DBusiness | July-August 2023

INSIDE: POWERED BY WOMEN | FREEDOM FORGE | OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Detroit’s comeback, long in the making, is now gathering steam. How six billionaires are partnering with local businesses to restore Detroit’s 1920s luster — from the riverfront to downtown, Corktown, and Midtown, and into the neighborhoods.

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YASMEEN

32 Ottoman Empire 38 Freedom Forge

FOCUS: Gardner White Furniture Co. in Warren has aggressively moved to pick up the best pieces of former rival Art Van Furniture, including taking over its headquarters, landmark store, and a state-of-the-art distribution

By Norm Sinclair

42 Billionaire Playbook 53 Powered by Women

PERSPECTIVES: The manufacturing laboratory at LIFT in Detroit’s Corktown district helps companies advance proprietary technology, qualify as defense contractors, and have access to trained professionals and students. By Dan Calabrese

Detroit’s comeback, long in the making, is gathering steam. Here’s how six billionaires are partnering with local businesses to restore the city’s 1920s luster — from the riverfront to downtown, Corktown, Midtown, and into the neighborhoods. By Ronald Ahrens and R.J. King

Please join us in celebrating — and learning from — the 2023 class of Powered by Women, as selected from reader nominations. By Tim Keenan, Tom Murray, Calli Newberry, and Gary Witzenburg

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New air walls and LED lighting

Private meeting planner office

All-new digital signage

MEETINGS MODERNIZED

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Owned and Operated by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians

We’ve Left Our Mark on Detroit.

Throughout our nearly 170-year history, our attorneys have advised the business titans, visionary entrepreneurs, and community leaders who built Detroit. We not only witnessed the city become a crossroads of global commerce and American culture, we helped make it happen.

Like Detroit, our firm is dynamic. While others stood still, our people and practices remained ahead of legal, economic, and societal change. While we fully embrace the digital world, we remain dedicated to a set of core values to remain Consistently Butzel. Trust. Always.

CONTENTS

Exec Life Et Cetera

64 MULLIGAN RHAPSODY

Famed architect Tom Doak is bringing back one of northern Michigan’s most celebrated golf courses. By Norm Sinclair

66 RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Fore Part: Renee Parsons credits the strong work ethic she learned growing up in Mount Pleasant with helping to build one of golf’s top equipment and apparel companies. By Tom Murray

68 PRODUCTION RUN

Spirit Proof: How a distiller and a brewer, both located in northern Michigan, moved out of their respective lanes to collaborate on what may be the first vodka infused with natural fruit. By R.J. King

70 PATENTS AND INVENTIONS

Seminal Leader: In the 1870s, as America’s first female CEO, Anna Bissell built up a home products company with her husband and, upon his death, led the way in diversifying the product line and providing employee benefits.

By Norm Sinclair

73 OPINION

Can You Hack It?: Trends, tests, and tactics for companies looking to stay protected in an evolving cybersecurity landscape.

By Kathy Weaver and Chetan Bhatia

74 THE CIRCUIT

Our party pics from exclusive events.

90 FROM THE TOP Largest Accounting Firms in Metro Detroit, Top Regional Airports, Largest Credit Unions in Metro Detroit, Largest Banks and Thrifts in Metro Detroit.

98 CLOSING BELL

Room for a Lady: A documentary film reveals how the integrated approach to arts and crafts at Cranbrook led to the development of a superior weaving loom that’s still made today.

By Ronald Ahrens

ON THE COVER

Illustration by Justin Stenson

River

River Fête

For most of Detroit’s 322 years, the riverfront has been dominated by commercial and industrial uses, from the first ribbon farms established by the French founders to shipbuilding, docks and wharves, stove production, railroad lines, and the three cement silos.

Over the past two decades, though, much of the river’s edge from the MacArthur Bridge to the Ambassador Bridge — a five-mile stretch — has been converted to public and pedestrian uses, complemented by residential, office, retail, and restaurant developments located a few steps from what’s commonly known as the Riverwalk.

But the transformation hasn’t been easy. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, a nonprofit organization founded in 2003 by business, civic, and community leaders, working with the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. and most city departments, has reconstructed what was a jumble of mixed uses into an urban oasis.

As the conservancy, city, and community, propelled by private and public investment, work to complete the riverfront over the next three years, it’s clear the transformed river’s edge is acting like a magnet for private development. The evolution will continue and serve to draw new residents and commercial tenants at a time when the city, and the state, have struggled to boost falling population levels.

Take the former Joe Louis Arena site and the surrounding surface lots — which, over the next few years, will be home to a handful of midrise residential towers, a hotel, and retail and restaurant tenants. The project by the Sterling Group in Detroit is notable for its lack of public subsidies, a clear sign the city no longer has to shell out funds

for every new development.

To the west of the Joe Louis site, just past the Riverfront Apartments, is the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park. Spanning 22 acres from the river to Jefferson Avenue, and 8th Street to Rosa Parks Boulevard, the park is scheduled to open in fall 2024.

It will offer the William Davidson Sport House, Delta Dental Play Garden, DTE Hill (an outdoor landscaped area for watching movies or live entertainment), and the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden. In May, the park reached a civic milestone when the Southwest Greenway opened; the pedestrian path connects the future river attraction to Corktown, Mexicantown, and the upcoming Michigan Central mobility innovation campus.

The passage is complemented on the east side by the Dequindre Cut and the Dennis W. Archer Greenway, both serving to provide easy access to the riverfront for residents of nearby neighborhoods and visitors. What’s more, the former Uniroyal site west of the MacArthur Bridge is being prepped for mixed-use development spanning some 36 acres once the Riverwalk is completed in the area this fall.

Smack in the middle of the five-mile Riverwalk is Hart Plaza, along with the former site of Ford Auditorium just west of the Renaissance Center. In recent years, the city has invested $4 million to improve the hard surfaces of the urban square, along with making mechanical upgrades.

In the next two years, more than $9 million in upgrades are planned. The improvements will likely include new public uses for the Ford Auditorium site, which today functions as a surface parking lot. The Dodge Fountain will be completely restored by spring 2024.

Peering ahead, Detroit will arguably offer the most public-friendly stretch of riverfront anywhere in the world. Add its proximity to an international border, and nothing else will compare. R.J.

ACG M&A AWARDS

I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for the amazing spread on the ACG M&A All-Star Awards. This year’s section is at a whole new level. Everyone was talking about it last night at the event. Well done, and thank you.

Mark Winter Birmingham

SOAP BOX DERBY

Ronald Ahrens did a really good job on the Soap Box Derby article in the May/June issue of DBusiness. Thanks for your interest in the Derby. I wish a major sponsor would pick it up again. I think it would bring a lot of good. Thank you so much.

Joe Flynn Macomb Township

CHIPS ALL IN

What an honor to be featured and written about so thoroughly and eloquently, and photographed so well. We at Downey’s Potato Chips truly cannot thank you enough for choosing to spotlight our company and doing it so wonderfully. You recounted our story with great detail and explained our process so well, which I appreciate deeply. My entire team and I are excited about our first-ever magazine feature.

Kali Bagley Waterford Township

CONTRIBUTORS

VOLUME 18 • ISSUE 4

MAGGIE MCGRATH

Maggie McGrath is a summer intern at DBusiness In the fall, she’ll be a sophomore at Central Michigan University, where she’s majoring in English language and literature (specializing in creative writing), and pursuing a double minor in history and music. McGrath is actively involved on campus, and serves as vice president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod University. As a member of the Central Michigan Marching Band, she plays alto saxophone. McGrath says she’s enjoying the opportunity to gain writing experience and expand her network and portfolio through DBusiness In her free time, she writes fantasy and historical fiction novels, reads, and spends time with family and friends.

CONTRIBUTION: Intern

JENNY RISHER

Jenny Risher is a Birmingham-based freelance advertising and editorial photographer with nearly 20 years of experience. She specializes in automotive, pets, lifestyle, fashion, and portrait work. A graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Risher also attended the Parsons School of Design/The New School in New York. She has published a book of her work, “Heart Soul Detroit,” which features portraits and profiles of 50 prominent Detroiters, including Iggy Pop, Smokey Robinson, Jack White, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Lily Tomlin, and others. In this issue, Risher photographed the eight ladies showcased in “Powered by Women.”

CONTRIBUTION: Photographer, Powered by Women | SEE IT HERE: Page 53

RYLIE ROSENFELD

Rylie Rosenfeld is a summer intern at DBusiness In the fall, she’ll be a sophomore majoring in entrepreneurship and innovation, with a minor in journalism, at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Rosenfeld is involved in many consulting organizations at GW and serves as the co-vice president of events for the GW School of Business. For her summer internship, she’s assisting on photo shoots, writing for DBusiness Daily News, and working on assignments for the magazine. In her free time, Rosenfeld enjoys cooking, traveling, and working out.

CONTRIBUTION: Intern

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Nic

PUBLISHER Jason Hosko

EDITORIAL

EDITOR R.J. King

MANAGING EDITOR Tim Keenan

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jim Stickford

COPY EDITOR Anne Berry Daugherty

EDITORIAL INTERNS Maggie McGrath, Rylie Rosenfeld

DESIGN

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lindsay Richards

ART DIRECTOR Justin Stenson

SENIOR PRODUCTION ARTIST Stephanie Daniel

JUNIOR ART DIRECTOR Steven Prokuda

ADVERTISING SALES

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cynthia Barnhart, Regan Blissett, Karli Brown, Maya Gossett, Donna Kassab, Lisa LaBelle, Mary Pantely and Associates, Jessica VanDerMaas

PRODUCTION

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Jenine Knox

SENIOR PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Jill Berry

PRODUCTION ARTIST Jonathan Boedecker

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Amanda Kozlowski

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Jim Bibart, Kathryn Dave

WEB

DIGITAL DIRECTOR Nick Britsky

DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Matt Cappo

SR. DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST Luanne Lim

DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIALISTS Jim Bowser, Marissa Jacklyn, Kevin Pell

VIDEO PRODUCER Nicole Toporowski

VIDEOGRAPHER Heather Moody

DIGITAL STRATEGY MANAGER Travis Cleveland

DIGITAL MEDIA ASSISTANT Robyn Banks

IT

IT DIRECTOR Jeremy Leland

CIRCULATION

DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Geralyn Wilson

CIRCULATION MANAGER Riley Meyers

CIRCULATION COORDINATORS David Benvenuto, Susan Combs, Jenna Degowski, Cathy Krajenke, Rachel Moulden, Michele Wold

MARKETING AND EVENTS

MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER Jodie Svagr

COMMUNICATIONS AND EVENTS LEAD Cathleen Francois

MARKETING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Jaime Presnail

MARKET RESEARCH

MARKETING RESEARCH DIRECTOR Sofia Shevin

MARKETING RESEARCH COORDINATOR Kristin Mingo

MARKETING SALES COORDINATOR Alex Thompson

MARKETING RESEARCH ASSISTANT Alyssa Fueri

MARKETING RESEARCH SALES ASSISTANT Cassandra Morris

JUNIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alexa Dyer

BUSINESS

CEO Stefan Wanczyk

PRESIDENT John Balardo

DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS Kathie Gorecki

PUBLISHING AND SALES COORDINATOR Mikala Bart

ASSISTANT OFFICE MANAGER Natasha Bajju

SENIOR ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATE Andrew Kotzian

ACCOUNTING ASSOCIATES Sammi Dick, Austin Schmelzle

DISTRIBUTION Target Distribution, Troy

Postmaster:

Ronald Ahrens, Chetan Bhatia, Dan Calabrese, Tom Murray, Calli Newberry, Norm Sinclair, Kathy Weaver, Gary Witzenburg

Antaya, Connor Cieslak, Emily Crombez, Kevin Fales, Patrick Gloria, Nick Hagen, Christine MJ Hathaway, Noah Jurik, Nate Lahy, Trever Long, Beth Price, Jenny Risher, Josh Scott, Becky Simonov, James Yang

ENTREPRENEURS AND THEIR SMALL ENTERPRISES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALMOST ALL THE ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES.”

RONALD REAGAN

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 41

Emerging Sectors

To better diversify Michigan’s economy, which in recent years has been heavily reliant on offering sizeable subsidies to attract automotive assembly plants and factories that produce batteries for electric vehicles, state leaders and economic development officials literally need to stretch their wings.

The state has long been a leader in advanced manufacturing, but so much of the production is focused on automobiles and EV batteries — the latter of which offers jobs that pay between $20 and $25 per hour. Most recently, state leaders put forward a plan to attract companies that make semiconductors and advanced computer chips, which is a good start, but there are plenty more opportunities to expand the state’s economy.

Look no further than the Emerging Sectors initiative developed by the late Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and his economic development team. The highly successful plan called for identifying the 10 fastest-growing industries in the world, as well as the top 10 companies within each sector. The categories included alternative energy and water technologies; advanced electronics; advanced materials; communications and IT; defense and homeland security; film and digital media; finance, insurance, and real estate; Medical Main Street (health care); robotics; and aerospace.

Launched in 2004, the business attraction program generated more than $5 billion in total investment by mid-2019, creating 51,662 jobs and retaining 37,337 more jobs, according to county data. When Patterson passed away in August 2019, the Emerging Sectors program fell by the wayside.

Now imagine if the state dusted off the initiative, adjusted it to account for recent growth industries like cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, and put together a team of business recruiters who would scour the world to attract new investment? It would be a vast improvement over the piecemeal plans the state rolls out every few months, many of which seemingly die on the vine for lack of support and initiative.

For example, take the aerospace sector. According to the 2022 Aerospace Competitive Economics Study from the International Association of Machinists and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, Michigan ranked 16th among all states in 2019 for the production of major aerospace structures, parts, and final assembly. Last year, the state’s ranking plummeted to No. 32 on the list.

The drop is astounding when Michigan reports it is home to more than 600 aerospace-related companies, has the highest concentration of electrical and mechanical engineers, employs more industrial designers than any other state, and has “manufacturing-friendly tax laws.” The latter statement, though, is no longer true now that the Democratic-controlled Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer undid successful Right to Work rules and gave much more power to unions.

Sources: U.S. News & World Report, Business Leaders for Michigan, Forbes

If Michigan is truly going to be competitive for jobs and investment in the global economy, it needs to embrace business attraction programs like Emerging Sectors, which have proven to be a winning formula, rather than focusing on making laws that help the Democratic Party stay in power by more easily drawing campaign donations from public unions.

AS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY GOES, too much supply leads to lower prices. That’s the challenge Michigan’s cannabis industry is currently facing. The state has allowed home-grown companies to compete against outside players as long as cannabis and its related products are produced within the state’s boundaries.

When the retail market opened here in late 2019, limited supply led to higher prices. But as more competition entered the state, prices fell sharply. Consider, the wholesale cost of one ounce of cannabis dropped 53.6 percent in January 2023 from January 2022. As a result, the $2 billion industry is struggling.

“There are a lot of different things happening in Michigan, and while demand for cannabis remains fairly robust, there’s simply too much supply,” says Rob Nederhood, a partner with Foley & Lardner, a national law firm with a large practice in downtown Detroit. “One thing that would help the industry is if more municipalities approved cannabis retail operations, which would help grow the overall consumer base.”

As state regulators consider modifying rules to better assist the cannabis industry, Nederhood says the approval of national standards would help the sector grow. “If the federal government approved cannabis sales, it would open more opportunities for companies within the space to access banks and other financial services,” he says. “Otherwise, I think Michigan will continue to see pricing challenges due to supply saturation.”

LOW TIMES KNOWLEDGE RETENTION

A NEW REPORT FROM CREATIVE CLASS GROUP shows Michigan is losing highly educated college graduates at a time when the knowledge economy is growing rapidly. At the same time, Michigan’s K-12 public schools rank among the worst in the nation.

In response to the report, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, now in her fifth year in office, on June 1 announced the formation of a commission to study how to reverse the exodus of college graduates and the state’s population losses. Whitmer wasn’t clear about how long the commission would take to complete its findings, and didn’t say whether she would follow its recommendations.

Over the past 30 years, Michigan has been home to around 10 million people, while states like Florida, Texas, and Tennessee have witnessed double-digit increases in population. Failing schools, tighter business regulations, the recent loss of Michigan’s Right to Work status, and high taxes relative to other states hinder the state’s ability to attract and retain businesses and skilled workers.

To grow its population, Michigan must lower taxes, improve educational outcomes, eliminate job-killing initiatives and reinstall Right to Work, and create more tech hubs and talent magnets to attract and keep jobs.

Ranking of Michigan among all states for overall livability by U.S. News & World Report (2023)

Ranking of Michigan in Forbes’ annual Best States for Business list (2023)

Ranking of Michigan among all states for economic success (2022)

COMPENDIUM: HOW OUTSIDERS VIEW DETROIT

TRUE TO TRADITION DETROIT-STYLE PIZZA AT ABE CAPANNA’S IN BEND, REDMOND

THE BEND BULLETIN

MAY 17, 2023

BY JANAY WRIGHT

Detroit-style pizza was born in the 1940s when a bar owner baked a Sicilian pizza in a blue steel pan intended for spare automotive parts. Nearly 80 years later, the style has become a national mainstay and is a tradition carried on exceedingly well by Abe Capanna’s Detroit Pan Pizza food truck in Bend (Ore.). The food cart “over-proofs” its dough before placing it in a blue steel pan and baking it in an old-school oven. The pies take a little longer to prepare but are worth the result. After placing an order last week, I gave my cell number and received a notification text 20 minutes later.

True to Detroit-style pizza, the rectangular-shaped pie was thick, its dough light and airy, the high-sided edges crisp and caramelized and toppings piled on in reverse order.

Earlier this year, a second location of Abe Capanna’s opened at the Backline Lounge in Redmond’s High Desert Music Hall. Both concepts are operated by 8 Hands Hospitality, a family-owned

brand which includes the other two stationary food trucks parked at Crosscut Warming Hut No. 5 — Gyro Power and Bluma’s Chicken & Waffles.

Founder Cliff Abrahams named 8 Hands Hospitality after the four members of his family, which includes himself, his wife and two kids.

Launching the brand meant taking the family’s fate into their own eight hands and kickstarting a legacy his kids could one day inherit, should they be so inclined, according to the company website.

FORD, TESLA CEOS EXCHANGE JABS AND PRAISE AMID HEATED EV RIVALRY

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

MAY 7, 2023

BY NORA ECKERT AND REBECCA ELLIOTT

Jim Farley spoke at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival about competition and technology within the EV market. Farley, head of Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn, has been taking public shots at Tesla. Elon Musk is nonplussed.

“There’s no doubt about it. The demand for Tesla is changing, and in some sense is deteriorating,” the Ford CEO said at a (recent) Wall Street Journal event when asked about Mr. Musk, who leads Tesla.

pickup truck market, where Ford’s F-150 is the top seller.

The back-and-forths point to an underlying tension between legacy automakers — many of which belittled Mr. Musk’s efforts for years — and Tesla, which holds a lead in EVs the traditional car companies have been trying to close.

WHY DETROIT WAS CHOSEN TO OPPOSE KANSAS CITY IN NFL KICKOFF GAME WEEK 1

THE SPORTING NEWS • MAY 11, 2023 • BY JACOB CAMENKER

out of the playoffs when Detroit was, effectively, playing for nothing.

That followed comments from two weeks earlier, when Mr. Farley said that Tesla’s vehicle lineup has become stale and that the company risks commoditizing its cars by cutting prices.

Mr. Musk complimented Ford hours after Mr. Farley’s remarks last week.

“I think Ford’s overall strategy with EVs is smart,” he tweeted in reply to someone who pointed derisively at Ford’s losses on electric vehicles.

For chief executive officers of rival, high-profile companies, such direct and public banter is unusual. For Messrs. Farley and Musk, it is a colorful continuation of years of public exchanges that have veered between playful barbs and mutual admiration.

The remarks come as Mr. Farley tries to position Ford as a competitor to Tesla. While Tesla is still the dominant electric-vehicle player — it outsold Ford’s EVs more than 8 to 1 in the U.S. last year — the companies increasingly compete head-to-head.

The Ford Mustang Mach-E — a Tesla Model Y rival — became the No. 3 U.S. EV last year, chipping away at Tesla’s market share, and the companies are now engaged in what analysts have called a price war. Meanwhile, Tesla has said it is close to releasing its Cybertruck to compete in the lucrative

The NFL season opener for 2023 is officially set, and it’s not a matchup that many would have predicted to kickstart the NFL campaign.

Naturally, the league’s reigning Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs, are participating in the contest. The Super Bowl winner has hosted the NFL’s Thursday night opener in nine of the last 10 seasons.

But what is the NFL’s opponent of choice for Kansas City? That would be Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions, as NBC announced ahead of the NFL’s full schedule release.

That choice of matchup may raise some eyebrows. After all, the Chiefs had the Bengals, Bills, and Eagles also available on the schedule, so those matchups would seemingly be a safer bet to open the 2023 campaign with a bang.

So, why did the NFL choose the Lions to play the Chiefs in the season opener? And how does this matchup compare to the last 10 NFL season openers? Here’s what to know about the first game of the 2023 NFL season.

While the decision to put the Lions in the NFL’s kickoff game may seem strange on paper, it actually makes some sense for a few reasons.

For starters, Detroit projects to be a good team in 2023 after its strong close to the 2022 season. The Lions didn’t quite make the playoffs last season, but they closed the year on an 8-2 run to finish with a 9-8 record overall. They capped the season with an exciting “Sunday Night Football” win over the Packers to keep Aaron Rodgers

That game against the Packers may actually be playing a role in this selection as well. NBC was the broadcaster of that game, and the Lions put on a charismatic performance in that upset victory. The network may be hoping that Detroit can repeat that magic in another prime-time opportunity.

But at the very least, NBC might believe that the Lions’ high-powered offense — which averaged the fifth-most points per game in the NFL with 26.6 can keep the game closer than most teams can with the Chiefs. Given the two strong offenses, the matchup could turn into a shootout, which would likely be good for ratings.

Beyond that, the Lions have made upgrades to their roster and will debut potential workhorse running back Jahmyr Gibbs, a first-round rookie, in this contest. That will help attract viewers from the fantasy football community.

Meanwhile, other casual fans might be familiar with the Lions from HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Dan Campbell and the Lions endeared themselves to the viewing public as a part of that documentary, so the league may be happy to have the team’s personality on display as part of its season opener.

NFL vice president of broadcast Onnie Bose cited that “energy” as a reason for the matchup. Speaking on the “Dan Patrick Show,” Bose broke down the league’s reasoning:

“We really like the culture that they’re building there. The way they finished their season, eight wins out of their last nine or 10 games. …”

DETROIT IS WORKING AGAIN

THE ECONOMIST • APRIL 20, 2023 • BY THE LEXINGTON

The seal of Detroit, created after it burned to the ground in 1805, anticipated the way despair and determination would vie ever after for the city’s future. One woman weeps beside burning buildings while another next to her, smiling, is flanked by a grand, flame-free Detroit. “We hope for better things,” sighs one motto, in Latin. “It will arise from the ashes,” insists the other.

The arising-from-the-ashes moment has been heralded at intervals for a long time. “There is little doubt that Detroit has turned the corner on some of its most obvious problems,” reported The Washington Post back in 1980. “Middle-class whites are moving back into the city, and a visitor senses a new vitality downtown.” Yet in the decades ahead lay the exodus of hundreds of thousands more residents, more declarations of renaissance and, in 2013, America’s biggest municipal bankruptcy.

That history is chastening. Let it be said that Detroit has not turned the corner on all its obvious problems, including a high crime rate and beleaguered schools. But determination has clearly gained the upper hand. Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis (whose biggest shareholder, Exor, also part-owns The Economist’s parent company) are making big bets on Detroit, as are Amazon, Google, and the developer Stephen Ross. Under Mayor Mike Duggan, in his 10th year, the government has courted investment by offering itself not just as provider of tax incentives and expediter of permits but as real-estate agent and HR department.

Stellantis built the first new auto-assembly plant in Detroit in more than 30 years — a $1.6-billion investment, constructed as the pandemic raged — after the city traded 200 acres for a promise to give residents first crack at the jobs. Then the city screened candidates, testing them in math and reasoning, as well as for drugs, offering tutoring to those who needed it. Of 30,000 Detroiters referred by the city, Stellantis has hired some 8,600, at the plant and elsewhere. “It didn’t do me any good to land a plant in Detroit and hire a bunch of suburbanites,” says Mr. Duggan, a practical,

old-school liberal in the mold of Joe Biden, to whom he is close. “My job was to get Detroiters to work.”

By the beginning of the year, Detroit’s unemployment rate had dropped below 7 percent for the first time since 2000. Mr. Duggan boasts that “at this point, anybody in this city who wants to work has a job available.” With tax receipts running well ahead of forecasts, the city is applying its federal covid-relief money — more than $800 million — to improving its public spaces and its workforce. It is offering full-time jobs, with benefits, at tasks like cutting grass, but letting workers spend two out of five paid days in apprentice programs for higher-skilled work.

No American city is more haunted than Detroit by America’s successes and failures — by American capitalism’s power to create and destroy, and by American democracy’s capacity to promise opportunity to all yet deny it by race.

THE ABANDONED DETROIT BUILDING IS NOW THE EPICENTER OF FORD’S NEW MOBILITY PLAN

FAST COMPANY MAY 2, 2023 BY NATE BERG

Inside the refreshed shell of an 87-year-old building in Detroit that’s been wracked by fire, tragedy, and more than 30 years of abandonment, a new multi-armed venture is trying to shape the future of mobility.

The building is the new home of Newlab, a technology collaborative and business hub originally started in Brooklyn (N.Y.). In a move deeply tied to this particular building, Newlab has expanded to Detroit in

order to focus on the ways transportation and society intersect.

Once known as the Book Depository building, the building now houses companies building autonomous wheels, electric bicycles, electric recreational vehicles, and streets built for autonomous vehicles.

Ford is rehabbing that building as well as the Michigan Central train station, and plans to move more than a thousand employees in by early 2024. Newlab’s location in the Book Depository building, which sits right across the street, is kind of like the scrappier cousin of the establishment automaker next door, with startups developing new ways for people and goods to move around.

Through district-level plans and agreements with the city allowing more diverse ways for companies to experiment with their technologies, Michigan Central is relying on Newlab to pump out new ideas and technologies for mobility to better align with the needs of 21st-century society.

Given Detroit’s deep history with the automotive industry, it’s a geographic expansion that makes intuitive sense. And given the tens of millions of dollars being spent by Ford to explore the electrification and automation of cars, it’s a real estate investment that comes with co-located benefits. Walking through the renovated building’s bright and modern ground floor, Newlab founder David Belt says the big driver behind this new Newlab is the building itself. “The whole idea is that you understand that you’re not just in a typical office building,” he says.

MOVE OVER L.A., DETROIT IS GUNNING TO BE THE NEXT GARMENT DISTRICT

VOGUE • MAY 11, 2023 • BY CHRISTINE CHITNIS

It’s hard not to feel smug as I watch my East Coast neighbors pack up each summer and leave for Newport, Cape Cod, Amagansett, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard, where they’ll battle traffic and crowds to score a scant slice of sand and an overpriced lobster roll. Perhaps they’re not aware of the alternative, a “third coast” where shimmering freshwater lakes, welcoming small towns, rolling cherry orchards, and expansive golden sand beaches await.

With more miles of shoreline than any of the lower 48 states, Michigan often flies under the radar when it comes to popular summertime destinations; though Midwesterners, including my family, have long been in the know. During my early childhood, we bounced between rental cottages before settling on the shores of Torch Lake — a deep, clear, turquoise-hued body of water often voted one of the most beautiful lakes in the world — where we still spend summers to this day.

