No biz consensus - Crain`s Detroit Business

Transcription

Atlas Oil founder Sam
Simon builds
investment war chest
from funky
Birmingham digs,
Page 12
AUGUST 15 - 21, 2016
ANDREW HARNIK/AP
EVAN VUCCI/AP
Hillary Clinton
No biz consensus
TAXES
n Impose a 4 percent surcharge on
taxpayers making more than $5M per year.
n Eliminate tax “loopholes” for carried
interest, IRA funding and corporate
inversion.
Trump, Clinton unveil economic plans in metro Detroit to mixed reviews
n Reduce estate tax exemption to 2009
levels of $3.5M from $5.45M.
By Lindsay VanHulle
Crain’s Detroit Business/Bridge Magazine
n Tax wealthy people of to-be-determined
value at least 30 percent in income tax.
n Impose exit tax on U.S. companies
establishing a foreign tax domicile.
n Undisclosed plan to lower tax compliance
burdens for small businesses.
TRADE
n Repeal Trans-Pacific Partnership.
n Appoint chief trade officer and triple
trade enforcement staff.
n Impose tariffs on countries that break the
rules of trade agreements.
This year’s historic presidential election, starring
two of the most polarizing candidates in memory,
has taken on a populist tone as the major-party
candidates appeal to working- and middle-class
voters.
Yet business is paying attention to Donald
Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s positions on jobs and
the economy — particularly regarding corporate
taxation and global trade — since the outcome in
November will determine the direction of some
business decisions.
Some Michigan political leaders already have
taken sides. Three former governors — Democrats
Jennifer Granholm and James Blanchard, and Republican William Milliken — are backing Democratic nominee Clinton. Sitting Republican Gov.
Rick Snyder has declined to endorse Republican
nominee Trump, though Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel
have.
Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said publicly he will not vote for either candidate. The West Michigan-based DeVos family,
among the state’s top Republican donors, has not
given money to Trump and has not donated to any
candidate since the spring primaries, according to
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 16
Donald Trump
TAXES
n Reduce number of tax brackets from
seven to three.
n Eliminate carried-interest “loophole.”
n Reduce the federal corporate income
tax to 15 percent from 35 percent.
n Temporary moratorium on all new
regulations from federal agencies.
n 10 percent tax on offshore income to
entice corporations to repatriate funds.
n Repeal the estate tax.
TRADE
n Repeal Trans-Pacific Partnership.
n Impose a 45 percent tariff on imports
from China.
n Enforce stronger intellectual property
and cybersecurity measures against
China.
n Renegotiate NAFTA.
‘No more Band-Aids’: I-75’s $1 billion reconstruction project kicks off
By Blake Froling
bfroling@crain.com
The massive $1 billion I-75 modernization project set to begin this
week that may have commuters
pulling their hair out has businesses
getting ready for headaches, too.
Some companies expect they’ll
let some employees work flexible
schedules or telecommute more of-
ten to keep up productivity and morale. Others are dreading more practical problems, such as shipping or
delivery.
The first phase of the widening
and reconstruction project will kick
off at 9 a.m. Monday from Coolidge
Highway to South Boulevard and
will eventually extend from Eight
Mile Road to just south of M-59.
© Entire contents copyright 2016
by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved
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Further segments of the project are
scheduled to continue into 2030.
The years of congestion and construction could inconvenience the
more than 100,000 people who use
the area’s main artery of transportation every day.
The first of eight segments is being paid for with a two-year, $90.8
million investment, 80 percent of
which comes from the Federal Highway Administration.
Construction is starting by the
Square Lake Road interchange because it is one of the most dangerous on I-75, resulting in about 600
accidents during a five-year study
by the Michigan Department of Transportation. The interchange will be
reconfigured so that all entrances
and exits will be on the right side instead of the left.
I-75 lane closings
When: Starting 9 a.m. Monday.
Where: I-75 north and south
between Coolidge Highway and
South Boulevard.
What: Southbound right lane
will be closed for shoulder improvements; northbound right lane will be
intermittently closed for shoulder improvements.
Why: Shoulders are being improved for future traffic shifts to allow
reconstruction work on the highway and modernization of the Square Lake
Road interchange. First will occur in mid-September, moving the northbound
lanes to the southbound side until mid-December; southbound lanes will
move to northbound side in spring 2017 until November 2017.
The northbound I-75 bridges
over Adams Road and Square Lake
Roads will be replaced, as well as the
Squirrel Road overpass above I-75.
In total, 47 bridges will be replaced
and four will be newly built over the
course of the project.
“There’s no more Band-Aids,
folks. There’s nothing more we can
SEE I-75, PAGE 17
2
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 1 6
MICHIGAN
MICH-CELLANEOUS
n Virginia Tech researchers who
BRIEFS
Water filter copies keep
Whirlpool lawsuits flowing
One replacement part — a $50
refrigerator water filter — has been
the subject of some 40 lawsuits filed
by Benton Township-based appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. According to a Bloomberg report, the company has used a Texas court, known
as the venue of choice for people
trying to win patent cases, to sue retailers that sell knockoff filters for
half the price of Whirlpool’s.
Since last September, after Whirlpool noticed a sudden emergence
of the non-Whirlpool filters in 2015,
it has been filing patent-infringement lawsuits in Texas, claiming
companies are selling unauthorized
replacement parts for its refrigerators — including the water filter cartridges. By suing retailers, Whirlpool
is borrowing a tactic from computer
printer makers that try to block the
sale of unauthorized toner cartridges, and from automakers that sometimes try to fend off sale of refurbished replacement parts.
Most of the cases focus on a single patent, issued in 2006 and transferred to Whirlpool in 2007. Companies that have filed responses to the
exposed the lead problem in Flint
say the city’s water quality has greatly
improved, based on tests at 162
homes, AP reported. Researchers
said last week that 45 percent of
homes tested in July showed no detectable levels of lead. The head of
the team, Marc Edwards, said the situation is “dramatically better” than
last year when he sounded the alarm
over lead due to a lack of corrosion
controls. Edwards said Flint residents should continue to keep filters
on their kitchen taps or use bottled
water until officials say unfiltered
water is OK. Meanwhile, the Battle
Creek-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation
is giving $7.1 million to Flint nonprofits and organizations supporting efforts to recover from the crisis.
n Midland-based Chemical Financial Corp.’s $1.4 billion acquisition of Troy-based Talmer Bancorp
Inc. will head to a close this fall after
securing approval last week from
the Federal Reserve Board, MiBiz reported. The deal would create the
largest bank headquartered in
Michigan, with $16 billion in assets.
n Grand Rapids-based Advance
Packaging Corp. has spent $8 million
on new production space, and is on
track to spend another $8 million on
expansion in 2017, MLive.com reported. Some of the new business is
from popular Comstock Township-based Bell’s Brewery, for which
Advance makes corrugated packaging for 12- and 24-pack cases.
n Grand Rapids Metrology Inc., the
lawsuits say the patent, and others
asserted in some of the cases, are invalid or weren’t infringed.
Diners get charge out of
under-the-table device
A Grand Rapids restaurant, Kitchen 67: An American Bistro, is the first
in the Midwest to try out next-generation wireless charging technology developed by Grand Rapids-based Gill Electronics. Kitchen
67 is one of a handful of eateries
nationally to offer customers wireless tabletop charging for phones
and tablets, MLive.com reported.
State-of-the-art resonant TesLink
wireless charging stations were recently installed by Gill at the restaurant. The devices, placed underneath seven booth tables, let
customers set their phones or tablets anywhere on the table, for instant charging while dining. “Customers are going crazy over them,”
said restaurant owner Johnny Brann
Jr. “It’s different and better.”
The wireless chargers have applications in airport terminals, hotels,
vehicles and other uses, and in recent months have entered the hospitality and restaurant marketplace.
state’s largest provider of measurement products and services, has acquired the Michigan operations of
West Virginia-based Kanawha Scales
and Systems, MLive.com reported.
n The Michigan Agency for Energy
and Michigan Public Service Commission sent a letter to the Midwest’s
electricity transmission operator,
Midcontinent Independent System
Operator, to determine how vulnera-
ble Michigan is to power outages in
emergency situations. They are asking for a study looking at the effects
of decommissioning some coalfired generation units and possible
future outages at state nuclear energy facilities on electric reliability.
n The state announced that parents will be able to make child support payments at thousands of
7-Eleven or Family Dollar stores
throughout the country. Customers
will pay a $1.99 fee and must have
access to a computer or smartphone before going to a store to
make the payment, AP reported. Instructions are at www.misdu.com.
n In a filing last week, Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette urged
a federal appeals court to restore the
state’s ban on straight-party voting in
the fall election. Saying the law “imposes a minimal burden” on voters,
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE
BANKRUPTCIES ................................18
CLASSIFIED ADS...............................15
DEALS & DETAILS.............................14
KEITH CRAIN....................................... 6
OPINION .............................................. 6
OTHER VOICES ................................... 6
PEOPLE ...............................................14
RUMBLINGS .......................................19
WEEK ON THE WEB ..........................19
COMPANY INDEX:
SEE PAGE 18
Schuette wants the appeals court to
suspend an injunction issued by a
Detroit federal judge, who said the
ban violates the rights of black voters.
n A Michigan State University program is turning storm-damaged and
other felled campus trees into tables,
chairs, picture frames and works of
art, AP reported. Officials said the
“MSU Shadows” program provides a
sustainable alternative to turning
trees into wood chips or putting debris in a landfill. The items are sold at
the surplus store on campus and online, with proceeds going toward
planting new trees, supporting student internships and developing academic programs in urban forestry.
Correction
n A Deals & Details item in the Aug. 8 issue of Crain’s about a MedNetOne
Health Solutions program incorrectly listed it as new service, omitted that it
was recently recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and listed an incorrect location for the business, which has a mailing address in Rochester.
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Ŷ Previously employed by the Department
of Attorney General, State of Michigan as
legal counsel to the Department of Treasury
in tax litigation matters.
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3
Detroit Sports
Commission
bids for 15
NCAA finals
Top-division basketball,
hockey among proposals
By Bill Shea
bshea@crain.com
KENSINGTON CHURCH
Kensington Church extends its growth by adding to its roster the Bay Pointe Community Church (above) in Traverse City, where it recently held a service.
Northern light
Troy-based Kensington Church follows parishioners’ up north wish, expands to Traverse City
By Sherri Welch
swelch@crain.com
Troy-based Kensington Church
has absorbed Bay Pointe Community Church in Traverse City, establishing its first campus in northern
Michigan and continuing its rapid
expansion.
The addition gives a footprint
up north to the nondenominational church that is growing through a
strategy one of its leaders describes
as “a little bit like a franchise model.”
Bay Pointe legally transferred its
assets, including a roughly
40,000-square-foot church on the
west side of Traverse City, along
with a $2.4 million mortgage, to
Kensington on July 1.
The official launch of Kensington Traverse City is set for Sept. 11.
Several years in the making, the
deal came together after Kensington contacted Bay Pointe to say it
was considering a permanent
campus in the city.
“There were some people who
were Kensington folks down here
in the Troy area who had (Traverse
City) on their mind and on their
hearts for a long time,” said Greg
Gibbs, Kensington’s director of organizational advancement.
Some were thinking of having
the same church to attend when
they were up north vacationing, he
said. But the majority “ ... who have
come to God or come back to God
... want that same thing for their
family, friends and business associates” up north.
The conversation evolved between 2013 and 2014 into a merger
of the two churches, given their
common, classical Christian
teachings and beliefs, he said.
Founded in 1990, Kensington
Church has six metro Detroit locations and a national campus in Orlando, Fla. Its campuses in Troy
and Orion Township are permanent; it also holds services in rented sites — typically high schools
— in Birmingham, Clinton Township, Shelby Township, Clarkston
and Orlando.
Kensington has grown to a
weekend attendance of more than
13,000 people across its seven
campuses. It’s helped to establish
53 other nondenominational
churches across the U.S. and has
relationships with nine global organizations that establish churches around the world.
SEE CHURCH, PAGE 15
Roco builds portfolio with deal-by-deal financing
By Kirk Pinho
kpinho@crain.com
Roco Real Estate Inc., for the time
being, is bucking what would be a
logical next step in its growth trajectory.
The Bloomfield Hills-based multifamily real estate investment company, started just four years ago, has
expanded its ownership portfolio
nearly 800 percent since April 2013.
But rather than starting a large investment fund now that it has a
track record and a substantial portfolio under its belt to finance acquisitions of what it deems undervalued apartment buildings across the
country, the company is sticking
with its tried-and-true financing
strategy of securing funding deal by
deal.
David Colman, the 30-year-old
Roco principal who started the
company with his brother and another set of brothers in 2012, said
real estate investment funds typically have 10-year terms and five- to
seven-year ownership periods for
the real estate they purchase.
And Roco, he said, has a much
longer-term investment and ownership strategy.
“We want to invest in our communities and our people,” he said.
“Our investors and us want consistent quarterly cash flow from these
properties with a long-term capital
appreciation. The short-term flip
model is dangerous a lot of times.
VENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY
From left to right: David Colman,
Michael Colman, Tyler Ross
SEE ROCO, PAGE 15
The Detroit Sports Commission on
Friday submitted 54 applications to
bring 15 college championships in
nine sports to the region in coming
years, including NCAA basketball,
hockey, wrestling and football
across different divisions.
