vol. 25, no. 27 july 13 – 19, 2009

BY TOM HENDERSON

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Two Ann Arbor-based high-techs, both University of Michiganspinoffs, closed on funding roundslast week that backers say leavethem poised for financial successafter years of struggle toward com-mercialization.

NanoBio Corp. announcedWednesday that it got $10 millionto complete a Series B investmentround of $22 million. The first $12million was announced in Febru-ary. Accuri Cytometers Inc. will an-nounce today that it got $4 million.

Both companies have a historyof successful fundraising.

NanoBio has raised about $52million in venture capital andabout another $38 million from awide range of federal grants. Ac-curi has raised $27 million in angeland VC funding.

Accuri will use its money toramp up manufacturing of its cy-tometers — devices that automatethe process of cell analysis for re-searchers — and to beef up globalmarketing and sales. It recentlyopened an operation in Cam-bridge, England, to direct Euro-pean sales. It builds its cytometers

in Ann Arbor and plans to doubleits 15 manufacturing employees to30 in the next 12 to 18 months.

Its backers hope that this recentround of funding has the same suc-cess a similar round of funding at asimilar stage of company develop-ment had with another UM spinoff,Ann Arbor-based HealthMedia Inc., aWeb-based wellness company thatwas sold last year to Johnson & John-son for more than $100 million.

Accuri exceeded revenue projec-tions last year, is off to a good startthis year and is on the verge of

POINT, COUNTERPOINTHere are key arguments by preservationists and Detroit Economic GrowthCorp. officials over Tiger Stadium and Detroit’s historic Lafayette Building:

fate of the Lafayette. It’s a story that plays out time

and time again: Preservationistssay that the DEGC, the city’s devel-opment arm, doesn’t take serious-ly efforts to redevelop dilapidatedhistoric structures, or give cre-dence to advocates’ efforts to savesuch buildings.

But DEGC representatives saypreservationists don’t understandthe costs and feasibility of historicpreservation projects or the diffi-culties of obtaining financing in achallenging credit market.

The DEGC drew the ire ofpreservationists last month whenthe Detroit City Council voted todeny the building a historic desig-nation that would have enabled aprospective developer to apply forN

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www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 25, No. 27 J U L Y 1 3 – 1 9 , 2 0 0 9 $2 a copy; $59 a year

State to track stimulusspending, job creation

Tax appeals would becomecostlier if fee hike approved

Military vehicle suppliereyeing Sterling Heights,Page 4

Region’s commuters couldbreak gridlock – but only iffederal funds come through,5

®

See This Just In, Page 2

Page 3

©Entire contents copyright 2009 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved

Tax credits running out;MEDC seeks fresh batch

The state soon could runout of its ability to offer taxcredits under its main busi-ness tax-incentive program.

The Michigan Economic De-velopment Corp. is nearing leg-islatively prescribed annualcaps in the Michigan EconomicGrowth Authority program, andwithout legislative changesis unlikely to be able toaward those tax credits be-yond the MEGA board’s July21 meeting.

As lawmakers return tosession this week, the MEDCis pressing for action onHouse Bill 4922, sponsoredby Ed Clemente, D-LincolnPark, which would increasethe number of MEGA taxcredits that can be awarded.

“We’re very concernedthat after this month, ourability to attract new busi-ness to the state and retainexisting businesses is goingto be severely hampered byour inability to award MEGA

This Just In

Policy Quarterly

Inside

Seizing the momentMunder decides time is rightto capitalize on weak economy

UM spinoffs find funding favor

History repeats overDetroit buildings’ fateLafayette, stadium latest of clashesbetween preservationists, DEGC

See Spinoffs, Page 27

See History, Page 28

BY NANCY KAFFER


Detroit’s historic LafayetteBuilding, vacant since 1997, hasbeen marked for demolition sinceMarch.

Last week, real estate investorDennis Kefallinos offered to buy it.But Detroit Economic Growth Corp.officials say Kefallinos’ eleventh-hour offer is unlikely to affect the

NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

BY TOM HENDERSON


Munder Capital Management isembarking on an aggressivegrowth campaign to double itsassets under management to $30billion in three years and totriple its assets to $45 billion infive years.

James FitzGerald, who hadbeen chief marketing officer,was promoted in late June to the

newly created position of presi-dent to direct that growth.

FitzGerald told Crain’s thatBirmingham-based Munder willuse a three-pronged strategy:

� Buying independent asset-management firms or asset-management operations embed-ded in large national banks.

� Recruiting teams with ex-pertise in certain asset-manage-ment classes that Munderwants.

� Recruiting individual man-agers who can bring their booksof business with them.

Munder has a commitmentfrom Crestview Partners L.P., aNew York-based private-equityfirm with $4 billion under man-agement, to fund acquisitions.FitzGerald said he will engageinvestment bankers to coordi-nate acquisitions and corporateheadhunters to recruit talent.

Richard DeMartini, an in-vestment partner atCrestview, is chairman of theboard of Munder’s holdingcompany, Munder Capital Hold-ings L.L.C.

FitzGerald said there is notimetable for an acquisition,

There are a lot of deals out there.There are tons ofopportunities.

James FitzGerald, Munder Capital Management

”

“

See Munder, Page 29

Tiger Stadium� Preservationists: Historic taxcredits plus a federal earmark couldhave funded redevelopment as amixed-use project with a sportsmemorial.� DEGC: Promised action for yearsyielded few results. Tax credits wereunsure, and the gap between thecredits, federal financing and projectcosts was too wide.

Lafayette Building� Preservationists: The DEGChasn’t attracted a developer to thesite, andthere’s norush todemolish. � DEGC:Officials saynumerousdevelopershave turnedthe Lafayettedown, andthey questionthe viabilityof renovation.

COURTESY OF ACCURI CYTOMETERS INC.

Accuri workers in Ann Arbor assemblethe company’s Flow Cytometer, adevice that automates cell analysisfor researchers.

20090713-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 7/10/2009 6:23 PM Page 1

Energy 1 wins research fundingEnergy 1 Corp., a Southfield-

based startup developing genera-tors and energy storage systems,announced Friday the companyhas signed a letter of intent to re-ceive up to $1 million in researchfunding from the Montreal-basedAviron Institute of Technology.

Energy 1 managing director IanMorrice said the company intendsto eventually launch a line of

“electric generation and storageunits” that would compete withcarbon-based fuels, although hewould not discuss details or whattype of fuel the company’s genera-tors would use. The company’sWeb site suggests its generatorswould support the electric vehiclemarket.

According to Energy 1’s Website, the company aims to producethe generators for residential,commercial and automotive uses.The company, formerly Nevada-based Monarch Energy Corp., wentpublic in March through a reversemerger with Ottawa, Ontario-based Dairy Fresh Farms Inc.

It sold its assets in the beverageindustry to focus on releasing aline of home, commercial and au-tomotive generators.

Morrice said the company wasrelocated because of Michigan’smanufacturing and technology re-sources.

— Gabe Nelson

UAW rep to lead union councilThe Trade Union Leadership Coun-

cil has elected Kevin Tolbert presi-dent, making him the youngestperson to ever lead the council.

Tolbert, 35, is an internationalrepresentative in the United AutoWorkers’ technical office and pro-fessional department in Detroit.The Trade Union LeadershipCouncil was founded in 1957 byAfrican-American members ofthe UAW to help integrate the ex-

ecutive boards of unions, advancecivil rights in Detroit, provide edu-cational and professional trainingto its members and assist others inobtaining jobs in the automotiveindustry.

Tolbert said he will strive toboost membership and restore thecouncil’s professional and educa-tional development programs.

— Sherri Begin Welch

Fitch lowers state bond ratingCredit-rating agency Fitch Rat-

ings on Friday downgraded Michi-gan’s general-obligation bond rat-ing to A+ from AA-, citingeconomic declines.

Fitch said the lower rating “re-flects the significant deteriorationof the state’s economic profile,highlighted by increasing employ-ment contraction and unemploy-ment levels, driven by sharp de-clines in the U.S. automotivemanufacturing sector which haslong been concentrated in thestate.”

However, the agency raised itsrating outlook on Michigan to sta-ble from negative, reflecting thestate’s historic ability to promptlyaddress budget problems andFitch’s expectation “that the statewill take appropriate actions tomaintain (budget) balance shouldrevenue expectations weaken fur-ther.”

The rating adjustment came onthe same day that General MotorsCorp. emerged from bankruptcy.

Fitch said that “despite the order-ly nature of GM and Chryslerbankruptcy proceedings, uncer-tainty remains regarding theirsuccess.” The agency said it be-lieves “plant rationalization andemployment reductions by the De-troit 3 and automotive supplierswill continue to pressure theMichigan employment situationin the near term.”

Fitch also downgraded and re-vised its rating outlook to stableon other state tax-supportedbonds, including $221 million inState Building Authority bondsexpected to be offered on July 21.The bonds were assigned an A rat-ing, compared with the previousA+.

— Amy Lane

Crain named new group publisherDetroit-based Crain Communica-

tions Inc., which owns Crain’s De-troit Business, has named ChrisCrain group publisher for Pensions& Investments, Business Insurance,Workforce Management and the re-cently acquired Staffing IndustryAnalysts.

Crain previously worked insales at Business Insurance and asassociate publisher at Crain’s De-troit Business, Advertising Age andCreativity. The realignment wastriggered by the retirement of BillBisson, who served at Crain Com-munications for more than 30years. In his new position, Crainwill continue to oversee Crain’s

Manchester Business, a publica-tion he started in December 2007.

New Hamtramck paper launchedMike Wilcox, a former publish-

er of the recently defunct TheHamtramck Citizen, has launcheda new weekly newspaper aimed atthe enclave community, the Ham-tramck Review.

The new publication is focusedon local news, features and adver-tising. Its Web site is www.hamtramckreview.com.

The Citizen, which opened in1934 and had a circulation of about5,000, closed in April. Its owners,Hamtramck-based Medow & May-berry News Corp., blamed the econo-my for the paper’s demise.

— Bill Shea

Chimko buys Royal Oak law firmRoyal Oak bankruptcy law bou-

tique Weik & Associates P.C. is nowdoing business as Weik Chimko &Associates, after managing part-ner Darryl Chimko purchased Weikand merged his Rochester Hillslaw firm with it.

Chimko, former president ofChimko Dzialo and Associates P.C.,announced the new firm namelast week and said he acquired theRoyal Oak firm from founder andpresident Terri Weik in May. Termswere not disclosed. Weik nowowns the Weik Law Office bank-ruptcy practice in Raleigh, N.C.

— Chad Halcom

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July 13, 2009CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

THIS JUST INcredits,” said Bridget Beckman,MEDC public information officer.

Under Clemente’s bill, thenumber of yearly credits allow-able for MEGA awards to generalbusinesses and to those solely re-taining jobs would increase from400 to 500. One tax credit award-ed over 20 years would classify asan award of 20 yearly credits.

The bill also would increasethe annual number of newMEGA agreements that can befor high-technology or rural busi-nesses, from 50 to 75. Clemente’sbill would eliminate a high-tech-nology research and develop-ment requirement, enablingmore high-technology businessesto qualify.

The bill passed the state Houselast month, 92-15, and is in theSenate Finance Committee.

— Amy Lane


Priority Health letsdoctors pick services

BY JAY GREENE


Several primary care physician groups inSoutheast Michigan are expected to receive$100,000 to $250,000 in grants in August to de-velop patient-centered medical homes.

The grants, from Farmington Hills-basedhealth plan Priority Health, will be used by eightto 10 physician groups in Michigan to pur-chase information technology, hire staff or of-fer a variety of other services to adopt the med-ical home model of patient-care delivery.

Unlike some health plans, such as Blue CrossBlue Shield of Michigan, that have set specificcriteria for physicians to meet to become med-

ical home providers and re-ceive 10 percent bonus pay-ments, Priority Health isletting doctors choose whattype of medical home ser-vices they want to developin their practices.

“(Physician organiza-tions) will have to convinceus that they have the capa-bilities” to accomplish thegoals in their medical homegrant application, said Dr.Jim Byrne, Priority’s chiefmedical officer.

“We are pretty tuned in tothese practices and are quitefamiliar with these prac-tices,” he said. “We willhave a good idea if they cando it.”

So far, Priority Health hasreceived 27 applicationsfrom physician groups in

Michigan with four coming from SoutheastMichigan, said Mindy Olivarez, Priority’s se-nior administrator for medical homes.

Olivarez said she expected several South-

east Michigan groups to be approved for thegrant funding.

Byrne said the goal of the medical home pro-ject is to reduce costs, improve quality, en-hance the patient experience and improvehealth.

In their applications, physician groups canchoose among seven categories and 30 servicesPriority Health believes contribute to makinga medical home.

The seven medical home categories are ac-cess to care, patient engagement, care coordi-nation, team-based care, clinical informationsystems with decision support, feedback tophysicians via patient surveys and trans-parency in making quality and cost reports tothe public.

“We asked the (groups) to focus on the firstthree (categories), because this builds aware-ness for practice transformation,” said Olivarez.

July 13, 2009 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

These organizations appear in this week’s Crain’sDetroit Business:Abbott Nicholson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Accuri Cytometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Boydell Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Brooks Kushman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Butzel Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Clark Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Continental Automotive Systems USA . . . . . . . . . . 12

CSM Worldwide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Delphi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Detroit Dept. of Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Detroit Economic Growth Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Detroit Medical Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Detroit Regional Chamber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Dickinson Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Direct Marketing Assn. of Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Dykema Gossett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

EnovateIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Federal-Mogul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Foley & Lardner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Ford Motor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Fragomen Del Rey Bernsen & Loewy . . . . . . . . . . . 26

HealthMedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Hoffert & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Kelly Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Michigan Assn. of Counties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Michigan Diversity Council . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Michigan Dept. of Information Technology . . . . . . . . 3

Michigan Dept. of Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Michigan Economic Recovery Office . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Michigan Municipal League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Michigan Tax Tribunal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Munder Capital Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

NanoBio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Navistar Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Oakland University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Plante & Moran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Preservation Wayne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Priority Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Pulte Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

QuatRx Pharmaceuticals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Small Business Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Southeast Michigan Council of Governments . . . . . 15

Telemus Capital Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

University of Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Valassis Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Visteon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

ZF Friedrichshafen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Byrne

THIS WEEK @WWW.CRAINSDETROIT.COM

Company index

Department index

How-to videoCheck several news sites a day to get the headlines? Save time andorganize all those stories into an easily read format: To see how toset up an RSS reader, go to www.crainsdetroit.com/multimedia

Breaking News e-mailSign up now for dailyupdates: www.crainsdetroit.com/getemail

Area law firms find work as U.S. industry tests watersof a changed China, Page 11

Focus: International Law

BANKRUPTCIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

BUSINESS DIARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

CAPITOL BRIEFINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

CAREERWORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CLASSIFIED ADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

KEITH CRAIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

MARY KRAMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

RUMBLINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

WEEK ON THE WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Physician groups apply formedical home project grants

HOME IS WHERE THE COORDINATED CARE ISA medical home is an approach to health care,not a place to live. Farmington Hills-basedhealth plan Priority Health defines it as “amodel of care in which each patient has anongoing relationship with a personal physicianwho leads a team that takes collectiveresponsibility for patient care.” A medical hometeam coordinates a patient’s care across thehealth care system to reduce costs, improvequality, enhance the patient’s experience andimprove health.In grant applications to Priority Health, physiciangroups can choose among seven categories thehealth plan believes contribute to making amedical home:� Access to care� Patient engagement� Care coordination� Team-based care� Clinical information systems with decisionsupport� Feedback to physicians via patient surveys� Transparency in making quality and costreports to the public

See Medical home, Page 29

Olivarez

State to track stimulus funds

Tax tribunal:Raise feesAppeals cost wouldmore than double

BY AMY LANE

CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

LANSING — The cost of filing state tax ap-peals could be going up.

The Michigan Tax Tribunal is proposing fee in-creases that would make the court completelyself-funded and raise an additional $1.7 millionannually, nearly doubling the tribunal’s bud-get and providing money to support staff in-creases and endfunding from an-other state agency.

The tribunal isan administrativecourt that hears taxappeals for allMichigan taxes, al-though the majori-ty of its cases in-volve property tax.The fee increases,which are sched-uled for a July 22public hearing, arethe first since thetribunal’s 1974 in-ception and havebeen under discus-sion for a couple of years, said chief judge PattiHalm.

They’re drawing a mixed reaction.David Marmon, attorney at Hoffert & Associ-

ates P.C. in Farmington Hills, said the proposal“calls for a very large fee increase at a timewhen everybody’s hurting.”

He said the higher fees could reduce thenumber of appeals and they add “an additionalfinancial obstacle to go to get your day incourt.”

Marmon said the tribunal may be under-

BY AMY LANE


LANSING — Michigan is devel-oping a database to track the im-pact of federal stimulus spendingin the state and to monitor pro-jects by state agencies and thejobs created and retained by thespending.

The database, which will trackdollars received and companiescarrying out the work, is beingreadied for the first of what will bequarterly reports due to the feder-al government beginning in Octo-ber.

“We’ll open a file when dollarsare awarded for a specific project,

and then we’ll track them,” saidLeslee Fritz, director of the Michi-gan Economic Re-covery Office.

“The goal isto be able, on aquarterly basis,to report the sta-tus of that pro-ject, what’sbeen expended,and the impactof it in terms ofjobs created andservices provid-ed.”

The job fig-ures will be actual numbers, sincefederal guidelines don’t allow

states to use economic modeling. The database is being devel-

oped by theMichigan Depart-ment of Informa-tion Technology,which expectsthat data will be-gin to go onlinein early August.The system willbe fine-tunedthrough Septem-ber, said MattFerguson, act-ing public infor-mation officer.

Fritz said the database will notbe publicly available, but all re-

ports that are produced will be.The new database is mentioned

in a report issued last week by theU.S. Government Accountability Officethat looks at how Michigan andother states are spending moneyfrom the American Recovery andReinvestment Act, or ARRA.

The GAO is doing bimonthlyreviews of state spending, andthe latest report presents a snap-shot of select areas receiving por-tions of Michigan’s $7.5 billion informula-based funds flowingfrom the ARRA.

Some of the areas include:� Highway construction. As of

late June, $421 million of the $847million apportioned to Michiganfor highway infrastructure and

See Tax tribunal, Page 29

See Database, Page 28

Database to detail spending, jobs, services

We’ll open a filewhen dollars are

awarded for a specificproject, and then we’ll

track them.Leslee Fritz,

Michigan Economic Recovery Office

”

“

(Theproposal) callsfor a very largefee increase ata time wheneverybody’shurting.

David Marmon, Hoffert & Associates P.C.

”

“


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Navistar unit may set up shopin Sterling Heights incubator

BY CHAD HALCOM


The largest supplier of Mine Re-sistant Ambush Protected militaryvehicles in the world could soon beone of the largest tenants in a Ster-ling Heights campus of buildingscurrently housing a defense andhomeland security business incu-bator.

Navistar Defense L.L.C., the busi-ness unit of Warrenville, Ill.-basedNavistar International Corp., is in dis-cussions to lease a portion of theformer Transpec Worldwide Inc.headquarters building in SterlingHeights.

The lease has yet to be finalized,but the company is eyeing the loca-tion to house engineers and work-ers close to the U.S. Army Tacom LifeCycle Management Command inneighboring Warren, said ElissaKoc, manager of communicationsfor Navistar International.

Navistar Defense, a businessunit in the truck division of Navis-tar, was the largest single furnish-er of MRAPs to the U.S. armedforces, shipping 6,444 of the mili-tary’s 15,000 or so total units beforeproduction wrapped up in May.

It was unclear how many jobs atthe Sterling Heights locationwould be new hires versus reloca-tions or consolidation from else-where.

Excluding its commercial vehi-cle dealership workforce, Navis-tar has 70 or so employees inMichigan and a majority work inother segments, outside defense.

Navistar (NYSE: NAV) lastweek announced that it was cut-ting its production workforce by275 after Navistar Defense lostout to rival defense prime con-tractor Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE:OSK) in bidding to produce theMRAP-ATV, the new all-terrainvehicle variant of conventional

MRAPs that the U.S. Department ofDefense has ordered for deploy-ment in Afghanistan.

“But we still provide severalproducts outside of MRAP or M-ATV,” Koc said. “And the place wedeliver many of those products isto Tacom (in Warren), so we’vebeen working to develop a locationnearby.”

The Transpec site on SterlingPonds Court north of 14 Mile Roadalready houses the newly relocat-ed Macomb-Oakland University Incu-bator. If it finalizes its lease, Navis-tar would join Rave ComputerAssociation Inc. as the main tenants

of a two-build-ing defense cam-pus, said DavidSpencer, execu-tive director ofSmartZone de-velopment forOU Inc., the uni-versity’s on-campus busi-ness incubator.

Rave relocat-ed to fill more than 35,000 squarefeet in a smaller building adjoin-ing the incubator site in June.Spencer said he understands thatNavistar also would occupy a30,000- to 35,000-square-foot sectionof the larger building, separatefrom the incubator.

“It (Navistar) is a defense sec-tor prime contractor with an in-ternational reputation and greatrespect in that community,” hesaid. “It is well-positioned to behere because of a mix of office andsome nice manufacturing capaci-ty space within the facility, that’sbeen recently used and well-main-tained.”

Ron Lamparter, president andowner of Transpec, recently soldthe bus components-making busi-ness to a buyer that relocated thework to another state. He still

owns the two buildings on SterlingPonds Court and agreed earlierthis year to lend them for incuba-tor use.

Navistar reported a record $14.7billion in revenue for 2008, a 20 per-cent increase over 2007. The com-pany credits the trend to its grow-ing defense component that helpsoffset tightness in the commercialtruck market.

