JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2017

Foxconn said Bill Shea: A

to focus on hard look at
Romulus site subsidies
in plant search. for team
Michigan still in running,
owners.
Page 3 Page 3

Trade
SPECIAL REPORT
DETROIT 1917 / 1967 / 2017
Gateway
Still rebuilding shows path
to China’s
potential
By Dustin Walsh
dwalsh@crain.com

Andrew Chmielewski, founder

Eric Vaughn stands in front of what remains of his father’s former book store on Dexter Avenue. Ed Vaughn’s shop was one of the 2,509 businesses destroyed during the
violence of 1967. Eric is now a small business owner, as is his son Wynton.
Part 2, pages 10-13
By the numbers: The economic
causes and impact of a riot that tore
through Detroit’s commercial districts.
First hand: Then-surgical resident John
and CEO of Harrison Town-
ship-based Dave’s Sweet Tooth,
didn’t think about China as a market.
His handmade toffee is a hit in the
states. The seven-year-old company
is set to surpass $1.2 million in sales
this year thanks to tireless efforts to
get its product into 5,000 grocery
stores like Whole Foods Market, Bus-
ch’s Fresh Food Market, Fresh Thyme
Market and Kroger Co.
But Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s
Gateway ’17 event last week at Cobo
Center opened Chmielewski’s eyes
to China’s desire for U.S.-crafted
candies and the potential from the
JACOB LEWKOW FOR CRAIN’S e-commerce platform’s more than
500 million online shoppers.
“Candy is trending really high in
China; something I was only vague-
Detroit’s nascent comeback hinges on ly aware of before this event,” Ch-
rebuilding a vast network of small businesses
mielewski said. “Even getting a
small piece of that market would be
that were lost in the aftermath of 1967 a huge win for us.”
It’s hard to argue the facts. China’s

Crissman worked in post-op at Detroit
General Hospital in the summer of 1967.
More online
Focus HOPE and New Detroit:
Fifty years later, nonprofits founded to
address root causes of rebellion retool
their strategies. Read it online at
crainsdetroit.com/Detroit1967
E
By Chad Livengood | clivengood@crain.com middle class is about 300 million
people, with expectations to reach
d Vaughn was attending a meeting of black nationalists in Newark, N.J., when violence erupted near 600 million in the next five years, ac-
his bookstore on Detroit’s west side in the early morning hours of July 23, 1967. ¶ Vaughn, then 32, cording to a 2016 McKinsey & Co.
owned an African American bookstore on Dexter Avenue that had become a gathering place for a report. Even as China’s economic
growing social and political movement. He drove back to Detroit that Sunday night after hearing the growth has slowed in recent years, its
first radio reports of looting and fires engulfing the west side. ¶ After running into a temporary police middle class continues to flourish —
blockade near the Michigan-Ohio border in Toledo, Vaughn and his friends were able to get back into the city, 76 percent of China’s urban
about 24 hours after the rebellion began. SEE VAUGHN, PAGE 10 SEE CHINA, PAGE 15

Inside Education

Special report:
Fashion business
City officials, business execs work
Everyone wants “made in
Detroit” goods. Page 8
to breathe life into Randolph High
By Chad Livengood Today, McLean is a carpentry Now they’re trying to breathe new
Q&A with Rufus Bartell, clivengood@crain.com
teacher at Randolph, which now has life into the school, raising more
owner of Simply Casual. The basic construction skills Tony fewer than 150 students amid a than half of a $6 million goal toward
Page 9 McLean learned at Detroit’s Ran- growing shortage of carpenters, buying new equipment for class-
© Entire contents copyright 2017 dolph Technical High School in the electricians, plumbers and masons rooms and making capital improve-
by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved mid-1980s set in motion a career that in Southeast Michigan. ments to the building that the cash-
crainsdetroit.com Vol. 33 No 26 $2 a copy. $59 a year. included working on building Ford “The reason I’m here is because of strapped Detroit Public Schools
Field, Detroit Metro’s airport termi- this school,” he said. Community District cannot afford.
nals and homes in New Orleans after The undercapacity of Randolph It’s part of a larger effort the re-
Hurricane Katrina. and the building’s outdated equip- constituted Workforce Development
When McLean attended Ran- ment has caught the attention of Board has been quietly pursuing for
NEWSPAPER

dolph, the vocational school on the Mayor Mike Duggan’s administra- the past two years to tackle systemic
city’s northwest side was filled to ca- tion and his Workforce Development problems in Detroit’s education and
pacity with 700 students interested in Board, a panel comprised primarily talent-development pipeline.
pursuing careers in the skilled trades. of Detroit’s top C-suite executives. SEE RANDOLPH, PAGE 16
2 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
MICHIGAN BRIEFS
Hospitals benefit from
Medicaid expansion
Michigan’s more than 170 hospi-
tals cut bad debt and unpaid costs of
care by more than $400 million in
2015, the first full year of Healthy
Michigan Medicaid expansion and
individual private insurance market
assistance that added nearly 1 mil-
lion people to insurance rolls, ac-
cording to a new report by the Mich-
igan Health and Hospital
Association.
“We’re encouraged to see that the
Healthy Michigan Plan is making a
dent in uncompensated care in
Michigan and doing exactly what it
was designed to do when Republi-
cans and Democrats worked togeth-
er to approve the plan — reducing
uncompensated care costs and im-
proving the health status of men and
women who couldn’t afford health
insurance in the past,” Brian Peters,
CEO of the state hospital associa-
tion, said in a statement.
“In some cases, our hospitals have
seen a 50 percent reduction in the
number of people coming through
the doors without insurance — that’s
significant when it comes to health
care coverage and access to care for
Michigan residents.”
Last Wednesday, the MHA re-
leased its annual community benefit
DETROIT
EXHIBIT AT THE BIGGEST MOBILITY
TRADE SHOW IN NORTH AMERICA
AUTONOMOUS & ELECTRIC VEHICLES // CONNECTED CARS SHARED ECONOMY // DIGITAL USER EXPERIENCES
PRESENTED BY:
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AT (313)446-6032 OR LRUDY@CRAIN.COM.
report, Michigan Hospitals: Leading
the Way to Healthy Communities,
showing that Michigan hospitals in
2015 accounted for $2.6 billion in
community benefits and other pro-
grams designed to improve popula-
tion health.
While the community benefit to-
tal dollars were 10 percent lower
than the $2.9 billion provided in
2014, Michigan hospitals also in-
curred nearly $1 billion in Medicare
and Medicaid payment shortfalls in
2015. Note: MHA received survey
data from 126 hospitals in 2014 and
128 hospitals in 2015.
House adjourns without
approving job bill
The Michigan House has ad-
journed for at least three weeks with-
out voting to approve tax incentives
for companies that add jobs in the
state, after a top Republican said he
learned that Gov. Rick Snyder had
won Democratic support for the bills
in a deal that would undermine
House GOP priorities, the Associat-
ed Press reported.
House Speaker Tom Leonard said
he would wait for Snyder to return
from a European trade trip to ad-
dress House Republicans’ concerns.
“We agreed to put the pause but-
ton on the ‘Good Jobs for Michigan’
TECHNOLOGY IN MOTION
C O B O C E N T E R // S E P T E MB E R 6-8, 2017
TIMDETROIT.COM
EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS
A company hired to analyze the worst-case scenario of an oil pipeline failure in the
Straits of Mackinac has been fired because of a conflict of interest with Enbridge
Energy LP.
legislation until the governor gets
back from Europe, can look me in
the eyes and can look the caucus in
the eyes and explain to them the an-
swers to the questions that we have
at this point,” the DeWitt Republican
told reporters.
Snyder spokesman Ari Adler said
the governor and his team had talk-
ed to Republicans and Democrats to
finalize the legislation.
“There are a lot of stories floating
around and the best thing right now
is for everyone to get some rest,” he
said. “The governor looks forward to
meeting with all the legislative lead-
ers next week to address any con-
cerns they have or additional infor-
mation they need to complete this
package of bills.
INSIDE
CALENDAR 14
CLASSIFIED ADS 15
DEALS & DETAILS 14
KEITH CRAIN 6
OPINION 6
OTHER VOICES 7
PEOPLE 14
RUMBLINGS 19
WEEK ON THE WEB 19
COMPANY INDEX:
SEE PAGE 18
“Our trust was violated and we
now find ourselves without a key
Michigan fires oil spill piece needed to fully evaluate the fi-
analysis contractor nancial risks associated with the
pipeline that runs through our Great
A company hired to analyze the Lakes. This is unacceptable,” Attor-
worst-case scenario of an oil pipe- ney General Bill Schuette said in a
line failure in the Straits of Mackinac news release.
has been fired because of a conflict
of interest with Enbridge Energy LP,
the state of Michigan announced last
Correction
week, according to the Associated
Press. JJA story on Page 3 of the June 19
An employee on the project sub- issue misstated Hudson-Webber
sequently worked on another proj- President and CEO Melanca
ect for Enbridge, which owns Line 5 Clark’s previous role at the
in northern Michigan. Nor- NAACP Legal Defense and Edu-
way-based Det Norske Veritas, also cation Fund. Clark led public pol-
known as DNV GL, is the contractor. icy and civil rights initiatives at
The deal was terminated before the the fund; she did not lead the
draft report had been delivered to fund as a whole.
the state.
TIM Detroit will bring together OEMs, suppliers and
the technology community to establish the world’s
preeminent transportation technology and mobility
event. Technological advancements in autonomous/
electric vehicles, connected cars, mobility solutions
and digital user experiences are just a few of the
areas that will be featured in a 100,000sf trade show
in Detroit’s Cobo Center.
Come experience the future of mobility in the global
epicenter of the automotive industry at TIM Detroit.

Analysis
Why does Gores need $34.5M to bring Pistons downtown?
Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores,
the immigrant success story who
bootstrapped himself from modest
roots in Flint to become a California
private equity billionaire, is no
stranger to writing hefty checks.
For example, he will pay Pistons
center Andre Drummond $23.7 mil-
lion next season. Last October, he
paid $100 million for a 30,000-square-
foot mansion in Los Angeles’ tony
Holmby Hills neighborhood.
Six years ago, he cut a deal to buy
the Pistons and the Palace of Auburn
Hills for $325 million. Then he spent
$40 million to modernize the Palace.
So why is the public footing the
$34.5 million bill to reconfigure the
Health Care
DMC program reduces ER visits, admissions
By Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
An innovative program to reduce
costs, improve care continuity and
connect high users of emergency
departments at four Detroit Medical
Center hospitals with a primary care
team has led to significant reduc-
tions in unnecessary ER visits, hos-
pitalizations and readmissions, said
a top DMC physician executive.
DMC’s Gateway to Health pro-
gram — funded by a three-year, $10
million grant through the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act
of 2010 — has enrolled more than
6,500 people and enabled those pa-
tients to visit DMC Gateway outpa-
tient clinics a total of 16,000 times
over nearly three years, said Su-
zanne White, M.D., DMC's chief
medical officer.
While financial savings and com-
plete patient outcome data isn’t ex-
pected until later this year, White
said the federal government is hap-
py enough with the initial results of
DMC’s Gateway program to extend
the funding to a fourth year.
Any reduction in unnecessary
emergency room visits is good news
for hospitals and health care costs.
They have been an intractable prob-
lem that comes with high costs and
a high level of uncompensated care
for hospitals.
“We are very proud of what the
Gateway team has done,” said White,
an emergency medicine physician
and principal investigator of the
study. “Patients have improved out-
comes and we have a 95 percent sat-
isfaction rate.”
SEE DMC, PAGE 17
MUST READS OF THE WEEK
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
BILL SHEA
bshea@crain.com
new Little Caesars Arena to accom-
modate Gores’ Pistons as part of
their relocation from the Palace of
Auburn Hills?
That’s been the lurking question
amid recent legal wrangling over the
money. Last Monday, U.S. District
Suzanne White, M.D., DMC’s chief medical officer, meets with a patient in the Gateway Health Center.
A reunion
A chance encounter with
Jack Ma in China and
— years later in Detroit
— a reunion.
Page 19
Judge Mark Goldsmith blocked a re-
quest to block the Detroit City Coun-
cil from voting on the arena subsidy
on Tuesday — effectively halting
what little resistance there has been
to any aspect of the arena deal. The
council OK’d the additional subsidy
on a 7-2 vote on Tuesday.
David Fink, an attorney repre-
senting the Downtown Develop-
ment Authority, which owns the are-
na, argued in court that delaying or
stopping the $34.5 million would
prevent the Pistons from moving
downtown: “If the Pistons decide
they’re going back to Auburn Hills,
the last time it took them 40 years to
SEE PISTONS, PAGE 18
AudioNet’s
success
Company grows despite
controversy with hearing aid
professionals. Page 4
3
BILL SHEA/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
The public is footing the $34.5 million bill to reconfigure the new Little Caesars
Arena to accommodate part of the Pistons relocation from the Palace.
Manufacturing
Sources say
Foxconn
considering
Romulus site
By Chad Livengood
clivengood@crain.com
Electronics giant Foxconn Tech-
nology Group is now eyeing a site
in Romulus for a potential manu-
facturing facility that would give
the Taiwanese company proximity
to Detroit Metro’s direct flights to
Chinese cities, Crain’s has learned.
Foxconn has narrowed its
search in Southeast Michigan to a
Romulus site as Wisconsin and
Ohio also vie for its business in
what could be an interstate com-
petition for multiple facilities, ac-
cording to sources familiar with
the company’s search who de-
clined to identify the specific Ro-
mulus location.
State and local economic devel-
opment officials have been active-
ly working for weeks to woo Fox-
conn — the world’s largest contract
electronics manufacturer — and
its promise of a multibillion-dollar
manufacturing investment in
Michigan.
The aggressive courtship of Fox-
conn has been quickly developing
in recent weeks, even as a tax in-
centive package Gov. Rick Snyder
has said is needed to win over Fox-
conn and other companies has
slowed in the Legislature con-
trolled by Snyder’s Republican
JACOB LEWKOW Party.
SEE FOXCONN, PAGE 17
In the
market
Nino Salvaggio
International
Marketplace plans a
spring opening in
Bloomfield Township.
Page 5
4 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
AudioNet grows, despite controversy with hearing aid professionals
By Jay Greene
jgreene@crain.com
AudioNet America is riding a
changing hearing-aid industry to
rapid growth as employers and other
payers aim to lower costs.
Managed care group purchasing
has caught on in the multibillion-dol-
lar industry. That has helped the Clin-
ton Township-based AudioNet to ex-
pand the number of people its services
cover by 660 percent to 800,000 during
the past year by adding a number of
state and national contracts, said Col-
leen Shefferly, its president.
Earlier this year, AudioNet, a
third-party network administrator
founded in 2007 by Shefferly, was
awarded a $12 million contract for
hearing aids by the state of Michi-
gan’s Rehabilitation Services pro-
gram, which helps people with dis-
abilities get back to work.
“We have been growing very rap-
idly the past year as patient satisfac-
tion improves because of better
(hearing aid) technology,” said Shef-
ferly, who was a 2013 Crain’s Health
Care Hero in the corporate achieve-
ment category.
Shefferly, a longtime consultant
with the United Auto Workers, said
she founded AudioNet because auto-
makers, unions and health plans were
looking for ways to reduce costs, im-
prove hearing care and increase op-
tions for workers and retirees.
AudioNet’s national provider net-
Welcome, 2016-2017 Laterals
Legal Experience
In Your Corner.®
“We have been growing very
rapidly the past year as
patient satisfaction
improves because of better
(hearing aid) technology.”
Colleen Shefferly, AudioNet America
work offers annual hearing assess- R-Iowa, in the Senate and Reps. Joe
ments by more than 5,000 audiologists Kennedy III, D-Mass, and Marsha
under contract for a flat fee. Two hear- Blackburn, R-Tenn., in the House, the
ing aids are offered every three years. “Over the Counter Hearing Aids Act”
Before flat fees were negotiated, would order the Food and Drug Ad-
Shefferly said the benefits structure for ministration to open the market.
the UAW often resulted in patients be- Shefferly said AudioNet is neutral
ing balance-billed $3,000 to $8,000 for on the legislation, but she said the
a pair of hearing aids. Now, AudioNet bill’s purpose is similar in intent as
saves companies up to 51 percent over the company — to lower costs and
their previous bills. improve outcomes for people with
“We are totally medically focused. hearing loss.
People who have hearing loss also AudioNet also contracts with the
sometimes have high blood pressure, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust,
diabetes and other conditions like also known as the UAW Trust, and
general depression,” she said. “We en- active union employees with General
courage people to use hearing aids so Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp.,
their quality of life is better.” Shefferly said. The company also is
The high cost of hearing aids has expected to soon finalize a preferred
prompted Congress to act. Pending vendor arrangement with Blue Cross
federal legislation would allow for the Blue Shield of Michigan.
sale of hearing aids, which average Shefferly declined to name other
about $5,000 for a pair, over the count- customers, citing confidentiality.
er for people with mild to moderate But by 2018, Shefferly projects her
hearing loss. company will double to more than 2
Proposed by Sens. Elizabeth War- million clients as the company signs
ren, D-Mass., and Charles Grassley, additional commercial health plan
Varnum.
Your Career Home.
contracts and enters into deals with
unions outside of the auto industry.
People also are losing their hearing at
an earlier age, in their early 70s, she
said.
Ron Berry, chief administrative of-
ficer with the UAW VEBA, declined to
comment on vendor contracts such as
AudioNet’s. However, UAW VEBA
spokesmen in the past have said gen-
erally that their vendor contracts are
saving the trust millions of dollars.
AudioNet employs 12 workers
and expects to grow to about 30 by
the end of 2018, Shefferly said. The
company outsources information
technology, member services and
third-party administration to Michi-
gan companies, Shefferly said.
Some providers unhappy
Not everyone is supportive of Au-
dioNet, however. Officials and mem-
bers of the Michigan Alliance of Hear-
ing Care Professionals, which
represents audiologists and the retail
hearing aid dispensers, say AudioNet
has unfairly interfered with its mem-
bers’ business models and reduced
access to care for the hard of hearing.
Laura Szot, president of the Mich-
igan Alliance, said AudioNet’s man-
aged care network has excluded
some audiologists and hearing in-
strument specialists. Before Audio-
Net, most UAW union workers had
open access through Blue Cross Blue
www.varnumlaw.com/careers
Shield of Michigan’s network.
Szot said some customers who re-
ceived hearing tests and hearing
aids at businesses owned by hearing
instrument specialists were forced to
find other companies when Audio-
Net began restricting services.
“This meant many consumers
who were happy with their providers
had to seek out new providers and
many practices who had a lot of UAW
consumers lost a great many of their
clients,” Szot said. “This had a very
negative effect on these businesses
as well as it reduced access to pro-
vider options and hours of service
availability for UAW members.”
Szot said many businesses owned
by dispensers had to close because
they did not employ an audiologist
or only had one part-time.
Shefferly said this happened be-
cause AudioNet does not allow hear-
ing aid dispensers to bill for services
unless they are directly employed by
an audiologist. She said this rule is
intended to combat fraud.
“Sometimes dispensers owned
the (business) and say there is an au-
diologist there,” she said. “We would
get improper claims because a dis-
penser would employ the audiolo-
gist who would sign off on claims.
We don’t allow that.”
Shefferly said a hearing aid dis-
penser can be employed and creden-
tialed by AudioNet, but only through
an audiologist who is required to per-
form the exam and evaluation. Audio-
Net also doesn’t allow dispensers to
file claims if they are employed by a
hearing aid manufacturer.
Another reason AudioNet only
credentials audiologists — along
with ear, nose and throat physicians
— is because Medicare is moving to
require professional accreditation
for reimbursement, Shefferly said.
“Holding the audiologist and
ENT responsible for the claim en-
sures quality and eliminates fraud,”
Shefferly said.
Szot also said that AudioNet’s
subcontracted provider networks
have cut fees paid to audiologists.
Under the Blue Cross program,
Szot said dispensing companies
were paid $1,500 for a single hearing
aid plus $200 in testing services. But
AudioNet’s reimbursement rate
dropped to $700 for a pair of midlev-
el digital hearing aids, she said.
“Our membership has shared that
(provider reimbursement) is signifi-
cantly reduced from the previous mod-
el,” Szot said. “It is unclear currently if
the UAW Trust is saving money or if
manufacturers reimbursements have
been reduced, but for providers there
was a significant reduction.”
In a Sept. 27, 2016, letter obtained
by Crain’s, however, the UAW said
AudioNet has saved the union 50
percent of costs that has allowed
members to receive up to two hear-
ing aids per year instead of one.
Shefferly said she hears com-
plaints sometimes that claims paid
are slow. “By contract, 95 percent are
paid in less than 10 days,” she said.
“(Networks) may pay their providers
late. I am trying to alleviate that.”
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene

NINO SALVAGGIO INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE
Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace plans to invest $5 million in a new location
in Bloomfield Township. It currently operates in Clinton Township (above), St. Clair
Shores and Troy.
Nino Salvaggio Market
to open in Bloomfield
Township next spring
By Tyler Clifford
tclifford@crain.com
Nino Salvaggio International Mar-
ketplace is set to open a new Bloom-
field Township location next spring
— the chain’s fourth store in metro
Detroit.
The family-owned company
signed a seven-year lease, at an un-
disclosed cost, with options in a
42,000-square-foot space formerly
occupied by Kroger at the Bloomfield
Plaza Shopping Center at the south-
west corner of Telegraph and Maple
roads. While it will be a smaller store
than its other locations, which are
more than 50,000 square feet, Presi-
dent Kirk Taylor said the company is
investing $5 million into the store. He
expects to hire more than 200.
Michigan Black Chamber acquires
National Business Leagues
By Kurt Nagl
knagl@crain.com
The Michigan Black Chamber of
Commerce has acquired the Nation-
al Business League Inc., founded in
1900 by Booker T. Washington.
The national organization will re-
locate from Washington, D.C., to De-
troit at 1001 Woodward Ave. build-
ing, the MBCC announced last week.
“We are now the National Busi-
ness League,” Ken Harris, the CEO
and co-founder of the Michigan
Black Chamber, said in an an-
nouncement at Campus Martius
Park. “This gives black businesses a
national platform with a 117-year
history.”
Aimed at promoting the commer-
cial and financial development of
African Americans, the National
Business League is made up of 365
chapters serving 15,000 members,
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 5
WE’RE LOOKING AT
CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
WITH
FRESH EYES…
YOUR EYES.
See how: crainsdetroit.com/innercircle
“Our new store will be a wonderful
complement to the current offerings
in Bloomfield Plaza and the sur-
rounding area, as well as meet cus-
tomer demand for our specialty
products and services,” Taylor said in
a statement.
The new marketplace will be de-
signed by Birmingham-based Ron &
Roman LLC with assistance from
Bingham Farms-based Rogvoy Ar-
chitects PC.
Construction is expected to begin
this summer. Taylor said his team is
working on a timeline and expects to
open contractor bids by the end of
July.
Nino Salvaggio also operates
stores in Clinton Township, St. Clair
Shores and Troy.
with regional offices in Detroit, At-
lanta, Georgia, Washington, D.C.,
and Los Angeles.
The nonprofit MBCC has a similar
goal of economically empowering
and sustaining African American
businesses by advocating for “eco-
nomic development through entre-
preneurship, procurement, commu-
nity reinvestment, programmatic
and professional development, and
capitalistic activity,” the group said
in a statement.
The acquisition makes sense be-
cause Detroit is considered the cen-
ter for black business development
in the U.S., the advisory said, and the
location will enhance the National
Business League’s access to 2.5 mil-
lion black businesses in the country.
National Business League mem-
bers employ almost 1 million peo-
ple, the organization said.
6 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7

OPINION
EDITORIAL

Detroit should have

response to ’67 hype
“Here in Detroit, a city of war,” a
newsman intones with his baritone
voice of authority, “violence contin-
ues.”
And so goes the trailer for “De-
troit,” a movie based on the 1967 ri-
ots, produced by Academy
Award-winning writer and director
Kathryn Bigelow. It gets worse with
the words that frame scenes of police
brutality, burning streets and loot-
ing.
“The rebellion in the streets of De-
troit was only the beginning,” one
graphic reads, followed by: “Discover
the truth behind one of the most ter-
rifying events in American history.”
poison. That would be the authentic
case for today’s Detroit, a city that is
learning from its past and working,
together, to build a better future.
Community policing. Neighbor-
hood investment. Economic devel-
opment. What has metro Detroit ac-
complished in these areas, and what
else are its leaders committed to do-
ing? Those answers should be
fleshed out and at the fingertips of
every civic and community leader
who might be contacted this sum-
mer by a journalist.
Some of the threads of that coun-
ternarrative might include:
J The push to link Detroit’s River-

The movie premieres Aug. 4, Walk, a jewel of industrial reclama-

shortly after the 50th anniversary of tion, to the neighborhoods through
the events that Crain’s Detroit Busi- a series of greenways.
ness documents in this issue. As the J Private-public partnership aimed

“Detroit” trailer suggests, national at rehabilitating the Fitzgerald in

and international media, as well as
Hollywood, are likely to use hype
and hyperbole rather than mea-
sured context to mark 1967.
Detroit is an easy mark. After sev-
northwest Detroit without displac-
ing longtime residents, a pilot proj-
ect that, if successful, would be a na-
tional model.
J Efforts by employees of Quicken

eral years of writing a relatively posi-

tive media narrative for post-bank-
ruptcy Detroit, journalists will be
looking for a new story, a “hot take,”
and the summer of 1967 gives them
a fresh hook.
As evidenced by our two-part se-
ries, Crain’s isn’t interested in paint-
ing over the past. But we don’t want
to see the city’s future — and, for lack
of a better word, its brand — spoiled
by irresponsible and inflammatory
storytelling.
Which is why we are urging Mayor
Mike Duggan, Sandy Baruah of the
Detroit Regional Chamber and other
civic leaders to join together and pre-
pare an antidote to public relations
“Detroit,” a
movie based
on the 1967
riots,
premieres on
Aug. 4
Loans and other companies to fight
blight and help the school system.
Do you have other civic talking
points? Send them in the form of a
letter to the editor or op-ed and we’ll
publish them all summer (rfourni-
er@crain.com).
One CEO asked us to float this
idea: Why not produce a pro-Detroit
ad and have it played before every
showing of “Detroit”? Worth a
thought.
We can’t escape our past, but our
past isn’t all that defines our future.
We can’t ignore the anniversary and
hope everybody else does, too. They
won’t. The question is, what is our
answer to their hype and hyperbole?
Memories of 1967
To the Editor:
Back in 1967, I was a neophyte in
the auditing department of Detroit
Bank and Trust (now Comerica). At
the time of the riot we determined
that several banking offices had
burned and had been looted for fur-
niture. In addition, in putting out the
fires, the offices were flooded start-
ing with the basements. It was under
this situation that I was assigned to
travel to the affected offices and re-
move the cash from the vaults.
I then traveled to the Twelfth-Clair-
mount, Oakland-Woodland, Lin-
wood-Joy and Kercheval-Van Dyke
branch offices in an armored truck
with guards brandishing rifles. It was
an unsettling ride as we observed the
results of the fires in the neighbor-
hoods.
LETTERS
Once we arrived at an office, we
were greeted by numerous members
of the Michigan National Guard, who
were standing guard outside the of-
fices. Removing the cash from the
vaults while standing in water was
quite a task. We then loaded all the
currency into the truck and returned
to the main office in downtown De-
troit. In some instances the flood wa-
ters had seeped into the area with
safe deposit boxes, and we wondered
if the contents had been ruined.
The broken windows and the
burned-out homes in some of the ar-
eas were a sight one does not quickly
forget. Most of the branch offices re-
opened again, but I think the
Twelfth-Clairmount office remained
closed.
As an aside, we learned weeks lat-
er that during the riot some people
in the neighborhoods used the op-
portunity to use the phones in the
branch offices to make long-dis-
tance calls. Back in those days there
was no special rate for long-distance
calls and thus I suspect that some
seized upon the commotion to call
friends in other states.
So all in all, it was an interesting
yet disconcerting day for me —
something that hopefully will never
be repeated.
Bill Kalmar
Lake Orion
Send your letters: Crain’s Detroit
Business will consider for publication
all signed letters to the editor that do
not defame individuals or
organizations. Letters may be edited
for length and clarity.
Email: rfournier@crain.com

So you want to get rich

The fun has already begun with
next year’s state elections.
But everyone is probably trying
to figure out how to make their for-
tune from the politicians.
I just heard that one little con-
gressional seat in Georgia hotly
contested by both the Republicans
and the Democrats generated over
$50 million from both candidates.
Well, we in Michigan have all
sorts of hotly contested political
contests starting right about now.
Broadcasters, who get most of the
KEITH CRAIN
Editor-in-chief
money, will be raking in the dough
for the next 18 months from all the
political ads. You and I might very
well get sick of them by the time the
election rolls around, but the
broadcasters are going to be driv-
ing around in Lincolns and Cadil-
lacs next year, probably with chauf-
feurs.
Just start counting the contests
that will be up for grabs, starting
with the governor and senator and
working your way down the list.
Whatever Sen. Debbie Stabenow
raised last time won’t even get her
started. The good news for her is
that all the Hollywood types are
more than willing to donate mil-
lions for their Democratic cause. It
does not matter whether she can
win or even if she deserves to win:
She'’ll get the money by the bucket-
ful from Hollywood, helping our
gross state product increase dra-
matically.
To be honest, television and ra-
dio will get the lion’s share of the
money, but newspapers will get
pennies, as well as direct mail and
outdoor. They will all share in this
bonanza.
If car sales slow somewhat,
which I doubt, this will pick up the
slack. And nothing better than lots
of money from outside the state to
perk up the economy. Sort of like
tourism in overdrive.
Sadly, most of these riches will
go to broadcasters, but hopefully
they will add to their payroll and
share their temporary wealth.
It won’t last forever, but we are
talking about hundreds of millions
in political spending.
Too bad it’s only every two years.
 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 7

Treasurer’s office works hard to reduce foreclosures

Since my election as Wayne Coun- the number of foreclosures to percent. igan and federal government in the
ty treasurer nearly one year ago, we 13,900. J Enrolled thousands of homeown- Step Forward program to bring addi-
have taken aggressive steps to pre- J We are working to reduce the ers in monthly payment plans. tional resources to help.
vent foreclosures in Wayne County. number of properties in the auction J Joined a kiosk network to allow J Commissioned a door knocking

Contrary to some recent media in the fall of 2017. The office of the people to make payments in their campaign for over 6,200 properties in
reports (“Foreclosures lucrative for Wayne County treasurer has fewer neighborhoods in a safe, convenient Detroit. Securing and boarding up
Wayne County,” Page 3, June 12) re- than 10,000 properties scheduled to manner with no “convenience fees.” unoccupied structures that are open
flecting special interests, there’s be auctioned. (This has increased collections, re- to trespass and pose a safety hazard.
simply no incentive to foreclose on OTHER VOICES J Conducted an unprecedented duced overhead and stabilized pay- One of the root causes of property
homeowners anywhere in Wayne Eric Sabree outreach campaign using paid and ment programs.) tax foreclosure is poverty, which is
County. The assertion we are count- earned media to educate people on J Engaged homeowners in Taxpayer compounded by a lack of education,
Sabree is Wayne County treasurer.
ing on foreclosures to balance the options to prevent foreclosures. Saturdays and Talk with the Treasur- job training and employment op-
county budget is absurd. J Supported and attained new leg- er sessions throughout Wayne Coun- portunities. Our office will continue
We are doing everything we can look at just the past few years: islation for the Interest Rate Reduc- ty to educate residents on all of the to fulfill our statutory duties and col-
to reduce foreclosures, help people J In 2015, some 28,000 properties tion program allowing homeowners options and resources available to lect taxes and enforce the law while
get into payment plans and obtain were auctioned due to foreclosures. to reduce their interest rates on de- help them stay in their homes. doing everything possible to help
the financial aid and advice they J In 2016, we were able to reduce linquent taxes from 18 percent to 6 J Cooperated with the state of Mich- people stay in their homes.
need to be productive homeowners
in our greater community.
Without question, the foreclosure
issue is a major one in Wayne Coun-
ty and may well be unprecedented
anywhere in the nation. Wayne
County and its largest city, Detroit,
were impacted by the Great Reces-
sion and subsequent largest munic-
ipal bankruptcy in U.S. history — all
following decades of decline in pop-
ulation due to evaporating jobs in
automotive and related industries
and globalization. No other region
has been affected by similar eco-
nomic shock waves. I cite these is-
sues to provide context to the chal-
lenging dilemma of the continuing
foreclosure problem.
From my perspective, we have a
firm grasp on the challenge and can
demonstrate great progress in fore-
closure reductions. We are optimis-
tic that the worst is behind us. Let’s

