DBusiness | January-February 2025

OUR DETROIT ROOTS RUN DEEP.

In 1975, our founder, George P. Barnes, Jr., made history by opening Heritage Optical Center at the corner of Chene and Lafayette. In the process, he became Michigan’s first AfricanAmerican dispensing optician to own and operate a full-service optical dispensary. Thirty-one years later, Heritage Vision Plans branched off from this original company to offer vision benefit management services.

Since then, Heritage Vision Plans has become a leading U.S. provider of vision benefits plans with an extensive, nationwide network of over 31,000 eye care providers. However, we’ve never lost sight of our origins. Each year, we work with Detroit Public Schools to provide free vision screenings, eye exams, and glasses to children in our community.

Integrity, affordability, flexibility—and top-notch customer service: These traits are at the heart of what we do.

Why choose Heritage?

• We offer competitive, transparent pricing that clarifies the complex world of healthcare.

• We provide vision benefits that include annual eye exams, discounts on LASIK and hearing aids, and frame and lens options for both individuals and the whole family.

• We support our members with a home-grown customer service team, ready to stay on the line until the problem is resolved.

• We champion our community through eye health and wellness programs that help disadvantaged youth receive eye care.

No matter the size of your organization, we deliver the vision care benefits your employees need.

Strategic corporate solutions are our business.

No matter what your industry, from healthcare to oil and gas, public sector and expertise to ensure their success.

We offer commercial payments and investment banking as well as employer from our industry experts. For business executives and owners, we are truly your full-service bank

Smile at life. Help your employees enjoy life’s important moments—in and out of the office with affordable, comprehensive dental and vision coverage from a name they know and trust.

16 CHORE BOTS

Over the next few years, humanoid robots will become more prevalent in homes, businesses, hospitals, and factories. While more robots means fewer workers performing routine tasks, human-like machines present job opportunities in AI, robotics, IT, Big Data, and more.

16 CHARGER, ANYONE?

If the lack of EV charging stations across the country wasn’t enough, here comes the government. In 2021, Congress approved spending $5 billion over five years to install a national network of EV charging ports. So far, the program has spurred the installation of around 70 ports.

16 SHOW TIME

It’s back to the future for the Detroit Auto Show. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the official host of the auto show, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, had planned a mid-June event in 2020. The move was designed to boost attendance, both among attendees and journalists, from the traditional mid-January show.

18 COMPENDIUM

How outsiders view Detroit.

22 JAVA JUNGLE

Former Detroit Lion Stephen Tulloch is expanding his Circle House Coffee brand. By Tim Keenan

23 GROUND EFFECT

Bowman Chevrolet of Clarkston expands to the Irish Hills. By Tim Keenan

23 DELI DRIVE

E.W. Grobbel Sons Inc. in Detroit’s Eastern Market has agreed to acquire certain assets of Freirich Foods Inc. in Salisbury, N.C. By R.J. King

24 DATA DRIVE

Shift Digital in Birmingham is using AI to help automakers and dealers maximize their marketing investments. By Tim Keenan

24 PDA Q&A

Martin French, Partner, Berylis by AlixPartners, Birmingham. By R.J. King

26 LEADING EDGE

Capture Automotive in Southfield is a go-to source for vehicle benchmark testing. By Tim Keenan

26 DEFENSE SPENDING

Loc Performance in Plymouth Township wins contracts for missile system structures. By Tim Keenan

57 TECH BAR

We explore the latest and most-advanced office equipment available. By R.J. King

61 RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Screen Play: A successful producer of horror films in Los Angeles, John Rosman credits his success to his days watching movies at the Birmingham 8, his hometown theater. By Tom Murray

63 PRODUCTION RUN

Lather and Suds: Birmingham-based Jax Kar Wash has added more than 30 locations in the past three years. By Tim Keenan

66 PATENTS AND INVENTIONS

Bits, Bytes, and Digits: Claude E. Shannon, who grew up in Gaylord, developed the fundamental elements of transmitting data via “bits” and “bytes.” By Norm Sinclair

68 OPINION

The Future of Mobility: Balancing regional demands with a global strategy for mobility initiatives presents a complex dynamic of technological, economic, political, and consumer trends. By Paul Thomas

69 THE CIRCUIT

Cetera

72 FROM THE TOP Top Hotels in Metro Detroit, Top Corporate Counsel.

74 CLOSING BELL

Dream Car: The Di Dia 150, a homemade concept car developed by an unknown visionary, went from its birthplace in a Detroit custom shop to Hollywood in 1960. By Ronald Ahrens

Our party pics from exclusive events. ON THE COVER Photo by Trever Long

Tech Belt

What’s on Detroit’s to-do list for 2025?

Henry Ford Health, and the upcoming $250-million University of Michigan Center for Innovation, which is being built behind the Fox eatre.

Several major construction projects will be completed over the next 12 months, while others will be getting started.

CLOSING BELL

Coming o one of the city’s top years for tourism and hospitality, investors are rushing to add hotel rooms to complement rising demand for sporting events, large conventions, corporate meetings, and family reunions.

pleted over the next 12 add complement rising demand the

Arguably not since the Roaring Twenties, a century ago, when the vast auto industry fueled the development of what today is considered the second nest collection of historic skyscrapers in the country, has downtown Detroit looked any better.

ose same ornate high-rises are now celebrating their respective centennial year; rst among them to reach that 100th-anniversary milestone was the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, which at the time it opened on Dec. 8, 1924, was the tallest hotel in the country.

Look for similar jubilees for the Book Tower, Penobscot Building, Guardian Building, First National Building, and David Stott Tower, as well as a host of grand theaters like the Fox, State (today e Fillmore), Detroit Opera, Music Hall, Gem, Century, Masonic Temple, and Orchestra Hall.

Farther north, other noteworthy and historic buildings soon reaching the century mark include the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Historical Museum, and the Fisher Building, to name a few.

Our rich architectural past has since been paired with three professional sports stadiums, a trio of major casinos, an ongoing extension of Wayne State University, the redevelopment of Brush Park and the larger Midtown District, a $3-billion expansion of

To the west, in Corktown, a $950-million investment by Ford Motor Co. has transformed the vacant Michigan Central train station into an urban laboratory that’s driving new advances in mobility. Four blocks farther west, at Michigan Avenue and 20th Street, Detroit City FC is planning to build a 15,000seat soccer stadium that’s slated to open in 2027.

In that same area, the long-delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge is projected to open in August. Nearby, on recently cleared lots next to the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Détroit, new housing, retail, and restaurants are planned.

e central business district also will grow as the Hudson’s Tower, and its neighboring midrise o ce building, will begin to open in phases in late 2025. Six oors of the latter structure will be the new world headquarters of General Motors Co.

From its current location at the Renaissance Center, the automaker, working with prospective new owner Bedrock, Dan Gilbert’s development arm, along with the city and state, is looking to remove two of the ve main towers. In their place will be an expansive riverfront plaza that will connect to the RiverWalk and a new marina district.

To be built on what are largely surface parking lots located east of the RenCen, the new marina zone will o er residences, stores, restaurants, parks, and playgrounds. It will connect to the Dequindre Cut and the ongoing expansion of Eastern Market.

With so much development activity, the city is now drawing national accolades. Most recently, Travel + Leisure magazine put Detroit on its Where to Go list of the 50 top destinations for travel in 2025.

But perhaps the best news of all is the city has nally lifted the mantle of its decades-long image as a Rust Belt city to become the nest example yet of a Midwest “tech belt” metropolis.

R.J. King rjking@dbusiness.com

I received the September-October 2024 DBusiness in the mail the other day and was reading through it. When I got to the Closing Bell, I spotted a familiar name, Chuck Jordan. Wow, was I surprised. Chuck passed away long ago (2010). When I was a young man, my family was very close to the Jordans. I think his wife, Sally, is still alive. She’s probably the last remaining person from that era. His son, Mark, is the designer of the Mazda Miata. I will track them down and send them a picture of your article. The article told a story I thought very few people knew. Thank the author if you have a chance. Jim Schmid Troy

GREENLIGHT FUND

Thanks for sharing the news of GreenLight Fund Detroit’s investment in Bottom Line and our expansion to Detroit in your weekly DBusiness Hustle and Muscle newsletter. We’re looking forward to the impact this will make for hundreds of Detroit’s college-aspiring students whose families have low incomes. I appreciate you and DBusiness amplifying the GreenLight Fund’s local work and this good news. Emily Epstein Boston, Mass.

EMAIL US AT: editorial@dbusiness.com

SEND MAIL TO: Letters, DBusiness magazine, 5750 New King Drive, Ste. 100, Troy, MI 48098 Please include your city of residence and daytime phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and content.

R.J. KING

CONTRIBUTORS

TOM BEAMAN

Tom Beaman has written for DBusiness since 2007, covering topics ranging from aviation to the dairy industry and Michigan’s Native American community. He worked as a news anchor and a reporter at WDET and WOSU in Columbus, Ohio, and has contributed stories to NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Beaman also worked as a science writer at the General Motors Research Laboratories and as manager of product communications for Pontiac, Saab, and Vauxhall Motors Ltd. He enjoys mentoring journalism and public relations students at his alma mater, Ohio State University. In this issue, Beaman compiled the bios of the Detroit Three executive officers.

PATRICK GLORIA

Patrick Gloria earned his electrical engineering and MBA degrees at the University of Detroit Mercy in Detroit, then had a 30-year career at DTE Energy as an electrical engineer and account executive. During his spare time over those years, Gloria pursued what would turn out to be a second career as a professional fine arts and freelance photographer and portrait artist. He formed his company — Photographic, Art and Teaching Services — in 1990. He has photographed the region’s notable social events for DBusiness for more than a decade. As an artist, Gloria has completed commissioned portrait paintings and has illustrated a variety of books and publications.

TREVER LONG

Trever Long is a metro Detroit-based freelance photographer who specializes in architecture, portraiture, and editorial photography. Since graduating from the College for Creative Studies in 2010, he has created work for clients including Quicken Loans and Olympia Entertainment, among others. His images have appeared in a variety of publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Travel + Leisure, and PROSPER Magazine. When he’s not taking photos, he can often be found exploring local hunting trails with his wife and their pup, Luna. For this issue, Long took the cover photo of Michigan Central Station.

CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

CIRCULATION COORDINATORS David Benvenuto, Cathy Krajenke, Rachel Moulden, Michele Wold

MARKETING AND EVENTS

MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER Lyndsay Zelena

COMMUNICATIONS AND PR Regan Wright

MARKETING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Maya Stephenson WEDDINGS ACCOUNT MANAGER Karen Wilkie

MARKET RESEARCH

MARKETING RESEARCH DIRECTOR Sofia Shevin

MARKETING RESEARCH COORDINATORS Alyssa Fueri, Kristin Mingo

MARKETING RESEARCH SALES COORDINATOR Alex Thompson

MARKETING RESEARCH SALES ASSISTANT Theresa Lowery

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kendra Okamoto

MARKETING RESEARCH INTERNS Allyvia Hennika, Maisha Mumtaz

BUSINESS

CEO Stefan Wanczyk

PRESIDENT John Balardo

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS Kathie Gorecki

PUBLISHING AND SALES ASSISTANT Logan Neaton

SENIOR ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATE Andrew Kotzian

ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATES Dian Mauro, Austin Schmelzle

DISTRIBUTION Target Distribution, Troy

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Ronald Ahrens, Tom Beaman. Dale Buss, Tom Murray, Norm Sinclair, Paul Thomas

CONTRIBUTING

Business leaders say they trust the attorneys of Plunkett Cooney to anticipate legal pitfalls, to resolve high-stakes litigation and to craft contracts they can sign... with confidence. See your business differently. Get the Plunkett Cooney perspective. n Appellate Law n Banking, Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights n Business Transactions n Cannabis Law n Commercial Litigation n

16

(FUTURE ROBOTS WILL SERVE AS A) TEACHER, BABYSIT YOUR KIDS, WALK YOUR DOG, MOW YOUR LAWN, GET THE GROCERIES, (AND) JUST BE YOUR FRIEND.”

— ELON MUSK, CEO, TESLA MOTORS

JAMES YANG

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

ROBOTICS

Chore Bots

Over the next few years, humanoid robots will become more prevalent in homes, businesses, hospitals, and factories. While more robots means fewer workers performing routine tasks, human-like machines present job opportunities in AI, robotics, IT, Big Data, and more.

Given Michigan’s automotive industry has long designed and utilized robots on assembly lines, businesses here and across the country have a golden opportunity to create more sophisticated human-like bots that offer greater freedom of movement via advanced actuators and higher levels of cognitive learning using generative AI.

For those who worry androids may one day take over the world, consider robots already dominate our lives. From cars to kitchen appliances, computers, washing machines, dryers, ships, aircraft, and rockets, robots have already freed humans of many of the jobs that are dull, dirty, and dangerous.

According to Tesla Motors founder and CEO Elon Musk, at scale, the cost of one of his future Optimus humanoid robots would cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. As he noted during a recent demonstration of his prototype bots, that’s less than the price of a vast majority of new cars.

While robots aren’t ready for prime time, the machines will eventually move beyond the proof-of-concept phase into mass production. And they don’t necessarily have to be human-like. Horizon Legacy in Toronto, for example, is using “Val 2.0” to build rental townhouse units in Ontario to address labor shortages amid a housing crisis.

Multiple other companies are working to advance robots, including established companies like Boston Dynamics, Denso, and FANUC. They join startups and first-stage enterprises such as Airobotics, Apptronik, Beyond Imagination, Kinova, and Promobot. Closer to home, there’s Bedestrian in Ann Arbor, R4 Robotics in Birmingham, and RoboTire in Plymouth Township, to name a few.

Staying ahead of the competition — China is investing billions of dollars in humanoid robots — will be key to realizing steady profits in an emerging industry. As a use case, Walmart is working with Ghost Kitchens America and Richtech Robotics to further develop and test ADAM, an advanced robotic beverage system. The service android will soon be operational in up to 25 Walmart stores where customer traffic and sales are robust (none in Michigan).

“These high-traffic locations will bring greater visibility to our brand and our solutions,” says Matt Casella, president of Richtech Robotics. “We expect these platforms to become a fast-growing and stable revenue stream for us as we leverage them to manage thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, of restaurant operations in the future.”

In the health care field, robots are already in use inside hospitals, mostly to assist doctors and nurses. At home, future humanoid robots will allow more people to age in place as they perform routine medical tests, help people out of bed, prepare meals, take out the trash, cut the lawn, rake leaves, and clean windows.

Rather than wait for robots to be built in other places, Michigan should seize the opportunity to lead in what will be one of the most consequential industries of our time.

DEVELOPMENT

IF THE LACK OF EV CHARGING STATIONS across the country wasn’t enough, here comes the government. In 2021, Congress approved spending $5 billion over five years to install a national network of EV charging ports. So far, the program has spurred the installation of around 70 ports.

At that pace, it could be years before charging stations outnumber gas pumps nationwide. In a bit of irony, the slow rollout is due to the government itself. As businesses are painfully aware, once the EPA reviews a proposal, it could take months or years to get a permit or receive an approval.

The clash of government vs. government is one thing, but other factors that have impeded the rollout of EV chargers include social service requirements that encourage unionization, as well as the Biden administration’s criteria that 40 percent of clean energy offerings go to areas that are “disadvantaged.” Supply and demand principles don’t apply here.

The rules seemingly take into consideration everything but installation, as federally funded chargers must be produced domestically, utilize a “Climate and Economic Justice Tool,” and give priority to “people of color” and “minoriy-owned businesses” in hiring and contracts. While the support of disadvantaged labor and companies is welcome, making it the only criteria for installing government-funded chargers is a recipe for economic peril.

AUTOMOTIVE

CHARGER, ANYONE? SHOW TIME

IT’S BACK TO THE FUTURE for the Detroit Auto Show. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the official host of the auto show, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association in Troy, had planned a mid-June event in 2020. The move was designed to boost attendance, both among attendees and journalists, from the traditional mid-January show.

When the 2020 event was canceled, the show moved to mid-September 2021 at M1 Concourse in Pontiac. While everything was in place for a successful extravaganza, the weather failed to cooperate, with rain impacting many of the planned offerings. Remote parking complemented by a shuttle service was a drawback, as well.

From there, the auto show moved back to its original setting inside Huntington Place in downtown Detroit starting in mid-September 2022, with a sequel show in 2023. While the two latest events offered some outdoor programming, attendance was down as organizers competed against boating and golfing. As a result, a 2024 show never materialized.

Now comes the 2025 exhibition, which will run from Jan. 10-20 at Huntington Place. Gone is the competition with outdoor sports and leisure interests. In turn, those who long called for the DADA to move the show away from the dead of winter have been proven wrong. What’s left is a return to the often-overlooked and successful notion of tradition.

Number of robots operating in factories worldwide (2024)

Increase in number of factory robots since 2023

Refresh Your Look with Eyelid Surgery – A Youthful Transformation Awaits!

Tired eyes can make you look older than you feel. Eyelid surgery, forehead and brow lifting, and under eye “bag” treatment are popular cosmetic procedures which rejuvenate the appearance of your face. Our minimally invasive procedures will give you a more youthful and refreshed look with natural, lasting results. Performed by our experienced board-certified surgeons, eyelid surgery is an effective way to enhance your natural beauty. With seven locations across mid and southeast Michigan, scheduling a consultation is easy. Let’s work together to create positive changes.

COMPENDIUM: HOW OUTSIDERS VIEW DETROIT

DETROIT EMBRACES

CRYPTO FOR TAX PAYMENTS: RISKS AND POTENTIAL FORBES NOV. 11, 2024

BY ANDREW LEAHEY

Detroit has announced it will become the largest municipality in the U.S. to allow residents to pay taxes using cryptocurrencies when it rolls out a new PayPal-managed payment platform in 2025. The initiative hopes to spur technological innovation and foster economic growth — but may come with risks.

The city’s leaders hope this strategy will modernize Detroit’s municipal services and improve the city’s financial inclusivity, particularly for unbanked residents. While Detroit’s plans are forward-thinking, they may come with more risks than rewards. The initiative brings with it numerous potential downsides, ranging from environmental concerns to dependence on third-party platforms, and high transaction fees.

Nonetheless, the Motor City’s experiment with accepting alternative currency for tax payments may serve as a testing ground and, depending on results, may pave the way for similar moves on a national scale.

One of the most significant challenges

inherent in Detroit’s crypto tax payment program is its environmental impact.

Bitcoin and Ethereum, the primary cryptocurrencies accepted under the program, are well-known energy-intensive systems — particularly Bitcoin.

Bitcoin operates on a proof-of-work system, which requires massive computational power to validate transactions, contributing to high levels of energy and water consumption. As Detroit encourages more residents to adopt crypto for tax payments, they may be inadvertently promoting increased use of energy — which may conflict with sustainability goals.

To the extent the city’s tax policies are intended to support green initiatives and sustainability, adopting crypto payments could paradoxically result in the city spending against its own objectives. By facilitating tax payments through energy-intensive crypto, Detroit may be increasing its own carbon footprint and undermining efforts elsewhere in the city’s tax code. ...

LED BY BELIEVERS IN THE CITY’S FUTURE, DETROIT IS ON THE REBOUND

THE NEW YORK TIMES OCT. 16, 2024

BY NEAL E. BOUDETTE

On a sunny Friday morning last month, Mike Duggan,

A mile or so away, Mr. Duggan, 66, pulled up at another construction site that will be the home of a University of Michigan research and innovation center focusing on software, artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. “This is where we are going to create the jobs of the future,” he said. …

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANNOUNCES A RECORD $7B CAPITAL CAMPAIGN FORBES • OCT. 28, 2024 •

BY MICHAEL T. NIETZEL

the mayor of Detroit, got behind the wheel of his black Jeep Grand Cherokee to give a tour of the city he has led for 10 years. Not far from Michigan Central Station, the former hulking ruin that was recently transformed into a gleaming office complex, he slowed to point to a construction site of vertical steel girders and yellow earth-moving machines. It will become a 600-room JW Marriott hotel, linked to the city’s convention center and scheduled to open by 2027, when college basketball’s Final Four will be played in Detroit.

Farther west, more earth movers were crawling along a mile-long stretch of riverfront land, adding contours that will soon be a spacious, green recreation area, with elaborate play structures, a water park, basketball courts and outdoor workout equipment. It will be one of the final links in a 3.5-mile chain of parks, open spaces and bike paths that have replaced the warehouses and industrial yards that previously lined the Detroit River.

Just beyond the park stood a vestige of Detroit’s troubled past — a crumbling, boarded-up building that was once the Southwest Detroit Hospital, which closed 18 years ago. Detroit City FC, a professional soccer club, hopes to raze it and build a new stadium.

The University of Michigan announced (in October 2024) that it has launched a $7 billion fundraising campaign, the largest capital campaign in its history.

The Look to Michigan campaign will raise funds for the three U-M campuses at Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint, as well as its intercollegiate athletics program and academic medical center. The fundraising effort has already silently raised $3.3 billion during its silent phase.

In addition to being the largest capital campaign in U-M history, university officials claim it represents the largest known capital campaign ever undertaken by any public university.

The plan is centered on raising money for two of the university’s strategic plans — Vision 2034, which is a 10-year strategic plan, and Campus Plan 2050, which outlines development plans for the Ann Arbor campus during the next quarter century.

According to the announcement, fundraising will focus on four priorities:

• Life-changing education: Elevating the educational landscape by providing solutions to the acute shortages of well-prepared educators, addressing resource disparities, and giving all learners the opportunity to succeed.

• Health and well-being: Tackling critical health challenges both locally and globally, improving affordability and access to quality health care, advocating for preventative health, and generating innovative discoveries that improve and save lives.

• Democracy, civic and global engagement: Reinvigorating community participation and critical thinking;

expanding knowledge of democratic practices and principles; and strengthening local, national and international alliances.

• Sustainability and climate action: Mitigating climate change through research and education; empowering students, faculty, staff and community members to find equitable solutions; and collaborating with partners to create long-term change.

The campaign will also address four other priority commitments:

• Supporting students with the resources and wraparound services they need to become tomorrow’s leaders.

• Engaging with the arts as a creative catalyst for learning and growth.

• Fostering inclusivity on the university’s individual campuses.

• Increasing impact through innovation, partnership and economic development.

“We know that the world is calling on us to answer the most urgent questions of our time — to be the defining public institution that inspires all that is possible,” said University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono as part of the announcement. “The deeply collaborative, university-wide priorities of Vision 2034 have been years in the making and set the stage for Michigan to be that institution. And the Look to Michigan campaign will bring this ambitious vision to life.”

This marks the seventh fundraising campaign on behalf of the University of Michigan. The most recent campaign — Victors for Michigan — ran from 2013-18 and raised $5.3 billion.

DETROIT TIGERS PREDICTED TO BECOME MAJOR SPENDERS IN FREE AGENCY THIS OFFSEASON

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED • OCT. 29, 2024 • BY NICK ZIEGLER

It was an awesome 2024 season for the Detroit Tigers, as they were able to go on a fantastic run to end the year, which resulted in a playoff berth.

The Tigers snapping their long playoff drought was unexpected, especially after they were sellers at the trade deadline. However, they leaned on their ace Tarik Skubal and their bullpen in order to make the playoffs and defeat the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Round.

Now that Detroit has proven that they can make the playoffs and be a contender in the American League, this offseason should be all about improving their team. Even though they had a lot of success, it was hard to truly believe that the roster was going to win a World Series.

As the Tigers head into the winter, they will be presented with the opportunity to really improve this team and take it to the next level.

Recently, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report spoke about a few bold predictions for the team, as they are predicted to be big players in free agency.

“Detroit figures to make a huge offer to one of the ace-level pitchers on the market. Whether that’s something close to $200M for Corbin Burnes, Max Fried or Gerrit Cole, or a more modest $100M offer to bring Jack Flaherty back to where he started the 2024 campaign remains to be seen. But they should be pretty aggressive in pursuit of what could be the best 1-2 SP punch in baseball. Detroit will presumably also be on the prowl for a slugger after only having one player (Riley Greene) hit 20 home runs this season.”

Since Detroit made the playoffs in 2024, there obviously aren’t a ton of glaring issues with the team. However, as they look to go from a playoff team to a World Series contender, adding another front-end starter in the rotation and a power bat makes a lot of sense.

How much the Tigers will be willing to spend is the big question. If they don’t mind shelling out some money, they can add a star pitcher to pair with Skubal, which would likely give them one of the best 1-2 punches in the league.

For their lineup, a slugger like Pete Alonso, Anthony Santander or Christian Walker makes a lot of sense.

Once free agency starts up, it will be interesting to see how aggressive Detroit is willing to be. If they do end up tripling the rest of their division, they very well could take home the AL Central crown.

THE BILLIONAIRE, HIS MYSTERY WIFE AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S WILDEST RECRUITING SAGA

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DEC. 3, 2024 BY RACHEL BACHMAN, LAINE HIGGINS AND TOM DOTAN

When the University of Michigan football team’s boosters announced on Nov. 21 that they had flipped the No. 1 high school quarterback in the country from Louisiana State to Ann Arbor, it sent shock waves through the sport.

The on-field implications were only a part of the surprise. Just as stunning was how the Wolverines had pulled it off: with the help of a surprise donation from the world’s fourth-richest man, tech billionaire Larry Ellison. The strangest part was that Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, had no known connection to the school.

But in recent days, it has emerged that Ellison does have a close, previously unknown link to Michigan after all. Out of nowhere, a

statement from a Michigan booster group known as the Champions Circle singled out Ellison and Jolin Zhu, whom the group identified as his wife, as key players in the school’s pursuit of Bryce Underwood, the top-rated high-school quarterback in the country.

That statement appeared to reveal that Ellison, who divorced his fourth wife more than a decade ago, had remarried. Jolin, meanwhile, had almost no online presence.

Now, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found that Jolin is a 33-year-old also known as Keren Zhu, according to two people familiar with the couple and several public records. And most importantly, she happens to be a Michigan alum.

Keren Zhu, also known as Jolin Zhu, was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in international studies from Michigan on April 26, 2012, the school confirmed.

Three years earlier, a Keren Zhu with the same birthdate graduated with a two-year liberal arts degree from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, a tiny school in Great Barrington, Mass.

A Keren Zhu with that birthdate also appears in a property record at an address owned by Octopus Holdings, a company owned by Ellison. …

WHY LEGENDARY DOMINO’S FOUNDER TOM MONAGHAN FORMED A BOARD ENTIRELY CONSISTING OF CHILDREN AGED 8-12

FORTUNE • NOV. 15, 2024 • BY

RITCH K. EICH

Junior boards are a rarity. I’m not referring to

the junior boards consisting of 35-to-45-year-olds being groomed for future leadership roles. I’m talking about boards that offer seats to literal schoolchildren. One of the first companies that made this innovative move was Domino’s Inc., founded and led by the “Comeback Kid of Ypsilanti,” Tom Monaghan.

I first met Tom in the late ’70s while serving in one of my volunteer roles as vice president and president-elect of the Ypsilanti, Mich., Chamber of Commerce. Tom has battled back from more than his share of hardships. He was orphaned as a child, dropped out of college at an early age, and initially failed in the pizza business. His enlistment in the U.S. Marine Corps eventually taught him organization and discipline. Driven by an innate curiosity, he studied the actions of successful leaders in hopes of discovering what they were doing right. He has always sought to innovate.