Navistar also makes large dieselengines for some Ford Motor Co. ve-hicles and its own line of Interna-tional Truck and Engine commer-cial and tractor-trailer trucks.

Luke Bonner, Sterling Heightseconomic development manager,said the incubator is a componentof the recently formed TechnologyAdvancement SmartZone of SterlingHeights, which can devote tax cap-ture money from property valueincreases to fund the incubatoroperations as well as reimburse-ments for certain developmentexpenses in the SmartZone dis-trict.

Defense anchor tenants on theLamparter building campus, how-ever, would not be eligible for anyfinancial assistance unless theyexpand or improve the property.

“Everyone has been trying lo-cally to retain and grow defenseas an industry leader in this cam-pus,” he said. “If Navistar doesbecome a part of that, it wouldmake a great addition to the ten-ant mix.”

Bonner called the business at-traction to the incubator campusan example of how the zone hasbecome a regional economic de-velopment tool, and Spencer saidthe university is trying to expandits business incubator program toother Macomb County locationsoutside Sterling Heights, as wellas into other types of industries.

Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796,[email protected]

Spencer

SBA posts upswing in lending for JuneBY NANCY KAFFER


With June’s U.S. Small BusinessAdministration loan tallies in, itseems that SBA-backed lending isregaining ground.

The first six months of the SBA’sfiscal year, which began in Octo-ber, resulted in a 66 percent dropin SBA-backed lending comparedto the number of loans made in thesame month in the previous year.

This June, SBA District Direc-tor Richard Temkin said, 112 loanswere made statewide through theSBA’s popular 7(a) program, upfrom May and April, when 102 7(a)loans were made.

“Last June we did 154, so we’reclosing the gap ever so slightly,”Temkin said.

In the first six months of its fis-cal year, the SBA backed an aver-age of 65 such loans a month.

Temkin has pointed to changesmade on the federal level throughthe American Recovery and Rein-vestment Act as a catalyst for theuptick in lending.

SBA-related provisions of theARRA, commonly called the stim-ulus package, allowed the SBA toraise the percentage of loans itguarantees to 90 percent andeliminate borrower fees. Beforethe change, the SBA guaranteed75 percent to 85 percent of a 7(a)loan.

Another new program an-nounced last week increased theinvestment funding availablethrough the SBA’s venture-capitalprogram to licensed Small Busi-ness Investment Companies.

SBICs are SBA-licensed and reg-ulated but privately owned andmanaged venture-capital firmsthat use a combination of fundsraised from private sources and

money raised through the use ofSBA guarantees to make equityand mezzanine capital invest-ments in small businesses, accord-ing to a statement released by theSBA.

Other new changes to SBA-backed lending include a stimuluspackage provision that allowsbusiness owners to refinanceloans made through the SBA’s 504loan program for fixed assets.

Statewide, the SBA backed 11504 loans, Temkin said, downslightly from May’s 13.

“I would expect the numbers tocontinue to improve, but there areso many variables out there in thegreater economy, with what’s go-ing on with General Motors Corp.,Chrysler Group L.L.C., the automo-tive suppliers,” Temkin said. “It’svery difficult to see the future.”

Nancy Kaffer: (313) 446-0412,[email protected].


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Business groups try to form tax proposalsLANSING — There

could be a new tax reformproposal coming from thebusiness community.

Or, maybe there won’tbe.

Behind-the-scenes talksare continuing in Lansingto see if consensus can befound on tax changes, inthe wake of study, publicpolling and focus groupefforts undertaken by De-troit Renaissance Inc.

“There has been a lot of researchthat has been done on the issue,”said Renaissance President DougRothwell. Now, he said, it’s “a mat-

ter of digesting it … tosee if we can build a con-sensus around a particu-lar position or not.”

Ideas that have floatedaround Lansing have in-cluded Michigan Busi-ness Tax and personal-property tax relief, andlowering the state salestax rate while enacting asales tax on serviceswith business-to-busi-ness transactions ex-

empt, and eliminating the Michi-gan film credit.

Scenarios have included elimi-nating the MBT or its nearly 22 per-

cent surcharge, eliminating Michi-gan’s personal property tax, and en-acting a graduated income tax.

Rothwell and other business of-ficials declined to comment on op-tions or discuss specifics of pro-posals being considered.

But there’s wide sentiment thatthe Legislature’s immediate toppriority must be the budget andstructural reforms.

“There’s a $1.7 billion problemout there, and tax reform isn’t go-ing to fix that. That needs to betheir primary job this summer,”said Brad Williams, director ofgovernment relations for the De-troit Regional Chamber.

Mike Johnston, vice president ofgovernment affairs at the MichiganManufacturers Association, agreed.As for tax changes, he said “thereis interest among the businesscommunity to make Michiganmore competitive,” but so far noresolution on what the right stepsmight be.

The MMA, for example, has longadvocated eliminating Michigan’spersonal property tax.

“I think that is one of the biggestbarriers to Michigan’s competi-tiveness, because it taxes the thingyou want the most, which is capi-tal investment in this state,” John-ston said.

Jim Holcomb, vice president ofbusiness advocacy at the MichiganChamber of Commerce, said thechamber’s top tax-related priorityis eliminating the MBT surcharge,but overall, lawmakers must dealwith spending control before anybroader tax reform.

He said the state Senate in re-cent budget action “really putsome difficult cuts on the table,and we hope that momentum con-tinues and say all the parties needto do this.”

Many in the business communityoppose or have concerns with agraduated income tax. But Rothwellsaid Renaissance is not conveningbusiness-community tax discus-sions “with a preordained idea”about what a tax solution might be.

He said the organization is shar-ing data and research, which hasnot yet been publicly released, andis “trying to play a helpful role inbuilding some critical mass be-hind an idea.”

As for a timetable, Rothwell saidthere’s nothing absolute, but “weclearly would like to be able tocome to a position sooner ratherthan later.”

Mechanic license renewals onlineState-regulated certified auto

mechanics can now renew theirannual licenses online with theMichigan Department of State.

Instead of filling out a paper ap-plication for a renewal and mailingit to the department with a check,mechanics can enter information inonline forms and pay with Visa orMaster Card. Confirmation e-mailsare sent within 24 hours.

The program is not available tothose seeking licenses for the firsttime or to mechanics whose licens-es have been expired for more than60 days.

It’s the latest addition to the de-partment’s online business licens-ing system, which launched inSeptember 2008 with renewals forauto dealers and salvage vehicleagents. Auto repair shops and dri-ver’s education instructors andproviders are among occupationsexpected to be added to online li-censing in the future. Informationis at www.michigan.gov/sos.

Amy Lane: (517) 371-5355,[email protected]

Amy Lane

CapitolBr iefings

The following businesses filed forChapter 7 or 11 protection in U.S.Bankruptcy Court in Detroit July 3-9.Under Chapter 11, a company files forreorganization. Chapter 7 involves to-tal liquidation.C.G. Wilkop Landscaping Inc., 6550Coolidge Highway, Troy, voluntaryChapter 7. Assets: $233,884; liabilities:$790,577.Children’s Garden Real Estate L.L.C.,12720 Ford Road, Dearborn, voluntaryChapter 11. Assets and liabilities notavailable.Giannola Masonry Co., 35086 CordeliaSt., Clinton Township, involuntaryChapter 7. Assets and liabilities notavailable.PMT Investments L.L.C., 22931 14 MileRoad, Clinton Township, voluntaryChapter 11. Assets and liabilities notavailable.

— Compiled by Gabe Nelson

BANKRUPTCIES


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Editor:Amy Lane’s June 8 article,

“DEQ gets good marks on permit-ting,” indicated the State Econom-ic and Regulatory Reform Commit-tee approved legislation thatwould allow private engineers toreview DEQ permits and requireDEQ to process those permitspromptly.

The article additionally provid-ed DEQ Director Steven Chester’sopinion that such authority “is aterrible idea. They clearly are nota neutral, impartial reviewer.”

Apologies to Shakespeare, butthe gentleman doth protest toomuch, methinks.

DEQ felt the need to commissiona survey on satisfaction with thedepartment’s permitting pro-grams. I will report the state legis-lators that I talk to indicate thatmore than half of all complaintsstate legislators receive aboutstate government involve DEQ.

The proposal to allow third-partypermit review is a wise and over-due field-leveling mechanism. DEQproperly functions as a branch ofthe state executive branch. Howev-er, DEQ also operates a quasi-leg-islative branch when promulgatingadministrative rules. The depart-ment operates a contested case divi-sion that provides an in-house judi-cial function. Mr. Chester and hispredecessors have enjoyed a gov-

ernment within a government forfar too long.

The balance provided by a truethird-party professional review isa first step in restoring a true sepa-ration of powers to matters involv-ing the DEQ.

Michael BriskeyGeneral Manager

Luna Pier Harbour ClubLuna Pier

Salaries a bad message Editor:The recent Crain’s List of top-

compensated CEOs (June 22) wasindeed interesting. In 2008, Fordlost almost $14 billion, AmericanAxle lost over a billion dollars,Pulte Homes lost about $1.5 billionand GM managed to lose about $31billion, to name a few notables.Nonetheless, the CEOs of thesefirms were somehow paid millionsfor their total lack of success,

No transit opt-outsransit supporters, including the Michigan MunicipalLeague, are pushing state lawmakers to create “transitinvestment zones.”

As Amy Lane reports on Page 17, future increases in proper-ty taxes from such zones would be used to reinvest in projectstied to transportation infrastructure, whether it’s roads, side-walks, buses or rail.

That’s a creative extension of the state’s existing tax incre-ment financing law. But to work properly, any new law that cre-ates the zones should not allow an “opt-out” clause for individ-ual communities. That defeats the purpose and creates ahodgepodge approach to development.

Communities around the country — from Denver to Fresnoto Seattle — have shown that improving public transit has aneconomic multiplier effect.

TIFAs are a good idea. Better yet is an option that would per-mit a small increase in sales taxes on a regional basis to fundimportant public investments such as improved transit.

Spinoffs show universities’ valueThe University of Michigan has another class of alumni to

boast about: startup companies that grow big and bring jobsand investment to Southeast Michigan.

As Tom Henderson reports on Page 1, two technology spin-offs in Ann Arbor closed on major venture-capital funding lastweek. One of the companies, Accuri Cytometers Inc., buildswhat Henderson describes as “something the size of a breadboxthat sells for the price of a Lexus” — a device used by re-searchers that automates the process of cell analysis.

Accuri and NanoBio Corp. join other successful UM spinoffcompanies. One of them, HealthMedia Inc., was purchased byJohnson & Johnson in 2008 for more than $100 million.

State universities have long argued that they deserve statedollars because of their economic impact in creating an educatedworkforce. But this new “M.S.” degree — mastering the spinoff —is another tangible way universities support the state’s economy.

Watch for, report mortage fraudThe U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit last week indicted seven

men in metro Detroit on charges involving two separate mort-gage fraud schemes.

We suspect the cases are the tip of the iceberg.Meanwhile, the FBI reports that Michigan is in the top 10

nationwide for mortgage fraud in 2008; fraud and distressedreal estate markets apparently go hand-in-hand.

As investigators unravel old frauds, new trends are on therise as crooks respond to tighter lending practices. This is atime for all responsible lenders to alert the FBI and other lawenforcement agencies to brokers, appraisers, builders and any-body else who’s abusing the system.

DEQ process merits review

Last week in the midst of theGeneral Motors reorganization, Ihad a chance to visit with the newhead of the Michigan EconomicDevelopment Corp., Greg Main.

Without taking anything awayfrom his predecessor, he’s a breathof fresh air who is taking on per-haps the toughest task in our stategovernment. He will be a great suc-cess.

Main is a Michigan native whocame to the MEDC job in April af-ter spending time in Oklahomaachieving great things in econom-

ic development.The best thing I heard

him say was that Michi-gan might just run outof workers within thenext decade. A remark-able and, I hope, accu-rate appraisal of ourworkforce.

It’s important to havesomeone running theMEDC who ferventlybelieves that the glass ishalf full not half empty. Main isvery convincing that in Michigan,

the glass is half full andthat the best is yet tocome.

He is trying to bal-ance creating compa-nies and helping exist-ing companies growwith the equally neces-sary task of attractingnew companies andjobs to our state. Youhave to do both, Mainbelieves, and I cannot

imagine anyone in Michigan dis-agreeing with him.

I was also surprised and pleasedto learn that he has substantial in-terest in understanding the needs ofour cities and creating programsthat will impact the urban problemsthat are common all over our state.

You might not notice Greg Mainwhen he enters the room, but he’sgoing to be a powerful and anequally important force in ourstate.

I’ve always believed in the im-portance and power of local eco-nomic development, and I was de-lighted to have a chance to listen to

Main and learn.He’s got a lot of great ideas. Our

state is lucky to have attractedhim back home. He knows he’s got,perhaps, as little as 18 months onthe job before a new administra-tion might replace him. The goodnews is that it’s a nonpartisan job,appointed by the MEDC board, andthat he could well be around for awhile longer.

He’s got an important job. Let’smake sure we give him as muchsupport as possible. It’s in all ofour best interests.


Crain’s Detroit Businesswelcomes letters to the editor.All letters will be considered forpublication, provided they aresigned and do not defameindividuals or organizations.Letters may be edited for lengthand clarity.Write: Editor, Crain’s DetroitBusiness, 1155 Gratiot Ave.,Detroit, MI 48207-2997.E-mail: [email protected]

There’s a new hired gun in our state. Hooray!

T

See Letters, Page 9

LETTERS

OPINION

KEITH CRAIN:


The four buildings —used for after-schoollearning and recreation,health clinics, adultworkforce courses, Eng-lish-as-a-second-lan-guage courses and a cul-tural/arts showcase —represent $16 million ofthe $36 million the ACCprojects it would need tocomplete its goal.

The council’s programs serveboth new immigrants and Detroitresidents with workforce and com-puter training. Already, throughcontracts with the city of Detroit,1,400 clients have gone throughtraining.

“We’re diversity inaction,” Fakhouri saysproudly.

In addition to SevenMile, the ACC workswith immigrants in De-troit’s Warrendaleneighborhood on theDearborn border, inSouthwest Detroit andin Hamtramck, wherethe immigrant mix in-

cludes newcomers from Iraq, SriLanka, Croatia and Bangladesh.

On Fakhouri’s wish list is theability to raze burned-out andboarded up homes on the blockswithin eyesight of the Seven Milecomplex. Detroit is plagued by

such eyesores, but prioritized de-molition could help ACC’s redevel-opment plans.

If such eyesores are razed,Fakhouri and Isa Hasan, who runsneighborhood development for thecouncil, hope to find partners whowill work on new housing in theneighborhood. They’re talking tothe Rev. Marvin Winans, whosePerfecting Church is less than amile to the south.

Meanwhile, the ACC is gearingup for an influx of 12,000 new im-migrants — mostly Iraqis ap-proved by Homeland Security tomove to Michigan before Dec. 31.

In the 2000 census, were it notfor immigrants moving into Michi-

gan, the state would have had apopulation loss. In 2010, immi-grants probably won’t save ournumbers; fewer people mean a lotof things, including reduced repre-sentation in Congress.

But immigration may yet be theanswer to our future becauseSoutheast Michigan’s elaboratemix of ethnicities and nationali-ties can help draw new residents.

Thirty years ago, Jordanian im-migrant Haifa Fakhouri talkedsome fellow immigrants into giv-ing her $40,000 to start the ArabAmerican and Chaldean Council.

Today, the nonprofit offers hu-man service, cultural and employ-ment training programs in threecounties. But the centerpiece ofthe council’s work is a four-build-ing oasis along a stretch of SevenMile Road between John R andWoodward Avenue in Detroit.

For years, I’d heard of the coun-cil’s dream of creating a strip ri-valing Mexicantown or the Arabstrip of shops and restaurantsalong Warren Avenue in Dear-born. Last week, I finally touredthe four buildings, and I see howclose that dream is to reality.

FOR LEASING INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Mark Collins 248.351.2021 � Paul Beitz 248.320.6831 � Jeffrey B. Bell 248.351.2074www.cbre.com/detroit

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MARY KRAMER: Arab-American oasis presents hopeful sign

LETTERS CONTINUED■ From Page 8

which sends a very bad and con-fusing message. It’s no wonderthese fellows are smiling big intheir photos.

Stephen Bean

PresidentThe Universal Cos.

Royal Oak

Lesson for collegesEditor:I will make a prediction: Six to

10 years from now, our higher edu-cation will be in the same boat asour steel was in 20 years ago andour manufacturing and autos aretoday.

During the past 40 or so years,the world has sent us its best andbrightest. After graduating withundergraduate, masters or Ph.D.degrees, they looked at their homecountries and found few or no op-portunities. As a result, moststayed in the U.S. It was a great ad-vantage to suck up the world’s bestand brightest.

Unfortunately, circumstanceshave changed. The best and bright-est are finding greener pastures intheir homelands — especiallySoutheast Asia. The opportunitiesfor these graduates are enormousat home, and they are leaving.

In just a few short years, thesehighly educated people will be thecore professors at universitiesaround the world. We are talkingBeijing, Shanghai, Singapore andTaiwan, as well as India. Collegedegrees won’t put our best andbrightest into debt for life.

Universities here are going toprice themselves right out of busi-ness. The auto industry learnedthat it’s a world economy a longtime ago but never adapted to thecompetition.

Our universities had betterwake up and understand that injust a few short years education ata foreign university will be pricedat 25 percent of the cost of a U.S. de-gree, and the quality of educationwill be great.

The recent tuition increase by theUniversity of Michigan of 5.6 per-cent is just adding fuel to the fire.Universities need to rein in theircosts now or they will face the samethreat that others disciplines haveencountered: foreign competition.

Norm Schmitt

Bloomfield Hills


Mary Kramer is publisher ofCrain's Detroit Business. Catch hertake on business news at 6:50 a.m.Mondays on the Paul W. Smith showon WJR AM 760 and in her blog atwww.crainsdetroit.com/kramer. E-mail her at [email protected].

20090713-NEWS--0009-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 7/10/2009 11:07 AM Page 1


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HOW NON-PENSION RETIREMENT FUNDS PERFORMEDNew federal regulatory filings show retirement investment plans at some ofthe area’s largest companies losing on average almost a third of theirvalue. This chart shows how 11 Southeast Michigan companies rankedamong the state’s 20 largest public companies:

Company 2007 2008 Loss

2. Ford Motor Co. $10.90 billion $7.17 billion 34.22%

5. TRW Automotive 360.44 million 251.30 million 30.28

6. Penske Automotive 191.08 million 151.99 million 20.46

9. Pulte Homes Inc. 377.61 million 262.04 million 30.61

10. DTE Energy Co. 994.88 million 710.89 million 28.55

11. Federal-Mogul Corp. 265.95 million 204.89 million 22.96

13. ArvinMeritor Inc. 266.10 million 182.79 million 31.31

14. Kelly Services Inc. 130.43 million 96.47 million 26.04

15. BorgWarner Inc. 647.94 million 506.23 million 21.87

16. Borders Group Inc. 150.24 million 100.31 million 33.23

17. American Axle 414.34 million 246.23 million 40.57

Total 14.70 billion 9.88 billion 32.78

Retirement assets downat least 20% for many ofregion’s biggest companies

BY GABE NELSON

SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Last year’s financial meltdowndealt a heavy blow to retirementplans nationwide, and federal regu-latory filings indicate that employ-ee-directed investment plans atSoutheast Michigan’s largest com-panies lost about 32 percent of theirassets on average during 2008.

Filings were available from theSecurities and Exchange Commissionlast week for 11 of the highest-grossing public companies inSoutheast Michigan, as ranked byCrain’s Detroit Business.

The filings concerned employee-directed investment plans, com-monly known as 401(k)s. Unlikepension plans, which require com-panies to allocate funds for pay-outs and benefits upon retirement,401(k) plans pay out to employeesat market value.

In the filings, due at the end ofJune, all 11 plans reported over thecourse of last year losing at least 20percent of the assets available forbenefits.

The losses ranged from 20.5 per-cent at Bloomfield Hills-basedPenske Automotive Group to 40.6 per-cent at Detroit-based American Axle& Manufacturing Holdings Inc.

Theresa Banka, benefit audittechnical leader at Plante & MoranP.L.L.C.’s Southfield office, saidmost 401(k) plans lost 20 percent to35 percent of their value last yeardue to losses on the stock market.She said retirement plans nation-wide felt the pain, despite differ-ences in company stock value andmatching policies, because retire-ment plans are highly diversified.

“There are many companiesthat have terminated their match-ing contributions in the past year,but the (investment plan) assetsare so large that the match isn’teven a very big portion of the to-tal,” she said.

Plummeting stock prices mar-ket-wide drained almost $5 billionfrom the investment plans of the 11Southeast Michigan companieslast year.

Ford Motor Co. experienced the

largest loss among companies forwhich filings were available. Re-tirement plans for hourly andsalaried workers lost about $3.7billion in value during 2008, fallingfrom a combined $10.9 billion atthe end of 2007 to $7.2 billion at theend of last year.

Also reporting double-digit dropswere TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.,Pulte Homes Inc., DTE Energy Co., Fed-eral-Mogul Corp., ArvinMeritor Inc., Kel-ly Services Inc., BorgWarner Inc. andBorders Group Inc.

Underfunded corporate pensionplans have gotten more attentionthan investment plans as compa-nies have struggled to meet theirobligations. The federal PensionBenefit Guaranty Corp. pays basic

pensions to em-ployees if theircompany plansfail, but it doesnot provide oth-er benefits, suchas health care.