It’s easy to feel reluctant when sharing the secrets of northern Michigan with the wider world, though between a host of high-profile restaurant openings, new hospitality concepts, and a wine scene that’s attracting national recognition there’s never been a better time to visit.

The region’s rich agrarian history has shaped its innovative culinary scene. In Traverse City, the largest town in northern Michigan, farm-to-table meets fine dining at various venerable establishments such as The Cooks’ House, Farm Club, Boathouse, and the newly opened Modern Bird.

Situated along the 45th parallel — a distinction shared with notable winemaking localities, including France’s Burgundy and Italy’s Piedmont — the region’s freshwater shoreline and glacial soils give way to wines with unique terroir. Sparklings — ranging from MAWBY’s Grace Brut Rosé and Mari Vineyard’s Simplicissimus to Bonobo’s Blanc de Blanc and Left Foot Charley’s Gitali — are having a real moment.

Tequila Sunrise

Anteel Tequila in Canton Township is seeking to establish a national presence one sip at a time.

BY JIM STICKFORD | CONNOR CIESLAK

When one thinks of metro Detroit, tequila isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. Nayana and Don Ferguson, of Canton Township, are aiming to change that with their Anteel brand of tequilas.

The husband-and-wife team came to the business by a circuitous route. In 2016 they were vacationing in the Dominican Republic, where tequila is a popular drink. They recall dining outside, enjoying tequila, and noticing lots of Antillean hummingbirds.

“They were all over the place. They had such pretty colors,” Don says. “Now, fast-forward to 2017. I was working as a vice president of operations for a downtown Detroit mortgage company, and Nayana was working as a financial analyst in the auto industry. Her job got outsourced, and I made the decision to try and figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.”

It was then that Nayana asked Don the critical question: If you could do anything you wanted, what would it be? The answer was unexpected. He said the couple should own their own tequila company. But realistically, Don thought there was no way it could happen.

His wife was quick to challenge that notion. As a 17-year survivor of pancreatic cancer and an 11-year

DBUSINESS DIRECT

GM Commits $1B to Build New Heavy-duty Trucks in Flint General Motors Co. in Detroit will invest more than $1 billion in its Flint Assembly and Flint Metal Center, both in Flint. The move is being made to prepare the plants for production of new heavy-duty trucks.

SILVER AND GOLD

Since 2019, Anteel Tequila in Canton Township, owned by Nayana and Don Ferguson, has won more than 45 national and international awards and accolades.

O2 Investment Partners Acquire

Arizona’s Cobalt Aero Services

O2 Investment Partners, a private equity firm in Bloomfield Hills, has invested an undisclosed amount in, and partnered with, Cobalt Aero Services in Arizona. Cobalt is a licensed FAA and EASA repair station for aircraft.

survivor of breast cancer, she knows the importance of faith and positive thinking. She investigated the tequila business and found distiller Casa Maestri in Mexico within a couple of days (by legal definition, tequila can only be made in Mexico).

The couple invested their life savings and were able to work with the distiller to develop their own recipes for their brands of tequila. They got their product on the market within 11 months — fast for a startup, Don says. It helped that tequila doesn’t have an aging requirement, like scotch or bourbon.

They developed a blanco, or white tequila; a reposado tequila, which is aged briefly in barrels that were originally used for rosé wine; and an anejo tequila, which is aged for more than a year.

And with that, Anteel was born — and named after the colorful Antillean hummingbirds in the Dominican Republic. Over the past five years, the company has grown slowly but steadily, and it can now be found in 15 states. This year the couple expects to sell at least 7,500 cases; each case contains six bottles.

The cost of a bottle of blanco is $31, a bottle of blood orange blanco is $36.99, coconut lime blanco costs $36, and a bottle of reposado is $44.99.

Don credits the couple’s business sense and experience, as well as their patience, for bringing about success. He explains too many tequilas try to grow too quickly, and says the impact of the bottle’s shape can’t be underestimated. He and Nayana asked their customers — restaurants and liquor stores — what they preferred. The answer was simple: a bottle that’s easy for bartenders to handle and can be stored tightly on shelves.

The tequila is sold in liquor and grocery stores. In metro Detroit, it can be found at multiple outlets, from the Kroger on Gratiot Avenue in Roseville to Oxford Beverage in Grosse Pointe Woods. People also can order the product online. To order online or to find out where Anteel is sold, visit teeqspirits.com

Stellantis Taps Vince Galante

As VP of Jeep Exterior Design Auburn Hills’ Stellantis has appointed Vince Galante as vice president of Jeep exterior design. He reports to Ralph Gilles, chief design officer at Stellantis. Galante will be responsible for all exterior design activities for the Jeep.

Rocket Community Fund Brings Back Detroit Neighbor Program

The Rocket Community Fund in Detroit is bringing back its Neighbor to Neighbor community outreach and engagement program. The effort connects residents facing property tax delinquency with helpful resources.

Ford, Uber Roll Out New Lease Option for EV Rideshare Drivers Ford Motor Co.’s Ford Next division is working with Uber to deliver a new lease option for rideshare drivers going electric. Called Ford Drive, the pilot program offers flexible access to Ford Mustang Mach-E models.

CRAFT BEER CABAL

GW KENT IN YPSILANTI

Township, a wholesaler of beer-brewing and winemaking equipment, is part of a new group of six companies called Lotus Beverage Alliance that was put together via a merger in April by Ronin Equity Partners.

The alliance is a platform for an organic and inorganic global expansion that focuses on craft beer and high-growth, ready-to-drink markets, pushing further into craft wine, coffee, kombucha, hard seltzer, and cocktails.

GW Kent’s contribution to Lotus Beverage Alliance is fermenting tanks, kegs, oak barrels, mixers, pumps, hoses, and many other items. Combined, Lotus offers more than 1,500 products and services, including canning systems, automation and control systems, turnkey brewhouse construction, packaging, thermal processes, tanks, and sanitation equipment.

With a recurring spare parts business across all product lines, Lotus is the only company in North America to cover every step of craft brewery and beverage production, from raw ingredients to canning and packaging.

In another first, Lotus recently introduced a financing program that offers customers affordable options for the company’s product lines. What’s more, credit approvals typically take less than 24 hours.

By Tim Keenan

Family Foundation

BY R.J. KING

For 101 years, The Monahan Co., a family-owned general contractor in Eastpointe, has built thousands of homes, offices, schools, and commercial venues throughout metro Detroit.

The business also provides construction management and has expertise in historic restoration. At a high point, 10 different family members worked side by side at The Monahan Co.

The band of brothers, sisters, and cousins is best known for constructing manor homes along a lush and private stretch of Provencal Road that borders the Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms, erecting notable buildings on the campus of the University of Detroit Mercy, and handling restoration projects including the Lofts at Rivertown, Crystal Lofts, and the Garden Theatre.

Throughout those 100-plus years, the one constant has been that at least one family member ran the day-to-day operations — sales, finance, accounting, and more — starting with Edward V. Monahan in 1922.

But that all changed last year. Due to retirement, only two members of the Monahan family remained at the company. Kevin Monahan serves as a senior project director, while David Monahan is a project manager — and neither one had a desire to operate the administrative side of the business.

“When it came to be David and myself, we recognized we needed to bring in a business person,” says Kevin, who joined the company in 1989. “We thought about scaling things back and becoming a boutique builder, (putting) the company up for sale, or perhaps (bringing) in a strategic partner who would carry on with our traditions.

“If we took the latter route, we knew it could be tricky. We’d have to make sure any new person we brought in would stay with us for years. We didn’t feel it was an easy, or likely, prospect until we met Kevin Pruzinsky.”

With 17 years of construction industry experience, Pruzinsky was familiar with The Monahan Co.’s reputation for building excellence. “They had a strong name in the community, they had strong relationships with the trades and suppliers, and you could feel the passion they had for the business,” Pruzinsky says.

“When I was approached to invest in the business and become president and CEO, it was at a time when I was looking to do something on my own. But if I went on my own, it’s hard to build something from scratch. Whenever possible, it’s always easier to keep a client than find a client.”

After investing an undisclosed stake in the business, Pruzinsky hit the ground running. One thing he didn’t change was the company’s mantra of custom work — “no cookie-cutter projects,” as Kevin Monahan emphasizes.

Rather, the new leader instituted more efficient internal processes; enhanced the company’s culture; developed a new logo, website, and marketing materials; and “brought a little more structure” to the operation.

TEAM MAKEOVER

Kevin Monahan, Kevin Pruzinsky, and David Monahan of The Monahan Co. in Eastpointe have a knack for restoring historic structures for new uses.

“We’re getting a lot of new business coming in, and now we’re looking to add more employees,” Pruzinsky says. “We’re getting better every day.”

Shinola Retail Operations Getting Tech Upgrade from Boston Firm Shinola in Detroit and Filson in Seattle, both owned by Bedrock Manufacturing, have selected NewStore in Boston to modernize their in-store experiences. Both will implement mobile point-of-sale and other NewStore solutions.

Ford Hires Liz Door from Whirlpool

As Chief Supply Chain Officer Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn has hired Liz Door, leader of global strategic sourcing for Benton Harbor-based appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp., as chief of its global supply chain. Door replaces Jonathan Jennings, who is retiring.

GM Includes Five Active Safety Features on All Electric Vehicles

General Motors Co. in Detroit will include automatic emergency braking, as well as four additional active safety features, as standard equipment on 98 percent of its 2023 model year vehicles, including new EVs.

Grant Will Help U-M Use

Cellular Tech to Boost Safety

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has received a $9.8 million federal grant to assist its efforts to deploy cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology, allowing a new generation of cars to exchange safety-enhancing data.

Entrepreneurship Score Card

Shows Activity on Upswing

The 19th Annual Entrepreneurship Score Card, released by the Small Business Association of Michigan Foundation, shows Michigan’s entrepreneurial economy is on an upward swing of steady growth, even outpacing the U.S. average.

For full stories and more, visit dbusiness.com/daily-news to get daily news sent directly to your email.

Bringing in a strategic partner isn’t easy, especially when standing pat is not an option.

Powered by Youth

A local middle school robotics team has been awarded a patent that makes e-scooters safer.

BY TIM KEENAN | BECKY SIMONOV

Young people tend to be the most frequent users of e-scooters, bicycles, and other forms of light transportation for rent in cities and on college campuses nationwide. So it’s fitting that students from East Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Township may be the ones who make using those vehicles safer.

The students, part of the school’s GEKOT Robotics Team, recently invented a package of sensors that are designed to mitigate accidents and injuries, vehicle abuse, and battery theft, and encourage adherence to rider safety rules. The sensors, which can be built into or added onto these transportation rentals, earned the team a patent in April. The team first applied for the patent in November 2020.

“Each year the robotics project has a theme, and the year we worked on this one the theme was City Shapers,” explains Mihir Shah, an eighth-grader at East Hills. “That’s where the whole e-scooter idea came from. We brainstormed ideas to make cities better, and e-scooters are used a lot in Detroit.”

The team’s volunteer coach, Dan Champoux, a lead systems engineer at DCS Corp. in Sterling Heights and CEO of GEKOT Robotics Inc., the company started in 2020 to develop and market the team’s idea, told the students that many cities are requiring fleet owners to demonstrate how they are addressing accident, vehicle abuse, and battery theft concerns before receiving an operating permit.

LAURA SOAVE

Chief Brand Officer

CrossCountry Mortgage, Cleveland

“Our coach told us about the problem,” recalls Avani Nandalur, currently a ninth-grader. “We did some research and found out a large number of deaths each year occur with e-scooters, and we thought that would be a good (problem) to change for the future.”

According to another current ninth-grader, Elias Cengeri, the team began by using a common children’s play set.

“At first we started with a Lego brick that connected all the sensors, then we had to find sensors that worked well with other sensors,” Cengeri recalls. “From there, we looked for the least expensive ones

PDA Q&A: THE E-INTERVIEW

DB: WHERE ARE YOU?

LS: I’m in Cleveland, at our brand-new headquarters in the Superior Arts District.

DB: WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

LS: I just finished meeting with our team, and we were reviewing the creative marketing for National Veterans and Military Families Month (in November). Our company, since it was founded in

2003, has had a big passion for veterans.

Overall, our CCM Cares initiative supports children, women, and veterans.

DB: HOW IS IT WORKING IN THE MORTGAGE INDUSTRY?

LS: I had spent 22 years in automotive and aftermarket (past positions at Ford and Chrysler, among others), and just celebrated my second anniversary here (in April).

I share the vision of our

founder, Ronald Leonhardt Jr., who started with one branch in Cleveland.

Today there are 600 branches across all 50 states, and more than 8,000 employees.

DB: WHAT’S BEEN DRIVING THE COMPANY’S GROWTH?

LS: We focus on the retail model. Our branches are truly entrepreneurial and independent, but they have a large support corporation behind them.

that did what we needed them to do.”

Once integrated into a light electric vehicle, GEKOT’s technology monitors for undesirable events and performs appropriate alerts as required. It alleviates these concerns through alarms/alerts, real-time notifications to fleet managers, and by limiting vehicle speed.

If the invention makes money, do the students stand to benefit? “The students’ names are on the patent,” Champoux says, “which means if the patent is ever monetized, the students would certainly benefit.”

It’s the best of both worlds. We offer hundreds of mortgage solutions, lots of marketing and support, and while we’re a large organization, we’ve never lost that personal touch with our customers because we let the branches be themselves.

DB: HOW’S THE COMMUTE?

LS: I live in metro Detroit, and I’m in Cleveland three out of every four weeks (on average). It’s an easy drive.

DB: IN A PERIOD OF RISING RATES, HOW IS THE COMPANY GROWING?

LS: We do a lot of recruiting and we’ve acquired a number of smaller mortgage companies. We have a great culture and really put our people first. When you focus on your customers first, bring in the best talent, and provide a great culture, you’re going to do well.

R.J. King

EARLY BLOOMERS

The GEKOT Robotics Team from East Hills Middle School in Bloomfield Township, with coaches Autumn Mahoney (back row left), Dan Champoux, and patent attorney Michael Doerr from Foley & Lardner (above), and working with Champoux on their patented e-scooter sensor invention.

EXPANDING HORIZONS

PENTASTAR AVIATION in Waterford Township broke ground in May for Hangar 1964, a new facility at Oakland County International Airport.

Spanning tens of thousands of square feet and just a short distance from Pentastar’s existing terminal, the new building will feature a private aircraft hangar as well as a passenger lounge, office complex, attached auxiliary areas, and conference rooms.

Detroit Uncorked

Mikiah Glynn, owner of Brix Wine in Detroit’s east riverfront district, seeks to encourage and enrich the vintner industry.

BY TIM KEENAN | NIC ANTAYA

Mikiah Glynn is determined to make her passion for wine a profitable enterprise and, while she’s doing that, she wants to shine a light on winemakers not normally in the spotlight.

The fruit of that passion is her new 1,500-squarefoot Brix Wine shop, located in the Orleans Landing Apartments complex at 1588 Franklin St., a few blocks south of Jefferson Avenue and one block west of the Dequindre Cut.

“I absolutely love wine,” Glynn says. “This is my absolute passion.”

“This” is an airy, light-filled shop with light-colored natural wood shelves and red couches under two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.

In addition to satisfying her passion for fermented grape juice, the east side Detroit native says she wants to use her store to educate people about wine and promote female vintners and winemakers of color.

Among the educational offerings at Brix Wine will be classes, tastings and food pairings, and small events. Front and center at those events, in addition to wines from around the world, will be vintages from African-American winemakers like Champagne by former Detroit Piston Isaiah Thomas and Oregon wine from Andrè Hueston Mack. Shoppers also will find Opulence, a wine brand owned by metro Detroiter Dr. LaToya Thompson.

“The industry isn’t really inclusive,” Glynn notes. “The goal for me here is to make it a bit more inclusive and remove some of the pretentiousness that comes with wine. There’s a huge misconception that the more you spend on wine, the better it’ll taste. That’s not true. It’s all about what you like.”

An oenophile since age 21, the 51-year-old entrepreneur says she’s hoping everyone will be able to find something they like and in their price range at Brix Wine. The offerings range in price from Prisma Rosé at $8 per can to $150 for a bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne.

Glynn also has her own private label brand, Haus of Harriet, which features a Cabernet and a sparkling wine made in California.

Brix Wine, which opened in May, isn’t Glynn’s first attempt at a wine-based establishment. In 2017, she and her then-husband opened Brix Wine and Charcuterie Boutique in an old Michigan National Bank Building on Detroit’s east side.

“It didn’t work out,” Glynn says. “It was literally raining inside the space.”

That establishment closed in 2018, but Glynn wasn’t deterred. “I started working to make this happen in August of 2018, when the first store closed.”

If the empty shelves at the conclusion of Brix Wine’s grand opening are any indication, her work is paying off.

WINE NOT

At Brix Wine in Detroit, owner Mikiah Glynn seeks to educate customers on the finer points of wine while also promoting female vintners and winemakers of color.

Construction will be fully underway during the third quarter of 2023 and is expected to be complete by late 2024. Sidock Group in Novi is the engineering, construction, and architectural partner on the project.

“The success of Pentastar Aviation builds on a lasting legacy of excellence and a commitment to delivering exceptional services, which originates from our company’s beginnings in 1964,” says Edsel B. Ford II, owner of Pentastar Aviation.

“Having been in the ownership seat for more than two decades, it’s a point of pride for me to experience Pentastar’s remarkable growth and dedication to exceeding expectations at every touchpoint as we help people travel throughout the country and around the world.”

By Tim Keenan

TOP LAWYERS WOMEN LEADERS

than 5% of all lawyers licensed in Michigan have received the distinction of being a LEADING LAWYER.

Ottoman Empire

Gardner White Furniture Co. in Warren has aggressively moved to pick up the best pieces of former rival Art Van Furniture, including taking over its headquarters, landmark store, and a state-of-the-art distribution center. It’s proving to be a winning formula.

BY NORM SINCLAIR | BECKY SIMONOV

In more than a century of selling home goods in metro Detroit, Gardner White Furniture Co. in Warren has racked up a number of firsts in the industry: the first retailer to provide free pickup of used bedding, the first in the Midwest with same-day delivery, and one of the first to offer customers real-time tracking of the trucks delivering their furniture.

These days, the family-owned company, founded in 1912, looks a lot like the second coming of Art Van Furniture, the iconic company that dominated the Michigan and Midwest market until it went out of business in March 2020.

In the past two years, Gardner White took over and rebranded six of the former Art Van stores — Canton Township, Rochester Hills, Saginaw, Shelby Township, Taylor, and Howell. The acquisition brought the company’s store count to 13, with more than 900 total employees.

Early last year, the company moved its headquarters from Auburn Hills into the massive former Art Van headquarters, store-clearance center, and warehouse complex along 14 Mile Road in Warren (between Mound Road and Van Dyke Avenue).

Over the last decade, Alan K. Sussman and the Sussman Agency in Southfield directed Art Van’s marketing and advertising strategy, pumping out nearly 8,000 attention-grabbing television commercials for the furniture and mattress company. Now, Sussman is doing the same for Gardner White. Carolyn Krieger, an Art Van alumnus, is the publicist for Rachel Stewart, president of Gardner White.

One of Art Van’s most significant marketing and public relations successes was its statewide sponsorship of America’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is televised across the country from downtown Detroit.

Gardner White has assumed the role of the parade’s presenting sponsor into the next decade.

Art Van’s sudden demise coincided with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and both incidents contributed to Gardner White’s ascension to dominance in the southeast Michigan market.

“When somebody leaves a big hole in the market, you fill it,” Sussman says. “At the end of the day, Gardner White stepped up to fill that hole, and they’re great retailers.”

The “they” Sussman is referring to are Stewart, Gardner White’s 37-year-old fourth-generation president, and her parents, Barbara and Steve Tronstein, who are still active in the management of the company.

“I think they recognized there was an enormous void created by the demise of Art Van, and they recognized, correctly, that it was a real opportunity for them to grow to meet the needs of Michigan consumers,” says Bill McLoughlin, editor-inchief of Furniture Today, the industry’s leading publication.

Unlike other businesses that pulled back or closed during the pandemic, under Stewart’s direction, Gardner White went all out to capture new customers as well as their former rival’s customers.

“We doubled down in the pandemic and took leaps of faith that worked out well,” Stewart says. “For example, in March of 2020, when the world was shutting down and you didn’t know what the future held, people in our industry were canceling their POs (purchase orders) left and right. We never did that and, as a result, we were pretty much the only player in stock in the industry for nearly a year.”

When other retailers cut their marketing and advertising budgets during the pandemic, Stewart saw homebound people parked in front of their television sets as an unprecedented opportunity to reach new customers. She increased spending on her marketing campaign to reach the new audience.

“In retail you’re either growing or you’re dead, so you have to go in every year (pandemic notwithstanding) with a perspective of growth, so that was our plan. The game we tried to play in COVID-19 was that you had to be ready to make fast changes,” Stewart says.

That meant sometimes switching vendors, as well as the locations where products were manufactured.

FAMILY LEGACY

Rachel Stewart, president of Gardner White Furniture Co. in Warren, grew up in the century-old business. Today, she leads the way in adding stores and inventory.

“Our buying changed, and you just had to keep rolling with it. We’ve changed our lineup a lot,” she says. “We have high-end product in stock that can be delivered today. No one in the state has that.”

Another significant change Stewart instituted at Gardner White was in her buying and leadership teams. All are now female, a deliberate recognition that most furniture shopping is done by women, who usually make the final decisions on purchases.

“I think you’re seeing a lot more fashion-forward looks (in inventory), and you’ll keep seeing that. We have a young female buying team that’s like our consumers,” she says. “It’s a constant evolution. For the past five or six years, we’ve been upping the game, changing the game. The person who does case goods for us is a woman; the person who does upholstery is a woman.”

McLouglin says Stewart’s strategy is long overdue in the industry.

“A historic irony of the furniture business is that the companies’ target is typically female. Very often, it’s the women who make the buying decisions, yet historically all (the merchandise) decisions have been made by men,” he says. “It makes a lot of sense that if you’re going to address a consumer, you have people who are involved in the decision-making process who are reflective of that consumer base.”

McLoughlin, whose publication tracks the furniture industry and its key players, isn’t surprised by Stewart’s bold moves.

“She’s dynamic, focused, and bright — one of the young leaders in the industry,” he says. “She also brings some fresh perspectives. I think she’s somebody the furniture industry is already watching. We’ve been watching her for a number of years, and I think she’s someone who is going to make a mark on the industry. She’s part of an entire new generation coming into the business, taking over the family business.”

He describes Gardner White’s performance during the pandemic as “dramatic,” as the chain catapulted up Furniture Today’s annual list of the Top 100 furniture retailers. It is, in fact, one of the fastest-growing companies on that list.

In the two-year period between 2020 and 2021, Gardner White grew 62.2 percent and reached $305 million in sales in 2021, from $188 million in 2020 (the company reports 2022 revenue in mid-June). For the most recent 2022 Top 100 furniture rankings, it’s now in 39th place.

At the same time, the company was twice voted Best Place to Work by its employees accolades that Stewart says make her particularly proud.

She says the cost of freight, driven up by inflation, was her biggest pandemic-related challenge. A furniture container from Asia that previously cost $4,000 to ship jumped to well north of $20,000, she says. That meant a $499 sofa cost the same to ship as one costing $4,999.

“That was a real challenge for us at the lower end, but as inflation is easing, to my surprise, the cost of freight is back to pre-pandemic levels,” she says.

Stewart says retail is a full-time commitment. She’s in the corporate offices five days a week, sometimes accompanied by her dog, Trone, a mixed beagle who has a bed in the conference room. On weekends and holidays, she visits the stores.

She says she’s driven to experiment with new avenues for growth.

“It would kill me to be on the tail end of where retail goes,” she says. “I talk to a

GARDNER WHITE

CO.

WARREN

900 REVENUE: $305M (2021)

lot of retailers, and I’m like, ‘Guys, wake up, the world is going to pass you by,’ ” she says. “I’ll experiment to a fault. We’re experimenting with 3-D printing now. Even though the product might not be there yet, it’s one I want to be on the front end of because it could be really transformative.”

The advantages of 3-D printing could allow the company to ditch much of their parts inventory. A customer with a broken leg on a six-year-old sofa, for example, could draw a schematic of the leg, bring it in to Gardner White, and have a new part made, she envisions.

What’s more, 70 percent of the stores now have design studios where customers can work with creative experts to customize their own furniture, as well as the rooms in which that furniture will be placed.

Stewart’s habit of going on ride-alongs with drivers delivering furniture or mattresses to customers’ homes opened a new source of revenue. She observed homeowners repeatedly asking delivery crews to move existing furniture around their home for them. Now, Gardner White has a service where you can pay to have items moved around in your house, she says.

That experience prompted her to make ride-alongs a requirement for leadership and for new hires. “Retail is a unique beast, and we want them to understand

the business no matter what they’re doing — finance, HR, whatever,” Stewart says. “Our CFO just did a ride-along, too.”

Doing whatever it takes to make a sale is ingrained in the company’s culture, she says, and is the focus of constant training of sales staff in product knowledge and affability with customers.

“We were the first in the industry to take away used mattresses, and I think we’re still the only one who will take apart furniture that’s too big to get into a home and reassemble it in the home, because we’ll get over every objection to a sale,” she says.

Gardner White Furniture was founded on Fort Street in Detroit in 1912 by Eugene Clinton White and John G. Gardner. In the 1950s, Stewart’s maternal grandfather, Irwin Kahn, bought the store and operated it until he turned the business over three decades ago to his daughter, Barbara, and son-in-law, Steve Tronstein.

Coincidentally, Kahn and Art Van’s founder, Art Van Elslander, worked together at Crown Furniture in Detroit before starting their competing companies.

Sussman says, based on a shared history, it’s not a coincidence that the two furniture chains are intertwined.

“They have similar DNA because the people who founded them came out of the same retail church, singing out of the same hymnals,” he says. “Whatever resemblance they had was because they both believed in the same kinds of values. They’re both family businesses and they’re both community-driven.”

Although Stewart grew up listening to her parents talking retail around the dinner table, it would have been difficult to predict early on that she would go into the family business.

She graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2002, and went on to the London School of

MOVING ON UP

After observing how customers would ask delivery crews to move around furniture in their homes, Stewart offered a new service where people can pay to have items moved.

Economics, where she earned a Master of Science degree in economics.

As a child, her father encouraged her love of the outdoors, a passion that morphed into her championing environmental and clean energy issues. That interest led to a job with the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.

It was a prelude to signing on with the U.S. Department of Energy during the Obama administration, where she worked on solar energy research and development. During her four years with the energy department, Stewart had the opportunity to work under Dr. Steven Chu, the famed Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

At the end of the Obama administration, she was living in San Francisco and contemplated starting a solar energy company in the Bay area.

She says she realized, however, that while she knew the substance of the solar business, she didn’t know the substance of business. That shortcoming made her rethink joining her parents at Gardner White.

“(Coming home) was especially attractive because I would get the opportunity to learn. In anything you

SHOWROOM-READY Stewart doesn’t envision expanding Gardner White to other markets, citing how hard it is for online furniture retailer Wayfair to maintain a multi-state supply chain.

do, you have to understand the guts of it, and I had two parents who were willing to teach me,” Stewart says.

“They were at the point in their lives where they were going to have to invest more in the business and grow it, or think about what their next step was going to be. So, the timing just worked. For the first year my mother was really cautious, saying, Are you really serious? But retail is pretty infectious, so here (I am).”

