Crain's Detroit Business, Aug. 8, 2022, issue by Crain's Detroit Business

GOVERNOR’S RACE: How Tudor Dixon-Gretchen Whitmer race stacks up as it revs up. PAGE 3

CRAINSDETROIT.COM I AUGUST 8, 2022

Chemical release shuts plant ADJUSTMENT

BY KURT NAGL Wait staff and other service workers are increasingly facing impatient and rude customers, adding to the demands of an already high-stress job.

After rise in incidents, battered restaurants push back on unruly customers BY JAY DAVIS AND AMELIA BENAVIDES-COLÓN

f labor shortages, higher prices and supply chain issues aren’t making life hard enough in the restaurant business, now it’s disrespectful customers. An increasing number of restaurants and other service businesses are speaking out about bad behavior and the need to close their doors for a breather from relentless demands.

Recently, popular Short’s Brewing Co. in Bellaire got lots of attention when it posted on its social media accounts a declaration that it’s not going to take it anymore. Bobcat Bonnie’s owner Matt Buskard can relate. Buskard said that during the COVID-19 pandemic customers have shifted from sympathetic and supportive in the early days to another level See RESTAURANTS on Page 17

MICHIGAN BUSINESS: TOURISM

ROOM BOOM UP NORTH

NEWSPAPER

— Emily Daunt, MI Restaurant & Lodging Association

A chemical release last week shut down an automotive supply plant in Wixom responsible for releasing cancer-causing chemicals into the Huron River as officials assessed the extent of contamination and how it might have affected a local water treatment plant. Michigan officials said that as of Thursday a cancer-causing chemical released by Tribar Manufacturing has not been detected in the Huron River, but testing is being expanded and a “no contact” advisory remained in place. Eleven surface water samples tested negative for hexavalent chromium after Tribar Manufacturing dumped what it said was 10,000 gallons of contaminated liquid into Wixom’s sewer system. Testing for the chemical continued across two dozen sites near the molding plant and downstream from it, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said. EGLE is leading the investigation. See HURON on Page 16

Michigan’s tourism industry is still dealing with fallout — not all bad — from COVID pandemic. STARTING ON PAGE 8.

COCKTAILS

“BEING STUCK IN THE HOUSE, NOT INTERACTING, I THINK PEOPLE BECAME MORE IMPATIENT. ”

EMILY ELCONIN/BLOOMBERG

ATTITUDE

Officials scramble to assess damage, answer questions on dumping incident

GR HOTEL DISTRICT

CLEANING UP

CONVERSATION

Jax buys Super Car Wash, nearly triples footprint in 6 months PAGE 3

State Budget Director Chris Harkins on getting a deal done. PAGE 18

NEED TO KNOW

SPORTS BUSINESS

THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT

Cabrera says he’s uncertain about playing in 2023

lion last year to just less than $2.7 trillion this year, and fall to around $2.25 trillion in 2023, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

` AMERICAN AXLE PROFIT SLIPS, SALES INCREASE IN Q2 ` ROCKET PROFIT FALLS 94% FROM BOOM YEAR THE NEWS: Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT) reported second-quarter net income — profit — of $60 million, a decline of more than 94 percent from the second quarter of last year — when pandemic-era, rock-bottom interest rates were fueling a mortgage boom — and reported total revenue of $1.4 billion in this year’s second quarter, compared with $2.7 billion during the same period last year. Total mortgage originations fell by more than half to $34.5 billion, compared with $88.5 billion in the second quarter of last year. The outlook for next quarter shows continued decline, with closed loan volume forecast to be between $23 billion and $28 billion. WHY IT MATTERS: Rocket’s troubles echo issues being faced in the overall U.S. mortgage market, which is predicted to decline from about $4 tril-

THE NEWS: American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. took another supply chain-related hit to its bottom line in the second quarter but offered a better-than-expected financial outlook through the end of the year. Gross profit fell 9 percent to $173.5 million in the quarter, with sales up 12 percent to $1.4 billion, according to the Detroit-based supplier’s earnings, released Friday. WHY IT MATTERS: Commodity price increases and other cost pressures including labor and freight hampered the company’s financial performance, as it has done to the broader automotive supply base.

` MEADOW BROOK HALL TO ADD $2.7M VISITOR CENTER THE NEWS: Meadow Brook Hall, the Rochester home of the late Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, is developing plans to build a new, $2.7 million visitor center on its grounds.

WHY IT MATTERS: The new center will be the first significant construction on the property (beyond storage garages built five to six years ago) since the 1929 completion of the historic home. It will expand behind the family garages, designed in a way to retain the historic integrity of the estate buildings while creating modern and functional spaces, Meadow Brook said.

` JUDGE EXTENDS ABORTION ORDER IN MICHIGAN THE NEWS: Oakland County Judge Jacob Cunningham on Wednesday extended an order that bars county prosecutors from enforcing a 1931 ban on abortion. Cunningham agreed after lawyers for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer argued that pulling the plug on his Monday order would cause chaos around the state.

` Miguel Cabrera says he may end his likely Hall of Fame career at the end of this season. The 39-year-old Detroit Tigers star mused on the subject Thursday amid a slump through the dog days of summer. Cabrera joined the 3,000-hit/500-homer club earlier in the season, and was hitting .308 as recently as July 8. Plagued by lower-body problems that have been a constant issue in recent seasons, he was hitting .132 with three extra-base hits in his last 20 games entering Thursday’s action. “You’ve got to understand your body, I understand mine and my place on this team,” he said before the Tigers hosted the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. “I’ve got to talk to my agent, the GM, I’ve got to talk to everybody to see the plan for next year. Cabrera is owed $32 million in 2023 in the final season of a $292 million, 10-year contract. The Tigers came into the season as fringe contenders after a strong finish in 2021 but have staggered to a 42-65 record as of Thursday with the worst offense in baseball. Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera. | ABBIE PARR/ ASSOCIATED PRESS

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Dixon faces tough battle vs. Whitmer But she does have some advantages Tudor Dixon is the last Michigan Republican standing after a messy primary that featured a once-huge field of political newcomers, the imDavid plosion of two EGGERT front-r unners’ campaigns and the arrest of candidate who attended the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Her reward: an uphill — but not impossible — climb to unseat Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a swing state. Here are the many disadvantages and some advantages for Dixon in what she called an “epic battle” ahead:

Jax Kar Wash bought this Super Car Wash location on Mound Road in Warren plus 10 others as it continues its growth trajectory following selling an ownership stake to a Birmingham-based private equity firm. | TODD GESUND

MAKING A CLEAN SWEEP? Jax buys Super Car Wash, nearly triples footprint in last 6 months BY KIRK PINHO

Jax Kar Wash has grown to 26 locations with the purchase of Super Car Wash and its 11 facilities in the region. The Southfield-based chain — in which Birmingham-based TRP Capital Partners acquired an ownership stake in February — said the deal for Super Car Wash closed Wednesday. The price was not released. Jax has been in growth mode

the last six months, buying five Oasis Car Wash locations in Jackson and Hillsdale, plus Angola, Ind.; and the Lee Road Soft Car Wash in Brighton. An Oak Park location is also expected to begin construction soon at 11 Mile and Greenfield roads in Oak Park, Jax said in a news release. Super Car Wash was founded in 1977 by George Gesund and a partner; sons Todd and Ryan Gesund, and Heath Stack, currently run the company, according to its

website. Over the years, the company has owned and operated 24 different locations, the website says. Todd Gesund said Thursday morning that the ownership groups behind the two companies have “been friendly for a long, long, long time” with a combined century-plus in the industry, and have previously discussed merging to increase metro Detroit market share over the last couple decades, even as re-

cently as the summer 2021. “When we got together, we spent a lot of time on it but nothing really came of it,” Todd Gesund said. “Then they were approached by TRP, so they partnered with TRP and after that we were approached. At that time, it just made sense. TRP with Jax had put a really good strategic plan in place and a way to put Super Car Wash into the mix.” See JAX on Page 15

INCUMBENT GOVERNOR Michigan voters often re-elect governors, doing so in 14 of the last 16 races. The last time a first-term incumbent lost was 60 years ago. Second-term Gov. Jim Blanchard was upset by John Engler in 1990. LATE PRIMARY Michigan is among 19 states with a primary in August or later. Dixon has just three months to run a general election campaign, while Whitmer has had years to bank money and prepare. Voters can start casting an absentee ballot late next month. MONEY Dixon had $538,000 in her campaign account as of July 16; the nationally known Whitmer had $14.7 million. “Hard” money, of course, is not the only thing that matters. As of July 20, the DeVos family and other donors primarily from the state’s west side had donated at least $2.8 million to two super PACs backing Dixon. See ANALYSIS on Page 16

HOUSING

Detroit will pay landlords to rehab second-floor apartments over stores Part of effort to boost affordable housing BY ARIELLE KASS

For 20 years, Jamahl Makled owned a mixed-use building in Southwest Detroit. He rented out the bottom, commercial space to a financial services company and a cellphone store, but largely ignored the six apartments upstairs, which he said had water damage, falling plaster and outdated electricity and plumbing. That is, he ignored the apartments until a pilot program with the Southwest Detroit Business Association granted $8,500 per unit to renovate apartments above commercial spaces. Then, Makled spent about $110,000 — including that grant money — to upgrade the electricity

Jamahl Makled owns the Boost Mobile store on the first floor of the Southwest Detroit building where he has his apartments on the second floor. | JAMAHL MAKLED

and plumbing, put in new toilets and sinks, install wood grain vinyl plank flooring and fix the crumbling walls. Now, he rents one apartment for $650 a month, and the rest for $750. That success story is among the reasons Detroit’s City Council recently approved a plan to expand the $35,000 pilot program with an additional $305,000 and larger incentives for property owners to upgrade and lease vacant units above storefronts. “I wouldn’t have done it without the grant money,” Makled said. “I didn’t want the residential upstairs to interfere with the commercial downstairs. ... Residential, if it was all coming out of my pocket, no way would I think it makes sense.” But for Detroit, which is trying to expand the number of affordable homes and apartments for residents, the empty, derelict second-floor units represent an untapped market.

There are no hard-and-fast numbers about the number of unoccupied apartments above stores and restaurants in the city, but Elaina Peterson, a program analyst on the policy and implementation team for the city’s housing and revitalization department, said it could be as many as 12,000. Those estimates come from looking at the roughly 3,000 commercially zoned structures built between 1920 and 1929, when such buildings were most likely to have owners living above their workplaces, and multiplying it times an estimated four units per building. That many more apartments, if updated so they were livable, could make a big difference for residents who are struggling to find affordable shelter as rents and sales prices both rise. See APARTMENTS on Page 15 AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 3

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Tesla may set up shop in West Bloomfield Township. Michael Curis Sr., head of Detroit-based developer Curis Enterprises, told the Kirk West Bloomfield PINHO Township Planning Commission last week that he has Tesla gearing up as a potential tenant for the former Barnes & Noble bookstore on the west side of Orchard Lake Road between 14 Mile and Maple roads. If it can clear a few important hurdles, that is. First, Curis Enterprises does not yet own the Barnes & Noble property but has it under contract to purchase for an undisclosed price from Mitch Gappy, who owns it via an entity called Orchard Book Property LLC. Perhaps a bigger hurdle, however, is getting the township to sign off on an exception for the project. Curis is seeking a variance that would allow Tesla to store its electric vehicles outdoors, in contradiction to the requirements of the Township Center District zoning area the former Barnes & Noble sits in. That classification — which would require the cars be enclosed, a costly construction proposition — seeks to promote a Main Street-type feel by melding “residential, retail and offices into a pedestrian-oriented town center” along Orchard Lake Road, a primary corridor through the west Oakland County community. Kathy Hagopian, the planning commission’s chairperson, said Monday that the requirement that cars stored at auto dealerships be enclosed is one that’s aesthetic in nature. That’s because the township is trying to encourage more of a downtown-type feel along that stretch of Orchard Lake Road that is pretty distinctively — at least in the most common understanding of the term — not walkable at all as a big five-lane road with large setbacks on both sides and large parking lots to boot. “We’re trying to encourage our populace to come and visit and stay and walk the area,” Hagopian told me. “We’re trying to discourage having a lot of parking lots that are seen at the street and things like that. We want to make it more of a downtown district, is what we want.”

The 211 West Fort high-rise in downtown Detroit is the new home of Majorel. | COSTAR GROUP INC.

