Crain`s Detroit Business, May 2, 2016

Transcription

Detroit
aims to turn
design into
dollars,
Page 3
MAY 2-8, 2016
PHOTO BY MICHAEL LEWIS II /
RENDERING BY ROSSETTI ASSOCIATES INC.
Field of dreams?
Gilbert-Gores plan to bring pro soccer team to
downtown Detroit kicks up questions, skepticism
Site of proposed
soccer arena
Soccer stadium plan could
score payoff for Syncora
By Kirk Pinho and Robert Snell
L
Consolidated Jail ever gets off the
ground, Syncora’s acceptance of developing rights to the former Detroit
Police Department
headquarters
building as well as about 8.3 acres of
east riverfront land near Chene Park
seems to have made the haircut it
will take on its bankruptcy claim
less drastic than originally thought.
Particular properties along the
riverfront have gained significant
value in the 18 months since Bermuda-based Syncora settled a $333
million bankruptcy claim for $44.8
million in new debt, a lease to operate the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, a
long-term lease of a Grand Circus
Park parking garage, development
kpinho@crain.com, rsnell@crain.com
It may have lost millions in its
bankruptcy settlement with Detroit,
but Syncora Guarantee Inc.’s bet on
greater downtown real estate appears to be paying off.
At least one of the properties the
bond insurer now has development
rights to on the east riverfront and
near Greektown would play a key
role in Dan Gilbert’s and Tom Gores’
ambitious $1 billion plan announced last week to bring a Major
League Soccer team and a new stadium and mixed-use development
downtown.
Whether the development on the
site of the half-built Wayne County
SEE SYNCORA, PAGE 21
JACOB LEWKOW
Dan Gilbert (above) has teamed with fellow NBA owner
Tom Gores to make a go of big-league soccer in Detroit.
By Bill Shea
bshea@crain.com
ast week’s announcement that Dan Gilbert
and Tom Gores intend to bring a Major League
Soccer team to downtown Detroit as part of a
billion-dollar entertainment district raised a
litany of questions that must be answered
before the first ball is ever kicked on the pitch.
How anyone makes a top-tier professional soccer
team work in Detroit as the market’s fifth major league
franchise is a question whose many answers will play
out over time, soccer insiders say.
The ownership group, which unveiled its elaborate
plans during a press conference that included a very
supportive MLS Commissioner Don Garber, must first
acquire the land it wants, the 15 acres that currently is
home to the unfinished Wayne County jail at I-375
and Gratiot Avenue — something very likely to be a
thorny political and financial negotiation in coming
months.
After that, there must be a great reckoning in the
local soccer community. Reaction among soccer fans
on social media to the MLS announcement has been
mixed, from unbridled enthusiasm to bitter scorn.
“We need to unify the soccer community. We need
to all buy into the plan,” said Dan Duggan, longtime
SEE SOCCER, PAGE 20
Taubman’s former CFO looks forward to new challenge at Soave
By Tom Henderson
thenderson@crain.com
Tony Soave has closed a lot of
deals over the years for his
far-reaching Soave Enterprises LLC.
The latest? Persuading Lisa
Payne to take on a variety of roles
at his Detroit-based company.
Payne stepped down as CFO of
Taubman Centers Inc. at the end of
last year after nearly 20 years on
the job to satisfy a yearning to be a
CEO or a COO at another large enterprise.
After some arm-twisting by
Soave and Yale Levin, his executive
vice president, Payne has agreed
to become chairman of the board
© Entire contents copyright 2016
by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved
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at Soave and president of the Soave
Real Estate Group. In addition,
Payne will set up the Soave Family
Office to help manage the family’s
philanthropy, investments and tax
and estate planning.
As if that isn’t enough, Payne
will also be in charge of implementing a management succession plan for the company. Soave
is 76 and Levin is 75.
While there is no plan for Soave
to retire as CEO and president, “I
don’t want to work as hard as I
have been. I don’t want to go away,
but I want to work less,” said
Soave.
“We’re all mortal,” said Levin.
“Lisa is charged with creating the
right environment to keep us
heading in the right direction and
create the right relationship with
Tony’s daughters, who will eventually inherit the firm.”
Those daughters — Anjelique,
who is 43, and Andrea, 40 — are
currently on Soave’s board of directors. The plan is to give them
more responsibility in roles to be
determined in day-to-day operations of the company.
Soave and Levin say they don’t
want the company to be sold, either whole or in pieces, upon
Soave’s death, but to continue on
as a family business.
Payne, who is 57, will formally
join Soave on July 11, “three days
after I drop off my daughter at
Miami (University) of Ohio and
officially become an empty-nestSEE PAYNE, PAGE 18
“I was struggling with
whether I wanted this
much of a job. And
Tony closed the deal.
He knows how to close
a deal.”
Lisa Payne, on being hired by Tony
Soave to be president of Soave Real
Estate Group and chairman of the
board at Soave Enterprises LLC
2
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // M A Y 2 , 2 0 1 6
MICHIGAN
BRIEFS
Labor shortage looms in
state, BLM study says
A labor shortage in Michigan is
looming, according to a study
from the Business Leaders of Michigan.
Despite increased skills gaps
and more technology, the current
shortage remains in low-skilled,
low-paying jobs. Restaurant,
cleaning and maintenance, and
fishing, farming and forestry face
the most immediate labor shortages, according to the study.
The average hourly wage for
those occupations is $14.81,
32 percent below the state average
of $21.70. In fact, two-thirds of the
4.5 million jobs in Michigan that
required no more than a high
school diploma paid an average
hourly rate of $17.68, or 19 percent
lower than the state average.
But that’s set to change: By the
end of 2018, jobs requiring a high
school diploma or less are expected to drop by more than 19,000,
and jobs requiring an associate
degree or higher will grow by more
21,000, the BLM report said.
To tackle the upcoming job
shortages, BLM recommends
marketing to both in-state and
out-of-state students to increase
college enrollment, increase collaboration between higher education institutions and businesses,
create awareness programs about
high-paying growth jobs, among
other initiatives.
Obama to visit Flint this
week, hear from residents
President Barack Obama this
week will make his first trip to Flint
since the city was found to have
lead-tainted drinking water, the
White House said. Obama is due
to receive a briefing on the federal
effort to assist in the cleanup and
to hear directly from Flint residents about the toll the contamination has had on their health and
their lives, The Associated Press
reported.
Obama said he plans to “use my
voice to call for change” in Flint.
His visit will come after the U.S.
Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee last week approved a
$220 million aid package for Flint.
The committee backed the bipartisan deal as part of a broader,
$4.8 billion bill that authorizes water-related projects across the
country for flood control, harbor
deepening and other steps.
In more Flint water news, Time
magazine named Michigan pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha and
Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards — both credited with exposing the water crisis — to its annual list of the 100 Most Influential
People in the world.
MICH-CELLANEOUS
Drugmaker Perrigo Co. plc
named John Hendrickson as CEO
after the resignation of Chairman
and CEO Joe Papa. The leadership
change came as Allegan-headquartered, Dublin-domiciled Perrigo projects lower-than-expected
earnings for the first quarter, MiBiz reported. A 27-year veteran of
Perrigo who has served as president since October, Hendrickson
took over following Papa’s departure to become CEO of Quebec-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals
International Inc.
Michigan will receive more
than $17 million under a settlement in which Pfizer Inc. agreed to
pay $784.6 million to resolve a
14-year-old lawsuit claiming its
Wyeth unit overcharged the government by hiding the discounts it
was giving hospitals for drugs used
to treat acid-related damage to the
esophagus, Bloomberg reported.
New York City-based Pfizer, which
acquired Wyeth in 2009, announced the broad terms of the
agreement in February. Michigan
was one of 35 states that were part
of the lawsuit.
The Soo Locks are getting a
{Executive series.}
new computer system to replace a
half-century-old master control
system that opens and closes the
locks between lakes Huron and
Superior, AP reported. This year’s
upgrade in Sault Ste. Marie is part
of a maritime industry move to
more digital and automated systems. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the navigational
lock complex.
Two Michigan health systems
made Ann Arbor-based Truven
Health’s list of top 15 health systems. Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health was recognized for the
large system with more than
$1.75 billion in annual revenue.
MidMichigan Health in Midland won
recognition for the small health
system with less than $750 million
in annual revenue. Truven Health
grades health systems based on
eight key measures of performance in quality, safety and patient satisfaction.
The Detroit-based DTE Energy
Foundation and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will for a
19th year fund tree-planting projects across the state, AP reported.
A total of $75,000 is available in
matching grants of up to $3,000
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
BANKRUPTCIES ................................. 4
CALENDAR .........................................15
CLASSIFIED ADS............................... 17
DEALS & DETAILS.............................16
MARY KRAMER .................................. 6
OPINION .............................................. 6
OTHER VOICES ................................... 7
PEOPLE ...............................................16
RUMBLINGS ...................................... 22
WEEK ON THE WEB ......................... 22
COMPANY INDEX:
SEE PAGE 21
each. Grant applications must be
postmarked by June 10 and details
are posted online. Award announcements are anticipated in
August. The effort is administered
by the DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry program.
Traverse City-based Moomers
Homemade Ice Cream was enjoying
the No. 1 spot on USA Today’s list
of the nation’s best ice cream parlors. As of Friday, Moomers was
ahead of 19 other spots around the
country. Voting in the competition
will continue until May 23.
Correction
Due to a technical error with the survey database of Crain’s
Greater Michigan Law Firms list, which appeared in the April 25 issue, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP’s top Michigan executive was listed incorrectly. It should have been Douglas Dozeman, managing partner.
A corrected version of the list is at www.crainsdetroit.com/section/
data_lists.
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3
Southfield
Westin gets
3rd upgrade
$12M renovation occurring
same time as nearby
former Holiday Inn
By Sherri Welch
swelch@crain.com
designation. The application also included a video by filmmaker Stephen
McGee that showed, in fast motion, the
city’s design assets.
“It’s been shown all over the world,”
Schneider said. “Detroit has never been
seen from this perspective before.”
Rogers said the designation should
provide benefits in economic development and new jobs in the city.
“This should heighten Detroit's reputation for creativity even more,” he said.
It was not one piece of architecture,
or one creative social innovation or a
single college or university that gave
Detroit the 10-year-long UNESCO designation late last year. Rather it was
The Westin Southfield Detroit is in the midst
of a $12 million renovation, its third complete update since the hotel became a Westin
18 years ago.
The project will update the hotel’s 389
rooms, corridors, the lobby and common
and meeting spaces in three phases, with expected completion in the
fall of next year.
Room to
Owned by Scottsdale,
stay
Ariz.-based Atrium HoldRenovations
ing Co., the hotel replaced
add space at
the roof of its 1500
two hotels,
Southfield Town Center
Page 9
building last fall, General
Manager Jerry Tononi
said.
Westin’s Heavenly brand mattresses, new
foundations and bedding were added in the
guest rooms over the past couple of months.
Next on tap are new wallpaper, carpeting
and lighting in the guest room corridors and
additional updates to the rooms themselves.
Those include new Heavenly brand showers,
carpeting, wallpaper, drapery, lamps and 43inch televisions “because TVs can never be
large enough today,” Tononi said.
Rather than liquidating the furniture
brought in during the hotel’s last complete
renovation in 2007 and buying new, the hotel is “going green” with its renovation of the
furniture, he said, keeping its “bones” but
reupholstering each piece.
SEE DESIGN, PAGE 17
SEE HOTELS, PAGE 17
DETROIT CREATIVE CORRIDOR CENTER
The Mothership by the O.N.E. Mile Project on display in Detroit’s North End neighborhood; leveraging creative assets into economic activity is one of its aims.
Turning design into dollars
By Marti Benedetti
mbenedetti@crain.com
Detroit’s designation last year as a
UNESCO city of design could result in
partnerships with designers in other
UNESCO cities such as Berlin; Graz,
Austria; or Bilbao, Spain.
“This designation means Detroit will
have a stronger international relationship with its peers around the globe,
and that could result in possible joint
ventures that would drive revenue
here,” said Matt Clayson, vice president,
general counsel, business development
and governmental affairs for Southfield-based Detroit Trading Co. and former executive director of the Detroit Creative Corridor Center. DC3 was spawned
Detroit hopes
UNESCO
recognition sparks
global ventures
in 2010 by the College for Creative Studies
and Business Leaders for Michigan.
Clayson, along with Ellie Schneider,
DC3’s deputy director, and Richard Rogers, president of the College for Creative
Studies, worked last summer on the 20page UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) application that resulted in Detroit
becoming the first U.S. city to have the
MUST READS
OF THE WEEK
On a mission
Snyder talks autonomous cars in
first overseas trip since Flint
water crisis came to a head,
Page 4
Convention guide
Motor City Comic Con, less than
two weeks away, puts the ‘Pow’
and ‘Bam’ into a loaded
convention and sports schedule
for metro Detroit, Pages 12-13
Michigan races to stay in the driver’s seat
on autonomous vehicle legislation
By Lindsay VanHulle
Crain’s Detroit Business/Bridge Magazine
LANSING — In 2013, Michigan
legislators adopted the state’s first
laws for driverless vehicles, allowing them to share the road with
live motorists only while being
tested.
That legislation helped Michigan
become an early leader in the race to
build a self-driving car, said Mike
Kowall, a state senator from Oakland
County who sponsored the bills.
But for Michigan to win — especially against the tech giants of Silicon Valley, which are developing
their own prototypes — he believes the state also needs to lead
by regulation, before a patchwork
of rules crops up across state lines.
Kowall, R-White Lake Township,
plans to introduce a bill package
in the Senate that he said would
DUSTIN WALSH
State lawmakers want to regulate use of self-driving vehicles as the industry grows.
allow autonomous vehicles on
Michigan roads for any reason,
not just during testing.
A set of bills introduced last
week would make it illegal to hack
into connected vehicle systems.
The bills would make that a felony
that could land an offender in
prison for life. The rest of the
SEE VEHICLE, PAGE 19
4
Snyder’s Europe topics: Mobility,
autonomous vehicles, R&D
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LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder
said European automotive companies know of Michigan’s influence on the global auto industry,
but were less aware of the state’s
role in developing the next generation of vehicles — including
those that drive themselves.
Snyder said mobility, and in
particular autonomous vehicles,
were a frequent discussion topic
during his meetings with European companies during a weeklong
trade trip.
The trip was to end Saturday. It
was his first such trip since the Flint
lead water crisis escalated last fall
into a public health emergency.
“What we currently have is very
well received,” Snyder told Crain’s
by phone from Europe, adding
that he told companies he met
with about the Mcity simulation at
the University of Michigan and the
planned American Center for Mobility at Willow Run.
“They understand that this
could be the best place” for research and development, Snyder
said.
The trip has included stops in
Germany, where Snyder visited
the Hannover Messe industrial trade
fair; Switzerland, where he toured
Ronda AG, a supplier of precision
mechanical and electronic watch
movements that is a shareholder
in Dallas-based Bedrock Manufacturing Co., the parent company of
Detroit-based watchmaker Shinola; Italy, where Snyder met with
roughly 15 auto suppliers; and the
Netherlands.
Snyder said a number of the
companies he met with already
have operations in Michigan, so
his delegation attempted to attract
new firms that aren’t already here
and persuade those that are here
to expand by marketing the state’s
ability to cut through red tape.
“There will be a lot of follow-up
work,” he said. “The interest level
is very high, and I’m confident
we’ll end up getting some of these
companies to increase their investment.”
Energy bills back in play
Two bills that would update
Michigan’s 2008 energy law are
back in the state Senate.
LINDSAY
VANHULLE
CAPITOL BRIEFINGS
lvanhulle@crain.com
Twitter: @LindsayVanHulle
The Senate’s energy and technology committee last week heard
testimony on Senate Bills 437 and
438 for the first time in months,
while the bills’ sponsors — Sens.
Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek, and
John Proos, R-St. Joseph — worked
on revisions.
Nofs, who chairs the energy
committee, told Crain’s he hopes
the bills will be voted out of committee to the Senate floor in May.
More committee hearings likely
will be scheduled for this week.
Among the major changes, Nofs
said:
Alternative energy suppliers
that serve customers in the deregulated, or “choice,” market would
have to demonstrate they would
have enough electricity owned or
Lindsay VanHulle: (517) 657-2204
GOV. RICK SNYDER
Gov. Rick Snyder visits Ronda AG, one of the world’s largest suppliers of precision
mechanical and electronic watch movements, during a trade trip to Switzerland this
week. The company is an equity shareholder in Bedrock Manufacturing, the parent
company of Shinola, and helped with setting up the Shinola factory in Detroit.