TALK ON
THE WEB
Re: Olympia confirms
plans to demolish hotel,
apartments on Cass
Yes, preserve the buildings in
their current state as a reminder of
what goes on. Maybe use them as
some sort of slum museum, like an
ode to futility.
GaryRodda CRAIN CONTENT STUDIO is the business
solutions arm of Crain’s Detroit Business.
This is really ridiculous and
should be blocked. These are great, We’re a team of storytellers, visionaries
historic, mixed-use structures that
are irreplaceable. and creators. We work with your brand to
Katherine Leigh deliver your message in a customized way
Yep, sadly, most surburbanites that gets results. One popular approach:
are going to eat up the brand new
stucco “mixed-use development” Our Executive Insights roundtable report,
buildings instead of seeing any old where you give us the guest list and we
buildings and maybe feeling like
they’re in an actual unique city in- invite those business and civic leaders
stead of a sterile, cookie-cut sporting
district meticulously designed to ex- into one room to talk about the issues
tract their money. your business aligns with most.
Llewellyn23

“Preservation Detroit, a local his-

toric preservation advocacy group,
started a petition drive to spare the
Hotel Ansonia and Atlanta Apart-
ments from demolition.” Petitions
are all fine, but nobody wants to
cough up the MONEY, and those Learn more about our custom business solutions by contacting
who are paying the bills don’t care
what petitions people sign... Lisa Rudy at 313-446-6032 or lrudy@crain.com
wolftimber
8 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
Karen Buscemi founded the Detroit Garment Group (DGG), an organization that supports Detroit’s fashion industry in a variety of ways.
Can Detroit become America’s next fashion hub?
By Aaron Mondry
Special to Crain's Detroit Business
When he was little, Nelson Sanders remem-
bers his parents dressing up almost every time
they went out. And his parents weren’t the only
adults in Detroit who cared about their appear-
ance after they took off the work clothes.
“There was crazy style here,” Sanders said.
“My parents didn’t have much, but they’d always
make sure they were decked out. On Friday
nights in Detroit, you had to come with it.”
While dressing up in a suit and tie or your nic-
est dress is no longer the norm for a night out,
JACOB LEWKOW
Rachel Lutz is owner of The Peacock Room and
Frida, with a third, Yama, on the way this fall.
SPECIAL REPORT:
FASHION BUSINESS
that doesn’t mean fashion is no longer import-
ant here. That’s why Sanders started The Seen,
which started off as a collective of fashion-con-
scious individuals highlighting neighborhoods
and businesses, and has recently morphed into
a creative marketing and talent agency.
“When people think fashion, they think of
Paris, New York, London,” Sanders said. “Most
wouldn’t say Detroit. I wanted to show people
around here and the world what Detroit style
looks like. There are a lot of genuinely stylish
people here, but they just don't have the plat-
form to showcase it.”
Detroit’s independent fashion retailers
focus on customer experience, not price
By Aaron Mondry
Special to Crain’s Detroit Business
Rachel Lutz hates shopping. As a self-de-
scribed plus-sized woman, she often had trou-
ble finding clothes that fit her correctly and
staff to help her through the process.
“It’s pretty ironic that I now own two appar-
el retail stores,” said Lutz, owner of The Pea-
cock Room and Frida, with a third, Yama, on
the way this fall.
Lutz opened her stores as a response to the
deficiencies of the department store shopping
experience. “It used to be that you’d have
someone serve and help you,” Lutz said.
“Nowadays, you dress under fluorescent light-
ing, which makes everyone look terrible.
There’s no sales staff to assist, no one to inter-
act with.”
Each of Lutz’s stores has different theme —
Sanders isn’t the only one working to raise
Detroit’s profile as an important fashion city,
and not just in the way it dresses. In design, man-
ufacturing and distribution for the fashion in-
dustry, Detroit is growing its local talent and
businesses to become a fashion hub.
Keeping talent local
Like Sanders, Karen Buscemi was frustrated
with Detroit’s inability to realize its potential in
the fashion industry. While the editor of fash-
ion magazine StyleLine, she kept noticing in-
vintage-inspired, casual, modern — but each
is underpinned by the same principles.
Fashion retail is on the rise in Detroit. Na-
tional and international brands — John Varva-
tos, Nike, Under Armor, Warby Parker, Bono-
bos — have opened stores in downtown
Detroit. But local, independent fashion retail-
ers are carving out space for themselves as
well. And they’re doing so by creating a special
experience for the customer.
Nationally, retail is changing at an astonish-
ing rate. Online shopping has granted the con-
sumer unprecedented convenience, which
has resulted in shrinking market share and
scores of store closures for big box retailers
like Macy’s and J.C. Penney. While it’s impos-
sible for even the most affordable department
stores to compete on price and convenience
with online retailers, traditional stores still
PHOTO BY JACOB LEWKOW
dustry talent leaving the state, almost always
for New York City or Los Angeles. “They felt
they couldn’t make it here,” Buscemi said.
To remedy the problem, Buscemi founded
the Detroit Garment Group (DGG), an organi-
zation that supports Detroit’s fashion industry
in a variety of ways. For starters, DGG runs a
business incubator program out of TechTown,
which has mentors and services for the various
aspects of running a fashion business, as well
as access to industrial sewing machines and
design studios.
SEE HUB, PAGE 9
“People don’t buy a
product, they buy an
experience.”
Sarah Donnelly, TechTown
have something valuable to offer.
“People don’t buy a product, they buy an
experience,” said Sarah Donnelly, retail ser-
vices director at TechTown. “I firmly believe
that the only thing left anyone has to sell is the
service they provide. Brick and mortar can’t
offer the same assortment of choices as Ama-
zon. But nothing beats that in-person conver-
sation about a product they make themselves
or travel across the world to find just for you
and your community.”
SEE FOCUS, PAGE 9