ChristopherMcMican, wholeads the em-ployee benefitsgroup at Miller,

Canfield, Paddock and Stone P.L.C.’sDetroit office, said losses in retire-ment investment plans will pri-marily affect employees ratherthan companies.

But McMican said there’s an in-creasing trend of employees filingsuit against their employers,claiming that plan managers failedto fulfill their fiduciary responsi-bilities.

“It’s in times of declining mar-kets that you see a rise in casesfiled,” he said.

Companies must file annual re-tirement plan reports with theSEC only if they offer employeesthe option of purchasing stock aspart of an investment plan.

Filings were not available lastweek for several Southeast Michi-gan companies that are or werethen in bankruptcy: General MotorsCorp., Delphi Corp., Visteon Corp. andHayes Lemmerz International Inc.

Gabe Nelson: (313) 446-0417, [email protected]

McMican



Testing the watersinternational law

BY CHAD HALCOM


hough still a leader in piracy, coun-terfeiting and theft of intellectualproperty, China is gaining U.S. in-

vestor confidence by modernizing itspatent laws, court rules and businesspractices, local attorneys say.

Area law firms say thechanges are incremental,but the firms are adding IPwork as automakers andtheir suppliers feel morecomfortable sourcing workwithin China — with lessfear of appropriated IP ortrade secrets. On Oct. 1,

Chinese law broadens protection for de-sign patent owners, raises financialdamages for certain types of infringe-ment and adopts some IP protectionsfrom international treaties. It is the firstmajor amendment to Chinese patent lawsince 2000.

“It substantially brings Chinesepatent law to something much closer toU.S. patent law or European patent law.And so for foreign companies, it bringssome predictability tothe legal system,” saidWeisun Rao, intellectu-al property attorneyand principal of De-troit-based Miller,Canfield, Paddock andStone P.L.C.

Until recentyears, said KenDuck, senior attor-ney in the ChinaGroup at Foley &Lardner L.L.P., manu-facturers fearful ofpiracy used Chinastrictly for low-costcommodity component production,where protected intellectual propertywould not be involved.

“But in the Chinese car market, cus-tomers are starting to value the same

bells and whistles that the U.S.car market values. That leadsto more sourcing of workwith intellectual property at-

tached,” he said. Managing partner Steven

Oberholtzer at the Ann Arbor

law offices of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lionehas filed 1,000 or so patent applicationson behalf of its U.S. clients before theChinese State Intellectual Property Officein the past five years, with an average of100 or so per year in the past couple ofyears, he said. But he expects the trendto accelerate, particularly as legislativereforms take effect within the country.

The firm is IP counsel for AuburnHills-based Borg-Warner Inc., whichestablished a jointventure with ChinaAutomobile Develop-ment United Invest-ment Co. Ltd., a com-pany owned by 12Chinese automak-ers, to produce thefirst dual-clutchtransmission inthe Chinese carmarket, a coreproduct for Borg-Warner.

“By leading thedual-clutch trans-

mission expansion into the Chinesemarketplace, this joint venture will es-tablish BorgWarner’s DualTronic tech-nology as the preferred automatictransmission solution in China,” saidTim Manganello, BorgWarner chair-man and CEO in a January press re-lease announcing the new venture.

Brinks Hofer’s other auto supplierclients include Van Buren Township-based Visteon Corp., which has 24 manu-

T

Stronger protections bring area law firms work,but can country really be trusted with secrets?

See China, Page 12

A CONVERSATION WITH

Richard Goetz has been internationalpractice group leader at DykemaGossett P.L.L.C. in Detroit for threeyears and was previously associategeneral counsel for internationalmatters at Ford Motor Co. until heretired in 2006. He spoke with Crain’sreporter Chad Halcom about globallegal trends.How much of being global counselinvolves delegating to andadministrating local law firms inother countries? Being able to staycurrent on trends in the law everywhereis nearly impossible. You need on-the-ground counsel. And the countrieswhere your client is the most developedor does the most business aren’talways the same areas that createmost of the legal work.When the Asian economic collapsehappened about 10 years ago, themarket shrank and refinancing andrestructuring was necessary fordealers or other companies. Thathappened in Latin America, too.Sometimes you are driven by the locallegal issues, sometimes by broadereconomic issues.What is the most common first stepof a company seeking to growoverseas? A lot of what they’re tryingto do first is sell and find out if a localmarket exists for them to grow there.Establishing a domesticmanufacturing capacity in that area isone of the later things you do. In India, what you found in the 1990swhen U.S. companies had alreadyarrived is that the market wasn’tgrowing for sales as fast as somethought. But it was definitely lessexpensive to make things and operatethere. Some larger and morediversified businesses often seeopportunities to both buy and sell.Companies that make and supply(automotive) components often createor obtain entities like a foreign-ownedtrading company.What is the most challenging currentlegal issue that manufacturers facein China? OEM companies selling inChina must be no more than 50percent owned by a foreigncorporation, but many component-makers can operate as a whollyforeign-owned enterprise. But there’sbeen a big lingering argument about afew key components like engines. TheChinese government is making anexception and treating thosecompanies under OEM rules. It’sfrequently not a case of the governmentsaying no, they just don’t move along …until they come back as a 50-50proposal or less foreign-owned. It’s a difficult and sensitive issue,since the Chinese partner in the OEMis usually the Chinese partner in theengine production segment, as well.Taking on your own partner as well asthe Chinese government could createsome awkward situations, to say theleast.

RichardGoetz,

Dykema GossettP.L.L.C.

If you know someoneinteresting in law,manufacturing or defensein Oakland or Macombcounties Chad Halcomshould interview, call

(313) 446-6796or write chalcom

@crain.com.

For foreigncompanies, itbrings some

predictabilityto the legalsystem.

Weisun Rao, Miller Canfield

”

“NO, CANADA?On watch list:Country’streatment of U.S.IP not always soneighborly, Page 12


BY CHAD HALCOM


Businesses looking across theoceans for the worst intellectualproperty offenders may need onlyto look across the Detroit River.

Canada has just joined the ranksof Indonesia, Venezuela, China, In-dia, Thailand and Pakistan on the“Priority Watch List” of nationsthat fail to protect or enforce U.S.intellectual property rights, ac-cording to a report in May fromthe Office of the U.S. Trade Represen-tative.

Companies with copyright-pro-tected material — including soft-ware firms, media companies,artists and publishers, and busi-nesses with well-known trade-marks — may need to pay the clos-est attention, according to localattorneys.

About $150 billion worth of an-

nual trade goods passed betweenMichigan and Canada through De-troit, Port Huron and Sault Ste.Marie in 2002, according to theMichigan Department of Transporta-tion. With such volumes, local IPattorneys who haven’t seen pirat-ed goods shipped from Canadalikely will soon, said Jason Conti,partner at Honigman Miller Schwartzand Cohn L.L.P. in Detroit.

“With so much internationalmovement and trade betweenSoutheast Michigan and Canada,it’s just bound to be happening,”he said.

Mark Sparschu, senior attorneyat Southfield-based Brooks Kush-man P.C. and formerly chief trade-mark counsel for Ford Motor Co.,said Canada runs afoul of U.S.copyright watchdogs in two ways:

� Internet distribution of copy-righted material.

� “Trans-shipment” into the

U.S. of knockoffs or counterfeitmerchandise from Asia or else-where.

The recent watch list elevationis little surprise toIP lawyers, he said,since Canada was onthe list for severalyears until its recentupgrade.

Sparschu said hehandled “several”cases of trans-ship-ment violations ofU.S. trademarks andcopyrights for Fordor its variousbrands, but hewould not give a spe-cific number. He has worked atBrooks for only six months butsaid he already has one copyrightcase that may go to court later thissummer involving Canada and alocal company.

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Focus: International Law

Protections: T■ From Page 11

facturing centers in China, Conti-nental Automotive Systems USA inAuburn Hills, and German autosupplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG,whose U.S. headquarters are inNorthville.

Oberholtzer said legislative im-provements and judicial reformcontinue to improve the confi-dence of U.S. manufacturers.

But Rao and Oberholtzer pointout that China’s motives aren’tpurely focused on making U.S.companies feel better about doingbusiness within its borders.

Rao, who spends a majority of histime at Miller Canfield’s fledglingShanghai office but also practicesin Michigan and Illinois, said thenational government has updatedthe law partly because it recognizesChinese companies must be global-ly competitive by building out theirown innovation rather than simplyappropriating Western technology.

The larger Chinese electronics-makers are rapidly building theirown global IP portfolios, and IP lit-igation outcomes are becoming“more objective” in China’s moredeveloped and modernizedprovinces, he said.

The SIPO in China reports thatservice patent applications — orpatents sought by business, uni-versities or other public entities —numbered 472,320 in 2008, com-pared with 203,566 in 2006 and just53,375 in 2000.

Duck said U.S. manufacturershave noticed this acceleration, bothin piracy and in IP portfolio build-ing. Those trends, plus greater liti-gation among Chinese companiesfor IP infringement, could be takenas a sign the IP climate is improv-ing and China takes IP more seri-ously as an asset.

But Oberholtzer said there isalso a sense that China is pushingback against what it feels is unfairtreatment from the internationalcommunity.

The Chinese have long felt that“the international communitygangs up on them in terms of IP en-forcement,” Oberholtzer said.

Two recent landmark caseshave made the global legal commu-nity sit up and take notice, he said.

China’s Chint Group obtained ajudgment against French energycompany Schneider Electric SA in aninfringement case, but agreed tosettle in April for roughly $23 mil-lion. Hangzhou-based Holley Commu-nications won $7.3 million againstKorean electronics giant SamsungElectronics last fall in a dispute overcellular phone patents.

“This is a drastic change fromthe typical $100,000-or-less awardsyou tend to see before. … Some seethis as China’s way of getting backat them and balancing it out, by lit-igating these cases in China andgetting these awards,” Oberholtzersaid.

Vice President J. Michael Hugetof Butzel Long P.C. said that Chinesecompanies as a whole are taking IPfar more seriously than some do-mestic companies realize.

“China has been going throughthe whole process and protectingtheir IP rights in this country,” hesaid.

Huget points to a case awaitingjudgment as an example: Butzel

Trans-shipment also was inte-gral to a trademark infringementcase for J. Michael Huget, vicepresident at Butzel Long P.C.’s Ann

Arbor office and amember of its IPpractice group.

Huget representedBollore Group S.A.,based in Puteaux,France, in an IP en-forcement caseagainst several re-tailers that sold anIndonesian compa-ny’s counterfeit ver-sion of Bollore’spatented Zig-Zag cig-arette rolling papers

in Southeast Michigan. The fake merchandise had en-

tered the U.S. by way of Canada —where customs and border enforce-ment is generally more lax — aboutfive years ago, Huget said. Bolloreobtained a permanent injunction in2006 barring 14 Smokers Outlet storesin Oakland and Macomb countiesfrom selling the knockoff paper.

Three men were convicted andsentenced in 2006 for conspiracy todefraud the federal government inthe case before U.S. District JudgeAvern Cohn, but charges of traf-ficking counterfeit goods were dis-missed.

“A number of interested busi-nesses and organizations wereharping on the Bush administra-tion for some time to elevate Cana-da to the list, and now under theObama administration it appar-ently went through,” he said.

The 2009 USTR report notes theU.S. “continues to have seriousconcerns with Canada’s failure to(ratify) the WIPO InternetTreaties, which Canada signed in1997,” and that it “hopes that Cana-da will implement legislativechanges to provide a stronger bor-der enforcement system.”

A key issue to watch, Conti said,might be pirated videos crossing the49th parallel from around the world.Conti used to represent video dis-tributor Anchor Bay Entertainment inIP infringement cases, before thenow-defunct Handleman Co. of Troysold that operation in 2003.

William Honaker, practice de-partment manager for patents,trademarks and copyrights at Dick-inson Wright P.L.L.C.’s BloomfieldHills office, said Canada is other-wise an exceptional trade partnerand “nearly like the U.S. itself” interms of respecting American in-tellectual property.

The USTR’s “Special 301” re-port, he notes, affects only copy-right matters and not patents ortrademarks, which together com-prise more than 90 percent of thepractice workload at Dickinson.

“But in economic times likewe’re in right now, IP litigationtends to grow, and that couldchange,” he said. When times aretight, local firms take a longer lookat who is using their technology totake market share.”


Canada on U.S. trade ‘watch list’Focus is on copyright safeguards in shipping, on Internet

In economictimes like we’rein right now, IPlitigation tends

to grow.William Honaker,

Dickinson Wright P.L.L.C.

”

“

20090713-NEWS--0012,0013-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 7/10/2009 10:59 AM Page 1

s: Testing the waters in China

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Long is defending Chongqing-based Lanshuo Photoelectric Scienceand Technology Co. Ltd. in a lawsuitby Bushnell Inc. at U.S. DistrictCourt in Kansas, alleging patentinfringement on range finders, ordistance measuring equipment,using laser systems.

Lanshuo had been marketing itsrange-finder product in the U.S.since early 2008 and has a pendingpatent application before the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office, Hugetsaid.

“In this case, the company wentthrough some extensive researchand took steps to protect them-selves long before this case cameup,” he said.

But big awards are still rare,and more work needs to be done.

“It has changed incrementally,”Oberholtzer said. “The big hurdletoday is that monetary damagesfor effective enforcement against acompany are not always enough toserve as a deterrent.”

Some recent U.S. data seems tosupport this view. For fiscal 2008,the U.S. Customs and Border Patrolreports that China alone account-ed for $221.6 million, or 81 percent,of the total domestic value of $272.7million in seized counterfeit or pi-rated goods. That was an increaseover fiscal 2007 and well ahead ofthe 72 percent share that China

commanded in fiscal 2005.But despite a slowdown in Chi-

nese investment because of theeconomic downturn, attorneys saythey expect activity to acceleratein the near future.

He also said corporate confi-dence in IP protection in Chinastarted to increase several monthsbefore the latest patent laws wereadopted, and the slowdown is onlytemporary as the recession showssome signs of flattening.

“It may accelerate now,” he said.“Especially since China seems to beone of those countries in the globalmanufacturing market that’s thelast to slow down with the economyand the first to pick back up again.”

That’s particularly true as localincentives for Chinese car buyershave fueled purchase of U.S. au-tomakers’ cars.

Incentives made the Chinesemarket more attractive to foreignautomotive investment, Duck said— the national government recent-ly lowered sales taxes to 5 percentfor cars with 1.6-liter engines orsmaller, to lower emissions.

“And the local incentives seem tospur sales of the cars that (U.S. au-tomakers) typically find the leastprofitable, but they’ve been able tomove some significant volumes.”


20090713-NEWS--0012,0013-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 7/10/2009 11:00 AM Page 2


Law firms grow biz helping companiesnew to defense industry navigate rules

BY CHAD HALCOM


The growing overlap between automo-tive manufacturing and the defense in-dustry is bringing business to law firmsthat help companies comply with exportregulations.

William Gilbride Jr., COO and manag-ing partner at Abbott Nicholson Quilter Essha-ki & Youngblood P.C., and associate HeidiWarren said the firm’s budding defenseand export controls legal group grew fromone client at its inception two years ago toseven today.

Nearly 40 percent of the two attorneys’workload at the Detroit firm involves help-ing clients comply with the federal Inter-national Traffic in Arms Regulation or therelated Export Administration Regula-tions for companies working in defenseand related fields, Gilbride said. Thatgrowth accelerated in the practice group’ssecond year.

“Not everyone who diversifies into de-fense realizes how important these regula-tions are. There are restrictions on evensharing information with your own em-ployees who are not U.S. citizens,”

Gilbride said. “And violations can runover $1 million apiece, with some possiblecriminal prosecution.”

Federal ITAR and EAR rules govern ex-porting any defense products, compo-nents, engineering and even the sale of“dual use” services and technology thathave military applications.

Gilbride said the practice was launchedtwo years ago with Chesterfield Town-ship-based Burtek Inc., maker of vehicles,trailers and mobile antenna systems forthe military, and has expanded to severalcompanies. The firm inspects and coun-sels clients on ITAR and EAR compliance.

Also showing growth in the same fieldis Detroit-based Miller, Canfield, Paddockand Stone P.L.C., which launched its ownITAR and export controls group five yearsago. Richard Walawender, who chairs thatpractice with the firm’s corporate, inter-national and automotive practice groups,said it has grown from about five clients atinception to about 50 today.

Walawender and fellow principal Bri-an Westenberg handle that work withtwo Miller Canfield associates.

Compliance becomes even trickier, hesaid, when manufacturers break into de-fense while still furnishing similar prod-ucts and technology to automotive OEMswith foreign owners — such as Fiat GroupSpA owning Chrysler Group or while build-ing supply chains in Canada or Mexico.

In September, Walawender will takepart in a Miller Canfield seminar inToronto to help Canadian clients with theregulations. Gilbride and Warren said Ab-bott Nicholson plans a similar conferencein the Detroit area in early October, possi-bly with a Web seminar portion of it allow-ing companies to participate online.

Chad Halcom: (313) 446-6796, [email protected]

Not everyone whodiversifies into defenserealizes how importantthese regulations are.

William Gilbride Jr.,Abbott Nicholson Quilter Esshaki

& Youngblood P.C.

”

“

CRAIN’S SEEKS BEST-MANAGED NONPROFITSFocus: International LawDetroit-area nonprofits are used to dealing withstress, but this year has brought more challengesthan usual. Good management has never been moreimportant. Therefore, this year’s Best ManagedNonprofit Contest will focus on ways nonprofits aremeeting the challenges of the economy. Examplesinclude, but are not limited to:� Donor retention/recruitment strategies.� Finding ways to do more with less.� Collaborations/mergers/cost-sharing strategies.� Changes in programming and services to bettermeet the needs of clients/service recipients.

It is better for applications tofocus on strong execution of asingle initiative than to listseveral less-developed efforts.As always, documentation ofresults is important.Applications are due Aug. 10.Judges will interview finalists inperson the morning of Nov. 3.

Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) with headquarters inWayne, Washtenaw, Oakland, Macomb or Livingstoncounties. Each application must include a completedentry form, a copy of the nonprofit’s most recentaudited financial statements and a copy of thenonprofit’s most recent IRS Form 990. Previous first-place winners are not eligible; neitherare hospitals, HMOs, medical clinics, business andprofessional organizations, schools, churches orfoundations.The winning nonprofits will be profiled in the Nov. 16issue, receive a special “best-managed” logo fromCrain’s for use in promotional material, and willreceive recognition at the Crain’s Newsmaker of theYear lunch early next year.For an application form, e-mail a request [email protected] or visit www.crainsdetroit.com/nonprofitcontest. For information about the contest,e-mail Executive Editor Cindy Goodaker [email protected] or call (313) 446-0460.

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n the 1983 film “The Right Stuff,”about the early U.S. space program,one of the actors portraying an as-

tronaut delivers a memorable lineabout funding: “No bucks, no BuckRogers.”

The same can be said today of effortsto bring mass transit to Detroit, thelargest U.S. city without a serious pro-gram to collectively get lots of peoplefrom one place to another.

There are several ambitious metroDetroit transit plans in the worksaimed at alleviating traffic, sparkingnearby economic reinvestment, gettingcars off the road to help the environ-ment, or all three.

But without funding, none will doanything but collect dust on a shelf.

There are reforms afoot in Lansingfor transit-related funding at the statelevel, but all eyes are on Washington asefforts get under way to transform howtransit projects and transportation in-frastructure are funded at the federallevel.

A protracted battle is under way inCongress over releasing billions of dol-lars in federal aid.

It’s typically federal money that pro-vides the bulk of a project’s capitalcosts, with state and local matches ac-counting for the remainder.

All of the local projects rely on feder-al dollars to varying degrees, and thosefederal dollars are generated by the 18.4cents-per-gallon gasoline tax.

But with a renewed emphasis inWashington on mass transitand getting people to use lessfuel, there’s a catch-22: Dri-ving less means less moneycollected to pay for alterna-tives to driving.

“The problem is that thefunding source that has beenchosen to fund highway tran-sit and rail is the gas tax,”said Carmine Palombo, direc-tor of transportation plan-

ning for the Southeast Michigan Councilof Governments, the regional planningagency that funnels federal transit dol-lars locally.

“The public policy in this country isto have people drive less and more effi-ciently. When you’re revenue stream isdependent on the number of gallons ofgas you sell, your funding is goingdown.”

And therein lies the problem.

“While we’ve got all these wonderfulideas, we have no agreement on how toraise the revenues to make this stuffhappen,” Palombo said.

Palombo’s agency plans to seek per-haps up to $100 million in federal aid toimplement a 48-mile commuter rail linethat links Detroit and Ann Arbor.

The U.S. House Committee on Trans-portation and Infrastructure last monthissued a proposed six-year, $500 billionplan to reauthorize the current surfacetransportation bill from 2005 that ex-pires on Sept. 30.

Committee Chairman James Ober-


Metro Detroit mass transit plansrely on green fuel: Federal cash

Looking forSMART ideas

Metro Detroit’s regional bus system,reeling from funding declines that stemfrom declining property values, is tryingto craft a plan to ensure balancedbudgets in coming years.

The Suburban Mobility Authority forRegional Transportation bus systemalso is braced for any effort to merge itwith the Detroit Department ofTransportation bus service — an ideafloated most recently when Ken CockrelJr. was Detroit’s mayor, but whichhasn’t been discussed since February.

“We’ve not been part of anyconversations about merging SMARTand DDOT,” said Beth Dryden, theregional system’s director of externalaffairs, marketing and communications.

Meanwhile, despite SMART’sridership being up fractionally so farthis year to about 5 million users, itfaces severe budget deficits that onlyjob cuts, labor concessions and aproposed fare increase can solve.

There are no plans, however, toseek a larger tax subsidy from voters.