Crain’s seeks 2016 Health Care Heroes nominees
Do you know a Health Care
Hero? Crain’s Detroit Business
is seeking nominations for Health
Care Heroes, a special report on
health care professionals that will
run in the July 18 issue.
The program will honor medical innovators and patient advocates dedicated to saving lives or
improving access to care.
Winners will be chosen in five
categories: Corporate achieve-
under contract to meet capacity
requirements for their customers
for the next two years.
Existing mandates requiring
utilities to generate at least 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources and produce energy efficiency worth 1 percent of
their total electric sales annually
would be eliminated. The mandates would be replaced with a
combined 30 percent goal by 2025.
Net metering customers, or
people who purchase and install
solar equipment on their rooftops
to generate their own electricity,
would be grandfathered into receiving retail prices for the power
they sell to the grid for 10 years.
New customers would be able to
sell more excess electricity to the
grid — up to 10 percent, from 1
percent currently — and could receive the price a utility would pay
to buy or produce that same power at that point in time, less the
cost of using the grid.
Nofs said that amount would be
less than retail rates but more than
wholesale prices. A proposed
change in compensation for net
metering customers had been
controversial last fall.
ment in health care, advancements in health care, physician,
allied health and trustee.
A panel of health care judges
will choose the Health Care Heroes winners. The deadline for
nominations is May 16. They can
be made at CrainsDetroit.com/
nominate.
Questions? Contact Michael Lee
at (313) 446-1630 or malee@crain.
com.
BANKRUPTCIES
The following businesses filed
for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Detroit April 22-April 29.
Under Chapter 11, a company
files for reorganization.
H.C.T.C. LLC, 12450 Woodlands Court, Plymouth, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities not available.
Michael Lewis II
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GMRenCen marketing campaign
OPINION builds on growing Detroit buzz
Infrastructure needs W
a government fix
W
e can thank the Flint water mess for one positive: It sounded an alarm that lead could be
leaching into aging water systems — and in
household pipes — across the country.
Tests are showing more lead-laden water supplies.
The question is: How do you pay for replacing massive
infrastructure?
Water system overhauls can get in line with crumbling
roads and deteriorating bridges.
Gov. Rick Snyder recently created the 21st Century Infrastructure Commission to study ways to modernize transportation, water and sewer, energy and communications
infrastructure.
Recently, the state Bipartisan Policy Center’s executive
council held a briefing in Detroit, noting that the American Society of Civil Engineers is projecting that the country faces $2 trillion in capital investment needs for transportation and water alone.
As a country, we are spending less now as a percentage
of GDP — under 2 percent — than we were 20 years ago on
such infrastructure needs.
The topic is not getting much traction in the presidential
debates. But at the state or federal level, maybe it’s time to
revisit Civics 101. A primary purpose of “big government”
was to provide the infrastructure that a local unit could not
efficiently do itself.
The expansion of what government is, what it actually does
— and what it is expected to do — has grown tremendously.
But it’s time to get back to basics.
Autonomous vehicles need map
Autonomous cars, when they hit the consumer market,
will come fully loaded with a host of liability concerns.
Ironing out those issues — such as who is responsible for a
crash when software is driving — has to happen before
these vehicles can become an everyday reality.
The liability confusion is the main reason we don’t already see more autonomous cars on the road. And while
driverless cars aren’t available to buy yet, automakers say
they plan to bring them to market soon.
Until federal regulators can agree on a common set of
standards, it’s appropriate for Michigan to lead the way
with a provisional measure.
Soon-to-be introduced legislation in Michigan, as Lindsay VanHulle reports on Page 3, is aimed at supporting efforts like the new American Center for Mobility project at
Willow Run, a hub for connected and autonomous vehicle
testing. The legislation is expected to propose insurance
requirements for connected equipment manufacturers in
case their products malfunction.
State laws added to the books more than two years ago
only allow autonomous cars to share the road with live
motorists while being tested.
It’s time to move beyond that as the industry accelerates.
Until federal regulators can agree on a set of common
standards, Michigan should be a national model with state
rules that look out for the interests of automakers, suppliers and motorists.
hat a difference a decade makes. Who could
have imagined a week
in Detroit where, back to back, announcements about major investments — Major League Soccer, a
plan for the Hudson’s block and
the naming of the under-construction hockey arena — would
dominate headlines.
Maybe it began 10 years ago, after Detroit had successfully hosted
Super Bowl XL and ignited in Host
Committee chairman and business titan Roger Penske the desire
to do more.
Four years later, Dan Gilbert
bought his first building downtown and had joined Penske, the
Kresge Foundation and others to
create what’s now called the QLine
to “connect the dots” among Detroit’s downtown assets.
More and more, the “cool” vibe
is spreading out from the “D”
— beyond the groundbreaking
Chrysler 200 ad debuting
during the Super Bowl. Yes, it
starred the car — and Eminem
— but the real scene-stealer
was Detroit.
No wonder the marketing
folks at the General Motors Renaissance Center capitalized
on the buzz to create their “reflecting a new Detroit” campaign to rebrand the iconic
skyline feature as GMRenCen
in full-page ads in Detroit print
media, including daily newspapers, magazines and Crain’s.
The
campaign,
which
launched a year ago in May,
“frames” real people and has a
social media component to encourage people to post selfies on
MARY KRAMER
Publisher
a website, reflectingdetroit.com.
“We didn’t want to just advertise
the building’s amenities, but turn
the mirror(s) around and showcase the people here in the GMRenCen and in our neighborhood
who are making Detroit come
alive like never before,” says Claudia Killeen, manager of Renaissance Center development at
General Motors Co.
The building seems transformed from its days as the for-
tress towers surrounded by bunkers and parking lots. Designed by
architect John Portman, who had
done similar towers in Atlanta and
Los Angeles, the complex has been
maligned for years. Maybe the
feeling is mutual; you have to hunt
very hard to find any mention of
Detroit on Portman’s website.
So far, nearly 40 “reflecting Detroit” people have been selected,
and the campaign is slated to run
at least through the year, Killeen
says.
Subjects have included everyone from Pashon Murray, founder
of Detroit Dirt, a partner in the
GMRenCen’s urban garden program, to a firefighter taking part in
the American Lung Association’s
71-story “Detroit Climb,” to Bruce
Paine, the general manager of the
GMRenCen’s new Granite City
Food & Brewery.
That restaurant — and other new restaurant additions
like Bozii and Panera Bread —
bring the GMRenCen to 95
percent occupancy, Killeen
says. More to come after this
summer’s renovations: Earlier
this year, GM announced it
would renovate space and extend the complex to Jefferson
Avenue while also spiffing up
the People Mover station exterior.
And Portman is not the architect. GM selected Neumann/Smith Architecture and
EWI Worldwide to complete
the renovations.
The General Motors Rennaissance
Center advertisement in this
week’s Crain’s.
TALK ON THE WEB
Re: Gilbert unveils plan for
soccer stadium on jail site
There needs to be more to this
city than sports. Major League
Soccer should use Ford Field as
a start. Let’s build stuff that
makes people want to live in Detroit ... and not something that
once again serves suburbanites.
Downtown should not just be a playground. It needs culture and
walkability and green space. So
far, downtown is a fake wonderland built by Gilbert. It lacks authenticity.
John
They should build it on the eyesore site that once was the Pontiac
Silverdome.
Terri Lauer
The energy, creativity and life
aren’t in Pontiac like they are
downtown Detroit. Business wants
to go where the action is, and, right
now, that’s in downtown, with
three other stadiums. We do need
to redevelop the Silverdome,
though; too bad the owner is a
crook.
BrewPubNate
This is a great idea!
247287
Detroit has always been a great
sports city.
Ray Hiera
Re: I-275 closures to begin
Hopefully, this time they will fix
I-275 after several years of worthless strip paving that did nothing
but waste taxpayer dollars and inconvenience drivers.
Dave
Re: Gilbert plans high-rise on old
Hudson’s site downtown Detroit
I know that we’ll never see grandeur like the former building, but
can the architects at least try? ...
There are reasons developers are
going out of their way to save old
structures, so why not build ones
that rival the old? New isn’t always
better.
Matty
Re: New Red Wings home gets a
name: Little Caesars Arena
Not surprised, but disappointed.
Was hoping for something more classy,
even “The Olympia by Little Caesars” would have been a nice touch.
Re: Study: Labor shortage in
Michigan looms
MDA
We offer low pay, long hours
and absolutely no chance for advancement. Sign me up!
drbpor
Re: Michigan State makes $150
million deal with Fox Sports
Nice. That $150 million will help
to make MSU an even greater institution. Go Green!
Walt
7
Michigan needs better clean energy policies to grow economy
C
lean energy policies are working in Michigan and are supporting economic development
throughout the state.
In February, the Public Service
Commission released its sixth annual report assessing the state’s
renewable energy and energy efficiency policies. It found that since
2008, Michigan’s clean energy
standards have helped attract
nearly $3 billion in renewable energy investment alone. As the Legislature reconvenes later this
month, lawmakers should build
upon this foundation and work to
increase Michigan’s clean energy
targets.
Renewable energy and energy
efficiency policies are tools for
economic growth and are increasingly requirements for corporations looking to tap into clean energy resources. Household names
and manufacturers like General
Motors Co., Whirlpool Corp., Herman Miller Inc., General Mills Co.,
and BorgWarner Inc. are committing to renewable energy and energy efficiency.
As shareholders of companies
like these, this is exactly the type
of activity we want to see. These
companies, like their peers
throughout corporate America,
are increasingly looking to cut energy costs and avoid the volatility
of fossil fuel prices. This demonstrates new economic opportunity — and it is precisely why Michigan should strengthen its
renewable energy and energy efficiency standards.
Aside from increased customer
expectations around sustainable
business practices, proactive
companies have learned that
clean energy makes business
sense. According to a new Lazard
report, wind and solar energy are
now less expensive than natural
gas and significantly less expensive than coal. Eliminating energy
waste is one of the least expensive
ways for Michigan to meet its energy needs. Investors also recognize the value: Increasingly they
are demanding that companies
set goals and source clean energy.
Nevada-based data center operator Switch recently pledged to
use 100 percent renewable energy
to meet its energy needs. In January, Switch announced it would
build its latest data center in
Grand Rapids. Through an agreement with Consumers Energy Co.,
the facility will operate entirely on
renewable energy resources.
Utilities are beginning to respond to the needs of their customers, but there’s more work to
be done. In February, Grand Rapids-based furniture manufacturer
Steelcase Inc. signed a 12-year
agreement for 25 megawatts of
wind energy in Oklahoma, citing
Oklahoma’s more favorable economic and regulatory environment for wind. Lawmakers must
create a more favorable environment for clean energy or Michigan
will miss out on opportunities.
Michigan’s current standards
for renewable energy and energy
efficiency do not just lead to a
greener electricity grid, they also
create jobs and lower everyone’s
energy costs. A report from the
Michigan Energy Innovation
Business Council and Clean Energy Trust finds that the clean energy sector supports over 87,000
jobs.
Standards have also proven
cost-effective for ratepayers. According to the Public Service Commission, ratepayers save more
than $4 for every $1 of investment
in energy efficiency. These savings
— not to mention the many other
benefits of clean energy — are
good for Michigan’s big businesses, small businesses, investors,
and homeowners alike.
Michigan’s current 10 percent
renewable energy law will hold at
10 percent indefinitely until lawmakers take action. While utilities
have already exceeded this target,
clean energy investments leveled
off in 2015. Companies and investors need policy certainty. It is imperative that lawmakers both ex-
tend and strengthen the state’s
clean energy standards during
this legislative session.
A group of major companies —
including General Mills, Nestle,
JLL, and Schneider Electric —
have written a letter urging the
Legislature to strengthen the
state’s renewable energy and energy efficiency goals. These companies recognize that clean energy standards can create a favorable
business environment: attracting
new investments, encouraging innovation, creating jobs, and building a more stable system.
OTHER VOICES
Brianna Murphy
Brianna Murphy is a vice president for
shareholder advocacy at Trillium Asset
Management. Trillium has $2.2 billion in assets
under management and has clients
throughout Michigan.
You do business where we do business.
We should meet.
At Huntington we believe that a stronger business community makes the whole community stronger.
That’s why we work so hard to truly understand your business goals, and to deliver the insights that
can get you there. We’re proud of the place we call home, and together we can make it even better.
Member FDIC. A ® and Huntington® are federally registered service marks of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.
Huntington® Welcome.TM is a service mark of Huntington Bancshares Incorporated. © 2015 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated.
8
More state hospitals get A’s
Other states leapfrog Michigan in overall ratings
By Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
Michigan’s hospitals scored
more A’s, 26, this spring in Leapfrog’s national hospital patient
safety report than last fall, when
the state scored 19 A’s. But because
about a dozen hospitals dropped
grades to C from B, the state fell to
26th nationally, compared with
21st last fall, according to The Leapfrog Group’s spring 2016 report.
Of the state’s 80 reporting hospitals, 39 hospitals scored A’s or
B’s, compared with 47 last fall.
Leapfrog, which is a nonprofit that
represents large employers and
other health care purchasers, analyzes hospital infection rates,
problems with surgeries, prevention of errors and safety issues in
two reports each year.
Hospitals say the grades matter
for patients, and the measurements that go into them matter to
their bottom lines.
“Patients are becoming more
savvy in their research, and I have
no doubt (they look at the scores),”
said Rob Casalou, CEO of Ann Arbor-based St. Joseph Mercy Health
System. “None of us wants to be an
average player. It influences decisions on where to go. ... A lot of the
measures, from Leapfrog and from
Medicare, because we are at risk,
affects how we get paid.”
For the 26 hospitals that received A’s this spring, including
Garden City Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy in Chelsea and ProMedica Bixby
Hospital in Adrian, the accomplishment was met with satisfaction.
“This recognition is a true testament to our staff and physicians’
dedication and commitment to
provide quality patient care,” said
Saju George, CEO of Garden City
Hospital. “We continually strive to
invest in quality and safety initiatives to benefit our community.”
Casalou said St. Joseph Mercy in
Chelsea has scored well in patient
and staff satisfaction the past several years, which is one reason the
hospital increased its most recent
score to A from B.
“Everybody (hospital quality reporting organizations) is constantly updating their criteria,”
said Casalou, adding that Leapfrog
recently added patient and staff
satisfaction scores to its criteria.
“We constantly try to improve. We
want patients to validate those
scores.”
St. Joseph Mercy’s other hospitals received the following scores:
St. Mary Mercy Hospital Livonia, B; St.
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Joseph Mercy Hospital Ypsilanti, C;
St. Joseph Mercy Livingston Howell, C;
St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Pontiac, C.
Since 2013, five hospitals have
scored straight A’s: Allegiance Health
in Jackson, Dickinson County Healthcare System in Iron Mountain, Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township, Mercy Health Saint
Mary’s in Grand Rapids and Univer-
sity of Michigan Hospitals and Health
Centers in Ann Arbor.
“It is time for every hospital in
America to put patient safety at
the top of their priority list, because tens of thousands of lives
are at stake,” Leah Binder, CEO of
The Leapfrog Group, said in a
statement. “The Hospital Safety
Score alerts consumers to the dangers, but as this analysis shows,
even A hospitals are not perfectly
safe.”
Leapfrog also gave 13 Michigan
hospitals B’s (16 percent), 37 C’s
(46 percent), 3 D’s (4 percent) and
1 F (1 percent). Michigan’s 26 A
hospitals accounted for 33 percent
of the total, up from 24 percent last
year.
Nationally, 31 percent of the
2,571 hospitals that received a
safety score received an A, 25 percent a B, 37 percent a C and 6 percent a D. Fifteen hospitals, or 1
percent, earned an F.
Employers can also learn how
they foot the bill for medical errors
by using Leapfrog’s Cost Calculator. Hospital scores are listed at
www.hospitalsafetyscore.org.
“There is a large cost difference
between a C-F hospital and an A
hospital. That cost is not only in
dollars, but we now know the cost
is also in lives,” Bret Jackson, president of the Economic Alliance for
Michigan, said in a statement. “Excellent patient safety is what every
hospital should strive for.”
Only three hospitals received
D’s, including McLaren Macomb
Hospital in Mt. Clemens. McLaren
said last year its Macomb hospital
scored an A. The drop was due to a
change in methodology by Leapfrog, McLaren said. One hospital
received an F: UP Health System in
Portage.