“WE’RE TRYING TO DISCOURAGE HAVING A LOT OF PARKING LOTS THAT ARE SEEN AT THE STREET AND THINGS LIKE THAT. WE WANT TO MAKE IT MORE OF A DOWNTOWN DISTRICT, IS WHAT WE WANT.” — Kathy Hagopian, chairperson, West Bloomfield Township Planning Commission

That’ll certainly take some time to achieve. But she said the commission is open to working with the developer and Tesla to come to a solution that benefits all involved. That could include some sort of courtyard area that may satisfy the township moving forward. Curis is expected to work with staff to find a way to address the zoning requirements, Hagopian said. Gordon Bowdell, the township’s building director and zoning and planning manager, notes that while Teslas are “electric and do not have fuel tanks, do not use oil, and do not have internal combustion engines,” that really doesn’t matter from a zoning perspective. The “use and visual impact is the same as a traditional auto dealer with expansive parking lots use (sic) to store/display vehicles.” But requiring such storage has prompted a “standstill in our negoti-

ations,” Curis wrote, also reflecting language in an email from Tesla’s North American real estate director, Justin Haasch, that Curis provided to commissioners. Curis declined comment for this story. Neither Haasch nor Bowdell responded to emails seeking comment. The former Barnes & Noble is 42,600 square feet and closed in January 2016. It was put up for auction with a starting bid of $950,000 in August 2016. Tesla currently has Michigan locations in Somerset Collection on Big Beaver Road in Troy, on Big Lake Road in Clarkston and 29th Street SE in Grand Rapids; a fourth location has been reported in Ann Arbor in a former bowling alley.

Majorel taking space in 211 West Fort Majorel, the IT and customer service company with a North American headquarters in Arizona, is leasing 35,000 square feet in the 211 West Fort high-rise in Detroit’s Financial District owned by a joint venture between Grosse Pointe-based Foster Financial Co. and Tribus, a Grosse Pointe family office. Majorel, Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit City Council announced in February the company was creating an office with up to 500 employees in February. Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

FINALISTS NAMED FOR 2022

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University of Michigan - College of Literature, Science and the Arts

Michael Paulin

Melissa Woo

AF Group

Michigan State University

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North American Bancard

Michael Butman

Forgotten Harvest, Inc.

Carrie Shumaker

University of Michigan-Dearborn

Darlene Taylor Epitec

Milos Topic

Grand Valley State University

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Bronson Healthcare

Jason Joseph BHSH System

Daniel Waltz

MyMichigan Health

Joshua Wilda

University of Michigan Health-WestE26

ANALYSIS

In colleges of today, more support is needed BY LAWRENCE J. BURNS

EDITORIAL

Primary’s over. Let’s drill down on issues that matter

ichigan’s primary election — and the emphasis on ideological extremes that makes primaries so bruising — is over. Time to dig in on the issues that matter. To us, that means focusing on what it will take to get Michigan back on solid economic footing post-COVID; creating a tax and regulatory environment where business can thrive; and creating, attracting and retaining the talent needed to keep the state competitive. It might not get the heart pounding and passions pumping like partisan red meat does, but it’s what really matters. We haven’t heard enough about so-called “pocketbook issues” during a primary dominated by the culture wars, or solving problems that affect all Michiganders, regardless of party. Those include: `K-12 teacher shortages and post-COVID learning loss. Crain’s has reported on numerous studies this year — and for years before WE HAVEN’T — showing public HEARD ENOUGH that education in Michigan is in crisis. College enABOUT SOrollment is trending CALLED down in Southeast Michigan. There is per“POCKETBOOK haps no greater imISSUES” DURING pediment to progress in this state than a A PRIMARY poorly educated or unDOMINATED BY prepared workforce. `Making higher eduTHE CULTURE cation affordable. The WARS. state that manages to make post-secondary degrees attainable by getting costs under control and increasing public funding to ease the scourge of crushing student debt will win. `Small business recovery. Millions of federal dollars allocated to help Michigan businesses affected by COVID shutdowns remain un-

spent. Getting that money flowing is key. `Health care staffing and budget woes. Crain’s Dustin Walsh reported recently that COVIDera federal support for hospitals is expiring, leaving financial gaps that aren’t easy to fill in any way other than reducing services. `Gun violence as a public health issue. The state has allocated significantly more money in its 2023 budget — about $210 million — to make schools safer, but the tragedy at Oxford High School is a gutting reminder that it will take more than money to address this crisis. `Supply chain disruptions. Manufacturers continue to struggle with global chip shortages. Congress passed a bill last month to provide money and tax credits to encourage domestic production of microchips. Will Michigan — home base to the chip-dependent auto industry — be able to position itself to take advantage? `Smarter economic development policy. The state is losing high-tech manufacturing to southern states and, though progress has been made, still has an economy desperately in need of diversification that happens to be focused on an automotive industry going through the biggest change it’s ever seen. We could go on: How should Michigan spend its eye-popping $7 billion budget surplus? How does the state balance the need for individual and corporate tax relief with badly needed infrastructure investment? Critical questions, all. Social issues aren’t going away in November, to be sure. The overturn of Roe v. Wade has upended the political landscape in far-reaching ways, and has drawn companies into the fray as they re-evaluate health care coverage in light of new state-by-state restrictions. But we hope some of the sideshow silliness that characterized the primary campaigns will give way to more serious discussion this fall. Michigan residents need it, and deserve it.

Write us: Crain’s welcomes responses from readers. Letters should be as brief as possible and may be edited for length or clarity. Send letters to Crain’s Detroit Business, 1155 Gratiot Ave, Detroit, MI 48207, or email crainsdetroit@crain.com. Please include your complete name, city from which you are writing and a phone number for fact-checking purposes. 6 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

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DANIEL SAAD/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

s summer comes to an end and we look forward to football, cool evenings, and returning to the classroom, I thought it was important to share with you a major initiative of The Children’s Foundation and our affiliate partner, the Jamie Lawrence J. Daniels Foundation. Burns is When I was a student at president and Central Michigan UniverCEO of the sity in the mid-1970s, it Detroit-based was pretty much a carefree Children’s environment, and in many Foundation. ways the world was a much different place. The drinking age in Michigan at that time was 18, so all students were legally enjoying festive times at places like The Cabin, Wayside Central, and The Bird. I certainly had never heard of opioids, and my vision of a heroin addict was someone on the streets of a city far away from Mount Pleasant or other college campuses. We did have the occasional unfortunate situation where a classmate suddenly went home, but we didn’t know why. We sometimes found out later it was because he or she was drinking too much or suffering from a mental health concern. They left campus, and we went on about our lives. Fast forward to today — the average college student has experienced life much differently, both in their communities and in the world. They face competition to get into school, competition to make their favorite sports team or high school program, and social media which might be the most problematic. Cell phones and cameras are literally everywhere you go. Thank goodness those weren’t around at Austin Catholic Prep or CMU when I was their age. Now, the drinking age is 21 and we are paying well over a dollar for a bottle of water. Not only that, but marijuana is legalized. Who would’ve thought that was even possible in 1978? I also often wonder what people would have thought of me if I said that in 2022 there would be e-cigarettes and vaping.

Many of our youth are now on either mood enhancing drugs or other powerful medications. The highly addictive nature of opioids has become a crisis that many times leads to heroin addiction and tragic overdoses. We all have either lost loved ones or certainly know someone who has been impacted by the disease known today as substance use disorder. The Children’s Foundation and our affiliate partner, the Jamie Daniels Foundation, are committed to helping students recover from substance use disorder and stay in school. We believe that recovery is possible, and that education is the way to remain hopeful that one’s life will be fulfilling, promising, and successful. We are supporting seven collegiate recovery programs throughout Michigan. These programs are designed to help students suffering from addiction stay alive, stay in school, stay on campus, and graduate. Recovery is one thing but having the resilience and the hope that one can maintain sobriety and live an enjoyable life is another. These programs are critical to helping students stay on the path to success. We started this journey with Michigan State University’s collegiate recovery initiative, and now we are proud to say we’re involved with collegiate recovery programs at Oakland University, Central Michigan University, Ferris State University, Mid-Michigan College, the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College, and more campuses soon. Every student deserves a chance to experience college and all the life learning experiences that come along with it. Every student deserves to graduate, enter into a field and begin a career they have been dreaming of for years. If you have a child, a grandchild, or a friend going back to school, please pay attention to their behavior over the coming months. There are many signs that indicate substance use disorder or that their mental health could be suffering. It may be that they are quieter than normal, not calling as much, or other changes in their behavior. Ask questions and don’t be afraid to be intrusive. Prevention is key. Please join The Children’s Foundation, the Jamie Daniels Foundation, and our partners to continue the effort to help and support young people suffering from substance use disorder to live a healthy, fulfilling, and successful life.

Sound off: Crain’s considers longer opinion pieces from guest writers on issues of interest to business readers. Email ideas to Managing Editor Michael Lee at malee@crain.com.

REAL ESTATE

Dittrich Furs explores sale of Bloomfield Hills building BY JAY DAVIS AND KIRK PINHO

The owners of Dittrich Furs, one of the oldest retailers in Michigan, is testing the waters on a possible sale or lease of its Bloomfield Hills location. Dittrich Furs fifth-generation co-owner Harold Dittrich told Crain’s the company is looking at options for its building at 39515 N. Woodward Ave., just south of Long Lake Road. Dittrich, who co-owns the business with his brother, Shawn, said they’re still in the exploratory phase. “We have it listed in an auction-style format,” Harold Dittrich said. “We don’t know if we’re selling or not. We wanted to see what the property is actually valued at and what someone would pay for it.” Best and final offers are due Aug. 11, according to a marketing packet. No appraisal has been done on the property — a 5,829-square-foot space built in 1977 by his grandfather, Harold M. Dittrich. Dittrich said the store has more space than the 129-year-old business needs. The building sits on 1.25 acres with 30 parking spaces on site, according to the listing. There is no asking price for the property, which Bloomfield Hills property records say is owned by Dittrich & Co., registered in Detroit. The family could lease a portion the building or sell the entire parcel if the price is right, Dittrich said. He would not disclose the number of bids received to this point. There’s no time frame for a potential sale to be complete. The hope is to complete the process in a manner than doesn’t interrupt business, Dittrich said. The business could downsize and move to a more centralized station, he said. “It’s a little bit isolated where we are,” Dittrich said. “It’s very unique. There might be better suited for other businesses, though.” Many of the offers received on the property so far have been either for medical office space or restaurant use, said Angela Thomas, principal and associate broker for the Southfield-based Signature Associates Inc. brokerage firm, which has the listing. That has posed challenges because the property is zoned retail and that the city does not allow for patio dining unless it grants a zoning variance. Thomas said the Dittriches do not have to sell if there isn’t an offer they like. This is not a traditional auction, she said. “We are selling under a strategic process which includes a ‘call to offers’ date,” Thomas said. “We have complete control and have flexibility over this process.” Slow business is not a factor, Dittrich said. The Bloomfield Hills store accounts for 40 percent-45 percent of Dittrich’s business. The flagship Detroit location, at 7373 Third Ave., makes up the other 55 percent-60 percent of sales. For the retailer with the recognizable jingle, business has remained strong even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dittrich said, even with more people working from home and fewer people going out socially. Dittrich Furs, with a staff of 22 employees, has not laid off any staff. “Business has gone surprisingly well the last couple of years,” Dittrich said. “People haven’t been going out as much or getting dressed up, but

they’re still looking for furs and high-fashion wear when they do go out.” Dittrich is hopeful business continues to go well into future generations. Harold’s and Shawn’s children have expressed interest in the business. “They’re young. They don’t know what they want to do yet,” Dittrich said. “We’d love to see things passed down to a sixth generation. Business is going well. We’d like to see the tradition continue.” Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981 Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

Dittrich Furs ownership is exploring the possible sale of its Bloomfield Hills building. Leasing a portion of the space at 39515 N. Woodward Ave. is an option too. | COSTAR GROUP INC.

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AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 7

COMEBACK TRACK Pandemic a major setback for Grand Rapids’ new Hotel District

TOURISM

ROOM BOOM

Trevor Tkach, president and CEO of Traverse City Tourism, in front of a Tru by Hilton under construction in Garfield Township, just south of Traverse City. The 90-room hotel is scheduled to open late this year.