Since its founding in 1960, Domino’s has been recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit, with many of its innovations resulting in better pizza, newer food offerings, improved customer experiences, and many “firsts” in modernized ordering and delivery. But even many of the company’s ardent followers are unaware of the formation of the Domino’s Pizza Junior Board of Directors in the early 1980s. …

Tom conceived the idea of forming a junior board of directors because he genuinely believed children are honest, have lots of ideas, and are willing to share them. Conceiving and forming a board of young children had a humanizing effect on his pizza empire and contributed to making it the world’s largest pizza chain.

Once formed, the Domino’s Pizza Junior Board began holding monthly after-school meetings, convening in Domino’s offices and kitchens. The children were shown how the various departments worked together to make the company thrive. They were called upon to taste-test prospective cheeses, toppings, and doughs and to weigh in on new product and service ideas such as a delivered breakfast pizza with a wake-up call. They discussed how stores could use their facilities more efficiently. …

THE TICKER

Java Jungle

Former Detroit Lion Stephen Tulloch is expanding his Circle House Coffee brand.

BY TIM KEENAN

BREWING SUCCESS

Even before he hung up his cleats, Stephen Tulloch attended business school at Stanford, the University of Michigan, and Miami University.

DBUSINESS DIRECT

Censys in Ann Arbor Lands Contract from U.S. Agencies Censys Inc. in Ann Arbor was awarded a multiyear contract by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) to provide its services to U.S. intelligence agencies.

Henry Ford Health in Detroit

Opens Trauma Recovery Center

Henry Ford Health in Detroit has opened Michigan’s first Trauma Recovery Center at its clinic at One Ford Place. The TRC connects survivors of trauma with mental health services, legal assistance, education, and other resources.

Stephen Tulloch was known for his consistency, work ethic, and attention to detail during his 11-year NFL career as a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Detroit Lions. Although his football career ended in 2016, today he’s applying those same intangibles to his ownership of Circle House Coffee.

Circle House was launched in 2018 as a coffee shop in his native Miami. This past October, Tulloch signed a deal to distribute his coffee in 46 Michigan Meijer stores.

“I started buying properties in Florida,” Tulloch says, recalling his early post-football days. “I came across a building that I really liked, and I thought it would be cool to convert it into a coffee shop and drive-through on the first floor.”

Once he made the decision, he went all in, and even attended the Seattle Barista Academy in 2017. Once Tulloch graduated, he hired his teacher as a consultant and flew him to Florida every two weeks to help him pick coffee beans and discern the best flavors.

Although Tulloch still only has the one location in Miami, he’s looking to expand by adding a shop in Detroit, perhaps in Corktown. “It would be awesome to get back to Detroit and do something like we have down here in Miami,” he says.

Fifty-five cents of each bag of retail coffee sold goes to the Stephen Tulloch Foundation, which hosts 55 kids touched by cancer at every home game of the Detroit Lions. The foundation also has adopted 55 Detroit public schools. It’s involved with other community initiatives around the country, as well.

“I wanted the business to work with the foundation to help other people,” Tulloch says. “Our ‘why’ is bigger than our business. The business is the icing on the cake.”

He says his entrepreneurial roots were planted during his playing days, when he started preparing for life after football. During the off-season, Tulloch took courses at the business schools at Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Miami.

“I’ve always been more than an athlete,” Tulloch says. “Football was just something I was good at. My ‘why’ was always bigger than what I did. Now that I’m transitioned out of football, I’m able to show more of my ‘why,’ but still bring a football mentality — hard work, dedication to my craft, attention to detail, and taking advantage of opportunities.”

Delta Debuts Sustainable Aviation Fuel at Detroit Metro

For the first time in Michigan history, sustainable aviation fuel has arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport for use on Delta flights. It can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80 percent compared to traditional petroleum-powered jet fuel.

Stellantis Unveils Upgraded Wind Tunnel in Auburn Hills

Stellantis has unveiled its Moving Ground Plane technology wind tunnel — a $29.5 million investment — at the company’s research and technical center in Auburn Hills. It will be able to measure and reduce airflow resistance from wheels and tires.

GM Defense Delivers First Heavy-Duty Armored SUVs

GM Defense has completed production of the first vehicles in support of the Diplomatic Security Service’s Heavy-Duty armored Sport Utility Vehicle (HD SUV) program. The Suburban Shield, as the vehicle is called, features a new design.

DELI DRIVE

E.W. GROBBEL SONS INC.

in Detroit’s Eastern Market has agreed to acquire certain assets of Freirich Foods Inc. in Salisbury, N.C. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded by Julian Freirich in 1921 in Long Island, N.Y., the company built a reputation for producing corned beef, pastrami, roast beef, and other deli meats through what it calls a “dry open oven roasted” system.

The company is a mainstay in the New York and New England regional markets, and claims more Freirich corned beef is eaten in the U.S. on St. Patrick’s Day than any other brand. The deli meat purveyor sells its products to several grocery chains.

But as the company geared up for St. Patrick’s Day in 2024, it lost an estimated $7 million in corned beef — some 1.2 million pounds — when a third-party cold storage facility failed to maintain proper temperatures.

According to FreightWaves, a global supply chain market intelligence source, Freirich filed for bankruptcy on “March 20 in the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, listing claims against Americold Logistics and insurers, arising from ‘spoliation of product due to lack of refrigeration.’ ”

Moving forward, the production of Freirich’s products will transition to Grobbel’s operations in Detroit and St. Clair Shores.

— By R.J. King

Little Caesars in Detroit

Expands into Cambodia

Little Caesars in Detroit opened its first Cambodian store, on the island of Koh Pich, in November 2024. A second location is planned for 2025. Cambodia is the 29th country in which Little Caesars operates.

Ground Effect

Bowman Chevrolet of Clarkston expands to the Irish Hills.

BY TIM KEENAN

Katie Bowman Coleman, the second-generation president and CEO of Bowman Chevrolet of Clarkston, started her business career in the fashion world but quickly pivoted to automotive retail. From there, she set her sights on expanding her family’s business.

Early in life, the daughter of John Bowman wanted no part of the auto industry; she spent her high school days working at Saks Fifth Avenue. Following graduation from Denison University in Ohio, Coleman took a job at the Ralph Lauren Polo factory store in Jackson Hole, Wyo. From there, she went to the Ralph Lauren office in New York, then Sydney, Australia, and she finally came back to Michigan.

All the while, her father was asking her to work at the dealership. Finally, in 1993, she acquiesced. “I fell in love with it almost right away,” Coleman admits. “It was fascinating to me. A dealership has all of the same activity as a clothing store; it’s just that a car is bigger than a jacket.”

She took over the reins of the dealership at the end of 2011. Her father passed away in May 2012.

“I had a vision for expansion as soon as I started working here,” Coleman says.

In 2013, she added the Bowman Isuzu Commercial Truck franchise to the operation. Four years later, she acquired property on either side of the dealership. One side became an employee parking lot and the other half was transformed into a used-car facility.

Later, she purchased the former Randy Hosler Buick GMC showroom on Dixie Highway in Clarkston and changed the name to the Bowman Auto Center. It’s home to the Isuzu truck franchise,

Grand Rapids’ Mill Steel Co. Acquires Maryland Metals

Mill Steel Co. in Grand Rapids has acquired Maryland Metals Processing in Baltimore, a stainless and aluminum processor. The transaction strengthens Mill Steel’s national footprint and processing capabilities.

LITTLE RED TRUCK

Katie Bowman Coleman, owner of Bowman Chevrolet of Clarkston and Clinton, has made electric vehicles a focus of her dealerships. Joining EVs are new and used vehicle sales, along with service and parts departments.

Bowman Pre-Owned, and the Bowman Chevrolet service department and body shop.

In May of last year, Coleman acquired Chevrolet of Clinton, which is a small community located west of Ann Arbor and just east of the Irish Hills. The business is now Bowman Chevrolet of Clinton.

“It’s a smaller community, but it’s been an important location for decades, starting in the 1950s,” Coleman says. “The opportunity came up and it was the right time and the right price, and I was able to grab it.”

When the Bowman team took over in Clinton, the location was selling around 30 vehicles each month. “Now we’re into the 40s, getting closer to 50,” Coleman reported late last year.

By contrast, Bowman Chevrolet of Clarkston sells between 250 and 300 vehicles per month. “We’re just getting started in Clinton, but things are going well,” she says.

Consumers Energy Completes

Mid-Michigan Natural Gas Pipeline

Consumers Energy in Jackson has completed its Mid-Michigan Pipeline, replacing and upgrading 55 miles of a 70-yearold, 20-inch natural gas transmission pipeline serving homes and businesses in five mid-Michigan counties.

Medal of Honor Society Confab Coming to Detroit in 2026

The Detroit Public Safety Foundation announced the city will host the Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention on Oct. 3, 2026, at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit. It’s the largest gathering of living Medal of Honorees.

GM Launches Cadillac Formula 1 Team

GM will make its debut in the F1 World Championship in 2026 under the Cadillac banner. The GM entry will use Ferrari engines for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, before installing its own power unit for the 2028 campaign.

For full stories and more, visit dbusiness.com/daily-news to get daily news sent directly to your email.

Data Drive

Shift Digital in Birmingham is using AI to help automakers and dealers maximize their marketing investments.

BY TIM KEENAN

In the automotive universe, the latest technology isn’t always evident in the new vehicles rolling o dealer lots. It’s found in the powerful computers and software that drive the design, engineering, and even the marketing of these cars, trucks, and SUVs.

One of the companies using advanced software to market vehicles is Shift Digital in Birmingham, which is using AI to help automotive brands and their retailers more surgically target their marketing and advertising dollars.

Shift collects data generated by consumers’ online activity — from shopping to website browsing, vehicle con guring, making service appointments, and entering trade-in information — and gives its clients information they can use.

Shift, which has 35 automotive brands as clients, says it collects data from 80 million customer leads, which equates to billions of pieces of data from anything an individual does online.

“ e next phase of our business is combining all of that technology into one rst-party data platform,” says Matt Van Dyke, CEO of Shift Digital. “What we’re doing now is helping our clients activate the data.

“We’re now able to take that shopping data using AI to organize the customers into segments, to make it easier for dealers to more e ectively target marketing e orts.”

Shift also is using AI to compare various shoppers’ online “journeys,”

to see which ones end up as actual sales. From that data, AI can gure out which potential customers are most likely to end up as buyers. Using that information, dealers can work to close the deal.

Another area where AI is making inroads is trade-in valuation. An app has been developed that allows customers to take pictures of their vehicle from di erent angles to help dealership personnel assess the value of the car or truck.

“People talk about getting the right message to the right customer at the right time,” Van Dyke says. “It’s the Holy Grail of automotive marketing. e challenge with that is there are so many disparate systems that have all this data. What AI is so good at is gobbling up that data and turning it into something actionable.”

PDA Q&A: THE E-INTERVIEW

DB: WHERE ARE YOU?

MF: I’m in Los Angeles at CoMotion LA ’24, which is a two-day conference centered on the mobility ecosystem. It used to be paired with the L.A. Auto Show.

DB: WHAT’S YOUR ROLE?

MF: I’ve attended the event over the last five years; some years, I served as a speaker. This year, as part of the event,

I’ll be speaking to a U.K. delegation on mobility market trends, market entry, and the future of mobility. I’m also helping mobility startups from the U.K. attend the event and make their pitch for (financial) support. We’ll be o ering our services to the winners.

DB: WHAT’S YOUR EXPERTISE?

MF: We’re 100-percent

focused on mobility — specifically ground mobility, both upstream and downstream, and across the whole mobility chain. We haven’t done much yet in air mobility, but we’re seeing more companies get into that space, and we plan to be more involved in 2025.

DB: HOW ABOUT THE 2028 SUMMER OLYMPICS?

MF: We’ll have a role in

Shift Digital got its start in 2008 by integrating close to 50 di erent Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service provider systems with factory systems. It currently has 750 employees, 450 of whom are in Birmingham. It also has o ces in Toronto, Dallas, and Southern California.

“ e cost of vehicles is up 30 percent since the pandemic,” Van Dyke says. “We’re trying to eliminate the pain point of dealers having to spend more money than they have to on demand-creation, and help brands and retailers assemble data in a way that can provide personalized experiences for customers.”

helping to develop and improve infrastructure for the Olympics (July 14-30, 2028). We want to get the athletes to their respective events as smoothly as possible, and we want to make it as easy as possible for people to visit and attend the Games.

DB: WHAT’S YOUR 2025 OUTLOOK?

MF: With the new

(federal) administration, we’ll be keeping an eye on any tariffs that may be imposed on vehicles imported from China and Europe. Micro-mobility also is growing rapidly for deliveries of groceries and other products, mostly in urban areas. Overall, it should be an exciting year in mobility.

— R.J. King

MARTIN FRENCH

Partner

Berylls by AlixPartners Birmingham

ACTION PLAN

Above: Shift Digital in Birmingham has developed advanced software to help multiple automotive brands better reach their customers.

Right: Matt Van Dyke, CEO of Shift Digital in Birmingham.

Leading Edge

Capture Automotive in Southfield is a go-to source for vehicle benchmark testing.

BY TIM KEENAN

There are a handful of companies automakers and suppliers call when they need competitive vehicles to compare and contrast while developing their own products.

One of those is Capture Automotive, which a decade ago began supplying vehicles to clients that wanted to inspect new models for a few months at a time. Part of The Tamaroff Group in Southfield, which has been selling vehicles of multiple brands in metro Detroit since 1969, Capture Automotive was a classic case of listening and reacting to the needs of the marketplace.

“We were doing this for about a year when I asked this guy to explain the business model to me,” says Eric Frehsée, president of The Tamaroff Group. “It seemed like a good business, so we gave it a try.”

Capture Automotive started with one employee working out of the back of Tamaroff’s Nissan showroom and has since expanded to 12 employees. Today, the team deals with thousands of vehicles each year and operates out of a 10,000-square-foot former dealership service center on the Tamaroff lot.

The building houses 6,000 square feet of fleet garage space, a 1,500-square-foot studio, and 2,500 square feet of office space.

“I love the brands we represent (through the Tamaroff dealerships), but I love all cars, and I love technology,” Frehsée says. “For me, starting this business was an opportunity to have the ability to touch, feel, and smell every single product that’s out there.”

According to Frehsée, the Capture Automotive business has changed quite a bit in recent years.

“When we started, there was some heavy-duty benchmarking on transmissions, and engines and suspensions,” he says. “Now, it’s more technology they’re testing.

“Let’s say they’re benchmarking the time it takes for the navigation screen to turn on and populate when you hit the start button on a new vehicle. They might want to test 10 different vehicles, benchmark all that data, then try to beat that.”

The push toward electric vehicles, which might be changing with the new presidential administration, has caused the biggest change in Capture Automotive’s operations.

“The last three years were focused on EV,” Frehsée explains. “It used to be 90 percent ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Now, it’s 90 percent EVs as all of the OEMs are moving toward BEVs (battery electric vehicles) and hybrids.”

Looking ahead, what does the future hold for Capture Automotive?

“OEMs and suppliers are always going to need cars,” Frehsée says. “The market is evolving. Consumers are evolving. Technology in cars is very important to consumers. All these safety features (including) autonomous driving and adaptive cruise control are still being integrated into vehicles.”

Frehsée says automotive timelines are evolving faster than ever. Life cycles used to be five or six years. Now, minor model changes turn into major model changes in a much shorter period of time.

“The future depends on how the market moves or doesn’t move toward BEVs,” he says. “Either way, we’ll continue to see more testing.”

DEFENSE SPENDING

LOC PERFORMANCE IN Plymouth Township announced that it is making unspecified “major” investments in its Lapeer and Lansing plants in the coming months to support recently won defense contracts for missile system structures.

The first capital investments occurred in December 2024 as the company’s manufacturing of the missile structures began low-rate initial production.

To meet the demand for the large-scale missile structures, Loc is investing in high-precision 4-axis and 5-axis CNC machining centers at Lapeer. Two new machines are already installed and operational.

Additionally, Loc is enhancing its manufacturing support by adding large-capacity and highly accurate coordinate measuring machines, which are intended to ensure the highest standards of quality and precision.

An expansion is planned at Loc’s Lansing plant in 2025.

“As we continue to elevate our skills and technology, we see an exciting opportunity for growth in both Loc’s commercial and defense sectors,” says Wayne Dula, director of business development at Loc Performance. “Missile structures represent a key area for expansion within our defense market strategy.”

The developments are expected to create new job opportunities for skilled machinists and the Lapeer and Lansing locations. Additionally, the company plans to expand its skilled manufacturing and quality engineering teams to support growth.

— By Tim Keenan

SIDE HUSTLE

Eric Frehsée, pictured at far right, and his Capture Automotive team in Southfield do what traditional dealers can’t — sell, lease, and rent vehicles to competitive OEMs for benchmark testing.

Flight Control

KitelyTech’s top executives survived a plane crash in the Michigan wilderness in 2022. Since then, much reflection has given the boutique software-design firm in Waterford Township a 30,000-foot view.

BY RONALD AHRENS

With a 100-mile-per-hour tailwind, it shaped up to be a quick trip home to Oakland County International Airport in Waterford Township after Jason White and Jason Weiner enjoyed a fish lunch on Grand Traverse Bay the afternoon of Aug. 31, 2022.

“We’re going to be home in 20 minutes,” pilot White told passenger Weiner.

But trouble developed about 13 minutes after takeoff, as they reached a cruising altitude of 9,800 feet. The six-cylinder engine of JW Aviation’s Beechcraft Bonanza sputtered out and wouldn’t restart.

Within seconds, the airplane began to lose more than 1,000 feet per minute of gliding. The two occupants quickly went through checklists and urgently consulted piloting apps to find a landing place. White banked 90 degrees left — eastward toward Houghton Lake.

“We hit best glide speed and found what looked like a hard, cracked-soil field,” White says. “After commitment, we noticed that it was actually a flooded swamp, a conservation area for the DNR.”

At the last second, a tree had to be avoided; then, the Bonanza came down tail-first and bounced. “As I’m landing, with one arm I’m reaching over and giving Jason the dad-arm, like you would in a car if you were stopping too quickly,” White recalls.

Finally, the plane’s nose bit into the marsh, ripping away the propeller and dead engine, and abruptly rotating the fuselage 180 degrees. White found this preferable to bouncing for another quarter-mile.

WE HAVE A PROBLEM

When Jason White, founder and CEO of KitelyTech Inc. in Waterford Township, heard the engine of his Beechcraft Bonanza sputter and stop, he and his COO, Jason Weiner, searched piloting apps before finding a marsh where they could land.

Miraculously, White and Weiner, the two top executives of boutique software-development firm KitelyTech Inc. in Waterford Township — each of whom has a wife and three children — were uninjured. Flight-tracking information shows termination at 4:39 p.m. after 22 minutes aloft, including nine minutes of gliding.

“It was a blink of an eye and the longest nine minutes at the same time,” Weiner says.

White looked at the grass waving in the wind and thought, “This is probably the most beautiful field I’ve personally seen in my life.”

After taking victory photos, the pair began a twohour slog through the marsh before finally coming to a road. (Weiner lost his sandals in the muck.) After the joyful reunions and taking stock of “a whole different appreciation of things,” as White says, it was back to work running the company. A few days later, White was even back in the air.

White and Weiner are recounting the incident in a videoconference; Weiner, KitelyTech’s COO, is speaking from his home in West Bloomfield Township. White, founder and CEO, is sitting behind his desk at Royal Air’s Jet 1 Suites at Oakland County International Airport.

“We run our headquarters out of an aircraft hangar here — a combination hangar-and-office situation,” White explains. Near at hand in the hangar is a

basketball hoop, a ping-pong table, a living room setup with a theater, and “a stack” of Ducati motorcycles. (He’s sitting in a red, white, and black Ducati Corse swivel chair with an integrated headrest.)

ere’s also a replacement for the Bonanza, a very di erent plane, in case another Up North bayside luncheon beckons.

Founded by White in 2009, KitelyTech provides a comprehensive suite of digital solutions. It creates data analysis tools for client use and designs customer-service chatbots for websites. It can whip up voice activations, language translation, and tailored content to aid its clients in audience engagement.

ere also are services to transition infrastructure and applications to the cloud, while platform development is another capability. Accumulating potency and delivering it far and wide, KitelyTech has done almost no marketing.

If the name isn’t widely recognized in Detroit, it is known across a range of small and mid-size businesses, all the way to Fortune 100 corporations. Customers include AIG, Bank of America, FedEx, Johnson Controls, Johnson & Johnson, Publicis Media, and Ticketmaster.

“We’ve created a partnership with Microsoft, even building out a lot of their AI components and customizing them,” White says. “ ey’ve positioned us as an Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG — that type of horsepower knowledge-base at a more e cient pricing. We’re the boutique version of that.”

White, 44, describes KitelyTech as a red-carpet, attainable service that typically becomes more of a collaboration. “For me, there’s a lot of people who do what we do, and I call them noise in the industry. What separates the men from the boys is the last 10 percent of the project.”

BASE MAP

When White finally landed his aircraft near Houghton Lake, he had been flying for 22 minutes since taking o from Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City. The flight time included nine minutes of gliding.

KITELYTECH INC.

Service: Boutique software-development firm

Headquarters: Waterford Township

O ces: Detroit, Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Chicago, New York City, Miami, Phoenix

Revenue: NA

Employees: 150

Founder and CEO: Jason White

Indeed, the company’s claim of being in the top 1 percent among its cohort is supported by a cache of awards: Best Mobile Apps Silver winner, Clutch.com Top 1,000 Companies citations, FortySeven Software Professionals Top IT Consulting Company, UpCity! Excellence medallions, and e Business Fame Most Recommended Technology Consulting & Development Service, to name a few. In 2022, Business Worldwide Magazine named White its Digital Transformation CEO of the Year – USA.

A key di erence-maker is the provision of concierge-level service. “We’re there, we’re present, (and) we’re available,” White says. “We have other clients, (and) if they see that (large consultant’s) acronym, they throw ’em out of the room. It’s like, ‘Hey, 20 million bucks, we’ll see you in three years.’ at’s what the big consulting companies do.”

To keep the initial investment low for the client, KitelyTech’s top-tier team — there are about 150 sta ers, most of whom work remotely — migrates to where they are, to get to know their day-to-day requirements. rough partnerships and the gig economy, it’s possible to scale up fast for a big job.

e get-to-know-you sessions aren’t all listening and notetaking. White likes to push back against feeble ideas, based on experience in many verticals. is “catalyst phase” entails workshops to augment thoughts and identify needs. e company has trademarked its Katalyst Quickstart process for clients, to assess AI’s in uence on data governance, legal, and human resources compliance.

“We’re coming in with a lot of experience,” White says. “We come in proactively and have these workshops. During the workshops, we esh out the details. We create prioritizations of certain features, right?”

A trusted practice nds the KitelyTech team leaning on the Pereto Principle, a.k.a. the 80/20 rule, which states that 80 percent of ROI or monetization comes from 20 percent of the functionality.

“Leaving that workshop scenario, we have an idea of what it’s going to take to start engineering solutions,” he says. After that, the client gets an estimate of high and low “in terms of where they’re heading for a budget.” e same level of transparency pertains to all of the ensuing steps.

KitelyTech has claimed 100 percent growth year after year since its founding, so the question arises about revenue for the private concern. White’s Ducati chair rocks a bit as he declines to give any gures, but he does say there are no partners or investors. “We continue to thrive. I’ll tell you, a few years ago we made a decision (that) if we didn’t get on the AI-slash-deep learning boat, we were going to get left

E Kelly Rd

S Je s Rd ksuM e gon River

Marsh

HOUGHTON LAKE

Houghton Lake Wildlife Research Area

Butterfield Township

in the dust. It’s been very lucrative in terms of the opportunities there and continuing to drive additional revenue for the company.”

The AI expertise takes form via cloud certifications and a host of certificates from Microsoft and Google.

Although White jokes he’s earned five MBAs from the School of Hard Knocks, he took a different path to success. After graduating from Ernest W. Seaholm High School in Birmingham, he joined his family’s company, R.D. White in Royal Oak. The electrical contractor is a leader in audio and video systems, electrical-system design and engineering, and home automation. White’s father, Ronald, an ex-Marine, founded the company about 30 years ago.

“He’s now 77 years old, and I’d put him up against most people,” White says. “There was just a different way of doing things, right?” He recalls how sloppy work would be torn out and redone. “There was a mentality of, just because it’s behind a wall, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be perfect. That really transcended into what we do (at KitelyTech). Honor your word, honor your commitment, take an organized approach, and, overall, create (a) partnership with your client.”

While in his 20s, White had a sojourn in Chicago, where he moved into the nicest building he could afford and joined the best gym. Becoming a serial entrepreneur meant launching technology ventures such as a dating app, what he calls a “kid shopping aggregation,” and a “tech-enabled, fast-casual restaurant.”

Not every venture went well, and he soon found himself in dire straits. The origins of KitelyTech arose from doing web and mobile app development for startups and consulting for investors. The name derives from the original, whimsical domain registration, “Fly Kitely.” Finding steady and earnest programming-development support was a key for White. Ultimately, he returned to Oakland County, where he and his wife, Erin, are raising their family.

Having joined KitelyTech in early 2022, eight months before the plane crash, Jason Weiner represents a refinement in the organizational setup. The 40-year-old received a bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then earned a law degree from Michigan State University in East Lansing. When he practiced law, he specialized in bankruptcy and insolvency cases.

“A majority of the practice was representing receivers over liquidating companies,” Weiner says. That sometimes meant being involved in day-to-day operations, dealing with everything from employees to the emergencies created by equipment failures. “I really enjoyed that aspect of the practice,” he says.

When the COVID-19 era arrived, Weiner and his wife, Rebecca, had a second child on the way, and Weiner found he “wanted to pursue something else other than the law.” There followed a period of advising startups on strategic growth plans and overseeing internal-development teams.

He and White had known each other for about 10 years, and it seemed like a natural fit when he joined

ADVERSE YAW

Once White’s plane was pulled from a marsh near Houghton Lake, it was determined to be a total loss. Apart from removing personal belongings, the aircraft was scrapped for parts.

KitelyTech. Then, after a year with the company, the decision was made to implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System espoused by author and consultant Gino Wickman, a metro Detroit resident, in his series of books and seminars.

Weiner would become the EOS integrator, who makes sure everybody is “on the same page” and “rowing in the right direction,” to use Wickman’s terms.

“EOS is an operating system for the business,” Weiner explains. “It helps make sure that everyone who works for the company aligns with the core values and the mission.”

EOS principles encourage the identification of three to seven core values that will guide all activity. KitelyTech’s core values are integrity, passion, genuineness, work ethic, accountability, and professionalism.

Additionally, EOS outlines procedures for efficient 90-minute staff meetings in a regular cadence. It recommends the top organizational leaders take a broad view of results by relying on a regular data scorecard. Short- and longer-term goals are pursued, and the leadership delegates a solution of issues to capable team members through standardized structural processes.

When it all comes together and “traction” is achieved, the overall simplification results in greater internal harmonies and an enhanced feeling of freedom for the bosses. In his manual, “Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business,” Wickman claims, “On average, my clients’ businesses grow revenue by 18 percent per year.”