Some hospital systems, like
Beaumont Health, which score well
enough on other quality and outcomes-based surveys, have argued that Leapfrog’s survey is inaccurate because data is 2 years
old and is skewed because it favors
Medicare patients, who are older
and have more chronic disease.
Several of Beaumont’s hospitals scored B’s. They are Beaumont
Dearborn Hospital, Beaumont Taylor
Hospital and Beaumont Trenton
Hospital.
Other hospitals that received B
grades include Henry Ford Hospital
in Detroit and Henry Ford West
Bloomfield Hospital and McLaren
Oakland Hospital in Pontiac.
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene
9
SPECIAL REPORT:
SHERRI WELCH
Senior reporter
MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS
swelch@crain.com
Twitter: @sherriwelch
Cobo sees green
after going green
C
obo Center is hoping to turn
Detroit’s Rust Belt image
green.
Since October, it has recycled or diverted for energy production more
than 77 tons of trash. That and other
practices
have
earned Cobo certification from the
Green Meetings Industry Council, mak-
ing it one of only 11
“green” venues in
the U.S. The certification is giving it a
competitive edge.
A year from now,
Molinari
Cobo will host a
conference typically held on the West Coast and its
now pursing other green events. General Manager Claude Molinari recently
spoke with me about Cobo’s green
efforts. His remarks have been edited
for space and clarity.
What did Cobo have to do to become
“green”? It’s a process of implement-
ing energy conservation, recycling
and waste diversion into your facility
practices. All food waste from prep
and uneaten food from plates is put
in a separate container and picked up
by My Green Michigan. They compost it
to nutrient-rich dirt that’s distributed
to local urban farm projects. Any
trash we don’t recycle goes to Detroit
Thermal for their waste-to-energy
plant, which helps keep them competitive. We also set up 180 recycling
stations for paper, bottles and cans.
And we track every kilowatt hour and
steam consumed for peak efficiency.
Why did Cobo implement more sustainable practices? We believe it’s im-
portant for a facility generating such
a great amount of waste that we do
something to offset our carbon footprint. This came to the forefront of
our operation as something to differentiate Cobo from our main competition in trying to procure events.
How are these efforts impacting your
bottom line? Our conservation efforts
minimize the rising energy costs of
the increased number of events at
Cobo.
And you’ve been able to attract new
business as a result? There’s an event
held in San Diego the last few years
called Sustainable Brands, which
works with companies around the
world to become sustainable. We
were not on their radar. But when we
provided them with our certification
and green awards, we changed their
opinion. They’re bringing their conference to Detroit May 23-25, 2017,
with over 1,500 attendees expected.
MEETING
EXPECTATIONS
Reopening of 2 hotels to offer more space
By Sherri Welch
of banquet, meeting and event
space and be the first of three hoNearly 40,000 square feet of tels planned for the property.
meeting space is set to come back
There is demand for both hoon the metro Detroit market this tels about to reopen. Romulus
year with the reopening of two and Southfield are two different
long-shuttered hotels.
markets all together, said Michael
Renovations are underway at O’Callaghan, executive vice presithe former Metropolitan
dent and COO of the DeSpecial
Hotel in Romulus, which
troit Metro Convention &
operated for a time as a requests now Visitors Bureau.
Doubletree. The hotel, on
The first, near the aircommon,
Wick Road near I-94, is
port, is convenient and
Page 11
expected to reopen this
targeted for business
summer as the Radisson
travelers, while the secHotel Detroit Metro Airport. It will ond is near a large number of auinclude about 15,000 square feet tomotive and other commercial
of flexible meeting space.
customers, he said.
Further to the north and east,
“Demand has increased pretty
the former Holiday Inn of Southfield nicely since 2003, yet the ... supply
on Telegraph Road, notable for its hasn’t,” O’Callaghan said.
round tower, is being converted to
“This is a good way to provide
three hotels with more than 400 an increase in supply. These are
rooms. The tower is visible from both full-service hotels, and the
nearby I-696 and M-10.
community needs that product to
The Best Western Premier flag — attract meetings, in particular,
the first in Michigan — will fly and to provide enhanced facilities
over the tower when it opens late for social functions.”
this year or early next year. It will
SEE HOTELS, PAGE 10
include about 25,000 square feet
Crain’s Detroit Business
The iconic round tower of
the former Holiday Inn of
Southfield is expected to
open late this year or early
next year as the state’s
first Best Western Premier.
It’s one of three hotels
planned for the site.
PHOTO BY LARRY PEPLIN
10
HOTELS
SPECIAL REPORT: MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS
“Think gluttonous King Henry VIII style,”
with bottles of wine and books lining the
walls and high-backed chairs.
FROM PAGE 9
Room in Romulus
In Romulus, Henderson, Nev.based RKJ Hotel Management LLC is
investing millions to renovate the
former Metropolitan, which had
been vacant for about two years,
owner Jeff Katofsky said.
He acquired the hotel for $8.5
million — as well as the St. Clair Inn
and, soon, the Sugar Loaf Resort in
Cedar — he said, as part of the settlement of a lawsuit tied to hotels in
other states with the previous Metropolitan owner, Remo Polselli.
Polselli is also the former owner
of the Hotel St. Regis in Detroit and
the Plaza Hotel in Southfield.
Katofsky said he’s spending
more to redo the Romulus hotel
than he paid for it.
“The bones of the hotel are fabulous; it just needed a complete
enema, quite frankly,” he said.
Every inch of the hotel is being
redone, from the lightbulbs and
fixtures, to the wallpaper and
paint, to the flooring and door
knobs. Katofsky describes the
overall look the renovations are
targeting as “homey.”
The hotel will be among the first
to incorporate the look of Radisson’s new prototype rooms, Katofsky said. They are anchored by a
neutral color scheme and include
large televisions mounted on the
walls, luggage holders built into
Jeff Katofsky, owner, Metropolitan Hotel
LARRY PEPLIN
The former Metropolitan Hotel in Romulus is being remodeled and is expected to
reopen this summer as the Radisson Hotel Detroit Metro Airport.
the lower areas of the furniture,
oversized chairs and USB and
electric cords and plugs in the
headboards and desks.
About 210 of the 274 rooms at
the hotel are set to open in July,
and the remainder in the second
tower by mid-August, along with
an executive concierge suite offering food and beverage service to
guests staying in that tower, Katofsky said.
Julie Brezina Interior Design is the
designer on the project, and Coast
to Coast Renovation is overseeing
the engineering and construction
work.
When complete, the hotel lobby
will have the look and feel of a living room with a cozy fireplace, Katofsky said. The front desk has
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been relocated, and walls have
been removed to open up the front
bar area and restaurant, which will
now be behind the bar. Andy Warhol paintings will hang in the lobby and meeting spaces, Katofsky
said, noting they’re among his favorites.
The pool area will be redone,
and a larger, private business center will be installed where the gift
shop previously was located, near
the meeting rooms, he said.
“We have just over 15,000
square feet of meeting and banquet space there, which I think is
the most of any hotel in Romulus
outside of the airport.”
It includes a boardroom near
the back of the hotel, and next to it
an additional meeting room that
Katofsky said will be converted
into a high-end, private dining
room for 20-25 people.
“It will be the perfect spot for
(people) that have meetings and
want to have … food,” he said,
noting the private dining room’s
décor will be different than anything else in the hotel.
“Think gluttonous King Henry
VIII style,” with bottles of wine and
books lining the walls and highbacked chairs, Katofsky said.
The hotel’s restaurant will be
operated by its management company, Rosemont, Ill.-based First
Hospitality, which manages several
other hotels in the region and
state, including the Hampton Inn
Ann Arbor-North, Hilton Garden Inn
Plymouth, Residence Inn Ann Arbor
and Residence Inn Grand Rapids West.
The restaurant will connect with
the hotel’s meeting rooms and offer
guests more upscale dinners, while
a hotel bar will accommodate
guests looking for a burger.
Room rates are expected to be
in the range of $105-$150, said
Dan Smith, senior vice president
of asset management at First Hospitality.
Bryan Dickey, who most recently was general manager of the
Radisson Baltimore North, has been
named general manager of the Romulus hotel.
Dickey previously held management roles at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, McCamly Plaza Hotel in Battle Creek, Treetops Resort
in Gaylord and Mission Point Resort
on Mackinac Island.
With Dickey on board, Smith said
the plan is to hire about 100 to staff
the hotel, meeting and banquet and
food and beverage functions at the
Radisson Romulus, including “a top
young chef,” Smith said.
Katofsky, a lawyer and commercial developer, said he’s found that
when he renovates old buildings
in desirable locations, “everyone
else in the neighborhood beautifies themselves, as well.”
“I fully expect that to happen
here. … When we redo the hotel,
my competitors are going to have
to redo themselves, as well.”
Can the Romulus market support the additional meeting and
hotel space?
“I think it can,” O’Callaghan
said, noting the Sheraton Detroit
Metro Airport and the Westin Detroit
Metropolitan Airport, located within
McNamara Terminal, are both doing well.
The corporate base in that area,
led by the auto industry, is strong,
he said.
“They are the people who are
going to have the meetings in
there, and then there will (also be)
a certain amount of social stuff on
the weekends,” along with business from the people who fly in for
a day or day and a half and then fly
back out, O’Callaghan said.
The Romulus market ran close
to 68 percent average occupancy
last year, which exceeded the region’s occupancy of 66 percent, he
said.
Southfield space
Another 25,000 square feet of
meeting space is set to come back
on the market in Southfield.
New Zealand investors ownership group Kiwi Hospitality Detroit
LLC purchased the former Holiday
Inn of Southfield a year ago for
$2.5 million from Amvet Holdings,
which had bought it in March
2011 for $1.2 million, according
to the city.
Kiwi is in the midst of a $12 million renovation that will convert
the property, which had been
shuttered for about seven years, to
three separate hotels focused on
energy efficiency and sustainable
operation, Kiwi principal J.C.
Chaturvedi said in an email.
The hotels that are part of the
project are:
The Best Western Premier, an
upscale, full-service hotel with
about 200 rooms and 25,000
square feet of meeting space, set to
open late this year or early in 2017
in the round, 16-story tower.
Executive Residency by Best
Western, an extended-stay hotel
with 64 rooms, housed in the
two-story building on the property, expected to open during the
first quarter of 2017.
La Quinta Inn and Suites, a
short-term stay, limited-service
hotel in the five-story building
with about 100 rooms, expected to
open early in 2018.
Ground-floor
and
rooftop
restaurants will also be renovated
as part of the project, which will
include 441 parking spaces, according to the city, and is expected
to create about 71 jobs.
The city approved a commercial
exemption certificate for the project in February, abating property
taxes on it for up to 10 years. It also
agreed to reimburse Kiwi about
$1 million of its investment costs
in the property, beginning in year
11. And it’s still trying to negotiate
a state incentive for the project
with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., said Rochelle Freeman,
Southfield’s business and economic development director.
In addition to internal renovations, which span the entire hotel,
Kiwi has already repainted and
updated the exterior of the round
tower, said Terry Croad, Southfield’s city planner.
It’s proposing some architectural and accent lighting on the tower
and landscaping updates, a water
fountain and some art on the site,
he said.
“Not only will (the site) be occupied, but the curb appeal will be
upgraded significantly.”
Chaturvedi said Kiwi plans to
return the property to “iconic status,” serving both local and international communities.
The developer was drawn to the
site because of the large number
of companies operating along
Telegraph Road and its proximity
to the interstate and highways, he
said.
He believes the meeting space it
will bring back online will fill a
need for additional small to large
spaces in the area for business and
personal events.
Kiwi hasn’t yet selected an operator or operators for the hotels but
plans to in due course, he said.
Freeman said Chaturvedi has
told the city his son, who lives in
Australia, is expected to come here
to manage the property.
Chaturvedi declined to say
which general contractors are a
part of the project, saying only that
there “are different and divided
roles for various agencies.”
The tier-one automotive suppliers in Southfield have been doing
very well and hiring, Freeman
said.
“They bring in a tremendous
amount of traffic and guests from
around the world to do business
with them.”
Before it closed in 2009, the
meeting space on the property
served as a regional facility, Freeman said, accommodating groups
as large as 800 people.
“The meeting space was
missed.”
Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694
Twitter: @SherriWelch
11
By special request
Today’s group event attendees
get to have it their way
By Sherri Welch
Social engagement is increasingly important to clients, said
Craig Erlich, senior vice president
and general manager, Auburn
Hills and Nashville, for George P.
swelch@crain.com
From social engagement technologies and unique social activities to gluten-free, vegan and other food options, meeting planners
are juggling a host of new requests
and requirements as they create
group events.
Even the quoting process preceding the events is changing, said
Dawn Marie Barth, group sales
manager at the Westin Book Cadillac
Detroit and president of the Michi-
Johnson Co.
gan Chapter, Meeting Professionals
International.
“From the time I get the (request for quote,) groups booking a
block of rooms, a meeting or convention ... need a response very,
very quickly,” she said. “Last year
we maybe had a week to return
that information, and now we
have a couple days.”
Groups are also asking for a lot
more alternative dates, Barth said,
and being more flexible in booking a date to go with the best rates.
At the same time, companies
are showing more confidence in
the economy, once again asking to
book events several years out, she
said.
People booking meetings today
aren’t just booking training or education sessions, Barth said. “They
want to have fun, build camaraderie, tour the city, so everyone can
take their suit coat off and just relax and get to know each other.”
Depending on the group,
planned activities might include a
scavenger hunt in the city, a game
show-type theme night or cupcake decorating, Barth said. The
demand is to include fun activities
that have nothing to do with work
but bring everyone together.
People from out of state or out
of the country want to explore the
city, and some local companies
want to show it off for their out-oftown employees, she said.
Planners are looking for healthier activities during breaks to get
everyone up and moving, like taking a walk to Campus Martius to
check out a restaurant.
On the health front, caterers
and venues are also increasingly
being required to fulfill specific attendee dietary needs, said Carol
Galle, president and CEO of Royal
Oak-based Special D Events Inc.
Trends include more requests for
vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free
options.
Dietary restrictions for event attendees have increased by 30 percent to 50 percent over the past
five years, she said.
To accommodate dietary requirements in ways beyond “a
lame salad” and to gain an edge,
venues are increasingly bringing
their chefs into the sales process,
she said.
“Should venues, caterers and
planners provide separate plates
Royal Oak-based Special D Events Inc. offered a customized buffet at a recent event.
or simply an expanded buffet? In
years past, we offered special
plates, but now we hesitate to call
people out because it can make
them uncomfortable. We just try
to offer healthy, build-your-own
options on the buffet.”
There are also rising concerns
about food allergies, Galle said, noting that since January 2013, severe
food allergies have been considered
a disability under federal law.
“That means venues and event
planners can be held legally responsible if they fail to accommodate dietary allergies for attendees.”
When Special D Events manages event registration, it always asks
guests if they have any dietary restrictions or accessibility concerns, Galle said. “If they answer
‘yes’ regarding dietary, it’s not our
place to question whether their response is due to allergies or just
preference; we accommodate
them either way.”
If attendees volunteer that they
do have a food allergy, Special D
will ask if it is life-threatening. If
the answer is “yes,” it will then ask
the attendee to provide his food
allergy and anaphylaxis emergency care plan, Galle said.
“That way, if something were to
occur, we would be as prepared as
possible.”
Sustainable event practices are
increasingly on the radar, as well,
Galle said, noting Special D is negotiating compliance in this area
with venues it uses.
In its venue contracts, it adds a
clause that requires venues to
identify, recommend and use as
many environmentally responsible practices as possible and feasible for the meeting. Those include
waste management, recycling, use
of renewable resources and conservation of nonrenewable resources.
Special D provides examples of
ways venues can incorporate sustainable practices for contracted
events, Galle said, including not
replacing consumable amenitiessuch as soap and shampoo unless
they are gone. Others include:
Instructing housekeeping
staff to shut blinds and turn down
heat/air conditioning during the
day in rooms while attendees are
gone.
Using glass or other nondisposable catering plates, cups, and
glasses.
Serving condiments such as
BRETT MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY
sugar, cream, butter and cream
cheese in bulk containers, not individual servings.
“Our company has a people/
planet/profit mission and, because our clients are also making
requests for these sustainable
practices, we feel strongly about
making sure they are on our suppliers’ radar,” Galle said.
As with other spheres of business, technology is increasingly
playing a larger role in events.