Seven hotels, motels planned for the Traverse City area

` Seven more hotels, motels on drawing board in Traverse City area. THIS PAGE

`BY TOM HENDERSON The biggest boom in new hotels

` Grand Rapids sees a cocktail boom as craft beer wave crests.

and motels in the history of the Traverse City area has begun, with much of it on or near the beach in East Bay Township, the municipality directly east of the city on busy US-31, also known as Munson Avenue. Seven hotels or motels are planned for Grand Traverse County, five of them in East Bay. Six have been approved by various township or city officials and a seventh is pending approval. They are expected to bring on line about 700 additional rooms for rent in the county, an increase of about 18 percent from the approximate total of 4,000 rooms now available, according to Trevor Tkach,the president and CEO of Traverse City Tourism, the convention and visitors bureau for Grand Traverse and Benzie counties.

8 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

IN THIS PACKAGE

PAGE 9

` Pandemic a major setback for Grand Rapids’ new Hotel District. PAGE 10 ` Hotels are offering perks to bring back customers. PAGE 11 ` What’s new up north: Traverse City gets new restaurants, cafes and more. PAGE 12

“WE’RE THE HUB OF A FIVE-COUNTY REGION, AND TOURISM IS A MAJOR INDUSTRY.” — Richard Lewis, mayor, Traverse City

Benzie County is directly west of Grand Traverse County and includes such tourist destinations as Lake Ann, Crystal Lake and the Lake Michigan community of Frankfort. Benzie County has about 800 motel rooms. While just one of the new hotels will be in Traverse City proper, the city’s mayor, Richard Lewis, said the boom is good news for his residents and businesses. “We’re the hub of a five-county region, and tourism is a major industry,” said Lewis, who was the city manager for 17 years and a city commissioner for four years before becoming mayor last November. “A lot of that activity is starting to take place on East Bay, but people staying there come into our downtown. They go shopping and eating. We’re just lucky to be sitting on two wonderful bays. We’re close to Lake Michigan. We’ve got wonderful wineries and bicycle trails.”

The first of the new hotels scheduled to come online is a four-story, 90-room Tru by Hilton Hotel in Garfield Township, along a busy stretch of U.S. 31 just south of Traverse City lined with big-box stores, new-car dealerships and shopping centers. Three are scheduled to be completed next year, with two scheduled to open for the summer tourist season in 2024. There is no timetable set for the seventh, a proposed Marriott in the Warehouse District in downtown Traverse City. Last summer, with the return of post-COVID tourists, motels and hotels along the East Bay were particularly popular, with many or all of them flashing no-vacancy signs on busy summer weekends and charging nightly fees that would have seemed unimaginable before the pandemic. See ROOMS on Page 12

TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

PAGE 10

FOCUS | TOURISM

Grand Rapids sees a cocktail boom as craft beer wave crests BY RACHEL WATSON

In Grand Rapids — long known, at least regionally, as “Beer City” for its abundance of breweries — a growing thirst for cocktails is making way for a new type of beverage program. Grand Rapids first earned the Beer City nickname in 2012, when it tied Asheville, N.C., for first in an online poll conducted by homebrewer and author Charlie Papazian to determine the country’s best beer city. The next year, Grand Rapids won the poll by a landslide, and the city has claimed the moniker ever since. In the past decade, though, Grand Rapids’ bar scene has diversified significantly as America’s craft beer wave crests. In 2020, USA Today called Grand Rapids the beverage capital of the U.S., and not just for its breweries. Cited on the list alongside mainstays Founders Brewing Co. and Brewery Vivant were Butcher’s Union, known for its whiskey menu, and Long Road Distillers, which produces award-winning gin, vodka, aquavit, whiskey, bourbon and various liqueurs. Jon O’Connor, co-owner of Long Road and president of the Michigan Craft Distillers Association, said that while there are still breweries opening in the U.S., the craft beer industry has seen slower growth in the past few years. U.S. craft beer volume sales were up 1 percent year over year in 2021, according to the Brewers Association, while U.S. spirits volume sales were up 9.3 percent during the same period. That’s according to the Distilled Spirits Council, whose February report said spirits now account for 41 percent market share of U.S. alcohol sales, a number that has grown for 12 consecutive years. O’Connor said the past few years also have brought brewery closures and consolidations. “I think that’s just kind of typical of any industry as it begins to mature,” he said. Various distillers’ associations believe the spirits industry lags the beer industry by about a 15-year maturity curve, meaning more room to run, O’Connor said. Early pandemic lockdowns helped fuel the shift in sales from craft beer to spirits, he added, as people stuck at home got interested in mixology and restaurants began selling to-go and canned cocktails. As national tastes trend more toward spirits, Grand Rapids’ beverage scene is adapting. Several local restaurants have tapped into the demand for DIY cocktails. Among them are One Bourbon, which offers a weekly tasting called Whiskey League where guests learn to recognize and appreciate the flavor of spirits, and Margaux, a French bistro inside the JW Marriott hotel downtown, which last

year started a periodic tasting program “Women Who Whiskey” featuring Greta Harper of Kentucky-based Maker’s Mark distillery. Other establishments are branching out with new tasting rooms. Last year, Wise Men Distillery opened a second tasting room at 146 Monroe Center St. NW in downtown Grand Rapids in addition to its flagship in suburban Kentwood, which opened in 2019. Rob Hanks, director of operations for three downtown Grand Rapids establishments with cocktail programs — Buffalo Traders Lounge, SideBar and Big O Pizza & Booze — in 2020 helped open Post Off, a wine and amaro cocktail bar at 952 E. Fulton St. downtown. Even more recently, Long Road opened its small-concept cocktail bar, Less Traveled, at 959 Cherry St. SE in Grand Rapids’ East Hills neighborhood on June 1. O’Connor has been pleased with customers’ reception to the dry and bitter offerings there in contrast with Long Road’s sweeter options at the original tasting room in Grand Rapids’ West Side neighborhood. Meanwhile, Eastern Kille Distillery, founded in 2016, plans to open a cocktail bar at 634 Wealthy St. SE, also in East Hills. The company will also move its distillery from downtown to a large parcel north of Grand Rapids this fall to expand production. Brandon Voorhees, co-owner of Eastern Kille, said beer will always hold a special place in the hearts of Grand Rapidians. But the proliferation of distilleries, cocktail bars and mixology programs, means there are “legitimate other options” in the city now, he said. “Before … cocktail programs weren’t as robust and weren’t as thought through,” Voorhees said. “And now, as the appetite for cocktails grows, restaurants, businesses (and) cocktail bars see that and respond to that by offering classic cocktails done properly, unique cocktails, rip-offs of old classics, and you get to see more and more quality and more skilled bartenders that want to learn this craft, because they see that this is an opportunity to please the customer base.” Tristan Walczewski is a level 3 certified sommelier and beverage director for Essence Restaurant Group, which owns Bistro Bella Vita in downtown Grand Rapids as well as The Green Well and Grove, both in East Hills. Coming out of the pandemic, Essence saw beer sales at its restaurants fall by 25 percent, Walczewski said. Liquor sales — including cocktails — rose by 15 percent. “We had a great launching point with ‘Beer City’ as far as like a regional destination, and I think that this gives us a really unique opportunity to be more creative on the cocktail and culinary side,” he said. “It’s all good news to me.”

Essence Restaurant Group Beverage Director Tristan Walczewski is a level 3 certified sommelier and general manager of the downtown Grand Rapids French/Italian restaurant Bistro Bella Vita. | ESSENCE RESTAURANT GROUP

Compared to larger cities like Detroit, which Walczewski said has an “exceptional cocktail scene,” Grand Rapids has room to grow. And it is indeed growing. Another type of beverage gaining traction at Essence restaurants is mocktails, or nonalcoholic mixed drinks, which Walczewski said represent 5 percent to 8 percent of the group’s spirits sales. The goal is to put as much care and creativity into the NA portion of Essence’s menus as it does with its alcoholic drinks.

“If you’ve ever ordered or had a friend order a mocktail … sometimes it’s just an afterthought,” he said. “We really want to put thought and creativity into that section of our menu that you know you’re getting the same thought and care as you would if we were creating a (spirit-based) cocktail. It has the same real estate on our menu, and we really want that experience to be rich.” Essence is also locked on to the hard seltzer trend, offering High Noon, White Claw and Untitled Art brands on

its menus. The changes in Grand Rapids’ beverage scene have implications for its broader tourism industry, too. Kate Lieto, associate vice president of marketing for Experience Grand Rapids said the “Beer City” designation brought fame to the area and “set the stage for Grand Rapids to become the amazing and well-rounded craft beverage destination that it is today.” Contact: rachel.watson@crain.com (989) 533-9685; @RachelWatson86

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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Long Road Distillers in Grand Rapids’ West Side neighborhood. | LONG ROAD DISTILLERS AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 9

FOCUS | TOURISM

Grand Rapids’ new Hotel District looks to bounce back from pandemic BY RACHEL WATSON

GRAND RAPIDS — One year before the pandemic, a group of hospitality leaders picked 3 square miles at the center of Grand Rapids and dubbed it the Hotel District. They marketed the area — home to five existing hotels and more they would build — as a bustling destination to eat, shop and spend the night, whether traveling for work or pleasure. Then COVID-19 arrived. Demand for rooms plummeted as inventory spiked, thanks to six new hotel openings in the district between 2019 and 2021. Today, those 11 hotels in the district combine for 2,018 rooms. With Michigan in its third high travel season of the pandemic, downtown Grand Rapids hotels are seeing a gradual return of group business. But it’s hard to tell if or when individual business travel to Kent County will resume, bringing with it the record-setting revenues of 2019. “The West Michigan Sports Commission has been vitally important to our coming out of the pandemic,” said Doug Small, president and CEO of Experience Grand Rapids or EXGR, Kent County’s convention and visitors’ bureau. “Youth and amateur sports really were the first things, especially outdoor events, group-wise, to come back. And they’ve come back really strong.” Combine that with Grand Rapids’ more robust convention market, and those two areas of group business “are really healthy again,” Small said. What’s missing now is the corporate transient coming to visit Steelcase, Amway or any other large, local company. “That’s a loss nearly entirely during the pandemic, and there’s data that shows it will never come back 100 percent because some companies have learned to work differently via Zoom,” Small said.

Big player, grand plan The Hotel District was formed in spring 2019 by AHC Hospitality, a hotel and restaurant company that’s a subsidiary of the Amway/Alticor empire owned by the DeVos and Van Andel families. Off the bat, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and EXGR backed AHC’s plan to make downtown a tourism destination, and were involved in early listening sessions. Small, of EXGR, said his organization didn’t do much more than voice support, with the understanding that its job is to market all the hotels and businesses in Kent County, not just downtown. AHC defined the district as the area between Division Avenue and U.S. 131 to the east and west and I-196 and Fulton Street to the north and south — essentially the boundaries of downtown. (It does not include hotels adjacent to those 3 square miles, like the nearby Embassy Suites by Hilton that opened in 2019 or the Hampton Inn & Suites on the east end of Medical Mile that opened in 2016.) AHC established the Hotel District 10 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

certainly to boost its own business: It owned three of the five existing hotels and had three more near completion. But the company also said all boats would rise if Grand Rapids’ city center had a stronger brand identity to encourage tourism. That’s according to George Aquino, known to some as the “night mayor” of Grand Rapids and vice president and managing director for AHC. He’s worked in the DeVos and Van Andel families’ hospitality business for 30 years. “We created the Hotel District as a way to help distinguish the central business district, primarily for visitors and groups,” Aquino said. “Because (in) most U.S. cities, when you say, ‘the central business district,’ it really means, ‘This is where the courts are, the banks, and it’s a nine-to-five, and nothing happens after that.’ We wanted to distinguish this area as a place for hospitality and entertainment.” Today, AHC owns or manages six of the 11 hotels within the Hotel District: ` The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, built in 1913 as the Pantlind and acquired by Amway Corp. in the ’80s, with 664 rooms. ` The JW Marriott Grand Rapids, opened in 2007, with 331 rooms. ` The Courtyard by Marriott Grand Rapids Downtown, built in 1993 and renovated in 2010, with 214 rooms. ` Hyatt Place Grand Rapids/Downtown, opened in August 2019, with 160 rooms. ` The AC Hotel by Marriott Grand Rapids Downtown, opened in June 2019, with 130 rooms. ` The Morton Hotel, built in 1922, restored and reopened in March 2021 as dog-friendly, with 23 guest suites and two penthouses. All of those hotels house at least one bar or restaurant, notably the Spanish eatery MDRD and the password-only private bar IDC, both in the Amway Grand. Then there’s Margaux, the high-end French bistro in the JW Marriott, and others like the AC Lounge and the historic Lumber Baron Bar. AHC does a hefty food and drink business at its hotels, which hung on during the height of the pandemic even while room bookings were down, Aquino said. “We were down to single-digit occupancy two years ago … (and) we feel that without the (Hotel District) marketing that we’ve been doing, we wouldn’t be as busy in the restaurants,” he said.