SPECIAL REPORT: FASHION BUSINESS
Q&A: Rufus Bartell, owner of Simply Casual in Detroit
For more than
two decades,
Simply Casual
has been a staple
of the Avenue of
Fashion, a dis-
trict on Liver-
nois Avenue
once known for
its apparel-re-
Rufus Bartell:
lated business.
Owner, Simply
Over that time,
Casual on the
owner Rufus
Avenue of Fashion.
Bartell has seen
plenty of chang-
es in Detroit, along the way gaining
insights into the city’s fashion in-
dustry.
HUB
FROM PAGE 8
“Michigan has a lot of colleges that
have really good fashion programs,”
Buscemi said, “but not one offers a
business program — they just teach
the craft. Students graduate, and
don’t know what to do with the skills.”
Another issue in the state is the
scarcity of skilled industrial sewers.
So DGG helped found an industrial
sewing certificate program through
Henry Ford College with support
from Michigan Works. The program
has graduated 14 classes so far, and
will be adding a fabric cutting pro-
gram in the fall.
The certificate program has be-
come a pipeline to Buscemi’s busi-
ness, Detroit Sewn, a full-service
sewing factory she started in 2015
because of the lack of garment man-
ufacturing in the state. “I was getting
daily inquiries about where you
could produce garments locally,” she
said.
Customers have flocked to Detroit
Sewn. Buscemi said the company
services 130 clients and has 12 em-
ployees. And all the industrial sewers
have come from the certificate pro-
gram.
Detroit’s innovative
Buscemi’s most ambitious project
is the creation of a garment district in
Detroit. Renowned garment districts
FOCUS
FROM PAGE 8
1701 Bespoke, a custom suit bou-
tique that opened in 2015, is one of
those retailers selling an experience.
The store is located in an intimate
third-floor loft space in Midtown. A
service representative takes 20 differ-
ent measurements for the customer to
get the perfect fit, then goes over fab-
rics, designs, and color schemes to get
the perfect look. Fabrics are purchased
from some of the finest mills in Italy.
Four to six weeks and two fittings later,
the customer has the ideal suit.
“It’s all about having a really high
quality product,” co-owner Max
Schmidt said. “We’re not the type of
company that can compete on price or
turnaround. But what we can really do
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
What are your thoughts on the
growing fashion retail scene in
midtown and downtown?
Well, there’s always been great
retail shopping in the neighbor-
hoods. But if you were only going to
Midtown, you wouldn’t know that.
If you went only to downtown Los
Angeles, for example, you wouldn't
know about Melrose. There hasn’t
been a high concentration of retail
downtown for some time.
However, I’m certainly glad there
are additional retail options. For a
rebuilding city to have a wide vari-
ety of retail is a good thing.
Do you think the future of the
in New York City and Los Angeles
contain concentrations of designers,
cut and sew operations, bigger man-
ufacturers, showrooms, distributors
and wholesalers. The districts are a
catalyst for the industry, which bene-
fits from the vertical integration cre-
ated by close proximity.
But due to rising property values,
the garment district in Manhattan is
no longer a practical place to locate
for smaller manufacturers or ware-
houses, which are essential to the in-
dustry.
That’s where Detroit has an advan-
tage. Buscemi’s initial plan calls for
the aggregation of 40,000 square feet
of space with room to grow.
Detroit Denim is an example of a
small manufacturer that might bene-
fit from locating in a local garment
district. The company makes men’s
jeans. Each pair is hand-sewn and
made from high-quality selvedge
denim sourced in the United States.
Because of the smaller production
scale — Detroit Denim makes about
40 pairs of jeans per week — the
company does limited runs, special
orders, and unique cuts that other
jean producers don’t offer.
The result of this process is consid-
erably less waste.
“Our country promotes a culture
of disposable clothing,” said Brenna
Lane, production and operations
manager. “Most clothes have a lifes-
pan of months and then get thrown
out. … I tell customers that they’re
is focus on the customer experience
and take care of them and give them
highest quality product they can get.”
Suits at 1701 Bespoke cost any-
where from $1,250 to $3,500. A block
away at Thrift on the Ave, an upscale
resale shop, the average item costs
about $25. And yet, the two shops
have a lot in common.
“When we look at the fabric and
construction of garments, quality is all
we value,” co-owner Chris Prater said.
“Today, because trends change so
fast, the attention to detail is not what
it used to be. So much is mass pro-
duced in China and the quality is just
not there.”
So Chris and his wife Tanisha cu-
rate the store with timeless pieces.
“We sell things that don’t need to keep
up with the times,” Prater said. “You
Avenue of Fashion should be
defined by its historical ties to
apparel?
The Avenue of Fashion has a his-
toric significance that should always
be kept. And we’re working on get-
ting historic markers for where it was.
That said, it takes a lot of courage
and vision to recognize when a name
no longer fits the trend and where a
neighborhood is going. We need new
branding that represents this whole
stretch of Livernois. We’re talking
about three miles instead of three
blocks.
But the Avenue of Fashion can still
be relevant. You have subdistricts
here, and there’s still room for the Av-
investing in a piece of clothing, rather
than something disposable.”
Detroit Denim recently moved to
a new retail and manufacturing
space in Harbortown and currently
employs eight people.
Another Detroit clothing manu-
facturer, Lazlo, makes plain white
T-shirts out of the Corktown maker-
space Ponyride. Once again, it’s not
your standard T-shirt. Lazlo’s shirts
are made of supima cotton, an ex-
tra-long staple variety that results in
“I tell customers
that they’re
investing in a
piece of clothing,
rather than
something
disposable.”
Brenna Lane, Detroit Denim
softer and more durable fabric, and
which accounts for about 3 percent
of United States cotton production.
Of this, Lazlo sources organic, which
is only 1 percent of supima growers
produce.
Sustainability is important to Laz-
lo’s business model. Co-founder
Christian Birky said he was appalled
at the waste and poor labor practices
in the fashion industry, where the
norm is to manufacture clothes from
cheap materials using cheap labor.
can buy something from us and,
months from now, it will still be in
style.”
In fact, few of Detroit’s indepen-
dent retailers pay much attention to
trends. Because they don’t have the
capital to drastically overturn their
collection, they instead commit dog-
gedly to an aesthetic, one that isn’t
tethered to popular culture.
Lutz has pretty strong opinions on
the subject. “I’m an anti-consumer-
ism shop owner,” she said. “When you
buy something, you should wear it as
long as you can and look relevant as
long as you can. I think people should
buy fewer things, but be more satis-
fied with the things they have and get
more use out of them.”
That message has clearly resonated
with her customers.
enue of Fashion to be included in
that. People buy into it and feel a
sense of place when they’re here. So
we can have a plan that’s forward
thinking and also embraces history.
What do you think the future of the
fashion industry is in Detroit?
There’s talk about creating a
garment district. Do you think that’s
a viable plan?
Regarding manufacturing and in-
tellectual capital, Detroit is too far
behind. The Chinese market has a
labor force and market that’s at the
right price. We’re too far behind
them, Turkey, Korea. These places
can push out thousands of garments
“We said, ‘Let’s try to make white
the best possible white T-shirt’ and
see what was possible,” Birky said.
“But also know who it’s made by,
where it’s made, and what it’s made
out of.”
The shirts are sold out of several
Michigan stores as well as online.
The company also worked with
the Michigan Department of Correc-
tions to train inmates in cutting and
sewing and recently hired its first re-
turning citizen, who earns $15 an
hour.
The biggest obstacle Detroit Den-
im and Lazlo have to overcome is
consumer conventions around the
cost of clothing. Higher-quality ma-
terials and fairly-compensated labor
results in much higher prices — $250
for a pair of jeans and $110 for a
T-shirt.
“Even though these are not tradi-
tionally luxury products, because of
the quality and craftsmanship,
they’re priced as a luxury product,”
said Erin Patton, director of Retail
and Marketing at Ponyride. “Fashion
has struggled for many years to have
proven models that are sustainable.
If someone doesn’t try to do it, it’ll
never be done. … It’s a lot they’re
asking to shift customer behavior.”
The time is now
Buscemi’s been working on bring-
ing the garment district to fruition for
several years now. She said she has
1701 Bespoke’s flagship location at 4160 Woodward Avenue, which opened in
January 2016.
9
by the hour.
But here’s where Detroit can win:
distribution and warehousing. Pick,
pack and ship. We have lots of cheap
warehouse space — it’s much cheap-
er here than in New York. And within
a six hour radius, we have access to
all the Midwest.
And that’s where the garment in-
dustry really is. After something is
manufactured, it’s boated over into a
warehouse. That’s the nerve center.
Detroit could be a hub, if you can get
the city to sit down and get them to
understand the opportunity. This is
low-hanging fruit — we can put peo-
ple to work. Cheap warehouse space
gives this city an advantage.
an important institutional partner,
which she declined to disclose, and
hopes to make an announcement by
the end of the summer.
“This is the perfect time,” Buscemi
said. “Detroit is so damn sexy right
now. Everyone wants to manufacture
in Detroit, wants to say this is from
Detroit, made in Detroit — it’s ridicu-
lous.”
Shinola, founded just six years
ago, is possibly the most prominent
example of the popularity of Detroit
as a brand. The company displays
“Detroit” on all its products, which
they sell from over 20 stores in every
corner of the United States. Other
fashion companies have capitalized
on the Detroit brand, such as Detroit
Is The New Black, Detroit Versus Ev-
erybody, and Detroit Hustles Hard-
er.
While Detroit Denim and Lazlo
may not be large-scale manufactur-
ers, their impact could be significant.
Birky thinks there’s an opportunity to
define Detroit as a center for ethical
clothing manufacturing.
“There’s a number of people work-
ing to bring advanced knitting facili-
ties to Detroit,” Birky said. “No city in
the country owns that yet. This is new
technology and a new approach that
New York or L.A. doesn’t have a mo-
nopoly on. Detroit can say, ‘Here's
what we do.’ That’s a movement that
some city is going to seize sooner rath-
er than later, and I hope it will happen
here.”
PHOTO BY MICHELLE AND CHRIS GERARD
10
DETROIT 1917 / 1967 / 2017
PART 2: STILL REBUILDING
Editor’s note: This is the second in our two-part series about the 1967 uprising
­— an exploration of economics and business in Detroit in the 50 years before the
summer of ’67 and the 50 years since. Last week, we chronicled the decades of
social and economic racial tension that contributed to the violent summer.
VAUGHN
FROM PAGE 1
Early that morning of Monday, July
24, Vaughn arrived at his bookstore
and found that it been spared from
the fires that had been set to mostly
white-owned businesses along Dex-
ter, Linwood, Grand River and 12th
Street, the epicenter of the riots.
But Vaughn found a five-word
sign of trouble spray-painted on the
front of his store: “Long live the black
revolution.”
“I said, ‘Uh, oh, I know I’m in trou-
ble now,’” Vaughn recalled.
Two nights later, during a citywide
curfew, according to residents in a
nearby apartment building who told
Vaughn they watched it happen, De-
troit police officers arrived in three
cruisers around 4 a.m., knocked
down the store’s door, broke win-
dows with the butt of their rifles and
set the place on fire.
No books had been stolen, but the
bathroom sink was intentionally
clogged to flood the store and ruin the
books that didn’t burn, Vaughn said.
“I know that Negroes did not do
this,” Vaughn told a Michigan Chron-
icle reporter while surveying the
damage the morning of July 27, 1967.
“Why should they? In the first place,
no Negro was out on the street at that
time of morning — he would have
been shot down. ... And what Negro
would chance his life just to steal a
few books?”
Vaughn’s long-standing claim
that his bookstore was intentionally
set fire and flooded by the Detroit
police was never substantiated in of-
ficial investigations of Detroit’s
bloody and destructive uprising,
which led to 43 deaths, hundreds of
charred buildings and millions of
dollars in damage. Witnesses recant-
ed their story to FBI agents, and only
one woman was ever willing to testi-
fy at a public tribunal black commu-
nity leaders held at the Shrine of the
Black Madonna on Linwood.
Fifty years after those five riotous
Read more on crainsdetroit.com
What 1967 means for 2017, and beyond
Refocusing: Focus:HOPE and New Detroit were both formed to address
the root causes of the uprising in 1967. Fifty years later, both organizations
are shifting strategy and sharpening their focus on racial equity.
Deeper data: What today’s economic indicators tell us the future might
hold for Detroit in the next 50 years.
Catch up on last
week’s report
Part 1: How urban renewal routed
a thriving black business district
— and foreshadowed the
destruction of 1967.
Fournier: The words we use to talk
about what happened in 1967.
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J u n e 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
days in late July, city leaders know
Detroit’s nascent comeback hinges
on rebuilding a vast network of small
businesses that were lost in the after-
math of 1967.
Unlike most businesses that were
destroyed by the riots, Vaughn was
able to rebuild his retail enterprise,
hang on for two more decades of
slow decline and then watch his chil-
dren carry on the spirit of entrepre-
neurship that propelled him to De-
troit in search of a better life.
In examining how Detroit can re-
build thriving neighborhoods of the
future, the burning of Vaughn’s
Bookstore serves as a focal point of
the decades-long decline of the Dex-
ter and Linwood neighborhood that
was once a mixed-race enclave of
blacks, Jews and Muslims with a
thriving commercial corridor.
Before the riots, Dexter Avenue had
restaurants, a Jewish delicatessen, a
Muslim-owned fish market, record
stores, a tuxedo rental shop, the Dex-
ter Theater, the Minor Key jazz club
and Bowl-O-Drome, a bowling alley
and jazz club, according to lifelong
residents and newspaper accounts. In
1963, one-time auto worker Ed Davis
opened the nation’s first black-owned
Chrysler-Plymouth car dealership on
Dexter Avenue — two blocks from
Vaughn’s book store.
Today, all that remains of
Vaughn’s original bookstore is a
boarded-up one-story commercial
building with a collapsed roof along
a mostly deserted corridor that emp-
tied out in the years following the
1967 riots. Most of the nearby com-
mercial buildings along Dexter Ave-
nue are boarded up, with some slat-
ed to be razed through the city’s
on-going blight removal efforts.
“Dexter used to be a heck of a
street ... no vacancies along here,”
said Bill Redden, an 86-year-old con-
crete construction company owner
who has lived in the neighborhood
his whole life. “Dexter back then was
almost like Woodward downtown.”
CONTINUES ON PAGE 12
Surgical resident John Crissman
was called into work at Detroit
General Hospital on July 23, 1967.
He worked in the post-op ward
for the next five days.
Here, he remembers what he saw.
Five days at
Detroit General
Hospital
Unrest across the country during the summer of 1967 changed many procedures at hospitals, including security, visiting hours and
J
By Jay Greene | jgreene@crain.com
ohn Crissman had an omen of the violence that erupted in Detroit in the summer of 1967. ¶ He was a
second-year surgical resident at the former Detroit General Hospital, now called DMC Detroit Receiv-
ing. He remembers vividly an elderly black woman he treated who gave him a warning of unrest on the
horizon. ¶ “She said, ‘Doctor, be careful out there. Things are not good in the city. There will likely be
some fracas.’ Then, she tipped over her pocketbook and a .38 revolver fell out,” said Crissman, shaking
his head in remembrance. ¶ A few days later, violence erupted on 12th Street after police raided an unlicensed bar
on the city’s near west side.
Crissman, now 78, is the former
dean of Wayne State University
School of Medicine, a role he held
from 1999 to 2004. He was also a
member of the medical school facul-
ty until his retirement in 2014.
But on a Sunday afternoon in 1967,
Crissman was 28 and enjoying a rare
day off with friends at a Tigers double-
header against the New York Yankees.
“We were driving home and I saw
the smoke coming out from the hori-
zon. I said, ‘Oh, something is going
on,” said Crissman. “We got back to
my house on Dickerson, across from
Chandler Park, and the TV an-
nounced: ‘Would the Pontiac Na-
tional Guard please report to your
armory.’ ”
An hour later, Crissman was
called in to Detroit General. Injured
citizens were starting to arrive via
emergency crisis preparations. But at Detroit General, “we were ready for it,” said Dr. John Crissman.
ambulance and police escort. Over
the next five days, Crissman saw
first-hand more than 900 injured
people come through the city’s main
trauma hospital.
In total, 43 people died during the
unrest, 33 black and 10 white. At
least 26 of them died at Detroit Gen-
eral Hospital.
“We had no word or alerts from
staff, no official preparation for any
emergency,” he said. “We were just
always ready. You could have had
World War Three and you would
have been taken care of.”
When Crissman arrived at Detroit
General, ambulances were trans-
porting patients to other hospitals to
make room for the traumatic injury
patients everyone expected: people
who had been shot, stabbed, tear
gassed, beaten or cut by broken glass.
The hospital’s disaster plan had
been put into effect.
What he saw
By Monday morning, Crissman
said the rebellion turned into a riot.
“People were destroying, burning,”
he said, and “we became very busy.”
Crissman was assigned to handle
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J u n e 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
all post-operative activities. He over-
saw a 120-bed post-op ward.
“I never went to the OR. It was re-
served for attendings and senior resi-
dents. They loved to operate and they
stuck me with the dirty work. But I was
all around the hospital and saw every-
thing. I wasn’t isolated in the OR.”
Most of the people who came to
the ER over the next five days were
brought in by police — many of them
in handcuffs.
“General hospitals had prisoners
all the time. There were always two
policemen at the start of every triage.
We had a lot of police supervising
the patients” along with doctors and
nurses. “This was not a change from
normal activity.”
But regardless of how angry or vi-
olent people were during the riots,
COURTESY AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
the injured prisoners were calm and
well-behaved in the hospital.
“We had a very polarized communi-
ty. But once a black person is injured,
your relationship changes drastically.
They know you are there to help them.
I never had a problem,” he said.
On Tuesday — the third day of the
riots — Crissman was in the fourth-
floor post-op ward. It was quiet, as
usual.
“We had the lights on. They were
shining through frosted glass win-
dows. I heard a ‘ping’ sound. No-
body really paid attention. Then an-
other ‘ping,’ and another ‘ping.’ We
recognized somebody was shooting
at us. We turned off the lights and
moved the patients out.”
Crissman said police went out to
the parking deck across the street
Crissman was a second-year surgical resident at Detroit General Hospital, now DMC
Detroit Receiving, in 1967. He oversaw the post-op ward during the five-day uprising.
looking for the shooter. “They went
up and killed him. The riots had
been going on long enough. People
who were displaying bizarre, an-
ti-social behavior were not treated
kindly,” he said.
Another incident Crissman re-
calls involved a young white teenag-
er, maybe 16 years old, who the po-
lice brought in to the hospital.
Crissman said the teenager’s old-
er brother, in his early 20s, had told
him they had come to Detroit from
Ohio “to shoot some cops. They got
into an abandoned building and
started sniping.”
At this point, the military had
jeeps and soldiers patroling the riot
area with 50-caliber machine guns.
“They would just aim where the
gunfire was coming from and blow
out the walls. The young kid pan-
icked and ran out the front door and
tripped, knocking himself out. That
probably saved him. His brother was
obviously killed.”
One of the saddest moments for
Crissman was when he was helping
to treat a fireman who had been
electrocuted putting out a fire when
a high-voltage wire fell on him.
“His wife was there. He was badly
hurt, burned frontal lobes, was
blinded. The electricity came out his
left arm and (his arm) was almost to-
tally destroyed. It was awful. He died
a few days later.”
Over the next two months after
the riot, residency work at Detroit
General settled down to more rou-
tine duties for Crissman. But he said
he noticed a large number of people
coming in for alcoholism and pan-
creatitis.
“They reported (to me) stealing
large amounts of booze from liquor
stores,” which they drank over the
next five to six weeks.
Crisis response
The unrest across the country
during the summer of 1967 changed
many procedures at hospitals: secu-
rity, visiting hours and emergency
crisis preparations.
Edwin Crosby, M.D., president of
the American Hospital Association,
gave advice to hospitals to prepare
for riots, in a paper published by the
New England Journal of Medicine.
11
JACOB LEWKOW FOR CRAIN’S
He advised hospitals to lock all doors
except for the ER and discontinue
visiting hours. Other advice is to
have adequate security, safe trans-
port for staff and patients, create
flexible schedules, ensure adequate
medical supplies and blood.
But at Detroit General, Crissman
said “the riots didn’t change the hos-
pital one iota. We were ready for it
and always maintained tight securi-
ty. Before, we always checked visi-
tors. But during (the riots) we had no
visitors whatsoever.”
The hospital was “like a MASH
unit,” Crissman said. You were hurt
and you were taken care of. No ques-
tions asked.
But it’s true, Crissman said, that
the team at Detroit General pulled
together.
Alfred Plotkin, administrator of
Detroit General at the time of the un-
rest, said it was one of the most
amazing displays of camaraderie
he’d seen in two decades of work at
the institution.
“In the 20 years I’ve been here, I’ve
never seen such spirit. It was com-
pletely amazing,” he said to Hospitals
magazine. “Some of our people
worked 36 to 40 hours with only an
hour or two of sleep when they could.”
Crissman said he believes the riots
could have either been prevented or
ended much earlier if Detroit Police
had better tactics and exhibited
greater understanding of the black
community. He said he believes De-
troit Police learned their lessons and
are much better trained today.
After five days on duty, “I finally
went home Thursday for the first
time,” he said. “They worked my ass
off there the whole time.”
After his second year of residency,
Crissman said he was drafted into
the Air Force. “Every male doctor of
that era went into the service, either
after internship or go into the lottery.
I got a two-year exemption and then I
went” to San Antonio. “Don’t ask me
why. I should have gone to Vietnam.”
After four years of surgery, he
changed his residency to pathology
and finished up at hospitals in Cleve-
land and Cincinati.
“I went to Detroit General for ex-
citement,” he said. “And I got it.”
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene
12 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J u n e 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J u n e 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 13