The EOS pattern for staff meetings has made a believer of Weiner, who says, “It fosters really great communication — transparency across the board. As a leadership team, you’re going through most of a week without missing anything.”

To achieve full EOS integration, KitelyTech works with business coach Stu Wolff, head of Wolff Leadership. The Birmingham resident formerly owned Wolff Group, a food brokerage company. He adopted EOS in those days, and it led him to face up to the lack of trust he felt about his then-partner. After resolving the issue with a buyout and a refreshed partnership, he took Wolff Group to new heights before selling it to industry giant Acosta.

“Basically, for the last six years I’ve been working with clients like KitelyTech, (and) small- to mid-size entrepreneurial organizations, to help them get all their people rowing in the same direction,” Wolff says in another echo of Wickman’s workaday phrasing. Wolff went through a two-day training program to become a professional EOS implementer. He says he expected to surpass 500 client sessions by September and advance to expert implementer.

After quarterly meetings with KitelyTech and an annual planning session over two days, Wolff sees the company “still in the beginning- to mid-phase of incorporating EOS into their organization.” Another year or so may be needed before “they’re really humming at a level they want to be at.”

It’s clear to him, in an almost formulaic way, that Weiner is the needed complement in the company’s leadership. Company founders are often visionaries with great ideas, deep industry knowledge, and a picture in mind of a mature company — but they may fumble the management football.

I’LL TELL YOU, A FEW YEARS AGO WE MADE A DECISION (THAT) IF WE DIDN’T GET ON THE AI-SLASHDEEP LEARNING BOAT, WE WERE GOING TO GET LEFT IN THE DUST.”

— JASON WHITE

“They like to be at the 30K foot level,” Wolff says. “They like to work with the big customers and the big relationships and networking and connecting, but they’re not great at running the day-to-day of the business.” He introduces the analogy of Walt and Roy Disney, wherein Walt was the creative force and his older brother, Roy, handled business matters.

“The reason Jason White needs a Jason Weiner is because Jason Weiner is the one that’s executing the plan day-to-day. He’s the one that’s connecting marketing with sales with operations. The two Jasons together, the visionary and the integrator, that’s what makes magic. When you bring those two types of unique personalities together, that’s what makes rocket fuel.” (“Rocket Fuel” is the title of another of Wickman’s books.)

It’s indicative that Wolff refers to the entrepreneur’s preference to operate at the 30,000-foot level. After losing the Bonanza plane, Jason White pondered how to improve his prospects in the sky. Studies showed higher accident ratings for piston-powered airplanes compared to turbine-powered ones.

In keeping with his general emphasis on continuous improvement, the replacement aircraft is a Piper Meridian with turboprop-power that’s more reliable, enables much higher flying with a pressurized cabin, and achieves a top airspeed of 300 miles per hour.

As for Weiner, he was undeterred by the crash, and had no qualms about flying with White to Houston last January to watch the Michigan Wolverines football team win the CFP National Championship Game. When he attended U-M, Weiner majored in philosophy, and it shows in his expression of continued trust in White, which far exceeds the tenuous bond between Stu Wolff and his former partner.

“Jason and I similarly felt that crash wasn’t going to define him as a pilot, nor me as a passenger,” Weiner says. “We both felt very strongly about that, (yet) Jason was worried about my wife allowing me to ever fly with him again.”

At the time of the crash, Rebecca Weiner was pregnant with the couple’s third child. After a frank discussion, she told her husband there would be no more flying until she had the baby.

“I told Jason that, and he said, ‘There’s a chance!’ Look, is my wife thrilled about it? Probably not necessarily, but she also knows me, trusts Jason, and I’ve flown with him multiple times. It’s a privilege. There’s always a safety component in any situation. You can’t predict what’s going to happen, but not allowing it to control how you live your life — that’s living.”

software. “When the internet became a part of the mobile telephone, that’s when we knew,” he says, but the thought is interrupted as his phone rings: “Joanne, I’ll call you back in an hour or so.”

CALL FORWARD

The greatest productivity tool of the 20th century came about after AT&T misgauged the market for mobile phones, leaving the door open for Motorola.

BY RONALD AHRENS

Trustee Martin Cooper was sitting on the stage during last spring’s commencement exercise at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago when he heard a ring from inside his academic gown and felt a buzz in his pocket — an incident proving that even the father of the cell phone is susceptible to a common plague.

“It turns out my phone made a butt call,” Cooper says from his home o ce in Del Mar, Calif. e other party called back, so he apologized. When asked what was happening, he activated the video camera. “I showed them all these kids walking by and I’m dressed in this ridiculous costume. I mean, how could you possibly have an experience like that 40 years ago?”

No one knows better that it was impossible. Call it what you will — handheld portable wireless telephone, mobile phone, cell phone-leading-to-the-smartphone — Cooper steered the development of this marvelous device, which has transformed lives as it also refashions education, economic activity, leisure time, and social customs.

e 95-year-old inventor nds himself discussing such topics with friends on morning beach walks along the Paci c Ocean. “ e impact of the phone is just barely starting, because now we’re integrating arti cial intelligence into this phone,” he says. “We’ve got not only the ability to talk to anybody in the world at any time, but the ability to access all the information in the world.”

Not even Cooper foresaw the integration of the mobile phone with powerful computational hardware and at-your-service

e merging of phone and the Web coincides with the canny development of bandwidth management within the electromagnetic spectrum of the broadcast frequencies. ( e mobile phone is, after all, a radio transmitter and receiver.)

Years ago, it was believed the bandwidth was limited, and peak over-the-air surcharges were sometimes applied on phone bills. Nowadays, users take for granted having su cient capacity not only for voice communications, but also for transmitting photos, videos, and data, or streaming games and movies.

How things reached this point is a story of high-tech industrial adventure, a brash move by Motorola Inc. against the monopolistic giant AT&T and its prestigious research-and-development arm, Bell Laboratories, with Cooper — whose ne sense of style shows up in every photo and even in the videoconference — as the leading man.

Cooper joined Motorola’s applied research department in 1954. By that time, he had earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, or Illinois Tech, and served in the U.S. Navy. Taking night classes at the school, he would go on to earn an M.S. in electrical engineering and mathematics in 1957.

Founded in Chicago by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 as Galvin Manufacturing Corp., the company that would become known as Motorola manufactured, at the time, a “battery eliminator,” adapting battery-powered radio receivers to plug into the wall socket. Sears Roebuck and Co. o ered the product in its catalog, but forthcoming technological advances would curtail demand.

Looking for a new product, Paul Galvin put out feelers to Detroit’s automakers. ey suggested a scaled-down AM radio receiver to t in a car’s dashboard. It should be sturdy enough to maintain reception over a bumpy road.

Michael Galvin, grandson of Paul, recounts his grandfather’s next step. “He went back (to Chicago) and tried to nd an engineer that could basically invent and commercialize the rst car radio. at was Bill Lear. It put them into the radio business (in 1930), and saved the company because they created a whole new industry.”

Martin Cooper, an electrical engineer and mathematician who helped develop the mobile phone while at Motorola, and became known as the father of the cell phone, says the impact of the portable device is still in its infancy.

e brand name Motorola was chosen, and re ecting the acclaim it earned, Galvin Manufacturing was renamed Motorola Inc. in 1947. Lear went on to establish Lear Developments, specialists in aerospace instruments and electronics, and the creator of the world’s rst 8 Track tape player for cars, and later founded Learjet.

“ e history of Motorola is creating new industries every 15 years,” says Galvin, a corporate lawyer who serves as chairman of Illinois Tech’s board of trustees. “From there, they evolved and were a new leader in car radios, (but) they had to renew and do new things.

ey said, ‘We see another world war on the horizon. Maybe we could get that radio on the move to talk to (one another) — not just get one signal.’ ”

e result, in 1940, was the SCR-300, a two-way radio in a backpack. Requiring two soldiers for its operation, it became known as the walkie-talkie. Motorola worked on downscaling the hardware and soon delivered the Handie-Talkie SCR-536 for battle eld use.

Following World War II, Motorola did groundbreaking work in the development of pagers, rst used by sta at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. e company also marketed portable two-way radios to the Chicago Police Department, introducing a cellular support system based on the concepts of a Bell Labs researcher.

Meanwhile, in 1946, the year before Bell Labs invented the solid-state transistor, AT&T o ered the Mobile Telephone System car phone through the American Bell Telephone Co. Made for Bell by Motorola, it was 80 pounds of vacuum tubes and mechanical parts that went into the car’s trunk.

When the unit’s clunky decoder-selector sequenced the incoming pulses, a noti cation sounded inside the car. Very High Frequency radio signals linked MTS to the regular telephone network through one of just three available channels, and depended on a switchboard operator to nalize the connection (and listen in).

“ is was the mobile phone in its earliest stage and was the rst combination of a radio and a telephone to reach the market,” writes Guy Klemens in “ e Cellphone: e History and Technology of the Gadget at Changed the World.”

“Too large to be carried in anything less than an automobile and too expensive for any but the elite, the car phone nonetheless was

popular.” e equipment cost $2,000 when a top-of-the-line Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser convertible was $1,840.

e Federal Communications Commission was already apprehensive of an AT&T monopoly and only gave it half the requested allocation of spectrum frequencies; the rest were reserved for independent base-station operators who bought their equipment from Motorola. ese carriers would rise to become competitors of AT&T.

By the early 1960s, under Cooper’s engineering leadership, Motorola got the contract from Bell Labs to produce the Improved Mobile Telephone Service, which went on to achieve success for the Chicago company. e car telephone worked like any typical phone. IMTS was still at least 10 times as expensive as a landline in a house, but strong demand kept the system going until the rise of cellular-based mobile service.

An FCC decision in 1968 opened the way for cellular systems. e agency wiped out accommodations for the weakest Ultra High Frequency television channels and made the bandwidth available for wireless phones.

At Motorola in 1956, co-founder Paul Galvin had passed the torch to his son, Bob, when it was a $200-million-a-year company. According to Michael, who is the son of Bob Galvin, the advent of cellular technology was the result of a high-wire act once the FCC opened the way.

“At the time Marty Cooper, with my father’s support, was betting the company, Motorola, on the development of cellular technology — where a call could be passed from one cell to the other, seamlessly, without either side of the call feeling that change,” Michael says.

AT&T was “actually a little bit ahead,” but a business consultant told them the cellular telephone market would never grow beyond $150 million a year. “AT&T decided not to race to the nish line to put this technology out there into the marketplace,” Michael adds.

Yet, AT&T still wanted the bandwidth.

ere also was the matter of creating the right kind of phone.

Cooper wanted it to be truly portable. It was late 1972, and new FCC hearings on bandwidth allocations were scheduled for the following spring. As told in his autobiography, “Cutting the Cord: e Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity,” Cooper went to Motorola’s

1908: A U.S. patent was issued in Kentucky for a wireless telephone.

1917: Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt filed a patent for a “pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone.”

1926: The first mobile telephony service was o ered to first-class passengers on the Deutsche Reichsbahn, journeying between Berlin and Hamburg.

1940s: Engineers working at AT&T developed cells for mobile phone base stations.

1946: The first calls were made on a car radiotelephone in Chicago.

1956: The first automated mobile phone system for private vehicles launched in Sweden.

1969: The Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) Group was established. It included engineers representing Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, and wanted a mobile phone system that focused on accessibility.

SCR-536 Handie Talkie 1942 AT&T MObile Telephone System 1956 Motorola DynaTAC 8000 1983

1973: The first handheld mobile phone was demonstrated by Martin Cooper of Motorola in New York City.

1979: The first commercial automated cellular network (1G) analog was launched in Japan by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.

1991:

1992:

1994:

1998:

design chief, Rudy Krolopp, and said, “Rudy, I need you to design a handheld wireless telephone, a portable cell phone.” Krolopp responded, “What the hell’s a portable cell phone?”

e design team gured it out with uncanny results, producing ve de nitive prototypes. e next problem was downsizing existing components and inventing new ones. e phone had to be full duplex — no more press-to-talk for “Roger that” and “over and out,” as on a walkie-talkie.

anks to a new “tri-selector” internal component, a user could listen and talk at the same time. Additionally, radio-frequency power-ampli cation was needed for the production of one watt at 900 megahertz.

e receiver itself had to be sensitive enough to pluck the weak UHF signal from the air, and the phone had to be able to use hundreds of channels. New circuitry was designed in support of all the new components.

In its own way, Cooper’s program was like a “moonshot,” but with about 30 to 35 engineers and three months’ time to develop the phone and supporting cellular base-station infrastructure.

“I’ve always been imaginative,” Cooper says from his o ce. He remembers having a Little Orphan Annie decoder ring as a young tyke. “I would sit there listening to the radio — this was, of course, way before televisions — decoding messages.”

His love for discovery came about when he was 8 years old; the Cooper family lived in Fort William (now under Bay), Ontario. At the time, Cooper went to the library to check out “ e Hound of the Baskervilles,” one of Sherlock Holmes’ most famous investigations written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

“I still remember looking up at this librarian, who was sitting behind a counter way above me, and she said, ‘Are you sure you can read a book like this?’ I did read it, and still have memories of what was in that book.”

Cooper put his inner Sherlock Holmes to work on solving the case of the mobile phone. Naysayers within Motorola questioned the project’s value, and Cooper had to tap the same resourcefulness he had learned from his mother, Mary Cooper, who peddled goods door-to-door with great success.

“It took a lot of selling to keep this project going,” he says. e prototype DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) was soon to become known as e Brick. It was more like the HandieTalkie squawk box in size (13 inches tall) than any of the models from Motorola’s design department.

1999:

1999: The first BlackBerry phone was unveiled.

J-SH04

2000:

Nevertheless, the 2-pound, 10-ounce unit met the primary requirements by accessing nearly 400 radio channels; the 14-volt nickel-cadmium battery was good for a dozen short calls or 30 minutes, would last a few hours on standby, and recharged in 10 hours.

“By the end of March, we actually did some test phone calls, and the phone worked,” Cooper relays.

e next step, on April 3, 1973, was a visit to New York City. Cooper was supposed to be a guest on CBS Morning News but got bumped, so he ended up making the world’s rst cell phone call for a local radio reporter. e inventor’s choice of a recipient may be among the great industrial pranks of all time.

e signal went over the air to an antenna atop a 50-story Midtown Manhattan skyscraper and was relayed by a connected base station to a landline network, then routed to rival engineer Joel Engel’s desk at Bell Labs in New Jersey. Engel later professed no recollection of the moment, and even downplayed the DynaTAC’s signi cance.

Michael Galvin cherishes the memory of his own rst cellular connection. “ e rst Brick telephone call I ever made was to Paul Galvin’s brother and sister, Burley Galvin and Helen Galvin, who lived together in Harvard, Ill., where (they) grew up,” he says. “It was very exciting. My father set me up. It was very easy to use and worked great.” e memory makes him chuckle. “It was really cool.”

After visiting New York, Cooper’s next stop was Washington, D.C., where he demonstrated DynaTAC to the FCC, proving that 900 MHz was possible for two-way communications. Eventually, a standard part of his pitch was touting the number-for-a-lifetime concept. “We told people that someday, when you were born, you’d be assigned a phone number, and if you didn’t answer the phone (decades later), you had died. We knew it was going to be big, but not many people believed us. It really took about 20 years.”

Along the way, other challenges emerged, with lobby groups in uencing FCC approvals as well as the government’s breakup of Ma Bell’s monopoly, resulting in the formation of seven independent, regional “Baby Bell” systems.

Back in Chicago, engineering re nements to the hardware still needed to be made. And acceptance by consumers was hardly a given. Galvin remembers his father being challenged on the size of e Brick, the intrusiveness of the device that made its owner available day and night, and the high cost of airtime. Folks would ask, “Bob, if I can drive up the road and put a dime in a phone booth and make a call, why would I want to pay $5 a minute?”

1983: The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone.

The second-generation (2G) digital cellular technology was launched in Finland.

The first smartphone was introduced by IBM.

The first smartphone was released to the public.

The first downloadable content sold to mobile phones was the ringtone, launched by Finland’s Radiolinja.

Emojis were invented by Shigetaka Kurita in Japan.

The first commercially available camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04, launched in Japan.

A breakthrough occurred in 1982 when Bob Galvin brought along his son, Christopher — Michael’s brother and the future CEO of Motorola — on a visit to the White House. e senior Galvin was chatting with his old friend, Vice President George H.W. Bush. Formerly the chief of the Central Intelligence Agency, Bush knew Galvin from the latter’s service on an agency advisory committee.

Galvin naturally brought e Brick with him. In Cooper’s written account, Galvin invited Bush to call his wife, Barbara, and the vice president blurted out, “Guess what I’m doing? Talking on a portable telephone.”

Later that day, after a big meeting on trade, Bush invited President Ronald Reagan to have a look. After making a call, Reagan told an aide, “You get ahold of the FCC chairman and tell him I want this thing released.” e DynaTAC 8000X entered the market in 1983 with a price of $3,995. ere still remained the long process of miniaturizing components and perfecting user interfaces for mobile phones, while other manufacturers such as Nokia emerged to provide competition in the marketplace.

In turn, some people were slow to adopt phones because of worries about radio waves causing cancer, although the National Cancer Institute says the human body does not absorb this type of energy.

Finally, in 2007, Apple and the late Steve Jobs released the rst iPhone, starting at $499. Other manufacturers followed with their own smartphones, and the old adage about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time became “walk and check phone.” Nanotechnology has resulted in the iPhone 17 Pro’s A17 chip having 19 billion transistors.

Aside from the annoyance of the occasional butt call, Marty Cooper takes inspiration from the quantum acceleration of e Brick, a singlefunction device, to today’s mobile internet — with the metaverse on tap.

He looks earnestly into his desktop camera and speaks of AI processing information and solving problems for us.

“I think there is the potential — I may be an optimist; in fact, I am one — but we’re going to solve the really big problems. ere is no excuse for anybody to be hungry anywhere in the world, no excuse to have warfare.

“ ere is enough for everybody. We don’t have to ght each other to get it. We should be improving productivity. Everybody in the world has the potential to be wealthy. I believe all those things are going to happen if we don’t blow ourselves up rst.”

WALK AND TALK

CELL PHONES DIDN’T BECOME A MUST-HAVE ITEM for Americans until the late 1990s, but in the 1960s wireless telecommunications were all over U.S. television.

“Get Smart’s” Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, had a wireless phone embedded in his shoe. The cast of “Star Trek” conversed across galaxies using wireless “communicators.” Batman had a car phone in the iconic Batmobile.

Meanwhile, “The Jetsons,” set in 2062, had smart watches and video conferencing capability. Even earlier, in 1946, Dick Tracy sported a two-way wrist radio, an early smart watch, in comic books.

Although it didn’t take technology until 2062 to catch up with the imaginations of Mel Brooks and Gene Roddenberry, it did take about 30 years for cell phones to become as prevalent as, well, air itself.

Although a U.S. patent was issued in Kentucky for a wireless telephone in 1908, it might come as a surprise that much of the groundbreaking work in cellular communications happened in northern Europe.

In 1917, Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt filed a patent for a “pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone.” The first automated mobile phone system for private vehicles was launched in Sweden in 1956. In 1969, engineers representing Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland founded the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) Group to develop a mobile phone system that focused on accessibility.

From there, 2G digital cellular technology was launched in Finland in 1991, while the first downloadable ringtone was launched by Finland’s Radiolinja in 1998. The first publicly available 4G service was started in Scandinavia by TeliaSonera in 2009.

2001: The third-generation (3G) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo.

2001: Cell phones access the internet.

2007: The Apple iPhone debuted.

2008: The first Android phone, in the form of the T-Mobile G1, arrived.

Less surprising is the role Japan played in the cell phone’s development. In 1979, the first commercial automated analog cellular network (1G) was launched in the Land of the Rising Sun by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. Shigetaka Kurita invented emojis in 1999, and in 2001, 3G was launched by NTT DoCoMo. The first commercially available camera phone, the Sharp J-SH04, was released in Japan in 2000.

In the U.S., engineers working at AT&T developed cells for mobile phone base stations, and in 1946 the first calls were made on a car radiotelephone in Chicago. Motorola introduced the first commercially available cell phone in 1983.

2009: The first publicly available 4G service was launched in Scandinavia by TeliaSonera. 2019: The deployment of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks commenced worldwide.

Sources: Uswitch, Textedly

Two decades later, “The Brick” phone — which weighed 2.5 pounds and required its own portable battery and carrying case — revolutionized pocket-sized devices; Motorola’s first flip phone in 1996 harkened back to those “Star Trek” communicators.

In 2007, everything changed with the debut of the Apple iPhone. It was the first phone with multi-touch technology and internet access. From there, the technological advancements came fast and furious, and new models were unveiled seemingly every year, with more capabilities and features.

While we may not be talking into our shoes, it appears the creators of 1960s TV were onto something.

— Tim Keenan

THE BIG THREE AUTO EXECUTIVES LIST

COMPILED BY TOM BEAMAN

List complete as of Dec. 13, 2024.

MARY T. BARRA

Chairman and CEO

Barra became the first female chief executive to lead a major automaker when she was named CEO in January 2014. She was elected chairman of the

GRANT DIXTON

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Public Policy O cer

E ective as of July 2024. Dixton also serves as corporate secretary, while overseeing the company’s

PAUL JACOBSON

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial O cer

Before joining GM in December 2020, Jacobson served as CFO of Delta Air Lines Inc.,

GM Board of Directors in January 2016. Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity – time. She’s focused on improving the customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business, while also working to lead the transformation of mobility.

global legal, compliance, corporate governance, privacy, and public policy functions. Before joining GM, Dixton was chief legal o cer at Activision Blizzard. He also served as general counsel and corporate secretary at Boeing, where he provided strategic counsel on governance, litigation, intellectual property, and labor matters. Dixton earlier served as associate counsel to the president of the United States.

which he helped transform into one of Fortune magazine’s Top 50 Most Admired Companies for six consecutive years. He was named the airline industry’s best CFO eight times by Institutional Investor magazine’s poll of Wall Street analysts and investors. Jacobson graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in aviation management, and later received an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

REUSS

President

Reuss leads GM’s vision of a sustainable, equitable, and all-electric future within the organization and beyond through its innovative

Executive Vice President – Strategic Adviser; President and Chief

Administrative O cer, Cruise

Glidden joined GM in 2015 as executive VP and

SeniorVicePresidents

SHILPAN AMIN

Senior Vice President and President, GM International

Since April 2022, Amin has been responsible for GM operations outside of North America and China.

technologies, products, and initiatives. He also directs the company’s regional operations, including North America, South America, China, and General Motors International. GM’s global product development team, global design, global quality and operational excellence, and GM Defense report to Reuss. He serves on the board of GM’s SAIC-GM joint venture in China and is a member of the GM senior leadership team.

general counsel, leading a transformation of its global legal operations to support the company’s vision of a future with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion. He was named executive VP of global public policy and assumed the responsibilities of corporate secretary in 2021. Previously, he was executive VP and chief legal o cer for LyondellBasell Industries, one of the world’s largest plastics, chemicals, and refining companies.

His objective is to deliver profitable growth in each of the markets in which GM competes. Amin succeeds Steve Kiefer, who retired. Previously, Amin was vice president, GM global purchasing and supply chain, and was responsible for the strategic direction of GM’s worldwide purchasing, supply chain, and logistics operations. He’s the lead executive chair of the board of directors for the GM Asian Connections Business Resource Group.

ExecutiveVicePresidents

Executive Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Sustainability

As of April 2024, Clausen oversees a team of approximately 94,800 members across 118 sites

Executive Vice President and President, Global Markets

Appointed in January 2024. Harvey leads the commercial strategy for General Motors: to deliver

DANIEL E. BERCE

Senior Vice President President and CEO, GM Financial

Berce has held these positions at GM Financial since October 2010, when GM purchased the

spanning 13 countries on four continents. Before joining GM, he held senior executive roles in development, engineering, and manufacturing operations at renowned companies such as the LEGO Group, Tesla, and Google. Clausen served as the vice president of Engineering – Data Center Advanced Technology Innovation at Google, leading technology innovation, product development, and data center infrastructure.

a leading purchase and ownership experience for customers in North America, China, and international markets. He’s focused on bringing to market the right vehicles, software, and technology across GM’s full portfolio of automotive and connected services brands, including Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, OnStar, ACDelco, and GM Genuine Parts. Prior to this position, Harvey led GM sales, service, and marketing for North America.

company. Previously, he served as vice chairman, president, treasurer, CEO, and CFO of AmeriCredit Corp. Before that, Berce was an auditor with Coopers & Lybrand for 14 years and was a partner with the firm. He is a certified public accountant and is a graduate of Regis University in Denver. GM Financial’s origination mix consists of 75 percent prime credit customers with credit bureau scores of 680 and above in North America.

MARK

CRAIG GLIDDEN

RORY HARVEY

JENS PETER (JP) CLAUSEN

BARIS CETINOK

Senior Vice President, Software and Services Product Management, Program Management and Design

Appointed in June 2024.

Cetinok and his team are responsible for software

Senior Vice President and Chief People O cer

Appointed in January 2023. Ho man previously served as Cruise’s chief people o cer, driving the company’s people

MICHAEL SIMCOE

Senior Vice President, Global Design

Simcoe has been GM’s global design chief since 2016. His teams focus on all aspects of design including advanced,

LIN-HUA WU

Senior Vice President and Chief Communications O cer

Wu is responsible for the overall company communications strategy in support of

strategy, and driving product and engineering teams toward delivery for GM’s products and connected devices. He joined GM in 2023 as vice president of product in the software and services organization, where he led a team-building future strategy for connected vehicles. Cetinok has more than 25 years of experience in product, engineering, and design at Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, where he launched Apple Pay and iCloud services.

strategy. Her team supported Cruise’s mission to build the most advanced self-driving vehicle by creating a high-performance culture where Cruisers could do their best work. Before Cruise, Ho man was VP of People at Dropbox, where she was responsible for building and scaling the company and culture across its 12 global o ces. Her leadership guided the company from a private startup to a publicly traded company.

production, and industrial design operations supporting GM’s brands and subsidiaries. Recent designs developed under Simcoe’s leadership include the Cruise Origin, Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV, and the BrightDrop EV600. Simcoe plays a pivotal role in GM’s transformation, challenging his teams to innovate as society experiences a massive shift in mobility, championing new technologies.

GM’s transformation to an all-electric future. She reports to GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. Before joining GM in 2023, Wu served as vice president of global communications and public a airs at Google, supporting search, advertising, maps, assistant, bard, news, commerce, payments, and the global business organization. She worked at Dropbox from 2016 to 2021, including serving as chief communications o cer.