Stewart says Gardner White’s takeover of the Art Van stores wasn’t motivated by a desire to assume Art Van’s mantle. Rather, it met a pressing need for readily available, well-located retail spaces to accommodate her company’s post-pandemic growth spurt. She points out the Gardner White store located a block-and-half away from the Art Van headquarters was already successful before she moved it into the Warren space.

“That store probably led the industry in sales per square foot, so if you can triple the size by moving here, then surprise, you can be successful and have room to move a terrific team here, as well,” she says. “Today we have a lot of real estate and technology, and we can do a lot more. There’s a lot that Art Van did well. There’s a lot we do well. We try to pick the best people and we’ve grown stronger than either company was before.”

She’s also determined to avoid Art Van’s costly mistake of expansion as far away as Chicago. “That’s definitely not our path. We’ll continue growing in southeast Michigan wherever it makes sense,” she says.

As for competition with online retailers, Stewart says she focuses on what Gardner White does well.

“You do your own thing. You’re not going to outdo Amazon. Wayfair is learning how hard it is to have a thriving supply chain and a profitable business,” she says. “They can’t deliver a sofa and they certainly can’t take a sofa back. That’s just not going to work well for them online.”

Picking up the sponsorship of America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit was an easy call, she says.

“That’s such an iconic event. One thing about Michiganders that makes me crazy is we’re not good at tooting our own horn,” she says. “We have the best parade in the country, and it’s broadcast in 180 markets, so that was an easy one to get behind.”

Sussman says the parade is one of Detroit’s most important traditions. “(Hundreds of thousands of) people come downtown to see it. It’s one of the few ecumenical things we have,” he says. “African-American families, families from the suburbs, it doesn’t seem to matter. The parade is so universally loved by every family in Detroit. Religious background or affiliation, or ethnic groups, don’t matter. The parade seems to lift all boats.”

Apart from her day job, Stewart and her husband, Brian, a dermatologist, are the parents of two young girls.

“I’ve worked for two U.S. presidents, but working with my parents is much harder,” she admits. “The good thing is there’s always someone who has your back and has the business’ back,” she says. “I’ve got little kids. You’re never going to have a colleague who wants you to work your ass off and do your best by the company, and also wants you to get home and be with their grandkids and make sure they’re being raised well. That’s a very unique and useful dynamic.”

FREEDOM FORGE

The manufacturing laboratory at LIFT in Detroit’s Corktown district helps companies advance proprietary technology, qualify as defense contractors, and have access to trained professionals and students.

BY DAN CALABRESE | NICK HAGEN

If Detroit was the 20th century’s Arsenal of Democracy, its Corktown neighborhood may be the 21st century’s home of warfighter innovations.

Detroiters may be surprised to learn that some of America’s most critical warfighting technologies are being accelerated in an impressive — but hardly audacious — building that rises above Rosa Parks Boulevard at Labrosse Street in the city’s oldest neighborhood.

LIFT, short for Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, is a nonprofit organization established through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, academia, and private industry. Its multifaceted mission includes training workers for high-tech manufacturing jobs, advancing defense-related technology, and preparing more companies to deal in the technology that would qualify them as defense contractors.

Inside the facility, machines are humming and workers are learning processes like electrical fabrications, materials engineering, and hydraulics. LIFT is about economic vitality and worker training, but the initial impetus was — and still is — advancing technology for national defense.

Operated by the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), LIFT is part of a national network of 16 nonprofit organizations charged with “driving the U.S. mobility sector” to support technology development, workforce development, and, ultimately, a manufacturing sector that’s vibrant enough to support U.S. national security.

Professionals, specialists, and students looking for training come to LIFT through academic partners. By signing up to be partners with LIFT, companies gain access to workers and technology resources, not to mention possible opportunities for defense contracts if the needs of the Pentagon align with their enhanced capabilities.

FACTORY FLOOR

Set in a former manufacturing center at Rosa Parks Boulevard and Labrosse Street in Detroit’s Corktown district, the LIFT facility offers everything from robots to CNC machines to 3-D printers for use by students, professionals, and veterans.

Founded in 2014, the operation will keep going for the foreseeable future. In May, the Pentagon announced it had renewed the partnership through 2028, with the DoD providing LIFT with $49.4 million in funding throughout that period.

The new agreement with the Pentagon requires LIFT to focus on advanced materials, manufacturing processes, systems engineering, and the integration of materials characterization to benefit the Department of Defense and the national industrial manufacturing base.

The Pentagon looks for LIFT to act in numerous roles including adviser, technology accelerator, connector, convener, talent developer, and technology showcase and sandbox. The goal is to connect materials, processes, systems, and talent to demonstrate “the art of the possible.”

Tracy Frost, director of the office of the Secretary of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Program in Alexandria, Va., says the partnership with LIFT “adds

value to our Manufacturing Innovation Institute network to accelerate technologies, build advanced manufacturing ecosystems, and educate and train the needed workforce — fulfilling our mission to get critical technologies to the warfighter at speed and scale.”

When it all comes together, what does the Pentagon get? It gets a gigantic array of capable companies of all sizes that have access to trained workers.

“The Department of Defense has an $800-something billion budget and needs critical assets in the supply base,” says Nigel Francis, CEO of LIFT. “It’s a win for the supply base because they get a closer and more direct link with the big customer. This is a massive jigsaw (puzzle) across the nation, and we’re one small part of that jigsaw. But man, I mean, we’re a very important part of that jigsaw nationally.”

Francis, who took over as LIFT’s CEO in 2018, previously served as senior automotive adviser to then-Gov. Rick Snyder and senior vice president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. A naturalized U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the United Kingdom, Francis decided to take the helm of LIFT, in part, because he saw an opportunity to make a major impact on a looming workforce imperative in manufacturing.

“Jobs in CNC robotics, industry maintenance, and welding will be empty in the U.S. manufacturing space by 2028,” Francis says. “We’ll have 2.5 million jobs to be filled by 2028, and we’ve already got an awful shortage.”

Francis described a “Grand Canyon of missing people” to empower existing manufacturing operations. At the same time, the nation is replete with small manufacturers that would like a shot at filling these needs, yet lack the resources to recruit workers and keep up with the necessary technology.

That’s where LIFT steps in, by taking on manufacturing companies as partners.

“We’re their chief technology officer,” says Joe Steele, vice president of communication and legislative affairs for LIFT. “They’ve got an owner that’s pretty much leading the whole operation.”

As a partner with LIFT, such owners of smaller companies get access to information about where the Pentagon and other leaders in the industry think technology is going, and what the upcoming needs are likely to be.

They also have a chance to gain access to leading decision-makers in the defense industry, including the Pentagon itself — which could make all the difference for a small manufacturer.

Francis compares it to the pecking order in a country club.

“You don’t need to be a billionaire to belong to the golf club, but you probably need to be pretty wealthy to get the 9 a.m. tee time on a Saturday morning,” Francis says. “So depending on how engaged you can afford to be with us in terms of time not so much money, but time — you get the opportunity to talk directly to the Department of Defense, or directly with a prime contractor. You can talk to toplevel academics from all over the nation. We give you the opportunity to stand up in front of the complete ecosystem and tell them about what you do.”

TEACH AND LEARN Isaac Vanocer, a LIFT instructor, provides guidance to Brandon Vasque, a local student, in the facility’s learning lab. Overall, hundreds of students visit the LIFT center each year.

Francis offers the example of a small northern Indiana company that reached out to help with technology development, only to have LIFT recognize the business could solve a problem for Boeing that would save hundreds of thousands of dollars on each Apache attack helicopter it would produce.

“To get Boeing to work with a small, non-defense contractor they had never heard of, we built an initial business case based around using this technology in the manufacture of the Apache attack helicopter,” Francis says. “And that’s before we look at every other helicopter and airplane, and every other military and civilian airplane that Boeing Corp. produces. One helicopter is $5 million to $6 million. We can’t even work out how many billions of dollars that’s going to save this nation.”

Another case involved Sterling Heights-based Ricardo Defense Systems, which was developing an electronic stability-control analog brake system for Humvees but ran out of funding before it could finish developing the system.

“Here we come with a little bit of money, and we retrofitted them onto 10 National Guard Humvees to help them optimize their program and show that it would work,” Francis says. “It took three years, but then they got a $90 million contract to put (the system) on 10,000 Humvees around the world.”

Making those connections is part of the human touch at LIFT, and developing the technologies brings the full power of the organization’s infrastructure into play.

From its roots in what was a former manufacturing facility for Mexican Industries, the massive complex receives constant attention and updates. The Corktown facility added a state-of-the-art high bay in 2017 and a learning lab in 2019.

It opened a Sterling Heights satellite office in 2021 to focus on its partnership with the U.S. Army, and plans to open a satellite office in Puerto Rico at some point in 2023.

LIFT’s facility, which spans 100,000 square feet, could be mistaken for any major production facility, with large machinery and a variety of processes humming away, but what’s unique is the presence of adjacent classrooms and learning centers populated by a constant flow of professionals and students, all working to advance their skill sets in STEM.

DATA EXCHANGE

Even as LIFT is propelling technology and positioning companies to take hold of high-level opportunities, it maintains a focus on its other mission. In 2018, LIFT established a curriculum for high school students called IGNITE: Mastering Manufacturing. It’s a three-year, competency-based curriculum designed to prepare students as multiskilled technicians for the manufacturing workplace. The program emphasizes advanced manufacturing materials, processes, and systems.

Math and science are cornerstones of the larger materials science modules that make up a significant part of the curriculum. That was followed a year later by the establishment of a learning lab that sits high above LIFT’s heavy machinery.

The facility also offers a training program specifically geared to active-duty soldiers in the final six months of their service. Operation Next, as it’s known, trains soldiers preparing to re-enter private life for possible work in the manufacturing sector using online simulations and multimedia to develop skills centered around manufacturing equipment.

And while the Department of Defense is a major funder and promoter of LIFT, it does not insist that workers who come through the training programs be directed into jobs with defense contractors.

“If enough people come through this successfully, they don’t need to seek guarantees,” Steele says. “It’s so critical to the national economy, and the national economy is so critical to national security. If you connect those dots by directing people and inserting them into the manufacturing base, we are, in a sense, securing the national security. Even if they’re not going to work for defense contractors, they’re helping to keep the economy more productive overall.”

A walk through the LIFT factory floor demonstrates the breadth of what is produced and learned. For example, a small, Plexiglas-enclosed digital model factory was provided by the global manufacturing consulting firm Kearney. Next to that, the Novi-based 3-D printing company EOS North America has provided a laser-beam, powder bed fusion machine that models and simulates materials.

“We will virtually model and simulate the materials,” Steele says. “We’ll bring it back here and test it to make sure our predictions are correct.”

A ways down in the facility, LIFT is assisting the U.S. Army by studying what happens to a particular metal when it’s manipulated in certain ways. There’s

Above: Cameron Hamburg practices using a CNC mill. Hamburg is part of Operation Next, a LIFT program that provides free education to veterans. Left: Manufacturing engineer Alessandro Posteraro brushes a metal fixture before placing it into one of LIFT’s 3-D metal printers.

also work with electrical fabrications, materials engineering, hydraulics, and even a process that appears to be spray-painting but is actually a powder made of tiny metal particles that are applied so fast they adhere to each other and whatever they land on.

“This is what we do,” Steele says, looking down at the factory floor from the learning lab. “We teach all different aspects of manufacturing. We teach robotics, as well. What we saw down there will give students some connection to what’s going on, because this isn’t just in the classroom. It’s not just in the school or at my neighborhood community college. It’s at a national manufacturing facility, and you get to be part of it.”

One of the ways LIFT attracts partners in academia is through its ability to bring both funding and industry players into projects. That combination has worked on multiple levels for Houghton-based Michigan Technological University.

Paul Sanders, a professor of materials science and engineering at Michigan Tech, says partnering with LIFT has given the school and its students an opportunity to work within the manufacturing industry on a number of interesting projects. The first involved the development of a cast-iron drive train component for Southfield-based Grede Foundry.

The project cost an estimated $1.3 million, of which the federal government picked up nearly half of the funding. “LIFT has sizeable funding from the government, and they had industry partners who were the source of the projects,” Sanders says. “Those were the people we were assisting with the technology development.”

In addition, working with LIFT saved Michigan Tech the trouble of going out and looking for manufacturers to work with on such projects. “LIFT brought the money, the industrial partners, and the academic partners all together,” Sanders says. “They were the matchmaker. I don’t know how the matchmaking worked; they didn’t ask me if I wanted to date Grede Foundry. They just said, ‘You guys are on the team.’ ”

The partnership has continued to be a positive one for Michigan Tech because it gives the university and its students a chance to work on technologies that aren’t just theoretical.

“It’s a source of funding and new product ideas,” Sanders says. “We like to work on new things and, in

particular, I like to work on things that have an impact on the world — not just writing a paper and having someone read it, but I’d like our technology to be used, and LIFT helps with that.”

Currently, Sanders and his team at MTU are working on the mechanical property characterizations on a project LIFT brought to them involving hypersonics and additive manufacturing. Soon to follow will be testing on custom powders LIFT is working on.

Michigan Tech also finds it appealing that LIFT is so close to the kinds of students the university wants to attract to its degree programs but doesn’t always have easy access to in the Upper Peninsula.

“We want to partner with LIFT because LIFT is located in the population center of Michigan, and in a place where we can recruit more underrepresented groups,” Sanders says. “We like the location of LIFT, we like the finances that LIFT has, and we like their emphasis on talent and training.”

According to Cassy Tefft de Munoz, Michigan Tech’s executive director of enrollment initiatives, the university has brought thousands of students through LIFT’s facility — some in the sixth and seventh grades — to help get them interested in STEM.

It fits well with what de Munoz calls a “traveling road show” Michigan Tech undertakes to encourage communities across the state to focus on a strong, STEM-educated workforce.

In turn, the LIFT partnership will make it possible for Michigan Tech to bring a summer camp program, held in Houghton since the early 1970s, to Detroit. The camp focuses on providing opportunities for middle school and high school students to be introduced to technology-focused education.

“What’s really unique about working with LIFT is that, up to now, a lot of what we’ve been doing has been focused on Detroit, but these are models that can be replicated nationally,” de Munoz says. “Those replications are in the works because LIFT is on a huge growth track.”

ROBOT REVELRY

Above: Advanced Manufacturing Operations manager Derek Zbikowski controls a robotic arm in preparation for undertaking wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Below: Robotic arms in the Flexible Joining Cell in the LIFT Corktown facility.

WE TEACH ALL DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF MANUFACTURING. ... (LIFT) IS A NATIONAL MANUFACTURING FACILITY, AND YOU GET TO BE PART OF IT.” JOE STEELE

ame another city in the world that has a multibillionaire — in this case, Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Cos. — who has acquired some 100 major properties in the central business district, invested billions of dollars in redevelopment efforts while maintaining everything to Class A standards, and is working to reduce blight and prevent crime.

Welcome to present-day Detroit.

By any stretch, Gilbert’s investment in the city is unprecedented. Not since its founding in 1701, save for the last century’s Roaring Twenties, has the municipality seen such confidence and investment in its future.

But the turnaround doesn’t stop there. The mortgage originator is joined by five other billionaires who, together, are

BY RONALD AHRENS AND R.J. KING ILLUSTRATIONS BY KEVIN FALES

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TREVER LONG COVER ILLUSTRATION AND MAPS BY JUSTIN STENSON

restoring forlorn historic structures and turning them into functional residences and offices, giving feral land and surface parking lots new uses, and working hand in hand with the city to convert a concrete jungle into a well-lit, landscaped metropolis. Not only that, but they’ve also built three sports stadiums that draw in hundreds of thousands of sports and entertainment fans each year.

Detroit also boasts one of the largest collections of historic theaters in the country, serves as both the center of the automotive and mortgage industries, possesses a manufacturing base that’s the envy of the world, and has one of the largest concentrations of single-family homes in the nation.

“Detroit will pass Silicon Valley” in the future of the auto industry, Mayor Mike Duggan said during his most recent State

DETROIT’S COMEBACK, LONG IN THE MAKING, IS NOW GATHERING STEAM. HOW SIX BILLIONAIRES ARE PARTNERING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES TO RESTORE DETROIT’S 1920S LUSTER — FROM THE RIVERFRONT TO DOWNTOWN, CORKTOWN, MIDTOWN, AND INTO THE NEIGHBORHOODS.

of the City address. He also touted the work of hundreds of businesses, civic organizations, and community groups that are remaking the city, including the addition of hundreds of units of affordable housing in some of Detroit’s most desirable enclaves and rejuvenated neighborhoods.

Today, in a town that built the world’s first manufacturing economy — save for the redevelopment of the Packard Plant — the city has filled nearly every available industrial parcel.

A variety of projects are underway. Stellantis is building four new trucks and SUVs at its massive Conner Avenue Plant, while the site of the old Hudson automotive plant along Conner Street, which was demolished, is now home to a Lear light assembly facility. General Motors has an electric vehicle center near Hamtramck, and Ford is spending $940 million to convert the old Michigan Central train station into a mobility innovation campus.

MIKE AND MARIAN ILITCH

“We’ve got to give back individually and collectively … and in Michigan and in Detroit, it’s something we know how to do,” Roger Penske, chairman of Penske Corp. in Bloomfield Township, told NBC Sports during the recent Detroit Grand Prix, held downtown in June for the first time in more than three decades. “It shows we’re committed. Someone needs to take that flag and run it down through town, and that’s what we’re trying to do as a company. We’re trying to give back to the city.”

The other five billionaires working to redo Detroit repeat the same mantra: The goal is to improve the city’s 139-square-mile boundary with a mixture of private investment and public subsidies, advance the neighborhoods at the direction of grassroots community groups, and make downtown Detroit a shining jewel that welcomes all.

Here, for the first time, is the playbook of how all six billionaires are working with local businesses, the city, civic groups, and residents to remake Detroit one block at a time.

With personal savings of $10,000 and another $15,000 they borrowed from family and friends, Mike and Marian Ilitch launched Little Caesars Pizza in 1959 in Garden City. The couple promised customers their orders would be ready in 15 minutes. Their widely successful “Pizza Pizza!” promotion was still on the horizon.

In their storefront’s small but cozy lobby in a strip center along Cherry Hill Road, the entrepreneurs offered a chair and a lamp, along with reading materials, for those who wanted to wait. Mike put in most of the hours perfecting and packaging his pizza recipes, while Marian raised seven children at their home in Dearborn Heights and used her self-taught financial skills to build an empire.

By 1962, when the first franchise opened in Warren, the pair were working to standardize the operation. Through family connections, they received financial support and mentorship from a pillar in the community — Frank Stella, founder and chairman of F.D. Stella Products Co., a restaurant kitchen supply and food service business in Detroit.

Stella helped stake the first 200 Little Caesars locations before the couple was able to finance what today is the third-largest pizza chain in the world. Estimated

revenue in 2022, based on industry data, was more than $4.5 billion, with 5,500-plus locations worldwide (the company does not share financial and store information).

Longtime supporters of youth sports, especially hockey and baseball, Mike and Marian Ilitch took their business interests to the next level when, in 1982, they acquired the Detroit Red Wings for $8.5 million.

“I’ll never forget my first (hockey) trip,” Mike Ilitch said years later at the Hockey Hall of Fame. “The business meeting in New York with the NHL in 1982 — walking into a room full of businessmen with pizza sauce on my shirt, some flour in my hair, a bank statement in my hand. Several weeks later, I was the owner of the Detroit Red Wings.”

From there, the couple, mindful of their local roots, acquired the Fox Theatre and adjoining Fox Office Centre from Chuck Forbes. Pouring millions of dollars into a restoration, they moved the headquarters of Little Caesars, along with Olympia Entertainment, to the Fox in 1988, just as they were building a new office center in Farmington Hills. It was a significant gamble, given downtown Detroit had been losing businesses to the suburbs since the 1970s.

As the pizza operation continued to grow, the couple slowly but surely began turning around a long-struggling Red Wings team. Along the way, they turned their eye to baseball. In 1992, Little Caesars had revenue of more than $2 billion, the Red Wings won the division, and the Ilitchs acquired the Detroit Tigers for $85 million from Tom Monaghan, who owned Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza.

Fueled by Stanley Cup victories in 1997 and 1998,

Comerica Park for the Detroit Tigers in 2000 and, in 2017, Little Caesars Arena for the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons (the latter owned by Tom Gores).

As the arena was being planned, the family — Mike, 87, passed away on Feb. 10, 2017, and his son, Christopher, was named president and CEO of what today is Ilitch Holdings Inc. — set out to restore and build across a 50-block area named The District Detroit. The family had long been acquiring property around the Fox Theatre with the goal of adding residences, offices, retail, restaurants, hotels, what is now the Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business, and public spaces.

The $1.5-billion effort, underway in partnership with Detroit native Stephen Ross, chairman of Related Cos. in New York City, includes a hotel just south of Little Caesars Arena and another one inside the Fox Office Centre, since vacated by Little Caesars for a brand-new headquarters just south of the Fox.

In addition to new residences and four commercial office buildings, as well as the recently completed Columbia Street mixed-use entertainment district, there are plans to build the Detroit Center for Innovation behind the Fox; that development will be anchored by a $250-million, 200,000-square-foot research and education center operated by the University of Michigan. — R.J. King

NET WORTH

Marian Ilitch: $4.3B

Source: Forbes

DOWNTOWN

On a Saturday afternoon in the mid-1990s, Roger Penske, then owner of Michigan International Speedway, welcomed a small group of reporters after the qualifying session for the next day’s Michigan 500, which was a grueling test for IndyCars.

As he showed off a collection of racing cars in a quiet corner of the facility, a napkin scudded over the pavement like a tiny meteorite in a vast galaxy. Ever the fastidious proprietor, Penske stooped to pocket the litter no one else had noticed.

That “Penske Perfect” moment prefigured his tasks to come for Detroit, which at the time had been buoyed by General Motors Co.’s announcement that the automaker had acquired the Renaissance Center and would move its headquarters there from New Center following a $500-million renovation.

But Penske knew more things were needed if the Motor City’s burgeoning renaissance was to take hold. He chaired the Downtown Detroit Partnership (2005 to 2010) and led Detroit’s Host Committee for organizing Super Bowl XL (2006). As part of the rollout, he helped supervise and finance a downtown cleanup campaign that continues to this day.

By the time he signed up for the DDP, Penske, now 86, had been looking after every operational detail of everything he came to be involved in since starting in business with a Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia. He had pursued racing after graduating from Lehigh University and was so good, Sports Illustrated named him the SCCA Driver of the Year in 1961.

“I had to make a decision that was either going to be stay as a race driver or be in business,” he said upon being

named to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019. With the dealership locked up in 1965, he wasted little time in starting his own racing team and entering the Trans-Am Series for “pony” cars and the Cam-Am Series for sports-prototype racers. Sports cars, stock cars, and IndyCars all would follow. Besides MIS, he also owned speedways in Pennsylvania and California.

Meanwhile, he built up the holdings of Penske Corp. Long based in Bloomfield Township, it employs more than 70,000 people in nine countries on four continents. The Penske Automotive Group sells about 5 percent of all the Ferraris that are produced, but will also get you into a Freightliner or Western Star truck. Other corporate units range from truck rental and leasing to the design of racing engines. Besides the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NTT IndyCar Series, which were acquired in 2020, Penske Entertainment Corp. owns IMS Productions Inc. for TV broadcasts. Team Penske fields entries in IndyCar, NASCAR, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Penske first raced Porsches and Chevrolet Corvettes. His newest initiative, Porsche Penske Motorsport, fields Porsche 963 sports-prototype racers in two distinct series, one in the U.S. and the other in Europe. Referring to “a true global partnership,” Penske said, “We have a long history with Porsche in sports-car racing, and we are excited about this new opportunity and the chance to add to our legacy together.”

Another highlight for Detroit, this past June, was the new downtown course for the NTT IndyCar Series’ Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Leaving Belle Isle after an interval that extended from 1989 to 2022, the Grand Prix returned to the urban streets where it started as a Formula 1 event some 41 years ago. Penske promised

more excitement, and he and his team delivered with a street-festival feel, a small business village, and abundant, free streetside viewing. “I think fans are going to see some great racing and the access is going to be unprecedented,” he said.

Besides the multifarious business interests, Penske keeps up a high degree of civic involvement. One example is his support of M-1 Rail’s QLine trains on Woodward Avenue, along with the Kresge Foundation and Dan Gilbert’s Rocket Family of Cos. “He’s the chair of our board, and he remains committed to M-1 Rail and the QLine’s success,” says Lisa Nuszkowski, M-1 Rail’s president.

Later this year, the new 8,116-square-foot community center at Alfred Brush Ford Park, in the Jefferson Chalmers neighborhood on Detroit’s east side near the Detroit River, will open as a replacement to the Lenox Center. Besides sports facilities, classrooms, and meeting spaces, the center is part of a $9 million park makeover. In 2019, Penske Corp. contributed $5 million to the Strategic Neighborhood Fund to help the project.

Beyond daily activities, the new center will be available to the community during emergency situations, providing phone-charging and internet access as well as serving as a cooling or a warming shelter.

His hands-on approach in racetracks, rail lines, and boardrooms keeps Penske moving. As a spokesman explained in an email last fall, “Between business travel, yearly reviews, budget meetings, the holidays, and other appearance commitments, there is hardly a moment that is unaccounted for on Mr. Penske’s schedule.” But the man himself proves game for whatever arises, saying, “My plan is to keep moving forward.”

— Ronald Ahrens

NET WORTH

Roger Penske: $3.2B

Source: Forbes

UP, UP, AND AWAY

DAN GILBERT

Dan Gilbert reached an early personal peak on Aug. 14, 1983, when he was 21 years old. Driving a battered 1975 Chevrolet Camaro for Papa Romano’s in Southfield, he took advantage of what he later told DBusiness “crystal-clear, light-trafficked, everyone-having-theirmoney-ready, lucky night” and set a record by delivering 78 pizzas in one evening.

The moment may have been responsible for forming one of Gilbert’s basic principles. Detroit entrepreneur Ted Serbinski once summarized 24 such precepts in a DBusiness opinion piece: “Focus on making dollars, not saving cents. If you increase the top line, you’ll take care of your bottom line.”

Gilbert earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Michigan State University and obtained a law degree from Wayne State University. With his brother, Gary, and two partners, he launched Rock Financial in 1985. In the 1990s, Rock Financial took advantage of the internet with innovative services through RockLoans.com and grew as a mortgage lender. Intuit Inc. purchased the company in 2000 and introduced the name Quicken Loans.

Two years later, Gilbert acquired Quicken, along with Title Source Inc., back from Intuit. He stayed out of the subprime lending that contributed to the 2008 global financial crisis. Working on internal refinements paid off with unprecedented growth. As he told Serbinski in 2013, process improvement became an emphasis in consultation with front-line staff.

“At Quicken Loans, we have over 230 dedicated people to improve our processes. We’ve seen more growth in the last three years than the previous 25. We had zero (process-improvement personnel) in 2004.”

After the repurchase of Quicken Loans, Gilbert, now 61, made other acquisitions at an impressive rate. In 2007, he announced that Quicken would move from Livonia to downtown Detroit, and by the end of 2010 there were 3,600 employees in the city.

Moving allowed the company to centralize its operations, and it appealed to younger employees. He credited the moves that Mike and Marian Ilitch’s Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. and Peter Karmanos’ Compuware Corp., along with General Motors’ new headquarters at the Renaissance Center, had already made when locating their operations downtown, asking, “Would we have come down if Mike and Peter had not made the leap before us? What about all of the companies that have followed since we first began our relocation and investment strategy in 2010?”

Since that time, Bedrock Detroit, the real estate division Gilbert founded in 2011, has invested more than $5.6 billion in nearly 100 Detroit properties, most of which are located in the central business district.

