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SPECIAL REPORT: ST. CLAIR COUNTY MARY KRAMER Publisher
mkramer@crain.com Twitter: @MKramerCrain
New Consumers CEO has eye on economy Mary Barra has company. The General Motors CEO has been the only woman running a for-profit multibillion-dollar enterprise in Michigan. This summer, Patricia “Patti” Poppe takes over the reins of Consumers Energy, the Jackson-based company with a statewide footprint and more than $6 billion in revenue. Interesting footnote: Poppe’s roots are in General Motors, where she worked as a plant manager before returning to her hometown and joining the company where her father had worked as an engineer. GM seems to have developed a kind of “secret sauce” of talent development — at least when it comes to identifying and developing women. Poppe is building on the initiatives created by her predecessor, John Russell, who presided over the cleanup after the tragic gas explosion in Royal Oak that killed a man three years ago. Mistakes Poppe were made when crews were installing a new gas main; procedures weren’t followed. And nine employees were fired as a result. “It was a wake-up call,” Poppe said in an interview during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. It led to a companywide culture change and the creation of “CE Way” — getting work done right the first time, eliminating waste and doing work on time. Poppe said she is putting her automotive background — focusing on processes, quality and verification — to work at Consumers. And Consumers is returning to a traditional but under-the-radar role “utilities” had for many years in Michigan — economic development. Makes sense: Michigan’s population isn’t growing, so if you are in the business of selling power, what can you do to expand demand? Answer: Bring more companies to Michigan. She expects to expand the five-person economic development team, a group that recently helped bring a German manufacturer to the state and helped to seal the decision by Nevada-based Switch to develop a massive data center in suburban Grand Rapids. What did Consumers bring to the party? A plan for 100 percent of new renewable power generation needed to offset Switch’s load. Like many customers, Switch has a focus on sustainability and renewable energy. Meeting the energy requirement means the center will likely open later this year and is projected to employ 1,000 people and spend $5 billion over 10 years. Poppe should be at the ribbon-cutting. Mary Kramer is publisher of Crain’s Detroit Business. Catch her take on business news at 6:10 a.m. Mondays on the Paul W. Smith show on WJR AM 760 and in her blog at www.crainsdetroit.com.
Catching an
economic wave
PHOTO BY MARK RUMMEL
Blue Water area navigates changing currents - including its own attitudes By Gary Anglebrandt
Collaborative investment
The economy of St. Clair County has long lagged those of its metro Detroit neighbors to the south; its biggest hurdle may be moving the mindset of its own residents. High school graduates are as likely to head for the county border in search of greater opportunities as to stay, and residents see local leaders as just as likely to get in the way of new ideas as to encourage any. “The city didn’t get along with the county. The foundation stuck to itself. Everyone just did their own thing,” said Randy Maiers, president of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County. But a spate of recent projects, totaling $234 million in planned or underway investment, has development officials touting a reversal of that trend. They say there’s a new appreciation for collaboration and making better use of the area’s natural asset, its water geography, to attract business. They aren’t predicting a massive economic boom or large-scale influx of new residents, but instead simply want to capitalize on what exists to create an improved quality of life for those who are there. “We’ve been failing in promoting our area for investment and as a place to live,” said Daniel Casey, CEO of St. Clair County’s Economic Development Alliance, which has been following Blue Meets Green, a strategic plan to boost the economy (blue referring to the Blue Water Area identity the county has long used). “What we’re trying to do is improve the quality-of-life assets we have, increase economic development efforts to take advantage of some of the lower business costs available in our county and improve the overall economic future,” Casey said. Water frontage on the St. Clair River and Lake Huron runs alongside the whole eastern stretch of the county, which has a popu-
The inn had been one of just a handful of restaurants, and even fewer higher-end restaurants, on the entirety of the 35 miles of the St. Clair River — odd for a collection of towns that calls itself the “Blue Water Area” after the striking blue tones of the St. Clair River and Lake Huron. It sits right in the shadow of the Blue Water Bridge, which crosses the the turbulent point where the river and lake meet. The inn had been locally owned and was doing poorly until a group of investors bought it and turned it into a DoubleTree by Hilton hotel with a destination restaurant called Freighters Eatery and Taproom. The county followed with the building of a new $9 million convention center there, and Baker College installed a culinary school and continues to expand it with a new set of dorms. Baker’s investment in the culinary school totals $5.9 million. A Hilton brand hotel was a step up from the Thomas Edison Inn. “When Hilton blessed that site, people started to raise their eyebrows,” said Gerry Kramer, head of Port Huron-based Kramer Realty Inc. and one of the investors. The Hilton deal was the work of investors Robert Schermer, CEO of Grand Rapids-based Meritage Hospitality Group Inc.; John Wheeler, director of business development at Orion Construction Inc., also in Grand Rapids; and Kramer, along with seven other investors from the Grand Rapids area. Meritage holds the lease for Freighters. The investors formed the Grand Rapids-based entity JB Realty LLC for the venture. Hilton demanded 105 changes to the hotel to bring it to the chain’s standards, costing JB Realty $6 million, including $1 million just for the kitchen. They plan to spend another $2 million on further renovations. Of the $234 million in recent projects, the
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COURTESY BLUE WATER SANDFEST
More coverage inside With events to promote like the Blue Water SandFest (above), St. Clair County officials are aiming to carve out a tourism niche, Page 12. The Blue Water area is tapping into the popular craft beer and wine culture, Page 14. Other projects in the works for St. Clair County, Page 13.
lation of 160,000. Most of the new development projects are in Port Huron, the county’s seat and largest city. One of the more notable projects there is the transformation of the site of the former Thomas Edison Inn.
SEE ST. CLAIR, PAGE 10