Today Network, Nash said. The Freep’s printed pages and its website already include stories and content from throughout the Gannett chain as part of the USA Today Network, and other papers carry Free Press content. Such collaboration has been attempted by Gannett in the past, but the current effort is perhaps the hardest push the company has made to date to share stories and cross-sell advertising. “We are building out a network that collaborates much more than in years past,” Taylor said. The network was created after Gannett spun off its broadcast and digital units in June 2015, leaving the newspapers under the Gannett name. The company also has elimi-

nated the publisher role from its newspapers, including the Free Press, and top editors now report to regional editors instead — creating a tension in which local editors often have to choose between local journalism and network projects, Freep insiders said. Nash and Taylor said that the Free Press’ journalism under the network will continue to focus on local and statewide stories because that’s what the Free Press does best. The Detroit market produces news of national interest, and local Free Press stories often are of a general wider interest that would be of value to the national network, Nash said. With a logo and typeface change to match the rest of the chain’s publications, the Free Press last week took another step closer to Gannett, which has owned it since 2005 but had allowed it to operate somewhat outside many of its corporate initiatives — something made possible because of local collective bargaining deals and a federal joint operating agreement with the rival Detroit News.

Reversing declines Bolstering the newspaper’s online audience also will be a priority, Nash and Taylor said. After years of growth as online and mobile technology matured, the newspaper industry recently has seen declines in online audience numbers. The numbers for the Free Press alarmed Gannett. In the 12 months from May 2016 to May 2017, Freep.com traffic peaked at 8.9 million unique site visitors in November 2016, traffic fueled at least in part by the presidential election, according to comScore.com, a Reston, Va., digital analytics firm that tracks website traffic. Traffic dropped to 6.7 million visitors in December and cratered at 4.8 million in April. It rebounded to 5.3 million in May, which is the most recent data available. The comScore numbers include visits to Freep.com via desktop computers, tablets, and mobile devices, according to Adam Lella, a senior analyst with comScore Inc. On the print side, the Free Press suffers from the same downward trend that’s plagued the newspaper industry for more than a decade. The paper’s weekday average paid circulation has declined 63.3 percent over the past 10 years, from 329,579 in April 2007 to 120,757 during the week in March of this year, according to the most recent data available from Arlington Heights, Ill.-based circulation trackers Alliance for Audited Media. The Free Press Sunday edition’s circulation has fallen 60.5 percent over the same time, from 647,699 in 2007 to 255,569 now. Such declines mean revenue has shrunk, and there’s been a corresponding trend of newsroom job cuts to offset the declines — making an editor’s job to build audience much harder. Fewer reporters and editors mean less content.

Turnover Staff at the Free Press also continues to leave for jobs elsewhere or in other industries. In a move unrelat-

ed to Huschka leaving, Free Press sports director Kevin Bull announced his resignation on Thursday — a decision that he told his staff was his own and made to spend more time with his family after years of long, late hours on the sports desk. Hired in 2006, he was in the top sports job formally since January 2016 and in the interim after Gene Myers, the longtime sports editor, took early retirement in October 2015. Bull is the latest among hundreds of newsroom veterans who have exited over the past decade — taking invaluable institutional knowledge with them. The newspaper had about 300 newsroom employees in 2005, and now has less than half that. Huschka’s lack of leadership experience was exacerbated by such losses. During his tenure, veteran staffers such as Grace Bennett, who handled the newsroom budget, and managing editor Nancy Laughlin with 20 years in the newsroom, took early retirements. The talent exodus also left a thin leadership bench at the Freep. The three senior newsroom leaders directly under Huschka who remain are: James Hill, senior news director: Previously a reporter at the Chicago Tribune, he joined Free Press in 2000 as a city hall reporter and worked on the metro desk as an editor before becoming politics editor in 2012. Mark Rochester, senior news director, investigations: Hired by Taylor in May 2017 after working as executive editor at a paper near Charlotte, N.C.; he had senior newsroom roles in Denver, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New York Newsday and the Associated Press prior to that. Ashley Woods, consumer experience director: A confidant of Huschka’s, she’s responsible for the effort to build audience. Hired in May 2014 as director of digital audience development, she was previously editor of the Detroit Huffington Post from 2012-14 and worked for MLive. com, Model D Media, and Real Detroit Weekly before that. Nash and Taylor declined to discuss details of their replacement search other than to say it would be national and could include candidates from outside the company. They were not involved in the decision to hire Huschka in 2015. That process was handled by Joyce Jenereaux, then the president of the Detroit Media Partnership that oversees the joint business functions of the Free Press and The Detroit News. She’s since retired.