The nonprofit commission, in
charge of seeking amateur and college events for the area, had to submit requests to host
the events by Friday. It said it is
seeking
events in
conjunction with
the Univer-
sity of Detroit Mercy,
Oakland University,
the
University
of
Michigan, Michigan
State University, Wayne
State University, Adrian College,
Olympia Entertainment and the Detroit Lions.
The NCAA in February released
its championship site bid specifications for the four academic years
from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Finalists
will be announced Oct. 26 and winning sites on Dec. 7.
Separately, Palace Sports & Entertainment said Friday it has also submitted bids, with support from the
commission, for the 2018-22 men’s
basketball tournament’s First Four,
first and second rounds, and regionals, along with the women’s
basketball regionals, and the women’s volleyball and men’s wrestling
championships in those years.
Those events would be held at the
Palace of Auburn Hills.
Among the commission’s own
applications are to host the first and
second rounds, and regionals, for
the 2019-22 men’s Division I basketball tournaments. UD Mercy and
Oakland would be the host schools
for those events, and the site would
be the new Little Caesars Arena,
which will open in September 2017
in Detroit.
The other Division I applications
SEE SPORTS, PAGE 18
MUST READS OF THE WEEK
Paging Dr. iPad
Blues switch
Telemedicine slowly gains currency as companies
Insurer sells larger-group plans to PEOs;
try to offer convenience, save money, Page 8
potential savings for small biz, Page 4
4
Blue Cross offers small businesses option
to join lower-cost large group health plans
By Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is
expanding its health plan offerings
by contracting in unusual arrangements with AccessPoint, CoStaff Services LLC and Trion Solutions, three
Southeast Michigan-based staffing
and professional employer organizations that serve small and medium-sized companies.
Under arrangements with the
Blues, the three PEOs will soon be
able to offer their small-business clients access to Blue Cross’ large group
health plans at a lower price than
small-group rates. Over the past several years under health care reform,
some small businesses have seen
their health insurance prices jump
10-30 percent, experts said.
“We made a decision to enter into a
contract with the three PEOs. They
met the criteria we designed,” said
Sandy Fester, vice president of middle
and small-group businesses at Detroit-based Blue Cross. The contracts
with Troy-based Trion and AccessPoint in Farmington Hills begin Oct. 1,
and the one with Southfield-based
CoStaff starts Nov. 1, she said.
“The Affordable Care Act has
served as a catalyst to PEO growth,
and we have made a business decision to further consider this market,” Fester said.
For example, Fester said, Blue
Cross has contracted with ADT Corp.
since 2004 in a successful business
model. She said Blue Cross projects
to add another 4,000 members, additional revenue and contracts
through the PEO health plans.
“We have competitors (at least
two) that do arrangements like this,”
she said. “We had to decide to take
the legacy approach or change.”
Blue Cross and Priority Health are
the only known health insurers that
offer PEO contracts. Aetna Inc. is
considering contracting with PEOs,
experts said. Spokespersons for
Health Alliance Plan and United
Healthcare said they do not contract
with PEOs. Aetna was unavailable
for comment. Priority Health says it
serves a handful of PEOs representing between 5,000 and 10,000 members.
Greg Packer, CEO of AccessPoint,
said the PEO and human resource
management company has been
working to develop the program with
the Blues for several months. He said
AccessPoint had a contract with
HealthPlus of Michigan before its commercial business was sold to HAP.
“We handle the open enrollment
process for our small groups, and
they have been seeing 10 percent to
20 percent increases in premiums
and have been frustrated with us,”
said Packer, who became CEO in
2002 and also founded a similar
company, Novi-based Amstaff,
which was sold to ADT in 1997.
“They want help with their health
care issues. We think the savings for
the small-business community will
be in the 5 percent to 10 percent
range,” said Packer, adding that he
projects adding 2,000 additional covered lives.
Under the Affordable
Care Act of 2010, the PEO
industry has grown tremendously as small businesses have sought assistance with the regulations
and the lower-cost health
insurance options, according to the National Associa-
“The main advantage to the small
group is they will pay level community rates instead of member level,”
said Mike Krause, president of Krause Benefits in
Farmington Hills. Community level, or composite rating, allows uniform rates for
single employees and families. Member-level rates are
calculated on the age of employees and their depention of Professional Employdents, geography and toer Organizations.
bacco use.
Greg Packer:
This is because the PEO Possible savings of
Krause said small-busibusiness model allows a 5-10% for small
ness groups need to assess
“co-employment relation- businesses.
the level of service beship” between the employer
tween PEOs and the tradiand the PEO, said Packer. Other ser- tional broker-agents.
vices include human resources ser“I have lost clients to (PEOs), and
vices, including payroll, billing, re- they have come back to me because
cruiting and compliance, he said.
the service was not good,” Krause
In health insurance, PEOs can con- said.
solidate risk and combine smallFester said the three PEOs under
group employers to make them a Blue Cross contract are interested in
large employer for underwriting, but working with agents and developed
only if they find a health insurer will- compensation programs for them.
ing to do that, Packer said.
Over the past five years, AccessUnder Obamacare in Michigan, Point has grown to more than 400
small groups are defined as organi- clients in the U.S., with about 85
zations with two to 50 employees. percent based in Michigan, repreFor several reasons, premiums for senting about 5,000 employees.
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
small businesses generally are highTwitter: @jaybgreene
er than larger groups.
Fire closes
St. Clair DTE
power plant
By Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
The fire that shut down DTE Energy Co.’s coal-fired St. Clair Power
Plant in East China Township last
week isn’t expected to affect overall
electric capacity in Southeast
Michigan.
Some 50 workers were at the plant
in St. Clair County at the time of the
fire and all escaped within five minutes without injury, the company
said. A total of 294 workers are employed at the plant, which was built
in 1953. Workers will be reassigned to
other DTE facilities while the plant is
closed, the company said.
“There are no injuries and no
threat to the community. Everyone is
safe,” DTE said in a statement. “DTE
teams successfully invoked emergency procedures and shut down all
generating units at the site while
working with first responders to successfully control the situation.”
The St. Clair plant is one of three
DTE coal-fired facilities scheduled
to be closed over the next seven
years. The other two plants to be
shut down are at River Rouge and
Trenton. The plants together generated about 25 percent of electricity
produced by the utility in 2015,
enough to power 900,000 homes,
according to the company. The utility said it will replace them with a
mix of newer, more modern sources
such as wind, natural gas and solar.
The blaze started about 6:30 p.m.
Thursday as one of six coal-fired
generation units that produces electricity inside the facility caught fire,
the utility said in a statement. No
other explanation was given by the
company.
News reports quote witnesses as
saying they heard a loud explosion
at the plant before they saw the
smoke. DTE denies there was an explosion.
“We expect the plant to remain
closed and do not have an estimate
at this time as to when the plant will
reopen,” DTE said Friday.
During the evening, black and
gray smoke could be seeing for
miles around the plant, which is on
the St. Clair River at 4901 Pointe
Drive. Nearly 100 firefighters from at
least 30 departments responded.
Any environmental damage
was not yet clear Friday, although
a joint statement by Valerie Brader, executive director of the Michigan Agency for Energy, and Sally Talberg, chairman of the Michigan
Public Service Commission, expressed concern.
DTE said air monitoring systems remain in place with “readings continuing to be well within
normal limits outside the facility
perimeter.”
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene
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6
OPINION
Political season: Don’t
forget right to listen
T
hank goodness for the Olympics. The athletes give us
something — and someone — to cheer for, and a welcome respite from this ugly political season.
Both presidential candidates visited metro Detroit last
week. Donald Trump spoke at a Detroit Economic Club lunch,
and Hillary Clinton spoke at a Warren defense contractor.
Both were theoretically “private” events, but only Trump was
interrupted by women protesters who stood on chairs and
screamed their protests, trying vainly to silence the candidate.
Both candidates are wooing middle-class, working-class
voters, promising platforms aimed at increasing better-paying jobs and changing trade policies that have been favored
by both parties in the past. The messages were clearly worth
hearing, particularly because both candidates are so polarizing to many. As Lindsay VanHulle reports on Page 1, Michigan
will be a hotly contested state in November.
It isn't surprising that many Economic Club members of all
political stripes were chagrined that Trump was interrupted so
many times; more than a dozen protesters were ejected, hoping perhaps that Trump would erupt in some kind of gaffe.
We agree with Dan Gilbert, who tweeted: “When did it become un-American to listen to everyone whether you agree or
not?” Gilbert also has attended a Clinton event, urging his
Twitter followers: “Listen. Research. Analyze. Then form view.”
Trump may not be our candidate, but he should have the
opportunity to speak — without interruption — to allow listeners the chance to make up their minds.
“The DEC has always been a nonpartisan forum for the respectful and professional debate and discussion of issues of
the day,” the club’s COO, Steve Grigorian, told Crain’s. “We are
disappointed an individual and his guests chose not to honor
that tradition.” The club likely will tighten its procedures for
future political speakers.
Rashida Tlaib, a former state lawmaker and now activist at
the left-of-center Sugar Law Center, may have been the bestknown of the protesters. We think the Economic Club should
publicize the names of all the parties: the “member” who
bought the tickets under false pretenses and his “guests” who
were ejected. In this crazy political season, we increasingly
value a newly endangered right: the right to listen.
Oral chemo fairness bill should be OK’d
F
acing a cancer diagnosis can be
one of the scariest moments an
individual can experience. There are
many decisions that person has to
make, such as “What treatment
path will I follow?” “How will this affect my quality of life and the lives of
my family and other loved ones?”
and “How will this affect my job?”
Now imagine having to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars
for monthly treatments, all because
your health insurance plan covers
your anti-cancer oral agents differently than it would intravenous chemotherapy.
The last thing a person who has
been diagnosed with cancer wants
to think about is “Will this disease
bankrupt me financially?”
The Michigan Senate recently
voted 36-1 in support of Senate Bill
625, the Oral Chemotherapy Fairness Bill. If passed by the state
House of Representatives, it would
ensure that cost sharing and treatment limitations for oral medication are no more restrictive than
those for intravenous chemotherapy.
We applaud the Senate for this
move. With this bill, cancer patients
who are prescribed anti-cancer oral
agents to treat their disease would
not have to worry about paying
more out-of-pocket costs for that
medication than they would for
chemotherapy administered intravenously.
But the problem is that orally administered anti-cancer agents are
covered under an insurance plan’s
pharmacy benefit, where many of
these drugs are placed on a fourth or
“specialty” tier. The average coinsurance rate for fourth-tier drugs is
28 percent, according to the Kaiser
Family Foundation. So, if you’re pre-
OTHER VOICES
Elisabeth Heath and
William Mayer
Heath, M.D., is the Patricia C. and
E. Jan Hartmann Endowed Chair in
Prostate Cancer Research at the
Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and a Wayne State University School of Medicine professor.
Mayer is president and CEO of
Federation Care Network, a clinically integrated network of hospitals and providers.
scribed an oral medication that
costs $3,000 per month, this could
mean more than $800 in out-ofpocket costs per month.
This is in contrast to intravenously administered anti-cancer medications, which are typically covered
under an insurance plan’s medical
benefit. With this, most patients are
responsible only for an office copayment for each episode of care and
are not required to pay a separate
fee for the intravenous drug.
The out-of-pocket cost disparity
between intravenous and oral chemotherapy can lead to patients being forced to make treatment decisions based on cost, not on what the
doctor feels is most beneficial to
them.
That’s not a decision cancer patients should have to face.
The American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network has found
no evidence that this proposed leg-
TALK ON THE WEB
Re: Clinton pitches tax changes,
investment in Warren speech
Re: Trump’s economic math: He
still needs to show his work
All good ideas, but she will be
blocked at every turn by the Republi-
The only way we will ever get a
decent change is to clean house, vote
out all the party members, Republican and Democrat, and get independents in for a few years. Then
push for them to clean out the deadwood from the civil service and promote people on merit rather than
time served.
cans just like Obama was unless the
power shifts in Congress.
Rock & Roll 35
She has taken most of her ideas
from Trump and Bernie. She just repeats what got a lot of applause.
Clgatwork
MarkYTH
islation has increased health insurance premiums in states with similar laws in effect. Both the Kansas
State Employees Health Care Commission and the Indiana Department of Insurance have stated that
there is no evidence that implementation of the states’ oral chemotherapy access laws have significantly
increased health insurance premiums.
Today, anti-cancer oral agents
comprise about 10 percent of available therapies and roughly 25 percent of the medications in the oncology development pipeline.
Certain new chemotherapies are
available only in oral form.
Patients on these oral medications can have more freedom to enjoy their families and the activities
that brought them joy before their
diagnoses. They can get on with the
business of living.
Now that the Oral Chemotherapy
Fairness Bill has made it through the
Senate, it is being studied in the
House Insurance Committee. When
legislators reconvene from their
summer vacations, we hope that
they take a long, hard look at how
differences in insurance coverage of
chemotherapy drugs affect cancer
patients.
We think cancer patients should
be free to make treatment decisions
based on their health care provider’s
recommendation, not based upon
what medication they can or cannot
afford.