“Our role is to facilitate ways
that engagement can take place.”
Encouraging the use of social
networks before, after and during
an event is one way to grow the
event’s exposure, he said. George
P. Johnson often includes a “social
wall” or screen showing live tweets
about the experience during the
event.
The company also issues radio
frequency identification (RFID)
bracelets to attendees when they
check in, Erlich said. The bracelets
include their static information
and give attendees the ability to
check in and activate activities,
such as gaining access to certain
sessions.
Meeting planners, associations
and companies increasingly are
also offering an application that
attendees can download to their
cellphone or tablet to access their
customized conference schedule,
Barth said.
The applications at times also
enable attendees to chat with others attending the conference, she
said.
Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694
12
From Comic Con to Youmacon
2016
May 13-15: Motor City Comic Con:
A gathering of artists, actors, writers
and creators from the world of comic
books; estimated 50,000 attendees;
Suburban Collection Showplace,
Novi; https://motorcitycomiccon.
com
May 20-24: Service Employees
International Union Convention: The
union of about 2 million members will
hold its international convention to
discuss challenges workers face and
how to overcome them; estimated
2,740 attendees; Cobo Center, Detroit;
www.cobocenter.com/events/
detail/2016-service-employeesinternational-union-convention
May 30-June 3: COGIC Women’s
International Convention/
Crusade: Exhibits and speakers
brought together by the Church of
God in Christ’s Department of
Women; estimated 12,000
attendees; Cobo Center; www.cogic.
org/cogic30/international-womensconvention-crusade/ or www.cogic.
org/womensdepartment/
files/2015/11/wic2016.pdf
July 22-27: Pentecostal Churches of
the Apostolic Faith International Inc.
Annual National Convention and
Holy Convocation: A free conference
featuring worship services, seminars
and a gospel concert; estimated 4,000
attendees; Detroit Marriott
Renaissance Center; www.pcaf.net
Aug. 8-12: NeighborWorks Training
Institute: A career development
training conference with other 100
courses to offer; estimated 2,000
attendees; Cobo Center; www.
neighborworks.org/training-services/
training-professional-development
Sept. 1-5: Fifth Third Bank Michigan
State Fair: The state fair features
livestock, competitions, cooking
demonstrations, music and more;
estimated 130,000 attendees;
Suburban Collection Showplace; www.
michiganstatefairllc.com
Sept. 13-15: The Battery Show: A
showcase of battery technology for
vehicles, medical tools, renewable
energy support and more; estimated
6,500 attendees; Suburban Collection
Showplace; www.thebatteryshow.com
Motor City Comic
Con is May 13-15 at
Suburban Collection
Showplace in Novi.
NATALIE BRODA
remodeling-show.html
Oct. 14-15: Metro Detroit Chevy
Dealers Health & Fitness Expo:
Exhibitors showcase the latest in health
and fitness, including apparel, food and
technology ahead of the Detroit Free
Press Marathon; estimated 50,000
attendees; Cobo Center; http://
freepmarathon.com/expo
Oct. 25-27: Automotive Testing Expo
North America: Offers a look at the
latest in technologies and services that
aim to boost automotive safety and
reliability; estimated 6,500 attendees;
testing-expo.com/usa
Nov. 3-6: Youmacon: An all-ages
convention celebrating anime, video
games and Japanese popular culture;
estimated 19,000 attendees; Cobo
Center; www.youmacon.com
Nov. 4-6: Snowmobile USA: A
YOUMACON
Youmacon is Nov. 3-6 at Cobo Center; about 19,000 attendees are expected.
June 8-9: TU Automotive Detroit: An
automotive technology innovation
conference with speakers and booths;
estimated 3,000 attendees; Suburban
Collection Showplace; www.tu-auto.
com/detroit
June 27-29: Points of Light National
Conference on Volunteering and
Service: Volunteers, national service
and civic leaders gather to discuss the
future of volunteerism; estimated
5,700 attendees; Cobo Center; www.
pointsoflight.org/signature-events/
conference-volunteering-and-service
The 2017 North American International
Auto Show starts Jan. 7 at Cobo Center.
PHOTO BY AUTO WEEK
Here are
top-attended
conventions a
nd
events comin
g
to metro
Detroit
Oct. 5-9: 28th Annual Fall Detroit
Camper and RV Show: Over 50 brands
will be on display showcasing folding
campers, motorhomes, travel trailers
and more; estimated 11,500 attendees;
marvac.org
Oct. 14-16: Fall Home Remodeling
Show: An exhibition of everything for
homeowners to start and complete
their remodeling projects; estimated
8,000 attendees; Suburban
Collection Showplace; www.
novihomeshow.com/novi-home-
showcase of the latest snowmobiles
and other winter sports equipment,
such as sleds, clothing and trailers;
snowmobileusa.com
Nov. 11-13: Novi Pet Expo: A familyfriendly event featuring pets of all kinds
and rescue organizations with
adoptable animals; estimated 14,000
attendees; Suburban Collection
Showplace; www.novipetexpo.com
Dec. 2-4: Novi Equestrian Expo: An
equine event featuring riding and agility
exhibitions, info for horse owners and
shopping; estimated 10,000 attendees;
noviequestrianexpo.com
2017
details not set; http://mideca.org
Jan. 7-22 (Public show Jan. 14-22):
North American International Auto
Show: A showcase of vehicles from
March 15-17: Michigan Association
for Computer Users in Learning
Annual Conference: A conference
Feb. 11-19: Detroit Boat Show:
April 4-6: SAE International World
Congress: Assembles automotive
manufacturers around the globe,
including the unveiling of dozens of new
designs; 2016 attendance was more
than 815,000; Cobo Center; www.naias.
com
On-the-water showcase of watercraft
and water-related consumer goods;
Center; http://detroitboatshow.net/
dates-location
Jan. 12-15: Ultimate Fishing Show:
Offers everything fishing related, from
tackle to boats; estimated 30,000
Showplace; https://showspan.com/UFD/
Feb. 24-26: Autorama: A showcase of
hundreds of custom cars traveling the
country makes a stop in Detroit;
Center; https://autorama.com
March 10-12: Michigan Golf Show: All
types of golfing equipment, including
apparel and rounds at local courses;
Collection Showplace; http://
michigangolfshow.com/exhibitors_
general_information.php
March 10-12: 71st Annual State
Career Development Conference: A
competition and meeting event for
Michigan students in DECA, which
prepares emerging leaders and
entrepreneurs in marketing, finance,
hospitality, management; estimated
3,000 attendees; Cobo Center; 2017
dedicated to discussing the use of
technology in education; estimated
2,650 attendees; Cobo Center; details
not set; www.macul.org/events
industry experts, management teams,
engineers and executives to collaborate
and address current challenges and
seek new windows for discovery and
exploration; estimated 12,000
attendees; Cobo Center; details not
set; www.sae.org/events
April 11-12: Michigan Safety
Conference: A two-day event focused
on workplace health and safety
training; estimated 2,200 attendees;
Suburban Collection Showplace; details
not set; www.michsafetyconference.
org
April 25-May 1: Shell Eco-Marathon
Americas: A competition among high
school and college students from North
and South America featuring energy
efficient technology; estimated 8,000
set; www.shell.com/energy-andinnovation/shell-ecomarathon/
americas.html
May 4-7: International Women’s
Show: The event highlights women’s
products in fashion, beauty, health and
more; estimated 40,000 attendees;
Suburban Collection Showplace;
https://southernshows.com/wde/faq
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
13
FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
May 7: NAACP Fight for Freedom
Fund Dinner: The Detroit chapter of
the NAACP’s annual gathering with
speakers; estimated 8,000-10,000
set; http://detroitnaacp.org/category/
fight-for-freedom-fund-dinner
May 19-21: Motor City Comic Con: A
gathering of artists, actors, writers and
creators from the world of comic
books; estimated 50,000 attendees;
Suburban Collection Showplace;
https://motorcitycomiccon.com
May 22-26: Sustainable Brands
Conference: Leaders from
international companies meet to
discuss the future and sustainability
practices; estimated 2,900 attendees;
Detroit Institute of Arts; details not set;
www.sustainablebrands.com/events
June 6-7: TU Automotive Detroit: An
Hockey to horseshoes: Top-attended area sports events
2016
April 23-June 12: Postal Federal
Employees National Bowling
Tournament: A national bowling
tournament for postal and federal
employees and retirees along with
former and current members of the
military; estimated 4,500 attendees;
Super Bowl, Canton Township; www.
pfenba.com
May 7-8: Can-Am Classic Volleyball
Tournament: A volleyball tournament
open to boys and girls teams of all
ages, hosted by Capital Sports Center;
Center; www.capitolsportscenter.com/
csc/can_am.html
May 26-29: LPGA Volvik
Championship: Inaugural golf
automotive technology innovation
conference; estimated 3,000
Showplace; www.tu-auto.com/detroit
tournament on the LPGA circuit; no
attendance estimate; Travis Pointe
Country Club, Ann Arbor; volviklpga.
com
July 12-19: Conference of Minority
Transportation Officials National
Meeting and Training Conference:
June 24-26: Troy Toe Drag:
Conference gathers members from its
39 chapters to discuss best practices,
tools and solutions; estimated 2,000
attendees; Detroit Marriott
Renaissance Center; details not set;
www.comto.org/events/EventDetails.
aspx?id=768272&group=
Aug. 31-Sept. 4: Fifth Third Bank
Michigan State Fair: The state fair
OneHockey tournament for both
Canadian and U.S. teams; estimated
2,750 attendees; Fraser Hockeyland,
Fraser, and Troy Sports Center, Troy;
https://onehockey.com
July 10-14: National Veterans Golden
Age Games: Open to veterans 55 and
Youth hockey
comes to
metro Detroit
in an Oct. 21-23
national
tournament.
older, including competitions such as
horseshoes, golf, cycling and swimming;
estimated 3,000 attendees; various
locations; http://www.va.gov/opa/
speceven/gag/
July 21-24: USSSA AA World Series: A
youth baseball tournament for teams
8U-14U; estimated 2,600 attendees;
Victory Park, Canton Township; www.
usssa.com
Aug. 15-21: U.S. Amateur
Championship: The leading annual
U.S. golf tournament for amateur
golfers; estimated 20,000+ attendees;
Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield
Township; 2016usamateur.com
Sept. 16-18: USSSA Men’s E World
Tournament North: A men’s softball
tournament organized by the United
States Specialty Sports Association;
The selection of and information for the events listed on Pages 12-13 were
supplied by the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, Cobo Center,
Suburban Collection Showplace and event websites. Events were limited to
those with available details and an estimated attendance of at least 2,000. It
is not a complete listing, but the most comprehensive available. Event details
are subject to change. Attendance estimates were based on previous year’s
numbers and other factors.
ISTOCK PHOTO
estimated 3,800 attendees; Liberty
Park, Sterling Heights; www.usssa.com
Oct. 21-23: Warrior AAA Invitational:
A hockey tournament for boys teams
U18, U16, U15(01s), 02 - 07 Divisions
organized by Legacy Global Sports;
locations; www.legacyglobalsports.
com/tournaments
Nov. 25-27: Nations Cup Tier II: A
youth hockey tournament pitting
American teams against Canadian
teams, open to A and AA teams;
locations; www.legacyglobalsports.
com/nations-cup-tierii
2017
July 26-Aug. 5: AAU Junior Olympic
Games: The Amateur Athletic Union
games include table tennis, karate and
cheerleading; estimated 35,000
features livestock, competitions,
cooking demonstrations, music and
more; estimated 147,000 attendess;
michiganstatefairllc.com
Sept. 12-14: The Battery Show: A
showcase of battery technology for
vehicles, medical tools, renewable
energy support and more; estimated
7,000 attendees; Suburban Collection
Showplace; www.thebatteryshow.com
Oct. 22-25: National Minority
Supplier Development Council
Conference and Business
Opportunity Exchange: Brings
together executives and business
owners to promote diversity; has
exhibitor booths, workshops and
matchmaking sessions; estimated
6,000 attendees; Cobo Center; details
not set; www.nmsdcconference.
com/2016-2017-conference-dates
Oct. 24-26: Automotive Testing
Expo: Offers a look at the latest in
technologies and services that aim to
boost automotive safety and reliability;
Collection Showplace; www.testingexpo.com/usa
Nov. 2-5: Youmacon: An all-ages
convention celebrating anime, video
games and other Japanese popular
culture; estimated 14,000 attendees;
Cobo Center; details not set; www.
youmacon.com
Nov. 3-5: Snowmobile USA: A
showcase of the latest snowmobiles
and other winter sports equipment,
such as sleds, clothing and trailers;
snowmobileusa.com
Compiled by Michelle Wilson
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attendees; various locations;
details not set; http://www.
aaujrogames.org/AboutUs/
FutureDates.aspx
Oct. 20-22: Warrior AAA
Invitational Legacy Global
Sports: A hockey tournament for
boys teams U18, U16, U15(01s), 02
- 07 Divisions organized by Legacy
Global Sports; estimated 13,000
attendees; various locations;
www.legacyglobalsports.com/
tournaments
Nov. 24-26: Nations Cup Tier II: A
youth hockey tournament pitting
American teams against Canadian
teams, open to A and AA teams;
estimated 9,600 attendees;
various locations; www.
legacyglobalsports.com/
nations-cup-tierII
Compiled by Michelle Wilson
14
Gemphire Therapeutics
files for $60 million IPO
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is a nonprofit corporation and
independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Creating a
healthy
workforce:
By Tom Henderson
Northville-based Gemphire Therapeutics Inc., a cardiovascular drug
development company,
has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a $60 million
initial public offering.
Millendo Therapeutics Inc.
Gemphire hopes to be
broke that record with a
listed on the Nasdaq Global
Exchange under the sym$62 million round.
bol GEMP. No date has
In September 2014,
been set for the offering.
Sooch left ProNAi to join
The clinical-stage comGemphire. Last July, Propany is developing a car- Mina Sooch:
NAi had an IPO of $158.4
diovascular drug called Came to Gemphire million.
gemcabene to lower levels from ProNAi
Co-founder Charles Bisof low-density lipoprotein
gaier is Gemphire’s chaircholesterol, often called “bad cho- man and chief scientific officer.
lesterol,” and of triglycerides, which From 1990 to 1998, he was an assois fat in the blood. Gemcabene is ciate research fellow in the departtaken orally once a day.
ment of vascular and cardiac disThe drug, which was licensed ease at Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis,
from Pfizer Inc. in 2011, has been where he was involved in the distested alone and in combination covery and development of Lipitor,
with other drugs in 895 subjects, which became the top-selling drug
both healthy volunteers and pa- ever. He and Roger Newton then
tients, in 18 phase-one and -two co-founded Esperion Therapeutics Inc.
Food and Drug Administration trials.
The FDA has granted gemcabene
Mina Sooch, the company's status as an orphan drug, which alpresident and CEO, previously was lows drugs to get to market faster.
Strategies to engage
employees through
wellness programs
Free Webinar
Thursday, June 2
Noon - 1 p.m.
Register at
CrainsDetroit.com/webinars
GC
CEO of Plymouth Township-based
ProNAi Therapeutics Inc., which produced a drug for patients with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and in
April 2014 set the record
for the largest venture
capital round in state history, $59.5 million. In January, Ann Arbor-based
JOIN C RAI N ’S FOR METRO DETROIT’S
LARGEST GATHERING OF
GENERAL AND IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
GC SUMMIT KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Sherron Watkins
Known worldwide
as the Enron
whistleblower,
Sherron Watkins
sounded the
alarm that marked
the beginning of
the end for the
corporate giant.
Cynthia Cooper
Cynthia and her
team unraveled the
fraud at WorldCom,
to date one of the
largest corporate
frauds in history.
Panel discussions will cover topics such as advancing
the career of an in-house attorney, meeting regulators
who focus on Detroit companies, best practices for
contingent staffing and how to avoid securities fraud.
Among the many speakers on those panels:
Paul Hemmersbaugh
Nancy Newman
MaryAnn Kanary
Thomas M. Pastore
legal recruiter
Newman Hawkins
Chief Counsel
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration
TUESDAY, MAY 17
General Counsel
Toyoda Gosei North America Corp.
General Counsel & Secretary
Guardian Industries Corp.
Barbara McQuade
Kim Yapchai
U.S. Attorney
Eastern District of Michigan
3 - 8 : 3 0 P. M . • W E S T I N B O O K CA D I L L AC
Chief Compliance Officer
Whirlpool Corp.