SMART last month cut 25 percent ofits administrative and nonoperationalstaff (14 layoffs and 13 incentivizedretirements) as a $1.6 million cost-cutting measure and to preserve all ofits routes. No drivers were cut.

Dryden said job reductions balancedthe 2010 fiscal year budget, but theauthority is projecting a $6 million deficitfor 2010 and $17 million by 2014 evenwith a proposed fare increase.

The system is considering boostingthe current $1.50 basic fare 50 centson a fixed route, up to $1 more for aConnector ADA fare and $2 more for aConnector full fare.

The system’s 640 buses service1,200 square miles of suburbanWayne, Oakland and Macombcounties, typically seeing more than 12 million riders annually. The systemconnects to Detroit’s bus system.

SMART is funded by a 0.59-millproperty tax, rider fares, state andfederal funds and advertising.

There are no plans by SMART’s boardto seek a larger tax when the currentmillage expires in August 2010, but itwill pursue a renewal, Dryden said.

There’s been no word of a SMART-DDOT merger from new Mayor DaveBing’s administration. A message wasleft for city CFO Norm White, who’shandling transit projects for Bing.

Cockrel broached the idea as acost-efficiency measure, reviving along-dormant discussion that wouldcreate a single entity with 1,190buses, 51 million riders and morethan 2,000 employees.

The transit unions for both systemsoppose a merger, and in 2003 won aMichigan Supreme Court case to halta similar plan, then called Detroit AreaRegional Transit Authority.

The city is spending $184 million onDDOT this budget year, while SMART’sbudget of fares, a dedicated local tax,and local, state and federal aid wasnearly $124 million last year.

Ticket to ride

Palombo

Quar ter l y

TRACKING TRANSITHere’s a breakdown on the four largest transit projects in Southeast Michigan:

Bill Shea

Bill Shea writes aboutmedia, advertising andmarketing,entertainment, thebusiness of sports andtransportation. Call(313) 446-1626 or write [email protected]

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Regional� Proposal: A $10.5 billion system of 406miles of improved buses and bus routes, lightrail and commuter trains that would be built asridership dictates over 25 years. Light rail onDetroit’s Woodward Avenue and high-speed raillinking Ann Arbor and Detroit are independentsubsets of the wider regional plan.� Organizer: John Hertel, CEO of the RegionalTransportation Coordinating Council’s DetroitRegional Mass Transit effort. Hertel reports tothe elected leaders of Wayne, Oakland andMacomb counties and the mayor of Detroit.� Timeline: Completed by 2035.� Funding status: Being determined; but likelya combination of local, state and federalcapital funding and operational subsidies.Estimated annual base operating costs for thefull system would be $293 million.

Ann Arbor-Detroit� Proposal: A 48-mile, high-speed commuterrail line contractually operated by Amtrak, withstops in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, at Metro Airportand in Dearborn and Detroit.� Organizer: Southeast Michigan Council ofGovernments.� Timeline: Initial startup by October 2010.� Funding status: Organizers are working outcosts, estimated at $60 million to $100million, for which funding will be sought fromthe $8 billion set aside for high-speed railprojects under the federal American Recoveryand Reinvestment Act of 2009, better knownas the stimulus funding. SEMCOG expects tohave a memorandum of understanding within acouple of months with Canadian National,Conrail and Norfolk Southern freight lines,

which own the tracks, that would

allow the funding application process to moveahead.

Woodward Avenue� Proposal: A private plan proposes a light-railroute in the heart of downtown Detroit, whilethe city wants to extend it several miles.� Organizer: M1 Rail Inc. and the DetroitDepartment of Transportation.� Timeline: M1 Rail expects construction tobegin by the end of this year and for the line tobe running by 2011. The city project iscontingent upon federal funding.� Funding status: Privately based M1 Rail isfunding a $120 million, 3.4-mile, 12-stop linefrom Hart Plaza to New Center; the Legislature inJanuary set up its governance and annualoperational subsidies. DDOT’s $371 millionDetroit Transit Options for Growth plan runs theline to the state fairgrounds at Eight Mile Road,but the city is sorting out construction andoperational funding issues. The city plans toseek federal grants once an estimated $225million in local matching funds are secured.

Ann Arbor-Howell� Proposal: A 27-mile Washtenaw-LivingstonRail Line, or Wally, commuter rail route.� Organizer: Great Lakes Central Railroad,owned by Farmington Hills-based FederatedCapital Corp., leases from the state the 30-plus miles of track and is providing refurbishedpassenger cars. A coalition including the citiesof Ann Arbor and Howell, Washtenaw County,local government agencies, the MichiganDepartment of Transportation and businessorganizations are planning different projectaspects.� Timeline: Late 2010.� Funding status: Backers are seekingfederal help for the $30 million project andhave some commitments from MDOT, AnnArbor Downtown Development Authority and

other local governments.

I See Transit, Page 16

A closer look at issues and topicsimportant to Southeast Michigan readers.

NEXT UP� Aug. 10:Jobs/economy� Sept. 14:Career

CRAIN’S QUARTERLIES: 2ND MONDAYS

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Morning rush-hour traffic backs up at U.S. 23 and M-14 north of Ann Arbor— part of a commute targeted forcommuter rail service in late 2010.


transportation budget, drawing irefrom budget hawks but not a lot ofrevenue alternatives beyond in-creasing the gas tax or taxing milesdriven — both politically risky.

“Things are in flux and every-thing’s in play, but we really don’tknow how this is going to end upin an agreement between the presi-dent and Congress,” said JohnHertel, the regional transit czarwho has assembled a $10.5 billionplan for improved bus and rail ser-vice for Wayne, Oakland and Ma-comb counties.

But whatever happens will be animprovement, he said.

“There’s going to be a lot moremoney available and a lot more op-portunities available,” he said.“It’s going to be a heck of a lot bet-ter than what we’ve had.”

The local business communityis behind efforts to fix the formulaand increase transit spending.

“We are supporting the U.S.chamber’s position and asking formore fundingfor nationallysignificant sys-tems, bordercommunitiesand non-railtransit,” saidMelissa Roy, theDetroit RegionalChamber’s se-nior director ofgovernment re-lations.

She’s scheduled to be in Wash-ington this week to lobby for moretransportation spending and re-form.

One local project isn’t waitingfor Washington to solve the fund-ing issue.

Backers of a 27-mile commuterrail line linking Ann Arbor andHowell — designed to alleviatetraffic congestion on U.S. 23 —plan to seek some of the project’s$30 million capital costs from the$1.5 billion Transportation Invest-ment Generating Economic Recov-ery program.

TIGER grants, which start at $20million, are a subset of the federalstimulus program and are aimedat transportation projects that nor-mally would be funded by the tra-ditional surface transportationbill.

The grants also will be availablemore quickly, in less than 18months, said Eli Cooper, trans-portation program manager forAnn Arbor.

“We’ve underinvested in main-taining the current transportationinfrastructure,” he said.

Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626,[email protected]

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Policy Quarterly

Transit: Plans rely on federal funding■ From Page 15

star, D-Minn., wants to tackle re-forming or replacing the gas taxthat fuels the transportation bud-get, known as the Highway TrustFund, but it’s expected to be a pro-tracted fight, and the administra-tion wants an 18-month extensionof the current bill.

The trust fund also pays for pro-grams — such as the federal NewStarts program — that provide dol-lars for rail transit proposals suchas Detroit’s plan to extend lightrail from downtown to the Michi-gan State Fairgrounds at Eight

Mile Road.Meanwhile, de-

bate on the proposedSurface Transporta-tion Reauthoriza-tion Act of 2009,which includes $50billion for a nationalhigh-speed rail sys-tem, is raging be-cause the commit-tee’s bill doesn’tinclude how to pay for any of it.

The bill represents a 53 percentspending increase over the current


Buses move with other traffic along Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Light rail andimproved bus service would change the corridor if mass transit plans advance.

Roy

There’s going tobe a lot more moneyavailable and a lot

more opportunitiesavailable.

John Hertel, Detroit Regional Mass Transit

”

“


BY AMY LANE


LANSING — A bill that couldboost development around transitstations — aiding new mass tran-sit in Southeast Michigan and else-where — is among transportation-related funding optionsresurfacing in the Legislature.

House Bill 4967 would allowMichigan’s tax increment financ-ing law to be used for “transit in-vestment zones” in which futureincreases in property taxes couldbe used for improvements such asroads, sidewalks or building reno-vation — “whatever you need to fa-cilitate” a bus or rail transporta-tion focal point, said sponsorAndrew Kandrevas, D-Southgate.

A zone could consist of parcelswithin a half mile of a transit sta-tion.

Under the bill, a city, village ortownship could establish a transitinvestment zone tax increment fi-nance authority, or TIFA, and en-ter into an agreement with othermunicipalities and public transitagencies to create the zone.

Andy Schor, assistant director ofstate affairs at the Michigan Munici-pal League, said the zones wouldpromote economic developmentand provide funds for a broad rangeof activities, such as buildingfaçade repair or station site work.

A similar version of the conceptmoved through the Legislaturelast session but died as lawmakersadjourned in December.

Then as now, there was concernover the ability for some local bod-ies to “opt out” of zones and ex-empt their taxes from capture.

Tom Hickson, director of legisla-

tive affairs for the Michigan Associ-ation of Counties, said counties, li-braries and community collegeshave a 60-day window to decide ifthey want their taxes captured insimilar efforts, such as downtowndevelopment authorities, and thesame should apply with transitzones.

“Taxing jurisdictions shouldhave the ability to negotiate and bea participant in the process,” hesaid.

“It’s not the intent of the legisla-tion that we take issue with. Cer-tainly, the goal is to promote tran-sit, and it’s a laudable goal forcommunities that desire that,”Hickson said.

He said counties want “to beable to participate in economic de-velopment” but “shouldn’t have toforgo that revenue if it doesn’tmake sense.”

The municipal league, however,opposes opt-out language and be-lieves that when the new entity iscreated, “everybody should be con-tributing,” Schor said.

And Melissa Roy, senior direc-tor of government relations at theDetroit Regional Chamber, said that“once you start that opt-out snow-ball, it doesn’t stop,” and the taxincrement financing becomes lesseffective.

Roy added that only tax increaseswithin the zone would be captured,“so it’s not taking away what theycurrently have today. It’s takingaway in the future, and if there’s nodevelopment, there’s no increase.”

Hickson said “right now inMichigan, there’s not a lot of prop-erty tax, property value growth”and some communities might haveproblems repaying bonds issued to

finance projects within a zone.Kandrevas said he’s cognizant of

the concerns over an opt-out provi-sion, which is not in his bill as in-troduced, and said he and othersare looking at the issue.

“We’re not here to make ene-mies of anybody that we need in-volved,” Kandrevas said.

His bill and other proposals —such as enabling local govern-ments to enact a sales tax thatwould be for transit, and trans-portation-designated local increas-es in vehicle registration, driver’sand chauffeur’s license fees — areamong items being discussed inLansing as part of a package ofstate transportation reforms.

The reforms include some of therecommendations reached last fallby a public-private task force.

House Transportation Commit-tee Chair Pam Byrnes, D-Chelsea,has established work groups thatover the summer are tackling vari-ous areas of the legislative package.

Byrnes said the groups are to re-port to her by mid-August on theirprogress.

“My goal is that in Septemberwe get all the bills introduced andwe start moving them forward incommittee,” Byrnes said,“whether we’re able to reach anagreement or an impasse.”


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Policy Quarterly

SHIFTING GEARS ON TRANSPORTATION FUNDINGReforms under discussion in Lansing contain some of therecommendations reached last fall by the public-private MichiganTransportation Funding Task Force. As proposed, the legislative package,not yet fully introduced, could eventually raise some $1.8 billion annuallyfor Michigan roads and bridges — and institute reforms and efficiencies.Proposals have included:

TIFAs for transit? Bill would add tax option; opting out still a concern

■ Replacing Michigan’s 19-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax with apercentage tax on the wholesaleprice of gas. Michigan’s 15-centdiesel fuel tax and 3-cents-per-gallon aviation fuel tax would alsomove to taxes based on percentageof wholesale price.■ Altering and raising vehicleregistration fees.■ Increasing truck registration fees.■ Allowing Michigan to contractwith private companies that mighttake over responsibility for building— and receiving revenue from —road and transportation projects.Under such public-privatepartnerships, a company mightbuild a toll lane or high-occupancy-vehicle lane, generating revenue foritself and alleviating the state’s

need to do the project andmaintenance itself.■ Providing additional state aid tocounties that jointly plan and buildregional corridors.■ Establishing a transitregionalization planning and grantprogram in which agencies identifyopportunities for regionalcooperation and develop plans topromote efficiency andcoordination.■ Allowing for transit investmentzones that would use tax incrementfinancing to support improvementsin roads, buildings or otherinfrastructure around transitstations.■ Providing counties with localfunding options such as driver andchauffeur license fees.


ECONOMICDEVELOPMENT

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and network with organizations dedicated to the progress

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CONTACT

Turkia Awada Mulin, Chief Development Officer

(313) 224-0410 or view information online at

www.waynecounty.com/edge

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CRAIN'S LIST: WAYNE COUNTY'S LARGEST EMPLOYERSRanked by full-time employees, excluding Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park

Rank

CompanyAddressPhone; Web site Top local executive

Full-timeemployees

Wayne CountyJan. 2009

Full-timeemployees

Wayne CountyJan. 2008

Full-timeemployees inMichigan Jan.

2009

Worldwideemployees Jan.

2009 Type of business

1.Ford Motor Co.1 American Road, Dearborn 48126(313) 322-3000; www.ford.com

Alan Mulallypresident and CEO

33,000 B 36,000 B NA 213,000 Automobile manufacturer

2.Oakwood Healthcare Inc.1 Parklane Blvd., Suite 1000E, Dearborn 48126(313) 253-6000; www.oakwood.org

Brian Connollypresident and CEO

5,679 5,735 5,681 5,681 Health care system

3.Henry Ford Health System1 Ford Place, Detroit 48202(800) 436-7936; www.henryford.com

Nancy Schlichtingpresident and CEO

3,727 3,463 18,422 NA Health care system

4.AutoAlliance International Inc.1 International Drive, Flat Rock 48134(734) 782-7800

John Savonapresident, CEO and plant

manager

3,508 3,508 NA NA Joint-venture automobile assembly firm

5.Johnson Controls49200 Halyard Drive, Plymouth 48170(734) 254-5000; www.johnsoncontrols.com

Beda Bolzeniuspresident, automotive

experience

2,700 B 3,000 B NA 140,000 Automotive supplier, building control systems andfacilities management

6.U.S. Postal Service1401 W. Fort St., Detroit 48233-9998(313) 226-8607; www.usps.gov

Nancy Rettinhousedistrict manager

2,691 2,329 NA NA Postal service

7.Dearborn Public Schools18700 Audette, Dearborn 48124(313) 827-3020; www.dearbornschools.org

Brian Whistonsuperintendent

2,215 C 2,119 C 2,215 C 2,215 C Public school district

8.Livonia Public Schools15125 Farmington Road, Livonia 48154(734) 744-2500; www.livonia.k12.mi.us

Randy Liepasuperintendent


9.Plymouth-Canton Community Schools454 S. Harvey St., Plymouth 48170(734) 416-2700; www.pccs.k12.mi.us

Craig Fiegelsuperintendent


10.U.S. government477 Michigan Ave., Detroit 48226(800) 688-9889

NA 1,800 B 1,554 NA NA Federal government

11.AAA Michigan1 Auto Club Drive, Dearborn 48126(313) 336-1234; www.aaamich.com

Charles Podowskipresident and CEO, The

Auto Club Group

1,781 2,095 3,475 4,887 Provider of insurance, travel-agency services andemergency road services

12.Severstal North America Inc.14661 Rotunda Drive, P.O. Box 1699, Dearborn 48120-1699(800) 532-8857; www.severstalna.com

Gregory Masonchairman, president and

CEO

1,775 2,100 1,775 1,775 Flat-rolled steel production

13.The Kroger Co.-Michigan Division40399 Grand River Ave., Suite C-110, Novi 48375(248) 536-1500; www.kroger.com

Rick Goingpresident

1,700 B 1,756 NA NA Grocery retailer

14.General Motors Corp.300 Renaissance Center, Detroit 48265(313) 556-5000; www.gm.com

Frederick Hendersonpresident and COO

1,668 D 2,153 NA NA Automobile manufacturer

15.State of MichiganCadillac Place, Detroit 48202(313) 456-4400; www.michigan.gov

Jennifer Granholmgovernor

1,641 B 1,601 B 49,113 49,156 State government

16.Quicken Loans/Rock Financial Inc.20555 Victor Parkway, Livonia 48152(800) 226-6308; www.quickenloans.com andwww.rockfinancial.com

Dan Gilbertchairman and founder

1,623 1,700 NA 2,839 Mortgage banking

17.Visteon Corp.1 Village Center Drive, Van Buren Township 48111(800) 847-8366; www.visteon.com

Don Stebbinspresident and CEO

1,500 2,700 E NA NA Automotive supplier

18.Wayne-Westland Community Schools36745 Marquette St., Westland 48185(734) 419-2000; www.wwcsd.net

Gregory Baracysuperintendent

1,458 1,809 1,458 1,458 Public school district

19.Comerica Bank500 Woodward Ave., Detroit 48226(248) 371-5000; www.comerica.com

Thomas OgdenMichigan market president

1,422 1,411 6,103 9,716 Financial services provider

20.DTE Energy Co.2000 Second Ave., Detroit 48226(313) 235-4000; www.dteenergy.com

Anthony Earley Jr.CEO and chairman

1,266 1,292 9,421 9,770 Energy and energy-technology company

21.Taylor School District23033 Northline Road, Taylor 48180(734) 374-1200; www.taylorschools.net

Beth Iversonsuperintendent


22.Beaumont Hospitals3711 W. 13 Mile Road, Royal Oak 48073(248) 898-5000; www.beaumonthospitals.com

Kenneth Matzickpresident and CEO

1,121 1,271 15,275 NA Private, nonprofit hospital

23.Yazaki North America Inc.6801 Haggerty Road, Canton Township 48187(734) 983-1000; www.yazaki-na.com

George Perrypresident and CEO

1,112 F 1,537 NA NA Automotive supplier

24.Grosse Pointe Public Schools389 St. Clair Ave., Grosse Pointe 48230(313) 432-3000; www.gpschools.org

Suzanne Kleinsuperintendent

1,060 C 982 C 1,060 C 1,060 C Public school district

25.TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.12025 Tech Center Drive, Livonia 48150(734) 855-2600; www.trwauto.com

John Plantpresident and CEO

1,024 1,234 3,620 65,000 Automotive supplier

This list of Wayne County employers encompasses companies with headquarters in Washtenaw, Oakland, Wayne, Macomb and Livingston counties. Companies with headquarters elsewhere are listed with the address and main executive of their Detroit-area office.This is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies. Number of full-time employees may include full-time equivalents. NA = not available. U.S. Steel-Great Lakes Works, No. 7 onlast year's list, temporarily idled operations in December 2008.B Crain's estimate.C FTE totals from the Center for Educational Performance and Information's Registry of Educational Personnel summary.D Figure as of August 2008.E Does not include salaried employees leased to Automotive Components Holdings L.L.C.F Figure as of June 2008.

LIST RESEARCHED BY ANNE MARKS



CRAIN'S LIST: LARGEST LOGISTICS COMPANIES Ranked by 2008 revenue

Rank

CompanyAddressPhone, Web site Top local executive

Revenue($000,000)

2008

Revenue($000,000)

2007Percentchange

Full-timeemployees in

Detroit area Jan.2009

Worldwideemployees Jan.