The Madison Theatre building, an early acquisition, became home to Detroit Venture Partners and startup companies such as Detroit Labs. Gilbert’s casino-gaming

company, Jack Entertainment, acquired the Greektown Casino and Hotel out of bankruptcy in 2012 and sold it in 2018 for $1 billion. StockX, the world’s first “stock market of things,” was his 2016 initiative for an online secondary market for consumer items.

The latest achievement is completing a seven-year, nearly $400-million restoration of the historic Book Tower and neighboring Book Building along Washington Boulevard.

Quicken Loans announced in 2018 that its Rocket Mortgage had become the nation’s largest mortgage lender, with 5.4 percent of the fragmented market. Rocket Mortgage replaced Quicken Loans as the company name in 2021. Rocket now employs 13,000 people in Detroit and appears headed for further growth.

Gilbert has spoken of attaining a 10 percent market share in the mortgage sector, and even suggests that 20 percent is possible. Meanwhile, his family of companies comprises dozens of businesses, many of which occupy buildings he acquired and renovated, including the First National Building, the David Stott Building, the former Detroit News and Detroit Free Press structures, and the Buhl Building.

For Gilbert, the pièce de résistance is the still-unnamed 1.5-million-square-foot complex under construction at the Hudson’s site, where demolition occurred in 1998. Bedrock acquired the site in 2016 and broke ground late the next year on a 685-foot tower — to be the second-tallest in Michigan — and a companion midrise building.

The pinnacled tower will offer mixed-use space including a hotel in the middle floors, upper-floor residences, and public rooftop amenities. Completion is expected in 2024. The 11-story midrise building has 400,000 square feet of office and event space with an interior design by Pophouse, a Detroit studio.

The development stands at 1208 Woodward Ave. between Rocket Mortgage headquarters and the Shinola Hotel, in which Gilbert’s Rock Ventures was a major investor. The Hudson’s site project has already earned a 2023 Impact Award for commercial development from CoStar, the commercial real estate analytics group, which cited the symbolic importance for Detroit’s future. — Ronald Ahrens

NET WORTH

Dan Gilbert: $18.0B

Source: Forbes

Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Cos. in Detroit, via his Bedrock real estate arm, has acquired and renovated the Book Tower and Book Building (upper two photos), and is building a mixed-use tower and midrise on the former site of the Hudson’s department store (bottom two photos). It’s scheduled to open in late 2024.

The reconstitution of Ford Motor Co. is evident in many ways, but most auspicious in Detroit is the Michigan Central Mobility District, which has been under development in Corktown since 2018. The eyes of the world have fixed upon this daring project to renovate the former Michigan Central Station and other buildings on 30 surrounding acres to create a mobility innovation campus.

The company acquired the station, as well as other nearby buildings, in 2017 for some $90 million. It allocated $740 million for restoration, which is expected to wrap up early next year. A driver of the massive undertaking is the need to create an attractive workplace for software designers and other technologically savvy professionals — something along the lines of the Google and Apple campuses in Silicon Valley.

This April, Michigan Central, as it has become known, celebrated the completion of phase one when the rehabilitated Detroit Public School Book Depository building opened as a tech incubator. Originally known as the Roosevelt Warehouse, the Book Depository, designed by Albert Kahn, had been sitting idle for years.

Today, it provides space for the Newlab Mobility Studio. Launched in 2016 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Newlab’s mission is to find mobility solutions for broad societal benefit. Another tech venture is Cavnue, the developer of connected-vehicle technology, which is working on a team to develop the world’s first connected and automated vehicle corridor along I-94.

I wanted to see happen here,” Bill Ford, the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., said when he addressed the grand-opening audience. Ford began to push the project after experiencing a series of steps that expanded his vision. “In 2009, I started a venture capital company (Fontinalis Partners) to invest in mobility. Most people didn’t even know what mobility meant back then, but it was clear to me our world was going to change,” he said.

Ford, 66, started his journey within the company in 1979 as a product analyst, and rose to executive chairman after two decades. He served as the auto manufacturer’s CEO from 2001 to 2006. Initiating a kind of mid-career revitalization in 2005, he joined the board of eBay for what would be a 10-year stint. He found that traveling to Silicon Valley each month gave him a big energy jolt on technology matters. Experiences there, such as driving the Tesla Roadster, the company’s first offering, made him realize “We’re an insular company in an insular industry,” as he explained in a 2022 interview with “Karl on Cars.”

While studying at Princeton University in the 1970s, Ford read environmentalist writers and thought beyond the established confines. Later, running the car company, he considered starting a foundation to benefit environmental causes. Then it hit him: “If I can actually change Ford, I’ll have a much bigger impact than anything I can do outside of Ford.”

Lions,

tainability while also bringing the team back to Detroit from Pontiac.

Completed in 2002 for $500 million, the stadium shines as an example of adaptive reuse by incorporating the former Hudson’s warehouse into the overall design. Through its philanthropic arm, the Ford Motor Company Fund, the manufacturer focuses on entrepreneurship, expanding access to essential services, and education for the future of work.

But the chief symbols are inevitably its cars and trucks, including electric vehicles like the popular Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning pickup. Adding manufacturing capacity is a must, as evidenced by a new highly efficient factory in Dearborn where the F-150 Lighting goes through final assembly.

“We’ve done a lot,” Ford said at the Book Depository ceremony. “Particularly in the early years, we (Fontinalis Partners) kind of invented the mobility space. But it occurred to me that almost none of it was happening in Detroit.” More than 30 companies have signed on at Michigan Central, leading Ford to say, “The best and the brightest are coming here to invent things to help us with the future that we need in this community, and I couldn’t be more excited.” — Ronald Ahrens

NET WORTH

Bill Ford: $1.0B

Source: CelebrityNetWorth.com

ALL ABOARD

The Book Depository building, right, and Michigan Central, opposite page, are located in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The two buildings are part of an emerging mobility innovation campus being developed by Ford Motor Co.

CORKTOWN

TONY SOAVE

At the same time Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Co., acquired the Michigan Central Station in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood to convert it into a mobility innovation campus, a major, mixed-use development was already transforming the city’s oldest neighborhood.

Toney Soave, president and CEO of Soave Enterprises in Detroit, recently completed a $150-million residential and retail district called Elton Park that has, as its centerpiece, the former Checker Cab headquarters along Trumbull Street, just east of the former Tiger Stadium site.

The project, part of Soave Real Estate Group, includes six restored and newly constructed buildings that offer more than 150 apartments, 13,000 square feet of retail space, and Checker Alley, an activated landscaped area for residents and their guests. More apartments on the drawing board could lead to a total of around 420 units.

Built in 1927, Checker Cab, a three-story, 120,000-square-foot structure, was acquired by Soave in 1998. The headquarters of the ground transportation company was eventually moved to Lafayette Park on the city’s east side, which opened the way for Soave to undertake a conversion.

“As the business for Checker Cab evolved, we began … to formulate the plans for Elton Park,” Soave says. “The nice thing about Elton Park is that it’s very walkable. You can easily walk or ride a bike up or down Michigan Avenue and reach downtown, or go farther west into Corktown or Mexicantown.”

A Detroit native, the one-time high school football star has built up Soave Enterprises to include real estate developments in Michigan, Florida, and Virginia; metals recycling businesses; auto dealerships in Kansas City, Mo.; and Chicago-area Budweiser distributorships. In May, he broke ground on Kinsale Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Soave says when he began planning for Elton Park, named for an urban square that was demolished to make way for the nearby Lodge Freeway, he had no idea Ford would acquire Michigan Central — which, when completed early next year, will represent close to $1 billion in investment.

What he did see was other new opportunities that were beginning to breathe life into Corktown.

Tiger Stadium had been torn down and replaced by a $20-million youth sports complex highlighted by a baseball diamond called the Willie Horton Field of Dreams, which offers 2,500 stadium seats, a banquet center, office space, and room for other activities. And surrounding the park, Larson Realty Group is nearing completion of The Corner, which offers 110 apartments and 26,000 square feet of ground floor retail space set in a four-story building that spans three sides of the site. — Michigan Avenue, Trumbull Street, and the Fisher Freeway service drive.

“I had acquired Checker Cab to provide transportation services with the casinos coming in, and Comerica Park and Ford Field were under construction,” Soave says. “During that period (in 1998), the theater district was coming back, especially with the reopening (in 1996) of the Detroit Opera House.

“With Elton Park, we were able to create a neighborhood within a neighborhood,” he adds. As Ford moves more workers into Corktown, it will add to the vibrancy in the area and provide more opportunities for developers to expand. — R.J. King

1. Slow’s Bar BQ

2. The Sugar House

3. L J’s Lounge

4. Ima Izakaya

5. Hostel Detroit

6. Nancy Whiskey Pub

7. Bobcat Bonnie’s

8. The Corner Ballpark

9. Elton Park

10. Nemo’s

11. Michigan Central and Book Depository

12. Two James Spirits

13. Mercury Bar

14. Batch Brweing

15. Mudgie’s Deli

16. John K. King USed and Rare Books

17. Lake Brother’s Beer

18. Green Dot Stables

From its white Ionic columns to its window shutters in gleaming black, nothing about the Georgian Revival building one block from city hall in Beverly Hills, Calif., suggests a relationship to 24-ounce cans of Miller High Life for $1.18 at a market in Flint — but there is an immediate connection.

Beverly Hills is home to Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity, which manages $36 billion in diversified assets. In Genesee Charter Township, near Flint, his working life started when he stocked produce and carried out bags at a family-owned market.

Rather than the ill-fitting clerk’s apron he wore circa 1980, he sported a business suit with a silk tie and a pocket square when posing for a photo there in 2015. The beer specials were in the background.

Gores, who turns 59 in July, has owned the Detroit Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment since 2011.

Born Tewfiq Georgious in 1964, Tom Gores came to Michigan from Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, at the age of 5. He and his family were sponsored by an uncle, Tom Jabroun.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Michigan State University, he worked with his older brother, Alec, who in 1987 had founded the Gores Group to acquire and turn around troubled businesses.

Tom headed to Los Angeles in 1989, and in 1995 he formed Platinum Equity, which grew rapidly.

In a cover story in DBusiness, Gores explained his business philosophy. “We want to get involved in situations where we can make a difference. … We’re very operationally focused. There hasn’t been a change in focus or philosophy; just different industries. Steel companies, auto parts distributors — really, we look at the end user in every company that we buy. Is that an end user that will be around forever?”

Platinum is “industry agnostic.” It has made investments in finance, health care, aviation, natural resources, technology, and media. Gores purchased The San Diego Union-Tribune for $30 million (estimated) in 2009 and sold it 10 years later for $110 million.

He attributed the “extraordinary value” to another portfolio company, PNA Group Holding Corp., and “strong leadership, hard work, and operational excellence” in 2008, when Platinum sold the unit to Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. for $1.1 billion. He had paid $365 million in May of 2006 and made improvements.

Through it all, though, Gores never lost sight of Detroit. Years ago, his Uncle Tom told a reporter, “I talked to him on the phone yesterday, and he said he’s going to put Michigan on the map.”

Gores bought the Pistons from the late Bill Davidson in 2011 for $325 million, arranging a 51/49 partnership with Platinum. Four years later, he acquired the minority stake. In 2016, he and Ilitch Holdings Inc., the parent company of

Marian and the late Mike Ilitch, reached a deal to bring the Pistons downtown — for the first time in 38 years — to play at Little Caesars Arena. (The Palace of Auburn Hills, their previous home, was demolished in 2020.)

In a joint venture between Olympia Entertainment (Ilitch Holdings) and Palace Sports & Entertainment, the two entities came together to form 313 Presents, which produces concerts and other shows at Little Caesars, the Fox Theatre, Comerica Park, Pine Knob Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Amphitheater, and the Michigan Lottery Amphitheater at Freedom Hill.

More recently, in 2019, the Pistons completed their move back to Detroit by opening the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center, a $90-million training facility and corporate headquarters in the New Center neighborhood. The 185,000-square-foot building includes a sports medicine facility managed by Henry Ford Health as well as retail space and a public gym.

“This facility is a huge win — for the community, our franchise, our fans, and our future,” Gores said. In the autumn of 2019, the Detroit Pistons Foundation partnered with the City of Detroit and other foundations to launch Basketball for All, an initiative that’s renovating dozens of courts around Detroit as well as donating 50,000 basketballs to kids.

In addition, last February Gores, Henry Ford Health, and Michigan State University announced plans for a $1.8-billion campus near the Pistons practice facility that would include a new hospital, residential and commercial development, and a potential hotel. But Gores has more in store for Detroit and Michigan.

“I’m a big believer in core competency,” he said. “In Michigan, we know how to manufacture. We have an engineering talent that compares almost to no one. We have great universities and a very skilled workforce. We have to put that to work.

“A lot of folks talk to me about how much new stuff there is in Michigan, and I think that’s fine, but we have a core competency that, compared to the rest of the country, we should really leverage. I mean, there’s a tremendous engineering base, and great universities where you have great people coming out of there. There’s a workforce, both white collar and blue collar, that’s hard-working and has the right values. So I really think that’s where we should be leveraging ourselves in Michigan.” — Ronald Ahrens

NET WORTH

MIDTOWN

Tom Gores: $6.1B

Source: Forbes

1. Pistons Performace Center

2. Detroit Historical Museum

3. Detroit Public Library

4. Wayne State University

5. Detroit Institute of Arts

6. College For Creative Studies

7. Michigan Science Center

8. Charles. H Wright Museum of African American History

9. The Whitney

10. Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit

11. The Majestic Theatre Complex

12. Shinola

13. Third Man Records

14. Jolly Pumpkin

15. Detroit Shipping Co.

As a youngster living on Detroit’s west side, Stephen M. Ross loved to attend Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings games. He received tickets to the games courtesy of his uncle, Max M. Fisher, whose Aurora Gasoline Co. sponsored sporting events until being acquired by Marathon Petroleum Corp. in 1959.

Before that watershed moment, though, Ross had to leave Detroit and Mumford High School behind when his immediate family moved to Miami Beach, Fla.

It was a long journey back, but Ross managed to come home, earning a business administration degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1962. He then embarked on a career in New York City, finding his way into the real estate business and generating a fortune that ranks him 147th on the Forbes list of billionaires, at $11.6 billion.

Today, at 83, he owns the Miami Dolphins and is a partner in the construction of an 80-story office tower in Miami. He’s maintained a formidable presence in Ann Arbor for more than 20 years, and now he’s becoming more involved in his old hometown, as well.

Starting with a gift of $5 million for the Stephen M. Ross Academic Center on the athletic campus in 2003, Ross has donated at least $478 million to the University of Michigan for scholarships, improvements to sports facilities, and remaking the business school — where instead of the clunky-sounding Stephen M. Ross School of Business, the new brand is called simply Michigan Ross.

Thanks to $100 million from Ross, the University of Michigan Center for Innovation is soon to break ground in Detroit on four acres that are currently in use for parking along Cass Avenue, two blocks west of the Fox Theatre. UMCI will receive another $100 million from the State of Michigan; an additional $50 million is yet to be raised. Olympia Development, part of Ilitch Holdings Inc. and a partner in the project, donated the four-acre property, representing a new alignment between Ross’ Related Cos. and the Ilitch family.

First announced in 2018, the project, then called the Detroit Center for Innovation, was to be executed in partnership with Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock development arm on the 14-acre former jail site on Gratiot Avenue near I-375, but in 2021 Ross issued a statement blaming the pandemic and invoking the need for the Center “to have a greater catalytic economic and social impact on the people of Detroit, which was not possible at its current site.”

The new alliance with Olympia Development will move ahead with the sleek, ultramodern 200,000-square-foot research and education center. Architect Kohn Petersen Fox, of New York City, produced a design with bold external gridwork that makes a dramatic statement. It will be one of three buildings on the mini-campus.

The existing Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge on the site will get a makeover and become a technology incubator, while a third building — new construction — will offer 300 units of housing along Cass Avenue. All this will give the downtown area something it lacked: a college campus.

“I’m more committed than ever to deliver my vision of an innovation hub in my hometown,” Ross says, “and I reaffirm my commitment to the people of Detroit and the University of Michigan to create inclusive growth that propels job creation, affordable housing development, and historic preservation for all Detroiters.”

Implicit in the new campus are potential synergies with U-M’s Horace H. Rackham Educational Memorial building in Detroit’s Midtown. In 2021, the university announced a $40 million pledge for its renovation.

Early this year, plans began moving forward for a $1.5 billion joint venture between Olympia Development and Related Cos. for a transformational development in the heart of The District Detroit, the 50-block area that includes Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, Ford Field, theaters, office buildings, and more.

It is anticipated that the project will yield 695 mixed-income residential units and 1.2 million square feet of office space, as well as retail locations and hotel rooms. Six new buildings will be built and four existing ones will be renovated. In May, the Detroit City Council authorized a 10-year tax abatement, saving the developers $51.8 million on four of the buildings. That’s a chunk of the $798 million they’ve sought in total from the state and city.

The flood of supporting architectural renderings show gleaming towers and sensitive makeovers. Of the newly constructed buildings, there will be office space at 2200 and 2300 Woodward Ave., a Little Caesars Arena hotel, a hotel in the former Fox Office Building, and a residential tower. The promise is 6,000 jobs, more than $500 million in wages annually, and up to $750 million in tax revenue for the city over the next 35 years. With other concurrent developments, Ross’ efforts ensure the renewal of Detroit is within grasp. — Ronald Ahrens

NET WORTH

Stephen Ross: $11.6B

Source: Forbes

RALPH C. WILSON JR. FOUNDATION

When he died in Grosse Pointe Shores in 2014, Ralph C. Wilson Jr. was 95 years old and had amassed a great, diversified fortune. In addition to other business interests, Wilson owned the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. In fact, he was the founding owner in 1960 and held onto the team for 54 years until his death — an example of constancy that’s hard to match.

Wilson’s philanthropic touch has also been a constant, often felt in Detroit and Buffalo, N.Y., and never more so than upon the 2018 announcement by the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation — a full century after the namesake’s birth — that $200 million in funding commitments was to be evenly divided in both cities, in support of various community causes and enhancements.

Overall, upon Wilson’s death, the billionaire’s foundation took up the mission of putting itself out of business in 20 years by giving away $1.2 billion in Detroit and Buffalo for parks, trails, and youth sports. The foundation also supports the needs of caregivers and invests in entrepreneurship and economic development.

For example, work started in May of 2022 on the Ralph C. Wilson Centennial Park in Detroit (there will be a fraternal-twin park in Buffalo). The 22-acre riverfront site, located west of the Riverfront Apartments, will become “a central place where the entire city can come together,” Mayor Mike Duggan said during the groundbreaking ceremony. Completion of the space is expected next year.

The park will include features that would make Frederick Law Olmstead, the 19th-century landscape architect of Central Park in New York City and Palmer Park in Detroit, rue his lack of imagination. For example, an inlet called The Cove will have a sandy swimming beach, while the William Davidson Sports House will include two covered basketball courts.

The Delta Dental Play Garden for kids will feature a large sculpture — the likeness of a bear — holding a slide, and the DTE Foundation Lawn will serve as a natural amphitheater for live performances and the screening of movies under the stars.

Of the $100 million allotted to each city, the foundation says $50 million is for the design, development, and construction of each Centennial park. The other $50 million is for connections in the regional trail systems as well as future maintenance.

The Southwest Greenway, a half-mile trail connecting Bagley Street and Michigan Central to the Wilson Centennial Park along West Jefferson Avenue, opened in May. With a group of other organizations, the Wilson Foundation supported the trail, which fits in as part of the greater 27.5-mile Joe Louis Greenway.

Early this year, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks system and the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy announced that Wilson Centennial Park’s 2.5-acre water garden will be named the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden. The new connection will address a gap in the presence of any metroparks within the city of Detroit.

— Ronald Ahrens

1. Lafayette Towers

2. Dequindre Cut

3. Greektown Casino

4. St. Andrew’s

5. Outdoor Adventure Center

6. Riverwalk

7. Aretha Franklin Amphitheater

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Powered by Women

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, women in Michigan own 43.2 percent of the state's 902,131 small businesses, based on 2021 data (latest available). Overall, 99.6 percent of all Michigan businesses count as small businesses. Projections from Bright Valley Marketing anticipate a 10-percent increase in women-owned businesses in Michigan over the next five years.

The 2023 class of Powered by Women will be honored at the DBusiness Breakfast Series on Tuesday, Aug. 1, at the Gem Theatre in downtown Detroit. For tickets, email jpresnail@hour-media.com.

Profiles by Tim Keenan, Tom Murray, Calli Newberry, and Gary Witzenburg

Photography by Jenny Risher

Shot on location at the Rust Belt Market, Ferndale

Hair and Makeup by The Beauty Gals

Vice President, Chief of Sales, and Marketing Officer

Health Alliance Plan, Detroit

Employees: 1,100

Revenue: $2.7B

hether she’s helping to run Health Alliance Plan in Detroit, a $2.7-billion nonprofit organization, or donating coats to students, there’s no denying Margaret Anderson’s desire to improve the lives of those she encounters.

“The meaning of this kind of work comes, for me, when you can actually connect with people,” says Anderson, vice president, chief of sales, and marketing officer of Health Alliance Plan. “I tell my team all the time: The value of our interactions is what really differentiates us as an organization — interactions with each other, our members, and providers. It makes all the difference in the world.”

As a leader at Health Alliance Plan, a subsidiary of Henry Ford Health, Anderson embraces a role in which she finds purpose and opportunities for success.

“I didn’t envision an executive career. I envisioned myself being very successful, but more so in external sales, as

opposed to more of a corporate role,” she says. “My grandfather was a general surgeon and … I was fascinated that he was motivated and got himself into medical school, and raised eight kids. Just listening to his story and his passion around it, I’ve always been drawn to health care.”

Anderson began her career in pharmaceutical sales in Cincinnati, but moved back to Buffalo, N.Y., to be closer to family as well as to work with her father in his diagnostic imaging business.

“Then one day I came home and my little 7-year-old girl was crying because I missed her play at school. I realized it probably wasn’t the right time in my career to be (traveling so much),” she says. “So I stopped that role (with my father) and I started my own MRI business with two radiologists in Buffalo.

“It was great because I was home with my daughter and could do all the soccer pickups and go get Starbucks and

pick her up from school and all that in-between.”

As her daughter grew up, Anderson sold her interest in the company and plunged into the health insurance industry. In her 25-plus years of experience, Anderson’s career hasn’t been linear, and she encourages young professionals to be willing to do the same.

“Go sideways instead of always trying to go up,” she says. “The more you can learn across (multiple) lines of business, instead of trying to get that next promotion, the better you can be.”

Whether she was listening to her grandfather, running her own business, or helping clients, Anderson says she was always learning and gathering experiences to help her become a more compassionate and efficient leader.

Most of all, she says, she likes caring for people.

“A big differentiator for HAP and Henry Ford is that we’re very much embedded in the community,” Anderson says. “We’re very committed to social determinants of health, making sure we’re not just thinking about somebody’s blood pressure or their disease state, but also looking at what’s happening around them, things like housing and food insecurity.”

With that mission in mind, HAP recently donated winter clothing, along with washers and dryers, to several Detroit Public Schools where teachers were taking students’ clothes home to wash them because their parents didn’t have access to laundry facilities.

“When you’re making that connection and you can see the impact of the work you’re doing, it’s just so important,” Anderson notes. “I’ll never forget one little girl who said to me, ‘I’m going to be a doctor,’ and I said, ‘That’s awesome,’ and she said, ‘But my mom said it’s too expensive and I shouldn’t do it,’ and I said, ‘Do you know there’s a thing called scholarships?’”

That fifth-grade girl left with hope after learning about scholarships.

“A second kid came up to me and he said, ‘Can I talk to you for a second?’ ” Anderson recalls. “He said, ‘Do you know how cold it is when you go to school and the only thing you have is a hoodie?’ I said, ‘I can imagine that it’s very cold,’ and he said, ‘I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart (for providing a winter coat).’ I had tears in my eyes.”

To further its impact, HAP recently signed a joint venture with CareSource, a nonprofit health care plan in Dayton, Ohio. Anderson helped lead the team in the process and says she’s excited about the partnership.

"They bring the scale of some for-profit carriers, but they have a mission very similar to HAP’s,” she says.

And it’s the mission-focused work she wants people to know about.

“Health insurance can be seen as the ‘bad guys’ of corporate America,” Anderson says. “We really aren’t. It’s about supporting the health and wellness in the community, and when you see that in action, it just kind of connects all the dots together. I want to break down that stigma and think about how to position health insurance in a different light.”

—CalliNewberry

t was the last job she’d thought she’d ever do. Now it’s the first thing she thinks about each day.

“We’re a family-owned business. I’m the second generation; my stepfather started the company 45 years ago, and my mother joined not long after that,” says Rebecca Bray, president of Epitec, a technology-focused staffing agency in Southfield. “As a young person, I never wanted to work for my parents. I didn’t even know what they did. I didn’t care. I did some internships elsewhere.”

Then, one summer, Bray stepped into the Epitec office as an intern — and she hasn’t looked back. She joined the agency in 1998 after graduating from Central Michigan University and is now serving as its president.

“I love it. My husband thinks I’m a little crazy because I wake up excited every day to go to work,” Bray says. “I can’t wait to get to work. I love it.”

As president, Bray’s focus is on growing the company while improving its leaders, including herself. She says she’s led hundreds of team members to promotions within Epitec, but she’ll never forget the first.

“It was the first time we got to a size where I had so much going on, and I had mentored and developed someone who was working with me,” she says. “Coming from a small business, we didn’t have a lot of management at the time. So the first person under me that was actually promoted to a manager was one of my proudest moments.”

That was in 2006, and the woman’s name was Angela. Although she no longer works with the company, she and Bray still keep in touch.

That’s what it’s all about, Bray maintains — the people and the relationships formed. While Epitec’s primary function is connecting employers and employees, Bray would say it’s so much more.

“It’s really about our community and our neighbors, and how we can create sustainability in career progression,” she says. “One of our differentiators and one of the things that has really helped us grow, especially starting out as a very small, minority-owned business, has been our training and development of other people.”

She calls it “creating career paths.”

“We look for people who support technology jobs, whether it’s in IT or engineering. I know you’ve heard there’s just not enough people for the jobs, so for Epitec, it’s also about partnering with community organizations like Vista Maria Community Social Services (in Dearborn Heights) and putting programs together to help generate a path for workforce development.”

On the industry front, Bray’s been involved with the Michigan Council of Women in Technology for more than 15 years, which has as its mission to make Michigan the No. 1 state for girls and women in technology. Together with these partners, Epitec is developing and creating new opportunities within the sector.

As she’s led others, Bray says she’s also learned a lot about herself as a leader.

“One of the things that really has helped me in my growth is self-awareness and wanting to be a better, kinder

Bray

Epitec, Southfield

Employees: 1,500

Revenue: $166.7M

human being,” she says. “I think that comes from hearing feedback and understanding that feedback comes in all different forms.”

She shares an example of unexpected feedback.

At her 10-year work anniversary party, Bray says, her team put together a video presentation in honor of her career — but halfway through, they played rock music with a picture of a bull in a China shop. She says it was meant to be funny, but she realized it might’ve held a deeper meaning.

At the time she was proud of her “go-getter” mentality, but the subliminal feedback said otherwise.

“I was getting some other feedback from folks about how I was communicating, which as a strong individual contributor was fine,” Bray says. “But to grow and develop more, it didn’t matter if I was right; it mattered how I was delivering my message.”

She says it was a “wake-up call,” and she’s since become more aware of and focused on improving her leadership skills.