Outside the AHC bubble AHC may have started the Hotel District, but it’s not the only party with an interest in keeping it alive. The non-AHC hotels in the district are: ` Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown, acquired by IHG Hotels & Resorts in 2010, with 175 guest rooms. ` Residence Inn by Marriott Grand Rapids Downtown, opened in February 2021 by The Hinman Co., Dakota Legacy Group and Tharaldson Hospitality Management, with 147 guest rooms. ` Homewood Suites by Hilton Grand

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“I think we’ve had 17 businesses open this year in downtown,” App said “… and we’ll usually have 35 or 40 people on that business association meeting call. “There’s just a really great energy that I don’t recall seeing in downtown previously.”

How Kent County hotel’s fared from 2019 to 2020 Hotel revenue

Hotel occupancy rate

Through June for each year

$119.6 million

$120 million

75%

100

56%

2019

2020

2021

2022

2019

2020

2021

2022

SOURCE: SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH LLC

Rapids Downtown, owned by GR HS LLC and managed by Hospitality Specialists Inc. and opened in 2016, with 119 guest rooms. ` City Flats Hotel, owned by Zeeland-based CharterHouse Holdings and opened in 2011, with 48 guest rooms. ` The Finnley Hotel, owned by real estate broker Brad Veneklase and opened as a five-room boutique in November 2021. Many of those properties have their own restaurants and bars where they’d like to drive business, such as CitySen Lounge and CityBrü, the bar and coffee shop at City Flats. Then there’s the matter of other businesses and attractions in the district, who stand to benefit from its success but aren’t involved in its operation. Rich App, retention and attraction specialist for the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce, sometimes liaises with those parties. A former downtown art gallery owner, he was hired by the chamber and city to the new public-private role in January 2020, with the goal of luring and keeping businesses downtown in part by administering public funds

and incentives. (In that last capacity, he also works for Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., a nonprofit that contracts with the city to oversee its funding tool for development, the Downtown Development Authority.) App initially felt the Hotel District was a “self-serving” branding initiative by AHC, but saw that it had potential to help all of downtown. For instance, he wanted to include center-city museums, restaurants, venues and retailers in the Hotel District marketing push, which included billboards and print and social media advertising paid for by AHC. His solution: Two years into the Hotel District’s existence, he helped merge it with the Center City Business Group, an informal association of downtown shops struggling as the pandemic raged. App sits on the executive committee of the new organization, the Hotel District Business Association, with marketing leaders from EXGR and AHC plus a few downtown business executives. The group hosts monthly calls open to any business owner in the Hotel District, where they can learn about events downtown and make their voices heard.

What numbers say Before the pandemic arrived, Kent County was celebrating a record year for tourism. In 2019, hotels countywide logged $236.5 million in revenue, a record, and 64 percent occupancy, according to reports provided by Experience Grand Rapids, which collects a portion of room fees from the hotels to fund its marketing efforts. In 2020, revenue fell to $112.7 million and occupancy to 37.5 percent — numbers that would have been bleaker without pre-lockdown bookings, said Janet Korn, senior vice president for EXGR. But things are improving. Through June of this year, county hotel revenue was at $119.6 million, up $5.5 million from the same period in 2019. That number is a little deceptive, Korn said, because Kent County has more hotels now — the reason occupancy was at 56 percent through June compared to 64 percent through June 2019. But it attests to the fact that hotels are seeing the return of overnight guests for gatherings, which were banned in 2020 and part of 2021. Plus, Korn added, “we often (see) the highest hotel revenue figures in July and August,” numbers that aren’t yet available for 2022. In the Hotel District, the speed of recovery has varied by establishment. (Individual hospitality groups declined to disclose revenue and occupancy rates, but the Kent County Treasurer’s Office auditing department provided first-half and year-end revenue for 2019-2022 for all 11 hotels.) Of the hotels that were open when the district was created, just one has

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FOCUS | TOURISM

Hotels are offering perks to bring back customers BY JACK GRIEVE

AHC Hospitality owns and operates the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, whose glass tower addition is on the left, and the JW Marriott, the shorter tower on the right. | AHC HOSPITALITY

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reached pre-pandemic revenue this year (Homewood Suites by Hilton, which logged $2.7 million through June compared to $2.6 million through June 2019). Five hotels earned less in the first half of 2021 than the first half of 2020, likely due to normal occupancy rates before March 2020. The most promising sign, though: Every hotel in the district has at least doubled its revenue compared to the first half of last year. About a year ago, Small said the U.S. Travel Association (of which he is a board member) projected most destinations will be back to 2019 revenue numbers by 2024 or 2025. But he’s optimistic the Hotel District can beat that timetable. “Our downtown Hotel District group business, looking into the future, both that we’re bidding on currently, or have already put on the books, is very encouraging,” he said. “I told my board at our annual meeting that I felt, based on trends and the data available to us, that the Grand Rapids market will be fully back by the end of 2023. I still am more than confident of that — if not a little bit before then.” There are variables in play — the looming recession and a labor shortage driving up wages. AHC, for instance, raised wages to stay competitive with employers like Amazon, which has a huge fulfillment center in Caledonia and is pulling workers out of the hospitality industry, Aquino said. Still, he echoed Small’s optimism. “We’re way up (over) last year, even to our budget and average occupancy rates, so we’re very optimistic about how this year is going to end up.”

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The hospitality industry is slowly recovering after suffering some of the hardest hits from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, and hoteliers are getting creative to bring back guests. Hotels are seeing a welcome warm-weather revival of leisure travel, which is expected to meet pre-pandemic levels this year. After sharp losses in 2020 and 2021, this May marked the third consecutive month that U.S. hotel profitability exceeded 2019 levels, according to Tennessee-based STR, which tracks hotel data across the country. But it’s not all good news for hotels. Business travel — traditionally the industry’s largest source of revenue — is not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024. U.S. hotels are expected to end the year down nearly $20.7 billion in revenue from business travel, a loss of 23.1 percent from 2019, according to an April report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. “This report underscores how tough it will be for many hotels and hotel employees to recover from years of lost revenue,” Chip Rogers, head of the AHLA, said in April. With markets like Detroit and Cincinnati seeing losses close to that 23 percent average, some of the country’s largest cities are experiencing even slower recoveries. New York City’s business travel revenue is projected to be down $2.5 billion from 2019, a 55 percent decrease. Chicago is expected to close out the year down 48.7 percent from 2019. “There are clear winners, and there are markets that did not win or recover quite as well,” Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics for CoStar Group Inc., which owns STR, told Crain’s earlier this year. But hoteliers in Chicago say demand has surged since the end of Illinois’ mask mandate at the end of February. A strong start to the city’s leisure travel season has lifted hotels’ bottom lines. And with weather improving, so has the return of larger conventions, along with pent-up demand for social gatherings such as weddings that were delayed earlier in the pandemic. “Things are much better than where we’ve been over the last two years. The level of optimism rises every single day when I talk to hoteliers across the city,” said Michael Jacobson, president and CEO of the Illinois Hotels & Lodging Association. “We’re not fully recovered, but we are well on our way to reaching that point.” The return of large conventions and trade shows will be crucial for hotels come fall, when leisure demand starts to dry up and cities depend more on corporate and group business. Some hotels are getting creative to encourage the return of business travel, and it’s coming in the form of new — and sometimes unusual — perks for guests. The goal is to create a business-leisure (or “bleisure”) experience that blends the evolving desires business people seek. The Hoxton Chicago, for example, has dedicated the third and fourth floors of its Fulton Market location to a new co-working space under the brand name Working From__. It couples a professional office environment with the amenities of a luxury hotel, offering guests access to meeting spaces, phone booths, cafes, printing stations and more.

Daxton Hotel in Birmingham. | COSTAR GROUP INC.

Guests staying at the hotel get two hours a day of free access to the co-working space and can buy a fullday pass for $30. Working From__ also offers more personalized work experiences through its membership programs, which include access to private studios for large teams, personal desks, and access to lounges and meeting rooms. Working From__ members also get discounted — and sometimes free — rates for hotel rooms at The Hoxton. Other hotels are looking to expand their traditional leisure amenities to be more appealing to guests who might otherwise be less inclined to make the trip. In Wilmington, Del., the corporate capital of the world, Hotel Du Pont brands itself as being “built for business” in the heart of the legal and financial district in the city’s downtown corridor. Earlier this year, the hotel launched an initiative partnering with local businesses to offer guests unique local experiences. This includes special access to book exclusive tours of local museums and even reserve one-on-one exercise training lessons with Olympic track and field gold medalist Anthuan Maybank. Other hotels have adopted more welcoming policies toward guests’ pets, particularly dogs. Josh Griffin, marketing manager for the Daxton Hotel in downtown Birmingham, said the hotel and its 151 rooms have been dog-friendly since it opened in April 2021. He estimated there has been a 5 percent to 10 percent increase since then in the number of guests booking rooms with their pets, which requires a flat $150 fee for the length of the stay, no matter how long. “So many more travelers are bringing their dogs along with them or some are even bringing other pets,” Griffin said. “At the start of the pandemic, anyone and everyone was just looking for different revenue generators and hotels that historically did not allow pets saw that as an opportunity,” said Brandon Leversee, a Royal Oakbased vice president for hospitality research company HVS. The creative measures being taken to resurrect the hospitality industry go beyond just hotel perks, with businesses throughout the travel sector

The fate of these innovative appeals and their ability to bring back business travel remains a question. When leisure travel slows down at the end of the summer, that’s when we’ll begin to see if hotels have been able to bring back business travel faster than expected. — Crain’s Detroit Business reporter Kirk Pinho and Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker contributed to this report.

looking for new ways to tap into adjusting consumer habits. The Nightfall Group, a California-based travel concierge company that provides clients luxurious accommodations, has looked to reach new clientele by accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment method. The move came earlier this year and is an effort to expand into the new market of high-value digital currency traders.

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Rachel Frierson, Director of Programming for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy

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AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 11

FOCUS | TOURISM

What’s new up north: Traverse City gets new restaurants, cafes and more Michiganders looking to escape to the lake have long flocked to Traverse City. This year, with businesses continuing to bounce back from the pandemic, there are a plethora of new attractions for visitors to explore. These are some of the new Traverse City businesses worth checking out this summer.

BUCHAN’S WEST BAY 13000 S. West Bay Shore Drive Buchan’s ice cream shop opened its newest location in West Bay, bringing to Greilickville the same homemade ice cream from the family-owned fruit farm on Old Mission Peninsula. The shop is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

THE BIG SALAD 332 E. Front St. The Big Salad franchise, which previously had locations across Michigan, brought its counter-service salads, sandwiches and wraps to Traverse City in its new East Front Street location that opened last fall.

THE BURROW 12930 S. West Bay Shore Drive The owners of Traverse City’s Flying Noodle and Mama Lu’s opened their third restaurant, The Burrow, earlier this year. The Greilickville spot serves California style dishes and offers dine-in seating and boat delivery service to marina neighbors in Elm-

wood, CenterPointe and Harbor West. The Burrow is closed on Sundays and Mondays. MUNDOS 720 W. Front St. and 305 W. Front St. Mundos Roasting & Co. opened two new Traverse City locations this spring. Mundos West is designed for efficient to-go service while Mundo 305 is more sit-and-relax oriented. Mundo’s HQ is still located at 708 Boon St., just southeast of downtown. L.A.COOL 120 E. Front St. L.a.cool, which opened on April 15, describes itself as bringing Traverse City “elevated wardrobe essen-

tials for the modern woman.” The shop is named after its owner Lisa Dykema, whose maiden name was Lisa Anne Cool. The shop carries collections from Anine Bing, Rachel Comey, Totême, Rag and Bone and more. LIVE WELL ACUPUNCTURE 126 Boardman Ave. Suite D Acupuncture is an increasingly popular alternative treatment to chronic pain, and Traverse City is getting a new taste of it. Led by licensed acupuncturist Sarah Lange, Live Well opened in Traverse City in June and offers services from dry needling to herbal remedies to cupping therapy.