2009 Business description

1.Con-way Freight2211 Old Earhart Road, Ann Arbor 48105(734) 996-6600; www.con-way.com/freight

John Labriepresident

$3,015.0 $2,900.0 4.0% 521 18,000 Transportation company

2.Universal Truckload Services Inc.11355 Stephens Road, Warren 48089(586) 920-0100; www.goutsi.com

Donald CochranCEO and president

759.5 680.4 11.6 649 649 Transportation and shipping services, truckbrokerage

3.United Parcel Service of America29855 Schoolcraft Road, Livonia 48150(800) 742-5877; www.ups.com

Jennifer Shroegervice president and COO

615.0 B 596.2 3.2 NA NA Shipping and supply-chain services

4.Logistics Insight Corp.11355 Stephens Road, Warren 48089(888) 334-5462; www.4linc.com

H.E. Wolfepresident

250.0 300.0 -16.7 992 1,549 Logistics and related services such astransportation, ground expedite, airforwarding, sequencing, cross-docks,returnable container management, homedelivery, subassembly and more

5.United Road Services Inc.10701 Middlebelt Road, Romulus 48174(734) 947-7900; unitedroad.com

Michael Wysockipresident and CEO

247.4 220.2 12.4 298 1,011 Vehicle logistics for vehicle manufacturers,remarketers, auctions, dealers and internetvehicle transactions on a national basis

6.Active Aero Group-USA Jet Airlines2068 E St., Belleville 48111(734) 547-7200; www.activeaero.com;www.usajetairlines.com

Chris Healypresident and CEO

Brian Hermelinchairman

158.0 138.0 14.5 128 187 Air freight and ground expediting, private andpublic charters

7.England Logistics-SCE C

26000 Northline Commerce Drive, Suite 703, Taylor 48180(734) 946-3000; www.englandlogistics.com/sce

Jim Monkmeyermanaging director

146.7 117.3 25.0 34 207 Logistics management

8.Rush Trucking Corp.35160 E. Michigan Ave., Wayne 48184(734) 641-1700; www.rushtrucking.com

Andra Rushpresident

90.0 115.0 -21.7 88 201 Motor carrier, logistics management

9.KC Integrated Services L.L.C.28436 Highland Road, Romulus 48174(800) 476-6317; www.kacelogistics.com

Kenyon CalenderCEO

79.0 89.9 -12.1 330 480 Logistics, freight management, warehousing,parts sequencing, subassembly, and more

10.James Group International Inc.4335 W. Fort St., Detroit 48209(313) 841-0070; www.jamesgroupintl.com

John Jameschairman, president and CEO

69.1 54.5 D 26.9 140 160 Supply-chain management, materialmanagement, export, import, and more

11.Bay Logistics Inc.36555 Ecorse Road, Romulus 48174(734) 729-8441; www.baylogistics.com

Richard Johnstonpresident

38.0 40.0 -5.0 225 240 Warehousing, transportation and logisticsservices including packaging, repack, qualityinspections, kitting, sequencing, lightassembly, and sorting

12.Evans Distribution Systems18765 Seaway Drive, Melvindale 48122(313) 388-3200; www.evansdist.com

John A. Evanspresident and John W. Evans

CEO

35.0 33.5 4.5 150 250 Warehousing and distribution, transportation,contract packaging, quality inspection andother logistics related services

13.Load One Transportation & Logistics13221 Inkster, Taylor 48180(734) 947-9440; www.load1.com

John Elliott IIpresident

29.0 32.6 -11.2 198 216 Air charter, air freight-cargo, groundexpedite, truckload, partial truckload, flatbed,drop-deck flats, curtainside flatbeds, tempcontrol and intermodal management

14.Beltmann Integrated Logistics Inc.27275 Haggerty Road, Novi 48377(248) 926-2400; www.beltmannil.com

Bob Denehyvice president sales and marketing

15.9 13.7 16.1 40 40 Transportation, distribution, insideplacement, assembly and installation services

15.AIT Worldwide Logistics30255 Beverly Road, Suite 100, Romulus 48174(734) 326-9140; www.aitworldwide.com

Lorri FairchildDetroit franchise owner

7.6 6.0 26.8 35 850 Global freight transportation and logistics

This list of logistics companies is an approximate compilation of the largest companies in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. Net revenue is total revenue minus the costof purchased transportation. CenTra Inc., CEVA Logistics, National Logistics Management, the REI Group and the Outbound Group, which Crain's believes would qualify for this list, did not provide 2008 figures and a reliable estimate could not be made.B In January 2009, UPS merged its metro Detroit and Michigan districts. An actual figure for 2008 was not available. Figure represents Crain's estimate of 2008 revenue for the metro Detroit district only.C In November 2007, Salt Lake City-based England Logistics acquired Trans-Man Logistics Inc.D James Group International sold two companies, resulting in a revenue reduction of $35 million.

LIST RESEARCHED BY CAMILLE PIPPEN AND ANNE MARKS

BY RYAN BEENE


Oakland University leadership ispushing for cost containment andincreased staff flexibility on con-tracts as it negotiates collectivebargaining agreements with itslargest employee union.

But the OU chapter of the Ameri-can Association of University Profes-sors, OU’s faculty union and thelargest union on campus, is con-cerned that administration-driveninitiatives could undermine thequality of OU’s education and rep-utation.

This year, coming off a $52.7 mil-lion operating loss in its 2008 fiscalyear and as collective bargainingagreements for unionized employ-ees expire, OU has already looked toemployees and benefits as a sourceof cost savings, and seems poised tofollow suit with its faculty.

Before opening negotiationswith its faculty unions, OU settled

contract talks with its two smallestunions: a four-person policesergeant union and a 12-person po-lice officer and dispatch union.Both agreed to freeze salaries forthe next two fiscal years.

OU also froze the salaries ofabout 500 nonunion university ex-ecutives and administrators onJuly 1, a move expected to saveabout $2.2 million per year. The

savings reflect the freeze, benefitsassociated with salary and a new,lower-cost health care option to beoffered by OU in January 2010.

John Beaghan, vice president offinance and administration at OU,declined to discuss the details ofthe negotiations or the specificproposals being pursued by theuniversity.

“Since 2003, we have cut over $31 million out of our budgetthrough cost-containment mea-sures and other reductions,” suchas renegotiating vendor, benefitand supply contracts and eliminat-ing positions in years past,Beaghan said.

“We’ve done all kinds of things,and we continue to do that everyday.”

One proposal being shopped bythe administration would eliminateone or more types of little-used fac-ulty classifications, replacing themwith a single type of fixed-contractfaculty. The new faculty would not

be eligible for tenure or job securi-ty. Instead, they would only teachand perform some service tasks.

The current faculty collectivebargaining agreement expires inAugust.

Michael Latcha, a professor ofmechanical engineering and leadbargainer for OU’s AAUP chapter,said the proposal is an example ofthe overall direction of OU sought

by the administration.Some proposals by the OU ad-

ministration place less emphasison faculty performing researchand more on hiring new faculty “tostaff classes … to deliver credits,”Latcha said.

“And it’s all fairly consistentwith Oakland’s growth mode thatthey’ve been in for several years,and the concern of the faculty isthat we’re losing our identity as aserious, quality research institu-tion, and we’re unfortunately look-ing more and more like a commu-nity college.”

Instructional costs are thelargest operation expense at uni-versities. In its 2008 fiscal year, OUspent $83.7 million on instruction,or 46 percent of its operating ex-penses that year — more than dou-ble the $24.7 million cost of institu-tional support, the next-largestoperating expense.

Ryan Beene: (313) 446-0315,[email protected]

OU moves to faculty contract after winning other salary freezesSince 2003, wehave cut over

$31 million out of ourbudget through costcontainment ... andother reductions.

John Beaghan, VP of finance, administration at OU

”

“ The concern of thefaculty is that we’relosing our identity

as a serious, quality researchinstitution.

Michael Latcha, OU professor, union bargainer

”

“


New Michigan diversity grouptargets corporate practices

BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH


National Diversity Council founderDennis Kennedy didn’t think itwas a good time to establish aMichigan affiliate because of thestate’s economic distress.

But council sponsor Daimler Finan-cial Services Americas L.L.C. and its di-versity and community relationsmanager, Lora Vinande, thought itwas exactly the right time.

“Diversity and inclusion issomething that can’t drop off theagenda,” she said. “Now, morethan ever, it’s important compa-nies remain committed to diversi-ty and inclusion.”

In April, the council establishedits Michigan affiliate, one of justseven in the country so far, joiningCalifornia, Florida, New York,Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The Michigan Diversity Councilhopes to foster a better under-standing of the value of diversityand inclusion through monthlyevents that provide ongoing learn-ing opportunities, discussion andsharing of best practices amongthe region’s companies and diver-sity professionals.

“I see this as another way forcommunity leaders to learn andshare their best practices, in addi-tion to being linked into this grow-ing national conversation,” saidVinande, president of the Michi-gan council’s advisory board.

Two others currently serve onthe advisory board: Arlene Nixon,human resources manager at HenryFord Village retirement communityin Dearborn, and Kurt Maaske,learning and development managerfor Butzel Long P.C. in Detroit.

The council is seeking additionaladvisory board members and laterplans to seat a board of directors.

The council also plans to beginaccepting paid memberships fromindividuals and companies latethis year to help offset the cost ofevents, Vinande said.

The Michigan council’s focus oncorporate diversity is complemen-tary to the Michigan Roundtable forDiversity and Inclusion’s broader,community-based work, said Pres-ident and CEO Thomas Costello.

The roundtable has done foun-dation-funded work in communi-ties that include Plymouth/Can-ton, Southwest Detroit and St.Clair Shores, and works with reli-gious groups, government, law en-forcement, schools and businessesin each.

“We can use all the help we canget,” Costello said.

The council’s next event, “HiringPersons with Disabilities: the LastFrontier,” is 8-10:30 a.m. July 21 atVolkswagen of America in AuburnHills. For more information on thefree event, visit www.michigan diversitycouncil.org.

Sherri Begin Welch: (313) 446-1694, [email protected]


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Bankruptcy court scheduleshearing on Delphi asset bids

BY DAVE BARKHOLZ

CRAIN NEWS SERVICE

The bidding is over, and now it’stime for U.S. Bankruptcy Court to de-cide the fate of troubled DelphiCorp. in Troy.

Potential bidders — said in pub-lished reports to include billion-aire Wilbur Ross and Southfield-based Federal-Mogul Corp. — haduntil last Friday to bid for the sup-plier giant’s assets as part of abankruptcy auction.

Federal-Mogul spokeswomanPaula Silver declined to comment.Ross did not respond to messages.

Delphi spokesman LindseyWilliams declined to identify anyof the “several parties” that thesupplier has said have shown aninterest in Delphi assets.

A hearing on all bids is slatedfor July 23 in New York.

Platinum Equity L.L.C. of BeverlyHills, Calif., was the lead bidderfor Delphi going into the auction.

In a $3.6 billion deal worked outin cooperation with General MotorsCorp. and the Barack Obama ad-ministration, Platinum agreed tobuy all of Delphi’s assets except forfive U.S. plants.

GM was to put about $2.5 billioninto the deal, in exchange for thoseplants and Delphi’s global steering

operations.But lenders of about $3 billion of

bankruptcy financing to Delphiobjected to the Platinum deal, say-ing that it undervalued the assets.

That prompted BankruptcyJudge Robert Drain to open thesale of Delphi assets to other bid-ders.

For Ross and Federal-Mogul, theassets could come cheaply — andhave a strategic use, said DavidCole, chairman of the Center for Au-tomotive Research in Ann Arbor.

“The government has demon-strated over the past few monthsthat it can’t have a major failure inthe auto industry,” Cole said.“That includes Delphi.”

Federal-Mogul is attracted toDelphi’s electronics and engineparts, Cole said.

Ross owns the majority of Dear-born-based International AutomotiveComponents Group, an auto interiorsgiant with 2008 sales of $4.6 billion.

For its part, Platinum believes ithas the best plan for Delphi assets.

In a statement, Platinum princi-pal Mark Barnhill said Platinum isthe only bidder after four years of aDelphi bankruptcy whose plan notonly adds capital to Delphi but alsohas the approval of GM and the U.S.government.

From Automotive News


BY GABE NELSON


In this economy, even market-ing professionals need a littlehelp promoting themselves to po-tential employers.

At an upcoming programplanned by six Detroit-area salesand marketing organizations,those job seekers will be able toget some pointers on how to mar-ket themselves.

The event is scheduled for 5p.m. on July 28 at Novi’s HotelBaronette, located at 27790 NoviRoad.

Dan Chester, the event’s leadorganizer, said the program isaimed at jobless workers in sales,marketing and advertising, aswell as employees worrying theymight get the pink slip next.

Chester, a board member of theDirect Marketing Association of De-troit, became one of those unem-ployed professionals in Aprilwhen Dallas-based Epsilon DataManagement L.L.C. eliminated hissales team.

He wasn’t alone. Larisa Walega, the associa-

tion’s president, lost her job withDoner earlier this year. Then, a

few weeks ago, board treasurerAlex Della Torre was laid offfrom Highland Park-based Budco,Chester said.

All three are searching for newpositions. Chester said he’s closeto securing a job leading a nationalsales organization.

The board members’ plightdrove home the current strugglesof marketing professionals andprompted the group to organizethe career planning event,Chester said.

“We all read about the automo-tive industry and the big OEMslosing 10,000 jobs here, 20,000there, but many times you don’thear about the hundreds in thesupply chain that are also beinglet go. The advertising and mar-keting community has certainly


CareerWorks onlineVisit www.crainsdetroit.com/careerworks to search for jobs,post a résumé or find talent.

Ernest Travick

Former career:Paint automationspecialist.

New career:Looking to be anelementary schoolmathematicsteacher.

Name: Ernest Travick, 54.Education: A bachelor’s degree in history

from Madonna University and a master’s degreein education from Marygrove College.

Past career: Thirty-four years as a paint au-tomation specialist at Ford Motor Co.’s Dear-born Assembly Plant, now the Dearborn TruckPlant.

New career: Elementary school mathematicsteacher. Travick completed his master’s de-gree in May, received his certification in Juneand is seeking a position for this fall.

Why he decided to change careers: After threedecades at Ford, Travick saw the writing onthe wall. He decided to follow in the footsteps ofhis wife, who teaches special education classesfor Detroit Public Schools. “I had a very good jobat Ford. I was making good money and life wasgood, but I realized the industry was changingso rapidly that the good times were going tostop, so I went back and started studying edu-cation.”

How he made the transition: Travick realizedhe needed additional skills to remain competi-tive in the job market, so he enrolled in Mary-grove’s Teaching as a Second Career programusing education funding from Ford and theUnited Auto Workers. He started taking thecourses part time in 2005 while still working atFord and finished the program after acceptingFord’s buyout offer in 2007. “The greatest helpin making my transition came from the in-structors, professors and staff at Marygrove.They understand the needs of the students andoffer structured programs that give them agreater chance for success,” he said.

Obstacles overcome: As a husband and father,Travick had to juggle family responsibilitieswith work and classes. For the first two yearsof his master’s program, he would go straightfrom work to his night courses, which lastedabout five hours, and then return home tosleep. The buyout allowed him to focus onclasses and his 9-year-old son, Travick said.“My wife was very supportive, and the stu-dents in the TASC program were always will-ing to assist fellow students,” he said.

Advice for others: “Never stop learning. Fol-low your dreams, believe in yourself and pre-pare for the future.”

If you have made a similar change in your ca-reer, or know someone who has made an inter-esting career transition, contact Andy Chapelle,managing editor at Crain’s Detroit Business [email protected].

CareerTransition

Sales, marketing, ad reps get help promoting selves

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE

POSITIONS SOUGHT

MANAGEMENT

ADVERTISING/MARKETING

CAREER MOVES

"We have gotten genuine interest on eachad placed which has led to several goodleads and we just closed on a nice deal.We are very glad to have Crain's to helpus get our listings out and we rely on yourexpertise and efficiency in helping withthis. We would recommend Crain's toanyone trying to get a message out in thebusiness world."

— Bill & Nancy Thomas,Archie Thomas Real Estate

Don’t Take OurWord For It

Real Estate Sales AssociateWe are seeking a determined, dedicated andambitious self-starter with good work habits to lease re-tail shopping centers in Troy and Canton. You need tohave a pleasant phone manner and professional ap-pearance, and should be able to work independently.You also need strong oral and written skills, computerproficiency and the ability to travel.

The position requires a minimum of five years relatedexperience in retail leasing. The ideal candidate willhave a strong ability to negotiate and make decisions.

Commission based pay structure.

Please e-mail your resume [email protected]

Michigan Osteopathic AssociationExecutive Director

The Michigan Osteopathic Association(MOA), the professional association formore than 7000 Michigan osteopathicphysicians, is seeking a dynamic executivedirector with experience in health policyand with membership retention and recruit-ment. Complete details are available onthe MOA website at www.mi-osteopathic.org.

Resumes collected through July. Interest-ed candidates should send a cover letter,salary expectations and resume or vitae to:

MSAE/Cheryl RonkAttention: MOA Search Committee1350 Haslett RoadEast Lansing, MI 48823Fax [email protected]

MARKETING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE The Northwest Group, a 50 year old, Wixom-based B2B marketing communications firmspecializing in print advertising, web site de-sign, search marketing programs, public rela-tions, and event management, is acceptingrésumés for marketing account executives.Send résumé to [email protected].

Friedman Real Estate Group, Inc. is looking for experienced real estate brokerage professionals to join our team in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Now in our 22nd year, we have earned a reputation for being aggressive,driven, and creative in our approach to handling the real estate needsof our clients. We’ve worked hard to position our company for successduring these economic times, and we are meeting the challenge head on.Deep integration with our property management and construction divisionsallows us to provide outstanding service to our growing list of clients.

Our business is becoming ever more complex and we are looking for sharp, professional individuals to join our team. Candidates must have a four (4) year college degree, must have an active Michigan real estate salesperson or associate broker’s license, and must possess at least three (3) years of commercial real estate experience.

w w w . f r i e d m a n r e a l e s t a t e . c o m

NOW HIRING COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS

Please Submit Resume with subject line of“CRE Broker” to [email protected]

Friedman Real Estate Group Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer

U. S. CENSUS BUREAUNEEDS EXPERIENCED MANAGERS!

FULL TIME TEMPORARY POSITIONSMETRO DETROIT LOCAL CENSUS OFFICES

ANNUAL SALARY $38,000 - $59,400

VIEW POSTINGS AT www.census.gov/detroit

CALL 1 866 861-2010TO SCHEDULE TEST

The U.S. Census Bureau is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Help forjob seekers

areerWorks is a weeklycollection of advertis-ing, news and informa-

tion geared toward readers incareer transition or lookingfor new jobs.

Included in our coverage:“CareerTransition,” high-lighting a person who hasmade a successful leap fromone profession to another; acalendar of job- and training-related events; and news sto-ries affecting the job market.

CareerWorks is also online.On our Web site, at

www.crainsdetroit.com/careerworks, you can post ananonymous résumé and at-tract employers. You canscan the newest jobs from ourarea or all of Michigan. Youcan set up e-mail alerts sowhenever a job that interestsyou is posted, you’ll knowabout it.

Employers can post jobs orsearch résumés for talentthey seek.

C

been affected in Detroit, and this isour way of giving back,” he said.

The program will feature a net-working session and a panel dis-cussion that will provide advicefor job seekers on how to craft ré-sumés, prepare for interviews anduse Web sites such as Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn to promotethemselves.

The panelists are DeniseRoberts, the founder of Waterford-based SalesPartners-Troy; Gary Er-ickson, partner at Erickson SearchPartners in Farmington Hills; andShelli Gutholm, recruitment man-ager at Aquent L.L.C.’s BinghamFarms office.

Organizing and sponsoring theevent are the DMAD, 313 Digital, theAdCraft Club of Detroit, the AmericanMarketing Association’s Detroit chap-ter, the International Interior Design As-sociation’s Detroit chapter and theSociety for Marketing Professional Ser-vices’s Michigan chapter.

Registration for the event willbe available at www.smps-mi.org.

Tickets are $10 online or at thedoor.

Gabe Nelson: (313) 446-0417, [email protected]

The advertising and marketingcommunity has certainly been affected in

Detroit, and this is our way of givingback.

Dan Chester, Direct Marketing Association of Detroit”

“



PEOPLEEDUCATION

Hamsa Daher to di-rector, Walsh Col-lege Novi campus,from associate di-rector of interna-tional studentsand new markets,Troy.

FINANCEMichael Packardto director ofclient services,

RDM Associates, Clarkston, from pro-fessional services senior consultant,Blackbaud Inc., Clarkston.

Brent Otto to as-sistant vice presi-dent of actuarial,Amerisure MutualInsurance Co.,Farmington Hills,from senior actu-arial consultant.

GOVERNMENT Harry Lester, re-tired director,United Steelwork-

ers of America, Taylor, elected chair-man, Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Au-thority, Brighton; also, Peter Walters,group vice president, Guardian Indus-tries Corp., Auburn Hills, elected vice

chairman; Robert Marans, researchprofessor, University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, elected treasurer; and An-

thony Marrocco, commissioner, Ma-comb County Public Works, ClintonTownship, elected secretary.

LAWCindy Bott to part-ner, intellectualproperty andtechnology prac-tice group, Honig-man MillerSchwartz andCohn L.L.P., AnnArbor, from ofcounsel, BrinksHofer Gilson andLione, Ann Ar-bor.

MANUFACTURINGRichardManoogian tochairman, MascoCorp., Taylor, re-tiring from execu-tive chairman.John Ford to CFO,Solidica Inc., AnnArbor, from vicepresident of fi-nance, ArbortextInc., Ann Arbor.Jeff Zyburt to ex-

ecutive vice president, Tomcar Ltd.,Rochester Hills, from president, DCYI

L.L.C., New Hud-son. Reggie Smith tocommunicationsdirector, Gentz In-dustries L.L.C.,Warren, from ex-ecutive adminis-trative assistant,Exide Corp., De-troit.

MARKETINGWendy Robison to sales manager,Ideation Inc., Ann Arbor, from mort-gage loan originator, Providence Mort-gage Co., Lansing.

NONPROFITSElizabeth Jones to vice president, NSFInternational, Ann Arbor, from vicepresident of communications, Quick-en Loans Inc., Livonia.

RETAILJustin Hiller to vice president, Hiller’sMarkets, Southfield, from head grocerybuyer, Gelson’s Supermarkets, Encino,Calif.

SERVICESMaria Sitarski to support team manag-er, The Epitec Group Inc., Southfield,from benefits administrator.

Leah Krohn to national operations man-ager, Certified Restoration DrycleaningNetwork L.L.C., Berkley, from marketrepresentation specialist, Ford MotorCo., Dearborn. Also, Andrew Mengasonto national operations manager fromCOO, Evans Garment Restoration,Birmingham.

David Moore to director, Hydra Profes-sionals L.L.C., Farmington Hills, fromautomotive practice manager, BBKLtd., Southfield.

PEOPLE GUIDELINESAnnouncements are limited tomanagement positions. Nonprofitand industry group boardappointments can be found atwww.crainsdetroit.com. Sendsubmissions to Departments,Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2997, or send e-mail [email protected] must contain the person’sname, new title, company, city inwhich the person will work, formertitle, former company (if notpromoted from within) and formercity in which the person worked.Photos are welcome, but we cannotguarantee they will be used.

Daher

Otto

IN THE SPOTLIGHTDr. Ajay Guptahas beennamed to thenew position ofchief scientificofficer atWixom-basedRockwellMedicalTechnologiesInc.Gupta, 51, hadbeen an

associate professor of medicine atthe University of California-LosAngeles and Charles DrewUniversity of Medicine and Sciencein Los Angeles.He also has been a member of thefaculty at Henry Ford Hospital inDetroit, and is the founder andchairman of the Indian Society forBone and Mineral Research.Gupta earned his bachelor ofmedicine and bachelor of surgerydegrees at the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences in New Delhi.