“I think, as humans, we naturally want to hold on to things. There’s a saying in my family: ‘That’s it,’ ” Bray says. “When (I was) growing up, whenever there was an argument or disagreement, we’d say, ‘that’s it’ — like get it all out, and now that’s it. We draw the line, and now you can never bring that up again. I think you’ve got to learn to give yourself the grace to say ‘that’s it,’ and move on and don’t look back, especially when you hit the bumpy times.”

Perhaps that ability to move forward is what allows Bray to enjoy each workday, and why she’s not looking toward the end of her career. “I have a lot of friends getting to the point like, ‘How many years do I have left?’ ” she says. “I feel like I’m nowhere near (retirement).”

— Calli Newberry

Buchzeiger

President and CEO

Lucerne International, Auburn Hills

Employees: 30

Revenue:NA

ary Buchzeiger’s career has evolved from bartender and nanny to personal trainer, “serial entrepreneur” (her words), and CEO of an auto supplier. Her college training spanned eight years and included mechanical engineering at GMI in Flint (General Motors Institute, now Kettering University) in 1992, occasional classes at Lansing Community College, and earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield.

Today, she’s president and CEO of Lucerne International Inc. in Auburn Hills — a global supplier of chassis, propulsion, and body structural components that lists ZF Industries, Harley Davidson, and Meritor among its customers — and its sister company, Lucerne Forging Inc.

Beyond the office, in February she earned a Global Executive Master’s “tri-degree” from TRIUM, a program that blends educational components from New York

University’s Stern School of Business, the London School of Economics, and the HEC Paris Business School.

After two semesters co-opting at GMI, Buchzeiger relays, she knew it wasn’t her thing. “I was going to transfer to Michigan State University,” she says, but she ended up taking classes at Lansing Community College. While tending bar in East Lansing and working as a nanny for the bar's owner, she founded her first business.

“When desktop publishing came out, I saw a need for marketing. So I started my own little marketing company,” Buchzeiger recalls. “I was more interested in working than school.”

Meanwhile, her father started Lucerne International in 1993, and Buchzeiger went to work for him in 1998. She started out as a laborer, assembling parts, while she finished her bachelor’s degree at Lawrence Tech. An amateur boxer in her early 20s, she also bought a kickboxing gym and was a personal trainer for a couple years.

Her father and a partner started another company, called Sure Solutions, in 2003, “but they hadn’t done anything with it, and his business was all domestic. I saw opportunities to make inroads offshore, so I started some relationships in Taiwan and China, went out and sold my first program, and took our business international. In 2007, I combined the two businesses and, when my father retired in 2008, I bought him out and took over.”

What advice does she have for women in business?

“I think women experience a larger degree of trying to achieve work/life balance,” she says. “My advice is that there really is no such thing, so don’t look at it that way. Sometimes your family will take more of your time, and sometimes your career will need more. You have to make choices and be comfortable with those choices, and not let society dictate that you have to be a perfect mom and a perfect employee or executive at the same time.”

Buchzeiger says young women, including herself earlier in her professional life, often fear that asking for help or advice is a weakness. “It’s very important to have a great network and support system around you, and one thing that has enabled my success has been nurturing and growing my network,” she reveals. “Reach out and ask for help, especially from other women, and grow your network. We can’t do things by ourselves, on an island, so one of the most important things is for women to support each other. Our industry has seen a lot of improvement in the development of women, but we still have a long way to go.”

Buchzeiger also credits her success to the support of and examples set by her parents.

“My father was an important mentor, as was my mother, who was a very hard worker. I watched my father quit General Motors when I was in the third grade, and watched him and my mother work really hard to grow a business. I was very fortunate to experience firsthand what a good work ethic looks like.”

She also received regular advice from the executive support group Vistage, a CEO coaching and peer advisory organization. “I belong to a local chapter, and it’s a wonderful organization that helps C-level executives support one another,” she says. “The chair of that group was Richard Best, a retired GKN CEO. He came to me at a really important time, when my father was retiring. I had big shoes to fill, and Richard and the Vistage team provided a really great support system.”

In December 2022, Lucerne acquired Morgan Machining, a woman-owned shop in Auburn Hills, and is bringing machining work back from China. As part of the move, Buchzeiger is raising funds to build a new hot aluminum forging facility in North America, potentially in Michigan. She predicts more onshoring down the road.

In addition, Buchzeiger is a founding member of the CEO Coalition for Change, and an active member of the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council and Inforum. She also serves on the board of the Detroit Regional Chamber, MICHAuto, and the Automotive Hall of Fame.

She praises her husband, a former professional boxer, for being “an amazing support system at home” and helping to raise their three teenage children while she travels around the world growing her business.

—GaryWitzenburg

t was 2019, and Elaine Coffman had spent more than 15 years with a large insurance broker where she specialized — and was a leading force — in the automotive industry. She also enjoyed success as a shareholder and business owner.

And then it all came to a crashing end.

“We sold the company to a publicly traded firm and the margin requirements went from 10 percent to 35 percent,” Coffman says. “When that happens, when you lose 25 cents of what you use to pay your people and take care of your clients, it changes the way you work.

“As hard as it was to leave a firm that I had previously been a shareholder with, I left an entire book of business. It was a huge risk for me to do that. I basically had to rebuild everything,” she says.

To say Coffman also landed on her feet is a tad of an understatement. Today, as shareholder and president of the Michigan operation for Lockton Cos., she leads the expansion in the state for the world’s largest privately held, independent insurance broker.

“That’s what sets Lockton apart. There’s been tons of mergers and acquisitions in our business, and of the top 20 firms, we’re the only one that’s privately held. Now, everyone else is publicly traded or private-equity owned, with high margins,” Coffman says.

Since 2019, when Lockton Cos. established a Michigan presence, Coffman has opened two additional offices. The company now has a prominent presence in Birmingham, Grand Rapids, and downtown Detroit; the Detroit office relocated and expanded just last year.

In 2022 alone, Coffman increased revenue by some 40 percent, while almost doubling her staff to nearly 70 people. She also boasts the highest client retention rate in the industry, surpassing all other insurance companies in Michigan.

“Because of all the mergers and acquisitions, there’s a lot of people who miss the privately held environment, and we’ve been able to recruit a tremendous amount of talent and clients that are out there, through COVID-19 and through a lot of compliance and just pressure at work,” she explains.

“They’ve wanted to change brokers, even in the midst of that, because (clients) need more help. So it’s the combination of having the talent, with capacity and clients being out there who aren’t happy.”

It all adds up to a stunning success story for Lockton Cos. — and, in particular, for Coffman, who breaks it all down into a nutshell: “We haven’t grown from just taking business from one of our competitors. We’ve grown from taking business from all of our competitors.”

When it comes to offering advice to young women

Coffman Elaine

who are contemplating a career in insurance — or anywhere, for that matter — and dealing with resistance or criticism, Coffman offers some sage wisdom.

“I call it the coffee table analogy. For everything that someone says to you, instead of letting it hit you directly and reacting, let it hit (an imaginary) coffee table in front of you. There are things you might let hit that coffee table that you don’t even want to pick up.”

Things like gratuitous insults, for instance, or unhelpful negativity, she suggests.

“But there are other things that maybe you want to pick up, like a compliment or a point you can learn that will add value as you grow. Or it might be a criticism you

need to pick up and own,” she says.

“I like the analogy because I think a lot of women in the workplace just take in everything, and we need to have a way of putting a barrier in between, so that we can decide how we want to react. This allows people to be honest with you, but it also allows you to control how you react.”

She says confidence plays a significant role in any calculation, and adds a final, important admonition: “You’ve got to be willing to bet on yourself. Don’t take risks because they're scary; if you believe you can do it, take the risk.”

— Tom Murray

Megan Crespi

Senior Executive Vice President and COO Comerica Bank

Employees: 4,500 in Michigan, 7,500

Revenue: $3.5B

Total

ow does a psychology major end up as the COO of a bank? By listening to an accounting firm recruiter while still in college. At least, that’s how Megan Crespi did it.

“On the advice (of) a recruiter from a Big Six accounting firm, I went through a technical boot camp and the rest is history,” says Crespi, COO of Comerica Bank since January. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1995, just as people started worrying about what might happen to the world’s computers when the calendar flipped from 1999 to 2000.

“Prior to Y2K, everyone thought all the computers in the world were going to crash at midnight on Jan. 1, 2000,” recalls Crespi, who was born in New York but moved with her family to the west side of metro Detroit when she was young. “There weren’t enough computer science majors coming out of school at the time, so the recruiter thought it was something I should consider.”

Crespi, who attended Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, started her corporate journey at Price Waterhouse before its merger with Coopers & Lybrand (today PwC). Over the course of four and a half years, she worked in training, application development, business intelligence, and data warehousing.

She spent a year with the MicroStrategy business intelligence company, working on the General Motors account, then jumped to the automaker in late 2000 as manager of business-to-customer and customer relationship management systems for North America. By the time she left GM nine years later, she was global director of aftermarket information technology.

While at the automaker, Crespi managed the implementation of the General Motors Retail Process Vision and Strategy, and was responsible for the application development and deployment of GM-Dealer systems on a global basis, driving global common processes supported by global common systems.

By that time, Crespi had tacked a master’s degree in information systems management from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh onto her bootcamp certificate.

Following her time at GM, Crespi served for more than a decade at Ally, which, as GMAC, had spun off from GM to become its captive auto financing arm. At Ally, she was director of strategic initiatives, chief information officer for auto finance, and then chief technology officer for the entire enterprise.

While there, she was responsible for technology supporting the Ally Dealer Financial Services business, including Consumer Credit, SmartAuction (an online vehicle remarketing platform), Sales Performance, and Dealership Online Services.

Crespi says she thought she would retire from Ally, but then Comerica Bank called with the proverbial offer she couldn’t refuse.

She joined Comerica as chief operations and technology officer in March 2020, just as the bank was starting to transform itself into a more digitally focused institution — which was right in the technologist’s wheelhouse.

In her first few weeks at the bank, COVID-19 hit, and she oversaw the transition of 7,700 employees who made the change from working in the office to working from home while implementing and executing several programs across all operations to ensure Comerica’s success throughout the pandemic.

Crespi has since launched several technologies at the bank, including mobile apps to provide a more frictionless experience for treasury management and Direct Express customers, as well as a redesign and relaunch of Comerica’s personal banking app.

Today, she’s overseeing two major transformations in Comerica’s corporate real estate portfolio, including moving 2,000 Michigan employees to a state-of-the-art facility in Farmington Hills and the construction of the new Business and Innovation Hub in Frisco, Texas.

Her Livonia-based work includes technology, cybersecurity, real estate, bank branches, management offices, customer contact centers, interactive teller machines, standard ATMs, the bank’s website, and mobile apps.

“A typical day would be great,” Crespi says with a chuckle. “It’s really a 24/7 job. My phone is never more than an arm’s reach away. I have days where we’re responding to issues we weren’t anticipating, (and) when something went bump in the night, (we) marshal all of the resources available to restore services.”

In addition to dealing with emergencies, Crespi is looking toward the future of Comerica and its continued digitization.

“A fair amount of my week is spent thinking about what we’re doing today and what we need to be doing in the future, especially from the digital perspective. Since adopting ‘the customer (is) first’ as our first core value, our goal is to be more proactive in communicating with customers about when elements of the bank’s services are unavailable and what the options are.”

In what little spare time she has — Crespi and her husband have two college-age kids — Crespi works as a member of the Michigan Council Women in Technology Foundation, which strives to inspire and grow women in technology. “There aren’t that many girls in STEM fields, and I’m actively involved in changing that.”

—TimKeenan

nly a few minutes into a conversation with Yasmeen Jasey about the business of banking, she’s asked to comment about what seems to be a confusing message: The mission statement for Citizens Bank, which is “to help our customers, colleagues and communities.”

It’s solid, straight down the middle, and reassuring. Like a banker. But it seems to be in sharp conflict with something else Jasey believes: That there must be an emphasis on things like “the importance of soft skills,” working with clients “outside their loan,” and even empathy.

It’s not exactly the description of a traditional, prototypical banker — but that’s the point.

“I think we get caught up in this idea of pedigree, and that things have to be a particular way, but one of the reasons I came to Citizens is because I saw the opportunity to look beyond that,” Jasey says.

“Communities, customers, and colleagues, if we stand behind that, and we elevate them, then we create diversity of thought. We become the organization that stands out, that innovates, that does the right thing. And then if we add the soft skills and the empathy, and the dialogue and collaboration, and giving people purpose, you’re a force that can’t be reckoned with.

“You’re going to do well in the future. We want to be operating in an innovative environment. You can’t be innovative if everybody thinks the same, if everyone behaves the same.”

For Jasey, being innovative and flourishing well beyond the usual comfort zones began long before she took her first job.

“I grew up in London, Ontario, in an environment where we didn’t have a lot,” she shares. “My parents didn’t come from a lot of money. My dad worked on the line. My mom did odd seamstress jobs. But we had a 1,100-square-foot home that was constantly full of love, full of people, full of family,” she says.

Jasey was the youngest of four children, by 11 years, and considers herself a hardworking and accomplished student. She says one of the most important lessons of her life was learned not at school, but in her home.

“My sister was a young mom. Her husband left when she was 25, and they had three kids. She had to go back to school because she only had a high school (diploma). So I watched her go back to school as a single mom and get a degree, and eventually her MBA.”

It was a life-changing moment for Jasey, who was determined she wasn’t going to follow her sister down the same path.

“I realized, at that point, that I really wanted to be financially independent,” she confides. “I wanted to be self-sufficient, regardless of what career choice I made. I needed to be financially independent.”

That decision, and Jasey’s ability to execute it as she progressed through her career, imbued her with a sense of confidence that proved to be invaluable. “The one

thing that I think drove me to get to where I am is when someone told me I couldn’t do something or I wasn’t qualified, it gave me an opportunity to kind of dig in and figure out a way to get it done. I just told myself I could do it, and I needed to find a path to get there.”

Jasey clearly found not just one path, but many — all while striving to successfully achieve the always-delicate balance between her career and her family.

“I’ve always known my priorities, and it allowed me to manage my time appropriately,” she says. “I never felt like I had to compromise. I love being a mom, but I also love my work family. And what I realized right out of the gate is I had to establish boundaries right at the beginning. So I prioritize family first, hands down. If something got in

the way of my family, I pivoted my career.”

All of which makes Jasey a wise and valuable source of information and inspiration for young women who are just at the beginning of their careers.

“I would tell them to be true to your authentic self, and if you are, you can accomplish anything. And even though some moments will be difficult, you need to embrace them, because you have the tools that are unique to you to actually overcome those obstacles.

“Everyone has fears,” Jasey adds, “but if you’re happy and comfortable with yourself, you know those fears are normal, right? And so you can’t let anybody or anything stand in your way.”

— Tom Murray

Jacqui Spicer

President Baker College, Royal Oak Employees: 1,002

Revenue: NA

acqui Spicer took a nontraditional route to the president’s office of Baker College in Royal Oak. She started climbing the corporate ladder in the auto industry before moving to the education sector.

Spicer grew up in a small Michigan town playing team sports. She says her experiences gave her essential teamwork, leadership, and perseverance skills, which came into play during her climb later in life.

“My love for learning extended beyond the confines of the classroom, as I recognized that real-world experiences and interactions with others were also rich sources of knowledge and growth,” Spicer says. “My childhood and early educational experiences blended independence, physical activities, socializing, and a genuine thirst for knowledge.”

Spicer admits to being more drawn to playing sports than pure academic pursuits as a youth, but says she still had an enthusiasm for learning.

“I later understood the value of a collegiate journey, knowing that (in order) to accomplish my career goals,

obtaining degrees would play a role in my success and future ability to influence the higher-ed world,” she says.

As a student, her academic career started with a bachelor’s degree from Walsh College in Troy. She then earned a master’s in management information systems from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Ultimately, she earned a doctorate in education, focusing on organizational change and leadership, from the University of Southern California.

Spicer spent the first 11 years of her working career at automotive glass supplier Guardian Industries in Auburn Hills, where she was manager of operations, accounting, and information technology.

“With a wealth of opportunities in manufacturing, I gained valuable experience and honed my skills in operations, technology, and accounting,” Spicer says. “This period of my career also afforded me the privilege of traveling extensively around the world and working on diverse projects that broadened my perspective.

“While my work in the manufacturing industry was

fulfilling, I felt a growing desire to make a more significant impact or difference in my professional endeavors. This longing led me to pursue higher education and explore opportunities in the academic realm. I began working at the University of Michigan and eventually found my way to Baker College.”

Spicer was director of information technology at U-M for two years before coming to Baker College in 2012 as chief information officer, a position she held for three years.

In 2016, she was named COO of Baker College. She stayed in that role for almost seven years, recently overseeing the creation of the institution’s new, stateof-the-art, seven-story flagship campus in downtown Royal Oak, which began welcoming students in January 2023.

In September 2022, Spicer was appointed the first female president in Baker College’s 112-year history.

“Baker College (has) provided a platform for me to engage with students and utilize my expertise to help positively shape their educational experiences,” she says. “These experiences have allowed me to grow professionally and personally, fostering a desire to create a lasting impact and contribute to the development of individuals and communities.”

She says Baker’s niche as a boutique college with a strong emphasis on individualized attention and student-centered education is what initially drew her to the school.

“By being a part of Baker College, I’ve been able to contribute to the unique environment that fosters student success. The college serves as a catalyst for transformation, providing a supportive community and resources that enable students to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. It’s a place where students find the necessary guidance, encouragement, and opportunities to excel academically and personally.”

Spicer says that, as a woman, she encountered various obstacles in her climb up the corporate and academic ladders.

“While I was fortunate enough to travel extensively (at Guardian), I also had to navigate cultural differences and societal expectations that required adjustments for effectiveness,” she notes. “The overall perception and treatment of individuals who identify as women in the workplace have improved significantly over the years, but challenges related to gender still persist.

“My journey hasn’t been void of struggles, but I’m glad to have persisted and prevailed through pressure and demands. (Even) more important, I’m able to use my leadership position as an example to our students of how your personal background, gender, and other variables aren’t necessarily determining factors on how successful you’ll be.”

She also deploys her leadership skills as an active member of local nonprofit boards, including McLaren Oakland and Lighthouse of Oakland County.

“I’ve had a unique path that allowed me to arrive at Baker, but with persistence, a positive mindset, and an earnest desire to help students reach and realize their potential, I’m committed to using my platform as one of influence.”

— Tim Keenan

ne common attribute among successful executives is a high level of energy, and Jaymi Wilson is no exception. The youngest of nine kids, she was that child in school with an “obnoxiously long list of things” in which she was involved.

“I did a little bit of everything — sports, student council, debate team, volunteer organizations. Pretty much anything to be active with other students outside of academia,” Wilson says. “My No. 1 sport was basketball, which I still love today. I even played as an adult, until tearing my ACL at about 40.”

With a talent for math and science, Wilson soon learned she also exceeded at solving problems. She attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (graduating cum laude) in 1998, and an MBA (magna cum laude and Outstanding Academic Achievement Award) in 2005 while working at Visteon Automotive, which she joined in 1998 as a product design engineer.

She moved to manufacturing engineering in 2000, and from there to a product line business analyst role in 2001.

“I was in an excellent college graduate rotational program out of college, which gave me a great view of the business through cross-functional eyes, and I soon realized that I liked solving business problems even more than technical problems,” she reveals.

In 2010, though, she left the corporate world to help care for her parents and two toddler-age daughters. “During this time, I wanted to be available to not only provide the support required during these bookends of life, but I wanted to be able to spend valuable time with (my family) during those precious stages,” she says.

In 2013, she rejoined the workforce as global manager, product development at Gentherm and, once there, moved up to business development global manager in 2014; medical division vice president and general manager in 2017; senior vice president of strategy, marketing, and corporate communications in 2018; senior vice president global sales, marketing, and corporate communications in 2021; and to her current position one year later.

Wilson completed an executive education mergers and acquisition course at Harvard Business School in 2020, and has been involved in the American Heart Association’s STEM Goes Red Chair program since 2018. She chaired the organization’s Detroit event the past two years.

“I didn't carve out this career path,” she says. “As opportunities presented themselves, if they were exciting and something I could learn and grow with while bringing value from my previous role, I said yes. I tried to have a lot of diverse experiences, which made me versatile and has served me well. There are few parts of the business in which I haven't been involved.”

Over the years, Wilson has learned that when she was the only woman — or, in many cases, the youngest person — in the room, her unique perspective was valuable. “You need

Wilson

Senior Vice President and General Manager, North America Automotive, Global Sales and Marketing Gentherm Inc., Northville Township

Employees: 14,000+ (globally)

Revenue: $1.2 billion

to have your homework done, but so does everyone else. And part of that homework is making sure I understand the point I want to make and how to articulate it, and knowing who my audience is so that they’re picking up what I'm laying down.”

Like most successful leaders, Wilson has benefited from many mentors throughout her career. “The dialogue going both ways is powerful and allows you to take questions out of your head and sort through them to make a decision,” she says. “You can have multiple informal mentor relationships. People talk about building a personal board of directors, which makes sense because you’ll have different mentors in different parts of your career.”

She especially enjoys mentoring young people, including students. “Whether in my community, my family, or my team, I see mentorship as key to enabling people to maximize what they can bring to the table and accomplish. My leadership style isn’t telling the team what to do, but what needs to be accomplished, then giving them the tools and helping them figure out how to accomplish it.”

Another common question involves trying to achieve work/life balance. With two now-teenage daughters and a

husband who travels quite a bit as a professional pilot, Wilson suggests there’s no such thing.

“I prefer to think of it as work/life integration,” she explains. “It’s dynamic, and there is no perfect equation.” With her daughters involved in a lot of extracurricular activities, she seeks to prioritize her family first. “I think through what I need to accomplish each week, then drive my calendar to accomplish what I want to (do) across all my points of life. I believe that has allowed me to optimize between work and family.”

Given her own experience, she believes leaders should understand that their team members also have families and other outside responsibilities.

“You need to respect their needs. Whether someone is a parent or maybe a caregiver, they’re navigating all these things as well as their jobs,” Wilson notes. “I make sure they get the work done but also that they can manage what they have going on outside of work. Then people have a lot of satisfaction, and their engagement levels go up because (we’re) embracing that whole spectrum of their responsibilities.”

—GaryWitzenburg

Mulligan Rhapsody

Famed architect Tom Doak is bringing back one of northern Michigan’s most celebrated golf courses.

BY NORM SINCLAIR | BETH PRICE

After enduring a 15-year purgatory in Grand Traverse County, the High Pointe Golf Club — once one of the state’s most iconic golf attractions — is experiencing an unlikely revival.

Things got so bad at the beloved tract that the front nine holes had been plowed over to make way for a hops farm to support the state’s thirst for craft beer, while the rest of the course had become overgrown and unplayable.

For links fans, High Pointe wasn’t just another top golf course in northern Michigan that was a casualty of the global financial crisis when it closed in 2008. By the time it was shuttered, it had received numerous state and national accolades since its opening in 1989, including being cited as the 79th best course in the country as part of Golf magazine’s list of the Top 100 national courses.

It also was notable for golf aficionados because it was the first course created by an unknown 26-yearold neophyte course designer and new Traverse City resident, Tom Doak.

Over time, Doak has carved a career reshaping landscapes all over the world and has earned acclaim as one of the best and most influential golf course architects in modern times, all while never leaving his home base: his Renaissance Golf Design firm in Traverse City.

With a $24 million commitment from a Florida-based investor and passionate golfer, Rod Trump no relation to the former president — Doak is

IN THE ROUGH

recreating a new version of High Pointe by incorporating the original back nine holes into an 18-hole layout on 350 acres that span Acme and Whitewater townships, which Trump purchased adjacent to and south of the original High Pointe site.

Unlike the original, which was a daily fee course, the new High Pointe will be a private club with local, national, and international members when it reopens next summer.

“We have a business model that we believe is the best way to assure High Pointe will be there forever and ever, and is appreciated in a special way,” says Trump, a former tech entrepreneur, investor, and college golfer who says he became smitten with northern Michigan after spending the summer there two years ago.

“I fell in love with the people, I fell in love with 120 days of just spectacular weather — long days where the sun sets, at times, after 10 p.m. — and the proximity to water and sand dunes,” Trump says. “I thought what a well-kept secret, a spectacular area. I could really see myself spending a good portion of the year there.”

At first, his enthusiasm prompted him to make a pitch to buy a golf club in the Traverse City area. He was turned down.

As he continued the search, he learned of a parcel of rolling and hilly land off M-72 in Williamsburg at High Pointe, where Doak had developed his minimalism design principles of disturbing only as much dirt on a site as is necessary to allow the topography of the land to dictate the natural routing and flow of each hole.

That style, copied by golf architects the world over, has been polished and perfected by Doak over 30-plus years of designing and building world-class courses like Pacific Dunes on the Oregon coast, Ballyneal in Colorado, Tara Iti and Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand, Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania, and St. Patrick’s Links in the Republic of Ireland.

By Golf magazine’s count, Doak’s six courses on its list of the Top 100 courses in the world are second only to last century’s legendary British designer, Harry S. Colt, whose credits include 11 courses on the list.

Trump’s involvement with Doak and the High Pointe project came about as he was playing a round of golf at his home club, Pine Tree in Boynton Beach, Fla., in December 2021. His playing partner was Michigan golf professional Adam Schriber, a top teaching pro and director of instruction at LochenHeath Golf Club near Traverse City.

Schriber was aware of Trump’s failed attempt to buy a northern Michigan golf club. As they were putting out on the 12th green, Schriber mentioned listening to a podcast interview in which Doak discussed his interest in bringing back High Pointe so long as he could find a serious investor and partner.

Trump says he became so excited thinking about a possible opportunity with Doak that he couldn’t remember anything about the last six holes of that round with Schriber.

As soon as the game was over he hustled off the course, got his phone, and listened to the podcast. From there, he called a few friends in Michigan, including a member of Crystal Downs Country Club in Frankfort, where Doak is a member.

Six hours after his round of golf with Schriber, Trump tried reaching Doak. “I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t want to be like the guy who calls a girl for a date to the prom and she never calls back,” Trump reveals.

Instead, he sent an email. Two days later, he received a response from Doak that led to a meeting. In February 2022, after Trump secured an agreement to buy the land for the new golf club, Doak came aboard.

For Doak, getting a do-over — much less on his first course — is an opportunity none of his historic architect predecessors ever had. And it comes with a bonus: Those remaining holes of his original design, 10 through 15, are considered among the best string of holes he’s designed.

“The heart of the old golf course is what was left,” Doak says. “It hit me very hard when it closed, but I

Tom Doak tees off at the former and future site of the High Pointe Golf Club near Traverse City in 2021. At right, he surveys the construction site in early June. The course is set to open next summer.

was lucky that by then I had done Pacific Dunes and some of my other great courses, so it wasn’t like my best course closed.”

Doak has often described the hilly, rolling land at High Pointe as Pacific Dunes without the ocean.

He says High Pointe was special for two reasons. It was the first course he was hired to design and build after his apprenticeship working with the legendary architect Pete Dye, and it was also the only course on which he shaped all 18 greens himself.

“I got on the bulldozer and did them all,” he says. “I’ve done that maybe on one or two holes, or maybe five holes total, on other golf courses. But I didn’t have help back then so I had to do them all.”

Another reason for creating High Pointe was that Doak wanted to be close to home so that, as he got older, he would have a place to go out and play whenever he wanted. Now, he gets another shot at a home course.

When he designed the original High Pointe, the club’s then-owner briefly entertained the idea of creating a 27-hole course, with Doak mapping everything out, but only 18 holes materialized. Still, the architect says in planning the new course, he dug out the old map and routing plan.