ROOMS

From Page 8

It wasn’t unusual to see signs in front of high-end hotels in East Bay Township like Pointes North and the North Shore Inn advertising nightly specials of $449, replaced later in the morning by no-vacancy signs. That price didn’t include the 12 percent in sales and lodging taxes the state collects or the 5 percent tax collected by Traverse City Tourism. Even the small Brio Beach Inn on Munson Avenue, a basic motel without such amenities as a pool, hot tub, bar or restaurant, would sell out the last of its 23 rooms at more than $300 a night. Traffic along the East Bay stretch of U.S. 31 peaks at 50,000 to 60,000 cars a day during the summer season. According to Tkach, while figures aren’t in, yet, for this summer, high fuel prices and worries about the economy likely have had a modest impact on tourism to the region, and nightly specials of $400 or more seem to have come to at least a temporary halt. But demand is still high, with the Brio Beach, for example, recently selling out at the nightly special of $299 it ran during the Traverse City Film Festival, which returned last month after a two-year hiatus. While Tkach acknowledged a lot of inventory coming on the market may have a small impact on nightly rates at the more expensive hotels and motels on the beaches of East and West bays, he said it is good news for restaurants, shops and wineries in the region. It also provides much needed additional capacity for events that are big tourist draws as they start up, again, after COVID pauses. “These are good properties coming on line. More inventory means more revenue generation for the area,” he said. “We haven’t overbuilt. I’m confident we’ll find ways to fill them.” The hugely popular film festival, begun in 2005 by filmmaker Michael Moore, returned on July 26, with various venues reporting full or near full houses. A scaled-back National Cherry Festival was held last year, but returned to a full schedule this year, including two air shows by the popular U.S. Navy Blue Angels, with thousands of cars filling every conceivable parking space near the East and West bays. Also after absence of two years, the Bayshore road races returned to Old Mission Peninsula over the Memorial Day weekend, with a record of almost 6,000 runners from around the 12 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

Across the street from the Pebble Brook site in East Bay Township, a sign announces a new small boutique hotel coming to the beachside next year. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The North Shore Inn, a high-end hotel on the beach in East Bay Township. Last summer, a sign offering a nightly special of $449 was replaced later in the day by a no-vacancy sign. | TOM HENDERSON/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

U.S. finishing the marathon, half marathon or 10K and filling area hotels and motels. The last time an impact study of the Cherry Festival was done was in 2016, when a study by Grand Valley State University concluded it generated $26.7 million. Researchers at the university are now conducting a study of this year’s event. A report of the economic impact of this year’s Bayshore races by Shawn Rohlin, a professor at Kent State Uni-

versity, said it had an impact of $7.75 million, with most of that a result of 89.7 percent of the entrants coming from outside the region and spending $5.2 million while here, much of it on hotels and motels. No official study of the impact of the film festival has been done. “It’s wonderful seeing life coming back into our iconic events,” said Tkach. Before becoming head of the tourism bureau five years ago, he was executive director of the Cherry Festival for 10 years. “It makes you forget all the bad things that have happened the last two years.” According to his office, occupancy in the busy summer quarter in Grand Traverse County hit an all-time high in 2019 with a rate of 83 percent. It fell to 71.6 percent in the COVID year of 2020 and rebounded to 79.8 percent last year. For the first six months this year, the occupancy rate in the county was 52.7 percent, compared to 55.8 percent in 2019, 34.6 percent in 2020 when the bottom fell out of market in March after COVID hit hard and 46.4 percent last year. Tkach said the sharp increase in new hotel and motel rooms coming on line in the region will factor into a hot-button regional issue — shortterm rentals. With hotel and motel rooms in short supply on summer weekends, rentals at area houses through Airbnb and other platforms

have skyrocketed. That has created rifts between neighbors as some houses are now frequently occupied by large numbers of occupants who create parking issues in neighborhoods and complaints about partying. It has become an ongoing issue at city and township council meetings in recent years as disgruntled homeowners demand restrictions on short-term rentals. “A significant influx of short-term rentals is definitely an issue we have had to address the last five years,” said Tkach. “Our members have had to weather that storm.” He said his members aren’t worried so much about increased supply coming on line in the coming months. “The challenge is having a supply of a quality workforce. That’s more of a challenge than it has been.”

Zoning change proposed The most recent news about new hotels involved a proposed Marriott. On July 6, Traverse City planning commissioners voted 4-3 to recommend changing the city’s zoning rules to allow for an extra five feet of building height beyond the 45-foot maximum in the downtown Warehouse District. The recommendation allows plans for a proposed four-story Marriott to proceed on cleared land between the Traverse City Tourism headquarters

ROUGH PONY 144 Hall St. #100 Becky Tranchell, the former owner of Rose and Fern, which closed in December, opened Rough Pony in Warehouse MRKT earlier this spring. The coffee shop and juice bar serves Stockist Coffee Company products as well as juices, smoothies and sodas made in-house. Rough Pony is unique among Northern Michigan businesses in that it’s cash-only. Citing Rose and Fern’s near $17,000 payment to credit card companies in transaction fees last year, Tranchell is looking to cut back on expenses with Rough Pony by limiting purchases just to cash. — Jack Grieve and the Hotel Indigo to the west. Final approval could come later this summer. The extra height is intended to allow the hotel to be built while avoiding digging too far down into contaminated and water-logged soil near the West Bay. Without the change in zoning rules, construction would require digging several feet deeper down into that soil. The change was requested by Jeff Schmitz of the J.S. Capitol Group, which built the Indigo in 2018 and wants to build the Marriott. He said the hotel will have between 91-96 rooms. The other Marriott is a Residence Inn planned by a development group called Stellar Hospitality for across Munson Avenue from East Bay on the site of the long-closed Pebble Brook Fun Park, which offered miniature golf, arcade games and go-kart rides. Where the downtown Marriott has sparked some opposition because it wants a five-foot height variance, this Marriott has some local residents upset at its size — six stories and 123 rooms. Currently, several hotels in East Bay top out at five stories. Compounding their unsuccessful opposition is another six-story hotel on the same site, a 122-room Staybridge Suites that will include an 8,692-square-foot retail center. Both projects were approved by township officials in March, and the land has been cleared with construction to start soon. The township had originally approved the hotels in 2019, but COVID forced a delay and approval for the original site plan expired, requiring the project to go through the approval process again. Construction is expected to finish as early as the spring of 2024. Those large hotels are across the street from a planned much smaller boutique hotel called the Alexandra Inn, a 34-unit inn with rooftop restaurant that will have direct beach access and is scheduled to open next year. In June, East Bay Township planning commissioners approved a five-story, 143-unit extended-stay Hyatt House hotel to be built on Munson Avenue near the Keith J. Charters State Park. It will have both indoor and outdoor pools, a proposed Starbucks, and a 4,153-squarefoot restaurant with outdoor seating open to the public. It is down Munson Avenue from a 92-unit Avid Hotel planned for a former Wendy’s site. Contact: thenderson@crain.com (231) 499-2817; @TomHenderson2

CRAIN'S LIST | LARGEST LOCAL AUTO DEALERS Ranked by 2021 revenue COMPANY ADDRESS PHONE; WEBSITE

TOP EXECUTIVE(S)

REVENUE ($000,000) 2021

REVENUE ($000,000) 2020

PERCENT CHANGE

NUMBER OF DEALERSHIPS

NUMBER OF NEW VEHICLES SOLD, LEASED 2021/2020

NUMBER OF USED VEHICLES SOLD 2021/2020

PENSKE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC.

Roger Penske Sr. chairman and CEO Robert Kurnick Jr. president

$25,554.7

$20,443.9

25.0%

287 1

195,384 1 178,437 1

264,520 1 233,469 1

SERRA AUTOMOTIVE INC. 2

Joseph Serra president and CEO

$3,039.6 2

$2,195.1

38.5%

40,047 33,045 1

35,054 30,822 1

VICTORY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC.

Jeffrey Cappo president

$2,585.8 1

$2,094.5 1

23.5%

48 1

36,958 1 NA

25,388 1 NA

LAFONTAINE AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Michael LaFontaine chairman and owner

$2,004.1

$1,241.0

61.5%

24,399 19,623

19,573 11,180

FELDMAN AUTOMOTIVE INC.

Jay Feldman chairman and CEO Dave Katarski COO and executive VP

$1,562.9

$1,292.3

20.9%

18,302 18,246

17,758 13,424

JIM RIEHL'S FRIENDLY AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC.

James Riehl Jr. president and CEO

$608.8

$376.6

61.6%

NA NA

GOLLING AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 3

Bill Golling president

$533.0

$449.0

18.7%

8,148 8,388

5,547 4,287

SOUTHFIELD CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP RAM

Bill McCormick general manager

$470.4 e

$425.3 e

10.6%

NA NA

ELDER AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Tony Elder president

$353.1 e

$319.2 e

10.6%

NA NA

PRESTIGE AUTOMOTIVE

Gregory Jackson chairman and CEO

$341.3 e

$308.6

10.6%

NA NA

STEWART MANAGEMENT GROUP INC.

Gordon Stewart president

$321.2 e

$290.4 e

10.6%

NA NA

SNETHKAMP AUTOMOTIVE FAMILY

Mark Snethkamp president

$281.6 e

$254.6 e

10.6%

NA NA

PAT MILLIKEN FORD INC.

Brian Godfrey president Bruce Godfrey chairman

$280.0

$215.0

30.2%

4,129 4,164

2,357 1,208

ROYAL OAK FORD/BRIARWOOD FORD

Eddie Hall president and CEO Eddie Hall III general manager

$267.5 e

$241.9

10.6%

NA NA

MATICK AUTOMOTIVE 4

Karl Zimmermann Jr. president and owner Paul Zimmermann vice president

$212.7

$200.2

6.3%

3,246 4,007

2,458 1,817

BOWMAN AUTO GROUP (BOWMAN CHEVROLET)

Katie Bowman Coleman president and owner

$189.4

$162.6

16.5%

2,475 2,944

681 645

JEFFREY TAMAROFF AUTOMOTIVE FAMILY

Jeffrey Tamaroff chairman and CEO Jason Tamaroff vice president Eric Frehsee vice president

$179.2

$125.7

42.6%

3,218 NA

2,671 NA

RAY LAETHEM INC.

Jeff Laethem president

$160.0 e

$144.7 e

10.6%

NA NA

MILOSCH'S PALACE CHRYSLER-JEEP-DODGE INC.

Donald Milosch president

$156.8 e

$141.8 e

10.6%

NA NA

AVIS FORD INC.

Mark Douglas president Walter Douglas Sr. chairman

$137.1

$112.9

21.4%

NA NA

VILLAGE FORD INC.

James Seavitt president and CEO

$133.3 e

$120.6 e

10.6%

NA NA

GORNO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Ed Jolliffe president

$123.6

-0.0%

NA NA

BILL PERKINS AUTOMOTIVE GROUP

Bill Perkins president

$111.8

$97.7

14.4%

1,625 1,890

1,220 1,048

GLASSMAN AUTOMOTIVE GROUP INC.

George Glassman president

$99.5

$79.8

24.7%

NA 1,794

NA 834

MICHAEL BATES CHEVROLET

Michael Bates owner and dealer principal

$86.2 e

$78.0 e

10.6%

NA NA

2555 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills 48302 248-648-2500 penskeautomotive.com

102 W. Silver Lake Road, Fenton 48430 810-936-2730 serrausa.com

46352 Michigan Ave., Canton Township 48188 734-495-3500 victoryautomotivegroup.com 4000 W. Highland Road, Highland 48357 248-887-4747 thefamilydeal.com

30400 Lyon Center Drive East, New Hudson 48165 248-486-1900 feldmanauto.com

32899 Van Dyke Ave., Warren 48093 586-979-8700 jimriehl.com

2405 S. Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills 48302 248-334-3600 golling.com

28100 Telegraph Road, Southfield 48034 248-354-2950 chryslerdodgejeepramofsouthfield.com 777 John R Road, Troy 48083 248-585-4000 elderautogroup.com

20200 E. Nine Mile Road, St. Clair Shores 48080 586-773-1550 prestigeautomotive.com 20844 Harper Ave., Suite 100, Harper Woods 48225 313-432-6200 gordonchevrolet.com 16400 Woodward Ave., Highland Park 48203 313-868-3300 snethkampauto.com 9600 Telegraph Road, Redford Township 48239-1492 313-255-3100 patmillikenford.com

27550 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak 48067 248-548-4100 royaloakford.com

14001 Telegraph Road, Redford Township 48239 313-531-7100 www.matickauto.com

6750 Dixie Highway, Clarkston 48346 248-795-1841 bowmanchevy.com

28585 Telegraph Road, Southfield 48034-1928 248-353-1300 tamaroff.com

18001 Mack Ave., Detroit 48224 313-886-1700 raylaethem.com 3800 S. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion 48359 248-393-2222 palacecjd.com

29200 Telegraph Road, Southfield 48034 248-355-7500 avisford.com

23535 Michigan Ave., Dearborn 48124 313-565-3900 villageford.com 22025 Allen Road, Woodhaven 48183 734-676-2200 gornoford.com 13801 S. Telegraph Road, Taylor 48180 734-287-2600 taylorchevy.com

28000 Telegraph Road, Southfield 48034 248-354-3300 glassmanautogroup.com 23755 Allen Road, Woodhaven 48183 734-676-9600 michaelbateschevy.com

Researched by Sonya D. Hill: shill@crain.com | This list of local auto dealers is an approximate compilation of the largest such businesses in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties. Dealership companies must have local stores to be included on this list. The Suburban Collection, which was No. 1 on last year's list is no longer included because they were acquired by Lithia Motors Inc. in April 2021. It is not a complete listing but the most comprehensive available. Unless otherwise noted, information was provided by the companies. Actual revenue figures may vary. NA = not available. NOTES: e. Crain's estimate. 1. Automotive News. 2. Serra Automotive Inc. purchased Buff Whelan Chevrolet in February 2021. 3. Formerly Roseville Chrysler Jeep Inc. 4. Includes George Matick Chevrolet, Matick Toyota and Matick Auto Exchange.