NORM DE GREVE

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing O cer

De Greve is shifting GM’s marketing e orts from a reliance on traditional marketing to a strategy that drives

KEN MORRIS

Senior Vice President, Product Programs, Product Safety and Motorsports

Morris leads the global team of executive chief engineers and program

JOSH TAVEL

Senior Vice President of Energy Storage and Propulsion, R&D and Manufacturing Engineering

Tavel leads a team that’s responsible for closely integrating GM’s products

VicePresidents

DUNCAN ALDRED

Vice President, Global Commercial Growth Strategies and Operations for Global Markets

Aldred provides senior leadership and strategic direction for Buick and

GM’s leadership position in electrification and autonomous driving, and builds demand for electric vehicles, and trucks and SUVs. De Greve joined GM from CVS Health, where, as chief marketing o cer, he helped transform the company from America’s corner drug store to the largest consumer health care company in the country, moving it to sixth place on the Fortune 500.

managers who oversee GM’s electric, autonomous, and fuel cell vehicle programs, electric drive units, battery systems, and fuel cell systems from inception to launch and beyond. He’s also responsible for the initiatives associated with the commercialization of EVs and AVs. Previously, Morris was vice president of global product programs, leading the global team that oversees conventional GM vehicle, engine, and transmission programs.

and systems during the vehicle development process, including all battery development and battery manufacturing activities. With his deep experience pioneering EV engineering programs, coupled with his vast knowledge of the EV customer experience, Tavel’s focus is on delivering a more streamlined approach to technology development, unlocking faster implementation of new programs.

GMC sales, service, and marketing. His goal is to increase positive opinion for both premium brands, and to transform those opinions into profitable sales growth. In 2013, prior to joining Buick and GMC, Aldred was named acting VP of sales, marketing, and aftersales for Opel and Vauxhall, based in Germany. In 2010, he was chairman and managing director at Vauxhall. He joined GM in 1990.

STEVE J. HILL

Senior Vice President and President, GM China

Appointed in June 2024.

Based in Shanghai, Hill oversees all of GM’s operations in China. Prior to his move to China, he

DAVID RICHARDSON

Senior Vice President of Software and Services Engineering

Appointed in June 2024. Richardson leads software engineering as GM builds the future of connected

ALAN M. WEXLER

Senior Vice President, Strategy and Innovation

Wexler leads GM’s Data and Customer Insights, Innovation, and Strategy teams. He has been working at the intersection

Vice President, Global Chevrolet

Since being named vice president of Global Chevrolet in 2022, Bell has presided over the introduction of key

was VP, global commercial operations, leading cross-brand activities that strengthened GM’s brands and position in the U.S. His team also helped with the assessment and commercialization of future business opportunities that support the company’s revenue growth commitments. Hill began his career with General Motors in 1983 as a district sales manager at Cadillac Motor Car Division.

vehicles — including embedded platforms, digital products, commercial solutions, and advanced driver-assistance systems. He joined GM in September 2023 as vice president of software and services, overseeing the development and implementation of in-vehicle software and platforms, and services such as OnStar. Before GM, Richardson was an engineering leader at Apple, and responsible for driving innovation.

of strategy, technology, and creative for more than 30 years. Before joining GM, Wexler served as chairman and CEO of Publicis Sapient, which helps clients innovate and compete more e ectively in the digital age. He has also advised early-stage companies on how to compete with disruptive business models in a consumer-empowered era. Wexler holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Rider University.

vehicles including the Chevrolet Trax, Colorado, and Silverado EV, among others, and has logged thousands of miles traveling to meet with hundreds of dealers across the country. During his first year in this role, Chevy Silverado was the No. 1 best-selling retail full-size pickup for the first time on record. Bell previously served as president and managing director of GM Canada, which produced 10 million masks during COVID-19.

SCOTT BELL

ARDEN HOFFMAN

JIM CAMPBELL

Vice President, Product Marketing, Accessories, Performance, and Motorsports

Campbell leads Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Hummer EV motorsports marketing

Vice President, Global Business Solutions and Chief Accounting O cer

Hatto manages a global team charged with optimizing GM business processes to improve

KURT KELTY

Vice President, Batteries

Appointed in February 2024. Kelty is charged with GM’s battery cell strategy and a new end-to-end approach, including the

JEFFREY (JEFF) MORRISON

Vice President, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain

Morrison, appointed in April 2022, is responsible for the strategic direction of GM’s worldwide purchasing, supply chain,

strategy, in addition to directing the development and marketing of specialty vehicles and performance variants of production-based models. He also leads the product marketing strategy for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac portfolios, and planning and marketing of accessories and performance parts for production vehicles. Previously, Campbell served as U.S. VP, Chevrolet marketing.

service quality and customer experience, and reduce complexity and costs. He continues to serve as chief accounting o cer, and is responsible for global leadership and oversight for external reporting, technical accounting matters, the development of new accounting policies, internal controls, and the consolidations process. He’s also responsible for reporting financial results to senior leadership and the board of directors.

use of raw materials, research, developing and investing in new technology, commercialization of cells and packs, and end-of-life opportunities. His team is responsible for bringing together the company’s robust battery development resources with industry expertise to more quickly deliver profitable, lower-cost, higher-performing electric vehicles at scale. Kelty previously led the battery development team at Tesla.

and logistics operations. His team collaborates with more than 19,000 global suppliers to deliver exceptional vehicle quality, innovation, and value to GM customers, along with a commitment to achieving long-term sustainability and accelerating diversity and inclusion in the supply base. Under Morrison’s direction, GM is building a strong, resilient, and scalable EV supply chain to support its goal of electrification.

AARON FEINBERG

Vice President of Tax and Customs; Chief Tax O cer

Feinberg joined GM in December 2014 and took on these roles in July 2023. He replaced

Vice President, EV Launch Excellence

Herrick serves as the champion for limitedstart-of-production to start-of-regular-production EV launch window

STACY LYNETT

Vice President, Information and Digital Technology

Lynett leads approximately 9,000 technology professionals responsible for information

DAN NICHOLSON

Vice President, Strategic Technology Initiatives

Prior to this appointment, Nicholson was vice president of global electrification, controls, software, and electronics,

Margaret Curry, who left the company. Before joining GM, Feinberg was a tax attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C., where he represented clients in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and restructuring transactions, capital markets activity, and tax controversy matters. He also led the M&A tax practice in Detroit for KPMG LLP.

execution. His focus is on supporting cross-functional alignment to ensure launch success across the entire EV portfolio. Prior to this, Herrick served as vice president, global product programs, where he led an international team in the design, engineering, development, and validation of the GM portfolio, including specialty, performance, and motorsports programs. He also served as interim president of GM Defense from 2020 to 2021.

technology and software engineering products that support the core internal business and digital functions. Prior to this role, she was the executive director and CIO for the global product group, innovating on technology to support the designers and vehicle and quality engineers building GM’s world-class vehicles. Earlier, Lynett focused on the transformation of human resources, leveraging the Workday solution set.

and responsible for all electrified propulsion products including batteries and electric drive units, electronic control systems, strategies, software, and electronic hardware for all GM products globally. Previously, he was vice president, global propulsion systems, responsible for all propulsion products including engines, transmissions, fuel cells, EV drive units, and batteries.

MICHELLE GARDNER

Vice President, Global Hardware Components and Subsystems

Gardner was appointed to this position in June 2021. Her role and organization comprise engineering

Vice President, Global Chief Engineers and Program Management

Appointed in April 2023. Hester leads teams responsible for the global design, development, and

Global Vice President, Buick and GMC

Appointed in August 2024. McQuaid was president and managing director at General Motors Europe,

MIKE PEREZ

Vice President, GM North America Labor Relations

Perez and his team of 30 labor professionals engage with various unions across North America to reach

operations, components development, advanced vehicle development, and other engineering business initiatives. She leads a global team of engineering professionals in realizing GM’s vision of zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion through the design and development of advanced ICE, EV, and AV systems and vehicles. Prior to this, Gardner served as executive director of interior and thermal cabin comfort.

delivery of gas, diesel, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, including GM’s SUVs and trucks. Prior to his current role, Hester was vice president, electric vehicle growth operations, leading the rapid transformation of the EV business including EV infrastructure development, o -board energy management and grid integrations, dealer EV readiness and training initiatives, and crossbrand EV vehicle charging strategies. He also was president of GM Canada.

responsible for launching an EV startup business in Europe and leveraging GM’s global growth investments in the electric vehicle space, to disrupt traditional business models and to transform the customer experience. Before moving to Europe, McQuaid spent more than six years in product development, most recently in the global leadership position of executive chief engineer for full-size trucks.

agreements that support the company’s manufacturing team members and enable GM to achieve strong business results. Prior to this, he was the executive director of manufacturing planning and strategy, responsible for the product allocation strategy as well as new site selection. Perez played a critical role in developing the strategy to support manufacturing’s transition to GM’s all-electric future.

TIM HERRICK

TRAVIS HESTER

CHRISTOPHER T. HATTO

JACLYN McQUAID

MARCOS PURTY

Vice President, Global Workplace Safety

Appointed to this role in June 2022, Purty returns to GM from Amazon, where he was vice president, North America

KEVIN TIERNEY

Tierney’s global team is responsible for all aspects of cybersecurity across GM including executing enterprise, product, and

fulfillment, Amazon robotics sortable operations. He succeeds Jim Glynn, who retired. Purty spent the first 25 years of his professional career with GM, beginning in 1994 at GM’s former Pontiac assembly plant. In his last assignment at GM as executive director, global manufacturing strategy and planning, he directed GM manufacturing’s footprint in cost and profitability and spearheaded new product allocation.

Chief Cybersecurity O cer manufacturing cybersecurity programs, with a focus on security architecture, penetration testing, cyber risk management, incident response, vulnerability management, intelligence, awareness and training, and governance. Prior to his current role, Tierney served as the chief product cybersecurity o cer, and led the team responsible for developing and implementing cybersecurity strategies to reduce risks.

PresidentsandotherC-suiteo cers

STEVE DUMONT

President, GM Defense, LLC

DuMont leverages GM’s advanced technologies, world-class manufacturing capabilities, and global supply chain for global

Global Chief Media O cer

E ective as of January 2024. Reed is responsible for building a leading-edge global media team that accelerates

JOHN ROTH

Vice President, Global Cadillac

E ective in June 2023. With his appointment as vice president of Global Cadillac, Roth returns to a brand that has been

MIKE TREVORROW

Vice President, North America Manufacturing

Trevorrow is responsible for the safety, productivity, and quality performance of over 67,000 employees at more than

defense and government customers. He joined GM Defense in 2021 after a 13-year stint at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a business of Raytheon Technologies, where he led and implemented a focused strategy for global growth. Earlier in his career, duMont supported flight test, systems engineering, and business development within Boeing and BAE Systems. Prior to entering the private sector, duMont served in the U.S. Army.

GM’s media approach into the future. She joined GM from L’Oréal, where she was senior vice president and head of media, responsible for elevating the quality of consumer connections for the L’Oréal USA brands. Reed has more than 20 years’ experience in the digital media, advertising, analytics, and entrepreneurial space. Her past clients include The New York Times Neiman Marcus, and Ti any & Co.

interwoven throughout his 32 years with GM. He was previously the global VP of customer care and aftersales, tackling industry growth, reimagining fulfillment, and preparing for the future of mobility. Roth has also served as president and managing director of Africa and Middle East operations, and VP of GM Canada marketing, sales, and service. He began his career with General Motors in 1991.

40 assembly, stamping, propulsion, and component plants in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He has held various leadership positions of increasing responsibility for GM, including plant director for several plants, VP of global workplace safety, and, most recently, manufacturing executive director for the truck and components sector. He started at GM as a skilled trades die-maker apprentice in Flint.

FRANCISCO GARZA

President and Managing Director, GM de Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean

Garza is responsible for General Motors de Mexico’s export and

domestic market operations. Previously, he was vice president, vehicle sales, service, and marketing for GM de Mexico, with responsibility for developing and implementing go-tomarket strategies for Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac, and for managing and maintaining close relationships with dealers in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. He also served as managing director of Ally Credit Mexico.

KRISTEN SIEMEN

Vice President, Sustainable Workplaces and Chief Sustainability O cer

Sieman is helping to lead General Motors to a future with zero

Vice President and Head of Global Public Policy

Vargas leads GM’s global engagement of government o cials and public policy. Prior to joining GM, he held senior

KRISTEN PUCHEK

Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion O cer

E ective in July 2023.

Puchek leads GM’s o ce of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is focused on defining the company’s overarching vision and

emissions as the company continues to take actions against climate change, including a commitment to becoming carbon neutral in its products and operations by 2040. In her most recent role as executive director, global energy strategy, certification, compliance, and test labs, Siemen led a cross-functional leadership team responsible for setting corporate energy policy.

government relations roles with 3M, Praxair, and PepsiCo. In the early 2000s, Vargas was an appointee of President George W. Bush to the U.S. Department of Justice, where he served in a variety of capacities. His portfolio includes a broad range of law enforcement, civil rights, national security, and immigration policy matters, including violence against women and human tra cking victim services programs.

strategy to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization globally. She also sits on GM’s inclusion advisory board. Puchek has more than two decades of experience advising senior executives and organizations in corporate and individual purpose, DEI, talent strategies, cultural transformation, and responsible business practices. She holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

OMAR VARGAS

SHENAN REED

GUIDING HAND

For 2025, Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors Co. in Detroit, looks to improve on EV profitability and the company’s performance in China. Optimizing ICE margins is another area of focus.

GENERAL MOTORS CO. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MARY T. BARRA

CEO and Chair, General Motors Co.

ANEEL BHUSRI Co-founder, Co-CEO, and Chairman, Workday Inc.

WESLEY G. BUSH

Retired Chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman Corp.

JOANNE C. CREVOISERAT CEO, Tapestry Inc.

LINDA R. GOODEN

Retired Executive Vice President, Information Systems & Global Solutions, Lockheed Martin Corp.

JOSEPH JIMENEZ

Retired CEO, Novartis AG

JONATHAN MCNEILL

Co-founder and CEO, DVx Ventures

JUDITH MISCIK

Senior Adviser, Lazard Geopolitical Advisory

PATRICIA F. RUSSO Chairman, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co.

THOMAS M. SCHOEWE

Retired Executive Vice President and CFO, Walmart Stores Inc.

MARK TATUM

Deputy Commissioner and COO, National Basketball Association

JAN TIGHE

Retired Vice Admiral, United States Navy

DEVIN N. WENIG

Former President and CEO, eBay Inc.

GM’s board of directors can be viewed at: gm.com/company/ leadership/board-of-directors. html.

FORD

WILLIAM

CLAY FORD JR.

Executive Chairman, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Ford has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 1988 and has been chairman since

President, Ford Blue and Ford Customer Service Division; Interim Head, Ford Pro

In October 2024, Frick was appointed president, Ford Customer Service Division, and interim head of Ford Pro. As president of Ford

SAM WU

President and CEO, Ford China

Jan. 1, 1999. Under his leadership, Ford Motor Co. has taken aggressive steps to improve the e ciency and focus of its traditional automotive business. At the same time, it is accelerating its e orts to be the most trusted provider of smart vehicles and mobility services. Ford serves as chairman of the board’s Finance Committee and was CEO from 2001 to 2006. During that time, he took the company from a $5.5 billion loss to profitability.

Blue, Frick is responsible for assuring best-in-class customer experiences; go-to-market initiatives; and sales, revenue, and profit growth. In addition, he oversees the Ford Customer Service Division, which handles global parts, services, accessories, and vehicle customization for Ford dealers and customers. Frick is also responsible for growing the commercial vehicles enterprise into a high-growth, high-margin business.

chief operating o cer of Ford China. In these roles, he managed engineering, manufacturing, quality, and purchasing for Ford China, and oversaw the company’s in-country commercial vehicle division. Before joining Ford, Wu was president, Asia Pacific, for Whirlpool Corp. Prior to that, he was vice president and regional general manager for Honeywell Process Solutions in greater China. E ective as of March 1, 2023. Wu joined Ford Motor Co. in 2022 as the managing director and

JOHN DION

Chief Transformation O cer

Dion oversees global deployment of the Ford Operating System, comprising methodologies and tools based on

JAMES D. FARLEY JR.

President and CEO; President, Ford Model e

Farley is focused on transforming Ford to lead the digital and electric revolution in the automotive industry

Vice President, Controller

O’Callaghan had served as chief financial o cer, Ford South America, since 2015. In that position she was responsible for all

Chief Enterprise Technology O cer

Amend leads Ford’s Technology and Software Platform, comprising Enterprise Information Technology, along with

lean manufacturing and related concepts. The system is central to realizing the value-creation and growth potential of the Ford+ plan. Dion came to Ford from ESAB Corp., a Maryland-based fabrication and specialty gas-control technology firm where he was senior vice president and o cer, ESAB Business Excellence, and led the company’s industrial and cultural remaking. Prior to ESAB, he worked at Danaher Corp.

through the deployment of the ambitious, customerfocused Ford+ plan. The plan includes building a more resilient company that thrives at the intersection of great vehicles, iconic brands, innovative software, and high-value services. Under his leadership, Ford reorganized its business into distinct automotive segments: Ford Blue, for gas and hybrid vehicles; Ford Model e, for EVs; and Ford Pro for commercial vehicles.

Ford finance activities in Ford South America, including operations finance, profit analysis, treasury, tax, accounting, and internal control. Prior to working in South America, O’Callaghan held a number of key leadership positions at Ford of Europe, including finance director for product development, controller of European manufacturing operations and logistics, and finance director of Ford of Britain. She joined Ford in 1990.

Global Data Insight and Analytics. His team helps the company use data, software, and technology to drive growth and create value for customers and other stakeholders by translating the needs of those customers into engaging solutions. They work closely with Ford teams that handle product development and the hardware and software that goes into vehicles. Amend came to Ford from Lowe’s, where he was president, online.

Chief Supply Chain O cer

Door is responsible for leveraging the supply chain to improve quality, reduce costs, and help

Presidents

President, Lincoln

Craig is responsible for growing Lincoln as a world-class, luxury brand and leading its transformation toward a fully electrified future. She

President, Ford Integrated Services

Stern and his newly formed unit are responsible for building out the business tied to Ford’s BlueCruise

Chief Policy O cer, General Counsel

Croley guides the company as it leverages and builds on its strengths in government relations, sustainability, safety, legal,

realize the full potential of the Ford+ plan. Prior to joining Ford, Door was executive vice president of global strategic sourcing at home-appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. and a member of the company’s executive committee. She also led North America procurement, which placed her in the middle of Whirlpool’s reimagining and developing smart, networked kitchen and laundry products.

oversees Lincoln operations globally, including product development, marketing, and sales and service. She reports to Jim Farley, Ford president and CEO. Previously, she was president of the International Markets Group, Ford Blue, leading business unit operations for both dealer and distributor markets in over 100 countries across Africa, ASEAN, India, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.

hands-free highway driving system and productivity and safety/security services, including those from the Ford Pro Intelligence business; imagining and delivering exciting new high-value services; and leading services marketing, out-of-vehicle customer experiences, and Ford Next. During more than six years as vice president, services, at Apple, he headed marketing for Apple Pay, Apple Music, and Apple Maps.

and privacy matters. Before coming to Ford, Croley was a partner in the Washington, D.C., o ce of Latham & Watkins, where he assisted clients with legal policy and regulatory compliance, with an emphasis on energy and the environment. From 2014 to 2017, he served as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy. Croley spent the previous four years in the White House, and was a special assistant to President Barack Obama.

Chief EV, Digital and Design O cer

Field drives innovation in developing electric vehicles, creating digital platforms and software for Ford’s entire product

lineup, and leading the company’s vehicle and digital design studios. His team develops and delivers scalable technology platforms to be deployed across Ford global products, leads the relationships with key technology partners and Ford’s digital developer ecosystem, and is responsible for Ford’s over-the-air software updates that deliver new experiences and reduce costs. Previously, Field was a vice president at Apple.

DIANE CRAIG

MIKE AMEND

STEVEN CROLEY

LIZ DOOR

DOUG FIELD

C-Suite

ANDREW FRICK

PETER STERN

CATHY O’CALLAGHAN

ELENA A. FORD Chief Dealer Engagement O cer

E ective as of September 2023. Ford works closely with the automaker’s 10,000 dealers worldwide to help e ect their

JOHN LAWLER

Vice Chair and Chief Financial O cer

Lawler focuses on building a more resilient global business and enabling profitable growth by

JENNIFER WALDO

Chief People and Employee Experience O cer

Appointed in April 2022, Waldo contributes to the global deployment and success of the Ford+

KIERAN CAHILL

Vice President, Industrial Operations Europe & International Markets Group, Ford Blue

collective transformation into a competitive di erentiator for the company. She’s focused on increasing the consistency and e ciency of the global dealer council’s governance, improving global retail facilities, modernizing training and development, leading dealer diversity, and expanding community engagement. Ford was twice named to the Automotive News list of 100 Leading Women in the NA Auto Industry.

providing leadership on strategic choices and partnerships, and by working with policy leaders around the globe. He has been CFO since October 2020, with overall responsibility for Ford’s finance functions including accounting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, tax, investor relations, economics, and audit, as well as the Ford Credit business. Lawler previously was CEO, Ford Autonomous Vehicles, and VP, Mobility Partnerships.

strategic plan for growth and value creation by leading the development of a high-performance culture, recruiting people with additional and needed new kinds of talent, and boosting overall organizational capability, especially in technology and innovation. She reports to Ford President and CEO Jim Farley. Before joining Ford, Waldo led change in highly regarded companies, spending 10 years in Silicon Valley.

Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue. Prior to this role, he was vice president, manufacturing, Ford of Europe, and was named board chair for Ford Motor Co. Ltd. Cahill also served as director, manufacturing, strategic projects, Ford of Europe, and director, manufacturing, U.K. and Romania. He was director, Ford of Europe powertrain operations. Cahill, appointed to this position in March 2022, reports to

KUMAR GALHOTRA

Chief

Operating O cer

Galhotra leads Ford’s global industrial system, spanning all product development and cycle planning, supply chain management, and

CHRISTOPHER SMITH

Chief Government A airs O cer

Smith leads a global team that enhances Ford’s expertise and influence in legislation

DAVE WEBB

Vice President, Treasurer

Webb is responsible for Ford’s global treasury strategy and operations. He reports to John Lawler, Ford’s CFO. From June 2017 to December 2018,

BRYCE CURRIE

Vice President, Americas Manufacturing

Currie is responsible for the company’s largest industrial footprint, with more than 30 manufacturing facilities.

manufacturing, with objectives to deliver fantastic products by maximizing quality and minimizing costs and complexity. Previously, Galhotra was president, Ford Blue, and before that, he was president of Ford Americas and the company’s International Markets Group, with responsibilities including profitability of those business units. He has also served as president, North America, leading all aspects of Ford’s business.

and policy vital to the Ford+ plan for growth and value creation. Policy priorities include connectivity, electric vehicles, and digital services, and are intended to benefit customers, society, and the environment. He reports to Steven Croley, Ford’s chief policy o cer and general counsel. From 2009 to 2017, Smith served in the U.S. Department of Energy as assistant secretary for fossil energy.

he served as assistant treasurer for Ford and had responsibility for Ford’s global capital markets, banking, capital strategy, a liate finance, risk management, and treasury operations. Before this, as director of funding, he was responsible for Ford and Ford Credit’s global funding programs and issuance strategy. This included managing Ford Credit’s unsecured commercial paper and financing programs.

Currie joined Ford in January 2023 from Johnson Controls, where he was VP, global products operations, and then chief manufacturing o cer. Currie deployed lean manufacturing principles and digital management tools at Johnson Controls, to transform an operation spanning nearly 90 plants and 120 distribution centers globally. Before that, Currie worked for GE Aviation and TRW Automotive.

MARIN GJAJA Chief

Customer O cer, Ford Model e

Gjaja leads the EV business unit’s market-facing organization, including profit and loss

TRUBY Chief Communications O cer

Truby leads Ford’s global communications and public relations activities, including building the company’s reputation

VicePresidents

JIM BAUMBICK

Vice President, Ford Product Development Operations and Quality

Baumbick is responsible for delivering industryleading quality across the enterprise, in addition to

LISA DRAKE

Vice President, EV Programs and Energy Supply Chain

Drake oversees the development and delivery of EV products for Ford Model e and Ford Pro,

management, marketing, sales, distribution, customer experience, service, charging, and product derivatives plan. He’s part of the founding team at Ford Model e, and his team works with Ford dealers globally to develop and deploy all aspects of the new customer experience for Ford’s electric vehicle portfolio. Gjaja joined Ford from Boston Consulting Group, where he served clients in retail, technology, and health care.

globally among customers, employees, dealers, suppliers, news media, communities, governments, and policymakers. He reports to Jim Farley, Ford CEO. Truby joined Ford in 2007 as director of global corporate communications. He has also served as communications director for Bill Ford; VP, communications, Ford Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and, most recently, vice president, communications, Ford Asia Pacific.

the development of all Ford Blue internal combustion engine products. He also leads cycle planning, vehicle development engineering, and product development operations for all of Ford, partnering closely with Doug Field, chief advanced product development and technology o cer, on the broader development of Ford vehicles. Previously, Baumbick was vice president, industrial platform, operations and new model launch, Ford Blue.

including management of the supply chain for batteries, high-voltage power distribution, and power electronics, together with battery manufacturing engineering. Previously, she was responsible for manufacturing engineering for Ford’s electric vehicles and, before that, as COO North America, she brought enhanced focus to product launches, warranty reduction, and material cost improvements. She also served as VP, global purchasing.

CHUCK GRAY

Vice President, Vehicle Hardware Engineering

Gray leads Ford Motor Co.’s global product development and design, including electric vehicle technologies, interior

Vice President, Strategy and Partnerships

McClelland leads corporate strategy, business development, and global data insights and analytics. He’s also

TODD WILLING

Head of Ford Design

E ective Aug. 27, 2024. Willing leads worldwide design for Ford and Lincoln vehicles. He

and exterior systems, structures, and components. His team also is leading the digital transformation of product development, including adopting “Lean PD” operating principles. In more than three decades with Ford Motor Co., Gray has been involved in all aspects of vehicle design and development, including embedded software and electronics, which he led from 2016-2022.

chairman of the Ford Motor Credit Co. board of directors. Prior to this appointment, McClelland was CEO of Ford Motor Credit Co., Ford’s global provider of financial products and services for dealers and customers. He had served as Ford Credit executive vice president of marketing and Asia Pacific, overseeing global marketing and Ford Credit’s business in China and India. He joined Ford Credit Britain in 1993, then Ford Credit South Africa.

previously was global design director for Ford Model e, and succeeds Antony Lo, who left the company. His automotive journey began in high school as part of a work experience program o ered by Ford’s Australian design studio. Willing was exterior chief designer on the 2017 Ford GT, and he led the Ford Asia-Pacific design studio in Melbourne, Australia.

BOB HOLYCROSS

Vice President; Chief Sustainability, Environment and Safety O cer

Holycross leads a global team responsible for developing and implementing the

Vice President, Electrical Vehicle Programs

Palmer had been general manager, Ford Electric Vehicles, where he was responsible for leading

company’s sustainability strategy. He’s responsible for Ford’s global policies and performance related to the environment, human rights, and product safety. Holycross plays a key role in helping the company reach its goal to lead the electric vehicle revolution and achieve carbon neutrality across its vehicles, facilities, and supply chain by 2050. Prior to this, he was Ford’s director, sustainability, homologation and compliance.

the EV business in North America, including implementing a $50-billion transformation of the EV portfolio. He was a founding member of Team Edison, an internal startup created to determine where to play and how to win in electric vehicles. The first product resulting from this new approach is the Mustang Mach E, the award-winning, ground-up electric SUV sold in North America, Europe, and China.