“I thought I would have to change that map because I have more experience now and I think about golf a little differently than I did then, mainly about making courses more walkable, and getting the greens and tees as close as they can be,” he says. “So I thought the design plan from 1988 would have to be changed. I tried a couple other versions, but I couldn’t come up with anything better, so we’re putting the holes in the same place I was going to do 35 years ago.”

With the new layout, holes 10 through 15 on the old back nine will be numbers 8 and 9, along with 12 and 15, with two new holes added into that group. The original 18, the weakest hole on the old course, will be part of the new par-5, 16th hole. Holes 1 through 7 and 17 and 18 are new.

Partly due to inflation, Doak says the new layout will cost about $6.5 million, compared to $1.5 million when he built it the first time. He says half of the cost back then was installing the irrigation system. The

EAGLES NEST

When High Pointe closed, most of the front nine holes were converted to a hops farm. The new layout spans Acme and Whitewater townships.

new irrigation system will cost closer to $2.5 million, he says.

The completed course, along with a new clubhouse, restaurant, and bar, will bring in new tax revenue as it spreads out from its original Williamsburg site in Acme Township and into adjacent Whitewater Township.

“We’ve positioned the new clubhouse atop a ridge on the east of the property, providing tremendous views of the first seven holes and the 18th green, as well as (being) a good vantage point to take in northern Michigan’s magnificent sunsets,” Trump says.

He says his involvement with the restoration of his home course, Pine Tree Golf Club in Boynton Beach, along with a management position with the club, sparked his interest in owning his own club.

He admits he also was burned out in his previous career as a high-stakes angel investor.

“I had the good fortune at a young age to build a couple of (tech) companies and sell them as public companies. I did angel investing for seven years and then stepped away from that,” he says.

“The best angel investors in the world, when they do 10 deals, get their money back on three and try to cover their losses on the other six with one grand slam. I did well financially, but I never found that business to be fulfilling. I prefer to win incrementally, win every day, and get it right every day.”

Trump says he’s aware of the local following of High Pointe, and 50 to 60 memberships will go to area residents. He also plans to donate a couple

of foursomes each year that can be auctioned off to benefit local charities.

Meanwhile, for Doak, the short commute in his own car from his home down M-72 to High Pointe is a welcome one, compared to the multiple hours he spends on airplanes to complete some of his jobs around the world.

For example, while working on the three courses he designed in New Zealand, he said he visited the island nation 31 different times. “I travel for a living and design golf courses as a hobby,” he once joked with his son, Michael.

His other Michigan courses are Black Forest at Wilderness Valley in Gaylord, which opened in 1992; Lost Dunes, a private club that opened in Bridgman in 1999; and The Loop at Forest Dunes Golf Club in Roscommon.

After an ownership change, Black Forest fell on hard times and closed in 2018. Lost Dunes is flourishing with 300 members, while The Loop, as the name suggests, is Doak’s most innovative design — 36 holes playing to the same 18 greens. Both layouts, the Red and Black, opened in 2016 and are ranked by several national publications as among the best courses in the country.

Doak says while High Pointe gave him a chance to tap into his bottled-up ideas, he isn’t sweating all the details. And he’s fine with the fact that the former that front nine is still an active hops farm.

“I’ve been doing this for the last 30 years, so I’m more relaxed about it now. You don’t have to cram every idea you have into one golf course,” he says.

His approach to living near his home course also will be different.

“One of the things I learned from High Pointe the first time is once I’m done, it’s not really mine — it’s the membership’s course,” he says. “You can drive yourself crazy thinking they aren’t doing things right, or why are they doing it this way, or why are they moving the mowing line on the fairways. This time I’ll be a little more involved in management, to the extent I want to be, and I can enjoy it, too.”

GREEN ENVY

Drains and other mechanical systems like sprinkler pipes and heads are being installed at High Pointe. The irrigation system costs $2.5 million.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Fore Part

Renee Parsons credits the strong work ethic she learned growing up in Mount Pleasant with helping to build one of golf’s top equipment and apparel companies.

BY TOM MURRAY

Renee Parsons is the president and executive creative director of PXG Apparel, a thriving division of PXG. Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., it’s a global manufacturing company that designs, markets, and sells an extensive line of custom-fitted golf clubs and accessories.

“I love fashion and I love golf, and I felt there was a huge opportunity in the golf space to create fashion-forward designs that fit well, but are also flattering, edgy, and fun — especially for women,” Parsons says.

It may be hard to believe, but one of Parsons’ first jobs as a young girl growing up in Mount Pleasant wasn’t in the pro shop at a tony suburban golf course, but at a local restaurant, where she performed a task that haunts her to this day.

“They made me clean up the coney pans,” she practically shrieks, and then dissolves into laughter. “Back then you had to clean them by hand. It was all stuck and dried on the edges, so you had to get in there with your soapy water and your tools, and it didn’t smell very good. I can still smell it.”

As Parsons reflects on her upbringing, she explains she wasn’t so much spending her time dressing up dolls as she was being a tomboy.

“I grew up on Glenwood Drive, just a couple blocks away from Mount Pleasant High School, where I would eventually go,” Parsons recalls. “It was a fun neighborhood, with a lot of kids. Most of the kids my age at the time were boys, so I was a tomboy, running around with them on our bicycles and playing different games.”

But a strong work ethic was always an integral part of her upbringing.

“I certainly grew up in an entrepreneurial household,” she says. “My dad was a small-business person. He was his own boss. He ran restaurants and eventually some hotels, and got into real estate. One of his restaurants was The Pixie in Mount Pleasant, which my grandfather opened in 1945.”

Which is where Parsons toiled on those restaurant coney pans.

“I think my dad must have told my boss to treat me like everybody else,” Parsons laughs. “(My boss) didn’t go easy on me. But it taught me a lot of important lessons — certainly a work ethic, being part of a team, and no job is too big or too small.”

Parsons’ mother worked, too. “She was a stay-athome mom, but then she actually owned her own business for a time — which, funny enough, was a women’s apparel boutique. I worked there, too, when I was between 10 and 12 years old. Not as a sales associate, by any means, but I would help out.”

Parsons may well have caught the fashion bug while helping out at her mom’s store, but that wasn’t the path she followed right away.

“I was in high school when Junior Achievement started in our community,” she recalls. “I signed right up for that. I was the treasurer, and so it really taught me basic accounting, how to keep the books, and things like that.”

When it was time for Parsons to attend college, there really wasn’t a choice. “My dad and mom both went to Central Michigan University and so, honestly, the prevailing thought back then was, well, it’s a good school and you should go there. So it was more (because of) that than it was my decision.”

There were several advantages to staying local, she admits.

“My freshman year I lived at home, and I joined a sorority my sophomore year,” she says. “Then I moved into an apartment with friends and had a real college experience. At that time, my family opened some hotels and I worked in them and really found that exciting. I majored in hospitality and what they called commercial recreation, and then pursued a career in hospitality.”

Her career began in Chicago in 1991 and, for the next 10 years, Parsons worked her way up the corporate ladder at a series of large hospitality groups. In 2001, she returned to Michigan to oversee sales for six of her family’s hotels. In 2004 she was on the move again, to Scottsdale, to work for the Starwood Hotel Group.

Three years later, destiny stepped in when a friend asked her if she’d be interested in meeting a mutual friend on a blind date.

“I said, ‘Sure.’ I’m in sales, so meeting somebody is no big deal,” she says. “I did that every day. I was single, and I’d been on blind dates before. So I said, ‘Tell me about your friend,’ and (my friend) says, ‘His name is Bob Parsons. Just Google him.’ And I was like, what?”

Searching the internet, her first impression was memorable, to say the least. “There’s this picture of Bob sitting on a motorcycle, and there are these women next to him in GoDaddy tank tops. And I’m like, what the hell?”

Renee’s blind date was an ex-Marine, a Purple Heart recipient, and entrepreneur who in 1984 started

HOME ON THE RANGE

Michigan native Renee Parsons worked in the hospitality industry before eventually heading up PXG’s golf apparel line.

IRON OUT

Parson’s husband, Bob, launched Parsons Xtreme Golf, or PXG, in 2014. The company, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., secured more than 750 patents for its golf clubs and equipment.

ACTION LINE

his first business, Parsons Technology, in his basement. Ten years later, Parsons Technology was sold to Intuit Inc. for $64 million. From there, the entrepreneur launched what would soon become GoDaddy, an internet domain registrar and web hosting company.

“I found him highly engaging, super charming, and charismatic,” Renee reveals. “We had a great evening, and that’s where it started.”

GoDaddy was on its way to becoming the world’s largest domain registrar, thanks in large part to the unique commercials it began airing during a series of Super Bowls, all featuring an innovative and persuasive marketing technique — the GoDaddy girls wearing those tank tops.

“Obviously the marketing tactics frankly put them on the map,” Renee says matter-of-factly. “Love it or hate it, it worked.”

But Bob wanted to bolster other aspects of his company’s operations.

“They didn’t have a booking department so they could consolidate events,” Renee explains. “They were booking lots of meetings and events, but it was very ad hoc and not centralized. Bob convinced me to come over, and I organized the events and meetings department, and consolidated all the contracts for the company and its external vendors.

“From there, my role at GoDaddy continued to develop until eventually I took over all community giving within the company. In 2010, I established GoDaddy Cares, which was the community arm for all GoDaddy philanthropic gifting.”

After dating for three years, Renee and Bob were married in the fall of 2009, and their union seemed to have an immediate impact on the success of the digital company.

From 2009 to 2010, GoDaddy’s sales increased by 25 percent, to $947 million, and its sales projection for

2011 was $1.1 billion, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sensing it was a good time to sell, Bob unloaded a majority stake in GoDaddy to a group of private equity firms in a deal valued at $2.3 billion in July 2011.

“He still kept a stake, but he got out of the day-today running of it,” Renee says.

That meant her husband had some time on his hands — but not for long.

The man who unabashedly describes himself as an incurable golf nut purchased The Golf Club Scottsdale in 2013, followed soon after by the acquisition of the adjoining 223-acre Sierra Reserve.

He and Renee, who live in Scottsdale, promptly expanded what had been one clubhouse and an 18-hole golf course into Scottsdale National Golf Club, a private, invitation-only retreat with two clubhouses, 45 holes, and all the expected amenities, including fine dining, various spa experiences, and luxurious accommodations.

Excelling at the game itself proved another challenge for Bob. Frustrated because he couldn’t find a set of clubs that felt comfortable in his hands, he launched Parsons Xtreme Golf, better known as PXG, with a specific mandate to “design and develop the finest golf clubs ever played” — along with a blank check to ensure he got the results he wanted.

While Bob and his team secured more than 750 patents to create what they maintain are the best possible golf clubs and equipment, Renee focused on developing and marketing a golf apparel line.

“From 2012 to 2018, I was project managing various construction and design ventures simultaneously, which included Scottsdale National, as well as personal properties in Scottsdale, Hawaii, and Colorado,” she says. “As these projects wrapped up, I decided to establish the PXG Apparel and Accessories lines, to accompany PXG Equipment.

“The following and the passion for the brand was already so strong, and people loved the logo,” she says. “We already did headwear, and that was highly successful. We knew PXG wasn’t a flash in the pan, and wasn’t going anywhere, so there was definitely

an opportunity we saw in expanding the brand into soft goods.”

Still, it took some time for the apparel line to gain traction. “When we started, we virtually zeroed out,” she says. “I mean, revenue was less than $2 million. But then in those early years, we basically doubled our revenue, year after year.”

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, the Parsons were concerned, like every business, that stay-athome orders and other restrictions would affect their revenue and operations.

“Golf actually took off even more,” Parsons asserts. “We sold direct on our website, and people loved what we were doing. So we doubled our revenue again in those years.”

In 2022, PXG Apparel sales jumped by more than 50 percent from the previous year, outpacing growth in the golf apparel industry — largely driven by its line of women’s apparel.

PXG currently has 23 brick-and-mortar stores in the country, including on West Maple Road in Troy, but Renee is most proud of the foundation she and Bob formed in 2012.

“After exiting GoDaddy, it was an organic transition for me to establish The Bob and Renee Parsons Foundation with my husband. We had the contacts and the ability to give and make a difference in a significant way.

“Our goal was to reach economically disadvantaged and underserved populations, as well as marginalized communities and causes (that are) often overlooked or underfunded by mainstream philanthropy. To this day, we still support most of the organizations that we established relationships with during that time.”

Since its inception, the foundation has given away almost $275 million and provided some 500 grants. The organization also works to assist critically wounded veterans.

Not too bad for a young kid who earned her chops scouring coney pans way back when.

“I think back to my days of working at The Pixie as one of the greatest learning experiences. It instilled in me a strong work ethic and laid the foundation for how I’ve moved forward as a professional throughout my career.

“So the short answer is yes,” she continues, “I certainly attribute my work ethic to growing up a Michigander and the responsibilities, discipline, and accountability that my family instilled in me at a young age.

“Just being surrounded by people who are honest and hard-working really shaped my perspective on how I communicate in business. I take this wherever I go and into any business venture I go into, and I’m continuing to work because I love it and I’m passionate about what I do.”

Renee Parsons serves as president and executive creative director of PXG Apparel. The 2023 summer line, as shown by two fashion models, includes apparel, bags, totes, and accessories.

Spirit Proof

How a distiller and a brewer, both located in northern Michigan, moved out of their respective lanes to collaborate on what may be the first vodka infused with natural fruit.

BY R.J. KING | BETH PRICE

Plenty of distillers have made the leap to produce craft beer, and more manufacturers of spirits offer home-brewed ale. But what happens when a distiller and a brewer join forces to produce a one-of-a-kind vodka?

What began as a conversation between employees at Short’s Brewing Co. in Bellaire in early 2022, based on feedback from customers, led to the creation of Soft Parade Vodka. In what may be a first for the alcohol industry, the spirit — infused with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries grown in Michigan — came about through a partnership with Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville.

The two northern Michigan businesses have collaborated on various projects over the years, such as sharing barrels to create different brew flavors, but they’d never before attempted to produce vodka infused with real fruit. Short’s Brewing, founded by Joe Short in 2004 — he began making craft beer while attending Western Michigan University — carved out space in the marketplace by using natural ingredients over artificial additives.

His Soft Parade beer, named after a song by the rock band The Doors, was an instant hit. As the business grew and more beers and more locations were added, a friendly relationship was developed with Iron Fish Distillery. As the collaborators discussed their plans to bring forward Soft Parade Vodka, an immediate challenge was meeting industry standards.

“Something consumers may not know about vodka is that by federal regulation, it cannot be sweet,” says Richard Anderson, co-owner of Iron Fish Distillery. “Vodka must have less than 2.5 brix of sugar (each 1 degree brix is equivalent to 1 percent sugar concentration when measured at 20 degrees centigrade).

“Since both companies had no interest in using flavoring (aka flavored vodka) to get around the rule, the technical challenge was to impart the fruit flavor of Soft Parade Beer without making the vodka too sweet.”

From there, the respective brewing and distilling teams of both companies embarked on an exploration of all the variables.

On the production and technical side of Soft Parade Vodka, the specialty ingredients of Soft Parade Beer, namely wheat and rye, were featured as the base distillate for the vodka, using grain grown by Michigan farmers.

STILL LIFE

Sarah and Richard Anderson from Iron Fish Distillery in Thompsonville, and Kerry Lynch from Short’s Brewery in Bellaire, worked with their respective teams to begin development of Soft Parade Vodka in early 2022. The liquor is infused with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries.

Then, Short’s Brewing shared its source of real fruit puree with Iron Fish to infuse the 100 percent concentrate and clarified fruit into the vodka. From there, the distiller naturally chill-filtered the base over the cold winter months.

“While not as obvious in Soft Parade Beer due to carbonation, the body of Soft Parade Vodka is characterized by small bits of pectins that bond with sugars and amino acids that deliver flavor in a way ‘flavored’ vodkas using artificial additives can’t,” Anderson says.

“Both companies decided not to filter out the pectins in order to clarify the vodka, preferring instead to leave fruit essence and real fruit flavor in the bottle. A ‘Shake Before Serving’ label was added to tip off our customers that fruit essence may settle in the bottle.”

Throughout the development process, Anderson didn’t know if he had “an Edsel or a Mustang.” From the outset, the two companies agreed to a one-time,

THE RUNDOWN

$31.96

800

SMOOTH RUN

Anderson says when Soft Parade Vodka was being developed, he didn’t know if he had “an Edsel or a Mustang.” As it turns out, the seasonal vodka was sold out in a matter of days. Anew batch of the spirit will be available in spring 2024.

4

103/400

Sources: Iron Fish Distillery, Short’s Brewing Co., Michigan Beer Guild, American Craft Spirits

limited seasonal release of the spirit, believing the marketplace might be slow to accept the new product offering.

As it turns out, the release on May 1 was a runaway hit. Iron Fish Distillery produced more than 800 cases of the 750ml vodka (12 bottles to a case). Distributed by Imperial Beverage, a statewide wholesaler, case displays at liquor store retailers and grocery chains sold out in a matter of days, Anderson says.

“We knew the Soft Parade brand was wellknown by consumers, but pushing the boundaries of entering the vodka space was a whole other matter,” says Kerry Lynch, director of sales and copywriting at Short’s Brewing. “The sweetness requirement of vodka was the X factor. We weren’t sure if the taste of real fruit would come through, and whether the vodka could stand the test of time and wouldn’t spoil once opened.”

Due to consumer demand, Iron Fish and Short’s Brewing plan to repeat a limited release of Soft Parade Vodka every spring. In turn, more collaborations may be in the works.

“I’m already harassing our two teams to see what else can we do,” Lynch says. “We need to continue to innovate and elevate our respective brands. Our customers deserve that.”

Number of distillers/ breweries in Michigan

Fruits used include strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries

Annual cases of Soft Parade Vodka to be produced

MSRP of Soft Parade Vodka

PATENTS AND INVENTIONS

Seminal Leader

In the 1870s, as America’s first female CEO, Anna Bissell built up a home products company with her husband and, upon his death, led the way in diversifying the product line and providing employee benefits.

BY NORM SINCLAIR

One of the oldest companies in Michigan and the United States grew out of a couple’s frustration with cleaning sawdust and straw trapped in the carpeting on the floors of their crockery and china shop in downtown Grand Rapids.

Their solution to that problem in 1876 not only revolutionized housecleaning in America and around the world, it also was the precursor to the trailblazing career of the first female CEO in U.S. industry.

Store owners Melville R. Bissell, who suffered with asthma and allergies, and his wife, Anna, were frustrated dealing with a problem unique to their shop.

All their merchandise was shipped to them in wooden containers, and the fragile inventory was packed in sawdust and straw that invariably ended up on the floor and was tracked into carpets throughout the building. Brooms were nearly useless, as they wedged the powdery material deeper into the carpet fibers.

At that time, carpet sweepers had been around for nearly 50 years, but they weren’t effective against fine particles like sawdust. Home and business owners took their rugs and carpets outside to shake them clean, or hung them up and bashed them with carpet beaters to dislodge dirt and other material.

Melville and Anna Bissell thought there had to be a better way than the earliest sweepers, which were equipped with brushes that picked up some of the dirt and lint. Their invention consisted of a wooden box set on rubber wheels that drove rollers covered with bristly hog hair.

Dirt and debris thrown up by the bristles went into a compartment as the sweeper was pushed back and forth over carpets. The top of the box had a lid that allowed a user to dump the contents into a trash bin.

On Sept. 19, 1876, the Bissells filed a patent claim for their invention with the United States Patent office, and a new industry was born.

Anna was delighted with the sweeper. When neighbors confirmed her enthusiasm, the couple set about

producing their own sweepers in a room above the china shop. Anna recruited housewives who lived nearby to make the rollers, and she and her husband made sales calls to housewares stores in and around Grand Rapids.

As word spread about the efficient Bissell sweeper, housewives clamored for them. Anna, a natural salesperson, for years had been the face of their crockery business, traveling around the city and neighboring towns selling china. She easily slipped into same role with the sweepers, which were priced at $1.50 each, and journeyed around the state by train or stagecoach demonstrating the invention to hundreds of storeowners and consumers. In addition, she coordinated the manufacturing and distribution of the sweeper.

Anna secured the company’s first major client when she convinced Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia, one of America’s first department stores, to stock the sweeper. From there, the couple sold their china and

crockery business and became full-time manufacturers and distributors.

Seven years after their patent was approved, the pair incorporated Bissell Co. and built a five-story factory in Grand Rapids. Their reputation for maintaining high quality standards boosted the Bissell sweeper’s appeal, and it quickly became the dominant product of its kind on the market.

Unfortunately, tragedy soon struck. A year after opening the new factory, it was destroyed by a fire. Eager to rebuild, Anna negotiated a loan with a bank, mortgaged the couple’s home and Melville’s stable of horses, and received $150,000 to reconstruct the factory.

Still, the relaunch was a rocky one, as early manufacturing problems forced Bissell to recall a series of defective sweepers at a cost of $35,000. Five years later, in 1889, tragedy struck again when Melville contracted pneumonia and died at age 46, leaving Anna to raise their five children.

COMPLETE SWEEP

Anna and Melville R. Bissell developed a carpet sweeper that was a vast improvement over conventional models. They filed a patent for their invention in 1876. When her husband passed away in 1889, Anna led the company and became America’s first female CEO.

CLEAN BREAK

After introducing their sweeper, the Bissells sold their china and crockery business in downtown Grand Rapids. From there, the couple focused their attention on manufacturing and expanding sales of their new product in the United States and around the world.

She also took over running the business and became the first female CEO to oversee a registered enterprise, Bissell Corp. Drawing from her earlier experience on the road selling sweepers, Anna Bissell established marketing guidelines for her sales team.

She then took the Bissell name international, expanding the sweeper’s reach to Canada, England, Europe, and South America. Branch offices were set up in 22 countries, and factories were built in Toronto, London, and Paris.

Her daughter, Anna Bissell McCay, summed up her mother’s attributes: “Trusting her own judgement even in the face of discouragement, she had great self-reliance, believed in enterprise, and had faith in her own resources.”

Luck played a role in the company’s success, as well, when Britain’s Queen Victoria became a fan of the sweeper and ordered Buckingham Palace “Bisselled” every week.

By 1900, Bissell became the largest manufacturer of carpet sweepers in the world, turning out 1,000 units a day. The co-founder continued to run the day-today operations until 1919, when she became chair of the board. She was succeeded as CEO by her son, Melvin Bissell Jr.

Her business acumen was far ahead of the times. She adopted progressive reforms, unheard of back then, to strengthen the company and improve working conditions for employees, introduced fixed work hours and annual leaves, and instituted a pension plan for employees. She also established a worker’s compensation program that made payments to workers injured on the job.

As a result, she enjoyed a reputation as a mother figure to her employees. Her impact on the business and the Grand Rapids community earned her admittance as the only female member of the National Hardware Men’s Association.

In 1897, she created the Bissell House, a center where immigrants could learn how to assimilate into society. The house offered youth recreational programs, sports activities, drama and music classes, business training for women, and instruction in the arts and gardening.

Bissell, a force in the community, believed in philanthropy, as well. She served on the boards of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Blodgett Children’s Home, and Memorial Medical Center.

The social clubs to which she belonged were centered on women’s empowerment, including the Ladies Literary Club, Women’s City Club of Grand Rapids, Zonta International, and the Clark Memorial Home.

Upon her passing in 1934, at age 87, Bissell was chair of the company. Her legacy included diversifying the product line from carpet sweepers to vacuum cleaners to

home care cleaning products. Along the way, the company branched out into such fields as graphics and labels, health care products for patient rehabilitation, and orthopedic and therapeutic treatments.

In 2022, the business, now Bissell Inc., reported sales of $800 million and a workforce of 2,500 employees.

Anna Bissell was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 1989, and was honored as a Grand Rapids Community Legend with a seven-foot bronze statue unveiled at DeVos Place in 2016, near the former site of the china shop she started with her husband.

“She ran the company well. She defended the patents and fended off competitors, all while she raised a family and got involved with the community,” Mark J. Bissell, her great-grandson and CEO of Bissell, said on the company’s 125th anniversary in 2001. “She remained a widow and never remarried. She really did a tremendous job of running the company.”

COURTESY BISSELL

Can You Hack It?

Trends, tests, and tactics for companies looking to stay protected in an evolving cybersecurity landscape.

Cybersecurity is hardly a new topic, but given the speed with which increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity threats are evolving and proliferating, the security landscape is necessarily becoming more complex.

The best cybersecurity partners are no longer comprised of a few tech-savvy individuals. Leaders in this space include not only cybersecurity experts, but cyber actuaries, insurance claims experts, financial fraud specialists, attorneys, former law enforcement personnel, digital forensics and incident response experts, threat intelligence professionals, and penetration testers.

The best protection today blends front-line advisory and testing support with specialized expertise to help companies develop a continuous understanding of risk, mitigate that risk, recover from exposures or incidents, and transfer residual risk to minimize financial and operational damage.

Testing

Making sure security measures are current and sufficiently robust to address today’s risks is often tricky — which is why penetration testing from “white hat” hackers and security professionals is a common tool in the cybersecurity arsenal.

External (remote) and internal penetration testing can be a highly effective way to identify potential vulnerabilities bad actors could exploit, and to evaluate how effective a company’s people, processes, and tech are at detection and protection against emerging threats.

But aligning cybersecurity strategy and investments with untold thousands of attack techniques is an increasingly expensive and impractical proposition. There are simply too many threats to be able to assess them all, especially given budgetary realities.

The pace at which attackers are evolving their techniques, tactics, and procedures is just too fast for even the best security leaders to keep pace. One emerging solution is the advent of adversary simulation: technology that can simulate thousands of the latest adversarial techniques and test the effectiveness of cybersecurity detection and protection controls on a company’s endpoints, network, email system, database environment, and more.

For now, penetration testing remains an effective and extremely valuable tool to identify blind spots, stress test systems, and evaluate security monitoring.

BY KATHY WEAVER AND CHETAN BHATIA

Matter of Policy

Cyber insurance is an underappreciated piece of a robust cybersecurity program: a way to both mitigate and transfer cyber risk. If risk materializes in the form of a ransomware attack, for example, it can have a devastating impact on an organization, with costly and even crippling ramifications.

The price tag in such a scenario may include costs for digital forensics and investigation, legal services, potential restitution and litigation for privacy/liability issues, and productivity losses.

Cyber insurance protects company balance sheets from that financial exposure, while often providing access to an entire ecosystem of vetted expertise from forensic experts, communication professionals, and legal and logistics support. Cyber insurance companies also help prepare clients by making sure their cybersecurity hygiene follows best practices.

Beyond IT

Decision-makers are recognizing that optimizing cybersecurity is an enterprise-wide mission; it isn’t just the IT department’s responsibility. With so much at stake, legal and finance also should be involved in managing risk and informing cybersecurity decision-making.

Human resources plays a significant role, too, in ensuring all team members understand the organization’s cybersecurity culture generally, and best practices and protocols specifically — as well as managing employee security awareness training.

Top-tier cybersecurity firms work with businesses in virtually all industries. They see both savvy/sophisticated clients and much more vulnerable companies all fall prey to hacking and cyberattacks.

In recent years, adversaries have been more intentional about targeting businesses and industries with less regulation (e.g. construction or manufacturing), or where cybersecurity tends not to be top of mind and protections may not be as robust.

Proliferating Threats

While insider threats and human error will likely continue to present the most significant threat, cybersecurity threats are evolving. AI and machine learning attacks are going to be

increasingly problematic, as bad actors leverage these technologies to automate and scale their attacks in ways that enable them to bypass a lot of the traditional security measures.