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AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 13

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section

FINANCE

To place your listing, visit www.crainsdetroit.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

ADVERTISING / MARKETING

FINANCIAL SERVICES

HEALTHCARE / INSURANCE

NCNworld.com

Cornerstone Community Financial

Mercer Health & Benefits, LLC.

Cornerstone Community Financial (CCF) announces Mark Evenson as its new Chief Financial Officer Evenson (CFO), and Jennifer Dickey appointed the credit union’s first-ever Chief Experience Officer (CXO). Evenson and Dickey both joined the CCF team in 2020, and are being promoted to the C-Suite from vice president-level positions. Evenson boasts nearly 20 years of experience in financial management, accounting, compliance, Dickey operations management and business development. Dickey, a PHR-certified and SHRM-Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), has worked in the financial services industry since 2004. CCF is a leading community-focused credit union with seven branch locations, 25,000 members and approximately $365 million in total assets under management.

Mercer, a global actuarial and employee benefits consultancy, and subsidiary of Marsh McLennan, announced the appointment of Laura Eames, Principal, Health & Benefits practice. Laura has 16 years of experience, helping clients design and administer their benefit programs. Laura earned a BS from Oakland University and a Master’s from Walsh College, both in HR management. Visit www.mercer. com and/or on Twitter @Mercer.

NCNworld.com, an award winning world-wide news gathering organization with proprietary new technology, known as Newslink.news, is proud to announce that Jim MacBeth has joined the Company as Executive VP of marketing. Jim served as SVP/Creative Director with top NY agencies including Y&R, D’Arcy, and McCann Erickson, handling clients including Budweiser, Cadillac, Lincoln, and McDonalds. A recipient of several ad industry awards, Jim has lectured and taught advertising at colleges and universities.

CONSTRUCTION

Lee Industrial Contracting Lee Industrial Contracting has named Kevin McGrogan as Chief Operations Officer for the company. Most recently serving as a plant manager for an automotive supplier, Kevin brings nearly 20 years of experience to Lee. He will oversee the operations and skilled trades teams, while supporting a culture of safety and working to attract and grow talent. He will play an important role in enhancing the execution of project delivery, while continuing to deliver those projects on schedule and on budget.

Wayne State University Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson announced he will neither extend nor renew his contract, which concludes on July 31, 2023. Wilson became Wayne State’s 12th president on Aug. 1, 2013. Wilson stated that the time is right for a leadership transition and that Wayne State is wellpositioned to continue its mission. Wilson’s nine years of leadership yielded momentous accomplishments, most notably in student success, fundraising and diversity. 14 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

Old National Bank Old National Bank announces George Bailey as Michigan Market President focused on business development for the State of Michigan. George brings over 35 years of commercial banking experience to his new role. He is a strong community volunteer serving the National Kidney Foundation and Multiple Sclerosis Society. He is a past board member for the Michigan Bankers Association and the Association for Corporate Growth and the World Affairs Council.

Rocket leans into solar business with mortgage demand in a lull

P.A. Commercial

BY NICK MANES

P.A. Commercial has promoted Matt Schiffman to their new CEO/Managing Member, following his 11-year tenure at the firm. Over the span of his career, Matt has been a top producer in office transactions and has been recognized as a respected leader in the commercial real estate industry. In his new role, Matt will further guide the company’s financial and cultural growth and will concentrate on further expanding the breadth and depth of services offered to clients throughout southeast Michigan.

Amid a challenging market for mortgage lenders, the Detroit-based parent company of Rocket Mortgage continues to seek new ways to diversify its personal finance business. First announced one year ago, the nascent Rocket Solar business — which provides consulting, system design, financing, installation and ongoing service to solar customers in 16 states — is being further integrated into the broader Rocket network of companies. The solar business will team with Rocket Loans, a personal loan company also controlled by the parent company, to help with the financing of solar installations, according to a Tuesday news release from Rocket Companies Inc. “We have invested heavily in creating an entire personal finance experience that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver loan offers tailored to the individual — automatically verifying client identity and income with speed and certainty,” Todd Lunsford, president of Rocket Loans and the former CTO for Rocket Mort- “IT WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO gage, said in ROCKET SOLAR THAT WE PARTNER WITH A the release. “Even more LENDER WHO SHARES THE SAME PASSION impressive, FOR CLIENT SERVICE WE DO.” while making quick and au- — Joel Gurman, president of Rocket Solar tomated decisions, Rocket Loans technology meted amid rising interest rates. helps us accurately determine our While expansions into other areas clients’ ability to repay the loans, of personal finance such as solar, with default rates and loss coverage automotive and other real estate ratios that are significantly better services may make sense, some inthan any other personal lending dustry experts remain unconvinced platform on the market today.” the moves will do much to hedge A Rocket Companies spokesper- against the troubled mortgage marson declined to provide a revenue ket in a rising interest rate environforecast for the solar business, but ment. the news release points to solar pan“We like RKT’s expansion in title el installations growing by 30 per- insurance, appraisals, and closing cent last year. services but remains small relative Additionally, “with aggressive to its position as #1 U.S. mortgage cost reductions, supportive policies, lender,” Ken Leon with CFRA Reand large-scale electrification, solar search wrote in a May investor note. could account for as much as 40 percent of the nation’s electricity sup- Contact: nmanes@crain.com; ply by 2035 and 45 percent by 2050,” (313) 446-1626; @nickrmanes

TELECOMMUNICATIONS FINANCIAL SERVICES

EDUCATION

REAL ESTATE

Rocket Solar currently operates in 42 metro areas across the country. | BLOOMBERG

Comcast Kristee Cominiello has been promoted to senior vice president of Comcast’s Heartland Region, which spans Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky and is headquartered in Plymouth. In this role, she is responsible for more than 3,000 employees and all residential and business customer relationships within the three-state region. She oversees all functions of the business for the region, including sales and marketing, field operations network development, customer experience and financial performance.

according to a U.S. Department of Energy Solar Futures study. “It was incredibly important to Rocket Solar that we partner with a lender who shares the same passion for client service we do,” said Joel Gurman, president of Rocket Solar. “The Rocket Loans platform is able to give our solar clients quick lending decisions and is also extremely flexible to meet the needs of our rapidly growing business. This partnership is the latest example of how Rocket creates technologies to make once-complicated transactions simple — something our clients tell us they really appreciate.” In its first quarter earnings report for 2021 in May, the parent company reported that Rocket Solar had facilitated transactions in 27 major markets across nine states, including Arizona, Florida and South Carolina. A specific breakdown of Rocket Companies’ revenue by business venture is unclear. However, like many mortgage lenders, the company is riding a bumpy road at present, as demand for mortgage loans has plum-

APARTMENTS

From Page 3

“There’s a stock of ready-to-be-rehabbed second floor units,” said Keegan Mahoney, the program director on the housing and revitalization department’s policy and implementation team. “We’re thinking there’s the potential for pretty decent scale without a high subsidy lift and development timeline.” The program is just one component of a $203 million housing plan announced last month that aims to create new rental housing, help renters become homeowners, improve the quality of existing rental units and help connect residents with housing-related services. City leaders continue to work toward the construction of more new, affordable apartments, but Mahoney and Peterson said while those projects can sometimes take years to pull together, making long-empty apartments habitable again is an easier lift — if the money is there. The first pilot program, which started in 2017 with money from the Kresge Foundation, helped convert a dozen apartments, all of which are still occupied, said Greg Mangan, the real estate advocate at the Southwest Detroit Business Association. The expansion, funded with money from the American Rescue Plan Act, will offer bigger grants — likely $10,000, as construction costs rise — and seek to convert another two dozen units in Southwest Detroit. Mangan estimates there are about

A pilot program with the Southwest Detroit Business Association granted $8,500 per unit to renovate apartments above commercial spaces, something Jamahl Makled took advantage of to renovate and rent out the units above his commercial space in the Springwells neighborhood. | JAMAHL MAKLED

88 buildings in the business district with at least one vacant apartment on the second floor. He said filling them will increase density, lead more people to be out in the neighborhood and improve the incomes of landlords. Those who rented apartments above businesses in the 1980s or 1990s were somewhat skeptical of the plan, he said — some had tenants previously who infringed on the businesses downstairs — but Mangan said the success of the pilot has won many people over. “We saw the opportunity there to create more housing quicker, cheaper,” he said. “We’re creating something that already existed.”

While the latest program may have income requirements to ensure the apartments are affordable for most residents, Mangan said most are naturally occurring affordable housing, with one bedrooms renting for around $750 a month and two bedrooms, $950. “Our theory is by doing this, it’s a way to feed a market that’s currently under-served,” Mangan said. “We want to prime the pump for people to do more on their own.” Makled said it was the estimated return on investment of 23 percent that sold him on the rehab. A handbook for participants in the program estimated under a worst-case sce-

JAX

From Page 3

The Gesund brothers and Stack have joined Jax leadership, and merged about 250 employees with the growing company, Todd Gesund said. “We are super excited to be part of the Jax family and it’s a tremendous opportunity for a lot of our team at Super Car Wash,” he said. “We are very excited about the opportunities for growth.” Super Car Wash locations will be updated over the course of the coming months with Jax equipment and technology, and then will be rebranded as Jax facilities once the modifications are complete at each location. “Super Car Wash is a strategic acquisition that further increases our accessibility to our loyal customers within the Metro Detroit market and

complements our existing 15 locations,” Jason Milen, CEO of Jax Kar Wash and the third generation of ownership, said in the release. Steve Carrel, TRP Capital’s managing partner, said in the release that

Super Car Wash’s locations are “very complementary to Jax and will be a great fit with our strategy of providing full coverage to our customers.” Jack Milen, Jason Milen’s grandfather and second-generation owner

DEALS&DETAILS ` CONTRACTS ` Allegiant Air, Las Vegas, an airline, has a multi-year partnership as the official airline of the Detroit Pistons basketball team. Allegiant has bases in Flint and Grand Rapids. Website: Allegiant.com ` TriMas Corp., Bloomfield Hills, a manufacturer in the industrial and aerospace markets, was awarded multi-year contracts with Boeing, Arlington, Va., an aerospace company, for components used in fluid conveyance applications for its T-7A Red Hawk training jet program. Website: trimascorp.com ` Shape Corp., Grand Haven, an automotive supplier of energy man-

nario, landlords’ average annual rate of return over a decade would be nearly 14 percent. And a 2019 report by Mission Lift for the Southwest Detroit Business Association said the increase in foot traffic could create a safer business district as well as bring more dollars to the area — including to the firstfloor businesses tenants live above. If all the available apartments in the area were rented at $750 a month by two-income households with an average annual income of $35,000 per person, the report said, nearly $7.9 million could enter the local economy over a decade between rent, expenditures and income taxes. The pilot project area’s population is predominantly low-income and Latino residents, the report said, and offering more housing options is a way to keep them from moving elsewhere. Property Manager John Grossi said an increase in foot traffic was one of the appeals for him in converting two units above the former bar Sherry’s on Vernor. “Better people make it a better business climate,” he said. And it means more people to spend money at his nearby pizza places, as well as to keep the bodega and smoothie place that are replacing Sherry’s in business. His partner, Jason Ghannan, the managing member of JG Property, said he was on the fence about whether to renovate the units, and likely would have waited another year to see what the market was doing if not for the incentive. But he said he had tenants lined up before

the construction was even finished. “If the city expands it, that’s fantastic,” Ghannan said. “It’s great for downtowns. It’s not just good for that individual address, it’s good for the whole neighborhood.” The new units are due over the next two years, but Mangan and others hope the success will be obvious and redevelopment will spill outside of Southwest Detroit. There are challenges changing commercial landlords into residential property managers, and the three landlords Crain’s talked to all said the program could have been even more effective if it helped landlords expedite or skip some inspections, allowed for more leniency on parking or other guidelines or otherwise helped eliminate some of the red tape they were subject to by taking the grant money. “My partner frequently says that it’s just not worth the extra hassle,” Grossi said of Ghannan. Mahoney, with the city, acknowledged that heavy compliance needs could be a challenge or a disincentive for owners. But he hoped an increase in demand for such residential spaces would mean more landlords willing to get on board. Mangan said he’s already heard of others who are interested. “We’re just trying to replicate history, what’s always been there and what’s worked for generations,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s something we can keep doing. There’s a definite need for it.”