Gupta

Bott

Manoogian

Smith


BUSINESS &INVESTMENTS

BUSINESSES FOR SALE

FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES

EQUIPMENT &MERCHANDISEOFFICE FURNITURE

ANNOUNCEMENTS &SERVICES

BUSINESS SERVICES AUCTIONS

REAL ESTATEMARKET PLACE

Advertise yourgoods and services in

Crain’s Detroit Business

Detroit MI. Attention: Ric-Man Detroit, Inc. issoliciting cost proposals from qualified

DHB/DBB/MBE/WBE Subcontractors/Vendorscertified with the City of Detroit for the DWS 876 &877 Projects. Bid due date is July 29, 2009. Projects

consist of rehabilitation/lining of existing circular andnon-circular storm sewers, sanitary sewers and water

main lines, 8" thru 120’ diameter. All disciplines ofwork specific to rehabilitation/lining including resto-ration of existing sewer and water main systems are

available for solicitation. Those interested in providingany of the services required are encouraged to con-

tact us prior to July 20, 2009 at;Ric-Man Detroit, Inc

1001 Woodward Ave. Suite 400Detroit, MI. 48226

Phone: 313-833-2242 Fax: 313-964-8356

coffee!!opportunity!!interested??franchise??

Call Kate Blackford (517) 482-8145 or [email protected]

www.biggby.com

Rare Area Market Development opportunity nowavailable in SE Michigan. Join a recognized leaderin the retail golf industry.

www.progolfamerica.com

Great FranchiseOpportunity forGolf Enthusiasts

Contact Frank Hutton - 248-994-0553

RENT A CONTROLLERI can make your business financially

successful at minimum [email protected]

WE SELL BUSINESSES

Confidential & Professional Service.

Specialize in Manufacturing, Distribution &

Business -To-Business Service Industries.

Confidential Business Sale, Inc.

www.ConfidentialBusinessSale.com

Detroit Metro Office 313-221-9378

MUST SELL, OFFICE CLOSEDDesks $99, Chairs $39, Files $49, Partitions $50,

Lateral Files $99, Cubicles, Office Phone SystemsCall (248) 548-6404 or (248) 474-3375.

Franchisee InvestorLocal franchise is looking for investors for well knownfast food franchise. Please contact [email protected]

Established retail business for sale. Owner retiringafter 25 successful years. Turn key operation. Pricenegotiable. Contact [email protected]

Pame a Rose

Beth Rose

View Open House Times, Floor Plans, & More!

Toll Free: 877-462-7673

Toll Free: 877-696-7653©2009

971 APARTMENTS!

Auction Held Off-Site: Hilton Garden Inn6165 Levis Commons Blvd, Perrysburg, OH 43551

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2009 at 10:00 amRegistration will begin at 9:00 am

REAL ESTATE AUCTION!

971 Apartment Units, 103 Buildings, Townhouses, Twinplexes, 123+/-


WEDNESDAYJ U L Y 1 5

Business After Hours. 5-7:30 p.m. Birm-ingham Bloomfield Chamber net-working event. Crust Pizza and WineBar, Bloomfield Township. $10 cham-ber members, $20 others. Contact:(248) 644-1700.

National Association of CareerWomen Lunch. Noon-1 p.m. With Eliza-beth Sikkenga, principal, Crisp Mar-keting, speaking on “Using Social Me-dia: Which One, When, Why and Howto Decide.” Weber’s Inn, Ann Arbor.$20. Contact: (734) 439-2904.

THURSDAYJ U L Y 1 6

How to Start a Business. 9 a.m.-noon.Oakland County Business Center.Topics include entrepreneurial skills,business feasibility, business forma-tion and more. Executive Office Build-ing, Waterford Township. $30. Con-tact: (248) 858-0783.

COMING EVENTSAnchors Aweigh with CREW Detroit. 6-9 p.m. July 21. Commercial Real EstateWomen Detroit. A social gatheringwith organized networking activitiesopen to members and nonmembers.Drinks and hors d’ oeuvres will beserved. Grosse Pointe Yacht Club,Grosse Pointe Shores. $45 CREWmembers, $50 nonmembers, registra-tion required. Contact: (785) 832-1808.

Improving Collections. 8:30-10:30 a.m.July 21. Hennessey Capital L.L.C.;Walsh College Business Leadership

Institute. WithMike Semanco,president, Hen-nessey Capital;and CandacePavliscak Sr., vicepresident, Hen-nessey Capital.Walsh College,Troy. $15. Con-tact: (248) 823-1392.

Inforum Networking and New MemberReception. 8-9 a.m. July 23. After pre-sentation design consultations avail-able (by appointment), and shopping.Registration required by July 18.Michigan Design Center, Troy. $20 In-forum members, $30 nonmembers,New Inforum members who joined af-ter Jan. 2 attend free. Contact: (877)633-3500.

How to Write a Business Plan. 9 a.m.-noon. July 23. Oakland County Busi-ness Center. Learn what elements arecommonly found in effective plansand work on developing each of themfor your own business. Executive Of-fice Building, Waterford Township.$40. Contact: (248) 858-0783.

CALENDAR

LEADERSHIP DETROIT TURNS 30Alumni of Leadership Detroit areinvited to a celebration 3-8 p.m.Tuesday sponsored by the DetroitRegional Chamber to discuss howto reshape the region. The event is to take place at Shed2 in Detroit’s Eastern Market.Admission is $75 and includes allfood and drink. Speakers are to include MaryKramer, publisher of Crain’s DetroitBusiness; Rick Sperling, founder ofMosaic Youth Theater; and others.Sponsors include Henry FordHealth System, Gleaners Food Bankand ASTI Environmental. For information, call (866) 627-5463.

ACQUISITIONSInternational Automotive Compo-nents Group, Dearborn, has agreed toacquire certain operations ofStankiewicz GmbH and GimotiveGmbH from German administration. Detroit-based architecture firmSmithGroup Inc. has acquired Dallas-based F&S Partners. The office willcarry the name SmithGroup/F&S.

CONTRACTSLoad One, Taylor, has joined the Smart-Way Transport Partnership, WashingtonD.C., a collaboration between the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency andthe freight industry designed to in-crease energy efficiency while reduc-ing greenhouse gases and air pollution. ZipLogix, Fraser, creator of Relay, anonline transaction management sys-tem for real estate professionals, an-nounced that the Mississippi Associa-tion of Realtors, Jackson, has madeRelay its exclusive transaction-man-agement software affinity partner forits members. Also, the South CarolinaAssociation of Realtors has chosen toprovide ZipForm, a real estate indus-try contract software by ZipLogix, as amember benefit. Also, ZipLogix an-nounced that the St. Paul Area Associa-tion of Realtors, St. Paul, Minn., andthe Western Wisconsin Realtors Asso-ciation, St. Paul, Minn., have madeZipForm part of their new member ori-entation process.TI Automotive, Warren, a supplier offluid storage and delivery systems,has retained The Quell Group, Troy,for marketing and communications.Ann Arbor-based R.J. Conlin Marketing

and Design was selected by Flagship Pri-vate Air, Ann Arbor, to help the compa-ny launch its charter air service. RedPlum, Livonia, a provider ofcoupons, announced an exclusivepartnership with Phil Lempert, TheSupermarket Guru. Web site:www.redplum.com.Altair Engineering, Troy, announcedthat the U.S. Department of Defensehas exercised its renewal option forusing Altair’s PBS Professional soft-ware for its high-performance com-puting modernization program.The Millerschin Group, Auburn Hills,will provide strategic communica-tions planning, media relations, exec-utive outreach, and special-eventplanning and coordination for ComauInc., Southfield, an automationprovider for the aerospace, trans-portation, military and recreationalvehicles industries.National Bronze Manufacturing Co.,Clinton Township, has namedBerline, Bloomfield Hills, its agency ofrecord.

EXPANSIONSTriMas Corp., Bloomfield Hills, a man-ufacturer of engineered and appliedproducts, announced that its Lamonsbusiness unit in Houston, Texas, hasopened a sales and service center inRotterdam, The Netherlands. Website: www.trimascorp.com.

GROUNDBREAKINGSDeMattia Group, Plymouth, an archi-tecture, construction and real estatedevelopment firm, broke ground onthe Dhake Industries global headquar-

ters in Plymouth. Dhake supplies spe-cialty coatings for engineered plas-tics. The addition is scheduled forcompletion in the fall.

MOVESVerizon Wireless relocated a store from35105 Warren Road to 35000 WarrenRoad, Westland. (734) 513-4096.Children’s Leukemia Foundation ofMichigan from Southfield to 5455 Cor-porate Drive, Suite 306, Troy. Tele-phone: (248) 530-3000.

NEW PRODUCTSThe Auto/Steel Partnership, Detroit,released the revised Advanced High-Strength Steel Applications Designand Stamping Process Guidelines - ASpecial Edition of In-depth AdvancedHigh-Strength Steel Case Studies. Website: www.a-sp.org.EnovateIT, Ferndale, a provider of mo-bile and wall-mounted workstations,has developed its first medical comput-ing cart. Web site:www.enovateusa.com.ERT Systems L.L.C., a provider of au-tomated tracking systems for first re-sponders, has announced the releaseof P.A.R. Version 4, an enhanced ver-sion of its emergency resource track-ing and scene management software.Web site: www.onsiteert.com.

NEW SERVICESBaker College of Auburn Hills will of-fer a new legal studies bachelor’s de-gree program beginning in fall 2009.Telephone: (248) 276-8783.R.L. Polk and Co., Southfield, is offer-

ing an online portal to the NationalVehicle Population Profile, a Web-based interactive system for analyz-ing the vehicle population in the Unit-ed States, Canada and Puerto Rico.Web site: www.polk.com.Telematics supplier GuidePoint Sys-tems, Pontiac, has developed a Win-dows-based application that will al-low users of a new navigation systemdeveloped by Van Buren Township-based Visteon to access the Internet intheir vehicles. Web site: www.guidepointsystems.com

OTHERNational Air Cargo, Orchard Park,N.Y., has received approval from theTransportation Security Administration,Arlington, Va., to operate a CertifiedCargo Screening Facility at Willow RunAirport in Ypsilanti to help relieve con-gestion of the screening for air cargoshipments at airports in SoutheastMichigan.

Semanco

DIARY GUIDELINESSend news releases for BusinessDiary to Departments, Crain’sDetroit Business, 1155 GratiotAve., Detroit, MI 48207-2997 orsend e-mail to [email protected]. Use any Business Diaryitem as a model for your release,and look for the appropriatecategory. Without completeinformation, your item will not run.Photos are welcome, but wecannot guarantee they will beused.

BUSINESS DIARY


AUCTIONS INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

OFFICE SPACE

OFFICE SPACE RETAIL SPACE WATERFRONT PROPERTY

WATERFRONT PROPERTY

DEVELOPMENT PROPERTY

REAL ESTATE

AUCTION!

4232 NEWCASTLE DRIVECLARKSTON, MICHIGAN 48348

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 2009 at 2:00 pmOpen House: July 25 from 10 am - 1 pm,

July 29 from 6 pm - 8 pm, andAugust 2 from 12 pm - 2 pm

Notes: Private country estate, elegant

waterfront views, 8,073 +/- square feetplus walkout to lake, 4 beds, 4 full & 2 half baths, 3 levels, and 1,680+/- square foot motor room. Opening Bid $950,000.Selling separately - Grand Piano and furniture.

WATERFRONTPrivate Country Estate

on Heather Lake

Pamela K. Rose, BrokerAuctioneer, AARE, [email protected]

Michael E. MurrayAuctioneer, GRI, CAI

[email protected]

Pamela RoseBroker, Auctioneer AARE CAI

www.pamelaroseauction.com

©2009Pame a K. Rose

Toll Free 877-462-7673

Michael MurrayAuctioneer CAI GRI

Congress Building30555 Southfield Rd., Southfield

Bridge Park21300 - 21314 Hilltop, Southfield

Most Aggressive Rent Rates in Town

Pontiac, MichiganWarehouse Space for Lease

Almost free!• Rates as low as 17¢ a month gross

• Warehousing or Manufacturing• 5,000 to 200,000 sq.ft. for lease• Interior Truck wells and grade level doors• Sprinklered and heated building• Short term leases for temporary storage

313-835-2485Best deal in town!

AVAILABLE NOW4,000 to 100,000 sq. ft.

Also 10,000 & 25,000 sq. ft.Free Standing Bldgs w/truckwells.1 Mile from Metro Airport

REA CONSTRUCTION(734) 946-8730

Also Heavy IndustrialLand Available

www.reaconstruction.net

(810) 695-7700

Off I-75 � Grand Blanc � Low Lease Rates � Low ExpensesOn-site Mgmt � Exterior Pad Site Available

Now Leasing 83,700 sq. ft.

Catellus Group, LLCwww.waretechindustrialpark.com

United States Bankruptcy Court

Real Estate Sale

The following real estate for sale by order of the United States Bankruptcy Court:

• Grosse Ile - vacant lot 13 on Macomb Street - business district - multiple uses

• Highland - 2.53 acres - 340 Harvey Lake Rd - corner lot on M-59 Highland Road

frontage - approximately 3000 sq. ft. building - adjacent to Highland Lakes

Recreation area - current use: day care center

• Ferndale - 3160 Hilton Road - near I-696 - 2 large bay doors - excellent frontage -

display windows - corner location - approximately 2400 sq. ft. building

• Romulus - Prime Ecorse City Community Subdivision vacant parcels located in

the proposed Wayne County/Willow Run Aerotropolis - bounded by I-94,

Middlebelt, Smith & Brandt roads - over 200 lots with expressway frontage

• Romulus - 25 vacant lots - Taylor Road Subdivision - many adjacent to each

other - zoned residential - at the intersection of Eureka & Inkster Roads

• Romulus - vacant 22 acre - 2 adjacent parcels - Eureka & Cogswell Roads

• Romulus - vacant 20 acre parcel - east of Merriman Road - south of Ecorse Road

• Romulus - vacant 5 acre parcel - Eureka Road - south of Middlebelt Road

• Romulus - vacant 1/2 acre parcel - Merriman Road - north of Smith Road

• Romulus - 7221 Merriman Road - frontage with tear-down house

• Romulus - 30953 Ecorse Road frontage - 1 acre corner parcel - 900 sq. ft. house

"AS IS" & "WHERE IS" condition. Sale subject to Court approval. Addendum required. All measurements & information are estimates.

ALL OFFERS CONSIDERED

Bill Moy, Trustee's Realtor

Remerica Signature

E-mail: [email protected]

Office: 734-432-9700 - Cellular: 313-333-3240

33014 File Mile Road

Livonia, MI 48154

www.RemericaSignature.com

FOR LEASE

43235 Twelve Mile, Novi

(12 Oaks Mall perimeter)9,000 Sq Ft available

Brokers protected

Great Retail Opportunityin the most sought after

retail destination in Metro Detroit!- Expand your customer base -

share this spacious building withMichigan’s Premier Rug Retailer

Contact Ed at

(248) 763-0305

48 Acres with 250 feet of Lake FrontageInvestment/Hunting/Equestrian/Estate/Develop50 Min from Detroit (Linden, MI) No motors lake

$299,000- Reduced by 79K- (810)444-3510

EUROPEAN LAKEFRONT ELEGANCE WEST BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN

A private oasis on 3+ acres with 156' on an allsports lake. Grand great room, gourmet kitchen,4 fireplaces, 7 bedrooms, 5.3 baths, sophisticat-ed library. Walkout to lush gardens, salt waterinfinity pool with waterfall and fountains. Fullservice elevator, 10 car garage. This homeoffers elegance, luxury and casual living at itsvery best. Voted one of the top 100 places tolive in the U.S. - Money Magazine $5,900.00.

Nancy Spector248-752-1002

Arlene Haber248-891-1705

SOUTHFIELD OFFICE SPACESingle office with full window wall available inprivate, recently remodeled building. Greatlocation to all expressways. 248-353-8830


Medical IT company poised to surge when stimulus kicks inBY CHAD HALCOM


Ferndale-based EnovateIT L.L.C.sees itself on a plateau betweentwo periods of strong growth —with the next growth period ex-pected to be by mandate of the fed-eral government.

The manufacturer of carts, wall-mounted computing stations andother IT-related products for hos-pitals and physicians’ offices ex-pects business to surge again with-in a year because of provisions ofthe American Recovery and Rein-

vestment Act af-fecting electron-ic medicalrecords, saidPresident RonSgro and VicePresident FredCalero. Thecompany grewfrom revenue of$15 million and18 or so employ-

ees in 2007 to about 45 employeesnationwide and $23 million in late2008 as it expanded and upgradedits line of products for hospitals.

The next uptick should come atyear’s end or early 2010 and lead tonew sales and jobs, Sgro said.

“Because of the national econo-my affecting everything right now,we expect at best to be flat in 2009,”Calero said.

“And because the stimulus in-centives to hospitals come on theback end, with greater Medicareand Medicaid reimbursements, wethink right now they are lookingmore at which systems they wantand making queries more thanpurchases.”

The $787 billion federal stimuluspackage includes $19 billion in in-centive payments for health careIT programs, where hospitals andphysicians receive greaterMedicare and Medicaid reim-bursement if they meet federal cri-teria for adopting electronic med-ical records between 2011 and 2013.

The incentives decrease after2013 and penalties are assessed tothose who are not significant elec-tronic record users after 2015.

About 25 of EnovateIT’s employ-ees are designers, builders or ad-ministrative staff at the company’sFerndale headquarters. Sgro saidthe rest are sales teams and man-agers working elsewhere in thecountry.

Sgro and Calero founded the com-pany in 2003 as a reseller that im-ported and distributed medical ITsupport products from overseas forhealth care buyers. About threeyears ago, the company relocatedfrom Troy to Ferndale and began todesign and build its own products.The shift led to the launch of its firstwall-mounted unit two and a halfyears ago. The E645 unit stores acomputer terminal inside patientrooms so nurses and doctors caneasily update records.

EnovateIT’s carts and wall unitsallow nurses to access electronicrecords while on their rounds tovisit patients, and can help pa-tients take part in viewing and up-dating their own records as well asreduce errors in treatment andmedication.

To date, the company has placedproducts in 1,600 hospitals in the

U.S. and Canada, in-cluding IT carts atWilliam Beaumont Hos-pitals in Royal Oak andTroy, wall-mountedunits at Crittenton Hos-pital in RochesterHills, and both prod-ucts at Cleveland Clinic.

Crittenton and De-troit Medical Centerboth made a list of 100“Most Wired” and 25“Most Wireless” hos-pitals in the nation ina report last week byHospitals & Health Networks, apublication of the American Hospital

Association.Sgro said EnovateIT

sometimes has an ad-vantage over its com-petitors by pitching anAmerican-made prod-uct, even though itsprices fall generally inthe middle of the packwith its competitors.

More than 85 percentof its merchandise isnow manufactured inFerndale, and Sgro ex-pects product demandwould grow even with-

out the stimulus bill. “Also startingnext year, the first of the baby

boomers becomes eligible forMedicare,” he said.

“That’s a group of patients thatis more used to getting a high qual-ity of care, and a lot of them showinterest in a more hotel-like expe-rience during hospitalization. Hos-pitals seem to be responding tothis trend and looking for IT prod-ucts that make rooms look moreinviting. Lately, we’re trying tomake products that fit with that.”

Steve Reinecke, global directorof health care for St. Paul, Minn.-based Ergotron Inc., agreed withSgro and Calero that stimulus in-centives will spur new sales in2010 and accelerate closer to the

2013 deadline for hospitals to com-plete the records transition or facepossible reimbursement cuts.

But while a “rising tide wouldlift all boats,” Reinecke noted thatErgotron already makes morethan $100 million annually inmedical IT device sales and thatsome brands will fare better thanothers.

“But in the end, the stimulusmay end up benefiting the bestthree or four companies within thebusiness. A lot of small companieswho can’t get in on that may disap-pear,” Reinecke said.


On the Grow is afeature that willappear in most issueshighlighting growingcompanies, large andsmall. Know of acompany you thinkCrain’s should writeabout? ContactManaging EditorAndrew Chapelle [email protected].

OntheGrow

Calero


BY NEIL ROLAND

CRAIN NEWS SERVICE

General Motors Corp. and ChryslerGroup L.L.C. say that about 430 oftheir direct suppliers, or about aquarter of the companies’ tier-onebase, have gotten aid under the $5 billion federal supplier program.

The disclosures, in response toquestions from Crain’s sister pub-lication Automotive News, did notinclude details about which sup-pliers receive aid.

They prompted criticism of thethree-month-old program by ana-lysts who said it was inadequate.They called for an expan-sion of U.S. assistance tostrapped, capable compa-nies at every step of thesupply chain— not just di-rect suppliers— at a timewhen sectorprofits andbank credithave largelydried up.

“It’s an ex-pensive pro-gram for tier-one suppli-ers to participate in, andonly those that are scared to deathor desperate have done so,” saidJim Gillette, an analyst for theCSM Worldwide consulting firm inNorthville.

“At the same time, mom-and-pop tier-two and tier-three compa-nies are really struggling becausethey’re dependent on bank financ-ing.”

The Treasury Departmentlaunched the Auto Supplier Sup-port Program in March “to helpstabilize the auto supply base.”

It committed $3.5 billion to GMand $1.5 billion to Chrysler inApril and expects to continue theprogram for a year.