Vice President, Ford Customer Service Division

E ective Oct. 1, 2024. Justo leads the team that handles parts, services, accessories,

Head of Vehicle Programs, Ford Blue

Slatter manages all Ford Blue global vehicle programs, including derivatives, and Ford

and vehicle customization for Ford dealers and customers worldwide. He reports to Andrew Frick, president, Ford Blue and FCSD, and interim leader of Ford Pro. Previously, Justo was CFO of Ford Blue, where he led the finance functions for Ford’s ICE, hybrid, and manufacturing segment. He has also served as president, Ford South America, and CFO, Ford South America,

Performance products. He will also be involved in strategy and cycle planning for Ford Blue, Ford Performance, and Ford Motor Sports. Slatter has worked in China and Australia, but most recently was vehicle line director for buses and vans at Ford of Europe, and chair of Ford of Britain. He reports to Jim Baumbick, Ford Blue’s vice president, Product Development Operations and Quality.

DANIEL JUSTO

DARREN PALMER

TIM SLATTER

DAVID MCCLELLAND

FORD MOTOR CO. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WILLIAM CLAY FORD JR.

Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Directors

KIMBERLY A. CASIANO President, Kimberly Casiano & Associates

ADRIANA CISNEROS CEO, Cisneros Group

ALEXANDRA FORD ENGLISH Director, Global Brand Merchandising, Ford Motor Co.

JAMES D. FARLEY JR. President and CEO

HENRY FORD III Member, Board of Directors, Ford Motor Co.

WILLIAM W. HELMAN IV General Partner, Greylock Partners

JON M. HUNTSMAN JR.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia

WILLIAM E. KENNARD

Non-Executive Chairman and Co-founder of Velocitas Partners

JOHN MAY Chairman and CEO, Deere & Co.

BETH MOONEY Chairman and CEO, KeyCorp

LYNN VOJVODICH RADAKOVICH

Former Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing O cer, Salesforce

JOHN L. THORNTON Chairman, Barrick Gold Corp., Lead Independent Director

JOHN VEIHMEYER Former Chairman, KPMG International

JOHN S. WEINBERG Former Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Ford Motor Co.’s board of directors can be viewed at: corporate.ford.com/about/ leadership.html.

OPENING NIGHT

Ford Executive Chairman William Clay Ford Jr., joined by radio host John Mason, greets a crowd of 20,000 people on June 6 inside Roesevelt Park for Live From Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central.

STELLANTIS

JOHN ELKANN

Chairman, Executive Director

Elkann is chairman and executive director of Stellantis. He became chairman of the Interim Executive Committee

running the company when Carlos Tavares resigned as CEO on Dec. 1, 2024. Elkann is a member of Italy’s Agnelli family, which founded Fiat. He worked at various FCA companies while in college and joined the Fiat S.p.A. board in 1997, before serving as vice chairman, then chairman. He became chairman and executive director of FCA in 2014, followed by Stellantis in 2021. He started his career with General Electric.

Chief Operating O cer, North America; Brand CEO, Jeep manufacturing operations activities, as well as overall business management and strategy. He joined the Fiat Group in 1999 and was responsible for all purchasing activities in the Latin America region. Filosa held positions at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, including plant manager of the Betim facility in Brazil. He was the head of the Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands for the Latin America region. Filosa previously served as COO, South America. He has extensive experience in purchasing and

GREGOIRE OLIVIER

Chief Operating O cer, China; Liaison O cer to Leapmotor

Olivier started as a civil servant in the French Ministry of Industry in

Brand CEO, Maserati and Alfa Romeo

Appointed in October 2024, Ficili succeeds Davide Grasso. Ficili had been responsible for

Regions

EMANUELE CAPPELLANO

Chief Operating O cer for South America; member of Stellantis’ Top Executive Team

Appointed in November 2023. Cappellano

JEAN-PHILIPPE IMPARATO

Chief Operating O cer, Enlarged Europe; CEO, Pro One

Imparato previously served as brand CEO of Alfa Romeo. He succeeds Uwe Hochgeschurtz, who

Brands

1984 and was appointed adviser to the prime minister for industry and environment in 1990. From 1992 to 1998, he worked for French aluminum firm Pechiney. He started at PSA in 2006 as CEO of Faurecia. In 2016, Olivier was named senior vice president, mobility services, and became general secretary for Groupe PSA in 2018, in addition to supervising Chinese activities beginning in April 2020.

Stellantis’ Italian market since early 2021. He joined Fiat in 1987 after three years at the Lancia Business School and began his career in aftersales. He went on to roles of increasing responsibility in the commercial vehicle and passenger car sectors, and was appointed head of the EMEA region of Mopar in 2015, which included all aftersales activities for the Fiat Chrysler Automobile brands.

returned to Stellantis after two years as North America CEO at eyewear firm Marcolin. Before that, he served as CFO and head of financial services of Stellantis South America. Cappellano participated actively in the Fiat-Chrysler merger in Europe, as well as the merger between FCA and Groupe PSA that led to the creation of Stellantis.

left the company. Imparato’s 34-year career at Groupe PSA has focused on sales, brands, business units, and commercial network management. He was in charge of Mercosur for Citroën before joining the central corporate team in charge of international organization and audit for Groupe PSA. Imparato was VP in charge of quality in the Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobiles joint venture in Wuhan, China.

BRIGITTE COURTEHOUX

Brand Chief Executive O cer, Free2move

Courtehoux leads Free2move, Stellantis’ mobility service that provides vehicle rental, car-sharing, and

OLIVIER FRANÇOIS

Brand Chief Executive

O cer, Fiat, Abarth, and DS Automobiles; Global Chief Marketing O cer

François has extensive experience in business operations, sales and

SAMIR CHERFAN

Chief Operating O cer, Middle East and Africa

Cherfan has broad experience across the automotive value chain including R&D, manufacturing, product

Chief Operating O cer, India & Asia Pacific

Appointed in November 2023, Ashwani succeeds Carl Smiley. Ashwani was the chairman of the board and president of

subscription services in Europe and the U.S. She joined Groupe PSA in 1998 and held planning and quality manager positions in a variety of car projects. Between 2010 and 2013, as global project director, she successfully managed and launched the Peugeot 2008 crossover in the European, Latin American, and Chinese markets. In 2018, Courtehoux was named executive vice president and a member of Groupe PSA’s global executive committee.

marketing, brand development, and strategic positioning. From 2009 to 2013, he was the head of brand marketing communication at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with responsibility for coordinating communication activities for all brands. Before joining Fiat in 2005, François worked at Citroën and was the lead executive for the Lancia brand beginning in September 2005. He holds a degree from Dauphine University in Paris.

and program management, and sales and marketing for various automotive groups. He previously served as brand CEO, Free2Move. Cherfan began his career with Renault Group in 1992, worked in the program management department for seven years, and became program director of mid-range models designed for international markets. In 2010, he was named managing director of the eastern Paris retail network at Renault.

Stellantis (Shanghai) Automotive Co. Ltd. (SSAC) from July 2022, responsible for the overall operations and management of the Jeep, Alfa Romeo, DS, and Mopar brands in China. He began his career at General Motors and worked in production, supplier quality, purchasing and supply chain, sales, and marketing in the U.S., China, Latin America, Africa, India, Europe, and South Korea.

CHRISTINE FEUELL

Brand Chief Executive O cer, Chrysler and Alfa Romeo North America

Feuell is a senior marketing executive with extensive experience in automotive, supply chain,

FLORIAN HUETTL

Brand Chief Executive

O cer, Opel and Vauxhall

Huettl leads the commercial development of the only German brand and the only British brand in Stellantis’ portfolio, and

automation systems, and advanced building technologies industries. Her career has included sales, marketing, strategic planning, product management, and profit and loss leadership at Ford Motor Co., Johnson Controls, and Honeywell, and she has a strong track record of delivering profitable growth through integrated products, software, and services. For a short time, after Tim Kuniskis’ retirement, she was CEO of Ram.

their transition into the electric era. Previously, he was head of sales and marketing for Opel and Vauxhall for Enlarged Europe. Huettl joined Stellantis in March 2021 after serving in numerous senior automotive management positions in the U.K., Germany, and Russia. He is an international business management graduate from the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch-Gladbach, Germany.

ANTONIO FILOSA

ASHWANI MUPPASANI

SANTO FICILI

LINDA JACKSON

Brand Chief Executive O cer, Peugeot

Jackson has built her experience across the auto industry with finance and commercial roles at

MATT McALEAR

Brand CEO, Dodge

Appointed in June 2024. McAlear had been senior vice president, Dodge brand global sales and

YVES BONNEFONT

Chief Software O cer

Bonnefont joined Groupe PSA in 2012 as executive vice president, corporate strategy, where he contributed to the group’s turnaround plan,

Chief Engineering and Technology O cer

Curic’s responsibilities include research and development, which will drive the transformation of Stellantis into a sustainable mobility tech

Jaguar, Land Rover, and Rover Group, where she went from regional financial manager for Rover Europe in the late 1990s to European sales finance director for the MG Rover Group until 2004. She joined Groupe PSA in 2005 as finance director of Citroën U.K., and then of Citroën France from 2009 to 2010. She became CEO of Citroën U.K. and Ireland in July 2010. In 2014, Jackson was appointed the global CEO of the Citroën brand.

marketing, since August 2023. He had also served as head of Dodge brand sales operations and head of Maserati field sales operations. McAlear joined the company in 2000 and returned in 2013, serving in positions of increasing responsibility focused on the company’s product, marketing, and sales operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

including its brand di erentiation strategy, and created the connected vehicle business unit. In 2013, he was appointed Citroën deputy CEO in charge of its premium sub-brand, DS Automobiles, and later served as the first CEO for DS Automobiles. In January 2020, he was appointed executive vice president in charge of high-end brand development during preparations for the merger with FCA.

company by ensuring alignment between strategic vision and project implementation of the Stellantis R&D function. After a short stint in the financial industry, he joined Microsoft in 2000 and held various roles in consulting, product, and security. Curic entered the automotive sector in 2013 as group vice president and chief technology o cer at Toyota Motor North America.

THIERRY KOSKAS

Brand Chief Executive O ce, Citroën

Koskas added the Citroën brand CEO title in March 2023. He began his career in 1990 as a civil servant

Brand Chief Executive O cer, Lancia; Chief Sales and Marketing O cer

Napolitano succeeded Thierry Koskas in the sales and marketing role

OLIVIER BOURGES

Global Customer Experience O cer

Appointed in June 2024. Bourges succeeds Richard Schwarzwald, who left the company. Previously, Bourges was

PHILIPPE DE ROVIRA

Chief A liates O cer (Sales, Finance, Used Cars, Parts and Service, Retail Network)

De Rovira joined Groupe PSA in 1998 and held various positions in

in France’s north region government o ce in charge of nuclear safety, then in the Ministry of Industry as industry general director chief of sta . In 1995, he served as an adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture. Koskas joined Renault Group in 1997 and served in sales and marketing roles. He moved to London as general manager of Renault London City branch, then to Hungary in 2000 as managing director of Renault NSC.

in June 2024. After working in the Ford Italia Sales organization, Napolitano joined the Fiat Group in 2000 as a business management manager in Italy, and held roles within the sales and marketing areas in Spain and Italy. He has led the Spain and Portugal Business Center, and EMEA fleet sales. Napolitano was appointed head of Fiat and Abarth brands for FCA’s EMEA region in 2017.

Stellantis’ chief planning o cer, public a airs o cer, and head of the global corporate o ce. He also worked at Renault as an investor relations o cer, vehicles program controller, and corporate controller. At Nissan, he was responsible for corporate planning and vehicle program management in North America. Earlier, he held supervisory positions in banking in the French Treasury and for the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

corporate and manufacturing finance before becoming financial controller in the Madrid and Poissy (France) plants. In 2009, he was named CFO for Latin America, and became controller of the PSA sales division in 2012. In 2013, he was appointed senior VP and took responsibility for B2B and used car sales, network development and quality of service, CRM and digital, outbound logistics, and car flow.

TIMOTHY KUNISKIS

Brand Chief Executive O cer, Ram

In December 2024, Kuniskis came out of retirement to again become CEO of the Ram

BERTRAND BLAISE

brand. Prior to his previous stint as Ram CEO, he served as president and CEO of the Dodge and SRT brands, FCA North America; head of the Fiat and Jeep brands in North America; and head of Maserati. He was named global head of Alfa Romeo in February 2018 and head of passenger cars, North America, in June 2019. Kuniskis joined the former Chrysler Corp. in 1992.

Chief Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility O cer and was assigned to Japan in 1999, as head of the Renault liaison o ce in Tokyo, to contribute to the start of the Renault Nissan Alliance. He was appointed Renault Group Asia Pacific communication VP in 2000, covering the corporate, product, and Formula 1 communications activities in South Korea. Blaise joined French train manufacturer Alstom Transport Division as VP in 2007, and in 2014 joined Groupe PSA as senior vice president.

Blaise began his career at Renault in 1990 as product and technology communication manager,

XAVIER CHÉREAU

Chief Human Resources and Transformation O cer

Chéreau joined Groupe PSA in 1994 and subsequently held the

ARNAUD DEBOEUF

Chief Manufacturing O cer

Deboeuf’s background is in process engineering, manufacturing, program development, and purchasing in France and

position of employment and mobility manager for Europe. He has served as senior vice president, industrial and R&D division human resources, director of human resources development, executive vice president of human resources of Groupe PSA, and as a member of the global executive committee. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Institut Sciences Politiques de Paris.

South Korea. He started his career at Renault in 1993 as a powertrain process engineer. In 2002, he joined purchasing to take responsibility at Renault Samsung Motors in South Korea. He returned to France to develop the Dacia Duster crossover. Deboeuf was appointed senior VP of the Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO o ce in 2015. He joined Groupe PSA in 2019 as senior VP for industrial strategy.

NED CURIC

GlobalFunctions

LUCA NAPOLITANO

GIORGIO FOSSATI

General Counsel; Secretary of the Board of Directors

Fossati strengthens his legal contribution in the demanding regulatory context of the automotive

Head of the Global Corporate O ce and Public A airs O cer

Appointed in June 2024. Before joining Stellantis, Ingen-Housz served as chief ethics, compliance,

JEAN-PIERE PLOUÉ

Chief Design O cer: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat Europe, Lancia, Opel, Peugeot, Vauxhall

industry, while continuing to successfully support the company’s e cient governance with his support of the board of directors. He previously worked in the legal departments at Fiat S.p.A. and Iveco S.p.A. Fossati also served as general counsel for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; FCA’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region; and Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Turin School of Law.

and privacy o cer and group legal counsel for competition law, anticorruption, and economic sanctions at French multinational company Saint-Gobain. From 2010, she was based in Hong Kong where she led Linklaters’ Asia Pacific competition law practice. Previously, she practiced law in New York for 10 years at Sullivan & Cromwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, focusing on antitrust and international arbitration.

strategic roles at Renault, Volkswagen, Ford, Citroën, Peugeot, and DS Automobiles. He joined Groupe PSA in 2000, serving as Citroën’s design director, and became the group’s head of design in 2008. Ploué initiated the DS product line in 2006, which included the DS Automobiles premium brand in 2014. He became the senior vice president of design for Groupe PSA in 2016. Ploué’s automotive career has included

BÉATRICE FOUCHER Chief Planning O cer

Foucher served as brand CEO for premium DS Automobiles since January 2020. This experience benefits her

Chief Financial O cer

Appointed in October 2024, Ostermann succeeds Natalie Knight, who left the company. He previously served as CFO

SILVIA VERNETTI Head

of Global Corporate Planning

Vernetti was appointed to this role on July 1, 2023. She reports to Béatrice Foucher, chief planning

as she aims to o er the best solutions in terms of products and technologies to meet customer expectations. Foucher has 30 years of experience in quality, product planning, program, HR talent development, and general brand development. She joined the Renault Group in 1990 as audit quality manager, doing audits in plants, before turning to the client surveys department.

and head of strategy for China until his appointment as COO for Stellantis China in November 2023. He joined Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as group treasurer in 2016, and later headed global business development. Before joining FCA, Ostermann held executive roles at Archer Daniels Midland Co. from 2004 until 2016. He began his career with the General Motors product planning sta .

o cer. Vernetti previously headed the global corporate o ce. She has managed new strategic projects for Stellantis, relying on deep expertise in business development and financial business management. Vernetti held consultant roles at Bain & Co. in Italy and Andersen Consulting prior to joining Fiat S.p.A in 2004, where she was responsible for business development and joint ventures coordination.

RALPH GILLES

Chief Design O cer, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Maserati, Fiat Latin America

Gilles is responsible for shaping and directing design across each

MAXIME PICAT

Previously, Picat was COO for Enlarged Europe. After various jobs in manufacturing, he

brand’s portfolio as they move toward electrification. He joined Chrysler Corp.’s design o ce in 1992 and was appointed VP, interior design Jeep/ truck and specialty vehicles in 2006. Gilles served as president and CEO, Motorsports; president and CEO, SRT brand; and president and CEO, Dodge brand for FCA US, LLC. He was named vice president of design in September 2008 and led the FCA-North America product design o ce.

Chief Purchasing and Supply Chain O cer became manufacturing manager at the PSA Groupe plant in Sochaux, France, before being named managing director of the plant in Wuhan, China, in 2007. In 2011, he was appointed managing director of the DongFeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobiles joint venture in China, and in 2012 he was named CEO of the Peugeot brand. From 2016 to January 2021, he was executive vice president for Europe.

CLARA INGEN-HOUSZ

DOUG OSTERMANN

STELLANTIS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JOHN ELKANN Chairman, Executive Director

ROBERT PEUGEOT Vice Chairman, Non-Executive Director, Remuneration Committee Member

FIONA CLARE CICCONI

Non-Executive Director; Remuneration Committee Member; Environmental, Social and Governance Committee Member; Audit Committee Member

HENRI DE CASTRIES

Senior Independent Director; Chairperson Environmental, Social and, Governance Committee; Audit Committee Member; Remuneration Committee Member

JACQUES DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Non-Executive Director

NICOLAS DUFOURCQ

Non-Executive Director, Environmental, Social and Governance Committee Member

ANN FRANCES GODBEHERE

Non-Executive Director, Chairperson, Audit Committee

WAN LING MARTELLO

Non-Executive Director, Chairperson, Remuneration Committee, Audit Committee Member

CLAUDIA PARZANI

Non-Executive Director; Environmental, Social and Governance Committee Member; Audit Committee Member

BENOÎT RIBADEAU-DUMAS

Environmental, Social and Governance Committee Member, Remuneration Committee Member

The Stellantis board of directors can be viewed at: stellantis.com/en/company/ governance/board-of-directors

MACCHINA MAN John Elkann, 48, chairman and executive director of Stellantis, with a Ferrari Roma. Since 2004, he has been leading the Agnelli family, an Italian-based multi-industry business empire. Elkann also serves as CEO of Exor, which has a controlling stake in Ferrari, as well as interests in transportation, soccer, and publishing.

INNOVATION JUNCTION

WITH FORD MOTOR CO. AS THE STURDY CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL PLATFORM, AND NEWLAB HELPING TO IGNITE MOBILITY STARTUPS, MICHIGAN CENTRAL IS STAKING ITS CLAIM AS THE WORLD’S MOST IMPACTFUL VENTURE ECOSYSTEM.

BY DALE BUSS | TREVER LONG

The reimagined Michigan Central innovation district is a new landmark with several facets. First, there’s the architectural grandeur of the 18-story Michigan Central tower and striking Beaux Arts train terminal, shining once again after a six-year restoration by Ford Motor Co. that involved more than 3,100 skilled tradesmen and women working a combined 1.7 million hours.

Then there’s the cultural side of a neighborhood rebirth, in which the 30-acre complex of Michigan Central is the nexus.

And, of course, there’s the redemptive part of Michigan Central’s new persona, breathing new life into a sad structure that sat in such disrepair and overwhelming rot during the 1980s that it not only symbolized the downfall of Detroit, but also served as a handy set for movie directors who needed a cinematic backdrop of “ruin porn.”

But arguably, none of these aspects of Michigan Central is as important as the economic one: The project has become not only a new anchor for Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood, and another major development for a city that has found its strength once again, but it’s also the launch pad for a new era of technology-based business advancements that could prove important in sustaining the Motor City’s hallowed and crucial place as the automotive capital of thr world.

Bill Ford, executive chair of Ford and harbinger of the $950-million restoration dream, has sparked a new era of mobility-technology development in Detroit that can only be reckoned as a glimmer of what his great-grandfather, Henry Ford, did to help kick-start an industry just several miles to the east in the famed Milwaukee Junction, the literal cradle of the automotive industry.

“What we’ve seen is that the revival of the station and the work happening to Michigan Central overall, and the entrepreneurial activity, has really been embraced as a shifting narrative about Detroit, the region, and the market,” says Josh Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central.

Chris Thomas, a co-founder and partner at Assembly Ventures in Detroit, is a veteran investor in autonomous vehicles and other mobility concepts. “I really do believe that Michigan Central is our citadel of mobility,” he

says. “It’s a point from which we have an opportunity to create a beachhead and grow. I don’t think any of that has changed.

“Whatever that has the opportunity to be, it has stayed true to the vision. Where we are now is (executing) that vision and (determining) what we can do together as a community, state, and country to help shape what it becomes.”

For some observers, the Michigan Central moment seems epochal. “It’s almost like you go back 100 years to when the auto industry started and how the city redeveloped from that,” says Ron Gantner, a partner in Plante Moran Realpoint, a commercial real estate advisory firm in Southfield. “We’re almost recreating history with new technology, because autos now are all about technology.

“All the different technologies that go into vehicles will really drive that, and spinoffs will drive other industries. And so we’re getting different skills (and) types of workers. People are coming together at Michigan Central to collaborate on one thing, but spinoffs occur because of the collaboration. It’ll drive a lot of change and innovation.”

One thing seems certain: Michigan Central will act like a giant magnet to attract employees, support businesses, and draw other investment to Corktown and the surrounding area.

“The younger generation is coming in and is really going to enjoy the Michigan Central area, increase the value of the housing, and live closer to where they’re working,” Gantner says.

David Miller agrees. Michigan Central “is creating another live-work-play opportunity in Detroit,” says the senior vice president and principal of Signature Associates in Southfield.

“Just like Dan Gilbert created downtown, where you can live there and eat there and go to the gym and go to work, there will be yet another group doing that around Michigan Central. Parking may not be as challenging as in downtown, and you can live there and ride your bike or scooter to work. It’ll be a very colorful, different kind of environment than a traditional urban area.”

DYNAMIC DUO

To the immediate east of Michigan Central, opposite page, the original Roosevelt Warehouse, above, has been transformed into a startup mecca overseen by Newlab, a global venture platform. Opened in April 2023, today Newlab and its industry partners are working with around 130 startups. The building offers state-of-the-art prototyping equipment and labs. It also sits within a special Transportation Innovation Zone.

A burgeoning Michigan Central also will enhance the relationship between Corktown and Detroit’s central business district.

“You’re going to see that, over time — the connectivity that the train station has to downtown,” Gantner says. “Traditionally there have been pockets of development from one to the other, but none that have been connected or walkable.

“Now there will be a natural infill from the train station to downtown, and Detroit will become more of a great walkable city. It’ll be like New York and Chicago, where you can walk 15 blocks before you know it because your eyes are always taking you somewhere, and it’s a comfortable walk.”

True to Detroit’s musical and entertainment heritage, the new-era Michigan Central got a glorious welcome to a city built on hustle and muscle on a gorgeous late spring evening in June with a grand opening that followed the NFL draft downtown as another event that stamped a whole new image of the Motor City on the national consciousness.

The night of the concert, Roosevelt Park, in front of Michigan Central — or The Station, as it’s also known — was thronged by nearly 20,000 people who came to celebrate the return of really good times to Detroit and helped set expectations that Michigan Central will prove seminal for the future.

The entire affair was broadcast nationally on Peacock and made fodder for a primetime special on NBC that aired just a few days later. The concert featured one Motor City musical celebrity after another: Diana Ross, Jack White, and even Eminem. “He loves our city, and our city loves him,” is how Bill Ford personally introduced Eminem that evening, June 6, to the roaring multitudes.

And Eminem, the performer and star of “Eight Mile,” didn’t disappoint, stretching out a cameo appearance into four songs, including a rendition of his 2010 title, “Not Afraid,” with backup provided by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

These days, the Michigan Central tower is looking forward to a boutique hotel brand occupying the top several floors, and Ford is starting to move in its operations and staffers — including its Model e team, which runs Ford’s electrification strategy, and its integrated-services software operation — into some of the lower floors.

The first tenants in the refurbished tower were actually Detroit high school students learning coding and technology-based problem-solving under Google Code Next, a free and immersive computer-education program that involves kids with diverse backgrounds.

In the immediate area, the testing environment at Michigan Central includes infrastructure such as the first electrified public road, as well as the Bagley Mobility Hub, which services the rest of the operation. The Hub not only offers 1,252 parking spots, but it features a plethora of fittingly cutting-edge mobility technologies including e-bike and scooter stations, an autonomous-vehicle testing area, electric charging, automated payment technology, and smart guidance systems. Retail and gathering spaces are slated to join the Hub.

The entrepreneurial heart of Michigan Central is Newlab, the facility now occupying the old Detroit Public Schools Book Depository (originally the Roosevelt Warehouse). The building, located immediately east of The Station, was its own example of ruin porn after a fire in 1987.

The Station Bagley Mobility Hub

The Factory

Michigan Central is a 30-acre technology and cultural hub that o ers access to infrastructure, tools, and resources. The Station at Michigan Central opened as the centerpiece of the district in June 2024.

e school district left everything behind, from thousands of charred textbooks to sports equipment and crayons. While the building eventually was condemned, it was never demolished, and Ford bought what was left of the structure in 2018 for the Michigan Central district.

In spring 2023, the completely refurbished building reopened as a 270,000-square-foot new home where mobility- and energy-focused entrepreneurs can build breakthrough companies that accelerate the development of new approaches, with an emphasis on “sustainable and equitable solutions.”

Newlab in Detroit is an o shoot of the original Newlab in Brooklyn, N.Y., which includes more than 1,000 entrepreneurs and a network of active investors that have pumped about $6 billion into more than 100 pilots and 300-plus member companies.

Newlab Detroit is already emulating how powerful ecosystems like Newlab Brooklyn, and even Silicon Valley, have grown into ecosystems featuring technology developers, investors, and customers in the broad halls and wide-open, industrial-sized spaces of the building who observe and bump into one another like atoms — and generate economic activity.

Whereas Silicon Valley and other earlier entrepreneurial havens formed around the wonders of digital computer code, Newlab Detroit put mobility at the center of its universe. To the essential focus on mobility and energy technologies, the entrepreneurial

habitat has attached levers — including digital code as well as transportation engineering, innovative manufacturing methods, and new materials.

Among other things, Newlab belies the post-pandemic idea that tech workers can do their best stu while being physically remote from their colleagues and teams — a notion that many large tech companies are reversing.

“ e world is very social, and companies are learning there’s a point in time where people have to work together,” Miller says. “ at’s the new breed coming up at places like Newlab. You can’t just take kids out of college and isolate them and expect them to do the work.”

By way of physical collaborative spaces, Newlab o ers everything from a large, common working laboratory for machining and 3-D printing to plenty of gathering spaces for seminars, discussions, and sharing a cup of joe.

Newlab also has gained status as a city-sanctioned “advanced aerial mobility region” that gives the Michigan Central area and its associated railyards government approval to conduct demonstrations of drone re nements and other new technologies even “beyond visual line of sight.”