We at the Barbara Ann Karmanos
Cancer Institute and the American
Cancer Society Cancer Action Network urge the Michigan House of
Representatives to vote in support
of the Oral Chemotherapy Fairness
Bill. Allow cancer patients the freedom of choice.
Re: Eastern Market growth plan
Expanding and modernizing it,
while bringing in residential and
retail, will make it one of the premier
neighborhoods in America by 2025.
BrewPubNate
Reader responses to stories and blogs
that appeared on Crain’s website.
Comments may be edited for length
and clarity.
Let’s not talk ourselves into a downturn
There is a lot of talk these days
about a pending slowdown. The
CEO of Ford, Mark Fields, is cautiously warning that Ford will have
an economic slowdown soon.
But at the same time, things in
Detroit seem to be booming. Happily, Detroit seems to be ignoring all
the potential gloom and doom. We
are seeing a constant stream of good
news, with new companies opening
every week and old companies announcing that they are going to be
relocating in Southeast Michigan.
KEITH CRAIN
Editor-in-chief
It all sounds too good to be true.
A lot of naysayers seem to be convinced that we are just around the
corner from another recession. Sadly, the news media seem happiest
when they have something bad to
write about. Economic growth
doesn’t make for great headlines like
firing hundreds of people or closing
plants. They are the bad news bears.
If enough folks cry “the sky is falling,” too many people will start to
believe it. I am afraid that we have a
real follow-the-leader mentality in
our country. All we need is a bit of a
nudge and a landslide begins.
I am often reminded about the
man who owned a hot dog stand
and business was very good. But
when his Ivy League son returned
home from college, the son told his
father that a recession was about to
start and business would be terrible.
The father cut everything in anticipation of the downturn and sure
enough, business dropped off. The
father was very impressed with his
son and his college education.
Let’s not listen to the economists.
They don’t run a business. They
merely predict what will happen ...
maybe.
If we are told that this strong
economy will continue in Detroit, it
certainly sounds reasonable to me. I
don’t want to predict anywhere elsewhere in the world, but we should
all enjoy our good fortune and work
hard to keep it going indefinitely.
The worst thing we can do is listen to that college kid who tells us all
about doom and gloom.
If we listen to him for too long, we
can make it happen. That sure
doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Move to Crain’s proves you can go home again
I left my hometown of Detroit in
1985 to accept the only job I could
find out of college, a cops and courts
beat in Hot Springs, Ark. It eventually led me to Little Rock, where I covered a young governor named Bill
Clinton. I got to know his wife, Hillary Clinton, too.
In January 1993, while the Clintons traveled to Washington for his
inauguration, my family moved, too:
The Associated Press thought the
few contacts I had in the Clinton
world might prove useful on the
White House beat.
I’ve had a great ride in Washington — more lucky than good, and
blessed with extraordinary editors
and colleagues. Atlantic Media’s visionary owner, David Bradley, allowed me the privilege of working
for National Journal and The Atlantic since leaving the AP in 2010. But
now it’s time to start anew where I
started out — to move back to Detroit, the place my wife, Lori, and I
never stopped calling home.
In the past three decades, we returned so often to visit our families
in Michigan that our eldest daughter, Holly, born in Arkansas and
raised in suburban Washington, decided after college to move to Detroit, where she has started a career
and a family. Her younger sister, Gabrielle, attends Michigan State University College of Law. Their brother,
Tyler, misses his sisters and extended family in Michigan.
Our family cottage in Michigan’s
northern woods stands empty too
often.
But there is more to this move
than nostalgia. It comes with an exciting career change. In Detroit, I will
be the associate publisher of Crain’s
Detroit Business, a media brand devoted to telling the story of Southeast Michigan’s economic trials and
transformation.
For the first time in my lifetime,
my hometown has a chance to rebound from decades of decline —
thanks to the cooperative energies of
political leaders like Mayor Mike
Duggan, business leaders like Dan
Gilbert and Christopher Ilitch, and
an influx of purpose-driven entrepreneurs. It’s thriving because of
people like Khali Sweeney, who uses
boxing lessons to get kids into his after-school education program, and
David Kirby, a Brooklyn-born millennial who defied political and economic conventions to open a local-foods market on Detroit’s gritty
east side.
Whenever I come home, whenever I talk to people like Sweeney and
Kirby, I’m reminded of what my colleague James Fallows chronicled in
his March cover story for The Atlantic. He found surprising sources of
strength in every community that
belie the grim portrait of America
painted by opportunistic politicians
and social scolds. “What Americans
have heard about the country since
Deb and I started our travels is the
familiar chronicle of stagnation and
strain,” Fallows wrote of the 54,000mile reporting trip he took with his
wife. “The kinds of things we have
seen makes us believe that the real
RON FOURNIER
news includes a process of revival
and reinvention that has largely if
understandably been overlooked in
the political and media concentrations on the strains of this Second
Gilded Age.”
The real news in Detroit is revival
and reinvention, and we’d like to be
a small part of it. While I’ve written
extensively about institutional reform and the unique optimism and
purpose of the millennial generation, the bulk of my work in Washington has been focused on political
corruption, dysfunction and decay.
Even from Detroit, I hope to find the
time, from time to time, to write for
The Atlantic on the Clinton-Trump
election.
I’m proud of my work in Washington. But the action is at the local level, where innovation isn’t a talking
point, it’s a way of life.
And so we’re moving to Detroit
this fall. You can go home again. We
will go home again, knowing the life
we left behind 30 years ago is gone,
but that we can help build anew.
Each fall, my new company organizes a conference for hundreds of
“expats” from around the globe, Detroit natives like myself who fled the
city during its slow decline, which
some date to the riots of 1967,
Crain’s calls the conferences the Detroit Homecoming, and the next one
begins Sept. 14, at the epicenter of
the presidential campaign.
I’ve attended before as an expat.
This year, I will be home for it.
7
This column is reprinted with the
permission from The Atlantic. Ron
Fournier will begin his new post as
Crain's Detroit Business associate
publisher Sept. 6. Fournier, 53, is
coming to Crain’s from Atlantic Media, where he served as editor-in-chief of the National Journal
for two years and as senior political
columnist for the National Journal
and The Atlantic. Before joining Atlantic Media, Fournier was Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press and spent 20 years with
the wire service. He is also the author
of recent New York Times best-seller
Love That Boy.
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.
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8
SPECIAL REPORT: HEALTH CARE
Taking a dose of
telemedicine
Employers see savings, increased productivity
by offering remote diagnoses, treatment plans
Stories by Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
In an increasingly mobile world, the idea
of seeing a doctor through your smartphone
is becoming more common. And people are
finding that it’s also helpful when family
members are on the go or away from home.
Becky McLaughlan, vice president with
Troy-based Marsh & McLennan, and Cheryl
Gambrell, vice president of human resources
at TNG Worldwide, a beauty supply distributor
based in Lyon Township, referred their children to telemedicine providers, and it paid
off.
McLaughlan’s daughter, Megan, 19, received an antibiotic for her strep throat, and
Gambrell’s son, Zach, 22, received an antibiotic for his pink eye.
“My son woke up one morning and his
eyes were swollen with a lot of drainage. He
registered with Teladoc, talked with a
board-certified doctor, then uploaded a
prescription
for
pink eye,” said Gambrell, who had previously registered and
signed up her family. “He had a tee time, had
to go golfing. He picked up the prescription
on his way home.”
McLaughlan recently got a phone call
from her daughter at Purdue University about
a sore throat.
“My daughter used telemedicine (at college for strep throat),” said McLaughlan.
“She got a prescription (for antibiotics).”
Three weeks later, after Megan returned
home from college, she had a recurrence of
strep. The Teladoc provider recommended
she visit her primary care doctor for a closer
inspection, which led to Megan’s tonsils being removed.
McLaughlan, Gambrell and dozens of other employees and relatives working at growing numbers of companies in Michigan are
finding access to telemedicine services from
vendors like Teladoc Inc., MDLive and American Well or through health insurers. The access is saving employees money and
time, and improving
worker productivity
and job satisfaction,
experts say.
Telemedicine encompasses a growing variety of services using two-way video, email,
smartphones, wireless blood pressure,
weight and diabetes and heart monitoring
and other technology. Services include remote consultations, primary and specialty
care patient visits, health assessment, diagnosis, intervention and supervision.
A recent Towers Watson study of employers with at least 1,000 employees concluded
that companies could save up to $6 billion
per year if their employees routinely engaged
in remote consults for appropriate medical
problems instead of visiting emergency
rooms, urgent care centers or physicians’ offices.
According to projections from IHS Technology, U.S. telehealth spending per year will
rise from just $240 million in 2014 to $2.2 billion in 2018. It is predicted that there will be
7 million telehealth encounters in two years.
Driven by demands for better access, convenience, cost reductions, innovation and
quality, private and government payers are
expanding coverage for telehealth options.
SEE DIAGNOSE, PAGE 9
Telemedicine
consults tackle
tougher tasks
Telemedicine generally focuses on common conditions such as earaches, sore throats
and the like.
But telemedicine for complicated chronic
diseases or major surgeries?
It is happening, in a way, through online
video consultations for second opinions with
medical specialists.
Telemedicine second opinions cover diagnoses for back surgery, breast cancer, medication changes, hysterectomy, mastectomy or
neurological disorders.
Leading companies include Best Doctors,
Advance Medical and 2ndMD.
“We focus on the more-complex situations,” said Kirk Rosin, chief strategy officer
with Houston-based 2ndMD. “Individuals
with new diagnosis, surgery, change in medication therapy or chronic conditions whose
symptoms become worse.”
2ndMD was founded in 2011 by CEO Clint
Phillips, a chiropractor from South Africa and
father whose infant daughter had a stroke and
could not easily find a neurological treatment
plan for her.
“He felt no one should have to wait and
travel distances to get their medical questions
answered,” said Rosin, a Crain’s 40 Under 40
winner in 2010 who lives in metro Detroit.
2ndMD, which has a 400-physician provider panel that covers 120 recognized subspecialties, has more than 50 large-employer clients, including Hirotec America, an auto
supplier based in Auburn Hills, said Rosin,
who joined the company last November after
several years in sales and business strategy
with Aetna Inc.
“We charge employers on a per-employeeSEE TASKS, PAGE 9
9
TASKS
FROM PAGE 8
per-month basis or a per-use rate, depending on the client,” said Rosin.
“There are no copayments for patients. We don’t want to create a financial barrier for patients.”
Some 25 percent of consultations
are for lower back or musculoskeletal
issues with average savings of $19,949,
Rosin said. Of those consults, the patient cancels the surgery 52 percent of
the time. The other 75 percent of consults range from neurological, cancer
or male or female reproductive issues.
About 34 percent of consults results in
recommendations for alternative diagnosis and treatments, he said.
“Seventy-three percent of consults
results in an improved treatment
plan. These are staggering numbers,”
Rosin said.
Becky McLaughlan, vice president
at Marsh & McLennan in Troy, said she
is in contact with several employers
that are considering using specialty
medicine to expand employee access
to specialty physicians to make better
health care decisions or answer questions.
“Usually it is done through employers. We are talking with larger clients
about it. It can save money on expensive operations,” McLaughlan said.
“It is a specialized form of telemedicine that can save money on expen-
sive operations that aren’t necessary or
can be handled differently,” she said.
McLaughlan said she is not aware
that health insurers are offering this
approach, although some insurers require second opinions for certain surgeries, including lower back, and cover other second opinions, depending
on the procedure.
How it works: Employees request
service and are assigned a nurse to
discuss symptoms and medical history and to request medical records
from providers. The employee then is
given the choice of several doctors to
have an online video chat. Within
three days, a secure videoconference
is set up to discuss the case.
“We want to be convenient to patients with 62 percent of visits on
nights and weekends,” Rosin said.
“Patients receive a written summary,
including any research, clinical trials
or evidence, within 24 hours.”
Rosin said patients can request the
medical expert to discuss the findings
with the original doctor. Or the second
opinion can remain secret, he said.
Typically, a face-to-face normal
second opinion can cost up $3,500 to
$4,000, which sometimes is partially
covered by insurance.
“Ours is less than that, about
$2,500,” said Rosin, who added that
2ndMD is also talking with health insurers to cover the online second
opinion as a cost-containment and
quality-improvement program.
DIAGNOSE
FROM PAGE 8
Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia have parity laws
requiring that insurers cover telehealth costs as they would in-person services.
“Michigan has the most favorable laws for telehealth. Texas is
the absolute worst. Almost no
state has done a great job with
dealing with licensing issues, practicing across state lines,” said
Kimberly Lovett Rockwell, M.D., a
physician-turned-lawyer in the
Bloomfield Hills office of Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP.
“If I am a Michigan doctor and
contract with a third-party agency
who does telehealth, I can’t take
calls from patients residing in California because I am not licensed
there,” Rockwell said. “A major
barrier in Texas is that state law requires you to see a patient in person before you prescribe. Michigan doesn’t currently place those
types of limits.”
While Michigan is one of the
more permissive states when it
comes to regulating telemedicine,
Senate Bill 495 would require physicians to have interstate licensure for
practicing telemedicine across state
lines. The bill, which was introduced last year, would also require
doctors to be licensed in Michigan
to provide telemedicine consultations with Michigan residents.