R E G I S T E R : C ra i n s D e t r o i t . c o m /eve n t s
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1
IN COOPERATION WITH
15
CALENDAR
TUESDAY
May 3
The Elephant in the Boardroom.
4:30-6:30 p.m. Vistage Michigan.
An educational reception for
CEOs, presidents, key executives,
business owners and other
prospective members. Author
Edgar Papke will present “The
Elephant in the boardroom: How
leaders use and manage conflict
to reach greater levels of
success.” Troy Marriott. Free.
Contact: Matthew Spickler;
phone: (248) 770-4136; email:
matthewspickler730
@gmail.com; website:
michigan.vistage.com
Event will feature a number of
Ross School faculty members and
world-class business leaders
offering ideas and tactics for
implementing positive change in
their organizations. The grand
prize winner of the 2016 Positive
Business Project, an annual
contest celebrating organizations
that deliver change through
positive business practices, will
also be announced. Ross School
of Business, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor. $425 and
up. Contact: Angie Ceely,
phone: (734) 764-2811;
email: aceely@umich.com.
Executive Connection Summit 2016:
Thriving on Disruptive Technology.
8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. May 12. Michigan
Council of Women in Technology.
Featuring special keynote by Mary
Barra, chairman and CEO, General
Motors Co. Guest speakers and
panelists include Joseph Bradley,
chief business officer and global
head of Internet of Things works,
HCL Technologies; Linda Dillman,
chief information officer, QVC;
Sheila Jordan, CIO, Symantec; Beth
Niblock, CIO, city of Detroit;
Manjula Talreja, senior vice
president, customer success,
Salesforce; Paula Tolliver, CIO and
vice president of business
services, Dow Chemical; Marcy
Klevorn, vice president/CIO, Ford
Motor Co.; Randy Mott, senior vice
UPCOMING EVENTS
DEC Presents Dinesh Paliwal. 11:30
a.m.-1:30 p.m. May 9. Detroit
Economic Club. Paliwal,
chairman, president and CEO of
Harman International, is the
speaker. Cobo Center, Detroit. $45
DEC members; $55 guests of DEC
members; $75 nonmembers.
Contact: (313) 963-8547; email:
info@econclub.org.
Here’s to the ingenious
individuals who make
growth happen
An Inside Look at The Rio Olympics
with Bob Costas. 11:30 a.m.-1:30
p.m. May 11. Adcrafters. NBC
Congratulations to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Michigan
Yf\Fgjl`o]klG`ag9oYj\ÕfYdaklk&L`]ajafkhajYlagfYdklgja]k
will take center stage as we celebrate their achievements at
gmjYoYj\k_YdY&
Olympic host Costas will discuss
the upcoming Rio Olympics, the
headlines leading into the world’s
biggest event, and NBC’s
preparations leading into the
games. Baldwin Theater, Royal
Oak. $40 members; $50
nonmembers; $25 junior/student
members. Website:
adcraftdetroit.com
June 23, 2016 | Detroit Institute of Arts | Detroit, MI
For more information or to reserve your seat at the gala,
[gflY[lBYf]dd]Bgf]kYlbYf]dd]&bgf]k8]q&[ge&
Dale Watchowski | American House Senior Living Communities
Mark Jones and David Gahm | AmeriFirst Home Mortgage
John Lowery | Applied Imaging
Fred Perenic and Lynn Perenic | Argent Group
Dr. Shri Thanedar | Avomeen Analytical Services
Richard Broder | Broder & Sachse Real Estate Services
Jinny Bromberg | Bromberg & Associates
Paula Tompkins | ChannelNet
Frank Macher | Continental Structural Plastics
Deborah Schneider and Martin Rosenau | CrossFire Group
Cory Steeby and Pat LeBlanc | EBW Electronics
Adrienne Way | Edcor Data Services
Dan Musser III | Grand Hotel
Wesley Mathews | High Level Marketing
Lon Offenbacher | Inteva Products
Milton Moore | IP Consulting, Inc.
Donald Hicks | LLamasoft, Inc.
Dr. Julia Owens | Millendo Therapeutics, Inc.
Laurent Bresson | Nexteer Automotive
Meredith Bronk | Open Systems Technologies
Ronia Kruse | OpTech LLC
Dr. John Pigott and Dr. Randy Oostra | ProMedica/ProMedica Innovations
Michael VandeMaele | Pro Services, Inc.
Amy Peterson and Diana Russell | Rebel Nell
Ravi Vallem | Reliable Software Resources, Inc.
Christopher Rizik | Renaissance Venture Capital Fund
Michael Jennings | Secure-24, LLC
Ron Alvesteffer | Service Express, Inc.
Royce Neubauer | Service First Logistics, Inc.
Dr. Jack Weiner | St. Joseph Mercy Oakland
Tom Cronkright and Lawrence Duthler | Sun Title Agency
Molly MacDonald | The Pink Fund
James Richards | Total Security Solutions
Daniel Ross | TransPharm Preclinical Solutions
WLAM-Wayne Regional Annual
Meeting. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. May 12.
Women Lawyers Association of
Michigan. Panel members will
discuss election law and voting
rights this year. Panelists include
former Sen. Carl Levin from the
Levin Center; Jocelyn Benson, dean
of Wayne State University Law
School; Melvin “Butch” Hollowell,
corporations counsel from the
city of Detroit; and Judy
Karandjeff, president of the League
of Women Voters of Michigan. Miller
Canfield, Detroit. $40 in
advance; $50 at the door; $30 law
students. Contact: Deanne
Bonner Simpson, phone: (313)
596-9500; email: dlb@
bonnerdisalvo.com.
The Positive Business Conference.
9 a.m.-10 p.m. May 12. University of
Michigan Ross School of Business.
Calendar guidelines. Visit
crainsdetroit.com and click “Events”
near the top of the home page.
Then, click “Submit Your Events”
from the drop-down menu that will
appear. Fill out the submission form,
then click “Submit event” at the
bottom of the page.
More Calendar items can be found
at crainsdetroit.com/events.
© 2016 Ernst & Young LLP. All Rights Reserved. ED 0317.
Founded and produced by
Nationally sponsored by
Regionally sponsored by
president and CIO, GM; and Ryan
Talbott, vice president/CIO, Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles-North
America and Asia Pacific.
Moderators: Mary Kramer,
publisher, Crain’s Detroit Business,
and Jennette Smith, editor. Cobo
Center, Detroit. $50 MCWT
Phone: (248) 218-2578. Website:
mcwt.org.
Annual Automotive Roundtable. 5-8
p.m. May 18. Marketing and Sales
Executives of Detroit. Moderator
Dave Andrea, executive vice
president of research, Center for
Automotive Research, leads a panel
of automotive executives to
discuss the opportunities,
challenges and successes of
automotive suppliers. Panelists
include Ken Hopkins, president and
CEO, Neapco Holdings LLC; Kim
Korth, president and CEO,
Techniplas Group and DMP; and
Jonathan DeGaynor, president and
CEO, Stoneridge Inc. Sheraton,
Novi. $50 members; $65
nonmembers. Website:
msedetroit.org.
DEC Presents Ryan Lance. 11:30
a.m.-1:30 p.m. May 25. Detroit
Economic Club. Lance, chairman
and CEO of ConocoPhillips, will be
the guest speaker. Westin Book
Cadillac, Detroit. $45 DEC
members; $55 guests of DEC
Contact: (313) 963-8547;
email: info@econclub.org.
16
DEALS &
DETAILS
genomic analysis, announced an
agreement with MDL Asia,
Singapore, to expand its presence
in the Chinese market. MDL Asia
was established to provide small to
midsize organizations in the
medical, diagnostics and life
science markets opportunities for
expansion into the Asia Pacific
region. Websites: rubicongenomics.
com, mdlasia.com.
Creative Automation Inc., Whitmore
Harrington Communications LLC,
ACQUISITIONS
& MERGERS
wave propagation and radio
network planning, to develop
solutions for vehicle-to-vehicle
communications, autonomous
driving vehicles and related
sensors. Website: altair.com.
Lake, a provider of custom
automated solutions for the
machine tool tending, material
handling and dispensing and
deburring industry, announced a
partnership in which Sterling
Engineering & Manufacturing, Royal
Oak, and its president, James
Canner, will represent Creative
Automation. Websites:
cautomation.com,
sterlingengineering.com.
Danlaw Inc., Novi, a global provider
of connected vehicle telematics,
automotive electronics and
embedded engineering services,
has acquired Rapita Systems Ltd.,
York, UK, a provider of software
verification services for aerospace
and automotive embedded
electronics markets. Website:
danlawinc.com.
iDashboards, Troy, a developer of
business intelligence dashboards,
formed an OEM partnership with
Dataccuity, Hillsboro, Ore., a
software company that helps
organizations centralize, integrate
and analyze their data. Dataccuity
customers will now have the
benefits of iDashboards’ data
visualization software. Websites:
idashboards.com, dataccuity.com.
Penske Automotive Group Inc.,
Bloomfield Hills, announced that
its Premier Truck Group subsidiary
has acquired Harper Truck Centres,
Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas
Built Bus and Fuso, a commercial
truck dealership group, all located
in Ontario, Canada. Website:
penskeautomotive.com.
CONTRACTS
Altair Engineering Inc., Troy, has
acquired AWE Communications
GmbH, Gartringen, Germany,
Rubicon Genomics Inc., Ann Arbor, a
provider of pre-analytical library
preparation kits that increase the
accuracy, efficiency and speed of
whose main focus is the
development of software tools for
Grosse Pointe Woods, a strategic
marketing and design firm,
designed brand identities and
websites for the following clients:
Foley, Baron, Metzger & Juip PLLC,
Livonia; Hickey Hauck Bishoff &
Jeffers, Detroit; and O’Rielly &
Roche LLP, Los Angeles and San
Francisco. Website:
hcommunications.biz.
EXPANSIONS
TI Automotive Ltd., Auburn Hills, a
supplier of automotive fluid
systems technology, has opened a
manufacturing facility in
Monterrey, Mexico. The 53,000
square-foot facility will produce
fluid-carrying systems for the new
Hyundai/Kia manufacturing facility
located nearby. Website:
tiautomotive.com.
MOVES
Airfoil Group, Southfield, a
marketing communications
agency for global technology
brands, has opened a new
headquarters in Royal Oak and
added new clients: Automotive
ADVERTISEMENT SECTION
Broadcasting Network, Jacksonville,
Fla.; BI Worldwide, Troy; Duo
Security Inc., Ann Arbor; PSR
Associates, Atlanta, Ga; and
Twisthink, Holland. Website:
airfoilgroup.com.
NEW PRODUCTS
BASF Automotive Refinish North
America, Southfield, launched
Norbin, a new brand of primers
and clears in the U.S. and Canada,
available for purchase through
BASF distributors. Website:
basfrefinish.com/norbin.
Altair Engineering Inc., Troy, has
released HyperWorks 14.0, the
latest release of Altair’s
HyperWorks open architecture
CAE simulation platform that
includes several new products,
feature enhancements, updated
functionalities and licensing
methods to help users. Website:
altair.com.
Shelby Paint & Decorating, Utica, a
family-owned and operated paint
and decorating retailer, has
introduced a new
environmentally friendly brand of
paint, Motor City Paint, which
contains fewer volatile organic
compounds. Website: shelbypaint.
com.
SME, Dearborn, formerly the
Society of Manufacturing Engineers,
has a new publication, Smart
Manufacturing, a magazine to be
published digitally and in print
quarterly to at least 80,000
manufacturing professionals. Its
content will focus on digital
manufacturing, software,
controls, automation, advanced
materials emerging processes,
and the integration of new
technologies. Website: sme.org.
ContiTech, Auburn Hills, a division
of Continental AG and a supplier of
Carla O’Malley
Chief Development Officer
Autism Alliance of Michigan
Greg DeSandy
Director of Sales and
Event Services
Cobo Center
With his promotion, Greg DeSandy is given
oversight of both Sales and Event Services
departments at Cobo Center as part of the
recent organizational restructuring that marked
the end of a five-year renovation. DeSandy’s
vision for the new position is enhancing the
customer relationship experience. He has more
than 25 years of hospitality experience in
hotels and convention centers prior to moving
back to his hometown Detroit in September of
2014.
technical elastomer products and
a specialist in plastics technology,
has developed an advanced
engine mounting system. Almost
all of the functional components
of the hydraulic mounts are made
of polyamide, which has resulted
in lighter mount components.
Website: contitech.us.
Carla O’Malley has joined Autism Alliance of
Michigan as the new Chief Development
Officer. Carla has over 30 years of non profit
healthcare clinical, operational and fundraising
experience and previously served as the
Executive Director and President of Oakwood
Healthcare Foundation. Carla will lead AAoM in
strategic philanthropic planning and execution
with the goal of building the major giving,
planned giving and donor relations programs.
Ally Financial, Detroit, announced
a beta release of a new
application, Splurge Alert,
designed to help consumers
better identify and manage their
spending habits. It asks users to
identify stores and areas where
they tend to overspend and then
selects friends and or family who
can help them avoid
overspending pitfalls. Website:
ally.com.
For more information
or questions regarding advertising
in this section, please call
Lynn Calcaterra at (313) 446-6086 or
email: lcalcaterra@crain.com
Deals & Details guidelines. Email
cdbdepartments@crain.com. Use
any Deals & Details item as a model
for your release, and look for the
appropriate category. Without
complete information, your item will
not run. Photos are welcome, but we
cannot guarantee they will be used.
PEOPLE:
SPOTLIGHT
Hurshe named president
of Providence campuses
Joe Hurshe has been named
president of the two-campus
Providence Hospital in
Southfield and Providence Park
Hospital in
Novi. He is
COO of both
hospitals,
which have
been
combined
and are
operating as
ProvidenceProvidence
Park Hospital.
Hurshe, 43, replaces Peter
Karadjoff, who is departing St.
John Providence Health System,
Hurshe
owner of ProvidenceProvidence Park Hospital, and
Michael Wiemann, M.D., former
Providence Hospital president
and now president of St. John
Providence Physician Network.
Hurshe went to St. John
Providence in 2010 from Vista
Health System in Illinois, where
he was COO.
UM tabs Bradford as med
school exec vice dean
The University of Michigan
named Carol Bradford, M.D.,
executive vice dean for
academic
affairs for
the medical
school in
Ann Arbor.
She will lead
a multiyear
education
plan in the
newly
created
Bradford
position.
Bradford, who specializes
in head and neck cancer
surgery, has served as
chairman of the Department
of Otolaryngology.
LTU names Collins as
first head of STEM center
Lawrence Technological
University named Sibrina
Nichelle Collins as the first
executive
director of its
Marburger
STEM Center.
The center
is in the A.
Collins
Alfred
Taubman
Engineering,
Architecture
and Life
Sciences
Complex, opening this summer.
Collins, an organometallic
chemist, was most recently
director of education at the
Charles H. Wright Museum of
African American History in
Detroit.
DESIGN
based in Graz, started conversing with Rogers.
FROM PAGE 3
FH Joanneum, a college in Graz, has a relationship with the CCS.
dozens of buildings, creative projects and
“Graz, a beautiful city with a great apprecilearning and cultural centers that show the ation for design, also helped us with the applicity has embraced design in the past and for cation,” Rogers said. Graz is a moderate-sized
its future development, said Olga Stella, city with both medieval and modern architecDC3 executive director.
ture.
“We are committed to using design and figDetroit's vast blight issues make it different
uring out how to leverage it,” she
from many of the other UNESCO citsaid. “To start, we are in the process
ies, but Rogers said Detroit's rich hisof building a relationship with other
tory and current resurgence make it
UNESCO members.”
an ideal UNESCO designee.
Those UNESCO members, such
“We’re not thinking of the physical
as Montreal and Graz, helped Deappearance of Detroit, but its history
troit prepare its application last
in design,” he said. “It is a city of maksummer. Then, DC3 staff, including
ers and the birthplace of auto design.
Schneider and Clayson, visited a
And we know that design revitalizes
handful of the design cities to parcities.
Olga Stella:
ticipate in events and share the De“We thought the designation
Wants to build
troit story.
aligned with the burst of creative enrelationships.
The UNESCO Creative Cities
ergy happening in the city now —
Network was created in 2004 to pronew design businesses, DC3-led inimote cooperation among cities that have tiatives,” he said. “Its larger goal is to advance
identified creativity as a key factor for sustain- and expand the city's creative economy.”
able urban development. The 116 cities in the
Rogers and Clayson said cities, in general,
network work toward placing creativity and and UNESCO cities are a mixture of beauty
cultural industries in their development plans and challenges.
locally and internationally.