About 130 companies, and counting, are operating in some form within Newlab, employing more than 730 people — with half coming from beyond the borders of Michigan, including within the United

States and around the world. Newlab also houses outposts for 21 di erent venture-capital rms, as well as contacts for economic-development entities for the State of Michigan and City of Detroit, bringing the total building population to between 850 and 900 people. e total capacity for Newlab, Michigan Central o cials say, will eventually accommodate between 1,500 and 1,800 people.

In the few short months since its opening in June, Michigan Central already has become an important driver of the rising technology arc of metro Detroit, where new developments in electrication, autonomous driving, software, and related pursuits keep pushing the city higher in the ranks of global tech havens.

Newlab is where Detroit takes the notion of “mobility,” as traditionally de ned by distinct automobiles, and applies it to all sorts of other notions of how people and things move around.

at’s why Wheel.me is an important resident of Newlab. e Norwegian company developed “autonomous mobile robots” that work in factory settings in a variety of ways, through sets of four specialized wheels that support and move generic platforms from trash bins to racks of parts for assembly.

Essentially, the company’s wheels can turn existing objects into self-guided robots, a much cheaper and more convenient way to provide autonomous locomotion through a factory or

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr.

warehouse than the automated guided vehicles that rst performed such functions for manufacturers.

In turn, the startup’s autonomous mobile robots replenish assembly lines with spare parts with the help of kitting carts. ey also remove waste from factory lines and warehouse shelves, and transport inbound shipments and equipment to production stations.

“Auto manufacturers said if we move to Detroit, they’ll give us orders,” says Rasmus Bendvold, U.S. managing director for Wheel. me, who was one of the rst people to work in Newlab and proudly dons a rare security badge dated September 2022, when few souls were yet around the building.

“We knew of Newlab in Brooklyn, and we read about the plans and history of Michigan Central and Ford’s plans to turn this into a Silicon Valley for hardware technology,” Bendvold says. “Now we have roughly 20 people in Detroit, and Stellantis is one of our customers; (the automaker) also rewarded us through their innovation program.

“Our Detroit-based customers also have an international presence. We now have about 700 robot wheels working in Mexico, and about 1,000 around the rest of the world. We’re talking with two or three other Detroit OEMs and some Tier 1 suppliers. We’ve now got several million dollars a year in revenue, and we plan to multiply that” in 2025.

Cory Hohs is another of those human atoms bouncing around the interior of Newlab.

On the lowest oor of the structure, the co-founder and CEO of Haas Alert and a handful of colleagues keep re ning their alert technology that’s integrated with automobiles and emergency vehicles to help them avoid collisions that cause the deaths of rst responders, roadside workers, and motorists — and result in millions of dollars of damage to re trucks, ambulances, and police cars — every year.

Hohs was almost struck by an ambulance on the road in 2015, and established Haas Alert as a response and a way to monetize solutions to the problem. Haas has created what it calls a “safety cloud” that utilizes so-called V2X — “vehicle-to-everything” — technology that wirelessly connects tra c-control systems with vehicles, and even pedestrians.

rough deals so far with Stellantis and Volkswagen, the startup is demonstrating how motorists can get several seconds of notice that emergency vehicles are ahead of them, or approaching them, and take accident-avoidance measures such as slowing down and pulling over.

“ e Detroit Fire Department has been testing our system because of the massive losses they’ve had from cars hitting their re trucks,” explains Hussein Zaarour, vice president of business development for connected vehicles at Haas Alert. “We’re not waiting for incidents to happen.

“Drivers get an alert on their phones that a re engine is coming. ere’s also the fact that cars are hit by trains 5,000 times a year, and our alerts will notify drivers of wrong-way drivers with enough time for them to take evasive action. We want to make Haas Alert standard equipment on school buses, too.”

Jayson Pankin is another denizen of Newlab. e president and CEO of AutoHarvest.org has been a major player in automotive digital technologies since he led the technology-commercialization activities of Delphi Corp. two decades ago, including creating internal incubators and external ventures.

SOUTHWEST GREENWAY

Another beneficiary of the renaissance of Michigan Central is everything that lies between the former rail station and the Detroit River, less than a mile to its south: a new major park planned by the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, and dozens of miles of green paths that have gained the city praise for reclaiming its riverfront from decades of industrial usage and outright neglect.

One of those components, the $8-million Southwest Greenway, opened to the public in 2023 thanks to a $5-million investment from Ford’s Michigan Central. Assembling the property took five years, as the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy stitched together 12 di erent parcels from eight di erent owners including Bedrock, the Salvation Army, the Detroit River Tunnel Partnership, and Ford.

The greenway provides a non-motorized, below-grade paved trail that’s almost a mile long and runs from the upcoming Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park along West Je erson Avenue and the riverfront to Bagley Street and Michigan Central.

The reimagined rail corridor connects Corktown, Mexicantown, and communities throughout southwest Detroit directly to the riverfront, and to the developing Joe Louis Greenway, a 27.5-mile recreational pathway being built across the city. The latter project will be completed over the next few years, based on funding progress.

In 2025, the Conservancy will open the 22-acre Wilson park outright. The space will include the Delta Dental Play Garden, William Davidson Sport House, DTE Foundation Hill, and the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden.

Overall, the economic momentum created by Michigan Central is helping ensure greater connectivity across the city and region.

On the south side of The Station, Michigan Central is building a new 8-acre public park that will include a mix of gardens, playscapes, and community gathering and event spaces alongside tech-enabled zones where Detroiters can innovate and collaborate.

The park will break ground in 2025 and will utilize native landscaping from the region. Based on a rendering, it will include children’s play areas, a patio, room for food trucks, artwork, and walking paths. It’s scheduled to open in 2027.

“Our hope is to build, on the south side of the train station, additional public spaces that will amenitize it and help it become an anchor and destination, (and also) become part of the greenway network,” says Josh Sirefman, CEO of Michigan Central. “It’s very important that we’re connected to all of that, to become a center point.” — Dale Buss

RALPH C. WILSON JR. CENTENNIAL PARK (OPENS IN 2025)

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Michigan Central opened in 1913, closed in 1988, and sat abandoned until Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., acquired the structure in 2018. Today, The Station is open and occupied by dozens of Ford personnel, along with new retail tenants on the first floor. The rendering (bottom image), shows a new rear plaza that will open in 2027.

He’s also been a venture partner specializing in early-stage and turnaround situations. At Newlab, he’s a human straw that’s constantly stirring the drink.

And, sure enough, after visiting with Zaarour at Haas Alert, Pankin ran into Ron Butler in another hall at Newlab. Butler is a former Detroit re ghter and public-school teacher, but today he’s founder and CEO of Energy Safety Storage Products International (ESSPI), a pre-revenue startup developing technologies to keep lithium-ion battery systems safe in cars, phones, and other devices.

ESSPI’s team of about a half-dozen people occupies a second-story space at Newlab, which serves as its headquarters, and is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

e risks associated with storing, transporting, and managing the powerful energy sources comprised by lithium-ion batteries have been illustrated time and again by stories about EV batteries catching re in garages, on the road, and elsewhere. In December 2023, for instance, General Motors Co.’s Factory Zero in Detroit suffered a battery re that resulted in more than $1 million in damages (there have been other lithium-ion-induced res there, too).

From smart technology and its deep experience and industry expertise, Butler and his team developed a suite of solutions to the problem, including something called the Li-Ion Locker, which provides advanced storage and transport safety for lithium-ion batteries and systems. Butler and his team also came up with a re-suppression blanket that will detect a lithium-ion battery re and sound an alarm.

To drive home the point of connectivity within the Michigan Central campus, Pankin explains how some atoms bounced around Newlab in the form of Butler and Hohs, of Haas Alert, getting together to gure out potential synergies between Haas’s Safety Cloud and ESSPI’s safety systems. Butler con rms that ESSPI is “moving forward on language that will allow the two companies to work together.”

Pankin explains the potential connection: “Imagine the EV blanket gets warm. e signal is activated, perhaps through Wi-Fi in the basement of a parking garage or outside using a cellular signal, and it tells the Haas Safety Cloud that this vehicle located exactly here — color, make, model, license-plate number, everything registered about the car is identi ed — is getting warm or is on re.

“ at information,” Pankin continues, “based on how it was developed, would be simultaneously sent to perhaps an app on a cell phone or to the car owner and then to the local re department. Because we know the location of the vehicle and the blanket and other parties, now you have a smart, connected, re-retardant blanket giving an alert that there’s an incident and helping the re department know where to go.”

Later, Pankin walks up to a display for Voltpost in a hallway at Newlab. e startup developed a way to tap into streetlights for more convenient public battery charging, including striking a deal with AT&T to provide IoT connectivity to Voltpost units. at will enable electric vehicles to obtain over-the-air software updates, without having to use the cell-phone network, at the same time they’re getting more juice.

“Voltpost cooked up this idea at Newlab in Brooklyn,” Pankin says, “but it will build and grow in Michigan. e tra c here in Detroit will give it more attention” by automotive players. Indeed, Voltpost and AT&T recently announced a deal to install streetlight-charging units in metro Detroit and across Michigan. “ e feeling here is self-ful lling. at’s the magic,” Pankin says.

CENTURY LINE

Another important aspect of Newlab is to encourage entrepreneurs who are women and members of minority groups. So far, this foundational aspect of the program is working well; about half of the startups at Newlab Detroit have at least one female, Black, and/or Latinx founder or CEO.

For example, Johnnie Turnage and Alexa Turnage are co-founders of Evenscore and creators of Black Tech Saturdays, a gathering of founders, investors, and industry leaders who meet in one of the common spaces at Newlab.

“When you talk to a lot of Black and Brown founders, the companies we’re building are solving issues deeply important to us because of where we come from,” Johnnie Turnage says in a promotional video. “That mentality is contagious.” And “in a spirit of collaboration,” he adds, “people share investor contacts and community contacts.”

Newlab provides “somewhere to go where (Black entrepreneurs) feel comfortable, where they can share ideas and get lots of support,” Alexa Turnage adds. “All the members here are working on what they believe in, and that’s invaluable.”

Johnnie Turnage adds that Newlab “is the next great tech hub.”

All of these are the kinds of stories that are encouraging to Sirefman, the CEO of Michigan Central since 2022. “Newlab becomes a real center point for convening — an anchor institution for an innovation ecosystem ranging from hyperlocal to global in scale,” he says. “The growth happening there is extraordinary.”

Of course, Michigan Central comprises so much more than the fervent activity at Newlab, especially considering how Ford will leverage its cutting-edge technology operations in the Michigan Central tower.

Ford recently took over the 9th and 10th floors of the tower, and is planning to have the 8th floor serve as a collaboration space. The three floors can provide about 500 workspaces, and Ford was to have about 1,000 employees working in Corktown before the end of 2024. It expects 2,500 of its own workers, as well as 2,500 others, to occupy the campus by the end of 2028.

Some of those current Ford employees are ensconced at The Factory at Michigan Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard, another building on the Michigan Central campus, which is home to Ford Pro, the commercial-vehicle sales and operations unit of Ford.

What Ford Pro has accomplished can be a great inspiration to other startups at Newlab, because it has leveraged wireless connectivity and other technologies to transform what once was one of the stodgiest parts of the automaker.

Indeed, like a Transit van hauling a work trailer, Ford Pro has become a vehicle that helps pull the OEM along in new directions.

The nearly $60-billion Ford Pro business serves commercial customers with a one-stop-shop of workready vehicles, service, software, charging, and financing solutions that can make running a fleet simpler and more productive. Ford Pro is made up of Ford’s

traditional fleet and commercial businesses as well as emerging telematic, logistics, and other connective systems for business customers.

With Ford as the sturdy corporate and financial presence, and Newlab providing entrepreneurial innovation, Sirefman foresees a thriving Michigan Central as a nexus for southwest Detroit that can bind together outposts such as Corktown eateries with bakeries in Mexicantown and retailers that will benefit from a new 15,000-seat soccer stadium being developed by Detroit City FC just three blocks west of Michigan Central.

“Obviously we’re highly aware of the surrounding area, and on the other side of Michigan Central, starting with the railyards, heavy-duty infrastructure was always a divider,” Sirefman says. “Now we’re trying to be a seam and a connector between those neighborhoods, and the impact has been considerable. On both sides, we’re seeing new residential and hospitality development.

“We’re trying to track with all the local businesses,” Sirefman continues. “One thing we noted is when we opened the station for the first time and had an open house” last summer, “we had more than 170,000 people coming through, and the bump for local businesses was material.”

TERMINUS MAXIMUS

In a lot just below, or west, of Michigan Central, which served as a site for construction trailers and heavy equipment during the restoration of the train station, a proposal to build a new Amtrak station on the property would connect to the existing railroad tracks.

Consider Michigan Central drew an average of 3,000 visitors on Friday evenings, and 5,000 visitors on Saturdays. “Over time, the station will be a constantly open destination, so the impact of businesses on all sides of us will be material,” Sirefman adds.

Before Michigan Central, Sirefman was at the center of other urban tech-innovation overhauls, including creating Cornell University’s tech program in New York City and developing its Roosevelt Island campus.

He also served as a key member of the economic development team of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Afterward, Sirefman co-founded a company called Sidewalk Labs, the urban-planning and infrastructure subsidiary of Alphabet. Along the way, he always sought to connect the few with the many, and the many with the few.

Sirefman’s job also is a homecoming of sorts, because he earned a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then lived not far from Michigan Central early in his career with the not-for-profit Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

“I always hoped for another opportunity to be involved in Detroit,” he says. “There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”

A

s you continuously invest time and effort into your workout and training regimes, have you ever considered approaching your finances and the future of your family with the same dedication? Just as you train your body to go through various stages of improvement, it’s equally important to train for your financial future.

By planning and strategizing for your financial well-being with the same discipline you show in your physical training, you can help ensure a secure and prosperous future for yourself and your loved ones.

Let’s connect and explore the ways you can strengthen your financial health alongside your physical health.

Tech Bar

CBY R.J. KING | REBECCA SIMONOV

abinetworks Group in Livonia, the nation’s largest privately owned cabinet manufacturer, collaborated with Apex Digital Solutions in Southfield to design new group and personal meeting spaces and equip them with the most advanced technology. The need for remote communications platforms was paramount, given Cabinetworks has a network of 18 manufacturing facilities across the country. With more than $2 billion in sales in 2023, and 8,000-plus employees across the country, some of whom work remotely, Cabinetworks sought a seamless technology integration that supported both in-office and remote users. Below are some of the highlights of the technology-laden makeover.

Reservations Required — Logitech Tap Scheduler

One of the best systems for video meetings, the Logitech Tap Scheduler wall unit display provides visible light indicators that show room availability, along with QR code scanning and display room capacity information. It also streamlines the process of checking into the right scheduled space, given many businesses offer multiple meeting rooms. The unit integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams environments, and its built-in cable management system hides wires for a clean, professional look. Tap Scheduler can be configured as a Microsost Teams Panel, as a Zoom Rooms Scheduling Display, and with other room reservation solutions.

Price: $699

1 3

An intelligent video bar, the Jabra PanaCast 50 (shown just below the wall display screen), offers a 180-degree field of view that keeps everyone in the picture. The unit is equipped with intelligent AI-enabled Dynamic Composition, Virtual Director, and Intelligent Zoom. In turn, integrated real-time whiteboard streaming provides for more inclusive remote collaboration. The software package automatically corrects the perspective to maximize views in real time, and at the same time reduces gloss, shine, and shadows, while dual video streams allow users to display the whiteboard and those participating in the meeting.

Price: $1,447

1

2

Meeting Room Service — Microsoft Teams Rooms Solutions

With more than 50 rooms of various sizes, shapes, and functions, Cabinetworks partnered with Apex Digital to develop an in-depth analysis of its overall space during an initial review of the floor plan. From there, Apex helped categorize meeting spaces into needs — small, medium, large, extra-large, and open/flex collaboration areas. Among the offerings are large meeting rooms with multiple cameras and interactive whiteboards, individual executive offices with bring-yourown-device functionality, and select Microsoft Teams Rooms Devices that balance the need for modularity, integration, and boardroom functionality.

Price: Varies based on selections

2 3

Corner Booth — Huddle Room with Jabra PanaCast 50

Writing on the Wall — Logitech Scribe

The easy-to-use Logitech Scribe o ers AI-enhanced content sharing that provides the clear visibility of whiteboards for remote participants. The Scribe, which is perched above the whiteboard, integrates with video conferencing room solutions including Microsoft Teams Rooms, Zoom Rooms, and Google Meet Rooms. In addition to the whiteboard content camera, Scribe includes a wireless share button, mounting components, a power supply, and category cables. It works with all whiteboard surfaces (up to 4 feet high and 6 feet wide), and any set of dry erase markers.

Price: $1,199

5

VIP Access — Altitude A6

The Altutide A6 height-adjustable table can be equipped with four di erent control panels — Memory Control (shown), Up/Down, Paddle, and Foot Pedal. All of the control options are o ered with optional Bluetooth capability. The Memory Control option features a one-touch drive program that allows the table to automatically adjust to four di erent saved memory positions. Before installing the device, take note of the length of any cords.

Price: $766-$1,338

7 4

4

The Microsoft Surface Hub 3 o ers a versatile, multi-touch display, seamless Microsoft Teams and O ce 365 integration, and high-resolution cameras and studio-grade microphones. The Hub 3 is powered by an Intel i5 processor and o ers iGPU graphics, a 50-inch PixelSense display (an 85-inch model also is available), and memory and storage of 32 GB and 512 GB, respectively.

Price: Varies 5

6 7

Price: $7,899

Where Everybody Knows Your Name — Tech Bar

The Tech Bar is a versatile collaboration and presentation area that features space akin to a company town square. The area can be utilized for large gatherings, product showcases, interactive experiences, structured training sessions, company celebrations, and informal meetings. To ensure everyone can view digital presentations, a motorized, drop-down screen is complemented by elevated video monitors.

Dramatic Display — Microsoft Surface Hub 3

©

Screen Play

A successful producer of horror films in Los Angeles, John Rosman credits his success to his days watching movies at the Birmingham 8, his hometown theater.

BY TOM MURRAY

Ask John Rosman when he rst fell in love with movies, and he immediately recalls his early school days in Birmingham, rst at Pierce Elementary and then at Derby Middle School.

“I really can’t state enough what it was like for ‘Star Wars’ to be re-released in fth grade, because it wasn’t only the movie, but also all the toys at that time,” Rosman says. “ ere were these three movies coming out, all leading up to ‘ e Phantom Menace,’ which was coming out the next year.

“My friends and I were obsessed. Our parents would drop us o at the bottom of Birmingham, and we’d walk (south) to the Birmingham 8, and the actual act of going to the movie and sitting down and actually experiencing all this build-up was really incredible. at’s where I fell in love with movies.”

Last spring, it was the very same Birmingham 8 where Rosman enjoyed a true full-circle, back-to-thefuture experience when the theater was included with those presenting the nationwide release of “New Life,” Rosman’s eagerly anticipated feature lm.

“One of the real special things about making a lm is you’ve got something that was once just inside your head,” he says, “then the lights go down, and you’re in a dark room experiencing it with a bunch of strangers.

e work it takes to get it from your head to the screen involves an army of collaborators, and now it exists in this physical form, and it’s incredible.”

Rosman’s infatuation with movies began even before those elementary school days at his hometown theater.

“I grew up in Birmingham with an older sister and three brothers, and it was an amazing childhood, just incredibly supported and grounded and anchored by a really strong Jewish community in metro Detroit,” Rosman says.

“My dad’s a doctor. He had a long career at Henry Ford Hospital, and then Saint John’s, and my mom did interior design with a family company. My parents both love movies — my whole family loves movies — and we grew up going to movies all the time.”

Rosman stayed close to home for high school, graduating from Seaholm High in 2005, but when the time came to choose a college, he headed to the West Coast, following his sister and one of his

brothers to the University of Oregon, where he majored in journalism.

“But by the end, I was studying documentary lmmaking,” Rosman says. “ at’s how I learned how to edit. en, after college, I started interning at Oregon Public Broadcasting, the local NPR station. e NPR recruits really smart people, so I felt a little out of my depth, to be honest.”

Rosman wasn’t being paid, either, so he had to really dig deep to support himself.

“I’d work during the day and then at night I’d wait tables at a Chinese restaurant, Shandong, to pay the bills. I was also working at a hot dog stand, called Franks A Lot, for a little bit,” he says of his time in Portland.

A few months later, Rosman headed to San Diego to sharpen his storytelling skills as a digital editor at KPBS, the local NPR a liate, and he also served as the social media editor for its radio station. After 18 months, he returned to Oregon Public Broadcasting, and over the next ve years he criss-crossed the state, conducting interviews and producing countless digital videos.

“ ere’s no money, and there’s never really enough time,” he says, “so you do a bunch of stories, and you have to learn how to do them quick, on your own. So I’m walking into a house, carrying all the lights, doing small talk while I’m setting up the camera, then the person I’m interviewing sits down and I’m setting up a mic and doing the interview, then bringing it back to the station and editing it myself.”

As Rosman forged ahead in journalism, something signi cant began to stir within him.

“I started getting really excited about the idea of lmmaking,” he says. “I had built up in my head that by the time I was 30 years old, I was going to make a movie. ‘ e Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ was a really in uential movie for me. It really creeped me out, but it became something I felt like I could maybe latch a little bit of personality onto.”

He and a friend came up with a concept for their version of a horror lm.

“It was about a door in the woods, and if you open the door, it’s a passageway to hell or something,” Rosman says, laughing. “We (were) shooting this in my sister’s basement in Portland, with all these lights I borrowed, and we had a bleeding pig’s head, and the lights were creating the smell of pig meat in the air, and we were so exhausted and miserable and frustrated with each other. And it was like that for four days straight.”

Rosman took advantage of every possible favor he was owed to get the word out about his lm. A friend at a local theater o ered a free screening, a local pizza place promoted the lm on its delivery boxes, and a slew of DVDs were produced and distributed. It was Rosman’s rst big breakthrough — but don’t ask him to name the lm.

“I’m withholding the title,” he says, radiating embarrassment, “but I parlayed that into a music video, and that led to me working with di erent bands across di erent genres. And so for about ve

MASKED AVENGER

Writer and director John Rosman, who grew up in Birmingham, views video playback of “New Life” inside the basement of an abandoned school in rural Oregon. The shoot took place during the second wave of COVID-19, requiring the crew to wear masks on set.

years I slowly built that up, doing the short films, then doing music videos, and then bigger music videos. Eventually I left journalism and I began doing commercial film work. I started getting some work in L.A., and I moved there on Jan. 1, 2020.”

Even as he enjoyed more success as a commercial producer, Rosman was determined to make another film far more ambitious than the one whose main star was a bloody, festering pig head.

“Three months after I moved to L.A., COVID-19 hit, and the city shut down,” Rosman says. “But that was really great because it slowed me down, too.”

When the world reopened the following year, Rosman began considering where to shoot his next film. To get established, he fell back on his roots as a journalist in Oregon.

“How can I make a movie that looks like it has a really big budget?” Rosman recalls thinking. “I went to a bunch of places I knew, and there were a lot of people I worked with during my music video years, so it was all those economics of getting great people and great scenes, and trying to find ways to please everyone with just a little bit of money.”

Rosman also relied on one interview in particular, conducted during his NPR days, which stood out from numerous others.

“It was a young woman who was around my age,” he recalls. “She had ALS, and she had just written a memoir that meant so much to her that, as the disease progressed, she wrote it with a stylus between her teeth. But she had so much hope and optimism while dealing with something so horrific and terrible. That was profound, and it always stayed with me. And I infused it into one of the characters in my film.”

“New Life” tells the story of two women. One is on the run for unknown reasons, and the other is her dogged and resourceful pursuer, an “agent” assigned to capture and bring her in. The film wasn’t only a hit with audiences at an array of prestigious festivals, but reviewers loved it, too. One critic lauded the film as “a fresh take on horror, offering an intimate exploration of mortality that challenges traditional genre.”

With that impressive debut establishing Rosman as a serious and accomplished filmmaker, it’s natural to assume his next project would be a relative breeze to finance and produce. But that’s not how it works.

“The gospel of indie filmmaking is the cavalry isn’t coming,” Rosman cautions. “You make a film for no money and it’s well-reviewed, and investors are paid back. And you get some meetings, and sometimes those meetings feel really good, and people promise you great things. But the reality is, you’re probably gonna have to do the second film on your own, and maybe the third and fourth one, too. Unless you’re an anomaly, that’s just the way it is.”

He’s 37, but Rosman, now living full time in L.A., sounds like a seasoned, even somewhat cynical, survivor in a very tough business — an attitude he readily attributes to his Midwestern roots.

“I’m extremely proud of being from Michigan,” he says. “The name of my production company is Great Lakes Vacuum Supplies Unlimited, and what I loved

about growing up there was the morals instilled in me, and the work ethic. You work really hard. You don’t trust people who are too self-promotional. You don’t trust the shiny thing as much as you trust the work, and I think that’s a product of my upbringing.”

And in the highly unlikely event that Rosman ever forgets where he comes from?

“If I somehow got sucked up into another mentality,” he responds, with a sheepish grin, “all my family and friends from Michigan would very quickly let me know. I mean, I can be back in town for a visit and go out for drinks with friends, and no one will ask how work is going.”

On that topic, as soon as production on “New Life” wrapped, Rosman was making the rounds and taking meetings, pitching his new idea.

“The next film I’m doing is called ‘The Silence Game.’ It’s a little bit more of a culty thriller, but with some horror elements,” he explains. “I’m taking the money I made from ‘New Life’ and maybe getting a couple of other investors. All I can do is trust myself and trust how hard I can work, and then surround myself with people who also share that same work ethic. This business is so topsy turvy, and no one knows anything.”

Which is when Rosman is reminded he’s channeling word-for-word the most famous quote by William Goldman, the Oscar-winning writer of screenplays for “All the President’s Men” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Goldman urged screenwriters to stand by their ideas for films because no one in Hollywood knows what is, or isn’t, going to succeed.

“It’s true,” Rosman says with a laugh. “I read his book, ‘Adventures in The Screen Trade.’ It’s a really hard business, but I want to be a filmmaker, and the only thing you can do is find a way to keep on making stuff. So, what’s important for me is I just want to make the next one — and that’s what I’m doing.”

Rosman says his upbringing in the Midwest helped shape his approach to filmmaking. He doesn’t trust shiny objects; rather, he says, the backbone of his success is hard work.

DEPTH OF FIELD

Actors Hayley Erin and Ayanna Berkshire share a scene in “New Day,” filmed behind the Sundown Pub in Portland. The crew employed and lit fake snow to transform a rainy Portland night into the snowy Canadian border where the film takes place.

ROLL ’EM

Lather and Suds

Riding rising demand, Jax Kar Wash in Birmingham has added more than 30 locations in the past three years.

BY TIM KEENAN | JOSH SCOTT

Jax Kar Wash, the Birmingham-based company once best known for giving customers free birthday car washes, is in the midst of a three-year expansion that has seen it grow to 42 locations from nine outlets.

The first Jax Kar Wash opened in Detroit, at Six Mile Road and Meyers, in 1956. That location is no longer operating, but the one on Woodward Avenue in Birmingham that started up later in ’56 has since becme a mainstay. Today, the chain has car washes in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana.