GM has provided assistance toslightly more than 370 direct mate-rial suppliers since the programbegan, company spokesmanDaniel Flores said. Chrysler hasaided about 60, spokesman MaxGates said.

Flores said that, although thenumber of participants “is small,”the size of their receivables sug-gests that the bigger tier-one sup-pliers are in the program.

The federal aid can be taken intwo ways: as guarantees of receiv-ables due from GM and Chryslerfor delivered parts, or to acceleratecorporate payments to suppliersfor those parts.

There are more than 1,800 tier-one suppliers to GM and Chrysler,estimated Gillette, whose firm’s fig-ures are used by the Troy-based Orig-inal Equipment Suppliers Association.

Many strapped tier-one suppliers

have not sought federal aid becauseof the high fees charged by the gov-ernment to participate in the pro-gram, supplier lawyers said.

These fees have amounted to hun-dreds of thousands of dollars apiecefor some suppliers, said StephenGross, a lawyer with McDonald Hop-kins P.L.C. in Bloomfield Hills whorepresents about 30 suppliers.

Other suppliers have balked atthe red tape in the program, saidMichael Fleming, a suppliers’lawyer with Plunkett Cooney P.C. inBloomfield Hills.

Neither GM nor Chrysler wouldreveal the names of any aid recipi-

ents, norwould theTreasury De-partment.They also de-clined to dis-close howmuch aid re-cipients got.

“We’re notrequired by thegovernment todisclose this in-formation, sowe’re not,” Flo-res said. “We

have nothing to hide.”Last month, Treasury turned

down an OESA request for up to$10 billion in additional loans.

Steve Rattner, the head of theadministration’s auto task force,dismissed the need for more sup-plier aid.

“At the moment, the market-place appears to be functioningwith respect to the parts suppliersin terms of their ability to restruc-ture and organize through theirinitial Chapter 11 process,” he toldreporters last week.

Without more aid, there will bean acceleration of the bankrupt-cies, liquidations and mothballingof suppliers that have already be-gun, said Laura Marcero, a consul-tant at accounting firm Grant Thorn-ton L.L.P. in Southfield.

The risk is that when GM andChrysler sales inevitably pick upthe automakers may not haveenough of a supply base to drawon, she said.

The supply sector’s capacityneeds to shrink by 30 percent to 40percent because of sagging de-mand, but that consolidationshould be planned and structured,Marcero said. Instead, it is hap-pening haphazardly, she said.

Southfield-based Lear Corp., the11th-biggest global parts seller toautomakers last year, filed forbankruptcy protection on July 7. Ithas raised $500 million in bank-ruptcy financing from a group ledby J.P. Morgan and Citigroup.

From Automotive News


430 GM, Chryslertier-one suppliersget federal aidAnalysts call program inadequate

Downturn, rule change leave visas unclaimedBY CHAD HALCOM


Southeast Michigan companieswill hire significantly fewer spe-cialized foreign nationals to workunder H-1B visa permits this fall,local attorneys and human re-sources managers said.

But that happens when youaren’t hiring much at all.

“Each of the past several yearsthe petitions have exhausted thecap of 65,000 (new permits) in thefirst week, if not the first day ortwo that they were available,”said Michael Nowlan, partner atDetroit-based Clark Hill P.L.C. andco-leader of its immigration prac-tice group. “This year, we’rethree months in now, and thou-sands of H-1Bs are still available.”

The U.S. Customs and Immigra-tion Service offers for-profit com-panies up to a federal cap of 65,000new H-1B visas, which run forthree years, to hire citizens of oth-er countries with at least a four-year college degree and special-ized skills, such as architects, ITemployees, hospital and healthcare professionals or certain fash-ion models.

Another 20,000 are set aside forcompanies employing profession-als with more advanced degrees.Nonprofits and educational insti-tutions are not subject to the an-nual cap. New visas for the 2010fiscal year starting Oct. 1 becameavailable in April.

But last year, companies na-tionwide filed more than 100,000petitions for new H-1B visas.

Nowlan and Derek Meier of De-

troit-based Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C.both said their H-1B petitionwork for Southeast Michiganclient companies is off consider-ably from then.

Meier, a shareholder who headsthe firm’s immigration practice,said he has handled only “six toeight” H-1B petitions for local com-panies since the April applicationperiod opened — less than half therecent yearly volume.

Meier attributed the problemin part to new regulations thatsurprised automakers, auto sup-pliers and other local companieswho had received loan assistanceunder the federal Troubled AssetsRelief Program.

A provision in the subsequentAmerican Recovery and Rein-vestment Act in April took com-panies that had received federalassistance under TARP or asmember banks of the Federal Re-serve and placed them under themore stringent set of rules re-served for classified “H-1B depen-dent” companies.

H-1B dependent companieshave a disproportionately largecontingent of H-1B employees,typically accounting for 15 per-cent or more of their workforces.

At least 25 Southeast Michiganemployers collectively accountedfor nearly 700 of the successful H-1B employer applications ap-proved last fiscal year by USCIS.But 321 of those went to the threeUniversity Research Corridor in-stitutions — Wayne State Universi-ty, the University of Michigan andMichigan State University.

Another 86 went to Syntel Con-sulting in Troy, 74 went to DetroitMedical Center, 37 went to RoyalOak-based William Beaumont Hospi-tals, 16 went to Dearborn-basedHenry Ford Health System and 13 toTroy-based Kelly Services Inc. U.S.automakers and suppliers collec-tively accounted for about 100 visaapplications, though no employerhad more than Johnson Controls Inc.at 21 and it was unclear how manywere Michigan-based workers.

Scott Cooper, managing part-ner of the Michigan offices ofFragomen Del Rey Bernsen & LoewyP.L.L.C. in Troy, who handles H-1Bapplication work for TARP recipi-ents General Motors Corp. andChrysler Group L.L.C., said the na-tional firm’s typical load of 10,000or so H-1B petitions was off by“about one-third” for next yearcompared to years past. But heblamed the economy and poorglobal automotive sales morethan the regulatory hurdle forTARP recipients.


Mom-and-poptier-two and

tier-threecompaniesare really

struggling.

Jim Gillette, CSM Worldwide

”

“

This year, we’rethree months in (tovisa availability)

now, and thousandsof H-1Bs are still

available.Michael Nowlan, Clark Hill P.L.C.

”

“

Physician groups sign on to Midwest Health PlanBY GABE NELSON

SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Midwest Health Plan, a Dearborn-based health maintenance organi-zation that covers about 65,000Medicaid and Medicare recipientsin the Detroit area, announced lastweek that it has signed a participa-tion agreement with two Detroit-based physician groups: the WayneState University Physician Group andUniversity Pediatricians.

Both groups provide care atDetroit Medical Center facilities,including Children’s Hospital ofMichigan.

The agreement adds 700 doc-tors to the service network of the

health plan, which contracts withthe state to administer Medicaidand Medicare services. About3,000 physicians previously par-ticipated in the plan, CEO MarkSaffer said.

“The mission is to expand ournetwork so we can provide morecare to more recipients,” he said.“It’s important to us to give ourmembers broader choices in thenetwork.”

Mark Tucker, the plan’s med-ical director, said it’s “particular-ly tough” to reach participatingagreements with physicians whopractice in certain subspecialties,such as dermatology; orthope-dics; and ear, nose and throat.

He said the health plan neededto make those services moreavailable in Detroit, home to thelargest proportion of the plan’sparticipants. More than two-thirds of the plan’s Medicaid re-cipients live in Wayne County.

Tucker said the Michigan De-partment of Community Health fos-tered the agreement with Mid-west Health Plan by offeringmore funding to the physiciangroups for subspecialty care. Hesaid he didn’t know the details ofthe plan but “there’s a substantialamount of money involved.”

An MDCH official with knowl-edge of the agreement could notbe reached for comment Friday.

State eligible for $11.6 million to fight swine flu BY JAY GREENE


Michigan is eligible for $11.6million in grants from the U.S. De-partment of Health and Human Ser-vices to help the state prepare fora possible fall outbreak of theH1N1 virus, or swine flu.

“With flu season around thecorner, we must remain vigilantand do all we can to prepare ournation and protect public health,”said HHS Secretary Kathleen Se-belius in a statement.

“These grants will give states

valuable resources to step uptheir flu preparedness efforts,”she said.

Last month, President BarackObama signed into law a supple-mental appropriations bill thatauthorized the public healthgrants.

Under the program, Michiganis eligible to receive $8.6 millionin public health emergency re-sponse grants and nearly $3 mil-lion in hospital preparednessgrants.

Nationally, more than $350 mil-lion will be distributed to states.

The public health grants will goto health departments to preparefor vaccination campaigns and toimplement strategies to reducepeople’s exposure to the swine fluvirus.

The hospital grants will helphospitals and health care systemsrespond to public health emergen-cies.

In addition, HHS distributed 11million treatment courses of an-tiviral medications to states, ter-ritories and tribes to fight H1N1.

Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325,[email protected]


Connect with us: bakertilly.com© 2009 Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP

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Spinoffs: Ann Arbor-based NanoBio, Accuri find funding favor■ From Page 1

profitability, according to Tim Pe-tersen, managing director of AnnArbor-based Arboretum Ventures,one of four VC firms that reinvest-ed in Accuri. He declined to dis-close current revenue projections.

Petersen said that while the $4million is relatively modest, itcomes at a crucial time.

“It’s a fairlysmall financing,relatively speak-ing. We did asimilar invest-ment in Health-Media in 2005.We put in $2 mil-lion to help it getover the top.This is designedto give Accuri a

cushion to help with sales andmanufacturing. We don’t wantthem to have to slow down. It’s acompany where we can see prof-itability,” he said.

NanoBio, another UM spinoff,will use its money to begin PhaseIII U.S. Food and Drug Administrationtrials for a topical treatment forcold sores and to fund earlier stagetrials on treatments for cystic fi-brosis, nail fungus, flu and acne.

The money is of particularstrategic advantage to NanoBio be-cause it will allow the company tonegotiate better licensing termswith major pharmaceutical com-panies, according to Norman Sel-by, managing director at theWashington-based venture-capitalfirm of Perseus L.L.C.

In August 2006, Perseus an-nounced a $30 million commitmentto NanoBio, at that time the second-largest investment round ever in astate biotech, behind the $31 millionin Ann Arbor-based QuatRx Pharma-ceuticals Co. in 2004. In 2007, QuatRxraised a round of $44 million.

Last August, when Perseusmade the final $10 million install-ment of that $30 million round, Sel-by told Crain’s that it was hopedNanoBio wouldn’t need further eq-uity funding and that he hoped tohave a licensing deal in place witha big pharmaceutical early in 2009.

Selby told Crain’s last week thatNanoBio has been offered severaldeals by big pharma but has heldoff signing any.

“We’re now at a major inflectionpoint. We’ve got term sheets frombig pharma for one compound oranother, but the longer we can de-velop drugs ourselves, the morevalue we create,” said Selby.

In other words, if the companyholds off signing any deals until fa-vorable results come in fromPhase III trials, it can negotiatebetter terms.

“We’re frankly playing a littleharder to get,” said Selby, who saidhe had several term sheets just forthe compound that treats cold sores.

“We will do a deal one way or an-other later this year or early nextyear,” said Selby.

“We can do a deal on just thatcompound or we can do a deal on arange of compounds. We have lotsof options, which is the great thingabout NanoBio. We have a broadplatform.”

NanoBio was founded in 1999 asthe serendipitous result of a failedexperiment by Dr. James Baker, aUM researcher and physician.

Hoping to find a medium to deliv-

er genetic material into bacteria,he and his team of researchers de-veloped an emulsion of nanoscaledroplets made up of soybean andsolvent, coated in a lubricant.

Instead of serving as a deliveryvehicle, the droplets bound to thesurface of the bacteria and causedthem to burst open. Tests showedsimilar results with viruses, and acompany was born.

Accuri was founded in 2004 andhas become a poster child for theMichigan Economic Development Corp.In a state desperate to re-establishits reputation for manufacturing,Accuri makes something the size ofa breadbox that sells for the price of

a Lexus.The company is featured on

MEDC’s radioads, and a photoof CEO andPresident Jen-nifer Baird is of-ten the center-piece of theorganization’shome page.

The currentinvestmentround includes

four previous investors — Arbore-tum, Boston-based Fidelity Bio-sciences, Boston-based Baird Ven-ture Partners and Cambridge,

Mass.-based Flagship Ventures —and one new one, the $150 millionInvestMichigan program co-man-aged by Credit Suisse and Farming-ton Hills-based Beringea L.L.C.

Ironically, the state is investingin Accuri now, after it was unableto agree on terms for an invest-ment in Accuri last January.

In 2006, the MEDC invested $2million in Accuri and in 2007granted it a tax abatement of $1.4million. Last October, the MEDCannounced that it was awardingAccuri $1.95 million after it scoredat the top of 112 applicants for the2008 21st Century Jobs Fund busi-ness plan competition.

But Baird said then that whilethe program was great for newcompanies with little funding andno revenue, the payback termswere onerous for an establishedcompany and she declined to ac-cept them.

The state had two payback op-tions, one that she said requiredher to pay $1 million for the $1.95million, and the other whichwould have triggered a conversionfrom debt to equity before the loancould even be used.

The amount of the current stateinvestment was not disclosed.

Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337,[email protected]

Baird

Petersen



Database: State to track federal stimulus spending, job creation■ From Page 3

History: Preservationists keep clashing with Detroit planners■ From Page 1

state and federal tax credits, whichcan be used to attract investors.

The decision came the month af-ter demolition began at Tiger Sta-dium, a focal point for the tensionsbetween Detroit’s preservationcommunity and the DEGC.

Preservationists said they wereclose to obtaining historic taxcredits; DEGC officials said financ-ing for the stadium project justwasn’t there.

Tax credits aren’t a magic bul-let, said Brian Holdwick, DEGCvice president of business develop-ment and finance, adding that alltoo often historic preservation ad-vocates’ plans don’t take economicrealities into account.

“The gap, and the gap preserva-tionists believe is there, are twodifferent things,” he said. “Evenwith great incentives and tools,there’s still a $7 million to $8 mil-lion gap on the Lafayette Building.And now the gap is larger becauseof (problems with) financing.”

Karen Nagher, executive direc-tor of historic preservation agencyPreservation Wayne, sees it differ-ently.

The DEGC, she said, ignoresrevenue streams that could pro-vide for maintenance of historicbuildings while a developer isfound, like the advertising wrapsthat have appeared on other down-town buildings.

Nagher said historic preserva-tionists feel rebuffed by the DEGC.

She says Preservation Wayne

has offered to work with theagency to provide assistance withmaintenance and to craft strate-gies and find developers for his-toric buildings. The group canmore effectively market suchbuildings in thehistoric preserva-tion redevelop-ment com-munity, shesaid.

Kefalli-nos’ offer —made to theDetroit CityCouncil byEric No-vack, pro-ject manag-er forKefallinos’ Detroit-based Boydell Devel-opment Co. and at-torney MargaretAndrews, who rep-resents some of Kefallinos’ businessinterests — is an example of an offerthat sounds good but may haveproblems, Holdwick said.

Kefallinos owns more than ahundred parcels of land in Detroit,including the Russell Industrial Cen-ter, Niki’s Pizza and Loco Bar & Grillin Greektown, the River Park Loftsand Lafayette Lofts.

He sees the Lafayette Buildingas a downtown shopping center,with retailers on the first threefloors utilizing the building’s dis-tinctive windows to advertise

their wares.Andrews told the council that

Kefallinos has $3 million to $4 mil-lion in hand to finance the pro-posed project’s first phase.

But Holdwick said Kefallinosdoesn’t haveexperiencewith historicrenovations.

“There are alot of peoplewho come inand say theycan save abuilding anddon’t have thefinancialwherewithal,”Holdwick said.“Kefallinos’track record isvery spotty. Ifyou look at hisbuildings,there’s a lot of

blight. ... He’s working on a coupleof other projects, and I hope he fin-ishes those before he takes on an-other project.”

Holdwick said he hasn’t seen Ke-fallinos’ plans for the Lafayette.

“Historically he has had troubledeveloping his buildings and pay-ing his taxes,” Holdwick said.

A search of public court recordsshows 13 tax liens placed againstBoydell Development between 1996and 2007, in amounts ranging fromroughly $500 to $6,000. Courtrecords show that many of the

liens have been released.“Most of them are probably

cleared or I still owed some ofthem,” Kefallinos said. “Somecould be not filed in time, somecould be not sending the singlebusiness tax in time, most arecleared out, but probably stillsome are open… it’s impossible topay everything on time because wenever ask for any… grants, we useour own funds to do projects.”

Novack said it’s common prac-tice for companies with large prop-erty inventories and multiple pro-jects under development to juggleconstruction costs and tax bills.

Kefallinos defends his trackrecord, saying he’s had to makehard choices — like in the days af-ter he’d first purchased the RussellIndustrial Center, at that time notprofitable.

“We’re losing $60,000 a month,what am I going to pay for? Savethis building or pay my taxes?” hesaid. “Sometimes when we try tocreate huge projects like this, wehave to fall behind. We’re notdeadbeats, not by far.”

Detroit City Councilman KwameKenyatta had objected to Kefalli-nos’ interest in the Lafayette basedon the developer’s work at ShaperoHall, a former Wayne State Universitypharmacy school near Detroit’sLafayette Park.

Kefallinos planned to convertthe derelict building into a hotel,but Lafayette Park residents suc-cessfully blocked the rezoning that

would have enabled the plan toprogress.

Boydell currently owes about$20,000 in taxes on Shapero Hall,but Novack said that bill is fromthe current year. That property iscurrently on the market, Novacksaid, adding that the Shapero Hallproject isn’t representative of Boy-dell’s record.

Novack said that efforts to pre-sent the Boydell plans to the DEGChave been unsuccessful, but thatan offer has been delivered to theagency and to Detroit City CouncilPresident Ken Cockrel Jr.

Holdwick said that’s not true,adding that DEGC representativestold Boydell officials that the de-molition would proceed prior tothe group’s presentation to the De-troit City Council.

The tightening of the credit mar-ket has made historic renovationsmore difficult, but Holdwick saidthe DEGC makes decisions basedon long-term viability andprospects for renovation, notchanging market conditions.

“The lack of a credit market hasreally brought the development ofprojects to a halt throughout the re-gion, the city, the nation,” he said.

“But it wouldn’t make sense toknock it down because the marketwas bad. Whether there’s a goodmarket or a bad market, it doesn’tmake sense to move forward withit.” Nancy Kaffer: (313) 446-0412, [email protected]

Sometimes whenwe try to createhuge projectslike this, wehave to fall

behind. We’renot deadbeats,

not by far.Dennis Kefallinos, investor

”

“

transportation projects had beencommitted by the federal govern-ment. The report notes Michiganis using funds primarily for pave-ment improvement and wideningprojects, which could get underconstruction rapidly and meet fed-eral time requirements.

By the end of June, Michiganhad awarded 35 contracts worth$118.1 million. Two projects werealready completed and 13 were un-der way. The report said projectsare being awarded for a lowerprice than the Michigan Departmentof Transportation originally estimat-ed, due to competition for thework, as well as a drop in the priceof oil and materials.

States are required to give priori-

ty to projects that can be completedwithin three years and to projectslocated in economically distressedareas. Michigan has earmarkednearly 71 percent of its funds for dis-tressed areas, the report said.

However, the most expensiveproject in the state, a $44 millionwidening of I-94 in KalamazooCounty, is not in a distressed area.

Fritz said the widening of theheavily trafficked stretch, a majorcorridor for commerce, “is a bene-fit to the entire state.”

� Youth employment and train-ing. Michigan received $74 millionin ARRA funds for the WorkforceInvestment Act Youth Programthat provides low-income youthsages 14 to 21 with training that

leads to educational achievementand employment.

The state has reserved 15 per-cent of its funding for statewide ac-tivities and allocated $62.9 millionto local Michigan Works Agencies.Officials in Detroit and elsewherehave reported no difficulty in re-cruiting youth to participate insummer programs.

For example, the Detroit Work-force Development Department re-ceived $11.4 million and plans toemploy 7,000 youths this summer,according to the report. As of thereport date, the GAO said nonprof-it City Connect Detroit had identified4,200 summer jobs at 145 work-sites, including a retail pharmacy,Henry Ford Hospital, the Detroit City

Council, Detroit police and fire de-partments, and the Wayne CountyCommunity College district.

� Weatherization assistanceprograms. Michigan will receive$243 million with a goal of weath-erizing more than 33,000 homesover the next three years throughsteps including energy audits, re-pairs and insulation, and installa-tion of energy-efficient lightingand appliances.

The U.S. Department of Energy onJuly 6 announced approval ofMichigan’s plan and dispersed a$97.3 million portion of the state’sfunding allocation.

� Public housing. Michigan’s122 public housing agencies havereceived $53.5 million in grant

awards, including $17 million forthe Detroit Housing Commission.

� Other funding. As of June 29,Michigan had received about $728million in increased Medicaid Fed-eral Medical Assistance Percent-age grant awards, of which it hadused almost $716 million.

Michigan is using the funds tocover increased Medicaid case-loads and maintain benefits and el-igibilities, freeing up state generalfund dollars that the state plans touse toward its budget deficit.

Also by early June, Michiganhad received nearly $1.1 billion infiscal-stabilization funding to beused for budget purposes.


Valassis stock stable during court battle with News AmericaBY BILL SHEA


Share prices have remainedsteady the past month for Livonia-based Valassis Communications Inc.while it battles its chief competitorin a court trial over alleged illegaland unfair business practices.

The direct-mail and newspapercoupon giant’s shares have hov-ered in the $6 range since the trialbegan in late May. It closed Fridayat $6.11.