Clayson said UNESCO cities such as Berlin;
“Having this designation is a marathon, not Torino, Italy; and Bilbao are going through
a sprint,” Stella said. “It’s about how to build transition, regentrifying brownfield sites and
public awareness. How do we use the making other improvements. He acknowlUNESCO designation to be an opportunity to edged that none of those cities is dealing with
have a public discussion around what Detroit, the type and scale of help Detroit needs.
city of design, should be?”
Still, the designation has opened opportuIn addition, the designation includes not nities for Detroit-based designers and benejust Detroit but the whole region and points to fits the creative community, he said. “This will
a design legacy.
provide creative cultural exchanges with in“Look at Ford (Motor Co.)'s recent announce- ternational peer cities.”
ment to expand and modernize its Dearborn
Schneider said it is too early to say exactly
campus,” Stella said. “Automotive and trans- how things will shake out.
portation design are our design legacy.”
“But there is a lot of excitement around it. It
While Clayson said he started researching is drumming up interest and getting attention
applying for the UNESCO designation five from a government standpoint, too,” Schneiyears ago, it did not take hold until an execu- der said. “Now it is about raising awareness
tive at Detroit-area auto supplier AVL, which is and looking at how other cities have used it.”
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Page 17
HOTELS
first and second floors and includes leased
space in the Southfield Town Center atrium
FROM PAGE 3
area where the Westin operates an executive
meeting conference center.
“Though there is a lot of new hotel conReupholstering the furniture will cost
the same as purchasing new, Tononi said, struction in metro Detroit with meeting
space, there aren’t hotels like this being built,”
given labor costs.
Farmington Hills-based EJH Construction with significant meeting space, he said.
Inc. is serving as general contractor on the
That “is to our advantage with meetings
project. The rooms will feature the Westin and conventions, which is one of our core
brand’s prototype carpet, wall colbusinesses.”
or and drapes in muted colors,
The Westin is one of at least two
“but we wanted (them) to have
Southfield hotels currently undermore pop,” Tononi said.
going complete renovations. The
In a departure from the protoother, the former Holiday Inn of
Southfield which had been shuttype, the redone Westin Southfield
tered for years, includes about
rooms will have colorful furnishings
25,000 square feet of meeting
and regional artwork.
space expected to come back on
The room and corridor renovathe market late this year or early
tions will stretch through October,
Jerry Tononi:
next year. (See story, Page 9.)
wrapping up the first phase of the
Renovating the
Is there enough demand in the
project, Tononi said.
Westin.
Southfield market for additional
Plans call for renovations to bemeeting space?
gin on the lobby and common ar“I wish (the former Holiday Inn) wasn’t
eas immediately after the guest rooms and
so close to us,” Tononi said
halls.
But traditionally, the two hotels have purDesigns for the lobby, common areas
and meeting spaces are still being final- sued different segments of the meeting marized, he said. They will include new carpet- ket, with the Westin operating at the upper
ing, possibly new wall finishes, (right now end of the scale, he said, admitting he’s not
the walls are covered in a laminate with the yet familiar with the Best Western Premier
look of wood), renovations to the lobby bar brand that will fly at the hotel destined for the
area and the lobby water fountain. It’s former Holiday Inn’s round tower.
J.C. Chaturvedi, a principal with Kiwi
yet to be decided if the furniture in the
common areas will be replaced or reuphol- Hospitality Detroit LLC, the owner of the Best
Western Premier, believes the new hotel
stered.
“Our goal is to deliver a product to our and the Westin will complement each othcustomers that’s modern and something a er with little, if any, competition between
Westin upscale luxury customer is looking the two.
“There’s enough business available
for,” Tononi said.
“It has to be done on a cyclical basis, here,” he said, noting that preliminary research showed a lot of groups looking to
since nothing lasts forever.”
Renovations to the hotel’s 25,000 square hold an event in the region took their meetfeet of meeting and banquet space are ex- ings to other cities because of limited space
pected to begin toward the end of this year availability in Southfield.
Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694
or early next, Tononi said.
The space is spread between the hotel’s
MARKET PLACE
Call 810-701-0833
17
CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
May 2, 2016
PUBLIC NOTICES
PUBLIC NOTICE
All citizens are advised that the Regional Transit
Authority of Southeast Michigan has prepared an
application for State of Michigan financial
assistance for fiscal year 2017 as required under
Act 52 of the Public Acts of 1951, as amended,
and for federal assistance as required under the
federal transit laws, as amended.
The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast
Michigan is requesting an estimated total of
$2,100,000 through the following sources:
$2,000,000 in Act 51 Operating Assistance, and
$100,000 from the Service Development and New
Technology program.
The Regional Transit Authority of Southeast
Michigan ensures that the level and quality of
transportation service is provided without regard to
race, color, or national origin in accordance with
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For more
information regarding our Title VI obligations or to
file a complaint, please contact us at the address
given below.
The proposed application is on file at the Regional
Transit Authority for Southeast Michigan and may
be reviewed from Monday, April 25, 2016 through
Friday, May 20, 2016 between the hours of 9 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m.
Written comments or requests regarding the
application and/or written request for a public
hearing to review the application must be received
by Friday, May 27, 2016. If a public hearing is
requested, notice of the scheduled date, time and
locations will be provided at least 10 days in
advance. Submittals should be sent to Ms. Tiffany
Gunter, Chief Operating Officer, Regional Transit
Authority of Southeast Michigan, 1001 Woodward,
Suite 1400, Detroit, MI, 48226 or 313-402-1020 or
via email to tgunter@rtamichigan.org. Barring any
changes made in response to the written
comments, this document will become final.
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18
PAYNE
FROM PAGE 1
she said.
Payne said that while she wanted to broaden her management
reach after her long stint as Taubman’s CFO, she wasn’t sure she
wanted to take on all that Soave
and Levin had in mind for her.
“I was struggling with whether I
wanted this much of a job. And
Tony closed the deal. I found out
how he’s been able to grow this
company. He knows how to close a
deal,” Payne said.
“I said, ‘This will be a mistake
for us and it will be a mistake for
you if we don’t make this work,’”
Soave said.
Levin said he got the idea to recruit Payne last September as he
was reading about her planned
departure from Taubman in an article on the Crain’s website.
The article, by Dustin Walsh, began by saying that Payne was stepping aside as Taubman’s CFO, “but
she’s not retiring. The longtime
confidant to the Taubman family
wants another challenge — specifically to be the top leader of another organization. ‘My plan is to
think about a leadership role,’ said
Payne. ‘I have a lot of passion for
managing people, making a company better, and I’m interested in
doing that as a CEO or COO.’”
Soave had just engaged a search
firm to find someone to fill the
“Long-term employees will wonder,
‘Will this be the same company I signed
on for and am committed to? What are
the implications for me? How is the
culture going to change? How will the
company’s direction change?’”
Christine Jackson, Mike Ilitch School of Business
roles Payne eventually agreed to
fill. Levin had an idea he could call
a halt to the search. He immediately reached out to Payne through
Alan Schwartz, a partner at the law
firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and
Cohn LLP.
Payne said that after the article
ran in Crain’s, she fielded a lot of
calls about possible jobs, but she
could afford to be picky. She didn’t
want to work for a public company.
“When I did my last earnings call at
Taubman, I decided it was going to
be my last one. I’d done 80 of them,
and that was enough,” she said.
Payne said she didn’t want to
leave Michigan, either, and she
wasn't interested in offers of another CFO role.
If the right job offer didn’t come
along, “I thought I’d just serve on
company boards, I’d play golf, and
I’d do yoga,” she said.
The right job came along, it just
took a while to realize it.
“This courtship lasted for
months. I got to know Tony. I
hadn’t been thinking of a job in
Detroit, but Tony has a love for the
city and that started appealing to
me,” said Payne. “In the end, honestly, this was the perfect job.”
Soave, the son of a neighborhood
grocer, founded his company in
1961, building City Management Corp.
into a multistate waste-management firm before selling it to Waste
Management in 1968.
Along the way, Soave Enterprises
branched out into metal recycling,
automotive retailing, transportation
services (Checker Cab), industrial services and hydroponics.
Levin said recycling continues
to be the largest revenue producer,
even with recent price declines. In
2014, Soave Enterprises had revenue of $1.9 billion, with recycling
accounting for about $1.2 billion
of that. He said 2015 numbers haven’t been finished yet, but are expected to be down about $500 million companywide, all attributable
to lower scrap-metal prices.
Payne’s background as a vice
president of Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division before
joining Taubman made her a good
fit to launch a family office, but it
was her real estate background
that was of particular importance.
“Our most pressing need was in
real estate,” said Levin.
Soave has a handful of residential complexes in Michigan, including Huron Pointe in Huron
Township, The Milltown in downtown Rochester, The Overlook in
Rochester, The Moors of Oxford in
Oxford Township and Tullamore in
Oxford Township.
And the company has several
luxury residential complexes in
Florida and one under development in Brambleton, Va., a suburb
of Washington, D.C.
Payne, who was the Crain’s CFO
of the year in 2013 and has an MBA
from Duke University, isn’t waiting
until her formal start date in July
to start getting the lay of the land
at Soave.
“I’m spending a fair amount of
time here, already, getting up to
speed,” she said last week during a
meeting with Soave and Levin.
Down the hall, construction is underway on her office. “I asked for
one concession. I wanted a stone
desktop. I hate scratching wood.”
While the match between Payne
and Soave Enterprises strikes all
involved as perfect, there will be
challenges, said Christine Jackson,
the department chairman of management and information systems
at the Mike Ilitch School of Business
at Wayne State University.
Longtime owners and CEOs of
businesses have good intentions
when they bring in new management from the outside, but they
can’t always relinquish the reins,
she said. Will Soave actually be
able to work less and manage less?
Another issue is how will longterm employees — and Soave
takes pride in how many of his
employees have been there for 20
and 30 years — react? “Long-term
employees will wonder, ‘Will this
be the same company I signed on
for and am committed to? What
are the implications for me? How
is the culture going to change?
How will the company’s direction
change?’” Jackson said.
“It will create a lot of anxiety,”
she said. “What you want to do is
communicate openly with employees. You need to be transparent. Let them ask questions. Settle
their concerns.”
Compounding things for Payne
will be the family generational issues she’s been assigned to deal
with, issues Jackson said she
knows firsthand.
In the early 1990s, her grandfather, Elwood Stratton, got cancer
and had to turn over the family
business, Bi-Rite Auto Parts, which
had several outlets in metro Detroit,
to a son who didn’t enjoy running
the business and after a period of
decline sold it to an employee.
“Will they enjoy running the
business? Will they be good at it?
There’s a lot of stress following the
original leader,” said Jackson. “And
they’ll have the employees judging
them. Will the employees buy in?”
Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337
Twitter: @TomHenderson2
Comerica Bank boosts investment
in Hatch Detroit competition
By Marti Benedetti
mbenedetti@crain.com
Comerica Bank’s investment in this
year’s Hatch Detroit entrepreneurship program has more than doubled.
The annual contest, which
starts taking applications today, is
an opportunity for a business
owner to win a $50,000 grant to
open a brick-and-mortar retail
business in Detroit, Highland Park
or Hamtramck. Included in the
prize this year is an additional
$25,000 for branding and logo design from advertising agency Team
Detroit and a package of technical,
accounting and legal support. Additional funds will be used to enhance the contest and help past
participants.
Comerica is more than doubling its commitment for the contest, investing more than $125,000
to help launch more small businesses in Detroit and ensure the
success of current Hatch alumni.
Hatch Detroit was started in 2011
to attract new retailers to vacant
storefronts in Detroit neighborhoods.
Marketing efforts are planned
along with business planning sessions hosted by Hatch Detroit. The
free workshops take place in Detroit’s Jefferson East, Grandmont
Rosedale and Avenue of Fashion
neighborhoods as well as Hamtramck.
Past winners include Batch Brewing, Sister Pie, Hugh, Live Cycle Delight
and La Feria.
Proposals to host new Cyber Range hubs sought
Ann Arbor-based Merit Network
Inc. is asking various organizations
to submit proposals to host new
public hubs of the Michigan Cyber
Range, a specialized networking
and computer infrastructure facility and test program to hone security software and train cybersecurity professionals.
Merit, a network technology nonprofit owned by 12 Michigan universities, has issued a request for
proposals to replicate publicly accessible training center hubs of the
Cyber Range, like the kind that
opened at the Velocity center in
Sterling Heights in March. The organization is a sub-recipient of the $6
million Advance Michigan Defense
Collaborative grant managed by the
Workforce Intelligence Network for
Southeast Michigan.
The Cyber Range, a program first
proposed by Gov. Rick Snyder in
2011, is a private cloud network
built on architecture supplied and
operated by Merit. Initially housed
at Eastern Michigan University in late
2012, the program offers cybersecurity training and certification as well
as product testing and research
space on industrial control systems
security. Other locations opened at
Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Ferris
State University, the 110th Airlift Wing
in Battle Creek and General Dynamics
Land Systems’ Maneuver Collaboration Center in Sterling Heights.
Proposals for new hubs are due
May 15. Nonprofits, schools or colleges looking to participate should
locate a hub within the 13-county
southeastern region of the Advance
Michigan grant.
Chad Halcom
19
VEHICLE
FROM PAGE 3
package, which Kowall said is expected to follow soon, would establish liability insurance requirements for connected equipment
manufacturers in case their products malfunction, and formally
authorize use of the former General
Motors Co. powertrain plant at Willow Run Airport near Ypsilanti for
the new American Center for Mobility
project.
“Michigan is the home of the automobile,” said Kowall, who hopes
Michigan’s standards could be incorporated into federal rules. “If
our guys are saying, ‘Yep, that’s going to work,’ that’s the same thing
they’re going to be telling the feds.”
“This is all brand-new territory
that we’re delving into.”
Attorneys who specialize in
connected car technology and autonomous vehicles say the industry is creating new and unique legal issues around everything from
cybersecurity and data protection
to product liability.
Driverless cars aren’t available to
buy yet, though the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of 12 automakers, including the Detroit 3, said
its members intend to bring them to
market “as soon as possible.”
Some estimates suggest it could
be a matter of years before they’re
on the road.
Automakers are getting involved in setting the regulations
that ultimately will govern their
efforts. Kowall said the automakers’ alliance has participated in
discussions about specific language in his forthcoming bills.
The alliance says its members
are investing in automated technology in an effort to increase vehicle safety and reduce crashes.
But the group cautioned against
adopting too many rules too early,
before state and federal regulators
can develop common standards
for autonomous vehicles.
“The Alliance urges federal and
state governments to aid in facilitating the introduction of these
technologies,” it said in a statement.
“Establishing premature certification requirements, test procedures and performance criteria,
dictating technology-specific approaches or adopting a patchwork
of ill-timed competing state rules
would only inhibit vehicle innovation and limit these important
life-saving safety improvements.”
Connected vs. autonomous vehicles
Automakers and tech companies are working on a variety of new technologies
that will allow cars to communicate with one another and, one day, possibly
even drive on their own. But what do the terms mean?
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2013 established five
tiers to define various levels of automation, all the way to “full self-driving
automation,” or a vehicle in which the driver “is not expected to be available for
control at any time during the trip.” Levels of automation include functionspecific automation, such as electronic stability control, or two or more
functions interacting while driving, like cruise control and lane centering.
Attorneys and others who specialize in the industry define connected vehicles as
those with the ability to communicate with one another or with specialized
infrastructure systems, such as signs to send warnings and avoid collisions.
In-vehicle systems equipped with sensors can send and receive wireless
messages with other vehicles about possible hazards.
State vs. federal
regulations
Michigan is one of just seven
states with any laws on the books
regulating autonomous vehicles.
But its status as an early adopter
may be waning. The number of
states introducing bills has grown
steadily in recent years, from six in
2012 to 16 last year, according to
the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Nevada was first in 2011; since
then, California, Florida, North
Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and
Washington, D.C., also have followed Nevada’s lead. Arizona Gov.
Doug Ducey last year signed an
executive order directing state
agencies to support testing of autonomous vehicles and setting up
pilot programs at universities.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
signed two bills in 2013 that allowed
autonomous vehicles on streets and
highways only for testing purposes
and exempted auto manufacturers
from liability for damages that result
if someone modifies a vehicle to
make it autonomous.