“We have a formula, and we believe that our formula leads to the best possible outcome for the vehicle, and we stick to that formula,” says Jon Zimmerman, CEO of Jax Kar Wash. “There’s an art to washing a car, and we stand behind that art.”

That artistic style has come a long way in the nearly 70 years Jax has been washing cars — always, Zimmerman notes, towel-drying the clean vehicles before they head back onto the street.

“In those (early) days, the employees worked in pits washing tires and wheels, and used chains to pull cars through the tunnel,” Zimmerman explains. “Equipment is constantly evolving in our industry, from conveyors to the way the brushes interact with vehicles.

“We’re looking at new technology all the time,” he says. “The amount of technology that’s going into pay stations is amazing. Pay stations didn’t exist 20 years ago.”

The car wash art form, as it exists today at Jax, starts with making sure the self-serve vacuum cleaners are working with maximum suction. After that, it’s about ensuring long lines move quickly.

“We take production very seriously, and we spend a lot of time and knowledge on that,” Zimmerman says. “We know that on crazy-busy days, people aren’t going to wait.”

The first contact with Jax employees comes when customers get to the pay kiosk.

“We want to greet you at the kiosks,” Zimmerman relays. “We want to make sure that we get you in with the (wash) plan that you want and (you) don’t have any hassles with the sales terminal.”

SEAL AND WAX

A longtime landmark along Woodward Avenue in downtown Birmingham, Jax Kar Wash is growing rapidly as more time-strapped consumers favor professional car-washing services.

Once the transaction is complete, an employee guides the customer onto the conveyor, helps them shift their vehicle into neutral, and eases any anxiety the customer might have rolling into the car wash.

“Some people have issues putting their cars in neutral,” he says, “and so many people have anxiety about driving into a car wash. They don’t like to go to car washes that aren’t attended because of it.”

Zimmerman says the company is focused on making sure the actual washing of vehicles is as perfect as they can make it.

“We take pride in the chemicals that we put on your vehicle,” he says. “We want to put more than enough soap on to clean your car, more than enough wax on to protect your car, and have the proper amount of water flow to get that off.”

Once the vehicle is through the wash tunnel, Jax staff hand-dries it, then bids the customer farewell.

“We dry cars because we believe it gives you the best experience when you have a car that’s towel-dried,” Zimmerman explains. “Our greeters are there to say hello and our towel-dryers are there to say goodbye.

“When you go through a Jax Kar Wash, you recognize you’re going through a Jax Kar Wash based on the amount of chemicals that are actually hitting your car and the outcome you get when you leave.”

In addition to providing high-quality car washes, the Jax business model includes selling unlimited annual wash plans, which go for $25.99 to $59.99 per month (with optional add-ons) and allow members to wash their cars twice a day.

“We believe the unlimited plan is the most affordable way for people to wash, especially when you look at all of the variability of weather we have in the Midwest,” Zimmerman says. “With an unlimited plan, we take the weather out of the equation.”

THE AMOUNT OF TECHNOLOGY THAT’S GOING INTO PAY STATIONS IS AMAZING. PAY STATIONS DIDN’T EXIST 20 YEARS AGO.”

— JON ZIMMERMAN

Bringing the Jax experience to more locations was the brainchild of Bruce Milen, who took over the business from his father, Jack, in 1978. But the company wasn’t always a family concern.

In 1998, the Milens sold the company to a national chain that, according to Zimmerman, only cared about profits and taking the company public, which never happened. So, in June 2001, Bruce Milen bought back the company for an undisclosed sum.

From there, the Milens entered the Florida market in November of 2008 with the acquisition of Clear Sunset Car Wash, but that location is under different ownership now.

In February 2022, TRP Capital Partners in Birmingham took an ownership stake in Jax Kar Wash to fuel the company’s expansion. TRP Capital’s investment has funded the growth via acquisition.

Jax added five Oasis car washes in Jackson in April 2022, and single locations in Brighton and Howell. It added 11 Super Car Washes in August 2022, and 10 Clean View car washes in October 2024. It also acquired 10 locations in Wisconsin in August 2022 that it’s operating under the Jilly’s Car Wash brand. The Clean View acquisition increased the number of locations in Macomb County from two to 10.

“We felt it was complementary to what we were doing and (it) opened us up to a whole new world,” says Zimmerman, who notes that all of the metro Detroit Jax locations are north of Detroit and says there are no plans to go south.

“Doing what we’re doing is like a puzzle,” he says of the company’s expansion philosophy. “You need to fill in pieces of the puzzle. You look at areas and identify areas where you think your business will thrive and where you feel you can get enough employees to staff that area. It’s got to be an area where competition isn’t crazy high. You don’t want to go into a town where there are four car washes and you’re the fifth.

“Locations, demographics, and traffic patterns are all factors,” Zimmerman says. “We strongly believe in (population) density, and we need to be located where our customers are located, and that’s our goal.”

FLOW RATE

Local operators like Jax Kar Wash dominate the market, but express car washes are drawing more private equity investment. One reason is investors favor steady revenue streams generated by rising demand for memberships and subscriptions.

Once a new Jax is built or acquired, Zimmerman and his team inspect the property to determine what needs to be done to make it a Jax Kar Wash, other than new signs.

“There’s technology involved, a point of sale system, and changing the equipment so it matches the washes that we do,” Zimmerman explains. “We try to use as much of what they have as possible, but sometimes they need to be gutted.”

The goal, he says is a three- to four-month transition to a Jax Kar Wash.

Customer service, including towel-drying, has always been the goal at Jax, even before Jax. Jack Milen opened his first car wash in 1950, called National Car Wash, next to the Detroiter Hotel at Woodward Avenue and Alfred Street in Brush Park. It was open 24 hours a day and the price of a car wash was $1 — a shade over $13 in today’s equivalent. In 2025, a basic Jax Kar Wash is $10.

PATENTS AND INVENTIONS

Bits, Bytes, and Digits

Claude E. Shannon, who grew up in Gaylord, developed the fundamental elements of transmitting data via “bits” and “bytes.”

BY NORM SINCLAIR

In a pocket park along Main Street in downtown Gaylord, a bronze statue of Claude E. Shannon honors a hometown prodigy described in a biography as “the most important genius you’ve never heard of, a man whose intellect was on par with Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton.”

Praise for Shannon, a 1932 graduate of Gaylord High School, comes easily.

Neil J. A. Sloane, a distinguished internationally recognized mathematician and scholar, and Shannon’s contemporary, said of him: “He’s one of the great men of the century. Without him, none of the things we know today would exist. The whole digital revolution started with him.”

A mathematician and computer scientist, Shannon is credited with developing an information theory that served as the foundation of the digital revolution.

As a 22-year-old math and computer science scholar, he published a master’s degree thesis in 1940, and a second paper eight years later. Both offered conceptual breakthroughs in communications that today are considered monuments in the fields of computer science and information theory.

Shannon wrote his prize-winning master’s thesis, “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits,” in pursuit of a master’s degree in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

As a graduate assistant at MIT, he worked on an early calculating machine, a forerunner of an analog computer that operated on a system of shafts, gears, wheels, and disks. It required as many as four assistants to program it, and nearly a week to solve difficult equations in calculus.

Shannon’s thesis paper relegated that cumbersome machine to the junk pile as he jump-started digital circuit design by applying symbolic logic that he studied at the University of Michigan and a mathematical form of logic called Boolean algebra to relay switching circuits. His transformation of circuit design remains the basis for circuit and chip design to this day.

At that early age, Shannon had insight for organizing the internal operations of a modern computer decades before such computers even existed.

CODE ENFORCEMENT

Claude E. Shannon, who grew up in Gaylord, has been credited with developing an information theory that has been cited as the Magna Carta of the communications age.

Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard University, said Shannon’s 1940 paper is “possibly the most important, and also the most famous, master’s thesis of the century.”

In 1948, at age 32, Shannon published “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” which defined the field of information theory and would become the framework for electronic packaging and the transmission of data.

The groundbreaking paper also introduced terminology such as “bits” and “bytes,” which today describe everything from words to pictures, songs, videos, and gaming software.

One reviewer referred to it as the Magna Carta of the communications age.

“Shannon was the person who saw the binary digit was the fundamental element in all of communication,” said Robert G. Gallager, a professor of electrical engineering who worked with Shannon at MIT. “That was really his discovery, and from it the whole communications revolution has sprung.”

Every device using microprocessors or microcontrollers, from cell phones to cameras, fax machines, and NASA computers, was spawned from his work. The cryptocurrency unit “shannon” is named after him.

Claude Elwood Shannon’s improbable northern Michigan story as a mathematical genius began on April 30, 1916, in Petoskey, where he was born. His

father, Claude Sr., a probate judge and businessman in Gaylord, owned a combination hardware store and funeral home on Main Street, the site of today’s postage-stamp-sized Shannon Park.

His mother, Mabel, was a language teacher who later became the principal of Gaylord High School.

As a boy, Shannon was interested in mathematical abstractions and gadgets. His favorite subjects in school were math and science. His father encouraged his interest in radio by supplying him with radio kits and erector sets. His sister, Catherine, who would later become a professor of mathematics, gave him math puzzles that he loved solving.

“I was always interested, even as a boy, in cryptography and things of that sort,” Shannon later said.

Among his boyhood inventions was a homemade telegraph system. It utilized two barbed wires from a nearby pasture that Shannon connected to a friend’s house a half-mile away. He also built model planes and a radio-controlled model boat, and earned money repairing radios for a Gaylord department store.

Fittingly, he later learned he was a distant cousin of one of his childhood heroes, Thomas Edison. Among his other heroes were Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and mathematician and physicist John Von Newmann, a pioneer in computer development.

Shannon graduated from high school at age 16, and in 1932 enrolled at the University of Michigan in

Ann Arbor. His dual majors in math and engineering led to Bachelor of Science degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering.

In 1936, Shannon accepted the position of research assistant in MIT’s electrical engineering department, where he worked part time while completing his studies toward advanced degrees.

After publishing his breakthrough thesis, he joined Bell Laboratories in 1941. He stayed for 15 years, working with some of the country’s most distinguished mathematicians and scientists.

During World War II, he was part of a Bell team that developed digital encryption systems, including a top-secret channel President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill used for secure transoceanic conferences.

Shannon would later say it was this work that inspired him to develop his theory of information. He realized that just as digital codes protected information from static and other interference, they also could efficiently bundle information and send greater quantities over a given channel.

After the war, when the Bell encryption system was declassified and details of it were published, cryptologists praised it for revolutionizing the field of cryptography. Shannon was later appointed by the U.S. government to serve as a consultant on cryptographic matters.

In 1949 he married his second wife, Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Moore, a mathematician and numerical analyst who worked at Bell Labs. With their shared interests, she became a trusted soundboard and

QUEEN TAKES KING

Shannon, and his wife, Betty, play a game against the Chess Computer. The inventor’s machine was a rudimentary approach to artificial intelligence.

partner for him on his experiments and inventions. The couple were parents to three children: Robert, Andrew, and Margarita.

Betty Shannon’s 1949 Christmas gift of a unicycle would later earn Shannon wider publicity than his scientific prowess. After practicing riding around his neighborhood, Shannon took the unicycle to work and paired it with another hobby, juggling pins and balls.

Soon, the legend of the juggling unicyclist became widespread as Shannon took to riding the unicycle up and down Bell Labs hallways at night, juggling as many as four balls as he pedaled along.

“He had been a gymnast in college, so he was better at it than you might have thought,” Betty Shannon said.

In 1958, Shannon joined the faculty at MIT. Teaching, however, wasn’t his strong suit. According to Time magazine, Shannon’s career as a teaching professor lasted a few semesters before he informed the university he didn’t want to teach at all.

“Proof that he was a big deal: MIT didn’t object,” Time reported.

After 1974, Shannon published only one paper, and it was on the art of juggling. Some colleagues suggested he was burned out.

“Most great mathematicians have done their finest work when they were young,” Shannon said at the time, even while denying he was tired of his research.

In 1978, at age 62, Shannon retired from MIT and seemingly dropped out of the public eye and the scientific community.

Never comfortable with his celebrity, he turned down speaking invitations and quit responding to his mail.

Free from academic restraints and responsibility, he devoted his time to chess and a playroom that featured flame-throwing trumpets, rocket-powered

Frisbees, a 100-blade jackknife, and a motorized pogo stick.

He also built a mechanical mouse named Theseus that had to find its way through a maze seemingly unassisted. After dazzling audiences for years with his smart mouse, Shannon finally revealed Theseus really didn’t think its way through the maze; its brains were synchronized vacuum-tube circuitry beneath the floor that connected to a magnet in the mouse.

Another pursuit was the construction of a miniature stage featuring three juggling clowns. He took it a step further by building a juggling manikin of comedian W.C. Fields. The figure bounced three balls on a drumhead.

“It made a heck of a noise, let me tell you,” Betty Shannon told an MIT publication.

Another prized possession was a computer he built and named Throbac (Thrifty Roman Numeral Backward Computer), which calculated in Roman numerals.

Some of his inventions had more practical uses. His love of chess steered him into the prescient field of artificial intelligence, leading to the design and production of chess-playing computers.

Meanwhile, one of his early papers, “Programing a Computer for Playing Chess,” was a rudimentary approach to artificial intelligence.

In a profile in the technology magazine IEEE Spectrum, Shannon succinctly summed up his career:

“I’ve always pursued my interests without regard for final value or value to the world,” he said, before puckishly adding, “I’ve spent lots of time on totally useless things.”

While his playroom was filled with gadgets he built, another room contained the dozens of prestigious awards showered on him, including the National Medal of Science presented by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966. He received similar top national awards from Israel and Japan.

Other mementos include caps and gowns from a dozen of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. and Great Britain, each representing honorary degrees awarded to him.

Shannon’s last visit to his hometown was in 1986, when he was the commencement speaker at Gaylord High School. Seven years later, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

His downtown statue, one of six around the country, was unveiled in 2000.

As Shannon was too sick to attend the ceremony, Betty Shannon stood in for him and told attendees he had insisted the first statue should be in Gaylord. The second is at the University of Michigan.

The rest of the statues, all of which were sculpted by Eugene Daub, are located at MIT; the University of California, San Diego; Bell Labs; and AT&T Shannon Labs.

Claude Shannon died at age 84 in 2001, two months shy of his 85th birthday.

“The response to his death has been overwhelming,” Betty Shannon said at the time. “I think it would have astounded him.”

Betty Shannon died at age 95, in 2017.

The Future of Mobility

Balancing regional demands with a global strategy for mobility initiatives presents a complex dynamic of technological, economic, political, and consumer trends.

BY PAUL THOMAS

The mobility market is increasingly at the center of economic, energy, and industrial policy. Electri cation, the rise of software-de ned vehicles, and shifting consumer demands are reshaping the mobility industry, presenting opportunities and challenges for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers.

NAVIGATING EVs

e transition to electric vehicles demands a multifaceted approach across the federal, regional, and state landscapes. Leaders must address hurdles at every level, including national security, domestic manufacturing, infrastructure upgrades, and implementation challenges. Meanwhile, consumers face an overwhelming array of vehicle options as they balance budgets with vehicle use cases.

At the same time, vehicle manufacturers and suppliers are navigating a delicate balance amidst ever-evolving propulsion o erings.

On one hand, we must innovate to capture market share and satisfy regulatory requirements. On the other, we must manage risks associated with rapidly shifting policies and consumer behaviors.

Electri cation remains the goal, but the transition presents a complex dynamic of technological, economic, political, and consumer trends, with adoption varying dramatically across regions.

BALANCING ACT

For automotive suppliers, future success depends on executing a strategy that achieves regional excellence while aligning with global objectives. is requires localizing vehicle designs and propulsion systems to meet local regulations and market preferences, and establishing strategic manufacturing hubs that optimize costs and meet regional content requirements.

What’s more, strategic capital investments at the global level enable regional operations to leverage shared platforms, advanced technologies, and standardized components. is coordinated approach drives economies of scale and optimizes development costs while preserving the exibility needed to adapt to local demands.

e electri cation revolution highlights the importance of this balance. While locations like China currently provide more established EV vehicle o erings, other markets — including the U.S. — are undergoing recalibration. Despite increasing EV

sales, the road to mass EV adoption requires a ordable, practical solutions.

MULTI-POWERTRAIN REALITY

In the U.S., the mobility market is evolving into a multi-powertrain future rather than a straightforward transition to EVs. Internal combustion engines (ICE) remain, while hybrids have solidi ed their place as a permanent road rather than a bridge to full electri cation.

is diverse market demands a strategic, multipronged approach that includes EVs that excel in daily commuting; hybrids that meet load-carrying and towing needs; and fuel-cell technology that supports heavy-duty and long-distance transport.

THE NEXT FRONTIER

e rise of software-de ned vehicles adds another layer of complexity. Unlike traditional cars, trucks and SUVs rely heavily on software to manage performance and characteristics. Approaches to this innovation vary. e majority of new-vehicle manufacturers focus on ground-up development to maximize computing capabilities, while longtime vehicle manufacturers tend to adapt existing platforms.

Suppliers like Bosch play a critical role, supporting both approaches with software and hardware solutions, while prioritizing cost-e ectiveness for customers. is dual strategy allows for global innovation while accommodating regional di erences.

GLOBAL EVOLUTION

As the industry shifts toward an evolved globalization model, one-size- ts-all solutions are no longer viable. Each market presents unique preferences, regulations, and incentive structures that require tailored responses and cooperation from the industry.

regional leaders to implement global platforms in ways that resonate with local consumers.

STRATEGIC PATH FORWARD

To navigate this complex landscape, automotive suppliers must adopt a balanced strategy that integrates global e ciency with regional adaptability. Key priorities include:

• Building strategic collaborations to accelerate development and share costs;

• Prioritizing scalable designs and near-term solutions;

• Maintaining global technological cohesion while delivering region-speci c products; and

• Reducing costs and fostering adaptability.

Agility also is essential. e days of chasing ambitious targets for electri cation and autonomous driving are behind us. Instead, we must embrace scenario planning, prepare for multiple outcomes, and allocate resources accordingly.

As the pace of change accelerates, the balance between regional focus and global alignment will de ne the future of mobility. Success lies in leveraging local insights while capitalizing on the scale and innovation of global operations, enabling the industry to thrive in this era of transformation.

Global organizations provide a strong foundation for IP and platform development, but regional teams must adapt these solutions to best meet local demands.

Collaboration between OEMs and suppliers is critical to this approach. e industry can accelerate innovation by sharing development costs and standardizing technologies where possible, while maintaining di erentiation in key areas. is collaborative mindset means empowering

NICK HAGEN

PAUL THOMAS

President of Bosch in North America and Bosch Mobility, Americas, both located in Farmington Hills. He has more than 25 years of mobility experience, and has held senior leadership positions in the areas of sales, production control, logistics, manufacturing, and business unit management.

DETROIT AGLOW

PATRICK GLORIA

The Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) hosted its 40th Detroit Aglow, this year presented by Amazon, on Nov. 25 at MGM Grand Detroit. The theme for the sold-out event was “Aglow for 40 Years: Celebrating Connections.” The event drew close to 600 people and included networking, live entertainment provided by The Next Generation Funk Brothers, signature cocktails, and a traditional Thanksgiving-style dinner. DDP oversees and maintains multiple downtown parks like Campus Martius Park, provides year-round programming, works with multiple stakeholders, and strives to make “downtown Detroit a great place to live, work, and enjoy.”

6. Tim Cook, Ken Hayward

7. Derek Albert, Tifany Albert

8. Tricia Keith, Daniel and Amy Loepp

9. Tom and Jenell Leonard

10. Gary Brown, Sherri Brown

HOB NOBBLE GOBBLE

CHRISTINE MJ HATHAWAY

The Parade Co. hosted its annual Hob Nobble Gobble presented by Ford Motor Co. on Nov. 22 at Ford Field in Detroit. The black-tie event is one of the primary fundraisers for the producers of America’s Thanksgiving Parade and the Ford Fireworks. The sold-out event featured a buffet table stretching across the 50-yard line, carnival rides, games, and performances by T.I., the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Choir, the Parade of Stars featuring dancing elves, the cover band Your Generation, and Santa Claus.

1. Danialle Karmanos. Kristen Bouchillon

2. Matt and Karen Cullen, Bob and Sandy Riney

3. Rico Razo, Denise Fair Razo

4. Tom Schoenith, Morgan Schoenith

5. Tony Michaels, Cindy Pasky, Paul Huxley

8

KIDNEY BALL

PATRICK GLORIA

More than 600 people attended the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan’s annual Kidney Ball at the MotorCity Casino on Nov. 23. The evening began with a VIP reception at the casino’s Iridescence room, followed by a cocktail hour, a silent auction, a three-course dinner, a program, and a live auction. After dinner, guests were treated to a candy bar, a late-night coney dog station, and the music of Your Generation.

11. Charlie Langton, Deborah Fishaw and Loren Venegas, Stuart Wilson, Denise Dybas

12. Michael Brundige, Linda Gordon, Renee Cannely, Rick Murdock

13. Grace and Eugene Thomas

14. Jerry Ruggirello, Patrick Rugiero, Joe Giacalone

15. Kimberle Steem, Briana Daniels

ABOVE AND BEYOND

LINDSAY SCHWEICKERT

The 12th annual Above and Beyond Awards Ceremony, hosted by the Detroit Public Safety Foundation, took place on Nov. 13 at Ford Field in Detroit. The event, themed “A Blue Tie Affair,” honored members of the Detroit Police Department and Detroit Fire Department. Among the awards presented were the Medal of Valor, Purple Heart, Emergency Medical Merit, and Public Safety Distinguished Service. In addition, a new Public Safety Partner Award was presented to the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network.

1. Damon Creighton, Hussain Alomari, Tevin Kellum

2. Deputy Police Chief Jacqueline Pritchett, Deputy Police Chief Tiffany Stewart

3. James White, Interim Police Chief Todd Bettison

4. Police Officer David Wise, Kenisha Johnson

5. Tonya Leonard-Gilbert, Tinetra Burns, Patti Kukula

HUNGER-FREE IN THE D

PATRICK GLORIA

The Celani Family Foundation hosted the annual Hunger-Free in the D Radiothon on Nov. 25 at Palazzo di Bocce in Lake Orion. The event, which was broadcast on WJR 760-AM, raised $500,000 for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and Gleaners Community Food Bank. Participants were able to watch Kevin Dietz and Paul W. Smith broadcast live, enjoy a continental breakfast buffet, play in a bocce ball tournament, mingle with celebrity guests, partake in lunch from Green Lantern Pizza, and sample cigars and Celani wine.

11. Dario Bergamo, Paul W. Smith, Tom Celani, U.S. Rep. John E. James

12. Karen Whetter, Ashley Welti, Mariana Keros

13. Lomas Brown, Alexandria DeSano, Tony Rubino

14. Marco McMann, Jeff McMann, Dan McMann

15. Nino Cutraro, Will Fox, Van Fox

CENTENNIAL GALA

PATRICK GLORIA

Farmington Hills-based nonprofit human services agency the Judson Center celebrated its 100th anniversary on Nov. 1 with a Centennial Gala at The Henry in Dearborn. The theme of the evening was “A Night to Embrace.” It began with a cocktail reception with hors d’oeuvres and was followed by a gourmet dinner, entertainment by Dal Bouey Productions, dancing, auctions, and a raffle. CBS News Detroit’s Sandra Ali and retired FOX 2 anchor Huel Perkins emceed the evening, which raised more than $500,000 to help provide care for children, adults, and families in the areas of autism, behavioral and primary health care, disability services, foster care, adoption, and mentoring.

6. Pamela Fisher, Linda Werszler

7. Tyrone D. Jordan, David L. Calhoun, Yolonda Cannon, Darrell Cannon, Michele King 8. Dan and Janelle Morck

9. Burney Johnson, Vincent Tilford, Rosemary Tilford, Duane Foster

10. Michelle Johnson, Mounir Sharobeem, Shirley Sharobeem

AUTOGLOW

Jan. 10, 4:30 p.m. to midnight thechildrenscenter.com/autoglow-2025

AutoGlow 2025, presented by Ford Motor Co., will be held on Friday, Jan. 10, to benefit the vulnerable children and families served by The Children’s Center. Hosted by Bill and Lisa Ford and Mark and Lia Farley, it will be one of the first large charity events held at the long-awaited and newly restored Michigan Central in Detroit. This year themed “Inspire Detroit,” the event features a sumptuous menu from Forte Belanger including both a cocktail reception and a strolling dinner, decadent desserts, and full bar service, along with music from DJ Prevu and Blue Water Kings Band for dancing.

AutoGlow runs from 4:30 p.m. to midnight with a pre-event reception from 4:30 to 7 p.m. and the main celebration from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. Included are complimentary valet parking and private transportation between AutoGlow and the DAS Charity Preview at Huntington Place. Charity Preview tickets must be purchased separately. Dress code is black tie. Tickets are $325 and can be purchased at thechildrenscenter.com/autoglow-2025

DETROIT AUTO SHOW CHARITY PREVIEW GALA

Jan. 10, 5 to 10 p.m. detroitautoshow.com

You’re invited to walk the red carpet at the 2025 Detroit Auto Show Charity Preview on Friday, Jan. 10, from 5 to 10 p.m. at Huntington Place in Detroit. For one magical night, this black-tie fundraiser benefits six amazing children’s charities and gives its guests an exclusive preview of stunning cars and a headline performance by multiplatinum artist Flo Rida. Beneficiaries of the Charity Preview include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan; The Children’s Center; Children’s Foundation; Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation Fund, a fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan; Detroit PAL; and University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Tickets are $400 each or $700 a pair and available at detroitautoshow.com

SOUP CITY: THE MOTOWN EDITION

Jan. 23

cotsdetroit.org

COTS will host Soup City 2025 on Thursday, Jan. 23, at the historic Roostertail in Detroit. Titled Soup City: The Motown Edition, the event will honor Detroit’s rich musical legacy with an evening of soul, rhythm, and timeless Motown hits. Attendees will experience vibrant energy, Motown-inspired performances, and culinary delights from some of Detroit’s finest restaurants. The event supports COTS’s mission to assist families overcoming poverty and homelessness.

More than just a celebration, the evening will combine impact and community at a venue steeped in Detroit’s history. Proceeds from Soup City will directly benefit families working to create brighter futures.

ST. JUDE DETROIT GALA

Jan. 25, 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. stjude.org

The annual St. Jude Detroit Gala will be hosted at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation on Saturday, Jan. 25. The St. Jude Detroit Gala will showcase the stories of founding ALSAC members, donors, and patients and more. Guests will experience interactive and inspirational displays that will bring the mission and stories of St. Jude to life. As a guest, you will help celebrate Detroit’s connection to the founding of St. Jude, learn about its advancements since 1962, and honor its strong community of supporters tied to the history of St. Jude. The team at St. Jude hopes you’ll join them for this can’t-miss event or make a donation to help ensure that families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food — so they can focus on helping their child live.

To learn more about this event or volunteer opportunities, please contact Megan Phelps at megan.phelps@alsac.stjude.org or 248-467-2068.