One solution to the state licensing problem is a proposal from the
Federation of State Medical Boards,
which has developed an interstate
medical licensing compact that
would facilitate license portability
and the practice of interstate telemedicine. Other advanced practice provider organizations are
working on their own compact
proposals.
“Some doctors prefer to see patients face to face. They aren’t
against telemedicine. They are
happy if they get compensated per
visit,” she said, adding: “Misprescribing is a concern for a lot of
clinicians. It is a lot easier to miss
something if you don’t see them in
person or have full vital signs.”
But Rockwell said primary care
telemedicine can be used to diagnose uncomplicated urinary tract
infections, bronchitis, upper respiratory infections and common
diarrhea.
For chronically ill employees
who need constant monitoring of
blood pressure, weight or diabetes, Rockwell said wireless monitors can feed information to telemedicine providers to take vital
signs and facilitate routine follow-up visits.
“It is much less expensive, espe-
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cially if conducted by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Just
displacing physician visits can be
cost effective under such circumstances,” Rockwell said. “It also increases preventive care so you can
reduce crisis care of going to the
ER or the urgent care.”
In Michigan, telemedicine use
has doubled each of the past two
years either by employers contracting with private vendors like
Teladoc or Amwell or through
health insurers offering as part of a
fully insured coverage, said McLaughlan.
In 2016, 38 percent of midsized
employers offered telemedicine to
employees, up from 20 percent
last year, said Marsh & McLennan’s
13th annual Southeast Michigan
Mid-Market Group Benefits Survey. An additional 24 percent are
considering adding telemedicine.
Nationally, 34 percent of companies offer telemedicine benefits,
with some estimating up to 80 percent by 2018.
McLaughlan said employers
are just starting to understand
that if employees can avoid a
high-cost emergency department
visit and instead use their smartphone to talk with a doctor or
nurse, savings and convenience
can pay dividends.
SEE DIAGNOSE, PAGE 10
10
DIAGNOSE
FROM PAGE 9
“The driving force is convenience. Employees need less time
off work and are present more,” McLaughlan said. “It is hard to measure
that, but (if)
they are healthier sooner and
don’t have to
take that afternoon off, it is
convenient for
them. Another
reason is good
will (built up) for
their employRebecca
ers.”
McLaughlan:
While firstEmployee usage
year usage iniramps up over
tially is low, betime.
tween 5 percent
to 10 percent,
McLaughlan
said employee use ramps up over
time, depending on the robustness
of the communication plan.
Costs to employees range from
zero copays to $50 per telemedicine
consultation, which is the average
full visit cost charged by telemedicine companies, McLaughlan said.
“This relatively low utilization,
particularly when the program is
new, is one of the challenges to telemedicine offering cost savings,” she
said. “Employers really need to com-
municate the program effectively to
drive this up, and the copay they
charge for using the service will impact utilization also. Many employers set the telemedicine copay the
same as the primary care physician
copay. Of course, the lower the copay, the higher the utilization.”
Company experiences
At Troy-based Residential Home
Health, Sarah Kerr, senior benefits
administrator, said Residential began using telemedicine services in
Illinois this year for its 300 employees under a contract with United
Healthcare. Overall, Residential has
600 of 800 total employees in its
health plans, she said.
“The majority of staff (nurses,
therapists and aides) are on the road
visiting patients and getting to a facility is not an easy thing to do,” Kerr
said. “We thought this would be perfect for us. They do documentation
on tablets already. This is a perfect
technology to use to get better faster.”
Under United Healthcare, Kerr
said the telemedicine service with
physicians is part of overall PPO
benefits and there is a $25 copay for
employees on the PPO plan and a
$39 copay for employees on the
high-deductible plan with a health
savings account until the deductible
is reached. A nurse telephone
hotline is free, she said.
“We estimated (costs) to be some-
what neutral,” Kerr said. “We know
there is a minimal fixed cost for adding the service and there may be
some additional utilization due to
the ease of access.”
In Michigan, Residential contracts with Aetna and is considering
adding Teladoc as a stand-alone service in 2017. “We are looking at other
insurers in Michigan. It is possible
we offer it as a stand-alone benefit
outside of insurers,” Kerr said.
Kerr agreed the biggest challenge
for an employer is to inform workers
about available benefits.
“We try little email reminders
about what benefits are available.
We show them how much an MRI is
at Beaumont versus Botsford and remind employees about cost savings
and how telemedicine is cheaper
than urgent care.”
Despite annual meetings and
employee newsletters, TNG and
Residential all believe they can do a
more effective job at getting employees to sign up and use telemedicine
services. But generally less than 20
percent of the workforce locks onto
a new program the first year, experts
say.
“Truthfully, the best way is word
of mouth,” Gambrell said. “A manager knows someone is sick and asks if
(the employee) uses Teladoc. They
say, ‘I forgot about it.’ They register
and have a great experience.”
In January, TNG began offering
telemedicine to its 100 employees
“There is great benefit in
getting diagnosed quickly
and not affecting other
employees, not missing
more time from work.”
Cheryl Gambrell, TNG Worldwide
and 200 dependents through its
self-insured plan managed by Blue
Cross, Gambrell said. Blue Cross
contracts with Amwell.
“We thought about it last year and
decided we weren’t quite ready,”
Gambrell said. “We see ourselves as
a trend-setter and didn’t want to wait
too long. From a cost perspective, it
was only $4,000 per year, so it was a
minimal cost investment to get
started.”
Another reason TNG decided to
invest in telemedicine is the calculation that if employees used the service that the company would spend
less on health care.
“Fewer ER visits, urgent care, physician visits, less missed time from
work, especially in the winter
months when it is most difficult to
see doctors,” she said.
So far, of TNG’s 140 total employees, 100 are on its medical plan. Six
months into the first year, employees had 34 consultations, for a
34 percent use rate, Gambrell said.
The average wait for a call back is
seven minutes.
The Leader in
Complex Business Litigation
In a report from Teladoc, Gambrell said TNG potentially saved
$7,000 because its employees used
the service instead of visiting doctors or hospitals. TNG spent $4,000
on Teladoc, potentially saving $3,000
in avoided visits.
To estimate savings, Teladoc asks
each user what they would have
done if they did not call. Of the 34
consultations, 20 said they would
have gone to urgent care, eight to
their primary care doctor, two to the
ER. The other four would have
skipped getting care.
TNG’s top five diagnoses were upper respiratory infections, acute sinusitis, acute maxillary sinusitis and
skin rash. The top five prescriptions
were all antibiotics and smoking
cessation drugs.
“My hope is that next year employees will continue to use the program and it will increase,” Gambrell
said. “There is great benefit in getting diagnosed quickly and not affecting other employees, not missing more time from work. It is
awesome what they are doing. Most
people know their own bodies and
know when they are sick.”
For Spectrum Health, an integrated
delivery system with 12 hospitals, a
1,100-member medical group and a
managed care organization based in
Grand Rapids, the use of telemedicine services worked out extremely
well, said Joe Brennan, senior director with MedNow, Spectrum’s telemedicine program.
MedNow not only is offered to the
650,000 members of Priority Health,
but also to Spectrum’s 24,000 employees who choose Priority Health.
Spectrum recently has contracted
with two western Michigan employers to offer MedNow to their workforces and is talking with other employers, Brennan said.
MedNow’s top five calls are for
coughs, rashes, sore throats, sinus
pain and urinary pain, Brennan
said. The average return on investment, Brennan said, is $47 per employee per use.
“As an integrated system, we have
an advantage with telemedicine and
referrals,” said Brennan. “If a provider is not comfortable with prescribing they will offer an alternative and
direct (the patient) to the appropriate setting.”
For example, Brennan said a patient called into MedNow service
with flu symptoms and stomach
problems. The on-call physician listened carefully to the symptoms and
acted quickly.
“He had his gall bladder removed
that night,” Brennan said. “If MedNow was not available and he had
waited until Monday, it would have
ruptured.”
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene
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Full-time
Net
Net
Licensed equivalent Number of
revenue
revenue
bed
Michigan hospitals/
($000,000) ($000,000) Percent capacity/ employees ambulatory
2015
2014
change occupancy Jan. 2016
facilities Major facilities
Richard Gilfillan
president and CEO
$14,338.2
$13,399.8
7.0%
NA
NA
14,212
1
Trinity Health Michigan
20555 Victor Parkway, Livonia 48152
(734) 343-1000; www.trinity-health.org
8
25
Mercy Health Muskegon and its campuses: General, Hackley,
Lakeshore, Lakes Village, Mercy. Also Saint Joseph Mercy Health
System and its campuses in Ann Arbor, Chelsea, Oakland, and
Livonia
Nancy Schlichting
CEO
5,000.0
4,700.0
6.4
2,495
NA
15,374
2
Henry Ford Health System B
1 Ford Place, Detroit 48202
(800) 436-7936; www.henryford.com
6
103
Henry Ford Hospital and its campuses: Macomb, West Bloomfield,
Wyandotte and Kingswood, and Henry Ford Allegiance
Spectrum Health System
100 Michigan St. NE, Grand Rapids 49503
(616) 391-1382; www.spectrumhealth.org
Richard C. Breon
president and CEO
4,710.9
4,302.4
9.5
1,561
59.7
19,757
12
104
John Fox
Beaumont Health
2000 Town Center, Suite 1200, Southfield 48075 president and CEO
(248) 213-3333; www.beaumonthealth.org
4,111.8
3,953.7
4.0
3,337
69.9
26,190
8
168
Spectrum Health hospitals: Butterworth, Blodgett, Reed City,
United, Kelsey, Special Care, Gerber Memorial, Zeeland
Community, Helen DeVos Children's, Big Rapids, Ludington,
Pennock, Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion, Meijer Heart Center,
Tamarac Medical Wellness and Fitness Center, Wheatlake Cancer
Center
Beaumont hospitals in Dearborn, Farmington Hills, Grosse Pointe,
Royal Oak, Taylor, Trenton, Troy, and Wayne
McLaren Health Care Corp.
G3235 Beecher Road, Flint 48532
(810) 342-1100; www.mclaren.org
Philip Incarnati
president and CEO
3,500.0
2,903.0
20.6
3,096
NA
21,688
12
300
Ascension Michigan
28000 Dequindre Road, Warren 48092
www.ascension.org/michigan
Gwen MacKenzie
senior VP,
Ascension Health,
Michigan
3,364.4
3,284.6
2.4
3,273
64.8
20,252
14
200
University of Michigan Health System
(Michigan Health Corp.)
1500 E. Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor 48109
(734) 936-4000; www.med.umich.edu
Marschall Runge
EVP for medical
affairs
2,771.7
2,771.2
0.0
1,059
79.0
15,948
3
120
Detroit Medical Center
3990 John R, Detroit 48201
(313) 578-2442; www.dmc.org
Joseph Mullany
CEO
1,927.9
1,860.0
3.7
1,811
56.0
11,418
9
80
Sparrow Health System
1215 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing 48912
(517) 364-1000; www.sparrow.org
Dennis Swan
president and CEO
1,277.0
1,156.8
10.4
NA
NA
6,616
5
NA
Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit; Children's Hospital of
Michigan, Troy; Detroit Receiving Hospital; Harper University
Hospital; Hutzel Women's Hospital; Cardiovascular Institute;
Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan; Sinai-Grace Hospital; Huron
Valley Sinai Hospital.
Sparrow Hospital, Sparrow Ionia Hospital, Sparrow Clinton
Hospital, Sparrow Specialty Hospital
Diane PostlerSlattery
president and CEO
611.0
578.0
5.7
NA
NA
NA
10
MidMichigan Health
4005 Orchard Drive, Midland 48670
(969) 839-3301; www.midmichigan.org
5
NA
MidMichigan Medical Centers in Clare, Midland, Center-Gratiot,
Center-Gladwin
Ed Bruff
president and CEO
574.3
528.6
8.6
NA
NA
NA
2
NA
Covenant HealthCare
11
Covenant HealthCare
1447 N. Harrison, Saginaw 48602
(989) 583-0000; www.covenanthealthcare.com
Loren Hamel, M.D.
president and CEO
474.6
462.2
2.7
370
NA
3,216
12
Lakeland Health
1234 Napier Ave., St. Joseph 49085
(269) 983-8300; www.lakelandhealth.org
3
34
Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph; Lakeland Hospital in Niles
and Watervliet; Merlin and Carolyn Hanson Hospice Center,
Stevensville; Center for Outpatient Services; St. Joseph Pine Ridge:
A Rehabilitation and Nursing Center; Stevensville
Melany Gavulic
president and CEO
412.9
370.4
11.5
443
NA
2,700
1
NA
Hurley Medical Center
13
Hurley Medical Center
1 Hurley Plaza, Flint 48503
(810) 262-9000; www.hurleymc.com
Michael Faas
president and CEO
359.0
320.5
12.0
208
60.1
1,960
14
Metro Health
5900 Byron Center Ave. SW, Wyoming 49519
(616) 252-7200; www.metrohealth.net
1
42
Metro Health Southwest; Rockford; Cascade; Community Clinic;
Sports Medicine; Internal Medicine; MidTowne Ambulatory
Surgery Center; Metro Health Park East; and The Cancer Center at
Metro Health Village
Dale Sowders
president and CEO
222.3
222.0
0.2
189
48.6
1,514
1
10
Holland Hospital
15
Holland Hospital
602 Michigan Ave., Holland 49423
(616) 392-5141; www.hollandhospital.org
ProMedica Bixby Hospital
818 Riverside Ave. , Adrian 49221
(517) 265-0900; www.promedica.org/
contactbixbyhospital
Julie Yaroch
president
78.9
76.3
3.5
NA
NA
NA
1
NA
Bixby Hospital
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
16
Bay Region, Bay Special Care, Central Michigan, Greater Lansing,
Orthopedic, Lapeer Region, Clarkston, Flint, Macomb, Oakland,
Northern Michigan, Northern Michigan Cheboygan, Proton
Therapy Center, Port Huron, Karmanos Cancer Institute, McLaren
Home Care, McLaren Health Plan
St. John Hospital & Medical Center, Providence and Providence
Park Hospital, St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital, St. John River
District Hospital, Brighton Center for Recovery, Borgess Medical
Center, Borgess-Pipp Hospital, Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital,
Genesys Regional Medical Center, St. Mary’s of Michigan, St.
Mary’s of Michigan Standish and St. Joseph Health System
University Hospital, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Women's
Hospital, UM Cancer Center, UM Cardiovascular Center, UM
Depression Center, Kellogg Eye Center
This listing is an approximate compilation of the leading hospital companies based in Michigan. Revenue listed is net patient revenue plus other operating revenue. It is not a complete listing but the
most comprehensive available. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies directly or from state and federal filings. Companies with headquarters elsewhere are listed with
the address and top executive of their main Michigan office. NA = not available.
B On March 14, the boards of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System and Jackson-based Allegiance Health signed the final agreement to merge. On April 5, Allegiance Health's new name became
Henry Ford Allegiance Health.
LIST RESEARCHED BY SONYA D. HILL
11
12
SPECIAL REPORT: FINANCE
Sam Simon started Atlas Oil Co. in 1985 with a single truck. Today, it’s a $2 billion-a-year business headquartered in the historic former St. Clair Edison building in downtown Birmingham.
PHOTOS BY JACOB LEWKOW
INVESTING IN PEOPLE
Sam Simon considers deals for undervalued companies
with the same attitude that built his business
By Tom Henderson
thenderson@crain.com
Sam Simon, who launched Taylor-based Atlas Oil Co. in 1985 with a single truck and a credit card and built it
into a $2 billion-a-year fuel wholesaler,
is building a network of private equity
funds based in downtown Birmingham.
The funds operate as a family office for
Simon and five wealthy local families,
who requested anonymity. The funds
have raised $75 million in committed
capital and invest in a wide range of industries and companies, some in Simon’s
sweet spot of oil distribution and service-station management, others as far
from that as managing digital content
for political candidates and providing
modular classrooms for schools.
Simon said he began investing as a
de facto family office in 2006, but the
business began in earnest in 2013. In
2014, he formed Soaring Pine Capital as a
brand name under which to house a series of investment funds operating as
limited-liability corporations. (See related story, Page 13.)
Until then, Simon had raised money
from investors as needed to do deals, including dozens of single-asset LLCs. But
raising money on a deal-by-deal basis
was cumbersome, and so Simon began
raising larger pools of capital to have on
hand as potential deals arose. He has invested about a third of the $75 million.
Generally, the funds look to invest in
underperforming, undervalued companies, usually with revenue between $10
million and $100 million, where management can be brought in to turn things
around.
“The best investment opportunities
lie at the bottom of the pyramid,” said
Simon.
He said he approaches deals the
same way he grew Atlas Oil.
“When I started Atlas Oil, I had a passion for working hard and finding the
best people. I gave them the tools and
the freedom to do their jobs. I gave peo-
ple freedom to make mistakes. Now, I
want to invest in people who understand their businesses,” he said.
“I love investing in people. When I
started my business in 1985, if someone
had invested in me, think where they’d
be now. I’m looking for people who
want to start the next American dream.”
Simon, 52, was speaking from his office on the second floor of the historic former St. Clair Edison building on Pierce
Street. He bought the building in 2009 at
the bottom of the market. He lived nearby
and was looking for a showcase office
and, at a mile from his home, a much
shorter commute than the drive to Taylor.
He spent a lot of money — he declined to say how much — and it’s evident. The first floor is rented to a retailer, with Simon’s office an
eye-catching space complete with a
large wine cellar of exposed brick and
a large kitchen with a long, U-shaped
marble counter where he can offer
SEE SIMON, PAGE 13
Sam Simon spent $7 million on a complete
renovation and build-out of office space
at 335 E. Maple in downtown Birmingham.
13
SPECIAL REPORT: FINANCE
SIMON
FROM PAGE 12
lunches or dinners made by his personal chef to business partners or
those he is wooing.
Simon’s various private equity
funds and some of his portfolio
companies operate around the corner, in a four-story, even more
eye-popping
building
Simon
bought at 335 E. Maple Road. He
said he spent a total of $7 million on
the building and its complete
17,000-square-foot renovation, another year-and-a-half build-out that
was finished a few months ago.
Parts of floors were cut out to
open the space up and increase the
interior light. The fourth floor contains two bedrooms, not because
Simon wants to get into the individual apartment rental business, but
because Birmingham codes require
renovations of downtown buildings
to have residential on the top floor.
Sam Valenti III, executive chairman of Bloomfield Hills-based TriMas Corp. (Nasdaq: TRS) and president and CEO of Bloomfield
Hills-based wealth management
firm Valenti Capital LLC, had a bird’seye view of Atlas’ growth in the
1980s and 1990s. Valenti was then at
Taylor-based Masco Corp., leading
its acquisition strategy, which in the
course of 100 acquisitions grew the
business from annual revenue of
$10 million to almost $13 billion.
“Simon’s story is potent stuff. He
came to this country as an immigrant, with nothing,” said Valenti,
who said he has become friends
with Simon over the years.
Simon emigrated to the U.S. from
Iraq when he was 9. Though his
grandfather had owned a BP station
in Iraq, his father, Ramzi, had been in
the shoe business. But upon arriving
here, Ramzi went to work at a friend’s
gas station in Detroit at Six Mile and
Hoover. And promptly put his son to
work, too.
“I was pumping gas there when I
was 9. That's where I got my work
ethic,” said Simon. “My father got
me to understand how you dedicate
yourself to hard work. If you want
something, you have to go after it,
and never give up.”
“Sam is a throwback,” said Valenti.
“He’s a father figure for Atlas. He
knows his employees and their families. He works them hard, but he gives
them their freedom. He’s got a wildly
loyal crew of folks who surround
him.”
Simon's private equity team includes his brother, Victor, the executive vice president of real estate; Vice
President Paul Schapira, a longtime
area banker and investor who had
been Simon’s lender in the 1990s
while with the National Bank of Detroit; Michael Evans, an executive
vice president and COO who previously was president of Atlas Oil; and
Steve Rochowiak, vice president of
business strategy who formerly was
with the Ford family office.
As for Simon’s reputation as a
deal-maker, Valenti said: “He’s a force
of nature. If he puts his efforts behind
a project, it’s as good as done. ... He
doesn’t need a focus group to decide
what to do.”
Kevin Prokop, a managing partner at Detroit-based Rockbridge
Growth Equity LLC, one of Dan Gilbert’s family of companies, doesn’t
know Simon personally, but he
praised Simon’s investment strategy
of buying underperforming companies in areas where he has particular
expertise, then bringing in management to turn them around.
“It’s one of the trends in private
equity — trying to find opportunities where you have an edge, where
you have industry experience and
contacts,” said Prokop.
A successful example was the
MSB Energy Fund II LLC, which was
formed in September 2012 to purchase notes from Flagstar Bank on
four service stations — in Dundee,
Northville, Pontiac and Taylor — for
a total of $3.8 billion.
New property managers were
brought in and eventually bought
the stations. The last of the four stations was sold in June; investors
ended up making a profit of $2.2
million.
Lorient Capital LLC is a neighbor of
Simon’s on Pierce Street in downtown Birmingham. It is a family office with $250 million in capital
from co-founder Mark Mitchell,
who sold his majority interest in U.S.
Medical Management, a Troy-based
home care company he founded in
1993, to St. Louis-based Centene
Corp. for $200 million in 2014.
His partner and co-founder, David Berman, had an introductory
meeting with Simon and his investment team in July.
“We’ve begun to share opportunities with them, and we’re thinking
about potential investments we can
do together,” said Berman.
Vesta Modular Solutions Inc., one
of the Simon group portfolio companies based at 355 E. Maple, is an
example of finding the right operators and then backing them.
Before co-founding Vesta, its
CEO, Daniel McMurtrie had been
vice president and general manager
of Champion Home Builders Inc. in
Troy from 2008-2014; Vesta COO Billy Hall was chief estimator and construction manager at Champion.
Champion specialized in modular construction of hotels, apartments and single-family developments, and Vesta also has a focus on
the modular industry.
In July, it bought 76 modular
classroom units out of bankruptcy
in Florida and immediately leased
them to the schools.
Another example of partnering
with seasoned industry veterans is
Birmingham-based Tikoo Solutions
LLC, a new platform company of
Soaring Pine Capital Growth Fund I.
In May, Soaring Pine bought Chicago-based Technology Solutions
Inc., a provider of field services for
cable TV companies, and rolled it
into the new platform, run by CEO
Jerry McCoy and COO Bill Fenton.
The plan is to buy other providers
of field services for the cable industry.
“As you get a track record, more
and more people want to do deals
with you,” Evans said.
Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337
Twitter: @tomhenderson2
Simon grows network of investment vehicles
By Tom Henderson
Sam Simon’s Birmingham-based
private equity interests include
growing numbers of funds and
portfolio companies.
The various legal entities operate
under the brand of Simon Holdings
Group, which was created in 1985
with the founding of Taylor-based
Atlas Oil Co., which has grown into a
$2 billion-a-year company.
Simon Holdings operates as a
family office for the Simon family
and five other wealthy local families, who declined to be named.
Those families can invest in LLCs of
their choosing. In addition, other
families or high-net-worth individuals can invest in funds. The funds
have raised a total of $75 million in
committed capital so far, about a
third of that from Simon, who declined to specify specific funding
totals for most of the funds.
A new fund, the Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate and Debt Fund II LLC,
is raising money and has made its first
investment, and another new fund, U
Store Investment Fund II, is expected
to start fundraising in 90-180 days.
Next year, the Simon group plans
to start raising a second growth fund,
a $50 million private equity fund.
Here is a description of the growing network of investment vehicles:
n Fast Track Ventures LLC, the real
estate development arm of Atlas Oil,
which has managed the acquisition,
management and sale of more than
200 retail gas stations and convenience stores in the past 20 years.
n Lone Pine Investments, an umbrella under which there are 20 sin-
gle-asset LLCs.
n Soaring Pine Capital Growth
Fund I LLC, a private equity fund that
invests in operating companies.
n Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate
and Debt Fund I LLC, which buys nonperforming or distressed debt owed
by retail gas stations.
n Soaring Pine Capital Real Estate
and Debt Fund II LLC, which made its
first investment in May, a loan to an
experienced operator of multifamily housing units to help it buy the
Rouge Park Apartments in Detroit.
n U-Store Investment Fund I LLC,
which invests in self-storage facilities
in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Simon Holdings is a 43 percent
investor in the $7.5 million fund, with
an outside investor, Southfield-based
Bee Store Investment Fund I LLC, the
majority investor.
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14
DEALS &
DETAILS
ACQUISITIONS &
MERGERS
NSF International Inc., Ann Arbor,
which writes standards and tests
and certifies products for the food,
water, health sciences and
consumer goods industries,
acquired Euro Consultant Group,
Wavre, Belgium, a food safety and
quality service firm. Website: nsf.org.
RHP Properties Inc., Farmington
Hills, owner and operator of
manufactured home communities,
acquired the 263-site Rivermead
Home Community and 199-site
Colonial Home Community, both in
East Hartford, Conn.
Website: rhp-properties.com.
CONTRACTS
SunTel Services, Troy, a provider of
services for unified communication
networks, has partnered with
CarbonBlack/Bit 9 Inc., Cambridge,
Mass.; Simplivity, Westborough,
Mass.; and CyberArk, Newton,
Mass., for additional security to
enhance efforts to battle network
threats. Websites: suntel.com,
carbonblack.com, simplivity.com,
cyberark.com.
Q10 | Lutz Financial Services LLC,
Birmingham, a subsidiary of Lutz
Real Estate Investments, has opened
an office at One Campus Martius,
Suite 200, Detroit, formerly the
Compuware Building. Phone: (248)
432-3200. Website: q10lutz.com.
Valassis Communications Inc.,
Livonia, is working with Silvercrest
Advertising, Los Angeles, a media
Fourmidable Group Inc., Bingham
planning and buying provider, to
help business owners target
consumers with LMap, Silvercrest’s
localized media automation
platform. Websites: valassis.com,
silvercrestadvertising.com.
EXPANSIONS
SRG Global Inc., Troy, a subsidiary of
Guardian Industries Corp., a
manufacturer of coatings on plastic
for the automotive, commercial
truck and consumer goods
industry, is opening an Asia-Pacific
headquarters in Hong Kong. The
3,300-square-foot office space will
centralize its Asia-Pacific
management group. Website:
srgglobal.com.
Farms, a national real estate
company, has opened 64-unit
communities at Greenwood Place,
Algood, Tenn.; Raines East, Bolivar,
Tenn.; Rutledge Place, Morristown,
Tenn.; and Ware Park, Union City,
Tenn. Website: fourmidable.com.
and gluten free and will appear on
shelves in fall 2016. They are: Berry
Cherry, California Almonds,
California, Dark Chocolate,
Great Lakes, In-Shell Pistachios,
Naked, Premium Duet, Roasted
Pistachios, Simplicity, Wholesome
and Whole Cashews. Website:
secondnaturesnacks.com.
Acromag Inc., Wixom, a designer
MOVES
Rockind Law has moved its law
office from 28411 Northwestern
Highway, Suite 1150, Southfield, to
36400 Woodward Ave., Suite 210,
Bloomfield Hills. Phone: (248)
208-3801. Website: rockindlaw.com.
NEW PRODUCTS
Second Nature, a brand of Kar’s
Nuts, Madison Heights, announced
that 12 of its medleys are now
non-GMO verified, kosher certified
and manufacturer of industrial
electronics, measurement and
control products, announced the
APA7-200 series module that
provides a user-customizable
field-programmable gate array on
an AcroPack mezzanine.
Website: acromag.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.
ADVERTISEMENT SECTION
MANUFACTURING
TECHNOLOGY
PEOPLE:
SPOTLIGHT
St. Joseph Mercy names
Howell hospital chief
John O’Malley has been
appointed president of St.
Joseph Mercy
Livingston in
Howell,
officials for
St. Joseph
Mercy Health
System in
Ann Arbor
announced.
O'Malley,
John O’Malley
who will
begin duties Sept. 12, will
oversee operations of the
hospital and St. Joseph Mercy
Brighton health center. He will
report to Dave Brooks, CEO of
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor and
Livingston hospitals.
O'Malley previously was CEO
of Select Specialty Hospital,
located within St. Joseph Mercy
Ann Arbor. St. Joseph's health
facilities in Livingston County
are undergoing a $41 million
renovation to upgrade St.
Joseph Mercy Livingston
hospital and develop a center
for overnight stays at St. Joseph
Mercy Brighton.
Bierley new to lead
Learning Care Group
Novi-based Learning Care
Group Inc. named former
Borders
Group Inc.
BOARDS
Deanna S. Hatmaker
Board Member
Michigan Parkinson
Foundation
Deanna S. Hatmaker, Senior
Vice President of
Development and Strategic Performance for
Ulliance, Inc. has been elected to the
Michigan Parkinson Foundation Board of
Directors. She will serve alongside medical
and business professionals with the primary
focus of advancing the nonprofit
organization’s mission and programs
throughout the state. In addition to 15 years
of executive leadership, Hatmaker’s
involvement with the nonprofit will add to her
previous experience with Parkinson
organizations.
INSURANCE
Kari Bush
Sales Executive
TruAssure Insurance
Company
TruAssure Insurance
Company is pleased to
announce the hiring of Kari Bush, who will join
the company as sales executive for the
Northeast region. Bush will be responsible for
sales in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and Wisconsin. Bush brings over
a decade of business-to-business sales
experience to her role at TruAssure, along
with over fifteen years of experience with
group insurance plans.
executive
Mark Bierley
Pete Chryplewicz
Tariq Malik
Michigan Strategic Account Leader
Director Big Data & Advanced Analytics
Seegrid
Value Integration, LLC
Seegrid, the pioneer in vision guided
driverless vehicles, announces the addition
of Pete Chryplewicz. Chryplewicz joins the
strategic account sales team and will be
heading up the company’s Michigan
robotics initiative. Chryplewicz, a native to
Detroit and former Lions tight end, has over
15 years of manufacturing sales success.
Chryplewicz’s past employment
experience includes Irvin Automotive,
Plastech Engineering, Air Center and CCK
Construction Services.
FINANCE
Ray Gunn
Senior Managaing
Directror
Van Conway & Partners
Gunn has 36 years of
experience as a financial,
operating & business development executive,
including 28 years acting as the principal
architect in the formation, growth and IPO or
sale of more than 10 early-stage companies.
He was managing partner of Wingspan
Capital and CEO of MexAmerica Foods &
Clarity Technologies as well as CFO of
Somanetics. He was co-founder of First
Michigan Bank, now Talmer B&T. Gunn
currently serves on several boards including
Oakland University’s School of Business
Malik is responsible for the firm’s Big Data
& Advanced Analytics Division. His primary
focuses will be in the government,
automotive and utility industries. Malik has
over 21 years experience helping
governments improve service delivery using
innovative technologies, during which he
developed an extensive knowledge of big
data, data analytics, biometrics, smart
cards and innovative technologies. Previously
he was a government systems leader at
Teradata & Deputy CIO in Wayne County.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
provides an opportunity to
announce the selection, promotion,
appointment, leadership or role
responsibility expansion of an
employee, colleague or team member
across industries and sectors.
For more information or questions
regarding advertising in this section,
please call Lynn Calcaterra at
(313) 446-6086 or
email: lcalcaterra@crain.com
president
and COO.
Bierley,
49, assumed
the new
posts July 18.
Mark Bierley
He replaces
Erin Wallace, who is returning to
the hospitality industry, said a
news release from the for-profit
early education and child care
provider.
Bierley joined Learning Care
Group as CFO in 2012. Before
that, he was CFO and senior
vice president of The Pantry Inc.
and held several leadership
positions at now-defunct
Borders, including executive
vice president, CFO and COO.
Clark Hill absorbs
Axe & Ecklund firm
Clark Hill PLC has absorbed
the Axe & Ecklund PC municipal
finance boutique, taking the
two partners and some support
staff from the Grosse Pointe
firm into its Detroit office.
John Axe, who has practiced
more than 50 years as a bond
attorney and municipal lawyer,
has become senior counsel at
Clark Hill. Peter Ecklund, who
has been the lead attorney in
more than 300 municipal bond
and note offerings, started last
week as a partner.
CHURCH
“We’re replicating ... what
we do in Troy at other
campuses, with the same
marketing, teaching website
and music. It’s a bit like a
franchise model.”
FROM PAGE 3
Kensington’s co-founding pastors,
Steve Andrews, Mark Nelson and
Dave Wilson, remain with the church.
The church says the three are supported by a directional team, which
includes Gibbs and Kyle Nabors, executive director of the church.
“We’re replicating ... what we do in
Troy at other campuses, with the
same marketing, teaching, website
and music,” Gibbs said. “It’s a little bit
like a franchise model.”
Kensington is operating on a $19.3
million budget for fiscal 2017 that began in July, with the addition of Kensington Traverse City, Gibbs said. That’s
up from $17.3 million for 2016.
Founded in 1998, Bay Pointe had
operated a single nondenominational church on the 37-acre campus
since 2007. Its services drew about
1,000 people each weekend, said Nick
Twomey, the former senior pastor at
Bay Pointe and current teaching pastor at Kensington Traverse City. Its total membership was closer to a couple of thousand people, and it
operated on a budget of about $1.8
million for 2015 and 2016.
Kensington and Bay Pointe were
not identical, “but there was a strong
enough commonality on several levels (that a merger) made sense to me,”
Twomey said.
Following the merger, Kensington
hired 10 of Bay Pointe’s 23 employees
and brought eight new people on
board, including five part-time staff
ROCO
FROM PAGE 3
People do it right, absolutely. But
we don’t have that philosophy.”
Plus, when Roco first started, its
principals hadn’t yet built a name
for themselves, so they wouldn’t
have been able to tie down investors into a substantial fund.
But in a few years, that has
changed, and they now have a
16,000-unit portfolio under ownership and management — a far cry
from their portfolio of less than
2,000 units a few years ago.
But even though Roco isn’t considering raising a fund now, it isn’t
ruling out such an effort in the future.
“Never say never,” said Colman,
a 2014 Crain’s 20 in their 20s honoree.
Expanding portfolio
Roco — which Colman started
with his brother, Michael, and
brothers Tyler and Evan Ross (a silent partner and opera singer) — is
growing at a furious clip, with plans
to continue its growth in the next 18
months.
Since April 2013, when the company had just 1,800 apartment
units in its portfolio, Roco has ballooned to almost 16,000 units in
properties spread across 10 states.
By the end of this year, its portfolio is expected to grow to 17,500
based on deals in the pipeline, and
David Colman said he expects to
add 4,000 more units next year,
bringing it to about 21,500 by the
15
CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
August 15, 2016
Greg Gibbs, Kensington Church
members, said Melissa Thwing, Kensington development communications coordinator.
It’s now in the midst of a $750,000
renovation to upgrade the Traverse
City church’s auditorium with new
conventional and intelligent lighting,
staging and curtains, a new coffee
area in the lobby and renovations to
the small-group rooms for children.
In total, Kensington is investing $1.2
million in the Traverse City church,
with staff and other transition costs,
Gibbs said.
The Troy-based church is funding
the cost of opening its northern Michigan campus as part of a $30 million
campaign it took public in the spring
after a silent phase launch in the fall.
To date, it has pledges for $22 million,
most made for a three-year-period,
Gibbs said.
A portion of the campaign funds
will also go toward constructing a $14
million, 57,000-square-foot facility on
land at Hall Road and I-94 to serve as
a permanent site for its Clinton Township campus, which is now operating
at the John R. Armstrong Performing
Arts Center. The facility will serve as a
permanent hub from which Kensing-
ton plans to launch other churches
that make a worldwide impact, it said.
Kensington is waiting until more
pledges are fulfilled in the campaign
before setting a timeline for construction of the Clinton Township campus,
Thwing said.
The campaign will also fund $3
million in deferred maintenance
and/or capital improvements at the
Birmingham, Troy and Orion campuses, $3 million toward a down payment on a permanent location in Birmingham, and $1 million worth of
investments at its temporary campuses in Shelby Township, Clarkston
and Orlando. Another $4 million will
be split between global and local outreach, new campuses and church
planting in other parts of the country,
information technology and website
updates, new signage and other projects, Gibbs said.
Kensington raised $18.5 million
during its last campaign, between
2008 and 2012.
The new Orion campus, one of the
projects that campaign funded, today has 4,500 members, Gibbs said.
end of 2017.
know it is because they have been
around this for a while and they
have been researching,” Beznos
said.
David Colman said his company
focuses on off-market deals for underperforming properties in what
he describes as “tertiary markets,”
such as San Marcos, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; and
Euclid, Ohio. In Michigan, Roco
owns apartment complexes in Jackson, Lansing, Flint, Traverse City,
Clinton Township, Melvindale,
Chesterfield Township, Roseville,
Southfield, Kalamazoo, Warren,
New Baltimore, Davison, Wayne,
Grand Rapids and Westland.
“With the high returns we are
giving our investors, it’s very tough
to do that in New York City or Chicago because you’re buying at such a
low (capitalization) rate,” Colman
said, referring to a rate of return on
a real estate investment.
He said Roco’s portfolio has a
$750 million fair market value.
And it plans to stay almost exclusively dedicated to multifamily real
estate.
“The only other deal we’ve done
outside of multifamily is this deal,”
Colman said in his office in the
Governor’s Place office building off
Woodward Avenue in Bloomfield
Hills, of which Roco is a part owner
and where it has built out its space
from a modest first-floor office to
10,000 square feet across two floors
in the building.
“It’s enticing to do others, but we
are staying focused.”
Managing properties
Six months ago, the company
formally started its property management branch, Roco Management
LLC, which swelled its payroll from
10 to about 400.
At the heart of the move is ensuring that its ownership portfolio of
85 properties is well maintained,
thereby helping maintain or improve rental and occupancy rates
and in turn, an annualized return of
10 percent-plus to investors, David
Colman said.
“Your property manager, your
leasing agent, your maintenance
supervisor, your maintenance technician — those are what will make
or break you in this industry,” David
Colman said.
None of its 85 properties, a third
of which are in Michigan with about
6,500 units, will be managed by
third-party companies.
The property management division is a natural course of action for
a growing multifamily company,
said Samuel Beznos, CEO of Farmington Hills-based Beztak Cos.
“When you get to a certain size,
it’s easier to control your own portfolio if you have your own management company,” said Beznos,
whose firm owns and manages
about 13,000 apartment units in
roughly 50 properties throughout
Michigan, six other states and
Washington, D.C.
“Long term, it’s probably the
right decision if they plan on being
in this business for a long time, but
it’s a big undertaking, which they
Sherri Welch: (313) 446-1694
Twitter: @sherriwelch
Kirk Pinho: (313) 446-0412
Twitter: @kirkpinhoCDB
Page 15
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16
ELECTION
FROM PAGE 1
Federal Election Commission records.
But Michigan business groups
mostly are staying out of the fray.
That includes Business Leaders for
Michigan, the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Small Business Association of Michigan, whose leaders said
they generally don’t endorse presidential candidates.
“I think there’s certain elements
of each one of the candidates that
are appealing and certain elements
of both candidates that the business
community in general probably
finds terrifying, and that’s why you
don’t see a lot of business leaders
just kind of saying, ‘I’m with Trump’
or ‘I’m with Clinton,’” said Sandy
Baruah, president and CEO of the
Detroit chamber.
Executives he has talked to appear to be split, Baruah said, with
two-thirds having “found a way” to
vote for Trump or Clinton and a
third either undecided or planning
a write-in vote. Trump pitched tax
simplification, which corporate
leaders support in concept, Baruah
said, though Clinton “provides stability.” The main reason he said he
has heard for business support of
Trump is the likelihood the next
president will appoint a U.S. Supreme Court justice to replace Antonin Scalia, who died in February.
“Under normal times, I find business leaders for the most part willing
to ... state publicly who they’re voting
for and why,” he said. “This year, ob-
viously, it’s very, very different.”
Some leaders in the region heard
from the candidates first-hand last
week; Southeast Michigan was the
backdrop for both major-party presidential candidates as they unveiled
their respective economic agendas
during campaign stops, outlining
their disparate views of American
tax and trade policies.
On Aug. 8, Trump stood at a lectern at Cobo Center in Detroit, where
he proposed massive business tax
cuts to 1,500 members and guests of
the Detroit Economic Club and threatened to pull the U.S. out of global
trade deals if the terms aren’t renegotiated. The crowd of business executives cheered his tax proposal,
though the response from Detroit
appeared more tepid concerning
trade.
Clinton took a different tack than
the New York businessman; she
stumped Thursday at a tooling and
engineering firm in Warren, surrounded by workers and an invite-only crowd of 500. She proposed imposing an “exit tax” on
companies that move their profits
overseas while investing in infrastructure projects and offering tax
credits to encourage corporate profit-sharing and skilled trades apprenticeships.
Clinton also formally took a stand
against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying: “I will stop any trade
deal that kills jobs or holds down
wages.” Trump also opposes the TPP.
That Trump and Clinton chose
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bolic, several political analysts said,
especially since they easily could
have chosen to give the speeches in
the Rust Belt swing states of Ohio
and Pennsylvania.
It could signal that Michigan will
be significant come November,
though that’s especially true for
Trump, who is trailing in recent
polls and whose campaign believes
it needs to win Michigan to help secure victory for the GOP in the general election. State and national political observers, though, have
Michigan leaning or likely Democratic. The state hasn’t gone for a Republican presidential candidate
since George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Clinton also has a commanding
lead in the fundraising race; she has
taken in $2.7 million from Michigan
donors, compared with roughly
$242,000 for Trump, FEC records
show.
Neither campaign commented
on the record for this story.
“There is symbolism that you
can’t overlook” about choosing to
talk about jobs in Detroit, said Geoffrey Skelley, a political analyst with
the University of Virginia Center for
Politics in Charlottesville, Va.
Economic differences
In May, a poll of 300 business
owners and managers commissioned by Crain’s and law firm Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
found low support for both Clinton
and Trump. Roughly one-third of respondents had a favorable opinion
of both candidates, while Clinton
was more unpopular (a 61 percent
unfavorable rating) than Trump (55
percent).
If the election were held that day,
41 percent of survey respondents
would vote for Trump, while 36 percent would pick Clinton. Nearly a
quarter were undecided.
John Rakolta Jr., chairman and
CEO of Walbridge Aldinger Co., introduced Trump and his running mate,
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, for the
Detroit Economic Club during last
week’s event at Cobo Center.
Rakolta, the Trump campaign’s
Michigan finance chairman, said he
supports the Republican nominee
and said he believes his economic
plan “has far more probability of being successful and returning the
economy back to a growth rate that
would, in almost all cases, substantially help the middle class.”
Here’s how the two nominees
compare on the economy:
n Tax policy: Trump would cut the
corporate income tax rate from 35
percent to 15 percent, an effort to
discourage companies from shifting
their profits overseas, a practice
known as corporate inversion.
Trump also would reduce the number of income tax brackets from seven to three and eliminate a carried
interest deduction and the estate
tax. Clinton would implement what
her campaign calls a “fair share surcharge” on millionaires’ income to
make sure that tax breaks don’t disproportionately favor the wealthy,
and charge an “exit tax” to companies that choose to move profits
overseas, where they are untaxed.
n Higher education: Clinton supports making college debt-free.
Trump did not mention higher education or job training during his Detroit address.
n Wages: Clinton supports a higher,
“living” federal minimum wage.
Trump did not mention wages in his
Detroit address.
n Child care: Trump would allow all
Americans to fully deduct the average cost of child care on their income taxes. Clinton proposes 12
weeks of paid family and medical
leave and expanding access to affordable child care, including by expanding a child tax credit.
n Carbon emissions: Trump would
end the “Obama-Clinton war on
coal,” which he claimed cost the
U.S. 50,000 jobs, by reinvesting in
coal mines. Clinton supports reducing carbon and methane emissions
by investing in clean energy, while
pushing for guaranteed health and
pension benefits for miners who
worked for now-bankrupt coal
companies.
Stand on trade
In a relatively new move, Clinton
came out against the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade deal, after initially
supporting it early in the campaign.
Charles Ballard, an economist at
Michigan State University, said while
Clinton did not spend a lot of time
elaborating on her decision to withdraw support for TPP, it stood out in
her speech Thursday.
“She used to be in favor of it, but
pressure from both (Bernie) Sanders and Trump caused her to change
her mind,” Ballard said. “She was
under a lot of pressure to clarify
that, and she did.”
The accord is designed to level
the playing field for trade among the
nations by opening trade and creating consistent environmental and
labor standards. For U.S. exporters,
the TPP would make 18,000 tariffs
disappear.
But for Southeast Michigan’s automotive industry — which dominates the list of the state’s largest exporters — the headline-grabbing
figure is unlikely to move the needle
much on trade, as Crain’s reported
in October. That’s partly because the
economics of manufacturing have
changed. Over the past two decades, the industry has pushed hard
to build parts where the final product is sold. That shift is not only to
avoid tariffs but, more importantly,
to avoid exchange rate fluctuations
during shipment and excessive
freight costs.
The TPP would affect trade in as
much as 40 percent of the world
economy. TPP countries include the
U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New
Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. It is expected to boost the
world economy by $223 billion per
year, or about 0.3 percent of last
year’s global GDP, by 2025, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington,
D.C., think tank.
However, U.S. companies aren’t
expected to feel the greatest economic impact, according to the
study. Some business groups have
come out in favor of the agreement,
while some big companies aren't
satisfied that it will expand trade op-
portunities.
Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. is
not supporting the accord. In January, Ford said it would close all operations this year in Japan and Indonesia because it saw “no reasonable
path to profitability” in the two
countries.
Ford CEO Mark Fields told
Bloomberg last month that TPP did
not do enough to prevent currency
manipulation from Japan, so it
would not support the agreement.
“We’re against TPP not because
we’re against free trade; we’ve been
free traders forever,” Fields told
Bloomberg. “But when you look at
some of the countries like Japan —
they have (manipulated currency)
in the past, and we just want to
make sure we’re competing on a level playing field.”
Both presidential candidates
now support walking away from
TPP, though Clinton has not gone as
far as Trump, who also is calling for
renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Clinton said Thursday she would
hire a “chief trade prosecutor” and
triple the number of enforcement
officers to crack down on countries
that break the rules, even proposing
targeted tariffs on bad actors.
“The auto companies, in particular, are in a really tough spot, because (Trump has) directly gone after Ford and he’s made the assertion
that he’s going to force them to close
their plants overseas and bring the
jobs back,” said Susan Demas, editor/publisher of Lansing-based political newsletter Inside Michigan
Politics.
“When he talks about trade, they
are really affected if he were to make
good on that sort of bombastic rhetoric,” Demas said. “I’m not sure that
it would be terribly easy for a lot of
executives at the Big Three to fully
board the Trump train, but other
business executives — I think a lot
of them, frankly — are willing to roll
the dice despite his many, many
drawbacks.”
One other possible hurdle for the
auto industry: Trump called for a
temporary moratorium on new regulations under his presidency. What
remains unknown is whether this
includes new regulations from the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which dictates the use
and rules for new automotive technology. The industry has spent billions on new technology, such as
autonomous driving, that are awaiting final rules from NHTSA.
Richard Wallace, director of
transportation systems analysis for
the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, said any plan to
curtail future NHTSA regulations
will impede road safety.
“On the safety side, I have some
strong concerns,” Wallace said.
“Given that we do not yet have a (vehicle-to-vehicle communication)
mandate, and perhaps still won’t by
2017, this could fall under such a
moratorium and that could jeopardize rollout of cooperative active
safety and ultimately cost lives .”
Lindsay VanHulle: (517) 657-2204
Twitter: @LindsayVanHulle
Senior reporter Dustin Walsh contributed to this report.
17
I-75
FROM PAGE 1
do,” said Rob Morosi, a spokesman
for MDOT.
Those Band-Aids have been getting pretty expensive for MDOT over
the years. Maintenance expenditures on the 18-mile stretch of I-75
increased from $1.1 million in 2012
to $1.9 million in 2016. Morosi said
the cost-effectiveness of maintaining the freeway instead of reconstructing it just did not make sense
anymore. This portion of I-75 sees a
daily traffic volume of 103,000174,000, one of the highest in the
state, according to MDOT. Some 90
percent of costs for the project will go
toward replacing what exists today.
The 18-mile portion of I-75 is one
of the most dangerous stretches of
highway in the state, according to
MDOT. The area had the highest fatal and severe injury crash rate of
any comparable highway in the
state during a 2010-2014 study by
MDOT: More than 1,000 total crashes per year, of which 52 percent
were rear-end collisions, which Morosi said indicates that the highway
is over capacity and needs to be updated to today’s traffic volumes.
I-75 was built from 1957 to 1973
and has not received any major updates like this since.
To combat the growing congestion, a High Occupancy Vehicle lane
will be created, the first in Michigan,
which only cars with two or more
people can use during peak hours.
But don’t expect to be able to use it
anytime soon. There is a federal minimum length that an HOV lane must
be before it can be used, and while it
will be built in the first segment of
the project, it won’t be open for use
until after the 2020 segment is completed and the two segments are
connected.
During his State of the County address in February, Oakland County
Executive L. Brooks Patterson said
the project will be good for the county’s economy.
“Adding a fourth lane … will have
a significant impact on commerce
and driver convenience,” Patterson
said. “Companies support this modernization and will see their employees in safer commutes.”
While this extensive and costly reconstruction project should ultimately benefit the area and make
transportation quicker and easier, it
will cause a lot of short-term pain to
the many businesses along the I-75
corridor.
Crain’s surveyed its database of
companies, asking how the construction would affect their businesses. Some said they would not see
much of a difference and would not
make a long-term plan to deal with
the project. One company spokesperson, who requested to remain
anonymous, said the impact on their
business would be “substantial. Oakland County needs (I-)75 to survive!”
“My associates will not work as
hard to grow our practice because
they cannot get around without
burning an entire day,” the spokesperson said. “I expect business to decline.”
Some businesses said they would
try to incorporate more videoconfer-
ence meetings during the construction period. Others said they might
try using flexible work hours to avoid
an even more congested rush hour.
Perhaps more important are the delays in deliveries that could disrupt
supply chains.
“Customers will not want to drive
through construction-delayed areas,
and internal deliveries of product
will take more time (increasing our
costs),” said another business
spokesperson.
Diane DeForest, a spokesperson
for Automation Alley, a technology
business association with nearly
1,000 members in Southeast Michigan, said it expects the construction
to affect about half its employees.
The group will encourage them to
use an app called Waze, a map ser-
vice that shows the fastest routes
based on real-time feedback from
other users, to find the best way to
get around the construction.
Rosemary Gilchrist, chief administrative officer of Giarmarco, Mullins
and Horton P.C. in Troy, said the impact on her business would be mostly with employees changing their
schedules to either come in earlier
and leave earlier or vice versa. Even
though she said there will be some
pains, Gilchrist is on board with the
project.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s
great, but you have to go through the
growing pains. We have to be flexible,” she said. “If we’re ever going to
address the infrastructure problem,
it has to happen now.”
Morosi said that sometimes major
construction projects actually help
businesses located on nearby surface streets because of the increase
in cars that avoid the highway or are
forced into detours.
“Every road construction project
we do has an impact … but the businesses on the local roads sometimes
see an increase in traffic,” said Morosi. “It depends on type of business
and location.”
A formal detour is expected to be
put in sometime during the project,
most likely routing drivers to Woodward Avenue or Telegraph Road.
An environmental study was
launched in 2002 by MDOT to explore ways to reconstruct the highway in the most environmentally
friendly way possible, which was approved in 2006 by the FHWA. In 2009,
MDOT completed its engineering report of the area from 12 Mile to M-59,
and in 2010 the area from Eight Mile
to 12 Mile. The department then had
to go back and do an environmental
re-evaluation in 2015, which was approved by FHWA in 2016.
The general contractor for the
project is Shelby Township-based
Dan’s Excavating Inc.; Walled Lakebased C.A. Hull is the bridge contractor; Ajax Paving in Troy is responsible
for paving.
There is an incentive capped at 30
days, $100,000 per day for an early
opening of the highway in an effort
to speed up work. MDOT also has a
five-year warranty on the pavement,
so if anything goes wrong within that
time, the contractors will be responsible for paying for it.
“HOW CAN BEING
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18
SPORTS
FROM PAGE 3
were for men’s college wrestling
championships in 2019-22 (with
UM as the host school) and the
men’s “Frozen Four” hockey championship (with MSU as host). Those
events would also be at Little Caesars Arena.
The commission also is seeking
the Division I men’s and women’s
golf championships at Oakland’s
Katke Cousins Golf Course in 2018-22.
Last year, the sports commission
came up short in its bid for the 2019
college football national championship game at Ford Field, but this time
is applying for the Division II and III
football championships in 2018-21
there. The host schools would be
WSU and Adrian.
The commission said it is proposing a championship football weekend at Ford Field with the Division II
and III football championships
played on the same days.
Other championships applied for
Friday included Division II softball,
Division II men’s and women’s golf,
Division III baseball, Division III
wrestling, and the college women’s
bowling and mixed-gender fencing
championships. Various years were
sought for each sport.
The Division III baseball championship would be played in 2019 at
the former Tiger Stadium site that’s
now being turned into Detroit PAL’s
INDEX TO COMPANIES
These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business:
AccessPoint .......................................................... 4
Michigan Department of Transportation .......... 1
Atlas Oil ........................................................... 12, 13
Residential Home Health ...................................10
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan .................... 4
Roco Real Estate ....................................................3
CoStaff Services LLC ............................................ 4
Simon Holdings Group ........................................ 13
Detroit Sports Commission .................................3
Spectrum Health .................................................10
DTE Energy ..............................................................5
Tikoo Solutions .................................................... 13
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP ........ 9
TNG Worldwide ..................................................... 8
Kensington Church ...............................................3
Trion Solutions ...................................................... 4
Lorient Capital LLC .............................................. 13
Vesta Modular Solutions .................................... 13
Marsh & McLennan .......................................... 8, 9
Willie Horton Field.
The sports commission has successfully sought an array of college
and amateur events since the organization was launched in 2005.
Among them have been the
Mid-American Conference football
championship from 2004 through
the present; the 2009 NCAA men’s
basketball Final Four; the 2010
NCAA men’s Frozen Four; the 2015
Big Ten Conference men’s hockey
tournament; and, beginning earlier
this year, the Horizon League’s men’s
basketball tournament. It also has
brought wrestling, bowling, gymnastics, skating and volleyball
events.
The commission also organizes
the annual Prep Kickoff Classic at the
start of each high school football
season. The event began in 2005,
and today is played at WSU. Last
year’s seven games drew 14,504
fans.
The Detroit Sports Commission
was launched in 2001 and was
known until 2008 as the Detroit Metro Sports Commission. It markets the
city for amateur and college sporting events, acts as a go-between for
media and corporate relations, and
provides organizational services.
The commission is a 501(c)(3) non-
profit subsidiary of the Detroit Metro
Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“The process was very extensive,
but exciting to be a part of,” Dave
Beauchnau, Detroit Sports Commission executive director, said in a
statement. “The effort put in from
our team, the host institutions and
our local sports organizations was
tremendous, and we’re proud of this
collaborative effort as well as the future effect it could have on our community.”
Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626
Twitter: @bill_shea19
BANKRUPTCIES
The following businesses filed for
protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
in Detroit Aug. 5-11. Under Chapter
11, a company files for reorganization.
n Eight Mile Holdings LLC, 971 E.
Eight Mile Road, Hazel Park, voluntary Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities not available.
n United Metal Holdings LLC, 1401
Woodland Ave., Detroit, voluntary
Chapter 11. Assets and liabilities not
available.
CHRIS EHRMANN
www.crainsdetroit.com
Editor-in-Chief Keith E. Crain
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or mkramer@crain.com
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(313) 446-1626 or bshea@crain.com
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or lvanhulle@crain.com
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Marketing and Event Director Kim Winkler
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CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS ISSN # 0882-1992 is published
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136760444. Printed in U.S.A.
Contents copyright 2016 by Crain Communications Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content in
any manner without permission is prohibited.
WEEK
Motor City
Brewing plans
Livernois site
A
fter a yearlong search, Motor
City Brewing Works co-owners
John Linardos and Dan Scarsella
have chosen a historic building on
Livernois along Detroit’s Avenue of
Fashion for their second location.
The owners of the Midtown
brewery plan to open their new
location next summer in a
2,000-square-foot space in the
former Hunter Supper Club
building. It will be joined by Slyde,
a fast casual, gourmet slider
restaurant.
COMPANY NEWS
nIntending to bring the $32
million Element Detroit at the
Metropolitan Building extended-stay
hotel to downtown, Metropolitan
Hotel Partners finalized the
purchase of the Metropolitan
Building at 33 John R with the
Downtown Development Authority.
n Macy’s Inc., the nation’s largest
department store chain, announced plans to close about 100
stores next year but did not say
which. Macy’s has 20 Michigan
stores, 11 in metro Detroit.
Meanwhile, Meijer Inc. opened a
150,000-square-foot store in Flat
Rock, the last of nine supercenters
for the Grand Rapids-based chain
to open this year.
n Former Visteon Corp. President-CEO Tim Leuliette appeared
to win an early round in litigation
with his former employer after a
federal judge agreed to temporarily
halt the Van Buren Township auto
supplier’s lawsuit against him in a
severance pay dispute.
n Southfield-based Lear Corp.
renamed its electrical business
segment E-Systems to better reflect
the complexity of its automotive
ON THE WEB
AUG. 6-12
Detroit Digits
A numbers-driven look at last
week's headlines:
$22 million
The amount given by the Toyota
Research Institute in a deal
with the University of Michigan
to boost research and
development in artificial
intelligence, autonomous driving
and robotics over the next four
years.
$9.5 million
The estimated cost of parking
structure projects planned by
Cobo Center, which would give it
another 550 parking spaces.
11
The number of consecutive years
that attendance at the Detroit
Zoo has surpassed 1 million
visitors. The mark was reached
nearly three weeks earlier than
last year, officials said.
electrical systems.
n Detroit-based senior day care
and health services program PACE
Southeast Michigan is expanding
services in Oakland County and
has opened a new center in
Southfield to replace its Detroit
Northwest center.
n Revenue for Detroit’s three
casinos — MGM Grand Detroit,
MotorCity Casino-Hotel and
Greektown Casino-Hotel — rose 9.1
percent in July compared to June,
said the Michigan Gaming Control
Board, but year-to-date aggregate
revenue was relatively flat.
n New York City-based Delta Air
Lines, Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s
largest carrier, canceled more than
2,000 flights around the world and
delayed thousands more after a
computer outage.
n Detroit-based Crain Communications Inc. shut down its Business
Insurance brand. The 49-year-old
trade publication’s last issue was
published Aug. 1, and its website
ceased updates last week.
OTHER NEWS
n Nearly a half-acre of property
in Detroit’s Brush Park will go up
for auction Sept. 19-21. The
starting bid is $500,000 for the
Brush Lofts LLC-owned properties:
the 19,000-square-foot building at
435 Division St., the 2,500-squarefoot building at 2711 Beaubien St.,
and vacant parcels at 2717 and
2725 Beaubien.
n A condominium development
with 42 residences is slated for
downtown Rochester on the site of
the 136-year-old Rochester Elevator
Co. grain elevator building. The
building could be moved across the
street from its location at 412 Water
St., or disassembled and then
reassembled in the municipal park.
n Michigan’s plan to bail out the
troubled Detroit Public Schools is
putting debt backed by state aid at
risk of falling into default if the
bonds aren’t refinanced by
mid-October, Bloomberg reported.
Ratings have been slashed twice by
S&P Global Ratings since late June
on the district’s debt by a total of
six levels to junk. Meanwhile,
Steven Rhodes, the retired judge
who handled Detroit’s bankruptcy,
told the Detroit Free Press he plans
to stay as state-appointed DPS
transition manager until January.
n The median home sale price
in metro Detroit in July increased
6.7 percent to $175,000 when
compared year over year, Farmington Hills-based Realcomp Ltd. II
reported. That’s also up from
$173,000 in June this year. However, home and condo sales remained flat in July in the region
when compared to a year ago, with
a 1.4 percent increase to 5,685
units sold.
n A food service worker at Social
Kitchen and Bar in Birmingham was
identified as being infected with
hepatitis A, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
AARON ECKELS
High-end sporting goods like this copper-plated bicycle will be made at Williamson
Goods, a sports equipment manufacturing company to launch in Detroit next
month. Shawn Ward, a Detroit native who founded the Brooklyn-based Ward &
Fifth Consulting for startups and early-stage companies, broke the news during
the kickoff of the Detroit Homecoming III event last week at the Museum of
Contemporary Art. He also announced the opening of an Eastern Market office of
his consulting company and a business development initiative, Urban Future
Program-Detroit.
said. People who consumed food
or drinks at the restaurant between
July 16 and Aug. 6 may have been
exposed to the virus, officials said.
n The Detroit Police Department’s
canine unit will receive added field
protection with the donation of
five bullet-resistant vests. The
vests, which cost about $1,000
each, were donated by Cindy Pasky,
president and CEO of Detroit-based Strategic Staffing
Solutions.
OBITUARIES
n Ernest Lofton, a former United
Auto Workers vice president who was
the first African-American to direct
the union’s National Ford Department for Dearborn-based Ford
Motor Co., died Aug. 4. He was 84.
19
RUMBLINGS
Law firm builds case
for cloud-based growth
L
aw firm FisherBroyles LLP is
startups and smaller companies in
expanding in the Michigan
need of top-rate advising, those
market.
that couldn’t afford his services
In April, attorney Michael Khoury
previously. He said his services are
left Southfield-based Jaffe, Raitt,
now closer to $300 or $400 an hour,
Heuer & Weiss PC after 12
as opposed to $500 or
years to join FisherBroyles
more at traditional firms in
— which doesn’t have a
Detroit.
Lance Gable, associate
Michigan office.
dean at the Wayne State
In fact, it doesn’t have
University Law School, said
any offices.
the FisherBroyles model
The firm bills itself as
can be challenging, but
the nation’s first “cloudcould be a model for future
based” law firm. Its 150
firms.
attorneys, across 20 U.S.
“It’s intriguing and in
markets, leverage technol- Michael Khoury
some ways isn’t surprising
ogy to operate indethat law firms are joining a more
pendently from the traditional law
decentralized model like other
firm model in an effort to provide
industries are trying,” Gable said.
more cost-effective rates to clients.
“However, there are challenges. Can
“Large overhead doesn’t do
much as far as value proposition for they maintain a cohesive culture
and support the business-side
clients,” Khoury said. “Office space
challenges?”
is one of the biggest expenses for
Khoury said the firm believes
law firms. In New York, for instance,
Michigan to be a growth market
I would have to bill $1,000 an hour
and it has plans to expand next
to cover overhead. That’s a tough
year. It employs three attorneys in
sell for a lot of companies.”
the state and four others in the
Khoury said he joined FisherMidwest licensed to practice here.
Broyles so he could work with
New league of ex-NBA players targets Detroit
Former Detroit Pistons player
Mark Aguirre was chosen last week
as the president of basketball
operations for a startup summer
league that features former NBA
players and intends to have a
Detroit team by 2017.
Details about the Detroit club are
to be released by end of this year.
Aguirre, 56, was with the
Pistons from 1989 to 1993 and
won a pair of NBA titles in Detroit.
Now he’s the top basketball
recruiter and in charge of game
logistics for the New York Citybased Champions Basketball League,
the new organization said in a
statement. Aguirre also played for
the Dallas Mavericks and L.A.
Clippers and was an assistant
coach with the New York Knicks and
Indiana Pacers.
The new league says it will begin
play this summer with an exhibition season, and in 2017 will play a
July-August schedule with 16 teams
— including a Detroit squad that
has yet to be formed. Teams will
play 14 games each, and a championship game would be played in
September in Las Vegas.
“A Detroit team will be formed
for the 2017 season,” league
chairman and CEO Carl George said
last week in an email to Crain’s.
“The ownership group and venue
have both been under development and will be announced in the
fourth quarter of this year.” It’s not
clear to whom the league has talked
regarding ownership.
Only one team, the New
York-based Gotham Ballers, led by
team President Walt Frazier and Earl
“The Pearl” Monroe as general
manager, has been announced.
Inventev seeks backers to open Detroit center
Inventev LLC, a TechTown Detroit
tenant that is developing and
marketing a mobile power-generation system for work trucks, is
seeking financial partners for its
quest to open a vehicle development center in Detroit.
The startup is submitting a
proposal to the U.S. Department of
Energy on Aug. 29 for the plan,
which it is calling the Detroit
Advanced Vehicle Integration
Center. Inventev is seeking a $4.5
million grant but needs matching
support from new equity partners,
project funding, in-kind support,
economic development incentives
or other sources.
Dave Stenson, Inventev’s founder
and CEO, said the company would
use the center to take its product to
market, but also serve as a home for
software developers and other
startups breaking into the automotive market.
“We think establishing a vehicle
development hub downtown
would be unique,” Stenson said.
“We hope it could start out small
and expand into a large development space for others.”
If Inventev achieves its matching
support, the DOE would notify the
company whether it is awarding
the grant in spring 2017. It received
a $500,000 DOE grant in January.
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No biz consensus - Crain`s Detroit Business

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