Bruce Milen’s father, opened the first Jax Kar Wash in 1953 at McNichols and Meyers roads in Detroit, according to the company’s website, growing at one point to 11 locations. In 1998, Jack Milen sold the company to Saugus, Mass.-based Wash Depot Holdings Inc., which sought to build a national car wash chain but failed and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2001 with more than $132 million in debt. Under Wash Depot ownership, service declined and the company’s reputation suffered a black eye, Crain’s reported in 2002. “They immediately raised the price, and they cut back on labor, and they stopped doing things for the customers that the customers were used to having done for them,” Bruce Milen told Crain’s two decades ago. In 1998, each Jax location did about 20,000 car washes a month, but that fell by 50 percent under Wash Depot.

The company bio describes Wash Depot as “a national chain that only cared about a profit and taking the company public,” which “never happened.” Crain’s reported in 2002 that the Milens bought back the company out of bankruptcy and in return, Wash Depot was released from $26 million in debt obligations, according to legal filings. The International Carwash Association said it’s about a $15 billion industry in North America and that there are some 62,700 car washes in the U.S. In the conveyor segment of the car wash industry, companies with five or more locations account for about 15 percent of the total locations, while the largest conveyor car wash company owns about 2 percent of the locations.

Contact: arielle.kass@crain.com; (313) 446-6774; @ArielleKassCDB

Contact: kpinho@crain.com; (313) 446-0412; @kirkpinhoCDB

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agement and lightweight body structures, has entered into an agreement with Hydro Aluminum Metals USA LLC, Baltimore, Md., producer of aluminum and renewable energy, to explore automotive components using Hydro Circal, recycled aluminum containing a minimum of 75 percent post-consumer aluminum scrap. Website: Shapecorp.com The Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League, Detroit, and American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, Grand Rapids, have reached a five-year extension of their affiliation agreement. The Red Wings will continue their 20-year partnership with the Griffins through at least the 2026-27 season. The Red Wings

will continue to oversee the Griffins’ day-to-day hockey operations. Detroit is also responsible for providing Grand Rapids with its playing roster, through NHL-contracted players and AHL-only contracts, and also supplies its coaching staff, equipment managers and athletic trainers. Websites: nhl.com/redwings, griffinshockey.com

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` Loc Performance Products LLC, Plymouth, a manufacturer, invested $17 million in capital equipment at its facility in St. Marys, Ohio. This investment will increase production capacity for the Trackman rubber product line by 33 percent. Website: locperformance.com AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 15

HURON

From Page 1

“Though the results to date are non-detect, EGLE is expanding its monitoring to ensure public health protection,” the release said. “Investigators are testing sewage material within the Wixom treatment plant to determine if contamination remains bound up with the sludge inside the plant.” Investigators are conducting tests at 29 different locations along the river system, including Kent Lake and near Barton Pond, where Ann Arbor draws its drinking water. State officials said the testing there is being done as a precaution and it would take several weeks at minimum for the streamflow to reach Ann Arbor’s intake. Crain’s left messages with the city of Ann Arbor on Thursday for more information about how it is addressing the potential contamination. EGLE said officials inspected the Tribar plant Wednesday, but declined to share details of what was learned. In a statement sent to Crain’s late Thursday, Tribar said it discovered Monday that approximately 10,000 gallons of a 5 percent hexavalent chromium plating solution used in the production process at its plant at 48668 Alpha Drive was released to Wixom’s wastewater treatment plant. “Upon discovering the release, Tribar took immediate action, including making certain the release was stopped and contacting the wastewater treatment plant. The company also self-reported the incident to the State of Michigan,” the company said in the statement. “Tribar takes the health and safety of our neighbors and community, as well as the protection of the environment, very seriously. We are working with the City of Wixom and the State of Michigan on continued testing and response activity. ... Tribar continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the release and will take appropriate action to prevent a reoccurrence. We will continue to provide updates as we learn more.” EGLE said the company first notified it of contamination at 3:21 p.m. Monday. The contamination could have started as early as Saturday, the company told EGLE. The department issued a media advisory about the spill Tuesday.

Kayakers were on the Huron River in Ann Arbor on Thursday downstream from a recent chemical release into the Huron River in Wixom. | ANNA FIFELSKI/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

In response to an order by the city of Wixom in 2018, the company installed a system to treat the discharged liquid for PFAS chemicals. Three years later, the company installed granular activated carbon filters in response to a PFAS violation from the state.

What is hexavalent chromium? Hexavalent chromium, the chemical found in the green ooze spill on I-696 in Madison Heights in 2019, can cause harm through ingestion, skin contact or inhalation.

Visitors to Kensington Metropark were warned not to make contact with the water there because of possible contamination by a recent chemical release into the Huron River in nearby Wixom. | ANNA FIFELSKI/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Wixom City Manager Steve Brown told Crain’s that the city issued a cease-and-desist order to the company Monday. Officials recommend all people and pets avoid contact with the Huron River between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County, including Norton Creek downstream of the Wixom Wastewater Treatment Plant at 2059 Charms Road, Hubbell Pond (Mill Pond) and Kent Lake.

Business impact

Amy McMillan, director of Huron-Clinton Metroparks, said the park system shut down the beaches and boat rentals at Kensington Metropark after being notified of the contamination through EGLE’s news release Tuesday. “We are disappointed and alarmed about the spill itself and the lack of communication from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy,” McMillan said in an email. “Despite past promises to be information partners, EGLE did not directly contact us about the spill.

The chemical is widely used in manufacturing and metal plating, which is a prevalent industrial process among tier-two and tier-three suppliers throughout Michigan. “It’s a chemical that shows up on pretty much any hazardous substance list you can find,” said Oday Salim, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation and director of the University of Michigan’s Environmental Law & Sustainability Clinic. Salim said enforcement of unlawful dumping of chemicals into waterways could be done at the state, local and federal levels.

This inexcusable disregard for public safety put park users at risk.” On Thursday, beaches and boat

ANALYSIS

From Page 3

Whitmer will have the financial edge, though money is not everything. Dixon won the five-candidate primary despite being outspent. Still, she and her allies must quickly raise millions to stay competitive. JOB APPROVAL Whitmer had 55 percent job approval and 49 percent favorability ratings in a July poll conducted for The Detroit News and WDIV-TV, much better than President Joe Biden’s sub-40 numbers. If the governor continues to be viewed favorably, and as separate from Biden, she will be in a good shape. UNITY Democrats are behind Whitmer. Will Republicans fully unify for Dixon? A late endorsement from former President Donald Trump, plus her backing from establishment types 16 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

Gretchen Whitmer | DALE YOUNG/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

like the DeVos family and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, are a good sign. But many in the GOP’s grassroots still voted for chiropractor Garrett Soldano or real estate broker Ryan Kelley, who has been charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Soldano pledged to support Dixon, but fourthplace finisher Kelley said he is not conceding and called for a hand recount despite Dixon’s nearly 200,000vote lead over Kevin Rinke with 85

Tudor Dixon | ASSOCIATED PRESS

percent of precincts counted. ABORTION One advantage for Dixon is structural. The party opposite the president usually does well in midterm elections, and the inflation surge and fear of a recession make it a difficult political environment for Whitmer. But strategists say the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade has scrambled the dynamics. Dixon op-

poses abortion, including in cases of rape and incest — something Whitmer has and will continue to highlight as she tries to keep Michigan’s near-total abortion ban from going back into effect. Dixon supports the 1931 law. RECORD Dixon’s task is not insurmountable. Unlike Whitmer, she is a freshfaced outsider with no government

rental remained closed until further notice and visitors and their pets were cautioned to avoid contact with the water in the area until further notice, the park said on its website. Bruce Heavner, owner of Heavner Canoe & Kayak Rental in Milford along the Huron River, said last week that the business could continue operating despite the spill, though they have had to make adjustments to their routes. “The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Michigan Department of Natural Resources said we can put trips starting in our location and going upstream and paddling back to our location, but we can’t do anything downstream because the drain that flows into the Huron River that was contaminated is downstream of us,” Heavner said Wednesday. The spill has already begun to impact business, he said, as the business had to alter the reservations of customers and had to pick up customers who were mid-trip downriver when it got notice Tuesday. “We’re concerned about how this beautiful stretch of the river is being affected (with) all the wildlife and people not being able to go and enjoy it,” Heavner said. “Unfortunately, our pocketbook is a side effect of that, but that’s not our main concern.”

About Tribar Manufacturing Tribar employs around 70 workers at Plant 5 and roughly 400 in Wixom, Brown said. It has 58 injection-molding presses and $130 million in sales, according to Plastics News estimates. The company has operated under several different names in recent years. It’s listed as a portfolio company of Washington, D.C.-based HCI Equity Partners, which invested in 2015, according to its website. The plants in Wixom have a history of contaminating metro Detroit waterways. The plants have been hit with two violations for discharge of PFAS chemicals, first in 2018 and again in 2021, according to records provided by EGLE. It is not known how long the PFAS chemicals were actually being discharged, however, because prior to 2018 there were no requirements for monitoring industrial discharge of the emerging pollutant, which has since been discovered to be more hazardous than previously thought and thus more strictly regulated.

record to defend. She will criticize the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions that closed schools and businesses. She will note inflation’s effect on grocery prices and blame Whitmer for not fixing the roads. But Whitmer also has accomplishments to tout, such as a $400-a-vehicle auto insurance refund and increased education spending. Many voters do not know much about Dixon, which is both a challenge and an opportunity. “The differences on policy after policy after policy between these two ladies could not be more distinct. I think it’ll be abundantly clear to the people of Michigan which one represents their interests, especially through the lens of families,” said Republican Senate Majority Mike Shirkey, who endorsed Dixon months ago. “Money is important. But it is not the final say. Winning hearts is what matters.” Contact: david.eggert@crain.com; (313) 446-1654; @DavidEggert00

Domestic violence shelter Haven names new CEO

RESTAURANTS

From Page 1

of unruly. For example, one customer berated a 16-year-old Bobcat Bonnie’s host who asked her to wear a mask, Buskard said. Buskard, who owns seven Bobcat Bonnie’s locations in Michigan and Ohio, believes attitudes have shifted from where they were at the start of the pandemic. “While people understand we’re short-staffed, what used to be excitement for local small businesses in the prime of COVID, when everybody was ‘rah-rah,’ has shifted to such a negative level,” he said. “It’s hard. I know Short’s put it out there, and I get it. The thing is, the people being rude Up North would normally be in metro Detroit at Bobcat Bonnie’s. They’re just on vacation.” Buskard believes the state of the restaurant industry is probably the toughest it’s ever been. That’s compounded by customers’ poor attitudes. “Costs have skyrocketed. People are seeing it in their grocery bills right now, but restaurant owners usually see those increases 60 days prior,” Buskard said. “Food comes from our vendors almost immediately. Finding staff is still tough. We’ve paid more and done every gimmicky thing we could as far as signing bonuses, staying bonuses, and we’re still not getting great results. Nobody is.” To combat rude patrons, Buskard has put a protocol in place for staff who come upon unruly guests: He’s told staff to find a manager and politely exit the situation. For Bobcat Bonnie’s management, the protocol calls for informing customers that Bobcat Bonnie’s may not be for them, and that abuse of any kind will not be tolerated. “When people were all about how much they hated masks, we had to let them know that if we don’t follow those rules, then we get in trouble,” Buskard said. “We’ve found really diplomatic ways to break up with customers, and that’s something we’ve had to do more than ever over the last couple of years. “We had a customer over the winter who reserved an (outdoor) igloo, but who didn’t read the rules. She was upset about the policy, and our policy is to send those (unhappy) customers a Bobcat Bonnie’s gift card. She was so rude to my staff that after I sent out the gift card, I told her I didn’t feel comfortable having her in the restaurant and that she probably wouldn’t feel comfortable coming back. I got her a gift card from another chain and sent her there. Soon after that, she realized she was being a ‘Karen’ and apologized.” The incidents are increasing, but apologies are not.