DETROIT 1917 / 1967 / 2017

PART 2: STILL REBUILDING

FROM PAGE 10
Seeking opportunity
Like tens of thousands of young
black men in his generation, Ed
Vaughn came to Detroit in 1956 from
the South in search of work and op-
portunity after earning a bachelor’s
degree at Fisk University in Nashville.
He grew up in Dothan, Ala., the same
hometown of Dr. Charles H. Wright,
the physician who founded the Mu-
seum of African American History in
Detroit that bears his name.
“When I got to Detroit, blacks
couldn’t get jobs anywhere, except
in the automobile industry, and they
stuck you in the worst place in the
plant,” Vaughn said.
After busing tables at a downtown
resturant, Vaughn worked at the Post
Office until he was drafted in 1957
for two years of service in the Army.
When he was discharged, Vaughn
headed back to Detroit and resumed
working at the Post Office until he
took up selling African American
books on the side out of his car trunk.
At the time, Vaughn said the Civil
Rights movement was fueling a renais-
sance for African history, black litera-
ture and political writing in response to
systemic post-Civil War racism.
In 1964, Vaughn and his business
partner, Polly Ross, opened up a
bookstore primarily selling black lit-
erature at 12123 Dexter Ave., in the
heart of what had been a predomi-
nately Jewish neighborhood for the
first half of the 20th Century.
“Everybody thought I was crazy,
but I knew something was happen-
ing, something was about to go
down … something was on the hori-
zon,” Vaughn said. “The movement
began to take shape and people were
looking for black books.”
The store quickly became a gath-
ering spot on Thursday nights for the
black community to discuss the
pressing issues of the day. Vaughn
dubbed the gatherings Forum ’65,
Forum ’66 and Forum ’67.
Vaughn had carved out a niche
business, but was mindful that out-
siders considered him a “subversive”
at an increasingly tense time of so-
cial upheaval in the country.
Edward Hancock, a 66-year-old
black Detroiter who has lived in the
neighborhood on Webb Street since
1956, said he recalls browsing books
in Vaughn’s store as a teenager.
The Detroit Land Bank Authority has been demolishing blighted properties near Dexter Avenue. “It’s a beautiful thing what
they’re doing across the street,” said one neighborhood resident.
“That was a black consciousness
movement, which some maybe would
mischaracterize as a black power
movement," Hancock said. “There was
an awakening of black people.”
Legacy burned
Vaughn, who is now 82, believes
his store was targeted by police be-
cause it was rumored to be a gather-
ing spot for the Black Panther Party
poured in from publishers and mul-
tiple countries.
“The Chinese government sent
me tons of books,” Vaughn said.
“Business really took off after the
cops burned my store.”
Vaughn used his late 1960s and
early 1970s profits to invest in com-
mercial real estate in the city.
But the book business began to
decline along with Dexter Avenue,
where several businesses never re-
opened after the riots, Vaughn said.
Like many parts of Detroit, white
and middle class black flight sped
up in the years following the rebel-
lion. Many of the black-owned busi-
nesses along Dexter Avenue and
surrounding corridors disappeared.
After selling 1,000 Chrysler, Plym-
outh and Imperial cars annually in
the mid-1960s, Ed Davis’ dealership
closed in 1971, according to the De-
troit Historical Society.
“The legacy of black entrepre-
neurship was burned, destroyed,
decimated during the riots,” said
Harold Ellis, a retired Detroit educa-
tor who taught one of Vaughn’s
daughters in school.
Ellis, 71, grew up in the Dexter and
Linwood area and lives in the historic
Russell Woods neighborhood to the
northwest of the riot zone.
“We did have black businesses,”
said Ellis, who was in college at the
time of the riots. “But when they
burned down, many of them did not
JACOB LEWKOW FOR CRAIN’S come back to life.”
‘Die-hard Detroiter’
and other groups advocating vio- ed in its July 29, 1967, edition docu- In the late 1970s, Vaughn moved
lence against the government — ac- menting the five-day riot. his bookstore two doors down on
cusations Vaughn denies to this day. “Every book that I had left that did Dexter for a few years while he tried
Inside the bookstore after the fire not burn was floating in water,” his hand at politics, serving one term
and flood, framed-glass posters of Vaughn recalled. in the Michigan House and then
Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. For Vaughn, the destruction of his working in the administration of
and southern black heroes were store actually served as short-term Mayor Coleman A. Young.
smashed, Vaughn said. boost for his entrepreneurship as The independent book-selling
Book cases were overturned, word spread internationally about business was in decline, and Vaughn
painting canvasses were slashed and books being burned in Detroit. eventually moved the store around to
the phones were ripped from the As Vaughn rebuilt the store, book a downtown store on Griswold, fol-
wall, the Michigan Chronicle report- donations to replenish the shelves lowed by a stint on 7 Mile near Outer
Drive before buying a building at
“Everybody thought I was crazy, 16527 Livernois Ave. across the street
but I knew something was from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Vaughn’s book store faded away
happening … something was on in the early 1990s as sales declined
the horizon. The movement and Vaughn pursued a second stint
began to take shape and people in politics, winning a seat in the state
were looking for black books.” House in 1994. But small business
ownership has lived on in the
Ed Vaughn, pictured in 1967 and now Vaughn family.
Factors leading
to the 1967 riots
The events of ’67 were about more than the
economy, but the numbers show that job loss
and labor discrimination were part of the
equation. How do these factors look today?
Employment
The economic boom of WWII drastically
reduced unemployed Detroiters from
135,000 in 1940 to 6,000 in 1943
1940: 135,000
1943: 6,000
Black workers accounted for 4 percent of
auto workers at the start of WWII but grew to
15 percent by 1945.
1940: 4%
1945: 15%
By the 1950s, black Detroiters
earned 81 percent of what their
white male counterparts earned
— one of the smallest wage gaps
in the country.
81%
De-industrialization
Between 1947 and 1963, production shifts,
consolidation and automation led to 143,000
job losses in Detroit. Job losses were
exacerbated by the closures of major auto
employers, including Packard Motor Car Co.,
Hudson Motor Car Co. and Studebaker Co.
Michgan’s % of U.S. auto jobs
1950: 56%
1960: 40%
Labor discrimination
Despite a labor shortage in post-WWII
Detroit, most job listings with the state’s jobs
agencies specifically excluded minorities. Job
listings that were closed to nonwhites by
written specifications, by year:
35.1% 44.7% 55.5%
1946 1947 1955
Riot damage
2,509 Detroit businesses were burned,
looted or otherwise destroyed — the
equivalent of losing every business in the city
of Ferndale, Garden City, or Allen Park.
$43 to $49 million in estimated property
loss in 1967 dollars, or $315 to $359 million
in today’s dollars. Missing from that equation
are untabulated losses from businesses that
were under-insured or had no insurance at all.
Current-day vs. 1967
economic indicators
Black unemployment in Detroit
1960: 18.2% 2014: 14.4%
White unemployment in Detroit
1960: 5.8% 2014: 4.9%
In 1994, Vaughn’s son, Eric,
bought the 91-year-old building and
turned his passion for framing pho-
tographs and paintings into a small
business, Eric’s I've Been Framed.
“When I decided to come into here,
my wife thought I was crazy because
the building was in disrepair,” Eric
Vaughn said. “It needed a new roof,
windows, doors — the whole nine
yards. But I had the vision. I could see
this place being a good place.”
Eric Vaughn said he had to take out
a second mortgage on his home in the
Boston-Edison neighborhood to get
his gallery and framing shop open.
“I didn’t get any bank loans, no
grant programs like they have now,
no Motor City Match — none of that
was around at the time,” Vaughn
said, referencing a Detroit Economic
Growth Corp. grant program for
small businesses.
Like many middle class blacks of
his generation, Eric Vaughn is the only
one of his four siblings who stayed in
Detroit. His brother and two sisters
moved to Atlanta, where they have
made a life as small business owners. JACOB LEWKOW FOR CRAIN’S
Randall Vaughn owns a barbershop Above and left: A community carnival Eleos Ministry hosted in the lot behind the
and sisters Sybil and Attallah own and former Vaughn’s bookstore attracted about 600 people on a June evening.
operate a beauty salon.
“My wife's been saying for years tries, sandwiches and hosting daily Before the coffee shop opened
she wanted to move, but I’m a stead- Bible study sessions and monthly last fall, the Eleos Ministry launched
fast and die-hard Detroiter,” Eric community meetings with Detroit its mission in the neighborhood with
Vaughn said. police officers from the 10th Pre- a carnival in a vacant grassy field be-
Eric’s 22-year-old son, Wynton, cinct. The coffee shop ministry is hind Vaughn’s original bookstore
has started making sports T-shirts managed by two couples from Mis- where houses once stood.
and selling them in pop-up shops in souri: Sean and Joni Adams and Ni- Eleos held its second annual carni-
Virginia while attending college at cole and Jacob Cumberford. val on June 8, attracting about 600 peo-
Hampton University. “Everything about this place is ex- ple from around the neighborhood.
“He’s got the bug,” Eric Vaughn said actly what we thought the Lord was Children played carnival games and
of his son. “I think he’s going to be an leading us to do,” said Sean Adams, a bounced around in inflatable bounce
entrepreneur too because he’s got pastor from the St. Louis area who houses as Eleos’ volunteers grilled and
that mind and that drive. He gets it moved his family of five to Detroit to served up hot dogs and chips.
from his father and his grandfather.” run the ministry. “This is the best thing that’s hap-
The coffee shop’s vibrancy has pened to this community in a long
Sign of life given longtime residents like Harold time,” Hancock said as he pushed his
Ellis hope that a turnaround for Dex- grandson around in a stroller.
On Dexter Avenue, the only rem- County Treasurer’s Office over the ter is just around the corner. In the middle of the evening car-
nant of Vaughn’s book store is a por- past decade for unpaid property tax- Across the street, demolition con- nival, Eric Vaughn showed up to
tion of the original glass window es, city records show. tractors for the Detroit Land Bank Au- pose for a photo for Crain’s in front of
above the entrance that bears the But in the midst of desperation, thority recently knocked down an his father's original store.
last two digits of the 12123 Dexter there’s a sign of life on the next block abandoned commercial property that He hadn’t driven down Dexter in a
Ave. street address. to the south at the corner of Dexter was most recently a liquor store. Burnt- long time and didn’t know about the
The last business to occupy the and Duane St. out and stripped houses near Dexter coffee shop, much less the commu-
building was O.M School Resale & Inside a former Monster Burger Avenue are next in line for demolition, nity carnival taking place in the lot
Boutique. A hand-painted sign on restaurant, a Kansas City-based according to the land bank. behind his father’s first book store.
building’s facade said the store sold Christian ministry has set up a coffee “It’s beautiful what they’re doing “This is really amazing,” Eric
a “little bit of this, little bit of that.” shop that has become a popular across the street,” Ellis said as a bull- Vaughn said. “Who is brave enough
It’s unclear when the store shut- gathering place for longtime resi- dozer cleared the lot across Dexter to come over to this area and start a
tered for good, but the building is dents like Ellis and Hancock. from the coffee shop where he sat on coffee shop?”
one of thousands of properties trans- Eleos Coffee House opened in Oc- a recent day in May. “One day that’s Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654
ferred in foreclosure to the Wayne tober of last year, selling coffee, pas- going to be a business again.” Twitter: @ChadLivengood

Detroit 1967 timeline: 1967 to 2017

>> July 23-29, 1967: On Sunday, July 23, at 3:30 a.m., Detroit police raid an illegal after April 4–5, 1968: Violence again
hours bar in the building that housed the former Economy Printing Co. at 12th Street and erupts in the 12th Street area of Detroit
Clairmount. Police find 83 people inside, celebrating the return of two soldiers from Vietnam. after the assassination of Martin Luther
Additional paddy wagons are called from neighboring precincts as a crowd grows agitated in King Jr., amid more than 100 instances of
the hot summer night. Bricks and bottles are tossed at police. At 6:30 a.m., Hardy Drugs is the rioting across the country. The Michigan
first building set ablaze. There would be 1,300 more fires by the riot’s end, requiring assistance Army National Guard quells the riot. One
from 43 other fire departments. person is killed, and the number of
By the end of the day on Sunday, the crowd on 12th Street has grown to about 10,000 people buildings damaged is much smaller than
and violence and looting begins to spill into other areas of the city. Detroit Police 1967.
Commissioner Ray Giradin seeks help from the Michigan State Police, Wayne County Sheriff
Department and the Michigan National Guard. Mayor Jerome Cavanagh orders all bars,
>> Oct. 10, 1968: The Tigers beat the
St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series.
theaters and gas stations closed. A 9 p.m. curfew is mostly ignored.
Thousands celebrate peacefully in the
It takes five days and more than 8,000 Michigan Army National Guardsmen and 5,500 veteran streets, and the team plane is diverted to
paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions to quell the violence. In the end, Willow Run Airport because an estimated
2,509 businesses have been destroyed. The human toll is 43 dead (including 33 black residents, killed 30,000 jubilant fans had gathered at
mostly by police and troops), 1,189 injured, and 7,231 arrested. Ironically, the Economy Printing Co. Detroit Metro, prompting authorities to
survives the riot without much damage. DETROIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY halt all air traffic.
>> Jan. 1, 1974: Former state Sen.
Coleman Young takes office as Detroit’s first
black mayor. He’s re-elected four times
before retiring in 1993.
1976: 12th Street is renamed Rosa Parks
Boulevard.
July 1, 1976: The first phase of the
Renaissance Center complex opens along
the Detroit River at a cost of $337 million.
DETROIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Sources: detroithistorical.org, detroit1701.org, U.S. Census, thewright.org, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, detroitjournalism.org, mtu.edu/mhugl, hourdetroit.com, Crain’s archival and research. Compiled by Bill Shea.
DETROIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Oct. 14, 1984: The Tigers beat the San
Diego Padres in Game 5 at Tiger Stadium
to clinch the World Series championship.
Fans riot, overturning vehicles and
setting them ablaze. National and
international press coverage is negative.
No one is killed.
1989: Mike and Marian Ilitch move their
Little Caesars pizza chain headquarters from
Farmington Hills to Detroit after renovating
the ornate Fox Theatre and its
186,000-square-foot office space.
June 15, 1990: Eight people are killed in
Detroit, from accidents, gunfire, and a
hit-and-run, during a citywide celebration
of the Detroit Pistons’ NBA championship.
April 29-May 4, 1992: Violence erupts in Los
Angeles after a jury acquits four police officers in
the beating of motorist Rodney King. 58 are
killed and the damage is estimated at more
than $1 billion — making it the first U.S. riot more
costly and deadly than Detroit’s 1967 violence.
Jan. 1, 2002: Kwame Kilpatrick takes office
as mayor at age 31, the city’s youngest-ever
chief executive
2002-2003: Compuware Corp. founder
Peter Karmanos Jr. spends $350 million to
build a 15-story company headquarters in
Campus Martius and brings more than 4,000
employees to Detroit from the suburbs.
Sept. 18, 2008: Felony convictions force
Kwame Kilpatrick to resign as mayor.
2010: Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan
Gilbert relocates the company’s
headquarters and 1,700 employees from
Livonia to the Compuware building.
Dec. 27, 2011: Gov. Rick Snyder creates a
review board for Detroit’s finances. Within a
few months, the board determines the city
is in jeopardy.
April 4, 2012: Detroit City Council agrees to a
consent agreement with the state to shore up
the city’s finances in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.
March 14, 2013: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
appoints Kevyn Orr as emergency manager
for Detroit. By May, Orr reports that the city
is insolvent and cannot meet payments to
creditors, unions and pension funds.
July 18, 2013: Detroit files for Chapter 9
bankruptcy protection. Long-term debt
obligations are estimated at up to $20 billion.
Nov. 5, 2013: Mike Duggan is elected as
the city’s first white mayor since Roman
Gribbs in 1973. However, his power is
curtailed before taking office because of the
state takeover of the city.
Dec. 10, 2014: The city exits bankruptcy.
Orr resigns as emergency manager and
government control of Detroit returns to the
elected city council and mayor.
May 12, 2017: The $187 million QLine
streetcar launches passenger service along a
6.6-mile loop of Woodward Avenue in
downtown Detroit.
14
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overseeing client programs. EWI, which
launched as Exhibit Works in 1979,
designs and builds exhibits, events, and
retail environments for many Global
500 brands. Jorja has more than 25
years experience producing corporate
events, brand activation’s and product
launches. She was previously Director of
Automotive Meetings and Shows at BI
Worldwide.
PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES
Marla Michele Must
Master Photographer
In Portraits (MPP)
Marla Michele Must Portrait Art
(www.MMMPortraitArt.com) and
Enchanted Photography by Marla
Michele Must
(www.enchantedbymarlamichele.com)
The Master Photographers International
Organization (MPIO) board of directors
and qualifying team of judges has
designated Michigan portrait artist
Marla Michele Must as a Master
Photographer In Portraits (MPP). Must
is honored to share the Master
Photographer designation with a select
group of exceptional internationally
renowned artists such as Joseph &
Louise Simone and Peter Lik.
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
CONSULTING
Kevin Daly
Partner, Tax
PwC
Kevin Daly has been
promoted to Partner at
PwC. He is primarily
focused on the life sciences, automotive,
and chemical industries. Kevin has
assisted clients in obtaining bilateral APAs,
fast-track dispute resolution, domestic/
international restructurings, international
business expansion and supply chain
planning, IP management and migration
strategies, and M&A due diligence. He
holds a BA in Economics and
Management from Albion College and a
JD from University of Toledo College of
Law.
Jarrod Wood
Partner, Tax
PwC
Jarrod Wood has been
promoted to Partner at
PwC. Kevin focuses on
the Industrial Products and Pharma/Life
Sciences sectors. His experience includes
both inbound/outbound tax planning,
cross-border M&A and legal entity
restructuring, large-scale repatriation
projects, international aspects of income
tax accounting, foreign income tax
reporting for US multinationals, and E&P
studies. He holds a BBA and MAcc in
Accounting from the University of
Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of
Business.
REAL ESTATE
Ken Hedgepath
Vice President of
Procurement
Continuum Services
As Vice President of
Procurement, Ken’s
focus will be on creating and
implementation of a strategic, scalable
sourcing, contract administration and
procurement process in support of client
facility maintenance and service
operations. Ken joins Continuum with 25
years of experience in sourcing and
purchasing. He most recently served as
the procurement / sourcing lead at several
national accounts for Jones Lang LaSalle
(JLL).
Pete Cunningham
Director of Plumbing
Services
Continuum Services
As Director of Plumbing
Services, Pete
Cunningham is responsible for overseeing
the day to day operations for the
plumbing division which consist of:
Project Management, Account
Development and account retainage, job
costing and estimating, scheduling and
supervising the staff. Pete has over 24
years’ experience in the commercial
plumbing field and holds a Master
Plumbers License/ Cross Connection
Certification for the State of Michigan.
Pete is an active member of BOMA
Detroit.
For more information
or questions regarding advertising
in this section, please call
Lynn Calcaterra at (313) 446-6086 or
email: lcalcaterra@crain.com
DEALS & SPOTLIGHT
DETAILS Art Van Elslander names
son firm’s president
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS
 HTC Global Services, Troy, an IT solutions com- Art Van Elslander has named his
pany, acquired the North American and India oper- son Gary Van Elslander president of
ations of Ciber Inc., Greenwood Village, Colo., an IT his new compa-
consulting services and outsourcing company. Web- ny, Van Elslander
site: htcinc.com. Capital LLC, ef-
fective July 1.
CONTRACTS
 Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Detroit,
The company,
formed last fall,
has named Duffey Petrosky & Co., Farmington Hills, invests in indus-
as its advertising and marketing services agency of tries with high
record to launch its new brand campaign. Websites: growth potential.
duffeypetrosky.com, karmanos.org. It said early on
Gary Van that while it
 Your People LLC, Huntington Woods, a public re- Elslander: plans to focus in-
lations firm, was named the agency of record for President of new vestments on lo-
West Michigan Partnership for Children, Grand Rap- company. cal and Michi-
ids; M1 Imaging, Royal Oak; One Earth Writing, gan-based
Huntington Woods; and blogging services provider companies, it could expand that re-
for Thriveworks, Beverly Hills and Birth Beautiful gionally or nationally.
Detroit, Detroit. Website: yourppl.com. Gary Van Elslander, 66, was presi-
dent of Warren-based Art Van Furni-
NEW SERVICES ture Inc., the company his father sold
 NSK Americas Inc., Ann Arbor, a division of NSK to Boston-based private equity firm
Ltd., Toyko, launched a new digital platform for se- Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a deal
lecting products, distributors and information about announced in late January and
bearings, linear technology and steering systems. closed a month later. He left the com-
Website: nskamericas.com. pany effective June 1.
Detroit Zoological Society
Deals & Details guidelines. Email
names new CFO
cdbdepartments@crain.com. Use any Deals & Details
item as a model for your release, and look for the The Detroit Zoological Society ap-
appropriate category. Without complete information, pointed Jeffrey Evans as its new CFO.
your item will not run. Photos are welcome, but we Evans, 54,
cannot guarantee they will be used. comes to the zo-
ological society
from a position
CALENDAR
as CFO of Stout
Risius Ross Inc.,
which has an of-
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28 fice in South-
Five Keys to Maximizing Your Personal Brand. 7:30- field.
8:45 a.m. JVS. Guest speaker Priscilla Archangel, Evans started
executive coach and leadership consultant, will Jeffrey Evans: in his new role
Formerly at Stout last week, lead-
explain the five keys to developing and managing
a brand: presence, purpose, strengths, learning Risius Ross ing the zoologi-
and personality. JVS, Southfield. Free. Contact: cal society’s in-
Angela Bevak, email: abevak@jvsdet.org; phone formation technology arm and
(248) 233-4482; website: http://www.jvsdet.org overseeing accounting, budgeting,
financial reporting and investing.
Legislative Forum and Business Forum. 11 a.m.-1:30 Evans, a certified public accoun-
p.m. Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber. tant, has about 30 years of financial
Features Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. leadership experience. He received
Crystal Gardens Banquet Center, Southgate.$20, his master’s degree in business ad-
$25 at door. Contact: Rich Lindow, phone: (734) ministration from Wayne State Uni-
284-6000; email: Rich@swcrc.com; website: versity.
https://swcrc.com/
Whirlpool appoints
UPCOMING EVENTS new CEO
Failing Your Way to Success Seminar with Dave Couli-
er. 2-4 p.m. July 9. Coulier, who has appeared on Jeff Fettig, Benton Harbor-based
“Full House,” “Fuller House,” “America’s Funniest Whirlpool Corp.’s chairman and
People,” “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon CEO, is stepping down but will con-
(and Johnny Carson),” “The Today Show,” “Good tinue on as chairman of the board of
Morning America,” “American Dad,” “The Muppet directors, the company announced
Babies,” “The Real Ghostbusters” and “How I Met Tuesday.
Your Mother,” talks about his career starting as a The board chose Marc Bitzer, cur-
standup comedian at the Comedy Castle in De- rently president and chief operating
troit to Hollywood stardom. $25. Mark Ridley’s officer, to replace him starting Oct. 1,
Comedy Castle, Royal Oak. Contact: Mary Coyle, according to a news release.
phone: (248) 542-9900; email: laura@comedycas- Fettig, 60, has led the appliance
tle.com manufacturer since 2004. Whirlpool
saw sales increase under his leader-
ship from $12 billion in 2003 to $21
Calendar guidelines. Visit crainsdetroit.com and billion last year.
click “Events” near the top of the home page. Then, Bitzer, 52, served as vice chairman
click “Submit Your Events” from the drop-down menu
before being appointed president
that will appear. Fill out the submission form, then
and elected to the board of directors
click “Submit event” at the bottom of the page.
in 2015. He has been with Whirlpool
More Calendar items can be found at crainsdetroit. for nearly 20 years.
com/events.