With growing numbers of connected devices in an IoT world, the attack surface is increasing, and criminals will have more newly vulnerable targets to exploit. The growing sophistication of deep fakes and misinformation will be used for social engineering and fraud.

Quantum computing threats may render current encryption standards obsolete and drive the adoption of quantum-resistant encryption methods. Cyberwarfare and sponsored attacks from nation-states will target intellectual property and sensitive data.

Supply chains will continue to be threatened, with bad actors targeting third-party vendors and software providers to exploit vulnerabilities in the supply chain.

In this evolving threat environment, organizations need to not only continue to invest in employee security training, awareness, and robust controls, but they should stay informed and engaged to make sure their cybersecurity protections are sufficient to meet the challenges of increasingly sophisticated tactics and technologies.

KATHY WEAVER

KATHY WEAVER is the market leader for Aon in Michigan. She leads a local team of commercial risk and human capital professionals. In her role, she supports Aon colleagues in leveraging the local and global experts of Aon, in partnership with clients, to help make better business decisions. CHETAN BHATIA is a managing director of cyber resilience and engagement management within Aon’s global cyber solutions practice.

FIESTA DETROIT

PATRICK GLORIA

Detroit Cristo Rey High School hosted its 2023 Gala – Caring for Creation fundraiser on May 19 at the historic Masonic Temple in Detroit. The keynote speaker was Marcela Escobar-Alava, deputy director of technology at the White House. Attendees also enjoyed cocktails, a dinner, and an auction.

1. Joe and Marita Maffesoli, Caroline Oberst, Alvin Spencer, Rob Mason

2. Susan and Andre Arbelaez, Brenda Arbelaez

3. Rose Thomas, Nick Bright

4. Linzie Rimanelli Venegas, Yesenia Venegas, Jeanette Avila

5. Christopher and Ruth Lynch

GUILDED AFFAIR

PATRICK GLORIA

The St. John Hospital Guild celebrated its 75th year of philanthropic support for Ascension St. John Hospital in Grosse Pointe with its annual charity dinner, which took place on May 17 at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Shores.

The event honored five members of the St. John community — Dr. Raymond T. Bauer, who was presented with the Physician of the Year award, along with Dan Roma, Lorna Zalenski, and Ray and Jane Cracchiolo. Proceeds from the event will be used to fund a new Pediatric Echocardiogram Machine for St. John Hospital. Since 1948, the nonprofit organization has raised more than $15 million to provide medical equipment, technology, and services to Ascension St. John Hospital.

6. Jack Roma, Dan Roma

7. Greg and Melissa DeMars, Brett Bean

8. Mario and Petrina Apruzzese, Patty and Tom Giftos

9. Debbie Bellovich, Stephanie Berris

10. Greg Demars, Allison and Pete Cracchiolo

SAFETY FIRST

CHRISTINE M.J. HATHAWAY

The 10th Annual Women in Blue celebration took place on May 18 at the Roostertail in Detroit. The event honored women in the Detroit police and fire departments and their service as first responders, including Women in Blue Officer of the Year — police officer Rhonda White — and the Detroit Fire Department Woman of the Year — fire engine operator Teresa Singleton. The Detroit Public Safety Foundation hosts the event each year and recognizes the service of the women who serve in various public safety positions.

11. Cpl. Douglas Bartell, Sgt. Irvette Reed, Chief Alfie Green

12. Marjory Winkelman Epstein, Sgt. Geraldine Young, Carrie Fairfax-Moore, Lena Epstein

13. Sharima Bulchak, Cynthia Ford

14. Jasmine Dorr, Casey Foren, Diana Lenaway

15. Lt. Cristina Floristeanu, Alissia Floristeanu

TOWERING SUPPORT

CHRISTINE M.J. HATHAWAY

The new Henry Ford Macomb Hospital Janet and Jim Riehl North Tower in Clinton Township was revealed to the public during a grand opening celebration and fundraiser, which took place on May 12. The new tower features all-private, state-of-the-art patient rooms. Money raised during the event will support Henry Ford Macomb’s continuing efforts to turn the facility into Macomb County’s first all-private-room hospital.

1. Alan and Marilynne Kiriluk, Sandy and Bob Riney

2. Andrea Jones, Michele Scott, Stacy Zarko

3. Carrie and David Way

4. Dawn and Tom Haji, Tamara and Martin Manna

10. Joe and Rosalie Vicari

TIME TRAVEL

PATRICK GLORIA

The Detroit Historical Society celebrated its 100th anniversary at the Detroit Historical Museum on April 29. The theme was “Celebrating Detroit through the Decades,” and the event placed a spotlight on 100 years of collecting, sharing, and preserving Detroit’s history and why telling these stories matters. The evening included a strolling dinner and dessert reception throughout the museum, a silent auction and a raffle, plus various entertainment experiences including period actors bringing museum exhibits to life. A special ceremony honored Detroit legends including Amyre Makupson, Ben Wallace, Lomas Brown, George Blaha, and Ken Daniels.

6. Kevin Grigg, Arn Tellem, Ben Wallace, George Blaha

7. Candius Braddock, Sheila Braddock, Donna and Greg Kesler

8. Greg and Shanda Nowak

9. Erik Frasier, Elyssa Kozok

10. Stephen and Bobbi Polk, Elana Rugh

SPARK OF HOPE

PATRICK GLORIA

On May 6, the 2023 Life Directions Spark of Hope Tribute Gala took place at One Campus Martius in downtown Detroit. In addition to celebrating 50 years of Life Directions, a nonprofit youth advocacy organization in Detroit, the Hathaway family was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award and Mary Kosch was named as the year’s Guiding Light honoree. The event also raised money to support Life Directions’ programs. The organization’s mission is to motivate young adults, ages 13-35, to mature into responsible leaders through self-direction.

11. Rev. Alex Steinmiller, Martina O’Sullivan, Derrick Owens

12. Mario Bueno, Brenda Allende

13. Patricia and Hon. Thomas Hathaway, Hon. Richard Hathaway

14. Tom and Jenelle Leonard, Laurie Tannous

15. Justin and Amanda Marouf

REAL APPRECIATION

PATRICK GLORIA

The Urban Land Institute Michigan Chapter presented its 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award to Susan T. Mosey, executive director of Midtown Detroit Inc., on May 3 at the Fisher Building in Detroit. Mosey was the first female to receive the award, which was established to recognize leaders in the Michigan real estate community whose achievements throughout their lifetime — including contributions to real estate, civic, charitable, and philanthropic endeavors — exemplify the spirit and mission of ULI.

1. Teri Salas, Mark and Jennifer LoPatin, Sam Joustera, Tori Manix

2. Bobby D. Lewis, Rashida McDuffie, Reginald Scott

3. Steve Weiner, Nico Schultz

4. Christos Moisides, Peter Cummings, Dan Carmody

5. Beth Kmetz-Armitage, Melinda Clemens, Sue Mosey

ITALIAN FESTIVAL PATRICK GLORIA

On June 2, the Consulate of Italy in Detroit hosted a celebration to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Republic of Italy. Consul Allegra Baistrocchi and her staff welcomed almost 500 invited guests to The Eastern, in Detroit’s historic Eastern Market — an homage to the rich Italian immigrant community of centuries past. The highlight of the evening was when Consul Baistrocchi received a proclamation by the City of Detroit, “that the second of June will forever be known as Italian National Day.” J.J. Velez presented the proclamation on behalf of Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit City Council.

GRAND PRIX

PATRICK GLORIA

The 2023 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix by Lear was held from June 2-4 in downtown Detroit. The event was sponsored by 86 local and national corporate sponsors including Cadillac Racing, Bank of America, American Axle and Manufacturing, Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Care Network, Comcast Business, Clarience Technologies, Comerica, Delta Airlines, the DTE Foundation, Downtown Detroit Partnership, Gardner White Furniture Co., Penske Corp., and the Detroit Medical Center. Event organizers state an estimated 150,000 people took part in the weekend activities.

6. Chris Hoosang, Chris Hoosang Jr., Tanice Hoosang

7. Peggy and Dave Meador, Cindy Pasky, Eric Larson

8. Bill Hampton, Tavi Fulkerson, Sarah Swanson, Dominic Casinella

9. Amber and Eric Foster

10. Kim and Charles Hicks

11. Nick Eyde, Jerrett Irons, Jody Ingle, J.J. Velez

12. Massimo Risi, Gianluca Di Stefans

13. Anthony and Diane Forlini, Delia Rodi

14. David and Eva Evola

15. Olivia Marcarelli, Rose Marcarelli

THE FACE OF ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/EXPENSE ANALYST

DARION MACKEY, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE/EXPENSE ANALYST — STRATEGIC STAFFING SOLUTIONS

3011 GRAND BLVD., DETROIT, MI 48202 | STRATEGICSTAFF.COM

Darion Mackey came to Strategic Staffing Solutions following its “green path” — meaning he came to S3 in an unconventional way, but through his own initiative. He was working a second job with S3’s cleaning service and thought, “What an amazing company. They’re like family.”

Mackey waited until he saw CEO Cindy Pasky pop in on a Saturday, and he used that opportunity to introduce himself. “I gave her my background and she told me to leave my resume

on her desk, and said someone would call shortly,” he recalls.

They did, and Mackey was hired onto the S3 team. Today he’s a valued member of S3’s back-office operations, handling accounts payables and expense analysis. “He’s reliable, collaborative, ambitious, and passionate,” says his manager, Tamara Williams.

As for Mackey, he says, “Everything I saw looking in holds true. I don’t think that feeling is ever going to go anywhere.”

THE FACE OF CANNABIS BUSINESS

MARK SAVAYA — LEAF AND BUD

14470 LIVERNOIS, DETROIT, MI 48238 | LEAFANDBUD.COM

Mark Savaya is the visionary behind Leaf and Bud, an indoor cannabis-growing and processing company based in Detroit. With a passion for horticulture and a deep understanding of the cannabis industry, Savaya has established Leaf and Bud as a leader in the field. His brand-label cannabis, called the Mark Savaya Collection, features a hybrid strain that’s exclusively available at Leaf and Bud, a growing chain of centers offering medical and recreational cannabis in the Michigan area. Products include edibles, concentrates, topicals, oils, and more.

Through innovative cultivation techniques and state-ofthe-art technology, Leaf and Bud produces high-quality cannabis products. Savaya’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility is reflected in the company’s energy-efficient operations.

Leaf and Bud’s success has earned the company recognition, and it’s been featured in various publications. The company’s growing and processing facility was also covered in local news, further solidifying Leaf and Bud’s presence in the cannabis market.

THE FACES OF EYELID SURGERY

CONSULTANTS IN OPHTHALMIC & FACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY, PC 29201 TELEGRAPH ROAD, SUITE 324, SOUTHFIELD, MI 48034 | 248-357-5100 | EYELIDPROS.COM

The physicians at Consultants in Ophthalmic & Facial Plastic Surgery — Drs. Nesi, Gladstone, Black, Nesi-Eloff, Schlachter, and Beaulieu, and physician assistant Lindsay El-Awadi — are proud to be known as the “Eyelid Experts.”

Representing the gold standard in eye plastic surgery, these doctors have developed and improved techniques to provide the results patients seek when it comes to plastic surgery in the delicate areas around the eyes and forehead. Their advanced training, together with the personal care

and attention provided to patients, is obvious from your first visit.

Outstanding results, faster healing, long-lasting benefits, and happy patients are what the team strives to achieve. They offer upper and lower eyelid surgery and the removal of eyelid “bags.” State-of-the-art endoscopic brow- and forehead-lift procedures accomplish the rejuvenation many patients can’t get from eyelid surgery alone. When you choose the Eyelid Experts, you’ll “see” the difference!

THE FACES OF LINGERIE

LISA HARDY HAMILL & KIM HICKSON — HARP’S LINGERIE

265 S. OLD WOODWARD AVE., BIRMINGHAM, MI 48009 | 248-642-2555 | HARPS-LINGERIE.COM

A customized fit and extraordinary lingerie are the secrets to a happy customer. The granddaughters of Betty Harp, founder of Harp’s Lingerie — Lisa Hardy Hamill and Kim Hickson — know that what you wear underneath your outfit is just as important as the clothes themselves.

Lingerie determines your silhouette and your comfort, ensuring you’ll look and feel your best. At Harp’s Lingerie, you’re showered with excellent customer service and fit perfectly for undergarments that will accentuate your

figure. Harp’s carries a wide variety of intimate apparel for your everyday, bridal, and special occasion needs. Hard-to-fit sizes are Harp’s specialty; they carry band sizes 32-54 and cup sizes AA-N. Experience the Harp’s difference and see why, for more than 75 years, they’ve earned the loyalty of generations of customers. Harp’s strives to make everyone feel beautiful and special when they walk out the door, just as Mrs. Harp did so well.

THE FACES OF MORTGAGE BANKING

HARRY GLANZ & DAN BURKE — CAPITAL MORTGAGE FUNDING 17170 W. 12 MILE ROAD, SOUTHFIELD, MI 48076 | 248-569-7283 | CAPITALMORTGAGEFUNDING.COM

Since 1992, Capital Mortgage Funding has been a leader in Michigan’s mortgage banking industry. Led by Harry Glanz and Dan Burke, two of the state’s most well-respected mortgage banking luminaries, the company is driven by a simple but effective philosophy.

“We’re a relationship-driven organization; our focus is on our clients’ experience and making the process as smooth as possible,” explains Glanz — who, like Burke, brings more than 34 years of experience to the business. “We have some of the most experienced

mortgage bankers, and we’re proud of our award-winning mortgage team and state-of-the-art process, which customizes and efficiently completes the right mortgage for each client.”

CMF specializes in residential loans, and is proudly celebrating its 31st anniversary in 2023. Capital Mortgage Funding is powered by Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. NMLS No. 2289. Equal housing opportunity. Harry Glanz, president/co-founder, NMLS No. 61034. Dan Burke, vice president/area manager/ co-founder, NMLS No. 61101.

Marina Schloff, founder and CEO of IT Disposal USA, launched the business to bring top data security and outstanding customer service to Michigan. Clients of the woman-owned, certified business — including UHY, a valued partner of IT Disposal USA — can count on the attention to detail that’s vital to the secure storage of documents that are subject to retention periods, as well as the shredding of confidential documents; medical records; obsolete IT devices, including hard drives; laptops; and hard copy and digital data.

Sustainability is also a key component of the business, and the shredded paper, plastic, and metal are properly recycled. All shredding services include a certificate of destruction as documentation of compliance with HIPAA, FACTA, and federal and state data privacy and security laws.

IT Disposal USA follows best-in-industry NAID AAA standards, ensuring that every step in the process is secure and carefully documented for maximum transparency and accountability.

THE FACES OF NEXT GENERATION WEALTH ADVISORY

KEITH NICHOL, PRESIDENT AND CEO & JACOB RASKA, PARTNER

— CARRERA CAPITAL ADVISORS

901 WILSHIRE DRIVE, SUITE 565 TROY, MI 48084 | 248-244-6051

CARRERACAPITAL.NM.COM

Carrera Capital Advisors is an innovative and dynamic private wealth advisory, asset management, and strategic planning firm. It has experienced explosive growth while expanding to cover the entire United States.

Carrera encompasses a culture of high performance, collaboration, growth, and ethics, and has a client-centric focus. The firm is in constant pursuit of offering best-in-class service while simultaneously reinvesting in top talent, technology, and research.

Having a team of highly skilled and talented individuals allows Carrera to offer a broad scope of services with the objective of being a “onestop-shop” advisor.

THE FACE OF PAYROLL AND BENEFITS MANAGER

VICKIE NEAL, PAYROLL AND BENEFITS MANAGER — STRATEGIC STAFFING SOLUTIONS

3011 GRAND BLVD., DETROIT, MI 48202 | STRATEGICSTAFF.COM

Vickie Neal’s mission at Strategic Staffing Solutions is to fully engage with the company and open the channels of communication between her department payroll and benefits — and the rest of the global company.

“I think the payroll and benefits team should be present,” she says. “So if we find out things that would be helpful to the team, we want to share that. It’s important to keep them informed. They’re our customers.”

Managing a lean team of just five, her department handles payroll and benefits for the overhead team and some 2,500 consultants all over the country. “Everything is deadline-driven,” Neal says. “There’s no good excuse for a missed or late payroll.”

“Vickie always leans in to help; she’s dedicated and committed to our team,” says CEO Cindy Pasky. “She’s a great leader, and always ensures payroll and benefits are administered professionally.”

THE FACES OF A REAL ESTATE POWERHOUSE

Simon Jonna and his brother, Raymond, are highly successful real estate investment-sales brokers and their company has become one of the top-ranking brokerage groups nationally and globally. Simon’s extensive experience entails successful ventures in every aspect of commercial real estate including management, acquisition, developments, and finance – and that sets him apart as a top investment sales broker globally.

Simon’s experience, intellect, empathy, and creative thinking make him a sought-after resource for investors, brokers, and

clients. He’s active industry speaker and the author of “The Diary of a Dealmaker.” He and his wife, Ashley, have two children, Simon Peter, and Maria Anne.

Raymond has managed multibillion-dollar transactions for national credit tenant portfolios, 1031 exchanges, and saleleasebacks across the U.S. He has received several accolades and enjoys spending time with his wife, Shahad and daughter, Mila and traveling. Both brothers are University of Michigan graduates and renown leaders in the real estate industry.

THE FACES OF SMALL GROUP DENTAL AND VISION SOLUTIONS

ROB MINCH & MICHELA GROOM — DELTA DENTAL OF MICHIGAN 27755 STANSBURY BLVD., SUITE 150, FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48334 |

Michela Groom, Rob Minch, and the Delta Dental team use their knowledge of the unique needs and requirements of the small-business market to provide exceptional service, ensuring their clients are happy and stay healthy with bundled dental and vision benefits.

To meet the needs of small groups, Delta Dental has partnered with VSP® Vision Care to sell vision benefits, allowing them to meet the needs of small employers with streamlined administration and value-packed plans. Delta

DELTADENTALMI.COM

Dental’s small market business is a strategic focus of the sales and account management team. In 2022, they sold and implemented nearly 1,500 groups with fewer than 100 subscribers. Flexible coverage choices fit most budgets, and plans range from basic to comprehensive.

With a more than 99 percent customer retention rate in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, Delta Dental of Michigan’s sales and account management team prioritizes being a great partner.

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LARGEST BANKS AND THRIFTS IN METRO DETROIT

(RANKED BY 2022 ASSETS)

1. HUNTINGTON BANK* 6412 Woodward Ave. Detroit 866-258-1807 tcfbank.com

Top Local Executive: Sandy Pierce, Chair of Michigan

Assets 2022: $183B

Assets 2021: $173.4B

Net Income 2022: $1.45B

Net Income 2021: $1.5B

Total Loans 2022: $119B

Total Loans 2021: $111.4B

*Numbers are national figures.

2. FLAGSTAR BANK** 5151 Corporate Dr. Troy 248-312-2000 flagstar.com

Top Local Executive: Lee Smith, Senior Executive Vice President and Presiddent of Mortgage

Assets 2022: $90B

Assets 2021: $25.5B

Net Income 2022: $650M

Net Income 2021: $533M

Total Loans 2022: $69B

Total Loans 2021: $20B **2022 figures are a combination of Flagstar and New York Community Bancorp.

3. COMERICA BANK*** 411 W. Lafayette Blvd. Detroit 313-222-4000 comerica.com

Top Local Executive: Steve Davis, Michigan Market President

Assets 2022: $85.5B

Assets 2021: $12.3B

Net Income 2020: $1.14B

Net Income 2021: $336.5M

Total Loans 2020 (FY average): $52.7B

Total Loans 2021 (FY average): $11.4B ***2022 numbers are national figures.

4. FIRST MERCHANT BANK

(FORMERLY LEVEL ONE BANK)

Sold to First Merchants Corp. of Muncie, Ind., April 1, 2022 32991 Hamilton Court Farmington Hills 800-205-3565 levelonebank.com

Top Local Executive: Terri Cable, Regional President

Assets 2022: $17.9B

Assets 2021: $15.5B

Net Income 2022: $220.7M

Net Income 2021: $205.5M

Total Loans 2022: $12B

Total Loans 2021: $9.3B

5. BANK OF ANN ARBOR 125 S. Fifth Ave. Ann Arbor 734-662-1600 bankofannarbor.com

Top Local Executive: Tim Marshall, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $3.01B

Assets 2021: $3.3B

Net Income 2022: $48.5M

Net Income 2021: $38.3M

Total Loans 2022: $1.8B

Total Loans 2021: $2.2B

6. STERLING BANK AND TRUST One Towne Square, Ste. 1900 Southfield 248-355-2400 sterlingbank.com

Top Local Executive: Thomas M. O’Brien, Chairman, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $2.4B

Assets 2021: $2.87B

Net Income 2022: $13.1M

Net Income 2021: $7.6M

Total Loans 2022: $1.62B

Total Loans 2021: $1.65B

7. CHOICEONE BANK 109 E. Division St. Sparta 616-205-0321 choiceone.com

Top Local Executive: Kelly J. Potes, CEO

Assets 2022: $2.3B

Assets 2021: $2.3B

Net Income 2022: $6B

Net Income 2021: $22M

Total Loans 2022: $25.2M

Total Loans 2021: $1.06B

8. FIRST STATE BANK 24300 Little Mack Ave. St. Clair Shores 586-775-5000 fsb.bank

Top Local Executive: Gene Lovell, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $957.9M

Assets 2021: $937.2M

Net Income 2022:$10M

Net Income 2021: $5.4M

Total Loans 2022: $612.4M

Total Loans 2021: $474M

9. OXFORD BANK 60 S. Washington St. Oxford 248-628-2533

oxfordbank.com

Top Local Executive: David Lamb, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $792.5M

Assets 2021: $750.7M

Net Income 2022: $9.5M

Net Income 2021: $10.5M

Total Loans 2022: $445.1M

Total Loans 2021: $411.1M

10. UNIVERSITY BANK 2015 Washtenaw Ave. Ann Arbor 734-741-5858

university-bank.com

Top Local Executive: Stephen L. Ranzini, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $781.5M

Assets 2021: $488.4M

Net Income 2022: $4.73M

Net Income 2021: $28.2M

Total Loans 2022: $625.7M

Total Loans 2021: $331.9M

11. CHELSEA STATE BANK 1010 S. Main St. Chelsea 734-475-1355 chelseastate.bank

Top Local Executive: Joanne Rau, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $424.4M

Assets 2021: $438.4M

Net Income 2022: $6.6M

Net Income 2021: $6M

Total Loans 2022: $219.9M

Total Loans 2021: $208.5M

12. FIRST INDEPENDENCE BANK 7310 Woodward Ave., Ste. 101 Detroit 313-256-8400 firstindependence.com

Top Local Executive: Kenneth Kelly, Chairman & CEO

Assets 2022: $468.4M

Assets 2021: $412.3M

Net Income 2022: $1.3M

Net Income 2021: $2.6M

Total Loans 2022: $266.1M

Total Loans 2021: $186.2M

13. DEARBORN FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK 22315 Michigan Ave. Dearborn 313-565-3100 mydfsb.com

Top Local Executive: William R. White, Chairman and President

Assets 2022: $270M

Assets 2021: $865M

Net Income 2022: $272M

Net Income 2021: $131M

Total Loans 2022: $190M

Total Loans 2021: $184.2M

14. HURON VALLEY STATE BANK 130 S. Milford Rd. Milford 248-684-9626 hvsb.com

Top Local Executive: Jack Shubitowski, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $228.1M

Assets 2021: $237.1M

Net Income 2022: $2M

Net Income 2021: $2M

Total Loans 2022: $150.1M

Total Loans 2021: $137.7M

15. MI BANK 3707 W. Maple Rd., Ste. 100 Bloomfield Township 855-642-2651 mi.bank

Top Local Executive: Rob Farr, Chairman & CEO

Assets 2022: $213.7M

Assets 2021: $188.2M

Net Income 2022: $262M

Net Income 2021: $289M

Total Loans 2022: $142.1M

Total Loans 2021: $111.3M

Total financial results are listed for banks headquartered in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston, and Washtenaw counties. For banks headquartered outside this area, local results only are provided. Many national banks do not release results for individual markets; therefore, major institutions aren’t included on this list. Total loans also account for leases.

Sources: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., DBusiness research

FLAGSTAR BANK HEADQUARTERS, TROY

From the Top

CORPORATE AVIATION

(TOP REGIONAL AIRPORTS 2023)

GENESEE COUNTY

BISHOP INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (FNT)

G-3425 W. Bristol Rd. Flint

810-235-6560

bishopairport.org

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 2

Longest Runway: 7,849 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 44,530

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), maintenance, hangars, tie-downs, aircraft parking, ground power unit, de-icing, restrooms, showers, flight planning, satellite weather, passenger lounge, passenger terminal, on-site rental cars, lavatory service, air stairs, pilot lounge, crew cars, limo service, catering, business services, pilot supplies, internet, conference room, U.S. Customs, flight training, air freight, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Avflight

Flint, 810-235-0681

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

PRICE’S AIRPORT (9G2)

15057 Lindbergh Ct. Linden

810-735-6569

horizonlakesairpark.net

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 4,000 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 1,976

Services: Self-serve fuel (100 LL), maintenance on call, snow removal, hangars, tie-downs

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

LIVINGSTON COUNTY

BRIGHTON AIRPORT (45G)

8664 Hyne Rd. Brighton

810-599-1747

brightonairport.org

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: No

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 3,120 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 17,520

Services: No fuel available, tie-downs

Hours: Open 24 hours daily (irregular)

Instrument Approach

Procedures: No

Number of Runways: 2

Longest Runway: 2,495 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 25,915

Services: Fuel (100 LL), flight instruction, mechanic on call, hangar, tie-downs

FBOs/Other Services: Berz Flight

Training, 586-731-6750

Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily

ROMEO STATE AIRPORT (D98)

LIVINGSTON COUNTY SPENCER J.

HARDY AIRPORT (OZW)

3399 County Airport Dr. Howell

517-546-6675

co.livingston.mi.us/airport

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 5,002 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 44,895

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), maintenance, repair, inspection, charters, rentals, flight training, hangars

FBOs/Other Services: Airservice Enterprise Inc., 517-546-7379; Fuel

After Hours, 517-861-1856;

Crosswinds Aviation, 517-552-1101

Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-noon Saturday-Sunday

MACOMB COUNTY

RAY COMMUNITY AIRPORT (57D)

59819 Indian Trail Ray Township

586-612-9910

go2ray.com

Tower: No

15340 32 Mile Rd.

Romeo

586-336-9116

airnav.com/airport/D98

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 4,000 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 14,965

Services: Self-serve fuel (100 LL, Jet A), on-call maintenance, airport management, rental cars, flight training, charters, aircraft rentals, hangars, hangar leasing/sales, passenger terminal, passenger lounge, tie-downs

FBOs/Other Services: St. Clair

Flight School, 586-536-0773

Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday-Friday

OAKLAND COUNTY

OAKLAND COUNTY

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (PTK)

6500 Patterson Parkway Waterford Township 248-666-3900

oakgov.com/aviation

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 3

Longest Runway: 6,521 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 142,350

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), aircraft parking, maintenance, repair, parts, detailing, pilot/ passenger lounges, rental cars, limo service, catering, ground power units, de-icing, lavatory and oxygen service, flight planning, live weather radar, U.S. Customs, heated FBO hangars, conference rooms, wireless internet, showers, catering, concierge, passenger/ freight charters, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Michigan

Aviation, 248-666-3440; Oakland

Air, 248-666-4300; Pentastar

Aviation, 248-666-8230; Royal Air, 248-666-3070

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

OAKLAND/SOUTHWEST AIRPORT (KY47)

57751 Pontiac Trail New Hudson 248-437-2333 oakgove.com/aviation

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 3,128 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 13,140

Services: Self-serve fuel (100 LL), pilot/passenger lounge, hangars, tie-downs, internet and computer for flight and weather planning. American Aces offers flight training and aircraft rentals.

