21 minute read
Inside Track
Caddy’s life of service
Salvation Army divisional commander has spent more than four decades helping people in need throughout the Midwest.
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Danielle Nelson
dnelson@grbj.com
The Salvation Army is central to providing social services to people around the world, and Major Glen Caddy has spent over four decades leading some of those efforts.
Caddy is the divisional commander for the Salvation Army Western Michigan and Northern Indiana and throughout his career has helped the organization carry out its mission of alleviating hunger, overcoming poverty, providing shelter, sharing Christian values and implementing community activities. It’s also allowed him to live in various parts of the country while carrying out his service mission.
His divisional leadership was evident in 2020 when individuals and families were struggling due to COVID-19’s e ects on the economy.
Despite the downturn, Caddy was able to help the organization’s signature Red Kettle Campaign — even with fewer volunteers than previous years — surpass its $1.3 million goal by nearly $200,000 through direct mail and online donations.
Caddy’s ability to lead the division comes from years of leadership positions at the Salvation Army.
After his freshman year of college, Caddy became a ministry intern at the Salvation Army in Jackson, working alongside an ordained o cer for two years. He later enrolled in the Salvation Army College for O cer Training, a 23-month program.
“We did a lot of classroom work and a lot of what they call field training when we were out in Salvation Army Corps facilities working in the neighborhoods and communities, getting hands-on experience to back up the classroom experience,” he said.
When he completed the program, Caddy was commissioned as a lieutenant, ordained as a minister and appointed to lead the Salvation Army DeKalb Corps Community Center in Illinois.
The Salvation Army in DeKalb had a small congregation and a food pantry. Caddy, along with volunteers, started youth programs, character-building programs and a day care center.
“It was determined that a ordable day care was a huge need in that community, so we opened a day care center,” he said. “We had character-building programs and Scouting programs. They were after school or evening activities that basically taught life skills and teamwork and those types of things. It was a good time. We were new and we were young and didn’t know any better. We started 22 new activities the first year we were there. The second year we said, ‘this is too much’ and we had to prioritize some things.”
After completing his third year, Caddy was appointed to Belvidere, Illinois. The main employer was a Chrysler plant but when he arrived, the plant had been closed for 26 weeks. At the time, Caddy said, 52% of the population was unemployed.
He determined there was a need for a food pantry, so the Salvation Army partnered with Green Giant, a company brand that sells canned and frozen vegetables, to open a food pantry. Through that partnership, the organization also was able to secure Pillsbury products.
“We would have canned chili, canned stew, hamburger helpers and those types of things,” he said. “Then we were able to make relationships with local grocery stores so we could buy fresh meats and buy things wholesale to restock the pantry. That was the biggest thing that we did in that community, to say there is a problem and we need to fix it.”
During his time in Belvidere, Caddy was tasked with stabilizing the organization’s finances. As a result, they had to “trim” the frequency of some of the activities di erent programs were o ering.
He was later appointed to Appleton, Wisconsin, where a new Salvation Army community center was built. He started youth programs, a food program that was run by volunteers and opened a free walk-in medical clinic.
Four years later, Caddy moved to the divisional headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, which served southern Illinois and Missouri. He was appointed as a divisional youth leader, overseeing youth programs and Salvation Army summer camps. He also sat on the division’s finance board.
After another four years, Caddy moved to the Salvation Army Central Territory headquarters, becoming the assistant program secretary. He worked with 11 Midwestern states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and Indiana.
While there, he helped design and develop programs for evangelistic outreach and member recruitment.
After three years, Caddy moved to Grand Rapids for the first time and became a divisional secretary for Western Michigan and Northern Indiana, which consists of 39 counties in Michigan and six counties in Indiana. There were 28 di erent Salvation Army locations in those areas.
He dealt with property, human resources, IT and personnel issues. Caddy visited all local corps centers at least a couple of times per year to review and conduct inspections.
During that time, he completed his bachelor’s degree in practical ministry.
In 2003, Caddy moved back to the territorial headquarters in Chicago where he focused on developing and monitoring programs aimed at the denominational life at the Salvation Army such as discipleship programs, Sunday School curriculums, youth groups and music activities.
Caddy was appointed to Royal Oak after three years at the territorial headquarters. He was the pastor and a corps o cer who led a congregation, community center program and summer camps. He also helped to lead a food pantry, an after-school program and an overnight men’s shelter.
Four years later, he moved back to Chicago to join the Salvation Army College for O cer Training as director of business. He was responsible for supervising the human resources, building and finance departments and managed record and bookkeeping for all students. He also was an instructor, teaching property management, finance, Bible and preaching classes.
During that time, he also earned a master’s degree in ministry leadership.
He then was appointed to Wichita, Kansas, as city commander, responsible for three social services institutions, two corps community centers and a camp.
“At the time, we ran a home for boys who were under court-ordered supervision,” he said. “We had a 40-bed unit for boys. We had a transitional shelter for families who were working their way out of homelessness. We had a foster care program where we supported foster families with training and development and licensing.
“We had two community centers that basically had their own youth and music programs. We had a big social services program in all the locations as well, providing food pantry emergency assistance and energy assistance. We had a camp that was utilized all summer long for day camps and overnight camps and then in the o season it was used as an event center where people could rent space and have events.”
Caddy spent two-and-half years in Wichita before returning to Grand Rapids in 2015 as the divisional commander.
“It was nice coming back someplace we’ve been before,” he said. “It had been 12 years between and to see the growth in Grand Rapids from 2003 to 2015 was phenomenal.
“Obviously the opening of the Grand Rapids Kroc Center on the south side on South Division was a huge accomplishment in the time that we were away. It is a state-ofthe-art facility that provides a lot of activities for the community. They partner with local schools to provide swim lessons, music lessons, after-school academies, senior programs. In addition to the fitness classes and other music and art classes, we have martial arts, ballet, gymnastics and all kinds of things. In addition to that, they have a great backyard, which is a nice playground. It has basketball courts, soccer fields, as well as a community garden and, in the summertime, it has a giant slipand-slide down the hill.
“This was a phenomenal thing to move back in to and say ‘well, this wasn’t here before.’”
As the divisional commander, Caddy provides “administrative and ecclesiastical leadership.” He also serves as chair of the division’s finance board.
“We have the Kent County Social Services, which provides rent, food utility assistance and a program we call Pathways of Hope,” he said. “Families who are stuck in poverty, we help them break that cycle of poverty, we work with them in setting goals and working with their strengths. That’s a new initiative we’ve been working on the last few years.
“We have a Turning Point program, which is a substance use disorder treatment program. We also have the housing assessment program, which is the gateway for anybody needing housing in Kent County. They go through the clearinghouse at our housing assessment program where they have access to all the agencies and programs that are available for housing.”
GLEN CADDY
Organization: Salvation Army Position: Divisional commander for the Salvation Army Western Michigan and Northern Indiana Age: 65 Birthplace: Detroit Residence: Comstock Park Family: Wife, Carol; daughter Jennifer and son Joe Biggest Career Break: “When I went back and said, ‘God, this is where you are leading me.’ In our positions we don’t really compete for jobs. We don’t promote ourselves into jobs, so the idea of saying, ‘This is my next career move’ just doesn’t seem to happen that way. I would say my biggest career break was back 45 years ago when I said, ‘Yes, this is where I am called to go.’”
Major Glen Caddy said he plans to retire from the Salvation Army next year after more than 40 years of service.
Fewer cubicles, more collaborative spaces projected for downtowns
Libraries also are seeing an upswing in post-pandemic remote workers.
Cameryn Cass
Capital News Service
LANSING — Remote work brought on by the pandemic and projections that some of it will be permanent is reshaping Michigan downtowns and traditional o ce spaces.
Workers who continue to work from home still are going out into the community and making use of alternative workspaces at co ee shops and libraries, said Richard Florida, an economic analysis and policy professor at the University of Toronto.
Already, collaborative spaces in Michigan libraries are seeing higher tra c as people seek a place to work, said Deborah Mikula, the executive director of the Michigan Library Association.
“What we are seeing is a new love of libraries,” Mikula said. “Libraries are not just about books — they are places for individuals who are working remotely.”
Each of the 396 public library systems in the state has private study rooms available for community members to use, Mikula said.
More people are taking advantage of these workspaces in centrally located libraries that often are in business districts. Although tra c has increased, libraries around the state are pleased and prepared for this library revival, Mikula said.
The Detroit Regional Chamber estimates 20% of post-pandemic working days will be remote.
And that has a significant impact on downtown real estate.
For those returning to in-person work, o ce use will evolve, said Christopher Moyer, the director of communications at the Detroit Regional Chamber.
The chamber is studying the likelihood of moving away from cubicles and toward collaborative spaces, an idea Florida recently endorsed at the Mackinac Policy Conference.
However, Florida said traditional o ce space is “dead.” He calls for a reimagining of what brings people downtown: in place of central business districts, he envisions that post-pandemic downtowns will instead have what he calls essential connectivity districts.
Long before COVID-19, organizations created authentic and successful downtown community spaces, said Michelle Parkkonen, the managing director of technical assistance programs at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC).
But the pandemic fostered urgency in addressing what downtowns ought to look like, Parkkonen said.
“Those downtown businesses and public spaces can become that third place, that new o ce for remote workers to alleviate some of those (work-from-home) challenges,” Parkkonen said.
Michigan Main Street is a program through the MEDC that helps 24 communities revitalize and preserve historic downtowns. It works to create the sort of high vibrancy businesses people want, Parkkonen said.
Even if people move away from traditional o ce space, they will still need a space to meet and work together, Moyer said.
“We anticipate a continued strong economic recovery in Michigan, which will lead to and engender o ce spaces being used for increased collaboration, but also the expansion of mixed-use commercial and public spaces,” Moyer said.
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Comerica’s index declines
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assemblies, total trade, hotel occupancy and sales tax revenue. All data are seasonally adjusted. Nominal values have been converted to constant dollar values. Index levels are expressed in terms of three-month moving averages.
Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Dye Bank, The Retail Bank and Wealth Management. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank has locations in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Comerica reported total assets of $94.5 billion as of Sept. 30.
SpringGR launches The 250 Project
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and one employee scale up their revenue to at least $250,000 or by 30% by the end of 2022.
The program will use the StreetWise MBA curriculum by Interise, a national nonprofit founded in 2004 that helps small businesses develop their companies.
Obande said at the event he has read Business Journal articles over the years citing studies that ranked Grand Rapids on various metrics, such as it being the No. 2 city for new small businesses, yet 122nd in the U.S. for Hispanic entrepreneurs and the second-worst in the country for African Americans economically.
He said his organization hasn’t seen that equity gap shrinking due to the many barriers entrepreneurs of color still face.
In 2020, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation commissioned Linda Fowler, founder and CEO of Regionerate, to produce a Grand Rapids Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Assessment that took nine months and examined gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through interviews with ESOs like SpringGR, conversations with entrepreneurs and other research.
Obande said SpringGR found three conclusions from the report of particular interest: •There is a need to address barriers to entrepreneurs of color more e ectively, including programmatic, cultural and financial barriers. •Small business owners want to support each other by networking and partnering in ways that grow their businesses — especially entrepreneurs of color. •The current capital stack is not inclusive and has gaps, especially for growth-focused companies.
“We have a question of scale in our city. … Over the years, we’ve tried to address this. We’ve said, ‘OK, which of the businesses that have come through SpringGR have the right founders and have a scalable business, and what supports can we put around them to allow them to grow?’ We never were able to crack that cookie fully,” Obande said.
SpringGR recently initiated conversations with other ESOs, entrepreneurs above and below the $250,000 mark, and lenders, and four main problems stood out: Businesses of color need more customers, a scaling-up methodology, industry-specific knowledge, and accessible and attractive (not high-interest) lending.
Although community development financial institutions like Northern Initiatives and Rende Progress Capital are working on that last piece, more is needed to improve the full picture.
SpringGR’s goal is that The 250 Project — a 14-session, seven-month program — will systematically address each of those needs in ways its original 12-week business training program is not able to do.
The 250 Project will aim to: •Increase business revenue by 30% or at least up to $250,000 by the end of next year. •Identify new and retain repeat customers. •Build a “scale-up” plan for all participating businesses. •Identify lending partners that will build flexible, low-interest products, working with the business to get to a “Yes.”
Interise’s StreetWise MBA curriculum has been implemented in over 90 communities nationally, focusing on underserved entrepreneurs and culminating in a three-year comprehensive growth action plan. Since its creation, StreetWise MBA has delivered an average growth rate of 36% for businesses that complete the program.
Obande said SpringGR invited each of the 55-plus individuals to the Nov. 16 event so they could contribute ideas and solutions that can be woven into the program to ensure the best outcomes. Specifically, what they believe contributes to the problem, what they are willing to commit to as a problem-solver, and who is not in the room that should be (and could be invited next time).
Attendees broke into small groups after the presentation and reported ideas to the room for increasing the economic success of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)-owned businesses, such as: •Being willing to consider mergers and acquisitions as a path to growth rather than only starting from the ground up, an idea suggested by Eastern Floral founder Bing Goei. •Increasing the diversity of their networking circles, suggested by Sharouq Almallah, director at the Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at Grand Valley State University. •Reimagining venture capital and banks to specifically target minority groups •Considering more diverse categories besides lifestyle and service industries when looking to start a business •Additional partnerships such as equity investments to raise capital rather than only looking to banks •Educating entrepreneurs until they overcome the “side hustle” mindset and embrace a mindset of building enterprise-scale, generational wealth
Applications for businesses that want to go through the program open on Dec. 1, and informational sessions for stakeholders, applicants and the public will be held on Dec. 16 and Jan. 13.
As of now, Obande said SpringGR does not know how many businesses in the community will meet the $100,000 revenue and one employee threshold, but he is looking forward to finding out. More information is at springgr. com.
NCTF hires venture fund vet as managing director
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pleased to welcome Ollie into the role of managing director,” said Renee Tabben, president of Bank of America’s Grand Rapids market and board chair of NCTF. “He is a highly regarded, innovative leader in the venture capital space and bringing his expertise to western Michigan will ensure that entrepreneurs of color have direct access to capital and support services.”
As managing director, Howie will be responsible for guiding the work of the organization to achieve its mission by sourcing deal flow and building relationships with investors and the community. He also will lead business growth through creating, negotiating and closing investment opportunities.
Inspired by an idea in 2018 by Klohs, former president and CEO of The Right Place, NCTF launched on Jan. 23, 2020. She said hiring Howie is the next step in the process of enacting the vision for a more equitable economy.
“This announcement is the culmination of my three-year journey to bring this type of investment vehicle to the region,” Klohs said. “I am delighted to welcome Ollie to West Michigan, where I know he will be successful in not only continuing to grow the fund, but to start making investments and creating upward mobility for entrepreneurs who have not been given opportunity historically.”
Klohs shared her idea in 2018 with her friend Skot Welch, founder of Global Bridgebuilders, a diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. Welch then recruited successful venture capitalist Kwame Anku, CEO and gen-
eral partner of Black Star Fund, who is widely known as one of the first Black venture capitalists to create a fund with an all-Blackowned company portfolio. Anku began serving as a fund consultant during the first year of NCTF operations. The trio incubated the idea and socialized it with potential funders, finding a wide base of support.
Welch served on the selection committee that hired Howie.
“We had strong interest from exceptional people, but Ollie’s direct experience working for the Opportunity Fund, being involved in their venture e orts with a similar focus, and having deep connections in the entrepreneur-of-color ecosystem, was simply unmatched,” Welch said.
NCTF initially was seeded with funds from Bank of America and Consumers Energy Foundation. DTE Energy followed, along with additional funding from BoA and the Consumers foundation, as well as John Kennedy, Gentex, The Meijer Foundation, Horizon Bank, Mercantile Bank, Rockford Construction, Spectrum Health Innovations, Wolverine Building Group, WGO Capital and Brooks Capital Management.
To date, the fund has raised almost $10 million, which was the goal set before it would make its first investments.
NCTF intends to invest between $250,000 and $500,000 in second-stage, people of color-owned companies involved in advanced manufacturing, food and agribusiness, e-commerce and information technology, life sciences, and finance technology, as well as legacy and transitioning succession businesses.
The fund will focus on three areas: West Michigan-based, people of color-owned companies; transitioning, nonlocal companies that are willing to place an entrepreneur of color in executive posi-
tions; and second-stage entrepreneurs of color who will relocate to West Michigan to grow their company.
NCTF has an investment committee comprised of local and national members and is governed by a board of directors which, along with Klohs, Welch and Anku, includes Tabben; Garrick Rochow, president and CEO of Consumers Energy; and Christal Jackson, an international venture philanthropist.
Howie has met most of the board and investment committee and said he looks forward to working side by side to accomplish the fund’s goals.
“I firmly believe that the authentic passion and dedication exhibited by the board and investment professionals to make this fund succeed will create sustainable change in the West Michigan economy. I am honored to be a (part of) this story,” he said.
Howie recently moved to Grand Rapids and will spend the next several months getting acclimated to West Michigan and meeting with entrepreneurs and businesses. He said he already has started to shape his vision for what’s next.
“It’s important that we are seen as trusted partners to those looking to make a di erence. Our job is to create an ecosystem that says ‘yes’ to diversity,” he said.
Construction industry can expect change
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The number of construction projects is expected to begin increasing in spring 2022 because construction volumes in the winter months are typically slower. Fear surrounding the delta variant of COVID-19 also have contributed to the current slowdown.
Although JLL anticipates construction volumes to increase in the spring, the completion of projects is expected to be a ected by labor availability and wages, material costs and construction costs.
Construction wages have increased, in part, due to the lack of qualified labor. Between August 2020 and August 2021, labor wages increased by 4.46%. In 2022, labor costs are expected to continue their upward trend of the past six months, within the 3%-6% range, according to the report.
JLL foresees the average price increase for all construction materials to be in the 5%10% range. Some commodities such as metal “are not likely to continue increasing endlessly.” Prices for copper and brass products, gypsum products, lumber and plywood, steel mill products, aluminum mill products, plastic construction products, insulation materials, concrete and flat glass have been volatile for the past 12 months, some more than others, the report said.
In addition to construction material prices, lead times and delays are of concern in the industry.
Backlogs coupled with a “new round of production and shipping shutdowns globally due to the delta variant have meant that suppliers are unable to catch up despite their best attempts to do so,” the report said.
The backlog for domestic flatbed truck shipments is declining, but global shipping is experiencing delays, which JLL predicts will continue into next year.
“In 2020, nearly 85% of project delays and cancellations were caused by either owner-led decisions or government-ordered construction shutdowns,” per the report. “So far in 2021, the balance has shifted toward supply issues. Material availability, internal labor availability and subcontractor labor availability have become the largest challenges for ongoing construction projects, after owner-led decisions.”
With the challenges involving labor shortages, increased wages and material costs, and the effects of delivery backlogs, total construction cost is expected to increase next year.
“Through August, average final construction costs for a commercial project had increased 4.5%, and total cost growth by year-end is likely to surpass 6%,” D’Esposito said. “A similar level of cost escalation, in the range of 4% to 7%, is expected into 2022.”