CHINA
FROM PAGE 1
population will be considered mid-
dle class by 2022, according to the
report. In 2000, that figure was just 4
percent.
China’s retail market totaled $5
trillion in 2016 and is expected to be
11 percent larger than that of the
U.S., the current world leader, by
2020. Much of that will be growth in
online sales — where 60 cents of ev-
ery dollar spent online worldwide
will be by Chinese consumers by
2020, according to Alibaba.
“There’s quality here (in the U.S.),”
Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s vice chairman
and co-founder, said in an interview
with Crain’s. “Consumers in China,
what they care about is anything
they eat, they put on their face (cos-
metics) and baby products. They
want safety and quality. That search
for quality is only going to increase
with the growing middle class in
China.”
Alibaba held Gateway ’17, its first
non-investor event in the U.S., to
find small businesses like Dave’s
Sweet Tooth and sign them up to sell
on its platforms like its busi-
ness-to-consumer portal Tmall and
consumer-to-consumer portal Tao-
bao. More than 3,000 attended the
June 26, 2017
conference, with roughly 700 busi-
nesses from Michigan.
Anthony Montalbano, managing
director and partner at Detroit-based
website and mobile app develop-
ment company Ambr Detroit LLC,
attended Gateway to learn more
about opportunities for his clients.
“This is unknown territory for
me,” said Montalbano, who was in-
vited by Goldman Sachs 10,000
Small Businesses program, a spon-
sor of the event. “I came for info
gathering, to find awareness of what
(Alibaba) is trying to do. What I’m
realizing is there’s a hell of a lot of
opportunity outside the U.S.”
For Dave’s Sweet Tooth, that’s tof-
fee that could retail for $10 or $12 in
China, compared with just $5.99 in
the U.S., Chmielewski said. This is in
line with the spending habits of the
Chinese consumer, according to a
recent Boston Consulting Group
study, which said 61 percent of Chi-
nese consumers indicated they’d
pay more for products made in the
U.S.
That extra margin would be need-
ed to export to the Chinese market
due to extra expenses for warehous-
ing, chilled shipping containers,
marketing and packaging in the
Mandarin language, among other
considerations.
Chmielewski said he discussed
those options with half a dozen ser-
vice providers at the Gateway ’17
event.
“Shipping chocolate around the
world is a scary thing for us,” Ch-
mielewski said. “Logistics are a con-
cern; warehousing, fulfillment, etc. It
has to be the right fit, but I think
we’ve made some really important
connections here (at the event).”
But using Alibaba’s services and
selling into the China market are not
without risk.
Many of the small companies that
sign on to Alibaba’s services will be
exporting for the first time, many
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 15
without
understanding
fully “I don’t think it’s
any more risky
“Using Alibaba
may alleviate
dent, questioned publicly whether
the move was politically motivated
the Chinese cul- some legal con- against the Chinese company, not-
ture, Tsai warns. doing business in cerns, but you ing Alibaba had taken significant
The compan- China than it is better have law- steps in battling piracy, including
pies that per- yers on the blurring trademarks in product im-
form the proper here. You’ve got to ground in China, ages and technology that prevents
due diligence to protect your so if something counterfeit sellers from returning to
understand intellectual does go wrong, the sites.
shoppers in you have the But the opportunity is worth the
China will have property to get proper help in risk, said John Nemazi, partner
the most suc- maximum value ... navigating that and co-chair of patent protection
cess, versus but the market system.” for Brooks Kushman PC in South-
those that are Alibaba has field.
looking to just opportunity in also struggled “There are issues with counter-
dump product China is just too for years in pre- feiting on everywhere, even Ebay,”
as-is into the big to ignore.” venting counter- Nemazi said. “It’s hard to police
market, he said. feit products those things, but I don’t think it’s any
“Selling in John Nemazi, partner and co-chair from showing up more risky doing business in China
China is not for of patent protection for Brooks on its sites. In than it is here. You’ve got to protect
everybody,” Tsai Kushman PC December, the your intellectual property to get
said. “(The U.S. Office of the U.S. maximum value ... but the market
business) has to Trade Represen- opportunity in China is just too big
have an open mind about taking to consider for any business, but par- tative put Alibaba’s Taobao market- to ignore.”
their offering to a consumer popula- ticularly small businesses that lack place on its “Notorious Markets For Chmielewski, the risks aren’t
tion that’s very, very different than legal and cultural sophistication, List.” The list is meant to steer U.S. great enough to sway his desire to
the U.S.” said Steve Richman, partner and at- shoppers away from marketplaces expand.
Tsai said the exporter must un- torney focused on international that reportedly engage in and facili- “They can replicate our packag-
derstand that packaging in China is commercial law for Detroit-based tate counterfeiting and violating of ing, I suppose, but I don’t think they
different and fashion styles are dif- Clark Hill PLC. U.S. intellectual property laws. The could replicate our quality,” he said.
ferent. So while people are eager to “The main concern with China is U.S. removed Taobao from the same “Why worry about a threat I can’t
spend money on U.S. products, there always enforcement; it’s a very dif- list in 2012 after it began a new strat- change? The opportunity outweighs
are cultural norms Chinese shop- ferent legal system in China that is egy in combating counterfeit prod- that risk, in my opinion.”
pers expect. politicized, heavily influenced by the ucts. Dustin Walsh: (313) 446-6042
Legal hurdles are also important Communist party,” Richman said. Michael Evans, Alibaba’s presi- Twitter: @dustinpwalsh
CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 15
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16
RANDOLPH
FROM PAGE 1
Those efforts include the new De-
troit at Work initiative connecting job
seekers and employers, the creation
of new training programs for jobs in
information technology and patient
attendant care at city hospitals and a
focus on training imprisoned Detroi-
ters for jobs in culinary arts and
heavy equipment operating before
they re-enter society.
At Randolph, “the building is dat-
ed, the equipment is old and they
don’t even have the dollars they need
for supplies,” said David Meador, vice
chairman and chief administrative
officer of DTE Energy Co., who has
taken a keen interest in rescuing the
school. “In the construction man-
agement class, they can’t get new
wood, so they build things and they
have to take them apart and straight-
en the nails out and do it again.”
City officials and business leaders
are trying to convert Randolph
school into a dual training facility for
Detroit high school students during
the day and adults at night through
federally funded job-training pro-
grams.
The city’s labor statistics paint a
sobering picture of the board’s com-
plex challenge: Detroiters held just
26 percent of the city’s 258,807 jobs in
2014 — a figure that’s lopsided com-
pared to most major American cities.
Total employment among Detroit
residents ages 16-64 was 49 percent,
a share of the population that trails
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
peer cities and lagged far behind the
67 percent of all Michigan workers in
that age bracket who were employed
in 2015, according to federal Bureau
of Labor Statistics data.
“This is a Detroit focus, and our
sense is if we don’t intervene, we’ll
have a generation of adults that never
work ... (and) we’re not going to
re-establish the middle class in De-
troit,” said Meador, who co-chairs the
mayor’s Workforce Development
Board with Strategic Staffing Solu-
tions Inc. CEO Cindy Pasky.
Another route
In the case of Randolph, the busi-
ness and city leaders are bypassing
the normal political routes of turning
around a public school that is seen as
a critical training ground for skilled
trades apprenticeship programs.
Instead of beating the drum for a
career technical education millage to
pay for the improvements, the CEOs
are passing the hat for the capital ex-
penses and an on-going $100,000 an-
nual operating subsidy.
“$6 million isn’t a small number,”
Pasky said. “But so much of it is a
one-time expense to have the right
equipment, the right teachers.”
And rather than putting public
pressure on Detroit’s school leaders
to focus on reversing the school’s
downward decline, the Workforce
Development Board and the mayor’s
staff are attempting to do it them-
selves.
“We have the facilities that are giv-
PHOTOS BY LARRY A. PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S
Damarcus Holton (left) marking railing piece, and carpentry teacher Tony McLean (third from left) works with students on railing
installation.
en to us, and we just have to put the
right structure in place,” said Jeff
Donofrio, executive director of work-
force development for Duggan.
The Workforce Development
Board entered into a 10-year agree-
ment with Detroit schools last year to
make improvements to the school,
make changes to the curriculum and
promote its programs for juniors and
seniors to underclassmen in high
schools across the city.
“There hasn’t been a strong mes-
sage about the value of the school,”
said Nicole Stallings, deputy director
of workforce development for Dug-
gan’s office. “We want to get to a
place where we’re driving interest in
the trades and how lucrative of a ca-
reer that can be.”
Detroit Employment Solutions Bricks at Randolph Technical High School in Detroit.
Corp., the city’s workforce agency, is
in the process of hiring a firm to run school district and teachers union on The EAA high schools are rejoin-
night classes for adults at the school a plan to pay instructors at the school ing the Detroit school district in July
to train them for a variety of industry more than the district’s collective and Randolph school's boosters are
certificates, Donofrio said. bargaining agreement requires in an hoping to see an enrollment increase
City officials also are coordinating effort to attract quality educators, this fall.
improvements to the school facilities Donofrio said. McLean said the school’s bare-
this summer, including interior bones budget has limited learning
painting and modernizing the build- Barebones budget opportunities in his class. His stu-
ing’s entrance. dents learn the basics of framing by
“It hadn’t fallen into disrepair, but As a career and technical educa- building a house inside a classroom
there isn’t the feeling of a modern, tion school, Randolph serves stu- workshop — and then tear it apart.
clean construction site,” Stallings dents from four traditional high “We could take them to a different
said during a recent tour of the build- schools in the city. The school is split level, but they need to give us more
ing. in two: a 94-student traditional high resources,” McLean said.
The mayor’s 37-member Work- school and 140 students in career The juniors in McLean’s class end-
force Development Board includes and technical education, Belcher ed this school year by building a tiny
six members from the leadership said. house in the front lawn of the school
ranks of labor unions who also are Randolph’s student population at West McNichols Road and Hubbell
involved in resuscitating Randolph. took a hit in 2013 after the Education Avenue.
The International Brotherhood of Achievement Authority took over six “The girls are starting to excel be-
Electrical Workers is working with DPS high schools in a school reform yond the boys,” McLean said of his 28
workforce development officials to effort that has since fizzled out. students this year.
restart an electrical program that was The EAA would have lost state Jamea Delaine, 16, said she likes
axed a few years ago. funding if its high school students framing walls more than anything
“That one we weren’t able to keep had attended Randolph for half of else she’s learned this year in Mc-
because we just couldn’t find a the day. Lean’s construction class.
teacher for the program,” said Brenda “When they split DPS up, (Ran- “That's more my territory,” De-
Belcher, a school district administra- dolph’s enrollment) declined, and laine said. “Don’t knock it until you
tor who oversees 29 city schools, in- the EAA wouldn’t send us any stu- try it.”
cluding Randolph. dents,” said McLean, the school’s car- Chad Livengood: (313) 446-1654
City officials are working with the pentry teacher. “That’s crazy.” Twitter: @ChadLivengood