Valassis and New York-basedNews America Inc. are duking it

out in Judge Michael Sapala’sWayne County Circuit courtroom.The companies control nearly theentire U.S. newspaper couponmarket.

Valassis is trying to prove thatNews America used its monopolyin in-store supermarket advertis-ing to subsidize an illegal pricewar in the newspaper coupon busi-ness, industry observer Jim Ed-wards wrote last week at Bnet.com.

Because the trial is ongoing,Valassis is declining to say any-thing. News America won’t talk,either.

The trial, which has seen testi-mony from some of the nation’sbiggest retailers, is supposed towrap up later this month.

Valassis has similar cases pend-ing in federal court in Detroit andin California state court, but thoseare on hold pending the outcome ofthe Wayne County case.

One of the testimony highlightsnoted by Edwards came fromValassis CFO Robert Recchia, whospeculated that if the company lostthe case and was forced out of thecoupon business, 450 jobs would belost in Michigan and at facilities in

Kansas and North Carolina.However, under cross-examina-

tion he said that the coupon busi-ness, which shrunk to $1.8 millionin revenue last year from $185 mil-lion in 2001, has a 40-percent profitmargin — meaning there’s littlereason to believe Valassis woulddump a high-margin segment.

Recchia also testified thatValassis CEO Alan Schultz had astrategy of allowing News Ameri-ca to pursue its market-share graband price war, under the thinkingthat the Rupert Murdoch-ownedcompany eventually would return

to the status quo — but the strate-gy backfired because News Amer-ica has continued its growth ef-fort.

The price war saw Valassis’stock tumble from more than $40 ashare four years ago to $1.05 in No-vember. In that time, Valassis ac-quired direct-mail behemoth AdvoInc., and that segment accounts forthe majority of the company’s rev-enue. That shored up stock valueas Valassis turned diversifiedaway from coupons.

Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626,[email protected]



www.crainsdetroit.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Keith E. CrainPUBLISHER Mary Kramer, (313) 446-0399 [email protected] EDITOR Cindy Goodaker, (313) 446-0460 or [email protected] EDITOR Andy Chapelle, (313) 446-0402 or [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR/FOCUS JennetteSmith, (313) 446-1622 or [email protected] LIVES EDITOR Michelle Darwish, (313)446-1621 or [email protected] DESK CHIEF Gary Piatek, (313) 446-0357or [email protected] NEWS EDITOR Jeff Johnston, (313)446-1608 or [email protected] EDITOR Anne Marks, (313) 446-0418 [email protected] GENERAL MANAGER Alan Baker, (313) 446-0416 or [email protected] EDITOR Christine Lasek, (313) 446-0473,[email protected] DESIGNER/PRODUCER Ai-Ting Huang, (313)446-0403, [email protected] SUPPORT Robertta Reiff (313) 446-0419, YahNica Crawford, (313) 446-0329NEWSROOM (313) 446-0329, FAX (313) 446-1687 TIP LINE (313) 446-6766

Ryan Beene: Covers auto suppliers, steel, highereducation. (313) 446-0315 or [email protected]

Daniel Duggan: Covers retail, real estate andhospitality. (313) 446-0414 [email protected] Greene: Covers health care, insurance and theenvironment. (313) 446-0325 [email protected] Halcom: Covers law, non-automotivemanufacturing, defense contracting and Oaklandand Macomb counties. (313) 446-6796 [email protected] Henderson: Covers banking, finance,technology and biotechnology. (313) 446-0337 [email protected] Kaffer: Covers small business, the city ofDetroit, Wayne County government. (313) 446-0412 or [email protected] Shea: Covers media, advertising andmarketing, entertainment, the business of sports,and transportation. (313) 446-1626 [email protected] Skid: Multimedia reporter. Also covers thefood industry. (313) 446-1654, [email protected].

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LANSING BUREAU Amy Lane: Covers business issues at the Capitol,telecommunications and utilities. (517) 371-5355, FAX (517) 371-2492, [email protected]. or115 W. Allegan, Suite 220, Lansing 48933.

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Medical home: Physician groups can seek grants■ From Page 3

Tax tribunal: Appeals cost would more than double■ From Page 3

funded and would benefit fromhaving more people, but the fi-nances of businesses that will paysome of the fees are similarlytight.

“I understand where the tri-bunal’s coming from, but as some-body that represents taxpayers, Ihave to have reservations aboutit,” Marmon said. Hoffert & Asso-ciates represents owners of com-mercial and industrial properties,as well as residential appeals.

Filing fees for appeals that go tothe entire tribunal, largely casesinvolving commercial and indus-trial property, would rise from $50to $250, $150 to $400, and $250 to$600, based on the category of prop-erty value in contention.

There are additional fees for mo-tions such as summary disposi-tions, reflecting the staff timeneeded, Halm said.

Small-claims cases will also seesome higher fees.

Halm acknowledged that someof the increases are significant,but said the tribunal also is elimi-nating some fees, like those forchanging attorneys and withdraw-

ing an appeal. In addition, if morethan one motion is filed in a singledocument, a flat $50 fee will be as-sessed instead of the current $25fee for each motion, Halm said.

Of the tribunal’s approximate $2million budget, $1.5 million cur-rently comes from tribunal feesand about $500,000 comes from feescharged in a state agency that han-dles business incorporations andother corporate filings — a rev-enue diversion that would end.Halm said the fee increases wouldbring the tribunal’s total budgetup to $3.7 million.

In part, the additional moneywill help sustain the tribunal’sability to pay for 22 new hearingreferees that have been hired to as-sist in the resolution of small-claims proceedings, which largelyinvolve residential appeals. Withthe new referees, the tribunal ex-pects to increase the monthlynumber of small-claims hearingsscheduled and conducted from 250to more than 800.

Halm said the tribunal hasenough funding to pay for the addi-tional referees probably until next

spring, when the bulk of the newfee revenue would be generated.She also hopes to hire at leastthree support staff to expedite ap-peals processing and scheduling,but said that number will dependon the amount of fees ultimatelyapproved.

“The goal is to add a few moreemployees, because we are soswamped. We just can’t keep up,”Halm said.

The tribunal has been floodedwith property tax appeals from lo-cal taxpayers fighting assessmentson homes and businesses.

Pending small-claims cases thattotaled 12,155 as of the end of May2008 had risen to 16,658 by the endof this May, and there’s still twoweeks to go before the July 30claims-filing deadline.

Pending appeals before the en-tire tribunal, involving mostlycommercial and industrial cases,totaled 6,142 in May 2008 and 7,970as of the end of May this year.

Cases that go to the entire tri-bunal are usually heard by one ofsix judges who issues an opinion,Halm said.

But as in small claims, there’s abacklog. And some have ques-tioned what benefit commercialand industrial property ownerswill see for the higher fees they’llpay.

Halm said that under a newprocess, tribunal members will bespending less time reviewingsmall-claims cases. She said an ad-ministrative law judge previouslyinvolved with small claims is nowhelping with entire tribunal cases,and Halm would like to hire an an-other administrative law judgethat could also hear initial tri-bunal cases.

She also hopes one of the newsupport staff could help the tri-bunal judges with research.

The public hearing on the fee in-creases will be in the tribunal’sLansing office, and written com-ments can be submitted until day’send July 24.

Halm said that if the proposedrules need to be adjusted, “we’llhave to take a look at it.”


Those categories include suchservices as online appointments,group visits, elec-tronic prescrib-ing and refills, af-ter-hoursservices, care re-minders, patientaccess to medicalrecords, specialtycare coordina-tion, chronic dis-ease managementand creation ofsystems to prevent errors for pa-tients with multiple doctors.

More expensive and time-con-

suming medical home services in-clude developing patient chronic

disease registriesand electronichealth records. Agrowing numberof SoutheastMichigan physi-cians are in-stalling such in-formationsystems.

In November2008, Priority

Health funded similar medicalhome projects for 16 physiciangroups in western Michigan. The

groups, which included 81 physi-cians and 22 midlevel practition-ers, received a combined $750,000in grant funding.

“Some of the groups are usingthe payments to hire or use regis-tered nurse case managers embed-ded in practice sites and to developa patient portal so patients cancommunicate with practice sites,”Byrne said. “Another group has de-veloped a pediatric-based clinic.”

Olivarez said the physician or-ganizations will take up to threeyears to show quantifiable resultsfrom their investments in medicalhomes.

“They are progressing fairlywell with their projects,” Olivarezsaid. “Probably right now (the dif-ficulty physicians are having) isthe time (required) for the project.There is change fatigue.”

But Byrne said Priority Healthbelieves medical homes will helpprimary care physicians survive.

“We are as aware as anyone ofthe crisis in primary care, withdoctors not choosing to go into it,”Byrne said. “We need to have an ef-fective primary care delivery sys-tem to deliver effective care.”

Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325,[email protected]

Munder: Asset manager decides time is right to grow■ From Page 1

“but every minute counts. It’s safeto assume something transforma-tive will be done by the end of theyear. We’re going to grow thisbusiness. There are a lot of dealsout there. There are tons of oppor-tunities,” he said.

Crestview was the lead investorin the 2006 deal valued at $302 mil-lion that saw Comerica Inc. sell its90 percent stake in Munder. Thattransaction left Munder with $16billion under management.

As of June 30, Munder had $15.2billion under management, a de-cline of 5 percent. Over the sameperiod, the Dow Jones IndustrialAverage was off 33 percent.

FitzGerald said the time is rightfor an aggressive growth cam-paign because valuations arecheap. And just as Comerica want-ed to divest Munder and raise capi-tal, other regional banks with as-set-management operations arelooking to shore up their capital byselling assets.

“We’ve talked to a number of

them,” FitzGerald said, referringto regional banks interested in di-vesting assets. “We’ve got all theirnumbers in our Rolodexes. That’sa strong area for acquisitions.”

With all the turmoil in the finan-cial industry, he thinks there are alot of disgruntled advisers at theasset-management operations oflarge banks.

FitzGerald said Munder hasstarted getting the word out aboutits growth plans.

“We’re hearing there’s a lot ofinterest. There are a lot of invest-ment professionals at the largercompanies who are very unhappy.Frankly, our phones have beenvery busy with people calling. Peo-ple are looking for the right placeto be for the next 10 to 15 years.”

FitzGerald declined to name spe-cific large national banks fromwhich asset managers might be re-cruited.

He said the company wants touse a 2007 deal in Boston as one ofthe templates for growth.

Then, Munder recruited a teamof seven asset managers and ana-lysts from The Boston Company As-set Management L.L.C. FitzGeraldsaid they eventually broughtabout $4.5 billion in assets withthem after opening up Munder’sBoston office.

He said Munder wants to add tothe asset classes it manages as itexpands, adding managers withexpertise in such areas as aggres-sive growth, distressed assets andemerging markets.

“We want to add expertise in ar-eas we’ve never been in, and it’sfar better for us to bring in some-one with proven expertise than itis to grow it organically,” he said.

Jim Robinson, the CEO atMunder from 1999 to 2004 who isnow CEO and chief information of-ficer at Southfield-based TelemusCapital Partners L.L.C., a financial-services and asset-managementfirm, said that Munder’s timing isgood.

“There are opportunities out

there,” he said. “Banks have beenselling off non-core assets, andyou’re going to see more of it.There are a lot of regional banksout there who still have asset-man-agement operations that they areprobably looking to sell. You’vegot motivated sellers and de-pressed prices. It sounds like agood time to buy.”

Robinson said that Telemus islooking to expand its geographicalfootprint, too, but nothing is immi-nent.

“It’s got to be the right fit andthe right market,” Robinson said.

The key for Munder as it re-cruits teams to jump ship, Robin-son said, is replicating the initialsuccess of the Boston deal.

“They did a great job of deliver-ing assets. That’s the risk youtake. You can get a team, but if theclients don’t come with them, itdoesn’t mean anything. They’vegot to deliver clients.”

Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337,[email protected]

We are as awareas anyone of the

crisis in primarycare.

Dr. Jim Byrne, Priority Health”

“



Deal to provideonline pharmacydata history

he Michigan StateMedical Society hasstruck a deal with Mi-

crosoft Corp., Compuware Co-visint and San Diego-basedMedImpact Healthcare Sys-tems, a pharmacy benefitmanager, to provide onlinepharmacy history data topatients and physicians inMichigan.

Through MSMS Connect,the medical society’s newhealth information ex-change, physicians laterthis year will begin to ac-cess medication histories ofup to 3.5 million people inMichigan, said BenjaminLouagie, director of sub-sidiary operations with themedical society.

BRIGHT SPOTS� Gov. Jennifer Granholm

has returned from an inter-national trade trip with theannouncement that a Ger-man battery technologycompany, fortu PowerCell,plans to search for a manu-facturing location on thewest side of the state, theAP reported.

� Oakland County Exec-utive L. Brooks Pattersonsaid Thursday that hiscounty’s economic develop-ment team logged its bestmonth ever in June, the De-troit Free Press reported.The program closed dealsexpected to bring almost$748 million in new invest-ment to the county.

ON THE MOVE� Doug Smith, 59, Oakland

County’s economic develop-ment director, has beenpromoted to fill the deputycounty executive positionleft vacant by the Maydeath of Dennis Toffolo, 62.Maureen Donohue Krauss, 47,deputy director, will as-sume Smith’s previouspost.

� Jason Vines, 49, a long-time media relations voicefor the auto industry andmost recently senior ad-vancement director forfood rescue Forgotten Har-vest, has been appointedvice president of public re-lations for Zondervan, theGrand Rapids-based Christ-ian publishing unit ofHarperCollins.

OTHER NEWS� Greektown Casino L.L.C.

saw June revenue jump24.2 percent to $28.8 millioncompared with the samemonth last year, whileMGM Grand Detroit CasinoL.L.C. posted revenue of$43.8 million, a 10.7 percentdrop, and MotorCity Casinosaw revenue fall by 3.2 per-cent to $36.9 million, ac-cording to the MichiganGaming Control Board.

� Detroit Public Schools’emergency financial man-ager Robert Bobb met withlawyers and a former feder-al bankruptcy judge Thurs-day to consider filing Chap-ter 9 bankruptcy, APreported.

� La-Van Hawkins, former-ly owner and president ofWolverine Pizza L.L.C., willpay restitution up to $5.7 million and serve 10months on a charge of fail-ing to pay federal withhold-ing taxes, under a sentenceimposed Thursday byJudge Denise Page Hood.

� Bob Lutz, vice chair-man at General Motors Corp.,will not retire at the end ofthe year as previously an-nounced, the Detroit FreePress reported.

� President Barack Oba-ma will hold a town hallmeeting Tuesday at Ma-comb Community College inWarren, The Detroit Newsreported.

� Detroit’s Downtown De-velopment Authority has re-ceived a $100,000 MichiganEconomic Development Corp.grant to fund two down-town lighting projects.

� Attorney GeneralMike Cox unveiled a propos-al Wednesday to create theMichigan Office of Medic-aid Inspector General thatwould audit the state’sMedicaid program, sayingit would save the state $100 million per year infraudulent claims.

� The Crain’s DetroitBusiness/e-forecasting.comMichigan index of stateleading indicators, thestate’s early bird of eco-nomic activity, decreased

by 0.5 percent in May aftera decline of 0.6 percent inApril.

� The Wayne State Univer-sity School of Medicine hasearned full accreditationfor the next five years fromthe Liaison Committee onMedical Education.

� University of Michiganeconomists say hard timeswill stick around for therest of the year and into2010, the AP reported.

� Federal prosecutorshave charged William Latti-more, a member of theSouthfield City Council, withaccepting a $7,500 bribe, theAP reported.

� Early Stage Partners, aCleveland-based firm thatinvests in young tech com-panies, is opening an AnnArbor office as part of anagreement to receive $13million from the VentureMichigan Fund, Crain’s Cleve-land Business reported.

� Detroit-based CaracoPharmaceutical Laboratories(NYSE: CPD) said it will in-definitely lay off 350 em-ployees — more than half ofits 650 workers — after theFood and Drug Administrationordered the seizure of morethan 30 generic drugs andrelated ingredients becauseof manufacturing prob-lems. A Caraco statementalso said J.P. Morgan ChaseBank has frozen Caraco’s$10 million line of credit.

� Mayor Dave Bing isbringing in Wayne CountySheriff Warren Evans, 60, asDetroit’s third police chiefin less than a year, the APreported.

� Southfield-based LearCorp. (OTC: LEAR) filed forChapter 11 bankruptcyTuesday with a plan sup-ported by 68 percent of itssecured lenders and abouthalf of its bondholders.

OBITUARIES� Joseph Blanke, former

mayor of Fraser, died July5. He was 63.

� Lou Creekmur, whoplayed for the Detroit Lionsfor 10 years, died July 5. Hewas 82.

o one denies theneed for more hospi-tal emergency de-

partment capacity in north-west Detroit, but apublic-relations snafu lastweek at the Detroit MedicalCenter created more than alittle confusion.

First, an announcementcame in from DMC Sinai-GraceHospital on Monday that saidit planned to submit an ap-plication for $29 million infederal funding to pay fordoubling the capacity of itsemergency department. TheER is handling more than87,000 patients a year butwas built for a capacity of50,000 visits.

But on Thursday, theDMC said it could not meetan application deadline andplanned to launch a capitalcampaign.

“The need is still there,but the deadline was tooshort for us to put it togeth-er,” said Jerome Espy, DMC’spress secretary. The grantwas to be submitted to theU.S. Housing and Urban Devel-opment based on the hospi-tal’s location in a medicallyunderserved area. Staytuned on both plans for theER and plans for a develop-ment of vacant land andhomes in the area to provideaffordable housing.

ePrize mum on staff cutsPleasant Ridge-based on-

line sweepstakes giant ePrizeL.L.C. acknowledged Fridaythat it had a round of jobcuts, but it didn’t say howmany staffers were let go.

The specialist in online

promotions was rumored tohave cut 22 employees andclosed its Dallas office, butthe company didn’t confirmthe specifics.

“We did have somechanges this week,” said JenGray, vice president of mar-keting. “There’s nothing de-finitive about the Dallas of-fice.”

CEO Josh Linkner didn’t re-turn a call seeking commentlate Friday.

The company, which alsohas offices in Atlanta, Chica-go, New York and Los Ange-les, cut 20 employees in June2008, a move the company atthe time said was perfor-mance-related rather thaneconomic. There’s beenspeculation that up to 100employees have been cut inthe past year. Major ePrizeclients include Coca-Cola, Dis-ney and AT&T.

Week devoted to cause of buying state goods

Supporters of the buying-local concept have securedan official week this monthdedicated to the cause inMichigan.

Buy Michigan Now cam-paign founder Lisa Diggs hasbeen urging Michiganiansto buy local for two years.The emphasis is on support-ing Michigan’s assets suchas agriculture, beverage pro-ducers, independent retail-ers and restaurants.

Diggs hopes businessesacross the state will workeven harder the week ofJuly 27 to showcase localproducts — and that con-

RUMBLINGS WEEK ON THE WEBF R O M W W W . C R A I N S D E T R O I T . C O M , W E E K O F J U L Y 4 - 1 0

100 years on the stock exchange

N

T

BEST FROM THE BLOGSR E A D T H E S E P O S T S A N D M O R E A T W W W . C R A I N S D E T R O I T . C O M / B L O G S

Last week, MonicaConyers showed up tohost her WHPR TV showdespite her guilty plea toa federal charge ofbribery and subsequentresignation from Detriotcouncil. Conyerspromised that the showwould go on.

“‘Ask the ex-councilwoman?’

DTE Energy has paida dividend its entire 100years on the exchange,and the dividend hasn’tbeen reduced since theGreat Depression.

“

DMC changescourse on ERexpansion

sumers will seek and pur-chase same.

Interested businesses orother participants candownload fliers, posters andshelf tags at www.buymichigannow.com.

Events focus on roboticsMilitary robots and robot-

ic vehicles could become akey growth industry forSoutheast Michigan overthe next several years, andwill be a topic of two upcom-ing business developmentevents.

The Great Lakes Chapterof the Association of Un-manned Vehicle Systems Inter-national plans a two-day con-ference July 28-29 at OaklandUniversity’s Oakland Centerin Auburn Hills, in coopera-tion with Automation Alleyand the U.S. Army Tank-Auto-motive Research, Developmentand Engineering Center inWarren.

The conference is intend-ed to help develop a “roadmap for an Automotive-Ro-botics Cluster Initiative” forMichigan.

“Other than being fixed tothe floor on the factory line,many automotive industryrobotics are ahead of themilitary in almost everyway,” said Automation Al-ley defense-automotive con-sultant John Bedz. said.

“Our region could reallybecome the industryleader.”

Registration is $20. Seewww.auvsigreatlakes.org.

Registration is also opento attend the inauguralGround Vehicle Systems En-gineering and TechnologySymposium Aug. 17-20, host-ed by the National Defense In-dustrial Association with coop-eration from TARDEC.

The begins with an invita-tion-only open house at theDetroit arsenal grounds ofTARDEC, then a day-and-a-half general session at theTroy Marriott and breakoutsessions. Registration is$650. See www.ndia-mich.org/gvsets.php

Reporter Nancy Kaffer’s blog on the city of Detroitand small business can be found at www.crainsdetroit.com/kaffer

Reporter Amy Lane’s blog on utilities and stategovernment issues affecting business can be foundat www.crainsdetroit.com/lane

TRANSIT CENTER TO OPEN


The three-story, $22.5 million Rosa Parks Transit Center atthe corner of Cass and Michigan avenues in Detroit opens tothe public Tuesday and will serve as a 24-hour centralconnection for the Detroit Department of Transportation,SMART and Transit Windsor bus routes, as well as the DetroitPeople Mover.

Smith Krauss

””


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vol. 25, no. 27 july 13 – 19, 2009

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