Huschka speaks Huschka, in a statement emailed to Crain’s on Friday afternoon, defended his record. “I’m immensely proud of the journalism our newsroom crafted in my time as executive editor of the Free Press. The Free Press motto, ‘On Guard,’ was our mission statement, and we focused on delivering powerful watchdog journalism,” he wrote. He noted that the newspaper at one point had two dozen journalists working on Flint water crisis coverage, and other coverage and projects he mentioned included the Freep’s 16-page Flint Water Resource Guide, the “12th & Clairmount” documentary, and reporting on no-fault insurance, Detroit’s post-bankruptcy finances, and lack of state oversight of building contractors. Huschka, 45, was named editor in August 2015 to fill the top newsroom job that had been vacant after Paul Anger retired in May of that year after 10 years in the role. He’d been promoted to managing director March 2015 and had been acting top editor after Anger left. Two notable incidents also occurred during Huschka’s time as editor: Drew Sharp’s failure in late 2015 to attribute information previously reported by another journalist drew national media industry attention, and in November the Free Press prematurely called Michigan for Hillary Clinton on election night. Huschka apologized in an explanation story the day after the election. Huschka’s wife, Amy, was an assistant editor/social media who was among the newsroom layoffs last year. He had been with the newspaper since 1999, coming to the Free Press as a page designer in 1999 from The Kansas City Star, where he had worked as a designer and copy editor since 1997. He became the Freep’s design director for news in 2005 and editor for news and presentation in 2010. Two years later, he was promoted to assistant managing editor for presentation and news desks, according to his LinkedIn profile. The 1994 University of North Dakota graduate also worked as a copy editor at the Minot Daily News and Grand Forks Herald, both North Dakota newspapers. Bill Shea: 313 (446-1626) Twitter: @Bill_Shea19

NOTE: Kevin Bull is married to Kristin Bull, the director of Crain Custom Content, which is separate from the newsroom at Crain’s Detroit Business.

INDEX TO COMPANIES These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business: Advomas

Integrated Health Associates

Ascension Health Michigan

Laser Eye Institute

Metro Solution

Southwest Housing Solution

Beaumont Hospital Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority Dingell Veterans Affairs Medical Center DMC

7, 10 8 12 10, 13

St. John Health St. Joseph Mercy Health System

10 8

Gannett

Traffic Jam and Snug

Genesee Community Health Center

Volunteers of America Michigan

Henry Ford Health System

Wayne State University

10, 13

C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U LY 1 7 , 2 0 1 7

THE WEEK ON THE WEB

RUMBLINGS

JULY 7 - 13 | For more, visit crainsdetroit.com

Trademark filed for soccer club

om Gores’ Palace Sports & Entertainment filed for federal trademark protection for the “Detroit City Soccer Club” name about nine months after registering more than a dozen website domain names linked to the possible moniker of a Major League Soccer team in the city. The trademark registration came July 6, the same day Crain’s first published a story about the domain name registration in September and the existence of a @DetroitCitySC Twitter account established in January. Crain’s discovered the registration, which lists intellectual property lawyer Michael Melfi of Bodman PLC’s Ann Arbor office as the attorney of record, using an online search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark database. Gores, the owner of the Detroit Pistons, and Dan Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc. and Rock Ventures LLC, are trying get an MLS expansion team for downtown Detroit. They’ve proposed a $1 billion stadium and mixed-use development to be constructed on the site of the half-built Wayne County Consolidated Jail on Gratiot Avenue at I-375. “Basically it was done after the story surfaced last week as protection,” Kevin Grigg, spokesman for Palace Sports & Entertainment, said of the trademark registration. “No names have been selected. We are still very early in our bid process with the MLS. This is simply to maintain our optionality for the future.” Last week, Grigg confirmed that Palace Sports had registered the domain names but cautioned that the soccer effort remains early in the process and nothing has been decided on a team name. The domains were registered Sept. 28 using a Palace email address and all redirect to palacenet.com. The name registrations don’t necessarily mean the MLS team would be called Detroit City Soccer Club. It’s a common practice in sports and business to register potential names early at a relatively low cost before someone else — called cybersquatters — buys them with the intent of selling them at an inflated price, which is what happened with the www.littlecaesarsarena.com domain.

Detroit digits A numbers-focused look at last week’s headlines:

The number of families that were able to keep homes that had been lost to foreclosure after fulfilling the Detroit Land Bank Authority buy back program’s requirements.

$345,000

The grant the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is using to give West Riverfront Park a complete facelift.

700

The number of “affordable” housing units Bedrock LLC said it will create or maintain under an agreement with the city of Detroit. overseeing the sale agreement of Detroit Medical Center for 10 years to an investor-owned hospital chain operator, sent DMC a bill for $2.5 million in interest on the $80.5 million escrow deposit it allegedly owes. J The Oakland Press is downsizing its real estate footprint by moving from its downtown Pontiac office to a location yet to be decided. J Topgolf International Inc. has submitted a development application to the city of Auburn Hills for a $12.5 million entertainment complex that would be the company’s first Michigan location. J Developer Cunningham-Limp Co. has purchased 19 acres of commercial property in Auburn Hills from Kensington Church. J Swanson Funeral Home Inc. in Flint has been shut down for “deplorable, unsanitary conditions,” including unrefrigerated bodies stored in a garage. J Crain Communications Inc., the parent company of Crain's Detroit Business, changed its ownership structure with the buyout of longtime President Rance Crain and his family. J Gymboree is closing nine stores across Michigan as part of a plan to close 350 locations nationwide. J Novi-based Franzese USA Inc.

launched a new service to help make sure its customers don’t run out of its specialty hot chocolate and gelato mix again. J Venture capital activity in Michigan increased in the second quarter, boosting its state ranking, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association and PitchBook Data Inc. J Ford Motor Co. has stepped up as the presenting sponsor of the 2017 Woodward Dream Cruise. J Fiat Chrysler will permanently close its Conner Assembly Plant in Detroit on Aug. 31 as production of the Dodge Viper ends, Automotive News reported. J The Femology business lounge, a new working space for women entrepreneurs, is opening in downtown Detroit in the Charles Trombly House. J Cobo Center has locked in the North American International Auto Show for the next eight years with an $11.8 million contract. J North American Bancard Holdings LLC completed its acquisition of Woodland Hills, Calif.-based Total Merchant Services Inc. J At 65,000-square feet, the “largest Little Caesar in the world” painted on the roof of the new Little Caesars Arena is set to be finished by the end of July.

OTHER NEWS Litigious activist Robert Davis added the owners of the Detroit Pistons, the NBA and the operators of the new Little Caesars Arena to a lawsuit seeking to force a public vote on taxpayer funding for the Pistons’ return to the city. J The Inner Circle Greenway, a 26mile recreational path in Detroit, received a $2 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation. J The Detroit-based McGregor Fund has approved $5.5 million in grants as the first round of funding directed at programs working to alleviate poverty and strengthen the region’s social services safety net. J Over the past 15 years, the state’s legal foreign-born residents have increased 24.5 percent, while the natives have decreased 1.5 percent over the same time, according to a report by Ann Arbor think tank Michigan Economic Center. J

BUSINESS NEWS As Dow Chemical closes in on a merger with Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont, the Midland-based company has announced changes at the executive level, including naming its North American geographical president, Pedro Suarez, chief commercial officer. J Macomb County-born rock star Kid Rock has filed for a trademark for what appears to be a new restaurant called “Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit Bar & Grill.” J Legacy DMC, the nonprofit board J

OLYMPIA ENTERTAINMENT

Coca-Cola extended its longstanding deal with Olympia Entertainment last week, becoming a Landmark-level partner at the new Little Caesars Arena.

CHAD LIVENGOOD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Open since 1890, Roma Café has claimed to be the oldest Italian restaurant in Detroit.

Roma Café closes, to reopen under new name T

he family that’s owned and operated Roma Café in Detroit for nearly a century has closed the Italian restaurant, but the head chef is renovating the building in Eastern Market and plans to reopen this fall under a similar name. A sign posted last week on the bright red front door of the popular eatery on Riopelle Street says “after 127 years of continuous service at this location, Roma Cafe is out-ofbusiness and permanently CLOSED.” “Grazie molto to all of the incredible people over the years who helped create so many wonderful memories at Roma,” owner Janet Sossi Belcoure wrote in the note signed “Love & Pasta.” Open since 1890, Roma Café has claimed to be the oldest Italian restaurant in Detroit. The Sossi family has owned and operated Roma Café since 1918. Belcoure’s late father, Hector Sossi, bought the restaurant from his uncle, Morris Sossi, who became a partner

in the restaurant in 1918 and bought out the original owners, the Marazza family, the following year. Hector Sossi died in January 2016 at age 92. Guy Pelino, who has been head chef at Roma for three years, said he’s renovating the 154-seat restaurant and will reopen after Labor Day under the name of Roma’s Cucina. “We’ll keep the same traditional dishes, keep the charm of the place,” he said. “We don’t want to lose any of the customers that have been coming here for years. We want to keep the legacy going.” After being unable to find a buyer, Belcoure said she decided to close the restaurant, dissolve the Roma Café name and the lease the building to Pelino. “I grew up there and I’ve been running it all by myself the last 20 years and I’ve been there 38 years,” Belcoure told Crain’s. “It just became an impossibility anymore. I’m almost 64 years old and it’s a tough business.”

MLS will monitor fan interest for soccer match M

ajor League Soccer said it will keep on eye on the public interest in the match next week between European soccer giants A.S. Roma and Paris Saint-Germain at Comerica Park. Detroit businessmen Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores want an MLS expansion team — the league will award two this year and another two some time later — and a sellout crowd won’t harm the market’s chances of getting a club. “Major League Soccer monitors the support for soccer in all 12 potential expansion markets, including marquee international events and crowds for soccer in the lower divisions throughout our country,” Dan Courtemanche, MLS’ executive vice president for Communications, said via email Friday afternoon. By lower divisions, he’s referencing Detroit City FC, the semi-pro

team in Hamtramck that draws about 5,000 fans a game. Organizers have said capacity for the game at Comerica Park, scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, will be about 37,000. A spokesman for the ballpark said they have sold about 30,000 tickets. A.S. Roma and Paris Saint-Germain, which have never met in competition before, are playing each other as part of the International Champions Cup, an eight-team round-robin preseason tournament that will have eight elite clubs playing matches at 11 U.S. stadiums July 19-30. The ICC tournament is organized by New York City-based Relevent Sports LLC, which is owned by Detroit-born New York real estate developer and billionaire Stephen Ross, a 1962 University of Michigan grad and the university’s largest donor.

35+

75+