BY SHERRI WELCH

Bobcat Bonnie’s has put a protocol in place for staff who come upon unruly guests. | JAY DAVIS/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Business including Hollywood Market in Royal Oak are asking for customers’ patience as they struggle with short-staffing. | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

“Summer business brings the return of customers who swear, yell, laugh in our faces, name-call, belittle, bring us to tears, and threaten negative reviews or to never come back,” Short’s said in its post recently, which quickly went viral. Short’s stood firm in its stance that it will not tolerate any rude behavior toward staff members. “We will ALWAYS have our staff’s backs so don’t be a jerk,” Short’s said in the post, which drew thousands of comments, mostly supportive. This isn’t the first time Short’s has felt the need to speak out about disrespectful customers; the Bellaire-based business said “enough is enough” in a 2020 post. In another example, East Park Tavern in Charlevoix closed its kitchen early during the last night of the northwest Michigan city’s annual Venetian Festival last month due to “mistreatment of our servers,” manager Larah Moore said on Facebook. “My staff took a BEATING all week. Last night “WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE OUR our last straw. Too STAFF’S BACKS SO DON’T BE A JERK.” was many rude comments. — Short’s brewery and restaurant in a Too many arrogant indiFacebook post on unruly customers viduals acting like they can throw money at us to A One Fair Wage survey from Sep- get their way. Too many cocky jerks,” tember 2021 of 238 tipped workers Moore said in the post. found that 34 percent said hostility An official with the state’s largest from customers had increased from restaurant association believes the the previous year. Some 41 percent pandemic has led to customers havof respondents said customer hostil- ing a lack of patience. ity could be the reason they leave Emily Daunt, vice president of the industry. communications and operations at Short’s, the popular northern the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Michigan brewery and restaurant/ Association, said that while conbar, said it is dealing with an influx of sumer demand is high and great for disrespectful customers this summer. the industry, customer behavior has

shifted over the course of the pandemic. “Being stuck in the house, not interacting, I think people became more impatient. Then you have pent-up demand, coupled with low staff, then people now are more likely to be rude over basic things,” Daunt said. “It’s always been a thing. There have always been rude in restaurants, but it’s gotten higher and more intense.” The MRLA in 2021 developed signs for its more than 16,000 restaurant and bar operator members that asked customers to understand the circumstances and take them into consideration when dining or drinking. The MRLA also offered free, online de-escalation training through ServSafe to help restaurant operators. In the event the signs and staff training don’t work, Daunt said social media is an operator’s next best weapon in combating rude, unruly customers. “For every person who’s grumpy and rude there are three people who understand what’s going on and who are there to support a restaurant,” Daunt said. “There’s a lot of power in operators being able to put something out on social media. If someone leaves an unjustified bad review, the operator can detail the situation. In this industry, we’re all about positive feedback. All operators want to provide great hospitality for guests. That’s what the field is rooted in.” Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981 Contact: amelia.benavides-colon@ crain.com; (313) 290-2269; @benavides_colon

Domestic violence shelter Haven is the latest nonprofit to hire a new CEO, and the new leader's background is anything but traditional. The Pontiac nonprofit has named Christine Kinal Kinal, principal and owner of CK Industries Inc., a protype manufacturer, as its top executive. She succeeds Emily Matuszczak, senior program director, who has served as interim CEO since February when former head Aimee Nimeh stepped down to spend more time with her young children. Before founding CK Industries in 2020, Kinal served for more than 20 years on the Southfield Police Department, according to her LinkedIn profile. During her career there, she moved through the ranks from police officer to field training officer, detective sergeant, investigations division coordinator, hostage negotiator and patrol watch commander. Kinal, who served as an intelligence analyst during seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps, was assistant director of the police academy and an instructor at Oakland Community College for 18 years and volunteered as a crisis counselor for five and half years at Common Ground, a 24-hour crisis services agency providing help

to runaway and homeless youth, victims of crime, people with mental illness and others. Kinal brings a non-traditional background for a nonprofit executive, Haven’s board chair Kristi Christ, vice president and trust officer for JP Morgan Private Bank, acknowledged. But Kinal has worked with victims and survivors as a police officer and counseled victims and survivors as a crisis counselor, Christ said. “She’s very warm and engaging (and) was looking for a way to be of service,”Christ said. “Her passion for our mission really came through during the interview, which is what really resonated with all of us on the search committee.” Haven provides shelter, counseling, advocacy and educational programs for more than 30,000 survivors and family members each year. In 2019, it teamed up with Training and Treatment Innovations Inc. to launch a new transitional housing program with wraparound support services for Oakland County survivors. And during the pandemic, it added virtual programs to continue providing support. Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch

Detroit sues for 30-year plan for pension funds BY MINNAH ARSHAD

The city of Detroit filed a motion with the bankruptcy court Monday to require a 30-year amortization in the Police and Fire Retirement System pension plan. PFRS approved a 20-year amortization payment schedule last year, over which Mayor Mike Duggan previously expressed frustrations. The city has been planning for a 30-year period when payments resume in July 2023, after a nineyear break on paying that debt as part of negotiations during its historic 2013-14 municipal bankruptcy. “Trustees have heard from our actuarial and other financial advisors that have run numerous whatif scenarios based on multiple funding models including 30-year, 20-year and others,” PFRS Chairman Dean Pincheck said in a news release Thursday. “The 30-year model may be better for city budgets but is not in the best interest of retirees.” Detroit officials have previously stated that the shorter timeline is less tenable, because it will increase the city’s costs on the front

end. Duggan stated in March that he planned to take the issue to court and said if that was unsuccessful, he would potentially go to the state Legislature. “We understand the fiscal position of the administration as the reason for the filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to request a 30year amortization of pension funds vs. 20-years,” Pincheck said in the release. “We believe the Board of Trustees vote in support of the recommendation of the PFRS Investment Committee to favor a 20-year repayment vs. 30-years was and remains the correct position on this matter.” According to a release from the PFRS, the city plans to add $90 million into the retirement trust fund this year, which Pincheck said was “very welcome news” and stated the city has put $355 million in the fund to date for both PFRS and General Retirement System beneficiaries. The city declined to comment on the lawsuit. Contact: minnah.arshad@crain. com (313) 446-0416; @minnaharshad

AUGUST 8, 2022 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | 17

THE CONVERSATION

Chris Harkins on the new state budget — and $7B left to spend Chris Harkins helped to finalize Michigan’s first full-year budget since he became state budget director 10 months ago. The $77 billion deal was the first time Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Republican-controlled Legislature met a July 1 deadline they enacted after a lengthy budget impasse in 2019. They left until later decisions on how to spend billions to potentially fund tax cuts and additional spending. Harkins, while new to the job, is no stranger to the process — having been at the table in other budget-related roles previously. He led the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency, worked in the budget office during Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration and was a Republican legislative policy aide. | BY DAVID EGGERT ` Are you surprised the budget is done? No. We were always hopeful that we could get to this point. It took a lot of work to get there. I don’t know that I’m surprised. I’m pleased. I’m very pleased that we were able to get that done. We had a lot of very willing partners to try to get to that timeline. ` There is $7 billion on the balance sheet. How should Michigan spend it? There’s a combination of ways to do that. The governor’s been really clear her interest is in some targeted tax relief. With that amount left, we can still look to do the (Earned Income Tax Credit) changes that she recommended. We could still do the retirement change that the governor’s looked for. Those two pieces, when fully phased in, were about $800 million worth of cost to the state. We’d be able to absorb that within what’s left as we look forward. It’s prudent, as we are still a little bit unsure about what’s going on with the economy, that we have some on the balance sheet. We tend to leave some on the balance sheet each year. It’s rarely $7 billion between the two funds, so this is a little different. We’re still working our way through this pandemic and its impact on the economy. Doing things too dramatically different — I’d rather see a little time before we make major, major changes in our revenue streams. ` Can a deal on tax cuts be struck before the November election? It’s possible. We were able to get a budget done by July 1 when I think a lot of folks would have bet against us. I can certainly see how it would be possible

to get that done. I’m not, however, in the field of prognostication. ` Where did you grow up and what did you want to be as a kid? I’m a Livonia kid. I wanted to be a paleontologist until I found that it really meant being out in the heat a lot, and then it was far less appealing. I’m a James Madison (College) person at MSU. So I thought of course I would be in the diplomatic corps or something and went right from taking my international relations degree to doing an internship in the Legislature. That just kind of stuck. I’m very grateful at least that that Madison background gives me a lot of critical thinking. That is very helpful in these roles I’ve been fortunate enough to have. This was not on my chart of jobs I was going to end up in. But it’s really great to be here. This is definitely a job that I think a lot of people should be want to be in. ` How did your prior jobs prepare you for this role? Almost of them in the Legislature have been budget related. It’s been essentially 20 years of state budget work for me. I started interning and working on appropriations work. It did not take me long to realize that all of the decisions are made along budget lines. That’s really the place to be when you want to be around decision-making. The nice part about the budget is if you’re doing the budget on kind of a macro scale, it allowed me the opportunity to learn about a lot of different issues. One day it’s trying to solve a problem in (Health and Human Services). Another day was learning about formula funding potential for universities. Then the next day it’s

dealing with cormorants in northern Michigan. It gives you such a wide breadth of issues that it’s never the same day twice, which is really great. ` What is something in the new budget that is not getting enough attention? The teacher scholarships. The K-12 budget gets a lot of attention, and I’m very proud of that. What the governor went out the door with was very strong. We were able to build on it, which is really impressive. But the dedication to our future teachers is really important. I went to public school my entire career. I have a handful of teachers who I just think about very regularly as having major impacts on me. The idea that the state’s going to put state resources in to make sure we have strong teachers going forward is a really meaningful investment. Chris Harkins is the state budget director.

`What keeps you up at night? Every budget director is always worried about the future, right? We don’t know what’s coming. Thankfully we have a really strong system around our revenue structure. Being able to check in on that in January and May each year is important. The ability to call a revenue conference if we need to to do another one — we did that in 2020 — and adjust as necessary is really helpful. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t keep me up a little bit from time to time. There’s a lot of conversation in media coverage about the potential of recession. Right now we’re not projecting a recession. It doesn’t keep me up, but it’s certainlty something we think about a lot. We’ve made some good decisions. We’ve put a lot of money into the (Budget Stabilization Fund). We’ve structured a budget in a way where we’ve got a lot of items that are maybe big spends, but they’re one-time spends. We’re using those resources appropriately. That helps me to sleep better because I know we’ve structured it in a way that it is pretty forward-looking.

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Huntington Bank will be presenting sponsor of Charity Preview

18 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | AUGUST 8, 2022

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The charity preview of the annual North American International Auto Show in Detroit raises millions of dollars for local nonprofits. | FREERS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

ed Huntington Place, and I couldn’t be more pleased for the return of the Charity Preview, which truly makes

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HUNTINGTON BANK HAS SIGNED ON as the presenting sponsor of the 2022 Charity Preview ahead of the North American International Detroit Auto Show. The sponsorship is fitting, given that the event is returning this year to downtown Detroit’s Huntington Place, which was named for the company through a separate sponsorship in 2021. Prior to that, the venue once known as Cobo Center was called TCF Center. The bank is set to open its new co-headquarters, Huntington Tower, in Detroit this year. “The Detroit Auto Show is a marquee event that puts our city on the world’s stage,” said Sandy Pierce, chair of Huntington in Michigan. “Huntington is honored to host this year’s show in the newly brand-

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life better for countless children in our community.” The Sept. 16 preview will raise

money for six local nonprofits to benefit services for children, including Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, the Children’s Center, the Children’s Foundation, Detroit Auto Dealers Association Charitable Foundation Fund at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Detroit PAL and the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital The Charity Preview has raised more than $100 million for children’s charities in Southeast Michigan over the past 25 years and over $121 million since its inception in 1976. The longest-running Detroit auto show Charity Preview after party, AutoGlow, is also returning this year after a two-year break amid logistical changes for the show and COVID.

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