DMC
FROM PAGE 3
Using DMC's electronic medical re-
cord system, ER staff have identified
the patients who either have one of
seven chronic conditions or are fre-
quent flyers in the ER — five or more
visits per year, White said.
“Our multidisciplinary teams are
providing expanded services with be-
havioral health, social work, pharma-
cy and dietary,” White said.
When patients seek ER care for
non-life threatening conditions, ER
staff explains the Gateway program
and recommends they enroll. DMC
offers Gateway outpatient clinics adja-
cent to the hospital ERs with hours
that range from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. About
75 percent of enrolled patients sched-
ule direct appointments with the
Gateway clinic.
“Patients who enroll are sticking
with the program, which is what we
hoped to see,” she said. “These are very
high-cost patients. We assess their
physical and mental health. Their own
self-assessments shows they are lower
than baseline for health.”
White said ER visits, hospitaliza-
tions and readmissions have gone
down significantly for the patients en-
rolled in the program. “We found up to
70 percent reductions (in ER visits) for
the super utilizers” (more than five per
year), she said.
Frequent ER users
Several metro Detroit hospitals try
to identify high ER users and expand
primary care access for those patients
when they can. Some hospitals like
DMC and Henry Ford Hospital in De-
troit have added same-day clinics for
primary care services. They use social
workers for patient education and
work closely with mental health pro-
viders for outpatient care.
Hospitals affiliated with Ann Ar-
bor-based St. Joseph Mercy Health
System use a program called Complex
Care that helps identify high-risk users
of hospital services, including emer-
FOXCONN
FROM PAGE 3
“Michigan remains very much in
the hunt for a large manufacturing
facility that would create thousands
of jobs,” Snyder strategy director John
Walsh told Crain’s.
“The company continues to ex-
pend time and resources evaluating
locations in our state and remains
actively engaged with the adminis-
tration.”
Wayne County’s economic devel-
opment department declined to
comment through a spokesman
about Foxconn’s interest in Romulus,
which would fall into the county’s
“aerotropolis” district between the
Detroit Metro and Willow Run air-
ports that has struggled to take off.
Michigan officials have been in
hot pursuit of Foxconn since Snyder
and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan flew
to Japan the weekend of June 2 to
meet with representatives of the
company after the Mackinac Policy
Conference.
Duggan confirmed for the first
time Thursday that he tried to sell
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
“These are very high-cost
patients. We assess their
physical and mental health.
Their own self-assessments
shows they are lower than
baseline for health.”
Suzanne White, M.D., DMC
gency departments. The goal is to
minimize unnecessary use of services
and improve patient safety.
Others like St. John Hospital in De-
troit and Providence Hospital in
Southfield refer ER patients without
primary care doctors to their physi-
cian referral lines. Most all try to sign
up the uninsured to Medicaid or direct
patients to free outpatient clinics or
federally qualified health centers for
followup care.
But White said many of these pro-
grams that refer patients to outside
providers don’t address the root cause
of inappropriate ER use.
“Historically that model (of referral)
has not worked. If you have the patient
in front of you, you have an opportuni-
ty for patients to have teachable mo-
ments in the ER,” White said. “When
you refer them to a clinic a block away,
typically that model fails with that pa-
tient because it requires a lot of naviga-
tion up front.”
Data from a recent report of Michi-
gan hospital ERs showed that 10 per-
cent of the uninsured use the hospital
emergency department for routine
primary care, compared with 3 per-
cent for those with insurance, said
Ann Arbor-based Center for Health-
care Research and Transformation.
Nationally, total ER visits have re-
mained somewhat stable at about 410
per 1,000 people, or about 130 million
per year, the past decade. Michigan
annually has about 5 million hospital
ER patient visits.
While reducing unnecessary ER
use was one of the goals of the Afford-
able Care Act, a 2016 report by the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention said little improvement was
Foxconn officials
on a site in De-
troit, but said it
wasn’t the un-
derutilized Cole-
man A. Young
International
Airport that his
administration is
studying for uses
Mike Duggan:
other than gen-
Going to be more
eral aviation.
opportunities.
“I didn’t fly to
Asia because I
didn’t have anything to offer,” Dug-
gan told reporters after a midday
news conference. “... We didn’t talk to
Foxconn about City Airport. We had
a much better site.”
Duggan said Thursday he and
Snyder “learned a lot in Asia and
there are going to be a lot more op-
portunities” to attract manufacturing
back to southeast Michigan as Mexi-
co’s wage rates rise, closing the gap
between U.S. and Mexican workers.
“I don’t know what’s going to hap-
pen with Foxconn, but there are going
to be a lot more opportunities, and
we’re prepared for it,” Duggan said.
made in the study years of 2013 and
2014. Some 77 percent of adults under
age 65 said they used the ER because
they believed their medical problem
was serious. Another 12 percent of
adults said they used the ER because
their physician's office was closed
when they needed treatment.
Still, hospital ER officials say one
solvable problem is to reduce the
number of people who use the ER five
to 10 to 20 or more times each year.
These high ER users with multiple
chronic conditions are what many ex-
perts are trying to address with pro-
grams like Gateway and the Commu-
nity Resources for Emergency
Department Overuse, or CREDO.
Henry Ford ER use
Over the past decade, Henry Ford
Hospital has used the CREDO pro-
gram to identify high users of emer-
gency services and either offer them
additional services or track their use to
reduce misuse of
tests or proce-
dures.
About 275
people are en-
rolled in Henry
Ford’s CREDO
program at any
one time, said
Stephanie
Stephanie Stokes-Buzzelli,
Stokes-Buzzelli: M.D., a Henry
Goal to send back Ford emergency
to primary care physician. Pa-
provider. tients are chosen
for CREDO by a
multi-disciplinary committee of nurs-
es, doctors, psychologists, social work-
Michigan mentioned
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said
Thursday the manufacturer of Apple’s
iPhone and other electronic devices
may spend up to $10 billion in the U.S.
over five years and will announce the
first three states for its investments by
early August.
That timeframe matches what state
economic development officials have
been told in discussions with the
company, a state source said.
At a Foxconn shareholders meet-
ing Thursday in Taipei, Taiwan, Gou
mentioned Michigan as one of six
states under consideration for its ex-
pansion into manufacturing liquid
crystal display screens in the U.S., ac-
cording to the Associated Press.
Gou said Foxconn plans to develop
operations in the U.S. that combine
hardware manufacturing and soft-
ware development in technologies
including artificial intelligence and
automation.
Details for each state were not set-
tled, but overall, “we will provide at
least tens of thousands of job oppor-
tunities,” said Gou at a news confer-
ers and administrators.
“We create a CREDO brief, a syn-
yopsis of their medical problems,”
Stokes-Buzzelli said. “They are guide-
lines that summarize” the medical re-
cord of each patient.
When a patient enrolled in CREDO
presents in a Henry Ford ER,
Stokes-Buzzelli said, he or she is eval-
uated and treated like any other pa-
tient for an emergency condition. But
CREDO patients are flagged for extra
attention.
“An alert appears (on their electron-
ic chart). If there is alignment with a
previous complaint, we treat them, but
maybe we don’t do another MRI” if
they had one recently enough,
Stokes-Buzzelli said. “Some patients
require extra social services, a primary
care visit or a meeting with a commu-
nity mental health partner” such as
Central City Integrated Health or New
Center Community Services.
The ultimate goal, said Stokes-Buz-
zelli, is to “channel them back to a pri-
mary care provider, avoid duplication
of services because ER care is so frag-
mented.”
Results of Gateway
Under Gateway, patients who don’t
have primary care physicians and
have multiple chronic conditions are
identified and offered coordinated
care services. The four participating
DMC hospitals are DMC Harper Uni-
versity Hospital, DMC Detroit Receiv-
ing Hospital, DMC Sinai-Grace Hospi-
tal and DMC Children’s Hospital of
Michigan.
Patients have a variety of condi-
tions, including diabetes, asthma, hy-
pertension, heart failure, chronic lung
disease, depression and HIV. About 51
percent have Medicaid coverage, 25
percent are uninsured, 14 percent
have Medicare and 10 percent have
commercial insurance, White said.
Here is some preliminary data from
the Gateway to Health program during
January 2015 to May 2017:
J 6,500 enrolled patients had 16,000
total outpatient visits. The visits in-
ence at Foxconn’s shareholder meet-
ing.
Expansion into the United States
would reduce Foxconn’s reliance on
China, where it has the bulk of its op-
erations and employs about 1 million
people.
Setback for Snyder
As Foxconn studies its options, the
Snyder administration was dealt a set-
back this week in its pursuit of a new
tax incentives program that would al-
low new companies that create more
than 500 new jobs in Michigan to cap-
ture up to 50 percent of their employ-
ees’ state income taxes.
House Speaker Tom Leonard,
R-DeWitt, called off a vote on the legis-
lation late Tuesday, publicly question-
ing whether Snyder cut a side deal with
Democrats to get votes that would un-
dermine Republican caucus priorities.
Snyder has been in Europe this
week on a trade mission and will meet
with legislative leaders next week,
spokesman Ari Adler said.
“The governor is looking forward to
meeting with legislative leaders to get
17
clude access to a multi-disciplinary
primary care team. Patient satisfaction
scores averaged 95 percent approval.
J Of the 112 diabetic patients who
came in for more than one visit, 78 ex-
perienced improved HbA1c (blood
sugar levels), or 70 percent, compared
with their initial visit. More than 285
total diabetic patient have been seen
at least once.
J Of 232 patients with high blood
pressure who came in for multiple vis-
its, 118 showed improved cholesterol
levels, or 51 percent, compared with
their initial visit. Some 771 total pa-
tients have been seen at least once for
hypertension.
J Data shows the number of multiple
emergency department visits by Gate-
way enrolled patients decreased by
about 70 percent. Some 2,075 patients
showed a decrease in ER use after their
first Gateway appointment. Another
1,153 patients have had zero ER visits
since their initial visit.
White said diabetes and hyperten-
sion were chosen for closer reviews
because those patients visited hospital
ERs more frequently.
Federal funding for the Gateway
grant was provided by various taxes
collected under Obamacare and are
part of the act’s quality-improvement
and cost-reduction provisions. DMC’s
grant is funded through Sept. 1, 2018.
After federal funding ends, White
said she hopes to work with federal
and private payers to continue the
program well into the future by devel-
oping payment codes for various pri-
mary care services rendered in the ER.
“We are hoping to sustain the pro-
gram by working with payers to devel-
op reimbursement models,” White
said. “This is an innovative model, the
first step in the direction for direct ac-
cess to primary care.”
DMC covered about 85 percent of
the costs of the program from the $10
million federal grant. Additional fund-
ing came from insurance coverage
with the rest was funded by DMC,
White said.
Jay Greene: (313) 446-0325
Twitter: @jaybgreene
everyone back on the same page and
get this package done so we can bring
thousands of new jobs to Michigan,”
Adler said Thursday.
Republican House members sus-
pected the governor made promises
to Democrats to curb legislation labor
unions don’t want passed, said Rep.
Jim Tedder, R-Clarkston.
“We’re just waiting to get clarity. It’s
rather difficult — the governor is do-
ing his trade mission.”
Tedder chairs the House Tax Policy
Committee, which sent the full House
the so-called “Good Jobs” bills on
Tuesday — a sign that there were
enough votes from Republicans and
Democrats to pass the legislation.
But Leonard abruptly adjourned
the House until the representatives
return to Lansing next month for a
one-day session on July 12.
“Until we get more clarity as to
whether or not there were deals to
undermine House Republican prior-
ities, I would say my vote is on hold,”
Tedder told Crain’s. “That sentiment
is likely shared by others.”
The Associated Press contributed to
this report.
18 C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7

PISTONS tax-exempt bonds spent on stadi-

ums and arenas. There’s even a bi-
FROM PAGE 3 partisan bill in Congress to halt the
www.crainsdetroit.com
come back (to Detroit),” Fink told use of municipal bonds, which are
Editor-in-Chief Keith E. Crain the judge. “... This would kill the exempt from federal taxes, for stadi-
Executive Vice President KC Crain
Publisher/Editor Ron Fournier, (313) 446-1674 or project. And not just this project — um construction.
rfournier@crain.com many others as well.” In the case of Little Caesars Are-
Group Publisher Mary Kramer, (313) 446-0399
Representatives for the Pistons na, the pitch was an estimated $1.8
or mkramer@crain.com
Managing Editor Michael Lee, (313) 446-1630 and Red Wings would not comment billion economic impact, creation
or malee@crain.com for this story, but Pistons CFO Greg of 8,300 construction and related
Director, Crain Custom Content Kristin Bull,
(313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com
Campbell, in an affidavit filed in the jobs, and another 1,100 permanent
Product Manager/Marketing and Events Kim Winkler, case and first reported by the De- jobs.
(313) 446-6764 or kwinkler@crain.com troit Free Press, wrote that the pub- City Council President Pro Tem
Digital Product Manager Carlos Portocarrero,
(313) 446-6056 or cportocarrero@crain.com
lic dollars are a condition of moving George Cushingberry, Jr., who
Creative Director David Kordalski, (216) 771-5169 downtown. The implication is that chairs the council’s budget and fi-
or dkordalski@crain.com the National Basketball Associa- nance committee, said the Little
News Editor Beth Reeber Valone, (313) 446-5875
or bvalone@crain.com
tion’s other owners, who are sched- Caesars Arena project is spurring
Special Projects Editor Amy Elliott Bragg, uled to vote on the Pistons’ move on development in Midtown and
(313) 446-1646 or abragg@crain.com July 11, could balk at the relocation downtown, helping boost sur-
Design and Copy Editor Beth Jachman, (313) 446-0356
or bjachman@crain.com if the public money isn’t squarely in rounding taxable property values
Research and Data Editor Sonya Hill, (313) 446-0402 place. and generating more city income
or shill@crain.com But why? Why do billionaire taxes from new workers.
Newsroom (313) 446-0329, FAX (313) 446-1687,
TIP LINE (313) 446-6766 team owners need tax dollars at all? “We have to continue to march
The question takes on additional DISTRICT DETROIT for development in the city if we in-
REPORTERS
Tyler Clifford, breaking news. (313) 446-1612 or
importance if Gores and partner A conceptual image of the Little Caesars Arena retrofitted to accommodate the tend to be able to grow our way into
tclifford@crain.com Dan Gilbert get the Major League Detroit Pistons. success on our plans to exit state
Annalise Frank, breaking news. (313) 446-0416 or Soccer expansion team they’re (oversight),” Cushingberry said.
afrank@crain.com
Jay Greene, senior reporter Covers health care.
seeking. They’ve pitched a $1 billion owners can afford to build their financial tools. Banks are happy to Mayor Mike Duggan downplayed
(313) 446-0325 or jgreene@crain.com mixed-use sta- own venues. Detroit native Steve lend cheap cash to major league the significance of the Davis law-
Chad Livengood Covers Detroit rising. (313) 446-1654 or dium develop- Ballmer, the former Microsoft Inc. owners because their leagues rake suit. He told Crain’s on Tuesday that
clivengood@crain.com
Kurt Nagl Breaking news. (313) 446-0337 or ment downtown CEO, pledged this month to pay for in billions from enormous broad- city attorneys warned of the Pistons
knagl@crain.com and they’re ex- a new arena for his L.A. Clippers to cast rights contracts. Hence, Co- staying in Auburn Hills to make “an
Kirk Pinho Covers real estate. (313) 446-0412 or pected to seek open in 2024. William Davidson merica Bank and Merrill Lynch irreparable injury” legal argument
kpinho@crain.com
Bill Shea, enterprise editor Covers the business some type of tax spent $90 million to build the Pal- bought all the arena bonds. Leagues to U.S. District Court Judge Mark
of sports. (313) 446-1626 or bshea@crain.com subsidy or dis- ace in 1988. themselves often make credit avail- Goldsmith.
Lindsay VanHulle Lansing reporter. (517) 657-2204 count. Tom Gores can afford to cover the able to teams, too. The NBA has a $1 “That was a frivolous lawsuit that
or lvanhulle@crain.com
Dustin Walsh, senior reporter Covers economic issues. Why team Little Caesars retrofit. Forbes says billion-plus revolving credit facility has played out more drama than it
(313) 446-6042 or dwalsh@crain.com owners seek Gores is worth $3.3 billion, and his that teams can cheaply tap for arena needed … the judge handled it ap-
Sherri Welch, senior reporter Covers nonprofits and subsidies is easy Platinum Equity business is an enor- projects. propriately,” Duggan said after
philanthropy. (313) 446-1694 or swelch@crain.com Tom Gores: Is
to answer: mous player in the private equity Oh, and Gores and the Pistons speaking at a Downtown Detroit
ADVERTISING worth $3.3 billion,
Elected officials universe. In 2015, it ranked as the are also getting a $20 million brown- Partnership meeting.
Sales Inquiries (313) 446-6032; FAX (313) 393-0997 according to
Director of Sales Lisa Rudy are willing to 22nd-largest private U.S. company field tax abatement as part of a It’s too soon to really know if the
Forbes.
Senior Account Manager Katie Sullivan hand them over. by revenue at $12.5 billion. In March, stand-alone deal to build a privately Pistons coming downtown as the
Senior Account Manager/Political Specialist In the case of it hailed its new $6.5 billion Platinum financed team headquarters, train- Red Wings’ new roommate will be a
Maria Marcantonio
Advertising Sales Gerry Golinske, Sharon Mulroy, the Little Caesars Arena project, it’s Equity Capital Partners IV global ing and rehab facility for $65 mil- windfall for Detroit beyond civic
Diane Owen $324.1 million in public funding, or buyout fund, and last year it spent $4 lion. pride. It certainly won’t help Au-
Classified Sales Manager Angela Schutte, about 38 percent of the total current billion to buy a division of St. Lou- Cities and team owners argue burn Hills, which is losing the bas-
(313) 446-6051
Classified Sales Lynn Calcaterra, (313) 446-6086 cost. Public backing for private is-based Emerson Electric Co. that taxpayer-backed subsidies for ketball team and all the entertain-
Events Manager Kacey Anderson sports venues is a trend that’s been But as a businessman, sterile log- stadiums fuel increased nearby ment events at the Palace.
Marketing and Sales Promotions Manager under way now for decades across ic says the efficient play is to ask for spending and create new tax reve- Whatever the value the teams
Christina Fabugais-Dimovska
Senior Art Director Sylvia Kolaski the country. Effective resistance is free money to pay the costs, be- nue for the municipalities — spuri- and arena may bring, it strains cre-
Special Projects Coordinator Keenan Covington rare, even amid examples of gross cause it is usually available. ous logic with little evidence of sup- dulity to suggest that Gores and the
Sales Support Suzanne Janik failure of such subsidies to deliver Gores and the billionaire Ilitch port, many economists argue. A Ilitches cannot afford to cover the
Media Services Manager Hussein Abdallah
the litany of promises about new family, who own the Red Wings and Brookings Institution report in Sep- $34.5 million. But no one is really
CUSTOMER SERVICE
jobs, spending and spinoff develop- are financing much of the new are- tember deconstructed the pro-sta- suggesting that, are they?
Main Number: Call (877) 824-9374
or customerservice@crainsdetroit.com
ment. na development, both have easy ac- dium subsidy arguments and calcu- Crain’s senior reporter Chad
Subscriptions $59 one year, $98 two years. Out of state, Certainly, today’s sports team cess to low-interest loans and other lated the federal revenue lost via Livengood contributed to this story.
$79 one year, $138 for two years. Outside U.S.A., add $48
per year to out-of-state rate for surface mail. Call (313)