Wanting to avoid varying state
laws, the federal government is
developing its own standards for
automated vehicles. The National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration
in January said it planned to issue
guidelines within six months
about safe operation of self-driving vehicles and will work with
states on model policies to create a
“nationally consistent approach to
autonomous vehicles.”
The agency recently accepted
public comments to help it shape
forthcoming guidelines for carmakers and vehicle equipment manufacturers to determine when a technology flaw or malfunction might
be considered a safety defect.
“When would we consider vulnerability to a cyberattack to be a
defect?” said Paul Laurenza, an attorney and managing member of
Dykema Gossett PLLC’s Washington,
D.C., office, who works on auto
regulatory issues. “That is an area
that certainly we wouldn’t have
been talking about as a potential
recall three or four years ago.”
Laurenza also is chairman of
the Connected Vehicle Trade Association, a Plymouth-based organization that represents companies,
governments and other entities
working on connected vehicle
technology.
Historically, he said, states’ vehicle
regulations typically focus on driver
licensing and vehicle use, because
federal safety standards would preempt any set at the state level.
States that regulate beyond how
vehicles are used risk contributing
to a patchwork of rules, Laurenza
said. That could impede federal
regulators’ ability to ensure safety,
he said, as well as manufacturers'
development of autonomous vehicle technology.
talented professionals based on
factors such as financial impact
and community leadership.
Winners will be profiled in the
Oct. 3 issue of Crain’s Detroit Business and will be honored at an
awards event in November. With
more than 640 alumni invited, the
annual event brings together the
current class with colleagues, clients, family and friends to cele-
deal with federal telecommunications regulations.
“That’s what makes it a novel
practice — that (it) has to be very
cross-disciplined in a way that we
never thought about in a vehicle,”
Dukarski said. “If a widget breaks,
it’s harder to tell what line of code
when there’s hundreds of millions
of lines of code.”
Regulators like NHTSA are likely
to want automakers to voluntarily
agree to follow specific rules and
standards because the federal
rulemaking process could take
years, Laurenza said.
That likely won't be fast enough
for the industry. Kowall said his
goal, especially with his proposed
bill to allow autonomous vehicles
on Michigan roads for any reason,
is to attract new driverless car R&D
to the state.
“Everybody’s trying to pick our
pockets when it comes to the auto
industry,” he said. “We have to
make sure that what we do, other
states are going to follow suit at
some point, because this is going to
be an integrated system that eventually is going to go nationwide.”
Lindsay VanHulle: (517) 657-2204
Michigan an industry
leader?
Kowall said he hopes Michigan
will serve as a model for other
states and federal transportation
officials navigating the new regulatory and legal issues surrounding driverless vehicles.
The state already is attempting
to lead the nation in research and
development of automated vehicle technology and mobility. The
University of Michigan last year
opened a 32-acre test site on its
north campus called Mcity, a city
simulation that allows for controlled testing of self-driving vehicles in scenarios that range from
freeways to traffic circles.
The state, through the Michigan
Economic Development Corp. and
Michigan Strategic Fund, is a partner
in the American Center for Mobili-
One more week to nominate 40 under 40
Since 1991, Crain’s Detroit
Business has gathered 40 of the
community’s achievers for a special salute. Past winners have
started companies, found success at a young age, established
businesses and made nonprofits
stronger.
Crain’s Detroit Business is seeking nominations for the 2016 class
of 40 under 40, which recognizes
ty at Willow Run, a former bomber
factory during World War II. The
335-acre site will act as a test track.
More recently, a diverse group
of companies — automakers Ford
Motor Co. and Volvo, tech titan Google Inc. and ride-sharing services
Lyft and Uber — joined forces to
advocate for public policy regarding self-driving vehicles.
The risk for states wanting to legislate an industry that is still largely
conceptual is a lack of uniformity,
said Jennifer Dukarski, an attorney
with the connected car and autonomous vehicles team for the Butzel
Long law firm in Ann Arbor.
As an example, she described a
scenario in which a connected or
autonomous car traveling between Michigan and Ohio might
find different requirements for
opting out of data collection just
by crossing the state line.
“It’ll create a hodgepodge, but in
the interim it makes perfect sense
until we get some federal legislation,”
she said. “If they want to play in the
space, (states are) going to have to
come to some sort of agreement of
what the rules of the road are.”
The wide-open regulatory environment is posing other challeng-
brate this achievement.
Nominations will be accepted
through May 9. To be eligible,
nominees must be 39 or younger
as of Oct. 3. To nominate, and to
read about last year’s winners, go
to crainsdetroit.com/40s.
Questions? Contact Assistant
Managing Editor Kristin Bull at
kbull@crain.com or (313) 4461608.
“As part of the Cohen & Company team, we’re
immersed in a culture of continuous learning that helps
us identify game-changing opportunities for clients.”
– Cathy Lorenz, Partner
RQHÀUPEHWWHUWRJHWKHU_FRKHQFSDFRPJKG
es, attorneys said. States such as
Michigan are discussing product
liability requirements for the makers of connected vehicle equipment, such as lane collision avoidance, blind spot and emergency
braking technology, in the event
the parts malfunction. And wireless vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity might require automakers to
20
SOCCER
FROM PAGE 1
owner of the semipro Michigan
Bucks team in Pontiac. “We all
need to support this, all the way
down to the youth level that comprises 100,000 kids playing within
two hours of Detroit.”
MLS is interested in Detroit not
just because the billionaires Gilbert and Gores can write huge
checks (the expansion fee alone
could be more than $100 million).
The league has said the explosive
popularity of the semipro Detroit
City FC playing games in front of
3,000-plus fans at Cass Tech since
2012 — and at Hamtramck’s 6,000seat Keyworth Stadium beginning
this season — has shown it that
this market is ripe for a top-tier
pro club.
So did the 2014 exhibition
match between global soccer
powerhouses Real Madrid and Manchester United in front of 109,318
fans at Michigan Stadium in Ann
Arbor, a game that set the U.S. record for soccer attendance.
Detroit City FC co-owner Alexander Wright had a few suggestions on what an MLS club must
do to be successful in Detroit.
“Take community- and supporter-driven soccer and amplify
it: Use resources to create an inclusive, electric environment at
matches that sets itself apart from
the other sporting options in the
region,” he said via email. “Soccer
lends itself to a passionate atmosphere, but the club can’t create it;
it can only create the platform for
it. Be inclusive. Foster creativity.
Lay out who you are and what you
are about, give individuals the
space/freedom to find value in the
club based on what it means to
them, not to you.”
MLS has millennials in its crosshairs, and the Gilbert-Gores bid
aims to build a soccer-specific stadium in a part of the city rich in
millennial interest.
Tim Smith is president and CEO
of Detroit-based ad firm Skidmore
Studios that focuses on millennial-targeted marketing. The agency
has done work on MLS’ relationship with millennials.
“Detroit is one of the best sports
towns in America, and we are that
because of our passion. But the
MLS fan is a younger, millennial-minded fan and they demand
more of an experience that begins
before they show up at the gate
with a ticket in hand for the game.
Today’s MLS soccer fan is very different from the football, baseball,
basketball and hockey fan we are
used to delivering for,” he said.
“To be really successful the
ownership needs to start today by
strategically creating an honest relationship with these fans. We
have a proof of concept with the
success of DCFC, and we should
be building on that model.”
“In order for MLS to be successful here in Detroit, we (the local
MLS owners) must emulate the
authentic relationship model the
teams and the fans have in successful MLS cities like Portland,
Kansas City and Seattle. The own-
ROSSETTI ASSOCIATES INC.
The designs for the Gilbert-Gores soccer district proposal include hundreds of thousands of square feet of mixed-use space
surrounding a 20,000- to 25,000-seat soccer stadium.
The Gilbert-Gores proposal
Key facts about the proposal by Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores to bring Major
League Soccer to Detroit:
The plan calls for a 20,000- to 25,000-seat soccer stadium on the site of
the stalled Wayne County jail project on Gratiot Avenue at I-375.
It also calls for an investment totaling $1 billion in a mixed-use project to
include retail, residential, office and hotel space
The non-stadium space would total 400,000 to 500,000 square feet.
A key obstacle to the project: Wayne County still owns the jail site and has
said it plans to complete the jail. County Executive Warren Evans said Gilbert
and Gores’ plan would require an alternative that would provide a new jail at
no extra cost to taxpayers.
ers in those cities have engaged
the fans, and empowered them to
have a seat at the table by asking
for their opinions and then acting
on that feedback. The key is to create a fan-first mentality that celebrates their enthusiasm for the
game. When you do that you create loyal superfans.”
The Gilbert-Gores initiative isn’t
the first serious pitch for an MLS
club.
Duggan led a push for an MLS
team beginning in 2002, he said.
Over three years, they had talks
with the league and sought investment from the Ford and Ilitch
families in Detroit, and from Bill
Davidson, the Detroit Pistons owner who died in 2009. Because the
league was still new and deeply
unprofitable, none locally were interested, Duggan said, despite the
expansion fee being just $5 million
at the time (with a stadium pegged
at about $40 million).
Duggan said he has been in
talks with Gores’ chief lieutenant
since last year, Arn Tellem, and has
offered to help the MLS bid however
possible.
“We just want this to happen. It’s
their money,” Duggan said.
He has the local MLS group’s ear
because of his ongoing efforts to get
higher level teams in this market: He
announced in April 2014 he had
preliminary approval from the Tampa, Fla.-based United Soccer Leagues
to launch a third-tier USL professional expansion team in Detroit.
The USL is a formal partner with
MLS, and each MLS club must own
or be affiliated with a USL club.
His plan was to build a 6,000-seat
USL stadium, something that’s tak-
en a back seat until the MLS situation plays out.
Duggan’s plan had been to show
MLS that a USL team could attract
big crowds over time, and perhaps
follow Orlando City FC’s path from
being a USL club that transitioned
into an MLS team in 2015.
Gilbert and Gores’ announcement altered those plans.
“These guys have jumped over
that and made the assumption that
20,000 will come to games. I think
they’re right,” Duggan said.
Whether a Duggan-owned USL
team is affiliated with a Detroit MLS
club remains a question for down
the road.
“I don’t know how it’s all going to
play out,” he said. “I hope we’ll be
involved in that way. But we’ve got a
lot of discussions (to have).”
Duggan intends to continue operating the Bucks as a U-23 club regardless of whether a local MLS
team happens or not. The Bucks
have won their league championship twice and are a regular finalist.
Matt Cullen, CEO of Gilbert’s
Rock Ventures, said the group will
follow the basic template for local
MLS success seen elsewhere:
Field a competitive team with
marketable players and have a
game-day experience that pleases
fans and families, which in turn
makes the team enticing to corporate sponsors who want to
reach those fans across the 17
home games each team plays.
The relationship with fans also is
bolstered by community initiatives with philanthropic work,
soccer academies, etc.
What makes this MLS bid likely
to succeed, Cullen said, is the ex-
citement from the ongoing wave
of downtown investment and
new construction that’s attracting
new residents, visitors and businesses.
Cullen said the ownership group
also will local to ensure collaboration across what he termed the local “soccer ecosystem” that includes DCFC and the Bucks.
MLS is a single-entity structure,
meaning the league pays all salaries — including money set aside
for superstars outside of the salary
cap — and covers business expenses such as insurance. Owners buy a
share of the league, not a team itself, in return for the right to operate a club in a market.
The league shares its national
revenue from things such as TV
deals, but the team owners keep all
of the money generated by their local corporate sponsorships, merchandise and concessions sales,
and two-thirds of ticket sales.
The other third is shared leaguewide. Because of that financial arrangement, MLS has owners who
make a profit from their clubs even
with the league-level losses, and
some who don’t. MLS clubs had a
combined $6 million in operating
incomes losses on $461 million in
income in 2014, when there were
18 teams, according to Forbes.
com.
There remain macro-level questions about Major League Soccer.
University of Michigan sports economist and soccer author Stefan
Szymanski is one of MLS’ biggest
skeptics.
He drew attention last year with
a blog post that predicted MLS will
eventually collapse because of its
business model and continued financial losses, and called the
league a “pyramid scheme.”
Critics say Szymanski’s numbers
are off, but MLS has acknowledged
it loses about $100 million a year —
the amount billionaires Gilbert and
Gores (and other potential investment group partners) are expected
to pay for the right to operate a
team in Detroit. Gilbert and Gores,
or their surrogates, have yet to
elaborate on their business plans.
He questions MLS’ long-term
strategy.
“My feeling is I don’t really un-
derstand what the end game is
with the MLS business model,” he
said. “I am highly skeptical about
how Major League Soccer is going
to become a major league.”
The league draws small (but
growing) viewerships on ESPN, Fox,
and Univision in the U.S., and without TV ratings, the league isn’t going to get the sort of broadcast
rights deals enjoyed by the other
four leagues.
And that uncertainty, along
with the acknowledged losses,
makes Szymanski question why
people invest in MLS.
“Why do you pay $100 million
to join a club that loses $100 million?” he said.
Cullen said the ownership
group is aware of the league’s financials, but believes its growth
will offset the losses in coming
years.
Because MLS doesn’t have a
monopoly on players like the other four U.S. major leagues enjoy, it
doesn’t have the talent that exists
in the overseas leagues — and it
hasn’t been willing to spend the
money to get it. Szymanski said
MLS spends on its player salaries
what Romania spends on its local
league.
The current MLS salary cap is
$3.6 million per team. By contrast,
Chelsea of Britain’s Premier League
alone spent $313 million on players last season.
Almost all pro soccer leagues
lose money, Szymanski said. The
Premier League turned a combined $175 million pretax profit in
2013-14, only the second year the
league has finished in the black
since its 1992 founding.
The financial questions are especially acute for MLS because it’s
not spending much on players.
Americans want to see the best
talent, and they know MLS doesn’t
have it, a fact reflected in the
league’s low ratings, Szymanski
said.
The league notes it has invested
$30 million on player development, and it has specialized rules
that allow additional player
spending on stars and upper-tier
roster players.
Szymanski had a suggestion for
a model that could ensure the
league’s solvency.
“The most natural path for the
MLS is to become a feeder league
for the top European clubs,” Szymanski said, noting that Premier
League team Manchester City is an
investor in MLS’ New York City FC.
An alternative strategy would be
to lose even more money by luring
the world’s top talent, something
he says could boost TV ratings and
persuade the networks to significantly increase the next broadcast
rights deal. But Szymanski is convinced MLS won’t do that.
“They’re not prepared to lose
really large sums of money,” he
said.
He admits Gilbert and Gores are
savvy businessmen who may see
another path to long-term success
with MLS.
“It won’t be a get-rich-quick
scheme,” he said.
Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626
Twitter: @Bill_Shea19
21
SYNCORA
FROM PAGE 1
rights to the DPD building at 1300
Beaubien and land.
In large part, that’s because development surrounding the riverfront property has been happening at a frenetic pace, said Dennis
Bernard, founder and president of
Southfield-based Bernard Financial
Group Inc., which originates debt
for real estate acquisition and development.
He pointed to the $65 million
first phase of the Orleans Landing
mixed-use development and the
$42 million construction of DuCharme Place in Lafayette Park as two
examples of new multifamily construction pumping up property
values around Syncora-controlled
land just north of Chene Park.
“Whether it’s a potential soccer
stadium, additional recreation for
the city, multifamily — you’re going to see increased value and development along that spur,” he
said. “In other words, that spur is
becoming more pedestrian and
user friendly, and with that comes
safety and other opportunities.”
No formal plans have been announced for the largely vacant
block north of Chene, which consists of five parcels with city and
private ownership, although there
has been interest in the site.
Syncora also has development
rights to another property, this
one known to be part of the stadium plans: the former DPD building, built in 1923 and designed by
Albert Kahn.
It sits in the planned 15.5-acre
arena development site.
And although aerial renderings
of the development plans released
last week don’t appear to show it
still standing, Matt Cullen, president and CEO of Gilbert’s Rock Ventures LLC, said that demolition of
the building has not yet “been
contemplated.”
It could also be redeveloped as a
historic renovation project, he
said.
Regardless, the Gilbert-Gores
team would have to purchase the
building — and with a $1 billion
plan with approximately 1 million
square feet of space on the line,
would likely pay a substantial
sum for it, despite the fact that it
has experienced serious maintenance issues in the past couple of
years.
For its part, Syncora said in a
prepared statement: “We currently
are not in a position to discuss the
details of the properties on which
KIRK PINHO
“It now appears to have significant
value in light of the potential
redevelopment of the jail site and the
various redevelopments planned
along the Gratiot corridor.”