KIDSGALA ANNUAL CHARITY EVENT

Feb. 1, 6 p.m. to midnight kidsgala.org

KIDSgala was founded in 2013 by David C. McKnight, owner and founder of Emerald City Designs, with the goal of celebrating the lives of children with life-altering illnesses and disabilities. After learning that his dear friend’s 9-year-old daughter had been diagnosed with leukemia, McKnight recognized the importance of celebrating the outstanding courage of children. Since 2013, McKnight and his hardworking team have raised thousands of dollars through fundraising events. Join us for the 10th annual KIDSgala Charity Event on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 6 p.m. to midnight. There will be a plated dinner, spirits, live music from the Dan Rafferty Band, incredible auction and raffle items, and more!

VARIETY COCKTAILS & CUISINE

Feb. 6, 6 to 9 p.m. variety-detroit.com

Variety is thrilled to announce the return of its winter favorite, Variety Cocktails & Cuisine, on Thursday, Feb. 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham. This signature event will support the innovative core programs that benefit children served by Variety. Attendees will enjoy an evening of socializing and sampling culinary delights crafted by some of metro Detroit’s finest chefs. Guests can indulge in cocktails and “chef’s choice” creations in the sophisticated ambiance of The Townsend Hotel.

TOP HOTELS IN METRO DETROIT

(SELECTED BY AAA AND DBUSINESS FOR HOSPITALITY EXCELLENCE)

ANN ARBOR

GRADUATE ANN ARBOR

615 East Huron St. Ann Arbor

734-769-2200

graduatehotels.com/ann-arbor/ Rooms: 207

Meeting Rooms: 4

Dining: The Allen Rumsey Supper Club, Poindexter

Meeting Capacity: 7,700 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly; event planners; catering; fitness center; complimentary pass to nearby recreation building for racquetball, basketball, weight-lifting; complimentary Wi-Fi; complimentary bicycle rental; valet; pet-friendly rooms

BIRMINGHAM

DAXTON HOTEL

298 S. Old Woodward Ave. Birmingham

248-283-4200

daxtonhotel.com Rooms: 151

Meeting Rooms: 7

Dining: Madam, Café Dax, Geode Bar & Lounge

Meeting Capacity: 6,852 sq. ft.

Amenities: Lobby bar, more than 400 pieces of art curated by Saatchi Art, fitness center and health club, bedside wireless charging pads, valet parking, free Wi-Fi, laundry and dry cleaning, pet-friendly

THE TOWNSEND HOTEL

100 Townsend St. Birmingham

248-642-7900

townsendhotel.com Rooms: 150

Meeting Rooms: 7

Dining: Rugby Grille, The Corner, afternoon tea, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 17,590 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, iPod docking stations, ATM/banking, coffee in lobby, complimentary newspapers, event catering, fitness center, concierge services, multilingual staff, seasonal outdoor seating offered by Rugby Grille and The Corner, pet-friendly environment, wedding services

BLOOMFIELD HILLS

THE KINGSLEY

39475 Woodward Ave. Bloomfield Hills

248-644-1400 thekingsley.com Rooms: 144

Meeting Rooms: 9

Dining: Zalman’s Delicatessen serves breakfast, lunch, and entrees; The Duke Lounge, Joe Muer Seafood

Meeting Capacity: 15,405 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, plush pillow-top bedding, RFID card or

smartphone door locks, in-room laptop safes, balcony suites, complimentary Wi-Fi, modern furnishings, luxuriously appointed guest rooms, serene courtyard, large flat-screen HDTVs, premium cable, mini fridge, coffeemaker with Starbucks coffee refilled daily, 24-hour fitness facility, on-site business center, shuttle service, valet and self-park, indoor saltwater pool

DEARBORN

DEARBORN INN, A MARRIOTT HOTEL 20301 Oakwood Blvd. Dearborn 313-271-2700 marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwdi-the-dearborn-inn-a-marriott-hotel/ overview/ Rooms: 229

Meeting Rooms: 14

Dining: Edison’s, Ten Eyck Tavern, room service

Meeting Capacity: 22,312sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, messenger service, notary public, overnight delivery/pickup, seasonal outdoor pool, fitness center. Guest rooms have plug-in technology for iPods, cameras, game systems, etc.

THE HENRY, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION

Fairlane Plaza

300 Town Center Dr. Dearborn 313-441-2000 behenry.com Rooms: 308

Meeting Rooms: 7

Dining: TRIA, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 24,563 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, shoe-shine services, fitness center, indoor pool with whirlpool, concierge services, wedding accommodations, notary public, AV equipment, messaging services, overnight delivery/pickup, pet-friendly, post/parcel service

DETROIT

ATHENEUM SUITE HOTELS

1000 Brush Ave. Detroit 313-962-2323 atheneumsuites.com Rooms: 174

Meeting Rooms: 11

Dining: Pegasus Taverna, Symposia, Fishbones, A-Bar, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 26,719 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, wedding accommodations, hotel shuttle service, health and fitness facilities, catering services

BOOK TOWER (ROOST APARTMENT HOTEL)

1265 Washington Blvd. Detroit

844-431-1100

DETROIT MARRIOTT AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER

Renaissance Center

400 Renaissance Dr. Detroit

313-568-8000

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwdt-detroit-marriott-at-therenaissance-center/overview/ Rooms: 1,328

Meeting Rooms: 41

Dining: Starbucks, Motor City Pantry, FUELL

myroost.com/extended-stayhotel-detroit-michigan Rooms: 117

Meeting Rooms: 3

Dining: Le Suprême, Bar Rotunda, Kamper’s, Hiroki-San, Sakazuki, Conservatory Ballroom (the latter can be booked for events)

Meeting Capacity: NA

Amenities: Fully equipped kitchen, complimentary Wi-Fi, smart TV, Sonos speakers, hardwood floors, living plants, vintage rugs, handpicked artwork, blackout shades, on-site maintenance, washer and dryer (in unit), fitness center, weekly housekeeping, in-suite safe, and same-day dry cleaning and laundry services (some fees apply)

CAMBRIA HOTEL DOWNTOWN DETROIT

600 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit

313-733-0300

choicehotels.com/michigan/detroit/ cambria-hotels/ Rooms: 154

Meeting Rooms: 5

Dining: Cibo Detroit, Cielo Rooftop Lounge, 5 Iron Golf

Meeting Capacity: 25,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: Beve Detroit lobby bar, rooftop pool and Cielo poolside bar, Balla Nightclub, free Wi-Fi, fitness center and sauna, valet parking, sundry shop, business center

COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT

DETROIT DOWNTOWN

333 E. Jefferson Ave.

Detroit

313-222-7700

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwdc-courtyard-detroit-downtown/ overview/ Rooms: 260

Meeting Rooms: 4

Dining: Courtyard Café and Bar, Applebee’s, IHOP Express

Meeting Capacity: 6,468 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business center, fitness center, Wi-Fi, pool

DETROIT FOUNDATION HOTEL

250 W. Larned St. Detroit

313-800-5500

detroitfoundationhotel.com Rooms: 100

Meeting Rooms: 4

Dining: The Apparatus Room

Meeting Capacity: 6,566 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, fifth-floor event space, complimentary Wi-Fi, 24-hour fitness center with complimentary workout classes, same-day laundry and dry cleaning, complimentary Detroit Bikes rental, pet-friendly

Amenities: Multilingual staff, paid on-site parking, common area internet access, pet-friendly HILTON GARDEN INN DETROIT/ DOWNTOWN

351 Gratiot Ave. Detroit

313-967-0900

hilton.com/en/hotels/detdhgi-hiltongarden-inn-detroit-downtown/ Rooms: 198

Meeting Rooms: 6

Meeting Capacity: 96,104 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, overnight delivery/pickup, secretarial services, translator, on-site car rental, fitness center

DOUBLETREE SUITES BY HILTON HOTEL DETROIT DOWNTOWN –FORT SHELBY

525 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit

313-963-5600

hilton.com/en/hotels/dttlfdtdoubletree-suites-detroitdowntown-fort-shelby/ Rooms: 203

Meeting Rooms: 19

Dining: Motor City Kitchen and Round Bar, room service

Meeting Capacity: 18,535 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, complimentary coffee or tea, audio/ visual equipment rental, 24-hour business center, complimentary printing service, express mail, secretarial services, video conferencing, catering menus, fitness center

ELEMENT DETROIT AT THE METROPOLITAN

33 John R St.

Detroit

313-306-2400, ext. 0 marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwel-element-detroit-at-themetropolitan/overview/ Rooms: 110

Meeting Rooms: 3

Dining: RISE

Meeting Capacity: 2,817 sq. ft.

Amenities: Fitness center, bike rentals, pet-friendly, in-room kitchens, complimentary Wi-Fi

FORT PONTCHARTRAIN, A WYNDHAM HOTEL

2 Washington Blvd.

Detroit

313-965-0200

hotelpontchartrain.com Rooms: 367

Meeting Rooms: 23

Dining: Tabacchi Lounge Café, Urban Cellars

Meeting Capacity: 32,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly; wedding accommodations; pool, spa, sauna, fitness center; catering services; business center; valet; short walk to Huntington Place

THE GODFREY DETROIT

1401 Michigan Ave. Detroit

313-385-0000 hilton.com/en/hotels/dtwktqq-thegodfrey-detroit/ Rooms: 227

Meeting Rooms: 4

Dining: Hamilton’s, I/O, Lobby Bar

Meeting Capacity: 6,292 sq. ft.

Dining: St. Regis Room, The Whitney (off-site)

Meeting Rooms: 3

Meeting Capacity: 8.580 sq. ft.

Total Exhibit Space: 325,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: Health spa, shopping mall/ area, paid on-site parking, business center

THE INN @ 97 WINDER

97 Winder St.

Detroit

313-832-4348

Dining: The Chrome Bar and Grille, The Garden Grille and Bar, room service

Meeting Capacity: 3,456 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, audio/ visual equipment rental, complimentary printing service, gift shop, express mail services, ATM machine, wedding accommodations, multilingual staff, secretarial services, fitness center, pool HOLLYWOOD CASINO AT GREEKTOWN

555 E. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit

313-223-2999 hollywoodgreektown.com

Rooms: 400

Meeting Rooms: 11

Casino Tables: 61

Poker Tables: 13

Dining: 313 Burger Bar, Rock Bar, Prism, Urban Cocktail, Barstool Sportsbook Bar, Detroit Taco Co.

Meeting Capacity: 20,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business center, fitness center, valet, in-room dining, wireless internet, state-of-the-art meeting/audio/ visual equipment, concierge services

HOTEL INDIGO DETROIT

1020 Washington Blvd. Detroit

313-887-7000

Rooms: 241

Dining: Trolley Room Bar & Grill, Clique

Meeting Rooms: 2

Meeting Capacity: 1,752 sq. ft.

Amenities: Health club, business center, pet-friendly

HOTEL ST. REGIS

3071 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit Rooms: 124

theinnat97winder.com/

Rooms: 10

Meeting Rooms: 1

Dining: None on-site

Meeting Capacity: NA

Amenities: Continental breakfast, antique furnishings, spa, private fenced parking, European-style garden and walkways, high-speed Wi-Fi

MGM GRAND DETROIT

1777 Third Ave. Detroit

877-888-2121

mgmgranddetroit.com

Rooms: 400

Meeting Rooms: 6

Casino Tables: 140 Slots: 3,500

Dining: Breeze Dining Court, Tap at MGM Grand Detroit, D.PRIME Steakhouse, Topgolf Swing Suite, Palette Dining Studio, The Roasted Bean, room service, complimentary food and nonalcoholic beverages on the concierge level

Meeting Capacity: 30,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, built-in video and teleconferencing services, fitness center, indoor pool, distinct lounges, meeting and event planning, concierge service, shoe-shine, hotel sundry store, IMMERSE Spa, AXIS Lounge, V Nightclub

MOTORCITY CASINO-HOTEL

2901 Grand River Ave. Detroit

866-782-9622

motorcitycasino.com

Rooms: 400

Meeting Rooms: 16

Casino Tables: 59

Dining: Assembly Line, Amnesia, Grand River Deli, Iridescence, Little Caesars, Lodge Diner, Sweet Ride, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 67,500 sq. ft., including 19,604 sq. ft. of pre-function space

Amenities: Business-friendly, complimentary printing, 24-hour fitness center, concierge services, wedding accommodations. Smoking is only allowed on the casino gaming floor. The smoke-free gaming area is located at the main casino entrance (a 17-table smoke-free poker room is available).

ROBERTS RIVERWALK URBAN

RESORT HOTEL

1000 River Place Dr. Detroit

313-699-1233

Rooms: 106

Meeting Rooms: 1

Dining: Roberts Riverwalk Bistro & Bar

Meeting Capacity: 12,000 sq. ft.

Amenities: River views, business center, fitness center, outdoor swimming pool, high-speed Wi-Fi, parking, outdoor tennis

SHINOLA HOTEL

1400 Woodward Ave. Detroit

313-356-1400

shinolahotel.com

Rooms: 129

Meeting Rooms: 3

Dining: Penny Red’s, San Morello, The Brakeman, Evening bar

Meeting Capacity: 16,150 sq. ft.

Amenities: Wi-Fi, Parker’s Alley shopping, HDTV, fitness center, pet-friendly, mini bars, Shinola turntables and record library in select rooms

THE SIREN HOTEL

1509 Broadway St. Detroit

313-277-4736

ash.world/hotels/the-siren/ Rooms: 106

Meeting Rooms: 3

Dining: The Siren Café, Karl’s, Candy Bar, Albena

Meeting Capacity: NA

Amenities: Social Club Grooming, Sid Gold, Paramita, The Siren Shop, concierge, free newspaper, flower arrangement service, fitness center, bicycle rentals, pet-friendly rooms

THE WESTIN BOOK CADILLAC DETROIT

1114 Washington Blvd. Detroit

313-442-1600

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwcw-the-westin-book-cadillac-detroit/ overview/ Rooms: 453

Meeting Rooms: 19

Dining: Sullivan’s Steakhouse, The Boulevard Room, The Motor Bar, Starbucks Reserve Café

Meeting Capacity: 36,658 sq. ft.

Amenities: Meeting and catering services, wedding specialist, audio/visual and production services, video conferencing, Service Express, concierge desk, WestinWorkout Studio, heated pool and spa, Spa Book Cadillac, complimentary daily national newspaper, laundry/dry cleaning, shoe-shine, luggage storage, in-room

iPod docking station, high-speed internet

THE DAVID WHITNEY, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION

1 Park Ave.

Detroit

313-237-1700

davidwhitneybuilding.com/about.html Rooms: 160

Meeting Rooms: 8

Dining: None on-site

Meeting Capacity: 9,915 sq. ft.

Amenities: WXYZ Bar, recharge (SM) gym, pet-friendly, complimentary Wi-Fi, valet parking, beauty shop and barber shop, on-site laundry and dry cleaning FARMINGTON HILLS

DELTA HOTELS BY MARRIOTT DETROIT NOVI

37529 Grand River Ave. Farmington Hills

248-653-6060

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwdf-delta-hotels-detroit-novi/overview/ Rooms: 139

Meeting Rooms: 3

Dining: Founders Tavern

Meeting Capacity: 4,284 sq. ft.

Amenities: Indoor pool, fitness center, free Wi-Fi, coffee shop, hot tub, laundry LIVONIA

DETROIT MARRIOTT LIVONIA 17100 Laurel Park Dr. North Livonia 734-462-3100

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwli-detroit-marriott-livonia/overview/ Rooms: 224

Meeting Rooms: 5

Dining: FINS Kitchen and Bar

Meeting Capacity: 5,769 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, coffee in the lobby, indoor pool and whirlpool, concierge services, 70+ retailers and restaurants (hotel is attached to Laurel Park Place Mall), fitness center, overnight delivery/pickup, wedding accommodations, post/parcel services NOVI

THE BARONETTE RENAISSANCE

DETROIT – NOVI HOTEL

27790 Novi Rd. Novi

248-349-7800

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwdn-the-baronette-renaissancedetroit-novi-hotel/overview/ Rooms: 155

Meeting Rooms: 6

Dining: Toasted Oak Grill & Market, room service

Meeting Capacity: 8,213 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly; data port in each room; concierge services; fitness center; ATM; outdoor garden terrace; wedding accommodations; near Twelve Oaks Mall, West Oaks, and Fountain Walk

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP

SAINT JOHN’S RESORT

44045 Five Mile Rd. Plymouth

734-414-0600

saintjohnsresort.com

Rooms: 118

Meeting Rooms: 22

Dining: Five Steakhouse, Doyles

Meeting Capacity: 38,912 sq. ft.

Amenities: 18-hole championship golf course, heated driving range and retail

outlet at Carl’s Golfland, fitness center, complimentary weekday newspaper, Jacuzzi, wedding accommodations, chapel, food and beverage services, indoor pool with waterfall and bubble lounge

PONTIAC

AUBURN HILLS MARRIOTT PONTIAC

AT CENTERPOINT

3600 Centerpoint Pkwy. Pontiac

248-253-9800

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwpo-auburn-hills-marriott-pontiac/ overview/

Rooms: 290

Meeting Rooms: 13

Dining: Woodward’s, Starbucks, room service

Meeting Capacity: 23,283 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, messenger service, overnight delivery, translation services, wedding accommodations, indoor and outdoor pools, cocktail terrace, fitness center

ROCHESTER

ROYAL PARK HOTEL

600 East University Dr. Rochester

248-652-2600

royalparkhotelmi.net Rooms: 143

Meeting Rooms: 19

Dining: Park 600, Royalty Tea, 24-hour room service, seasonal outdoor seating on the terrace

Meeting Capacity: 17,486 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, audio/ visual services, bicycle rental, wedding accommodations, seasonal fly-fishing equipment rental, putting green, 24-hour fitness center, spa services, outdoor bocce and croquet courts, concierge services, 21 miles of jogging trails

ROMULUS

THE WESTIN DETROIT

METROPOLITAN AIRPORT

2501 Worldgateway Pl. Detroit

734-942-6500

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwma-the-westin-detroitmetropolitan-airport/overview/ Rooms: 404

Meeting Rooms: 35

Dining: Reflections Restaurant & Lounge, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 28,844 sq. ft.

Amenities: Lobby access to the McNamara Terminal’s 90 shops and services, 24-hour shuttle service to the North Terminal, complimentary fitness center, indoor heated pool, hot tub

SOUTHFIELD

DETROIT MARRIOTT SOUTHFIELD

27033 Northwestern Hwy. Southfield

248-356-7400

marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtwsl-detroit-marriott-southfield/ overview/ Rooms: 226

Meeting Rooms: 4

Dining: Fire Iron Grill, Lobby Lounge, room service

Meeting Capacity: 4,283 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, overnight

delivery/pickup, wedding accommodations, indoor pool, full-service bar, concierge services, fitness center

RADISSON HOTEL SOUTHFIELD –DETROIT

26555 Telegraph Rd. Southfield 248-358-7600 radissonhotelsamericas.com/en-us/ hotels/radisson-southfield?cid=a:se+b:gmb+c:amer+i:local+e:rad+d:us+f:en-US+h:USADSMI Rooms: 206

Meeting Rooms: 12

Dining: T Mezcalero (on-site), Telegraph Road BBQ

Meeting Capacity: 20,057 sq. ft.

Amenities: Complimentary full breakfast, hot tub, exercise facility, wedding services, free Wi-Fi, 24-hour business center

THE WESTIN SOUTHFIELD DETROIT 1500 Town Center

Southfield 248-827-4000 westinsouthfielddetroit.com Rooms: 388

Meeting Rooms: 31

Dining: Jamocha’s Coffee Shop, Tango’s Restaurant, Level 1 Lounge, 24-hour room service

Meeting Capacity: 47,718 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, wedding accommodations, allergy-friendly rooms, concierge services, pet-friendly environment, indoor heated pool, whirlpool, hot tub, fitness center TROY

DETROIT MARRIOTT TROY

200 W. Big Beaver Rd. Troy

248-680-9797 marriott.com/en-us/hotels/ dtttt-detroit-marriott-troy/overview/ Rooms: 350

Meeting Rooms: 18

Dining: 200 West Restaurant and

Lounge, room service

Meeting Capacity: 16,881 sq. ft.

Amenities: Business-friendly, catering, concierge lounge, indoor pool, safety deposit boxes, complimentary daily newspapers, shuttle within five-mile radius of hotel, post/parcel services, fitness center

EMBASSY SUITES BY HILTON DETROIT TROY – AUBURN HILLS 850 Tower Dr. Troy

248-879-7500

hilton.com/en/hotels/dtttres-embassysuites-detroit-troy-auburn-hills/ Rooms: 244

Meeting Rooms: 6

Dining: The Great American Bar and Grill

Meeting Capacity: 7,327 sq. ft.

Amenities: Complimentary breakfast, digital key, EV charging on-site, indoor pool, fitness center, pet-friendly rooms, business center Sources: AAA and DBusiness research

TOP CORPORATE COUNSEL 2025

DANIEL ADAMS

General Motors Co.

DEREK S. ADOLF

Soave Enterprises

SUSAN ALLEN

FCA US

ERIN BEHLER

RKT Holdings

STANFORD P. BERENBAUM Ilitch Holdings Inc.

PETER E. BOIVIN

General Motors Co.

SAMANTHA BORDEN

PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy

DANIEL BYRNE Ford Motor Co.

GINA CAPUA

Clarience Technologies

JEFF DOBSON ITC Holdings Corp.

CHERYL SCOTT DUBE

MotorCity Casino and Hotel

MICHAEL FARLEY

Daifuku North America Inc.

BRUCE MARSHALL GALE

H.B. & J. B. Properties Inc.

KENNETH C. GOLD

General Motors Co.

MICHAEL GRUSKIN

General Motors Co.

RICHARD HADDAD

Pistons Sports and Entertainment

ALAN N. HARRIS

ACH Consulting

DAN ISRAEL

Goldfish Swim School Franchising

DAVID R. JANIS

H.W. Kaufman Group

BARRY JENSEN Walbridge

STEPHANIE JONES

General Motors Co.

WAYNE KAUFFMAN Gentherm Inc.

HARRY A. KEMP Lear Corp.

HOWARD M. KLAUSMEIER Ameriprise Financial Inc.

KIMBERLEE LEVY General RV Center

LANCE LIS Inteva Products

RACHEL ENOS MANOS BELFOR USA Group Inc.

CHRIS MAZZOLI Lear Corp.

TERRI MURRAY U.S. Anesthesia Partners

JASON NICHOL Penske Automotive Group Inc.

JACK PETROSKEY

FANUC America Corp.

AMANDA PONTES Lear Corp.

ROSHUNDA L. PRICE Meritor Inc.

ERIC ROGERS

AGC Automotive Americas

JEREMY RZEPKA Ford Motor Co.

MAUREEN T. SHANNON Open Dealer Exchange

Walbridge

KIRSTEN SILWANOWICZ

Great Lakes Water Authority

JAMI A. STATHAM NN Inc.

DAVID STOBB Ciena Healthcare

ANTHONY SUKKAR Brose

INGRID SZURA General Motors Co.

SATYAM TALATI Mahindra Automotive North America

SCOTT THAYER Dawn Food Products Inc.

MICHELLE JOHNSON TIDJANI CommonSpirit Health

GABRIEL B. VALLE ITC Holdings Corp.

JESSICA VANWERT First Financial Equipment Leasing

SARA VON BERNTHAL FCA US

MICHAEL J. VUKICH Lear Corp.

EDWARD A. WALTON Ameriprise Financial Inc.

ROBERT A. WELCH JR. Henry Ford Health

IAN WILSON Corewell Health

ANDREW WORRALL Comerica Bank

JOSHUA W. YAKER Dentsu International

AMANDA J. SHAUGHNESSY

Dream Car

The Di Dia 150, a homemade concept car developed by an unknown visionary, went from its birthplace in a Detroit custom shop to Hollywood in 1960.

BY RONALD AHRENS

The 1950s was an era of dream cars. Automakers blended aviation and aerospace motifs, and displayed their unique efforts at shows such as the General Motors Motorama. One of the best dream cars was a homebuilt effort from Clarkaiser Custom Shop, a small Detroit company founded after World War II by Ronald Clark and Robert Kaiser.

Clarkaiser’s nearly seven-year production effort integrated a welded steel-tube chassis, hand-formed aluminum body panels, and a hodgepodge of production parts such as a Chrysler windshield and Pontiac bucket seats.

When it was completed in 1960, the result was the one and only Di Dia 150. A newspaper put its cost at $150,000, so the model designation of the vehicle arose from this figure even though $94,000 was the actual value.

Andrew Di Dia, the Detroit native who conceived the car, was a former auto assembly worker and Department of Street Railways bus driver, but he now gave his occupation as clothing designer for Esquire Sportswear. Di Dia enlisted Edward Francoise, a neighbor on Riverview Street near Telegraph and Six Mile roads, to execute the drawings and clay model. For Francoise, a stylist at Chrysler, it was a walk in the park.

While the build was still in progress in 1956, Di Dia met Bobby Darin during the 19-year-old singer’s appearance with Arlene Stevens at the Gay Haven Supper Club in Dearborn. Di Dia, who was born in 1917, took Darin under his wing.

“When Bobby Darin was getting started in the

HOLLYWOOD MUSCLE

Andrew Di Dia, a former auto worker and clothing designer in Detroit, conceived his own dream car, the Di Dia 150. After it was built in 1960, Di Dia transported the car to Hollywood, where it caught the eyes of silver screen legends including Bobby Darin, Eddie Fisher, and Elizabeth Taylor.

singing business in Detroit, Andy met him and treated him like a son,” Bob Kaiser told a Darin biographer.

Soon after its completion in 1960, Di Dia towed the dream car to Hollywood. A debut was set for November at a show in Bakersfield, but Di Dia arrived early and previewed the 150 in curbside reveals around Los Angeles. While he was there, he renewed his friendship with Darin, whose “Mack the Knife” had recently reached No. 1 on the charts and reaped two Grammy awards. In addition, the singer would soon appear with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida in the romantic comedy “Come September.”

As Darin’s career soared, the Di Dia 150 became known as the Bobby Darin Dream Car. Press material hyped the paint job — 30 coats of candy-apple-red lacquer with crushed diamond dust — by Teddy Zgrzemski of Advance Body & Paint in Wyandotte.

In April 1961, the Associated Press reported, “They won’t outshine Bobby Darin at the Academy Awards show … at least not up to the curb, they won’t.” Mechanix Illustrated called it a “land yacht magnifique.” The next winter, it made the rounds of car shows. Meanwhile, Di Dia became Darin’s valet and traveled with his retinue.

Nominated for an Oscar in 1964, Darin intended to drive his dream car to the ceremony at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

As he started out, Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor pulled up in a Rolls-Royce and asked where he got it. The moment became embarrassing when steam escaped from under the hood. Darin had forgotten to turn on the electric fans that provided extra cooling.

The Di Dia 150 disappeared for a while after this. At some point, Darin assumed ownership, and in 1970 he donated it to the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Mo., where it remains to this day. Darin died after heart surgery in 1973. In 1994, the newly restored car flustered a St. Louis newspaper reporter, who called it “a square version of the Batmobile.”

Every so often — for example, at the 2010 Meadowbrook Concours d’Elegance and the 2016 Detroit Autorama — the Di Dia 150 returns to its hometown. Di Dia himself survived until 2014. One report says he never paid designer Edward Francoise a cent. A lawyer advised that he should “take legal action to collect his design commission, which he never did.”