EY names Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year honorees

446-0450 or (877) 824-9374.
Single Copies (877) 824-9374
Reprints Laura Picariello (732) 723-0569
or lpicariello@crain.com
To find a date a story was published (313) 446-0406
or e-mail infocenter@crain.com By Tyler Clifford Manufacturing Holdings Inc., Vi- Business J Carla Walker-Miller, president and
tclifford@crain.com
sionary J Chris Rizik, CEO, Ann Ar- CEO, Detroit-based Walker-Miller
Crain’s Detroit Business is published by
Crain Communications Inc. More than a dozen Michigan en- J Chris McCuiston, co-founder and bor-based Renaissance Venture Energy Services LLC, Business and
Chairman Keith E. Crain trepreneurs received EY Entrepre- CEO, Troy-based Goldfish Swim Capital Fund, Financial Services Consulting Services
President Rance Crain neur of the Year awards in 10 catego- School Franchising LLC, Education J Barry Spilman, CEO and manag- Next, the honorees will be consid-
Treasurer Mary Kay Crain
Senior Executive Vice President William A. Morrow ries for the Michigan and northwest & Training ing member, Royal Oak-based RPM ered for the Entrepreneur of the Year
Executive Vice President/Director of Strategic Ohio region. J Jenny McCuiston, co-founder, Freight Systems, Emerging National competition, which will be
Operations Chris Crain
Executive Vice President/Director of Corporate
More than two dozen were select- Goldfish Swim School Franchising J Peter Osten, executive and man- announced at the national awards
Operations KC Crain ed as finalists in April. LLC Education & Training aging member, RPM Freight Sys- gala in Palm Springs, Calif., on Nov.
Vice President/Production & Manufacturing The award, in its 31st year, honors J Lon Offenbacher, CEO and presi- tems, Emerging 18.
Dave Kamis
Chief Financial Officer Bob Recchia
entrepreneurs who excel in innova- dent, Troy-based Inteva Products
tion, financial performance and per- LLC, Automotive & Technology
INDEX TO COMPANIES
Chief Information Officer Anthony DiPonio
G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) sonal commitment to their busi- Solutions
Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) J Brent Parent, founder and CEO,
Editorial & Business Offices
nesses and communities, among These companies have significant mention in this week’s Crain’s Detroit Business:
1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI 48207-2732; others. Ohio-based Material Handling Ser-
Alibaba 1 Frida 8
(313) 446-6000 Award categories include health, vices LLC, Industrial Products & Ser-
visionary, education and training vices AudioNet 4 Henry Ford Health System 17
Cable address: TWX 248-221-5122 AUTNEW DET
CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS ISSN # 0882-1992 is published weekly and family business, among others: J Doug Armstrong, founder and 1701 Bespoke 9 Lazlo 9
by Crain Communications Inc. at 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit MI J Jan Akervall, president and found-
48207-2732. Periodicals postage paid at Detroit, MI and additional
CEO, Ann Arbor-based North Star Dave’s Sweet Tooth 1 Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace 5
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Contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights J Sassa Akervall, CEO, Akervall
reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content in any manner
without permission is prohibited.
Technologies Inc., Health
J David Dauch, chairman and CEO,
Detroit-based American Axle &
based Principle Business Enterpris- Detroit Garment Group 8 Shinola 9
es Inc., Family Business Detroit Medical Center 3 Simply Casual 9
J Carol Stocking, co-CEO, Principle
Detroit Pistons 3 Thrift on the Ave 9
Business Enterprises Inc., Family

THE WEEK ON THE WEB
JUNE 16 - 22 | For more, visit crainsdetroit.com
QLine free rides
extended through
Labor Day
W ith funding from the Kresge
Foundation, the QLine is
again extending free rides, this time
through the summer, as M-1 Rail
and its service provider, Paris-based
Transdev, work to improve waits
and travel times.
The Kresge-sponsored fare-free
ride period will run July 1 through
Labor Day. Rides were free the
opening weekend, but that was al-
most immediately extended a week
as demand exceeded expectations,
resulting in long waits and some
frustrated passengers. It was then
extended through July 1.
Kresge contributed $50 million to
the $187 million it took to build the
streetcar project, which opened to
the public May 12.
“The funding will be a grant and is
open-ended, depending on rider-
ship through Labor Day,” Jennifer
Kulczycki, director of external affairs
and communications for Kresge,
told Crain's in an email. “Kresge of-
fered the funding to maintain and
grow ridership while the QLine ops
team works out some operational
kinks this summer.”
The 6.6-mile QLine loop record-
ed more than 100,000 rides in its
first month, according to the re-
lease. That works out to about 3,300
a day.
The goal under the system’s fi-
nancial model is 5,000-8,000 daily.
That goal was not expected to be
reached in its early stages, M-1 Rail
spokesman Dan Lijana told
Crain’s. In the last couple of weeks,
the QLine has seen about 3,500-
4,000 riders per day and officials
expect that number to remain sta-
ble or see a slight uptick, Lijana
said.
BUSINESS NEWS
J The Siren Hotel in downtown De-
troit’s historic Wurlitzer Building
will be ready for guests in Novem-
ber, following a $22 million build-
out of the 55,000-square-foot space
at 1509 Broadway St.
J Kensington Church, a nonde-
nominational church based in Troy,
planned to break ground last week
on 33.1 acres in Clinton Township
for about $14 million.
J The Michigan Black Chamber of
Commerce has acquired the Nation-
al Business League Inc., founded in
1900 by Booker T. Washington.
J Erin Vermeulen, who most re-
cently served on the “Bill Handel
Morning Show” team on KFI-AM
640 in Los Angeles, will join the 94.7
WCSX-FM morning team starting
July 10.
J Avalon International Breads plans
to open a new cafe and biscuit bar in
the New Center area, the breadmak-
er announced about two months
after its downtown Detroit location
opened.
C R A I N ’ S D E T R O I T B U S I N E S S // J U N E 2 6 , 2 0 1 7
Detroit
digits
A numbers-focused look at last
week’s headlines:
$300 million
The amount Williams
International Co. LLC may invest
in two sites in Oakland County,
potentially bringing in around 900
jobs, according to the Associated
Press.
600
The number of events the
Downtown Detroit Partnership
plans to host at DTE Energy Co.’s
Beacon Park before the end of
2017.
4
Buildings owned by Olympia
Development of Michigan that
are slated to be demolished,
despite pushback from
conservationists.
J The Detroit Red Wings an-
nounced they will open their first
regular season at Little Caesars
Arena on Oct. 5 with a match
against the Minnesota Wild.
J Meijer Inc. is expanding its app-
based grocery delivery service
through Shipt Inc. to more metro
Detroit households, including in
Ann Arbor, Allen Park and
Belleville.
J Urbanrest, a beer production fa-
cility and taproom, plans to open
June 30 in Ferndale at 2615 Wolcott
St.
J Stryker Corp. has agreed to buy
Canadian fluorescence imaging
technology manufacturer Novadaq
Technologies Inc. for $701 million.
J Delta Air Lines Inc. will debut its
new Airbus A350 this fall and De-
troit Metropolitan Airport will host
its first voyage.
Bedrock Detroit is settling into its new downtown Detroit digs at 630 Woodward, a historic
four-floor building once home to retailer Christopher Mabley. At four stories and 39,000
square feet, it is attached to the First National Building. Nearly 180 employees are
stationed at the 39,000-square-foot headquarters, including its executives. The real
estate development firm, part of the Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. family of
companies, moved from One Campus Martius to its new headquarters in February to
consolidate operations.
Tapas restaurant La Dulce closed
J
its doors in Royal Oak on Monday
after almost two years as it prepares
to reopen in Detroit at 2 Washing-
ton Blvd. next month.
J Detroit Lions Training Camp
kicks off July 31, giving fans a free
chance to interact with favorite
players at the team's Allen Park
headquarters.
J A new 150,000-square-foot office
building is coming to Grace Lake
Corporate Center at One Village
Center Drive in Van Buren
Township.
OTHER NEWS
J The city of Detroit is seeking de-
signers to create a community park
in the east side’s Morningside
neighborhood using city funding
and a grant received through the
Knight Foundation’s Cities
Challenge.
J The Detroit City Council voted
7-2 in favor of $34.5 million in
bonds to modify the new Little Cae-
sars Arena to accommodate the De-
troit Pistons’ move back downtown
after a 40-year suburban hiatus.
J The Detroit Home Mortgage pro-
gram gained a $5 million invest-
ment from Comerica Bank to beef
up its effort to address the city’s ap-
praisal gap conundrum.
J Gov. Rick Snyder, along with a
delegation of Michigan executives
and aerospace business leaders,
had their first meetings in Paris,
kicking off last week’s economic
development mission in Europe.
J A Michigan State University
alumnus is gifting the school $3 mil-
lion to create the Gaynor Entrepre-
neurship Lab in the school’s Broad
College of Business. The gift is from
from Larry Gaynor, president and
CEO of Farmington Hills-based
TNG Worldwide Inc., and his wife
and company vice president Teresa.
J Despite earlier budget concerns,
the annual Accelerate Michigan In-
novation Competition will return
for an eighth round this year on
Nov. 16 at the Masonic Temple.
KURT NAGL/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS
RUMBLINGS
Veteran attorney Bruce Thelen was able to meet up with Alibaba founder Jack Ma, his
one-time tour guide, at last week’s Gateway ‘17 event.
A chance encounter with
Jack Ma — and a reunion
B illionaire Jack Ma and his Aliba-
ba Group Holdings Ltd. were in
Detroit for the first time last week,
and made something of an
impression.
But Ma also left an impression on
veteran attorney Bruce Thelen near-
ly four decades ago — when Ma was
only a teenager, long before he
founded Alibaba.
In 1980, Thelen left his post as a
Wall Street attorney for a trip around
the world — with plans to return to
his native Michigan and practice law
by the end. Part of it was a rare trip
for a Westerner to China’s mainland.
Thelen says it was there, out front
of the only hotel opened to western-
ers in Hangzhou, known then as
Hangchow, that he was greeted by a
young Jack Ma.
“He told me his name ... and
asked me if he could give me a tour
of his city,” said Thelen, now a part-
ner at Dickinson Wright PLLC and
appointee to the U.S. Department of
Commerce’s East Michigan District
Export Council. “He said he wanted
to practice his English.”
Ma escorted Thelen through
Emagine looks at sites
in Detroit for megaplex
E magine Entertainment Inc. is
looking to bring a megaplex the-
ater to downtown Detroit.
Co-founder and Chairman Paul
Glantz said the company is evaluat-
ing two undisclosed sites, one that
would be new construction and one
that would entail renovating an ex-
isting building.
He estimates the investment will
be around $15 million and said he’s
inclined to locate the new theater
near residential development as op-
posed to commercial development.
“If you look at all the housing
units that are being developed
downtown and in Midtown, I think
you’re going to see an enormous
amount of housing come online in
next couple years,” Glantz said.
19
COURTESY ALIBABA HOLDINGS
the city, highlighting landmarks
and introducing him to his father.
“He didn’t ask for money. ... He
seemed quite intent and focused on
wanting to take any opportunity to
meet people outside of China and
find out what was really going on in
the world,” Thelen said. “I remem-
ber being so impressed with his am-
bition and drive.”
In a 2008 profile in Inc. magazine,
Ma said he spent eight years offering
tours to foreign tourists.
Thelen spent half the day with
Ma, enjoying the boy’s rap on his
hometown in a changing Commu-
nist China — one that Ma, now
worth more than $30 billion, would
play a major role in reshaping.
“I must have told the story about
this young man at least a hundred
times after I returned to the U.S.,”
Thelen said. “I told everyone that if
there were more young people like
this very impressive young guy in
China, the country’s economy was
really going to take off.”
(Postscript: Thelen was able
during last week’s Gateway ’17 event
to meet up with Ma.)
The population base is a little light
right now, but Glantz said Emagine
believes it will be there in the not-
too-distant future.
A new theater would be the first
megaplex downtown but second in
the city, joining the Bel Air Luxury
Cinema on Eight Mile between Van
Dyke and Hoover Road.
Emagine is working on two other
new theaters locally.
The Livingston County Board of
Commissioners last week turned down
Emagine’s request for incentives for a
new theater in Hartland Township
near U.S. 23 and M-59, Glantz said, not-
ing he’s still pursuing that location.
Emagine is also looking to put an-
other location in Oakland County in
an undisclosed area, he said.
“ EMPOWERING.
Enlightening.

Life-changing. REWARDING.
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”
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