Matt Lester, founder and CEO, Princeton Enterprises LLC, about the former
Detroit Police Department building, pictured above
we have options. We continue to
work with the City and are excited
about Detroit’s growth and revitalization.”
Matt Lester, founder and CEO of
Princeton Enterprises LLC, said the
DPD building could have been
viewed as “a liability or of marginal
value.”
“It now appears to have significant value in light of the potential
redevelopment of the jail site and
the
various
redevelopments
planned along the Gratiot corridor,” he said.
“If anything, that building has
development capabilities right
away. There is a lot of value inherent in that asset,” said AJ Weiner,
managing director in the Royal
Oak office of brokerage firm Jones
Lang LaSalle.
“There is a general feeling that
the boat has somewhat sailed for
the CBD (central business district), so you’re seeing a lot of interest going east along the river
and west through Corktown, north
through New Center and Midtown,” said Marc Nassif, managing
director, Midwest, of the Livonia
office of Dallas-based BBG Inc., a
commercial real estate appraisal
firm.
“The interest for those properties has truly become national.
They want market studies and
feasibility studies,” he said. “Two
years ago they were local calls,
INDEX TO COMPANIES
These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business:
Best Western Premier .......................................... 9
Mich. Chapter, Meeting Professionals International .11
Cobo Center .......................................................... 9
Radisson Hotel Detroit Metro Airport .............. 9
Detroit Creative Corridor Center ........................3
Rock Ventures ...................................................... 21
Detroit Trading Co. ................................................3
St. Joseph Mercy Health System ....................... 8
Garden City Hospital ............................................ 8
Skidmore Studios ...............................................20
Gemphire Therapeutics ......................................14
Soave Enterprises ................................................. 1
George P. Johnson Co. ..........................................11
Special D Events ...................................................11
Kiwi Hospitality Detroit ................................ 10, 17
Westin Southfield Detroit ....................................3
and now they are coming from
across the country.”
Lester, whose company has real
estate holdings along the river,
said the bond insurer’s gamble on
riverfront real estate was a wise
one.
“The value of that real estate
has only been enhanced over the
past 18 months and may have
gone up in value as much as 20 to
50 percent or more, depending
upon the value attributed to it
through the bankruptcy proceeding.”
If the property is flipped for a
soccer stadium, or if Syncora participates in any development of
the properties it controls, the
moves could enhance the bond insurer’s investment in Detroit’s recovery, said Douglas Bernstein, a
banking and bankruptcy partner
with Bloomfield Hills-based Plunkett Cooney PC.
“It would certainly give them an
opportunity to enhance their return,” Bernstein said. “It would essentially mean they waited two
years to convert their claim into
cash.”
Flipping the properties to Gilbert and Gores also would help
the bond insurer exit the real-estate business and avoid what
could be costly development
costs, particularly with the old
DPD headquarters, Bernstein
said.
“There’s probably remediation
that’s going to be necessary, and I
assume asbestos, which dramatically increases the cost of demolition,” Bernstein said.
The land development agreement is with Syncora subsidiary
Pike Pointe Holdings LLC.
Comparable sales are difficult
to come by because of the overall
size of the riverfront property.
However, data from Washington,
D.C.-based CoStar Group Inc. for
land sales between the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and the Belle
Isle bridge sheds some light on
how much the bond insurer could
earn from selling the property.
Since the Syncora deal was
struck in September 2014, a
0.33-acre parcel at 2100 Guoin St.
sold for $500,000 in July, or
$1.5 million per acre; and a 0.6acre parcel at 1944 E. Jefferson
Ave. sold for $400,000, or $667,000
per acre, in January 2015, according to the real estate information
service.
Based on those per-acre prices,
the 6.79 acres north of Chene Park
that Syncora controls would sell
for between $4.53 million and
$10.19 million.
Syncora received development
rights to a total of 8.35 acres of
riverfront land. Based on the peracre prices since September
2014, that would sell for between
$5.57 million and $12.53 million.
Between Jan. 1, 2010, and the
Syncora deal, there were seven
land sales in the area, with known
sale prices ranging between
$225,000 and $852,000 per acre.
However, none of those properties
totaled more than 2.24 acres.
Syncora isn’t the only bond insurer to let the city resolve some of
its debt with real estate interests.
Financial Guaranty Insurance Corp. received development rights for Joe
Louis Arena, which is slated for
demolition and to be replaced by a
hotel with at least 300 rooms and
standing no more than 30 stories;
and a mix of office, retail, recreation and residential space, according to bankruptcy court documents. The property sits on about
9 acres.
The interest in land given to
Syncora during Detroit’s bankruptcy does not surprise Melissa
Jacoby, a University of North Carolina law professor and bankruptcy
expert who followed the city’s
case.
“The whole point was to predict
the future, and I speculated that
the percentage of recovery that
Syncora or FGIC would be getting
was potentially significantly greater than was being announced” in
2014, she said.
“In terms of whatever bet Syncora made, there’s a big chance
this real estate is going to be worth
more, and we’ll need to re-evaluate the extent of the haircut that
they supposedly took,” Jacoby
added.
The Detroit bankruptcy was significant for its size and the use of
real estate to settle claims with
Syncora and FGIC, the last major
holdout creditors in the case, Jacoby said.
“I’m not trying to make them
out like they got the best deals in
the case — we’ll see,” Jacoby said.
“The last holdouts are not supposed to do well.”
Attempts to reach Ian Glastein,
vice president of New York Citybased Monarch Alternative Capital
LP, who is working on behalf of
FGIC on its Detroit real estate,
were unsuccessful.
Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412
Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB
Robert Snell: (313) 446-1654
Twitter: @robertsnellnews
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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS ISSN # 0882-1992 is
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22
WEEK
WSU faculty files
grievance against
medical school
T
he Wayne State University
faculty union has filed a
grievance against the
School of Medicine over the process it
is using to evaluate job productivity
of several dozen professors as the
medical school tries to turn around
last year’s $29 million deficit. Over
the past several weeks, more than a
dozen faculty members have been
interviewed by medical school
officials about their job
productivity, and letters have been
sent to at least 42 faculty members
about their productivity.
COMPANY NEWS
Top officials at Wayne State
University and Detroit Medical
Center have agreed to a new
negotiating plan to move contract
talks forward. WSU President M.
Roy Wilson, M.D., met with DMC
CEO Joe Mullany to discuss what
both sides acknowledge was a
miscommunication about
long-term goals between the two
medical partners over a clinical
service contract.
Peter Karmanos Jr., the
Compuware Corp. co-founder and
former
executive,
launched an
online
mortgage
company called
Lenderful.
According to its
website,
Lenderful is a
registered
Karmanos
service mark of
Birmingham-based MadDog
Technology LLC, which Karmanous
helped form in 2014.
Unionized newsroom
employees at the Detroit Free
Press and The Detroit News voted
to ratify new three-year contracts
with the entity that runs the
newspapers. Also, Bloomberg
reported that Free Press publisher
Gannett Co. made an $815 million
unsolicited bid for Tribune
Publishing Co., seeking to add the
Los Angeles Times and Chicago
Tribune to its newspaper
portfolio.
Ann Arbor-based Duo
Security Inc. signed a lease for a
30,000-square-foot expansion in
the Allmendinger Building in
downtown Ann Arbor. It will be
the second location in the city for
Duo, which will retain its current
space. The Michigan Strategic Fund
board earlier approved a
performance-based grant of $2.5
million for the company.
Organizers unveiled Detroitbased DTE Energy Co. as “military
appreciation sponsor” of the May
23-29 inaugural LPGA Volvik
Championship at Travis Pointe
ON THE WEB
APRIL 23-29
Detroit Digits
A numbers-focused look at last
week’s headlines:
$15 million
The amount Dan Gilbert paid the
Downtown Development Authority
for the former J.L. Hudson’s
department store site on Woodward
Avenue. The parking garage
underneath the site also was
included in the deal. Gilbert is
expected to start a project to include
225,000 square feet of mixed-use
space, 700 parking spaces and 250
residential units. Dozens of retail
shops and restaurants are planned.
20 years
The length of time in which the new
Detroit Red Wings arena is to be
called Liittle Caesars Arena. The
naming-rights deal is worth $120
million and will include the pizza
chain’s logo on the roof and
elsewhere. Naming-rights revenue is
kept by the Ilitch family under their
management and lease deal with the
Downtown Development
Authority. The DDA owns the $627.5
million, 20,000-seat arena, set to
open in 2017.
Country Club in Ann Arbor. DTE
will underwrite the cost of free
admission for U.S. military veterans
and active duty personnel.
Campbell Soup Co. announced
the launch of Campbell’s Healthy
Communities Metro Detroit, a
program that focuses on publicprivate collaboration to fight child
hunger and obesity. Camden,
N.J.-based Campbell last year
acquired Ferndale-based Garden
Fresh Gourmet, which is part of the
Campbell Fresh division.
Three years after acquiring
Ann Arbor-based Kaydon Corp. for
$1.25 billion, Swedish bearings
and seals supplier AB SKF will
close Kaydon’s former
headquarters. The move comes
after SKF agreed to sell Kaydon’s
velocity control business to
Germany-based Stabilus SA for
$339 million.
Family-owned Detroit
companies Gregory Boat Co. and
Gregory Marina were sold to
Bloomfield Hills-based
development firm Lormax Stern.
The purchase price was not
disclosed. Gregory Boat Co. will
be renamed Detroit Boat Basin;
Gregory Marina will become KAM
Marine and KAM Yacht Sales.
Officials for St. John Providence
Health System told Crain’s they will
appeal a letter terminating
participation in Medicare for St.
John River District Hospital in St.
Clair, effective May 7. The
notification by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services was
over a January patient suicide that
the hospital was cited for failing
to follow required procedures.
Ford Motor Co. plans to invest
$1.4 billion into its Livonia
transmission plant to produce a
new transmission used in its
Raptor and F-150 trucks, and Fiat
Chrysler Automobiles will invest
$74.7 million at a Trenton engine
plant to bring production of its
four-cylinder engines there
starting in the third quarter of
2017. Both automakers last week
won state tax exemptions worth
a combined $28 million from the
Michigan Strategic Fund.
Troy-based law firm Mantese
Honigman opened an office in St.
Louis, Mo., that focuses on
business litigation, including
shareholder rights.
Livonia-based Tower
International Inc., which makes
heavy metal components and
assemblies for cars and trucks,
said it will not sell its European
division, citing the industry’s
growth in the region, Automotive
News reported.
The Detroit Lions made Ohio
State University offensive tackle
Taylor Decker their first-round
pick (No. 16 overall) in the NFL
draft.
OTHER NEWS
The state is investigating
why the Detroit Public Schools
district received up to $30 million
in U.S. Department of Education
reimbursements for employee
pensions but didn’t send the
money to a state pension fund. A
report from retired federal judge
Steven Rhodes noted the federal
government said the district
didn’t properly forward between
$25 million and $30 million in
funds to the Michigan Public School
Employees Retirement System, The
Detroit News reported. Rhodes
said an audit was being
conducted.
“Informal” is and can remain
a synonym for “not public” for
university boards, according to a
Michigan Court of Appeals ruling in
a lawsuit questioning whether
University of Michigan regents
followed the state Open Meetings
Act. The court upheld a Michigan
Court of Claims ruling in favor of
the regents in a 2014 lawsuit over
a practice of closing board
meetings that are allegedly “more
informational than decisional”
and no voting took place.
OBITUARIES
Robert Benkert, owner of The
Claymore Shop, a men’s fine-
apparel store in Birmingham,
died April 22. He was 76.
Deborah Virgiles, the owneroperator of two McDonald’s
restaurants in Detroit, died April
27. She was 60.
Paul Welday, a Farmington
Hills-based Republican strategist
who was managing partner of
Lansing-based Superior Capitol
Consulting, died April 26. He was
57.
RUMBLINGS
Grand Hotel opens sushi
site on Mackinac Island
T
he Grand Hotel is set to
open Mackinac Island’s
first sushi restaurant late
this month.
Located at the bottom of Grand
Hill, next to The Gate House
restaurant, Sushi Grand marks the
Grand Hotel’s sixth off-site dining
option.
It will serve traditional sushi,
along with daily special sushi
rolls. Guests will be able to choose
from table and sushi bar seating
or grab an order to go.
Designed by the Grand’s New
York-based interior designer,
Dorothy Draper and Co., the Sushi
Grand includes a hand-painted
map of Asia on the ceiling, rice hat
light fixtures above the sushi bar,
and a custom paint-and-ink
bamboo design overlay on the
walls.
The Grand also has completed
a renovation of the west half of its
famed front porch, the first work
on the porch in 50 years.
The Lark’s 10,000-bottle
wine collection for sale
Negotiations continue with a
potential buyer for the fabled The
Lark restaurant in West Bloomfield
Township, which closed its doors
Dec. 23 after 35 years of serving
award-winning meals.
And negotiations may start
soon for another sale — of the
restaurant’s world-class collection
of wine.
Adrian Lark, the daughter of
owners Jim and Mary Lark and the
former general manager of the
50-seat restaurant, said it is
crucial that whoever buys the
restaurant continue its tradition
of excellence. “There’s a group we
like the most, and they’re working
on financing. But if things fall
through, there are other groups
interested,” she said.
Lark said there is no timetable
for getting a deal done. It is
expected that the new owners will
keep the name.
Meanwhile, there is a huge
wine collection to consider. Lark
said the restaurant has about
2,000 different selections of wine,
totaling about 10,000 bottles.
She said they had hoped to sell
the wine to whoever buys the
restaurant. “But the people we like
said they don’t want that big of a
selection. So we’re pricing the
collection, now, and we hope to
sell it to one buyer. So, if you have
a really rich friend, have him call
us,” she joked.
Third Techweek offers
a variety of events
Techweek Detroit returns May 2
for its third annual weeklong
celebration of technology and
GRAND HOTEL
The Grand Hotel’s front porch is looking
better these days.
innovation at a variety of venues
around town.
Two years ago, Techweek
founders decided that because of
everything that was happening
here, including the Madison Building
being filled up with tech startup
companies and Detroit Venture
Partners' growing portfolio of tech
investments, it needed to add
Detroit to its mix of tech conferences
and expos, which have been held in
Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York and Toronto.
Events at this year’s Techweek
Detroit, one of eight Techweeks to
be held in 2016, include:
A panel on diversity in tech at
3:30 p.m. Monday at Bamboo
Detroit, a co-working space on
Brush Street.
A pitch by startups for
potential investment at TechTown
at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
A panel discussion by local
reporters and editors, including
Crain’s Dan Duggan, at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday at Grand Circus.
A hiring fair where job
seekers meet face to face with
company executives at 11 a.m.
Thursday at TechTown.
The Hack the Streets
Hackathon Saturday and Sunday
at the Techstars Mobility
headquarters at Ford Field.
Many events are free. All-access
tickets are $100. For more
information, go to www.techweek.
com.
Detroit to host Whirlpool’s
national sales conference
Whirlpool Corp. is set to host a
national sales conference May 2-5
at the Detroit Marriott at the
Renaissance Center.
The Benton Township-based
appliance maker moved the
conference to Detroit after
hosting the event, which is
expected to draw more than 600
of its sales professionals, in
Chicago for the past seven years.
Local entrepreneurs, such as
Andy Didorosi, founder of the
Detroit Bus Co.; Veronika Scott of The
Empowerment Plan; and Jason Hall,
co-founder of Slow Roll Detroit, will
address the conference.
Attendees will also be offered a
networking event on the Detroit
Princess Riverboat in the Detroit
River as well as a 5K race along
the riverfront and specialized
dining options.
04-11-16
|
10:53 AM
|
GMRENCEN, DETROIT MARRIOTT AT THE RENAISSANCE CENTER
RENEE HANNA IS
reflecting a new detroit.
CATERER. MEMORY-MAKER. DETROIT PLANNER.
RENEE BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. And treats them like family. As Director of
Catering Sales for the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center, Renee Hanna has
helped establish the hotel as the city’s premier venue for corporate, social, and
philanthropic events, hosting over 370 events a year. She also helps Detroiters capture
precious moments and memories by catering their weddings and anniversaries. Trust
your next event to Renee! GMRENCEN is celebrating the spirit and vision of the
SHRSOHRI'HWURLW/HDUQPRUHDWUHŴHFWLQJGHWURLWFRP
#REFLECTINGDETROIT

Crain`s Detroit Business, May 2, 2016

Transcription

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