Other Services: Flight school only, American Aces, 248-446-9734

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

OAKLAND/TROY AIRPORT (KVLL)

2672 Industrial Row

Troy

248-288-6100

oakgov.com/aviation

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 3,549 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 29,930

Services: Self-serve fuel (100 LL, Jet A), hangars, tie-downs

FBOs/Other Services: JDS

Pumps-N-Go, 248-288-6100; 2HRFUEL.com, 248-655-1474

Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily

WASHTENAW COUNTY

ANN ARBOR MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (KARB)

801 Airport Dr. Ann Arbor 734-994-2841 airport@a2gov.org

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 2

Longest Runway: 3,505 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 85,000

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), maintenance, repairs, parts, aviation accessories, rental cars, restroom, limousine service available 24 hours a day, parking/ tie-downs, auxiliary power units, jump-starting, computerized weather and flight planning, aircraft

parking, aircraft rental, aerial tours/ aerial sightseeing, rental/crew cars, oxygen, pilot lounge, shower, internet, passenger lobby, catering, refreshments, aircraft rental, flight training, hangars, glider towing, tie-downs

FBOs/Other Services: Ann Arbor Aviation Center, 734-662-6806; Solo Aviation, 734-994-6651; Bijan Air Inc. (helicopter), 734-769-8400

Hours: Nov.-March 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily; April-Oct., 8 a.m.-8 p.m. daily; terminal open 7 a.m.-dusk

WILLOW RUN AIRPORT (YIP)

801 Willow Run Airport Ypsilanti Charter Township 734-485-6666 willowrunairport.com

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 3

Longest Runway: 7,543 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 53,655

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), flight planning, de-icing, aircraft lavatory service, satellite weather, U.S. Customs services, parking (ramp and tie-down), hangars, passenger terminal, pilot lounge, catering, concierge, rental/crew cars, high-speed wireless internet, business services, freight/cargo handling, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Avflight Willow Run (East), 734-482-2621; Avflight Willow Run (West), 734-483-3531; Odyssey Aviation, 734-547-7359; Flagship Private Air, 734-926-2000

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

From the Top

WAYNE COUNTY

CANTON-PLYMOUTH-METTETAL AIRPORT (1D2)

8550 North Lilley Rd. Canton Township 734-459-0012 airnav.com/airport/1D2

Tower: No

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 1

Longest Runway: 2,302 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 13,870

Services: Fuel (100 LL), hangars, maintenance, repair, parking, tie-downs, flight school, aircraft rental, high-speed wireless internet, lounge, computerized weather, flight planning

Hours: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily

COLEMAN A. YOUNG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (DET)

11499 Conner Ave.

Detroit

313-628-2146

detroitmi.gov/Government/

Departments/airport.aspx

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach

Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 2

Longest Runway: 5,090 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 32,850

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), maintenance, cleaning, de-icing, hangars, weather/flight planning, tie-downs, charter, courtesy transportation, aircraft lavatory

service, passenger terminal, pilot lounge, rental cars, limo service, catering, aircraft sales, aircraft cleaning/washing/detailing, conference rooms, concierge, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Avflight, 313-527-6620; Active Aero, 734-547-7359

Tenants: Detroit Aircraft Corp., ASX, and more

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

DETROIT METROPOLITAN WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT (DTW)

Wayne County Airport Authority

11050 Rogell Dr., Bldg. 602

Romulus

734-247-7678

metroairport.com

Tower: Yes

Instrument Approach Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 6

Longest Runway: 12,003 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 284,606

Services: Cleaning, fuel (100 LL, Jet A), hangars, office rental, weather/flight planning, tie-downs, passenger/pilot lounges, lavatory and potable water, GPU, ground handling, rental/crew cars, de-icing, exec terminal, crew lounge, wireless, catering, limo service, conference rooms, on-site hotel and concierge, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Signature Flight Support, 734-941-7880

Hours: Open 24 hours daily

GROSSE ILE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (ONZ)

9601 Groh Rd.

Grosse Ile Township 734-675-0155

grosseileairport.com

Tower: No

Instrument Approach Procedures: Yes

Number of Runways: 2

Longest Runway: 4,846 ft.

Total Operations 2022: 16,060

Services: Fuel (100 LL, Jet A), hangar leasing/sales, tie-downs, computerized weather, pilot lounge, plane wash, rental/crew cars, charter, aircraft lavatory service, conference room, concierge, catering, restaurant and lodging on-site, flight training, military landing rights

FBOs/Other Services: Grosse Ile Municipal Airport, 734-675-0155

Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

Sources: Michigan Office of Aeronautics, AirNav.com, DBusiness research

LARGEST CREDIT UNIONS IN METRO DETROIT (RANKED

BY 2022 ASSETS)

1. DFCU FINANCIAL 400 Town Center Dr. Dearborn 888-336-2700 dfcufinancial.com

Top Local Executive: Ryan Goldberg, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $6B

Assets 2021: $6.4B

Total Income 2022: $171.2B

Total Income 2021: $167.86M

Total Loans 2022: $1B

Total Loans 2021: $906.9M

2. GENISYS CREDIT UNION 2100 Executive Hills Blvd. Auburn Hills 248-322-9800 genisyscu.org

Top Local Executive: Jackie Buchanan, CEO

Assets 2022: $4.4B

Assets 2021: $4.03B

Total Income 2022: $200.7B

Total Income 2021: $200.79M

Total Loans 2022: $3.2B

Total Loans 2021: $2.5B

3. MICHIGAN SCHOOLS AND GOVERNMENT CREDIT UNION 40400 Garfield Rd. Clinton Township 586-263-8800 msgcu.org

Top Local Executive: Steve Brewer, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $3.3B

Assets 2021: $3.1B

Total Income 2022: $33M

Total Income 2021: $47.6M

Total Loans 2022: $2.8B

Total Loans 2021: $2.3B

4. CREDIT UNION ONE 400 E. Nine Mile Rd. Ferndale 800-451-4292 cuone.org

Top Local Executive: Gary A. Moody, President & CEO

DETROIT METROPOLITAN WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT, ROMULUS

Assets 2022: $1.75B

Assets 2021: $1.8B

Total Income 2022: $71.6M

Total Income 2021: $65.2M

Total Loans 2022: $1.1B

Total Loans 2021: $1.1B

5. COMMUNITY CHOICE CREDIT UNION 31155 Northwestern Hwy. Farmington Hills 877-243-2528 communitychoice.com

Top Local Executive: Robert Bava, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $1.7B

Assets 2021: $1.6B

Total Income 2022: $83.9M

Total Income 2021: $74.4M

Total Loans 2022: $1.3B

Total Loans 2021: $1.09B

6. COMMUNITY FINANCIAL CREDIT UNION 500 S. Harvey St. Plymouth 734-453-1200 cfcu.org

Top Local Executive: Tansley Stearns, President & CEO Assets 2022: $1.5B

Assets 2021: $1.2B

Total Income 2022: $68.2M

Total Income 2021: $61M

Total Loans 2022: $1.4B

Total Loans 2021: $1.13B

7. MICHIGAN FIRST CREDIT UNION 27000 Evergreen Rd. Lathrup Village 800-664-3828 michiganfirst.com

Top Local Executive: Jennifer Borowy, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $1.4B

Assets 2021: $1.4B

Total Income 2022: $108.3M

Total Income 2021: $103.4M

Total Loans 2022: $1.07B

Total Loans 2021: $668M

8. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CREDIT UNION 340 E. Huron St., Ste. 100 Ann Arbor 734-662-8200 umcu.org

Top Local Executive: Tiffany Ford, CEO

Assets 2022: $1.3B

Assets 2021: $1.18B

12. CHRISTIAN FINANCIAL CREDIT UNION 35100 Van Dyke Ave. Sterling Heights 586-772-6330 christianfinancialcu.org

Top Local Executive: Patricia L. Campbell, President & CEO Assets 2022: $819.8M Assets 2021: $826.4M Total Income 2022: $36.3M Total Income 2021: $33.3M Total Loans 2022: $518.7M Total Loans 2021: $449.4M

13. ALLIANCE CATHOLIC CREDIT UNION 26913 Northwestern Hwy., Ste. 520 Southfield 877-950-2228 allianceccu.com

Top Local Executive: Robert Grech, President & CEO

Assets 2022: $638.6M

Assets 2021: $619.6M

Total Income 2022: $23.15M

Total Income 2021: $23.1M

Total Loans 2022: $267.3M

Total Loans 2021: $207.2M

14. DIVERSIFIED MEMBERS CREDIT UNION

1480 E. Jefferson Ave. Detroit 313-568-5000 dmcu.com

Top Local Executive: Kathie Trembath, CEO

Assets 2022: $505.6M

15. LOC FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 22981 Farmington Rd. Farmington 248-474-2200 locfederal.com

Top Local Executive: Stephen Grech, President & CEO

2022: $450.2M

$234.5.5M

ERNST & YOUNG, DETROIT

8.

9. BAKER TILLY US* 2000 Town Center, Ste. 900 Southfield 248-372-7300 bakertilly.com

Top Local Executive: Patrick Killeen, Michigan Managing Partner Detroit-Area

11. CLAYTON & MCKERVEY* 2000 Town Center, Ste. 1800 Southfield 248-208-8860 claytonmckervey.com

13. COLE, NEWTON & DURAN 33762 Schoolcraft Rd. Livonia 734-427-2030 cndcpa.com

15. MRPR GROUP, CPAS AND ADVISORS

Top

Executive: Rob Dutkiewicz, President

Top Local Executive: Christopher Boloven, Managing Partner Detroit-Area

28411 Northwestern Hwy., Ste. 800 Southfield 248-357-9000 mrpr.com

Top Local Executive: Angie Mastroionni, President and Managing Principal Detroit-Area Employees:

2023: 24

2022: 23

Michigan Employees:

2023: 45

2022: 47

Number of CPAs:

2023: 22

2022: 23

Top

Matt Manosky, Tax Practice Leader; Kevin Patterson, Assurance Market Leader; Andy Zaleski, Tax Market Leader; John Marquardt, Tax Managing Partner; Tony Lawrence, Assurance Managing Partner

10. GRANT THORNTON 2777 Franklin Rd., Ste. 800 Southfield 248-262-1950 grantthornton.com

12. GORDON ADVISORS* 1301 W. Long Lake Rd., Ste. 200 Troy 248-952-0200 gordoncpa.com

Top Local Executives: Paul J. Arment and Maureen M. Moraccini, Executive Committee Detroit-Area Employees:

NA

14. EDWARDS, ELLIS & ASSOCIATES

2155 Butterfield Dr., Ste. 305 Troy 248-643-4545 eeacpas.com

Top Local Executive: Jeffrey B. Ellis, CPA Detroit-Area

37

*Did not respond to requests for information.

Source: DBusiness research

NORTHVILLE CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE

July 22 at 8 a.m. and July 23 at 3p.m., Mill Race Historical Village, 215 Griswold St., Northville northvilleconcours.com

The Northville Concours d’Elegance is a first-of-its-kind youth-focused automotive event. At Northville Concours d’Elegance, our goal is to assemble the best automobiles from around the country for the next generation of automotive enthusiast. We developed a ground-breaking youth judging program, incorporating the youth judges as our only form of judging. Our youth judges represent the next generation of the automotive hobby. Our ability to host this groundbreaking Concours event in July is because of the support from our generous guests that joined us at the Northville Concours d’Elegance Founders Dinner and Live Auction in April.

TONY ROKO’S ART IN THE VILLAGE PRESENTED BY COMMUNITY FINANCIAL

July 28 and August 26, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m., The Art Foundation, 198 W. Liberty St., Plymouth artofroko.com

Join artist Tony Roko for a night of art and entertainment you won’t want to miss benefiting Art Foundation: Fostering Creative Minds.

Enjoy light bites and sips while viewing pieces from Tony’s collection and some of Art Foundation’s most popular pieces.

20TH ORCHARD LAKE FINE ART SHOW

July 29 – 30, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m artsandeducationinc.org

Rated one of Money magazine’s “Best Places to Live” and nestled next to the world-renowned Cranbrook Art Institute, art lovers return year after year to West Bloomfield’s rolling green hills and lavish views, providing an exceptional setting for HotWorks.org 20th Orchard Lake Fine Art Show. Showcasing nearly 140 renowned artists from all over the country, you’ll find something for everyone, in all price ranges. Voted 12 times as one of the top 100 juried art shows in America, we welcome you to enjoy live entertainment and great food from lemonade to lobster.

CREDIT UNION

The Youth Art Competition sponsored by Institute for the Arts & Education and Jeffrey Charles Photography encourages students, grades K-8/ages 5-13, to enter their original art for public display. Awards presented at the show include $250 cash prizes. Ample free parking in the last, back half of the lot behind Beaumont Medical Center, 6900 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield.

AUTOMOTIVE WOMEN’S ALLIANCE 27TH ANNUAL GOLF OUTING: SWINGING FORE SCHOLARSHIPS!

August 21, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Fox Hills Golf & Banquet Center 8768 N Territorial Rd. Plymouth Twp., MI 48170 awafoundation.org/meetinginfo.php?id=95&ts=1678466478

Join the Automotive Women’s Alliance 27th Annual Swinging “Fore” Scholarships Golf Outing to be held in the global epicenter of mobility. A fun way to connect with Movers & Shakers in the Automotive industry, all while raising funds for scholarships to support females pursuing a career in this largely male-dominated sector. You can sign up your team for a foursome or you can opt for the Golf Clinic if you prefer to brush up on your golfing skills on this day. Not a golfer? No problem. Purchase a ticket for dinner and cocktails and take advantage of this opportunity to network with women in mobility.

This signature affair benefits the AWA Foundation founded to advance and empower every woman in automotive and related industries.

Deadline for all sponsorship recognition August 7. Deadline to register for golf and clinic August 11.

NEXT STEPS 4 SENIORS FOUNDATION 2023 OVATION: CRUISE FOR A CAUSE

August 29, 6 p.m. – 10 p.m., Jefferson Beach Marina, 24400 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores nextsteps4seniorsfoundation.org/nsevents/2023-ovation-cruiseforacause/

Join us for a beautiful sunset cruise on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair onboard the luxurious Ovation yacht. We have chartered this custom-built yacht for an intimate evening to raise funds for the seniors in our community and we would be honored to have you join us. Wendy Jones, our founder and president, will share with you the impact your support has made to change the lives of hundreds of families. The evening will start with a champagne reception followed by delicious hors d’oeuvres, cuisine stations and cocktails. There will also be a live DJ and dancing. If you have any questions or cannot attend and would like to make a donation, please call 248- 651-5010. Space is limited – reserve your spot today!

Next Steps 4 Seniors Foundation bridges the financial gap for seniors in need of proper housing and care. Your financial support helps change the life of a low-income senior in need. For more information visit, NextSteps4SeniorsFoundation.org.

Q: What if my Electric Vehicle catches fire?

A: As the popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to climb, so does the risk of EV fires. These fires are becoming increasingly common and can occur even when the car is not charging.

The battery inside an EV is made of Lithium Ion. Lithium-ion fires are more intense and very difficult to control. It takes firefighters thousands of gallons of water to stop the flames, and even after the fire is out, there is a risk of reignition.

Due to the difficulty of extinguishing these fires, they often spread to adjacent cars and homes causing extensive damage. Even if neighboring buildings don’t catch fire, smoke can

cause soot damage throughout the buildings, sometimes beyond repair. It is important to seek a professional claims consultant if your home or building has been damaged due to a lithiumion battery fire because the extent of damage is difficult to determine.

Luckily, standard Homeowner’s policies typically provide coverage for damage to a home caused by a fire, regardless of the source. To ensure insurance policies cover EV fires, policyholders should work with their insurance agents to determine what coverage they have and what exclusions apply as it pertains to the EV.

Globe Midwest Adjusters

Bobby Levin, SPPA Chairman & President Globe Midwest Adjusters International

400 Galleria Officentre

Ste. 101 Southfield, MI 48034 248-352-2100

Q: What does client service mean to me, and where does technology fit into the process?

A: Technology is ubiquitous— emails, texts, Facebook, Twitter, Zoom, and Teams. It allows us to get information to and from clients faster. But technology is only a tool — not an end in and of itself — when building the essential trust between attorney and client. After all, clients are not numbers. They’re people, and in my nearly 30 years in practice, I have translated my passion for excellence into treating clients as I would want to be treated myself. Clients who have an urgent or painful matter want a trusted advisor who will address their

needs with urgency, diligence, and empathy. I believe putting myself in the client’s shoes and investing in relationships is vital to client service, especially in the modern world. In fact, I would argue that’s even more important today because technology has depersonalized human relationships in many ways. Going the extra mile to provide that human touch sets me apart as a professional. Sometimes we need to pick up the phone. Or we need to go and see other human beings in person. Technology is not a substitute for that.

Maddin Hauser

Martin S. Frenkel

Shareholder, business litigator, executive committee member

28400 Northwestern Highway, Ste. 200 Southfield, MI 48034 248-827-1891

mfrenkel@maddinhauser.com maddinhauser.com

Q: What are some key elements of a comprehensive financial wellness program for your employees?

A: According to The KeyBank 2023 Financial Mobility Survey, the share of Americans facing financial challenges grew to 55% over the past year, a nearly 20-point increase from the year prior.

A number of banks, including KeyBank offer complimentary workplace financial wellness programs to companies of all sizes. Of course, not all bank-provided programs are the same. To help you assess your banking partner’s program, here’s a checklist of key elements that can make your program successful.

A comprehensive workplace financial wellness program includes:

• A financial education curriculum with money management strategies that can be put into practice to address both short- and long-term financial goals.

• Covers beginning and advanced savings and budgeting strategies and practices.

• Addresses crisis preparation and provides strategies for managing through unexpected occurrences.

Strategies for paying down debt.

• Helps your employees plan for retirement.

KeyBank’s complementary Key@Work can help bring financial wellness to your workplace.

David Mannarino is President of KeyBank’s Michigan Market. He can be reached at (248) 2046550 or David_Mannarino@keybank.com.

This material is presented for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individual financial advice. KeyBank does not provide legal advice. KeyBank is member FDIC. ©2023 KeyCorp.. CFMA #230314-1972828

KeyBank Michigan

David Mannarino

President & Commercial Sales Leader KeyBank Michigan Market 248-204-6550

David_Mannarino @keybank.com

Q: What has continuously separated your firm, Carrera Capital Advisors, from the competition?

A: The simple answer here is, our people. I’m talking about our team members here at Carrera, but I’m also including our select clientele and the networks of professionals we align our business with. We work with some of the best and most talented individuals in the country. It’s very much a full team approach and every player has a role to play and to play it at an elite level because the stakes are high. We feel our unique services, performance, knowledge, innovation, strong relationships, use of technology, and client-centric focus is what sets us apart as a firm. Carrera’s success stems from a culture built on team unity and performance.

Collectively as a group we bring talented players together with the objective of holding each other accountable to the highest standard and working towards putting each other in the best position to win. Our people function as any healthy family would, looking out for each other. It’s beyond business. We want each other to succeed, we want each other’s kids and families to succeed. The formula for us to succeed is no different than any other driven team (business or sports). When a group of talented people make thousands of selfless and missions-focused decisions daily over the course of months and years, the winning takes care of itself.

DRIVE FOR LIFE INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY AHEAD

July 10 at 8:30 a.m. – 7p.m., Oakland Hills Country Club, 3951 W. Maple Rd., Bloomfield Hills Beaumont.org/giving/events

The Drive For Life Invitational benefits oncology patient programs and services at the Walter & Marilyn Wolpin Comprehensive Breast Care Center at the Royal Oak hospital and the Wilson Cancer Resource Center at the Troy hospital of Corewell Health East (formerly Beaumont). The day features a round of golf on the world-class championship courses of Oakland Hills Country Club. Golf pro Rick Smith will be on site providing tips for golfers and driving the pro shot for each south course foursome. Media partner 760 WJR will broadcast the Paul W. Smith show live from Oakland Hills. Included in the day, guests will enjoy breakfast, lunch, cocktail hour, and buffet dinner. For more information, please contact Mariana Keros at 947-522-0092, mariana.keros@corewellhealth.org or visit Beaumont.org/giving/events.

THE ASSOCIATION AT MEADOW BROOK THEATRE’S CONCERT & CUISINE FUNDRAISER

July 15 at 6 p.m. – 10 p.m., Meadow Brook Theatre, 378 Meadow Brook Rd., Rochester mbtheatre.com/concert-cuisine-2023

We are beyond thrilled to finally welcome The Association to the MBT stage this coming July 15, featuring hits such as, “Cherish,” “Never My Love,” “Windy,” and more. This is a concert you don’t want to miss. For tickets, call our box office at 248-377-3300 or visit Ticketmaster.com.

WAYNE COUNTY POLO & FASHION CLASSIC

July 15, 12 p.m. – 8 p.m., Nankin Mills Park, 33275 Edward Hines Dr., Westland poloandprettywomen.com

Wayne County Polo & Fashion Classic will feature the greatest polo match with some of the best polo players in the sport. Claire Sulmers, founder of Fashionbombdaily.com and the industry’s leading fashion blogger chronicling fashionistas of color, returns for her second year as the host of a stellar fashion show. Attendees will also enjoy live music and a picnicstyle day party hosted by 3RY Magazine. Guests may bring picnic baskets or purchase food from various food trucks and vendors. A cash bar will also be on site.

The Polo and Pretty Women event is the talk of the town, and sponsors include a plethora of organizations dedicated to improving communities. Proceeds to benefit nonprofit Dave’s Choice Community Development (daveschoicecdc.org) and nonprofit Detroit Horse Power (detroithorsepower.org). So, join the fun: Wayne County Polo & Fashion Classic on July 15 at Nankin Mills Park in Westland.

PASSION FRUIT

July 21 and August 18, 4 p.m. – 11 p.m., Takoi, 2520 Michigan Ave., Detroit takoidetroit.com/events

Passion Fruit is an annual summer series hosted by Takoi on its patio that runs from June and to September. The series is designed to connect three aspects that Takoi is passionate about — food, cocktails, and dance music. For each event, Takoi curates a fine roster of local DJs, creates specialty cocktails using spirits from a brand collaborator, and serves it up alongside a menu of Takoi food classics.

Each month’s event is partnered with a charitable organization and a portion of cocktail sales is donated to that month’s charity. It is what Takoi refers to as “A Party With a Purpose.” At the end of the day, it’s all about raising money for a good cause while enjoying delicious food and drinks, and shaking a groove.

CRUISIN’ WITH KIWANIS OVATION YACHT PARTY

July 26 at 6 p.m. – 10 p.m., Jefferson Beach Marina, 24400 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores uticashelbykiwanis.org/event/cruisin-with-kiwanis/

Come and join us for an amazing evening aboard the Ovation yacht. We’re thrilled to invite you to experience a truly unforgettable sunset cruise on the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy the stunning views of the Detroit skyline and the beautiful waterways that surround it.

The Ovation yacht is a luxurious vessel that offers the perfect setting for this unique event. With ample space and elegant décor, you’ll feel like royalty as you soak in the stunning scenery and enjoy a variety of delicious food and drinks. This event is all about making memories that will last a lifetime. You’ll be treated to live entertainment, music, and other surprises throughout the evening. It’s the perfect chance to mingle with friends and family while supporting a great cause, local nonprofit Neway Works. Proceeds will aid Neway Works (newayworks.org) mission to empower disadvantaged teens through education and advocacy.

Room for a Lady

A documentary film reveals how the integrated approach to arts and crafts at Cranbrook led to the development of a superior weaving loom that’s still used today.

During the Cranbrook Educational Community’s initial development nearly a century ago, founder George Booth suggested to Loja Saarinen that she should create textiles to complement her husband Eliel’s architectural designs.

Eliel became president of Cranbrook in 1925 and drew up the campus with the help of Loja, an architectural modelmaker and sculptor. Booth assumed the textiles would be woven in Finland, where the Saarinens were from. Loja countered: “Why not design and weave them here?”

Loja Saarinen was 49 years old in 1928, when she learned to weave, and completed Cranbrook Rug No. 1 in a month. From a single loom, the new Studio Loja Saarinen quickly expanded. Maja Andersson Wirde and other weavers skilled in the knotted-pile ryijy technique came from Sweden in 1929. With more than 30 looms, the studio produced draperies and rugs for Cranbrook’s buildings, but also sought outside commissions, working the space between industrial design and studio arts and crafts.

“Perhaps the most persistent myth about Loja Saarinen is that she was a weaver,” explains Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research curator Kevin Adkisson in “Room for a Lady: Loja Saarinen at Cranbrook,” the 2022 documentary he wrote and directed. “It’s an easy mistake to make. Loja helped create many remarkable rugs for Cranbrook, and they are often labeled ‘By Loja Saarinen.’ But she wasn’t sitting at the loom.”

Indeed, she created samples with her own handdyed yarns, working out designs and planning the

BY RONALD AHRENS

DREAM WEAVER

purchase of materials. In a 1929 interview, she insisted hers was an American studio, saying, “We are not trying to copy the work of the European craftsmen. Instead, we are studying the yarns and threads available here, and are seeking to develop patterns and fabrics which will meet a need in this country.”

Dissatisfaction with existing looms led to Loja’s collaboration with John Bexell, a cabinetmaker from Korsträsk, Sweden, whose wife, Marie, worked with Loja Saarinen. John and Loja created a “countermarch” loom in 1936 that was quieter, more dexterous, and better-suited for large works.

“The Cranbrook Loom is a special loom in that it both raises and lowers the thread of the warp,” says Lynn Bennett Carpenter, artist-in-residence at Cranbrook Schools, who appears in the documentary. “The Cranbrook looms are incredibly successful. I call them the Cadillac of looms.”

An employee of General Motors Truck Co. (now GMC) in Pontiac, Bexell moonlighted by starting small-scale production of the looms. In the late 1930s, the Farm Security Administration put in a large order that allowed him to quit GM and form John P. Bexell Co.

Loja Saarinen lived and worked at Cranbrook for more than 25 years. Her successor, Marianne Strengell, guided the department from 1942 to 1961.

“Weaving and textiles at Cranbrook emerged as an entirely modern discipline that served a vital contemporary market in all sectors of industry, including, but not limited to, corporate and residential interiors, fashion, and industrial and commercial applications,” scholar Jennifer L. Lindsay wrote in a master’s thesis. Today, with 64 looms, the Cranbrook studio is claimed to be the country’s largest.

After World War II, Bexell’s son, Bert, joined the business, which took the name J.P. Bexell and Son. John retired 1964; one of Bert’s prime customers was Robert Kidd, a Cranbrook graduate. His Robert Kidd Gallery in downtown Birmingham employed 18 weavers for corporate commissions.

Bert Bexell sold J.P. Bexell and Son in 1978, but worked for the new entity, Heritage Woodcrafts, for two more years. In 1984, Norwood Looms, of Baldwin, Mich., acquired Heritage. Twelve years later, Schacht Spindle Co. of Boulder, Colo., bought rights to the Cranbrook loom, executed a redesign, and continues making it today, with prices ranging from $7,839 to $13,072.

In 1930, Loja Saarinen, seated left, along with Maja Andersson Wirde, Valborg Nordquist, and Raghold Johnson, worked to perfect the production of textiles in a studio at Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills.