Vol. 22, No. 27 JULY 3 – 9, … · EaglePicher has two auto- ... Anthony Adamssaid Friday, after...

http://www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 22, No. 27 J U L Y 3 – 9 , 2 0 0 6 $1.50 a copy; $59 a year

THIS JUST INTHIS JUST INEaglePicher HQ will likely be in metro Detroit

EaglePicher Holdings Inc.’sheadquarters will likely besomewhere in metro Detroitafter the company emergesfrom Chapter 11 bankruptcy,EaglePicher COO DavidTreadwell said.

Treadwell, who is expectedto become EaglePicher’s pres-ident and CEO when the com-pany emerges from bankrupt-cy, said Friday thatEaglePicher also is consider-ing one location in anotherstate.

Treadwell oversaw ASC’ssale to Questor Partners Fund IIin May 2002 after the death ofASC founder Heinz Prechter.In 2004 he took over a cash-strapped Oxford Automotive andmanaged that company’s asset sale.

Current CEO Stuart Gleichenhaus was hired tooversee the bankruptcy andwon’t be staying, Treadwellsaid. EaglePicher filed forbankruptcy in U.S. BankruptcyCourt in Cincinnati in April2005.

Last week, the company’sreorganization plan was ap-proved by creditors and con-firmed by U.S. BankruptcyJudge Vincent Aug. The com-pany expects it will emergefrom bankruptcy by July 31after procedural matters arecompleted.

The company was based inPhoenix when it filed forbankruptcy but has sincemoved its technology divisionto Pittsburg, Kan., and its ex-ecutives, including Tread-well, have been working outof offices at the company’sInkster plant.

EaglePicher has two auto-motive divisions in Inkster:the Wolverine division,which makes vibrationdamping and sealing materi-als; and the Hillsdale division,which makes dampers, filtra-tion products, knuckles, driv-eline products and pump com-ponents.

This year, Treadwell said,EaglePicher is expecting saleswill exceed $580 million, downfrom more than $600 millionthe previous year. The compa-ny employs 800 in Michigan.

— Brent Snavely

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©Entire contents copyright 2006 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved

Execs with a need for speed, 1

®

See This Just In, Page 2

EXECUTIVE LIFEEXECUTIVE LIFE

Lenders lose whenscammers move in

The meteoric rise in housing prices has

slowed. As it has, losses reported by

lenders from mortgage fraud in Michigan

have gone through the roof. And it’s

costing Michigan banks big money —

more so far this fiscal year than in the

three previous years combined.

See special report, Page 19.

Burnett Cadillacloss highlightsneed to diversify

NEWSCOM

BY BILL SHEAAND JENNETTE SMITHCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The crossroads faced by Leo BurnettDetroit is one previously negotiated byother local ad agencies, and the choiceit provides is the same: Diversify andnourish creativity or risk closure.

Leo Burnett Detroit last week lostthe $225 million Cadillac account,which it had held since 1936, toBoston-based Modernista. (For details,see Page 30.)

General Motors Corp. is Leo BurnettDetroit’s lone client; it is one of adwindling number of large Detroitarea ad offices that haven’t diversifiedbeyond the auto industry.

Jim Moore, president of Leo BurnettDetroit, said in a statement that thecompany is looking at “a number ofother automotive and nonautomotive

new business opportunities.” Thecompany didn’t elaborate.

The Cadillac announcement and re-cent staff cuts at DaimlerChrysleragency BBDO Detroit in Troy make itclear many big Detroit agencies needto do some soul-searching, said formerbig agency executive Gary Topolews-ki. For example, BBDO’s Detroit andNew York City offices are working to-gether on the DaimlerChrysler ac-

count, said RoyElvove, director ofcorporate commu-nications for BBDONorth America. Butmore of that work isshifting to NewYork.

In February,BBDO Detroit laidoff about 200 of the1,800 employees at

its Troy office. The agency also saidsome open positions will not be filledand some creative posts would be trans-ferred to New York. Then the Detroit of-fice made another 20 cuts in April.

Topolewski has worked in top posi-tions at Leo Burnett Detroit predeces-

BY ANDREW DIETDERICHCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Playing golf arcade game Gold-en Tee for money has been put onpar with slot machines by theMichigan Court of Appeals, effective-ly jeopardizing the liquor licensesof establishments that offer gameplay for money.

But Incredible Technologies Inc.,maker of the game, insists that the

law applies to only one feature ofthe game that pays out money forgetting a hole-in-one, called Hole-N-Win.

Gary Colabuono, marketing di-rector for Arlington Heights, Ill.-based Incredible Technologies,said a countrywide rollout of Hole-N-Win planned for August won’thappen in states that ban it, in-cluding Michigan.

But Colabuono said regular fea-

tures will remain, including onethat allows real players to pay anextra dollar to compete against 49others in an 18-hole tournamentthat pays money to the top-20 fin-ishers.

“Our interpretation is that thecourt ruling applies to the Hole-N-Win option,” Colabuono said. “Weintend to follow the law. … Hole-N-Win is not going to be enabled inthe state of Michigan when it’s

available for the rest of the coun-try next month.”

But Jason Hanselman, an attor-ney not connected to the case withlaw firm Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C.,warns that establishments offer-ing Golden Tee play for moneycould be endangering their liquorlicenses and considered casinos.

Hanselman represents severalDetroit casinos and gaming-device

Court chips out Golden Tee game payouts

See Golden Tee, Page 29

Other local adagencies havemade transition

Topolewski

See Agencies, Page 30

DETROIT BUSINESS MAIN 07-03-06 A 1 CDB 6/30/2006 5:59 PM Page 1

Council votes against selling Rackham to developer

The city of Detroit will offer tosell its Rackham Golf Course inHuntington Woods, Deputy MayorAnthony Adams said Friday, afterthe Detroit City Council voted 6-3against accepting a $6.25 millionbid from a development groupcalled Premium Golf L.L.C., wantingto build homes on the 120-acre site.

The city of Huntington Woodsalso offered to buy the property tokeep it as a golf course.

— Robert Ankeny

2 colleges get new presidentsLawrence Technological University

and Marygrove College begin themonth with new presidents as partof scheduled transitions.

Lewis Walker, 61, takes over aspresident and CEO of LawrenceTech. He had been serving as inter-im president and CEO of the pri-vate Southfield university sinceFeb. 1 when former President andCEO Charles Chambers becamechancellor. Chambers becomespresident emeritus and is return-ing to the university’s faculty.

And David Fike, who’d served asprovost of Marygrove since Au-

gust, succeeds Glenda Price, who re-tired after eight years as president.

— Sherri Begin

Plans shared for Northville siteReal Estate Interests Group and

Schostak Bros. & Co. Inc. shared con-ceptual site plans for the mixed-useproject at the former Northville Psy-chiatric Hospital site last week.

The 415-acre Highwood projectcalls for a village center area withretail, medical office, a seniorapartment complex, and midriseapartments, condominiums andlofts. The developers also said in aproject overview that 35 percent ofthe site would remain open spacefor parks and public use.

— Jennette Smith

Mercy business dean steps downBahman Mirshab stepped down as

dean of the University of Detroit Mer-cy College of Business on Friday topursue other undisclosed opportu-nities. He had served as dean ofthe business school since the fallof 2002. Calls placed to the univer-sity on Friday afternoon were notreturned.

— Sherri Begin

Granholm, Republicans strike budget deal

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Re-publican legislative leaders onFriday said they have reached a

tentative budget agreement thatincludes funding increases forschools, colleges and universities.

The agreement for fiscal 2007,which begins Oct. 1, includes anoverall 3 percent increase in oper-ations funding for colleges anduniversities, and a $210 per-pupilincrease for K-12 schools.

The University of Michigan andMichigan State University would re-ceive a 3 percent increase, whileWayne State University would re-ceive a 2.5 percent increase. Oak-land University would receive a 3.4percent increase, and EasternMichigan University would receive a2.7 percent increase.

The budget will also allocate $20million to help schools that havehad declining enrollment, $20 mil-lion for a new middle school mathand science initiative, and $20 mil-lion to address funding equity be-tween school districts.

Lawmakers are expected to vote

on the budget in late July.— Amy Lane

Injection molder slated to closeEngineered Plastic Products Inc.

was scheduled to close its doorsFriday, after a June 26 sale of itsequipment.

The Ypsilanti-based injectionmolder entered Chapter 11 protec-tion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Courtin Detroit in March.

EPP had annual sales of $63 mil-lion and 548 employees turningout interior trim at plants in Ypsi-lanti, Owosso and Lima, Ohio. Thecompany launched an expansionat Lima in 2005, but that expense,along with rising resin costs andlower prices for parts, ate away atthe firm’s bottom line.

The work the company had beendoing is being transferred to othersuppliers.

— Crain News Service

THIS JUST INTHIS JUST IN

CORRECTIONS■ The chart accompanying the story about individual insuranceplans on Page 1 of the June 26 issue cited an incorrect coinsurancepercent for the Humana One PPO plans. The coinsurance should havebeen listed as 20 percent. ■ Southfield-based Capital Mortgage Funding L.L.C. was omitted fromthe list of largest mortgage lenders in the June 26 issue. It should haveranked sixth with total 2005 residential loan volume of $345.7 million.■ On the list of largest banks and thrifts in the June 26 issue, DearbornBancorp Inc.’s 2005 figures were incorrect. The company’s assets shouldhave been $706.5 million, net income $7.5 million, total loans $657.0 mil-lion, and nonperforming assets $1.8 million. It remains at No. 10.

■ From Page 1

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July 3, 2006CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

CRAIN’S ADDS REPORTERBill Shea, former city/militaryeditor of the Port Huron TimesHerald, has joined Crain’sDetroit Business as a reportercovering media, advertisingand marketing, andWashtenaw and Livingstoncounties.Shea, 32, worked at the PortHuron newspaper for aboutsix years and formerly workedas sports editor for theLancaster (Ohio) Eagle-Gazette and as a reporter forthe Beavercreek News-Current.Shea was a member ofMilitary Reporters & Editors;is a columnist forTheOBR.com, a ClevelandBrowns Web site; and is abackup quarterback for thePort Huron Pirates indoorfootball team.He is a graduate of WrightState University.Shea can be reached at (313)446-1626 [email protected].

Shea


BY MICHELLE MARTINEZCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Mike Duggan says that he cansteer The Detroit Medical Center to-

ward sustainedprofitability with-out investingmore in the sub-urbs or its WayneState UniversityPhysicians Group af-filiation.

The key, saidthe system presi-dent and CEO, isto brand the

DMC’s collection of downtown spe-cialty hospitals and attract more topdoctors to the city.

The claim seems intended to up

the ante of ongoing contract negotia-tions between the DMC and theWayne State physicians.

“We’re OK either way,” Duggansaid. “I’d like to be partners withWayne State. But if the alternative isthat we take the $87 million that wepay them (a year), and hire the topnational specialists, I can live withthat too.”

After lengthy negotiations, theDMC and WSU physicians agreed inlate March to extend their currentcontract through the end of thisyear. But both sides have announcedstrategies that appear to push at theedges of their bond, worth about $2.3billion in hospital charges to payersand patients in 2003, the latest num-bers available, according to theschool.

The DMC has dropped WSU fromits advertising for the past year to instead emphasize its collection ofspecialty hospitals as world-classcenters of care, Duggan said. Pre-viously, Duggan had touted theDMC’s academic affiliation as a crit-ical link to the latest medical re-search and patient care.

Wayne State physicians representmore than 700 of the DMC’s 2,500 doc-tors. More than 1,000 Wayne Stateresidents and graduate students alsostaff DMC hospitals.

Meanwhile the school in earlyJune announced a new affiliationwith Dearborn-based OakwoodHealthcare Inc. — the first major affil-iation the school had made outsideof the DMC. And, said new medicalschool Dean Robert Mentzer, theschool is actively courting more.

The school also closed on a $17

BY TOM HENDERSONCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Strength Capital Partners L.L.C., a private equity firmin Birmingham, finished raising its second fund of$140 million Friday and is about togo on a buying spree.

Five investments totaling about$50 million have letters of intent,said managing partner Mark Mc-Cammon. Two of the proposed pur-chases involve Michigan compa-nies, which McCammon said hehopes to close on by the end of sum-mer.

The company, which generallyacquires a controlling interest, targets middle-marketbusinesses in the Midwest that have strong regional

brand recognition and revenue between $10 millionand $150 million. It has three Southeast Michiganfirms in its portfolio. (See box, this page.)

“We invest in all kinds of business except high tech.We like stuff that’s easy to understand,” said McCam-mon, 34. “Our sweet spot is a good company we canturn into a great company with operational enhance-ment.”

The fund closing continues a trend of sizable equityfunds announced recently by Southeast Michigan-based equity funds.

Last year, Detroit-based Huron Capital Partners L.L.C.closed on a second round of $185 million for a total of$257 million under management, and Southfield-based Wind Point Partners closed on $700 million, for atotal of about $1.8 billion.

In January, Royal Oak-based Long Point Capital Inc.

CRAIN’SINDEX

Exploring options:Coupon giant ValassisCommunications Inc. maybe sold or may make anacquisition. Page 4.

Bank merger: Analystspraise move by Citizens,Republic. Page 6.

CRAIN’SINDEX

BANKRUPTCIES . . . . . . . . . 7BRIEFLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28BUSINESS DIARY . . . . . . . 27CAPITOL BRIEFINGS . . . . . . 7CLASSIFIED ADS. . . . . . . . 25EARNINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4KEITH CRAIN . . . . . . . . . . . 8LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8OTHER VOICES . . . . . . . . . . 9PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24RUMBLINGS . . . . . . . . . . . 31WEEK IN REVIEW . . . . . . . 31

These organizations appear in thisweek’s Crain’s Detroit Business:

Asset Acceptance Corp. . . . . . . . . . 28BBDO Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Beringea L.L.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Berline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Big Rock Chop House . . . . . . . . . . 18Brogan & Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Butcher’s Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Campbell-Ewald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Cauley Chevrolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Chang Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Charter One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Citizens Banking Corp. . . . . . . . . . . 6Corrigan Moving and Storage . . . . . 28Denison Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Detroit Medical Center . . . . . . . . . . 3Detroit Newspaper Partnership . . . . 4DMCVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Doner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Donnelly Penman & Partners . . . . . . 6Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C. . . . . . . . . . 1Evil Genius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Fifth Third Eastern Michigan . . . . . 21Flagstar Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Ford Motor Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Garan Lucow Miller P.C. . . . . . . . . 20General Motors Corp. . . . . . . . . 1, 19Goodwin Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Grant Thornton L.L.P. . . . . . . . . . . . 21Griffin Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Haberman Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Hamlin Pub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Harper University Hospital . . . . . . . 29Henry Ford Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Hunter House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Huron Capital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Huron Capital Partners . . . . . . . . . . 3Incredible Technologies Inc. . . . . . . 1Inland Management Inc. . . . . . . . . . 3KeyBank Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6LaMont Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20LaSalle Bank Midwest . . . . . . . . . . 21Leo Burnett Detroit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Long Point Capital Inc. . . . . . . . . . 29McCann Erickson Worldwide . . . . . 30Meridian Automotive Systems . . . . 28Mich. Boating Industries Assoc. . . . . 3Michigan State University . . . . . . . . 3MotorCity Casino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30National City Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21North Pointe Holdings Corp. . . . . 3, 28Oakwood Healthcare Inc. . . . . . . . . . 3Omnichem L.L.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Oxford Inn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Plante & Moran P.L.L.C. . . . . 6, 10, 28Propane Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Republic Bancorp Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . 6Rock Financial Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . 21RTV Communications Group . . . . . . 30Semco Energy Gas Co. . . . . . . . . . . 12Senior Alliance Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Simons Michelson Zieve . . . . . . . . 30Sinai-Grace Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . 29Source One Mortgage . . . . . . . . . . 20Sports Car Club of America . . . . . . 11Strength Capital Partners L.L.C. . . . . 3Sunrise Senior Living Inc. . . . . . . . . 10Sweet Georgia Brown . . . . . . . . . . . 18Travel Michigan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Tribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18University District Comm. Assoc. . . 16University of Michigan . . . . . . . 11, 13Valassis Communications Inc. . . . . . 4Waterford Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11White Star Movers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28William William Rattner . . . . . . . . . 29Wind Point Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Winston & Strawn L.L.P. . . . . . . . . 28WSU Physicians Group . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CALENDARFor a list of current

events, visitwww.crainsdetroit.com.

July 3, 2006 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Strength Capital raises $140MSTRENGTH IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGANStrength Capital has three SoutheastMichigan companies in its portfolio:■ Propane Services of Taylor, a distributorof propane to industrial and commercialcustomer■ Omnichem L.L.C. of Detroit, which treatsand recycles nonhazardous paint sludge forautomotive manufacturers and partssuppliers■ Inland Management Inc. of Detroit, awaste remediation and environmentalservices companyA June 2002 investment of $2.4 million inSouthfield-based North Pointe Insurance Co.made a profit of $2.4 million in two years,said Mark McCammon, Strength Capital’smanaging partner. The company’s holdingcompany, North Pointe Holdings Corp., hassince gone public (Nasdaq: NPTE).

Duggan: We’re OK without WSU

Equity fund ready to begin buying companies

See Strength, Page 29

See DMC, Page 29

BY AMY LANECAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

LANSING — With nearly 966,000registered boats in the state, VanSnider knows boaters have a bigrole to play in Michigan’s tourismeconomy.

And as head of a Livonia-basedgroup that represents the businessside of recreational boating, hehopes a new plan being drafted forMichigan’s tourism industry willresult in more visibility and pro-motion for sectors like his.

“Some of the unique strengthsthat we have (as a state) have notbeen part of a traditional market-ing approach,” said Snider, presi-dent of the Michigan Boating Indus-tries Association, a 400-membergroup of boat and accessory manu-facturers, distributors and dealers,marinas, and marine retailers.

The association is part of a 75-member tourism industry-plan-ning council that, along with ateam from Michigan State Universityand Travel Michigan, is working to

draw up the state’s first broad-based, all-industry-inclusive busi-ness plan for Michigan’s $17.5 bil-lion tourism industry.

The goal is to formulate a blue-print for industry growth and di-rection, and form partnershipsamong the more than 9,000 busi-nesses, recreational attractionsand group that make up Michigan

tourism. A 2000plan, developedfor Travel Michi-gan with an out-side consultant,gave that agencylong-term direc-tion but was notas broad as thenew effort, saidDave Lorenz,manager of pub-

lic and industry relations for Trav-el Michigan, the state’s tourism-marketing agency.

Backers hope the new plan willhelp the industry combat chal-lenges that include a sluggish

State’s tourism industrydebates best way

to promote attractions

Duggan

See Tourism, Page 30

DMC chief says specialty hospitals can lure docsDMC SPECIALTY HOSPITALSDMC CEO Mike Duggan says the

system’sspecialtyhospitals arethe key to itsbrand. Theyare:■ Children’sHospital ofMichigan■ HutzelWomen’sHospital

■ Michigan Orthopaedic SpecialtyHospital■ Rehabilitation Institute ofMichigan

McCammon

Snider

DefiningDefining


TAKING STOCK

BY BILL SHEACRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Livonia-based coupon giant Val-assis Communications Inc. could an-nounce in the next three weeks apossible sale, acquisition or othersignificant change, the companysaid.

The company (NYSE: VCI) onJune 26 lowered its predictions forsecond-quarter and yearly earn-ings per share, citing slow salesand pricing pressure. If that holdstrue, it will be the third consecu-tive quarter that business hasfailed to match the previous year.

Sherry Lauderback, director ofinvestor relations and communi-cations for Valassis, said therecould be an announcement beforeJuly 27, when second-quarterearnings results are announced.

“We could be sold, we could buysomething, go private or a combi-nation of things, or do nothing atall,” she said.

If there’s no announcement, atimeline of company plans will bemade public during the earningsannouncement conference call,Lauderback said.

Valassis reported $1.13 billionin revenue for 2005, including $504million from free-standing inserts,such as newspaper coupon books,the company’s primary products.Net income was $95.4 million.

The earnings revision droppedthe estimated yearly earnings-per-share prediction to $1.60-$1.80from $1.95-$2.15. If the predictionholds true, it was be the smallestfigure since $1.77 in 2002.

About 1,200 of Valassis’ 4,000employees are in Michigan.

Steven Barlow, an analyst withPrudential Equity Group who moni-tors Valassis, on June 26 pub-lished a note saying the company’sproblems stem from the price warwith main competitor News Ameri-ca Marketing, a softening of de-mand from clients and the suspen-sion of a stock buyback program.

Barlow lowered his earnings es-timates and price targets due toValassis’ earnings revision. Hemaintained an “overweight” rat-ing on the stock, which means hestill expects it to perform betterthan average stock in its sector.

Lauderback said Valassis still istrying to analyze its problems. “Weneed more information,” she said.

In the meantime, she said, Valas-sis has put together a new account-

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Valassis explores big changesas slowing sales take toll

development team charged withfinding new customers and devel-oping new products. One of the ar-eas being looked at is online, a mar-ket Valassis has lagged behindNews America Marketing, a NewYork City-based subsidiary of Ru-pert Murdoch’s News Corp. empire.

News America Marketing has anonline coupon system used by news-papers such as The New York Timesand Houston Chronicle. Valassis hasno such service. Lauderback saidonline initiatives are in the works,but she did not elaborate.

“In the long-term, you’re goingto have to use a variety of ways toreach (customers),” she said.

An online coupon effort wouldn’tbe the company’s first foray into dig-ital discounts. Valassis was the pri-mary investor in Los Angeles-basedsave.com, a Web site that allowedcustomers to download coupons.Citing a lack of profitability and ad-vertiser leeriness, Valassis with-drew its backing in July 2001, lessthan two years into its investment.

“We have been looking at inter-active,” Lauderback said. “It’s nota big piece yet, but we’re not naïveenough to not look at it.”

The print market for freestand-ing inserts and coupons remainsstrong despite circulation losses atnewspapers, experts said.

In 2004, the most current yearavailable, more than 82 percent ofcoupons were through free-stand-ing inserts in Sunday newspapers,according to CMS, a North Caroli-na firm that tracks coupon trends.

David Hunke, CEO of the DetroitNewspaper Partnership L.P., saidreaders of the Detroit Free Pressand Detroit News want coupons.

Both newspapers include Valassisand News America Marketing in-serts. The Gannett Co.-owned FreePress has coupons available fordownload on its Web site.

“Readers are still anxious and de-manding to make sure those prod-ucts are in their Sunday newspaper.Our volumes and demands haven’tslackened at all,” Hunke said.

But for how long is a key ques-tion. Eventually, the decline innewspaper circulation is going tohave a real impact on the papercoupon business, industry analystssaid. So newspapers and advertis-ers are looking to the Internet.

Peter Zollman, founder of Flori-da-based Classified Intelligence,which consults on and analyzesnewspaper advertising, agreed.

“Newspaper circulation is on aslow, downward spiral and has beenfor a long time. Marketing budgetsare getting shifted online,” he said.“If the (free-standing insert) compa-nies of the world don’t evolve, theyhave a limited lifespan.”

Valassis controls 47 percent ofthe freestanding insert market,and News America Marketing hasthe rest. The companies have re-mained locked in a price war forsome time. Valassis officials havesaid price pressure is partially toblame for its earnings issues, butsome analysts are skeptical.

“I don’t think the competitionhas gotten notably more aggressivein the last few years. It’s alwaysbeen aggressive,” Zollman said.

On June 27, Valassis stock hit a52-week low at $23.66, down from a52-week high on Aug. 15 of $40.80.

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

SECOND-QUARTER STOCK RESULTSTHIS QUARTER’S STOCK TOTALS: 36 GAINERS, 43 LOSERS, 2 UNCHANGED.

FOR COMPLETE RESULTS, SEE WWW.CRAINSDETROIT.COM

Visteon Corp. $7.21 $4.60 56.74General Motors Corp. 29.79 21.27 40.06Universal Truckload Services Inc. 34.13 25.05 36.25Lear Corp. 22.21 17.73 25.27Meadowbrook Insurance Group 8.32 7.00 18.86TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. 27.28 23.30 17.08Credit Acceptance Corp. 27.14 23.50 15.49Amerigon Inc. 8.97 7.77 15.44ArvinMeritor Inc. 17.19 14.91 15.29Detrex Corp. 8.50 7.40 14.87

ProQuest Co. $12.29 $21.39 -42.54North Pointe Holdings Corp. 7.30 12.50 -41.60Catuity Inc. 4.89 7.15 -31.63Caraco Pharmaceutical Labs Ltd. 9.15 13.00 -29.62Covansys Corp. 12.57 17.19 -26.88Borders Group Inc. 18.46 25.24 -26.86Champion Enterprises Inc. 11.04 14.96 -26.20Energy Conversion Devices Inc. 36.43 49.18 -25.93Pulte Homes Inc. 28.79 38.42 -25.07Valassis Communications Inc. 23.59 29.37 -19.68

Source: Bloomberg News. From a list of publicly owned companies with headquartersin Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw or Livingston counties. Note: Stocks tradingat less than $5 are not included.

CDB’S TOP PERFORMERS

CDB’S LOW PERFORMERS

6/30 3/31 PERCENTCLOSE CLOSE CHANGE

6/30 3/31 PERCENTCLOSE CLOSE CHANGE

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.


EARNINGSEARNINGSAdvanced Photonix Inc. AMEX: API

4th Quarter March 31 2006 2005Revenue........................$6,803,000 $3,989,000 Net income ................($2,624,000) $4,612,000Earnings per share ................($.14) $.29

12 monthsRevenue ....................$23,585,000 $14,803,000 Net income ................($3,465,000) $5,254,000Earnings per share ................($.20) $.34


DBpageAD.qxd 6/29/2006 9:38 AM Page 1

© 2 0 0 4 J I M M Y J O H N ’ S F R A N C H I S E , I N C .

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D E T R O I T & M E T R O


Bank merger looksgood to analysts —and a competitor

BY TOM HENDERSONCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Locally analysts and at least onecompeting banker were pleased bythe news Tuesday of the mergerbetween Ann Arbor-based RepublicBancorp Inc. and Flint-based Citi-zens Banking Corp.

The analysts said it will create astronger competitor, to be namedCitizens Republic Bancorp, that,pending shareholder and regulato-ry approval, will combine skillsand market niches.

The local banker, Edward Reilly,president of KeyBank Michigan ofAnn Arbor, already has instructedhis mergers and acquisition staff tolook into buying Republic or Citi-zens branches that are put up forsale in Wayne, Oakland or Macombcounties as a result of the merger.

“I like it very, very much,” saidJohn Donnelly, managing directorof the Grosse Pointe investmentbanking firm of Donnelly Penman &Partners, which specializes in com-munity banks.

“It’s … an opportunity to right-size both organizations, to create alean and mean franchise that willbe something to be reckonedwith,” he said.

Donnelly said the banks’strengths dovetail — Citizens is astrong commercial and industriallender and Republic a strong mort-gage lender.

The merger would create the45th-largest U.S. bank-holdingcompany, based on combined as-sets as of March 31 of $13.9 billionand a market capitalization of $2billion.

Brian Pollice, a partner atSouthfield-based Plante & MoranP.L.L.C. who focuses on communitybanks and financial institutions,said, “I was fairly surprised, but itmakes a lot of sense. The combinedfranchise will be enhanced.”

He said the merger looked partic-ularly good from the point of viewof Republic shareholders, who sawthe stock price rise sharply, closingMonday at $10.57 and opening onnews of the sale Tuesday at $12.95.Citizens closed Monday at $27.03and finished Tuesday at $24.66.

“The mortgage business isdown, now, so if I’m (Republicchairman) Jerry Campbell, I’mprobably happy I’m mitigating myrisk. But mortgage banking does-n’t go up like a hockey stick. Thereare peaks and valleys. It’ll bounceback,” said Pollice.

Campbell will be chairman of Cit-izens Republic through 2007, whenhe will be replaced by William Hart-man, chairman, CEO and presidentof Citizens. Campbell will remainon the board of directors.

Hartman will be CEO of themerged bank and keep that titlewhen he replaces Campbell. DanaCluckey, Republic’s president andCEO, will be president and COO ofCitizens Republic and will replace

Hartman as CEO in 2011. The name will be new, but Citi-

zens Republic will retain Citizens’Flint headquarters, its logo (abright red ball with three whitestripes) and — the decision hasn’tbeen made yet, according to Cluck-ey — may retain the same stocksymbol on the Nasdaq exchange,CBCF.

“I think Citizens was at an in-flection point,” said TerryMcEvoy, an equity analyst for Op-penheimer & Co. Inc. of New York.“The new management team hadreally accomplished a lot since2002, but it was at a point where itwas either a buyer or a seller. Themarket has been harsh to Citizens,so it probably thought of them assellers rather than buyers.

“But long-term, it makes sense.It eliminates a competitor and addsto their bottom line next year by al-lowing them to cut costs. Republic,to their credit, is a simple, low-riskbanking model. They made a lot ofmoney off the last mortgage cycle,but they’re feeling the effects of aflat yield curve more than the restof the industry. I think they sawthe next couple of years were goingto be tough and did the right thingby their shareholders.”

As for KeyBank Michigan, one ofnine district banks operated byCleveland-based KeyCorp, it hopesto end up with some badly neededbranch locations more quickly thanit thought for an aggressive expan-sion policy it is about to launch.

In the June 26 Crain’s, Reillysaid the bank wanted to go from 12branches to about 44 in Oakland,Macomb and Wayne counties overthe next five years, in the processgoing from 21st to fifth place in therankings of deposit share the Fed-eral Deposit Insurance Corp. main-tains for the Detroit MetropolitanStatistical Area.

Cluckey estimates about 7 per-cent-8 percent of Citizens and Re-public branches are within two

miles of eachother.

“That doesn’tmean we’re go-ing to close 7-8percent of ourbranches,” saidCluckey. “Insome markets,one mile away isa long way. Inother markets,

two banks might mean you have theonly two banks in the area.”

He said the banks will certainlyclose some branches that are neareach other, and he said complicatedFDIC rules governing market pene-tration will likely force the banks tomake some divestitures, as well.

Citizens has 15 branches in Key-Bank’s target area of Oakland, Ma-comb and Wayne Counties. Repub-lic has 16.

Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337,[email protected]

Cluckey


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July 3, 2006 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The following businesses filed forChapter 7 or 11 protection in U.S.Bankruptcy Court in Detroit June 23-29. Under Chapter 11, a company filesa reorganization plan that the courtmust approve. Chapter 7 involves to-tal liquidation.S.C.P. Enterprises Inc., 3438 EllsworthRoad, Ann Arbor, voluntary Chapter7. Assets and liabilities not available.S.S. Shoe Corp., dba Hansel N GretelShoppe, 247 W. Maple Road, Birming-ham, voluntary Chapter 7. Assets: $0;liabilities: $232,420.41.

— Compiled by Katie Maurer

BANKRUPTCIESBANKRUPTCIES

Overtime-exemption bill back to SenateLANSING — The leg-

islative battle on overtimeisn’t over yet.

Although the Legisla-ture last week gave finalapproval to a bill to retainovertime exemptions foremployers, the measurewas never delivered toGov. Jennifer Granholmand an expected veto.

The bill has instead re-turned to the Senate foranother attempt at secur-ing enough Democratic votes togive the measure immediate effect.

“We don’t want to send a bill tothe governor’s desk that doesn’thave immediate effect, because weneed this bill to be in place by Oct.1, 2006,” said Wendy Block, direc-tor of health policy and human re-sources for the Michigan Chamber ofCommerce.

House Bill 6213, sponsored by BillHuizenga, R-Zeeland, is designed tokeep in place exemptions currentlyavailable to Michigan employersunder federal law, in anticipation ofa new Michigan minimum-wagelaw that takes effect Oct. 1.

Until now, federal overtimerules have prevailed in Michiganbecause Michigan’s minimumwage was below the federal mini-mum wage.

But with Michigan’s minimumwage now set to rise to $6.95 anhour on Oct. 1, surpassing the $5.15federal rate, the federal minimumwage law, known as the Fair LaborStandards Act, will apply nolonger. That means Michigan em-ployers instead will need to com-ply with state overtime rules thatdo not contain many federal ex-emptions.

Business representatives havepushed for the legislation, to pre-empt the October change thatwould leave employers paying newovertime wages to employees.

The chamber has said some15,000 employers could be facingnew overtime requirements,through expanded eligibility toabout 370,000 previously exemptemployees.

Block said businesses could beforced to cut jobs, wages or bene-fits, or move jobs out of state as aresult.

But Democrats, including Gov.Jennifer Granholm’s office, haveargued that the bill would keep de-serving workers from new over-time pay opportunities.

Sen. Mark Schauer, D-BattleCreek, said the bill’s return to theSenate “gives everybody a chanceto talk, and find some commonground.”

For example, he said, while

there are some classes ofemployees that should beexempt from overtime,such as auto salespeoplewho work on commission,others, such as peoplewho take care of childrenand adults in a home set-ting, should be able to re-ceive the overtime pay,Schauer said.

He said the bill’s exemp-tions need to be examinedclosely rather than passed

in blanket fashion.There have been rumors of po-

tential deals that would tie theovertime bill — a measure that

Granholm has indicated she doesnot support — to other legislation.One item mentioned is legislationthat would reverse a 2004 Michi-gan Supreme Court decision thatset a threshold for determining se-rious impairment of a body func-tion, to sue for pain and suffering

under Michigan’s no-fault auto in-surance law.

But that legislation has no sup-port from Senate Majority LeaderKen Sikkema, R-Wyoming. AndAri Adler, Sikkema’s press secre-tary, said Friday that in terms ofthe overtime bill, “we’re waitingfor the Senate Democrats to … dothe right thing and support imme-diate effect.”

If Granholm were to sign the billin its current form, the overtimeexemptions sought by employerswould not resume until April 2007,leaving a six-month gap in whichemployers would “begin payingovertime, only to stop,” Block said.

Comings & Goings■■ Jacqueline Shinn has been

named chief deputy director of theMichigan Department of Transporta-tion. She previously held the postin an interim capacity.

■■ Michael Head has been nameddirector of the Michigan Office ofLong Term Care Supports and Ser-vices, within the Michigan Depart-ment of Community Health. He wasdirector of the department’s Officeof Consumer-Directed Home and Com-munity-Based Services.

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

CAPITOL BRIEFINGSAmy Lane

Proponents wantlegislation that

would go into effectOct. 1.


Editor:I read with interest your article

about potential overlap betweenour organization and the DetroitRegional Chamber in the area ofeconomic development (“Chamberchief: Roles can’t overlap,” June 26).

I wholeheartedly agree that thevarious business and civic organi-zations serving the region shouldwork together cooperatively. Infact, partnering is occurring nowin an unprecedented way withmany organizations workingclosely together, including theUnited Way for SoutheasternMichigan, New Detroit and the De-troit Metropolitan Convention &Visitors Bureau. Each is conduct-ing strategic plans to drive itswork — just as the private sectordoes. Cooperation among all of usto identify synergies and avoid po-tential redundancies is alreadywell in gear, and Detroit Renais-sance is pleased to be part of it.

The inference in the article thatDetroit Renaissance’s focus on eco-

nomic development is somewhatnew (“Renaissance edges into de-velopment focus”) could not be fur-ther from the truth. Detroit Renais-sance has focused on economicdevelopment in the city and the re-gion for more than 35 years, and itremains our mission today.

Plenty of challenges exist insoutheastern Michigan for morethan one organization to tackle theissues and make a real difference.Fortunately, an unprecedented lev-el of cooperation exists today

among the leaders of the region’sbusiness and civic organizations.

We at Detroit Renaissance lookforward to forging a strong rela-tionship with Dick Blouse’s suc-cessor and expect that all of usworking together will help greaterDetroit move forward for manyyears to come.

Doug RothwellPresident

Detroit RenaissanceDetroit

Politics spoils progressEditor:

Thank Keith Crain for his edito-rial “So when did we stop beingfriendly?” on June 12. During myeight years of urban redevelop-ment work in Detroit, good ideasand projects were rarely lost be-cause of someone’s party member-ship or corporate affiliation.

Yet, as soon as I sat in my chairin the state Legislature in 2003, Iwas greeted with a system that

OPINION

Enforcement, timelyfiling can curb fraud

ichigan ranks 10th nationally in mortgage fraud,and the problem is getting worse. According to theFederal Bureau of Investigation, losses in this state

from October through May 2006 approach $69 million — morethan in the previous three full fiscal years combined.

The reasons for the surge are documented by reporters Jen-nette Smith and Tom Henderson in stories that begin on Page 19.

What to do?High-profile prosecutions could help. A couple of cases are

detailed in the Page 19 story, but more are needed. The recent-ly announced hiring of more investigators by the state’s Officeof Financial and Insurance Services can help.

Just as important is the accurate and timely upkeep of publicrecords. The Wayne County Register of Deeds, which receives asmany as 3,000 new property documents a day, has been sued infederal court by title companies over delays in recording deeds,liens, mortgages and other transactions, allegedly for months.

Register of Deeds Bernard Youngblood says a new comput-er system will help but blames banks and title companies forfiling papers long after closings. Finger-pointing doesn’t help.Ultimately, elected officials should be accountable.

At the same time, the private sector controls data, too, in-cluding information on “bad actors” known to lenders or regu-lators. Lenders, state regulators, the FBI and police agencieswith top white-collar fraud experience should create a strikeforce to share information and attack this growing problem.

Burnett can bounce backWhen a major advertising agency loses a big account, as

Leo Burnett Detroit did last week with the loss of the $225 mil-lion Cadillac account, layoffs generally follow.

The advertising and marketing community is an importantasset for the region. But not surprisingly, many businesspeo-ple outside the region (and even within) typecast agencies hereas “car agencies” exclusively.

It’s true that the heyday of big agencies parallels the hey-day of the Big Three. But if more recent history can serve as aguide, the negative for Leo Burnett may spin toward a morepositive outcome. (See story, Page 1.)

Example: After its automotive business was threatened,Campbell-Ewald branched out and successfully landed new,non-automotive clients. One happy result for the University ofMichigan Health System is the emotional punch of theagency’s “hail to the victors” TV spots featuring actual pa-tients as they heroically pursue everyday activities. The spot’spowerful visuals are underscored by music, not words.

The lesson of this setback for Leo Burnett is the one much ofSoutheast Michigan is re-learning: There is more to the localeconomy than automotive if you’re creative enough to capture it.

Renaissance sticks to missionLETTERS

OPINION

LETTERS

You can’t really put your fingeron it, but there is a sense thatthings are looking up. Slowly.

I don’t know whether it’s be-cause the Tigers are winning ordowntown is staying clean. Butthere is a sense in this city thateverything is looking up a bit.There is no doubt that the moraleof our community is higher thanit’s been in a long time.

All this in the midst of a single-state recession that is affecting ourlarge companies. Certainly we’d alllove to see General Motors, Fordand Delphi prosper, but in spite of

their present travails,our region seems to becoping quite well.

Even though all thesurveys indicate thatthere seems to be a lackof confidence in thestate of Michigan, peo-ple are upbeat about thecity of Detroit.

Maybe it’s because wehaven’t heard anythingnegative lately from ourDetroit City Council. If the mayorand council are having difficulties,they are smart enough to keep it

within City Hall. Thathelps improve the per-ception of the city.

It could be as simpleas sunny days and a tem-perature that’s high butnot too high. Everyonein Michigan is alwaysready for summer to be-gin. In fact we’ve beenready for three months.

In spite of the highcost of gasoline, it now

makes better sense to vacation inMichigan rather than headingmiles away. The recreational areas

just a few miles away make UpperMichigan a great value for every-one in the Midwest. That shouldhelp our tourism economy.

My sense is that the Fourth ofJuly is a better beginning for sum-mer in Michigan than MemorialDay. The only trouble is that itmakes our summer season all thatmuch shorter.

Unlike so many regions in ourcountry, Michigan flip-flops twicea year as our seasons change. Thataffects everyone who sells every-thing from swimming pools toChristmas trees.

I’ve never quite understood howanyone can make a living inMichigan with a golf course. Withthe short playing season, it’s got tobe very difficult to make a profitand still charge reasonable prices.At least the motorcycle dealer cansell snowmobiles in the winter,but the golf course operator does-n’t have a lot of options.

But it is summer. And we shouldenjoy it. And more importantly,it’s time to keep the momentum go-ing in Detroit.

Let’s all hope the Tigers keepwinning.

Crain’s Detroit Businesswelcomes letters to the editor.All letters will be considered forpublication, provided they aresigned and do not defameindividuals or organizations.Write: Editor, Crain’s DetroitBusiness, 1155 Gratiot Ave.,Detroit, MI 48207-2997.E-mail: [email protected] boards: Share yourviews in our online community.forums.crainsdetroit.com.


See Letters, page 9

KEITH CRAIN:KEITH CRAIN: Things seem to be looking up around here

M

!


July 3, 2006 Page 25CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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MAID JUST FOR YOUProfessional housekeeping designed with

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www.brucegiffin.com

NEW CAR WASH FOR SALE5 wand bays, 1 automatic. Approx. 2005 sales

$200,000. Flint Twp, East of Bishop Airport.Price Reduced to $1,200,000

Great Lakes Real Estate810-767-7955

RESTAURANT/BAKERY located on W.S.U. campus.Successful and established. Offered at $310K.

For info phone Aubrey H. Tobin, Co.(248) 932-3020

SUCCESSFUL MATURE RETAIL & WHOLESALEFOOD BUSINESS FOR SALE. Located in upscale

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Established Restaurant/Bar for salein a quaint yet thriving downtown setting.

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Business & Building- Royce Furniture & Gallery$975,000 Offer. Must Sell! Under Cost. Great Oppor-tunity. Oil Paintings, Frames, Antique ReproductionFurniture. Beautiful, Profitable Turn-Key. (313) 930 - 0100

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BANQUET / RESTAURANT FOR LEASE. ExcellentDownriver location and opportunity. Newly decorated

and fully equipped. Great lease terms!For more information call Larry at 734-676-5850.

MICHIGAN - HARLEY DAVISON dealership available.One hour from metro Detroit area. Established dealer forover 15 years. Large allocation of bikes in a high traffictown. Big upside potential. Fax inquiries to 989-725-8319.

Business Brokerage - Mergers & AcquisitionsValuations - Sealed Bid Auctions - Consulting

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28 Foot Clear, 10 Truck Docks(248) 821 - 5522

For Sale-19,840 SF Industrial Bldg. 400 feet GroesbeckFrontage Near 696 in Warren. 3.1 Acres. Price

Reduced. Call Pat (586) 468 - 8411

24,000 S.F. Bldg. For Lease. Mfg./Distrib. in BurtIndust’l Pk. (I-96/Telegraph), Very Clean, Dry, Well-Maint., Docks, Truck Parking, EZ Freeway Access.

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

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

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Also Heavy IndustrialLand Available

www.reaconstruction.net

Gibraltar - 48 Apartment Units.Asking: $1,625,000

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Utica/Oxford - Two Property Portfolio Totaling 84Units. Asking: $3,800,000

Call Adam Borson at Income Property Organization248.932.0300 ext. 16

NNN LEASE PROPERTIESAdvance Auto / Sherwin Williams

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OFFICE BLDG. FOR SALE OR LEASE.Greenfield S. of 12 Mile. 9,000 S.F. plus basement.

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

GRAND OPENING SALE - 100’s of chairs, files,desks, conference tables, cubicles and more. Newproduct arriving daily - best deals in town! Tomor-row’s Office, 15431 W. 11 Mile, east of Greenfield,Open Monday - Friday, 9 to 5. Call 248-521-1122 or734-546-7229

Wirenets Corporation - 20+ Years Exp. • Computerized Card Access System for TwoDoors $2500.System is expandable and can be monitoredwith a PC, up to 500 users.• Networks • Business Phones.

Ask for Dennis (248) 310 - [email protected]

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WE HAVE USED PHONESNortel, Lucent, phone systems. Almost any new or

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Prestigious space for lease located onMain St. & University Dr. approx 5400sq. ft.

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4,000 Sq. Ft. Executive OfficeSecured Parking

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Prime Office Space/Executive Suites

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HALL ROAD PREMIER LOCATION - Shelby TownCenter across from Lakeside Mall. Join Barnes &Noble, Marshalls & Jo-Ann Fabrics. 6,000-15,000Sq. Ft. Outlots Available. CMS 248-549-0900

July 3, 2006Page 26 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

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Crain’s Detroit Business

Vice President of Patient Care/Chief Nursing OfficerThe CNO has oversight responsibility for all clinical and administrative operations of Nursing. She/he has the authority and responsibility for assessing, planning,implementation, and evaluation of and compliance to nursing standards of practice; hospital-wide patient care programs, policies and procedures; design anddevelopment of new programs, improving operational efficiency, and fiscal accountability. The Nurse Executive is a member of the operations management teamthat provides both strategic and tactical leadership to the local organization and will also serve as a participant in select system-wide initiatives. She/he ensuresthat Nursing Department decisions, practices, policies, programs, and services are consistent with both Bon Secours Health System, Inc. and Bon SecoursCottage Health Services Hospital’s mission, vision, values, and strategic direction. Will represent Hospital administration to selected medical staff departments andmay assume administrative responsibilities of the hospital in the absence of the CEO or Executive VP of Operations as delegated. Qualifications: Five to eightyears of proven leadership in nursing administration. Solid experience in financial management, strategic planning, physician relations and personnel supervisionis required. Current State of Michigan RN license. Graduate of an accredited program of professional nursing. Master’s prepared.

Director of Home Care Seeking an experienced, business-minded healthcare professional to oversee the operations of Bon Secours Cottage Home Care (BSCHC), which includes thecertified and private pay divisions as well as Bon Secours Cottage Supplemental Staffing. Will manage the clinical, financial, quality, and marketing activities.Plans, implements, monitors and modifies operations and services to meet customer demands and assures compliance with accreditation/certification of HCFAConditions of Participation for Home Health Agencies and JCAHO requirements. Three to five years of experience in healthcare administration, Michigan RNlicense and Masters Degree in Business, Health Care Administration, or Nursing preferred.

Health Information Management Director and Privacy Officer Seeking a professional to fill this full-time position. This individual will collaborate with the Medical Record Management Team to provide high quality services to itscustomers, identify departmental priorities, establish goals and implement strategies. Must maintain a current knowledge of the latest technological developmentsin the Health Information Management Industry. As Privacy Officer, responsible for the maintenance and monitoring with the HIPAA Privacy Regulations within theMichigan System. Operates a health information system consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, governmental, accreditation, regulatory and legalrequirements. Is responsible for the maintenance, preservation, confidentiality and accessibility of patient health information. Plays a key role in the preparation forand evolution to the electronic health record. Position reports to the CFO. Three to five years of management experience with Bachelor’s Degree, RHIA or RHITcredentials required.

We offer excellent healthcare, dental and vision benefits, competitive wages and a progressive, dynamic work environment. Please send resume to:

BON SECOURS COTTAGE HEALTH SERVICESHuman Resources-MTK

159 Kercheval, Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236or fax (313) 640-2185

email [email protected]

Visit website www.bschealth.com for more exciting news about our system!EOE

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESSCLASSIFIED SALESREPRESENTATIVE

Crain Communications Inc., Detroit’s leading publishing company,seeks a Classified Sales Representative for Crain’s Detroit Business.Description of duties and responsibilities; Maintain and upsell exist-ing accounts; Prospect new business via "cold calling"; Sell variousspecial sections; Provide back up for all incoming calls; Work withAccounting Department in resolving disputes; and providing customersupport or any maintenance necessary. Previous experience/skills:Prior telemarketing or inside sales experience preferred; Excellentverbal/written communication skills required; Computer proficiency;Ability to meet deadlines and handle multiple tasks with accuracy re-quired; Looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic team player to gothe "extra mile!"

Resumes along with cover letters must include salary requirementsand can be submitted for consideration to:

Crain CommunicationsAttn: Human Resources

1155 Gratiot Ave.Detroit, MI 48207

or faxed to:313-259-8454 or sent via email to [email protected]

Crain Communications is an equal opportunity employer

MAIN STREET ROYAL OAK2200 SF 2/2 Condo w/2 car garage.$369,900. Immediate Occupancy248-755-4331 or 248-646-1612

BEST LAND DEAL IN SE MICHIGANGot 1031 money to place? Mixed use 100 acre fab-ulous site-plan approved in Howell for 347 single fam-ily affordable homes - fronting golf course - with sew-er and water - paved road. Also 5 acres commercialincluding corner. Huge market demand in LivingstonCounty for SF homes priced under 190K. Absorptionis conservatively projected at a solid 10 units/month.Priced for immediate sale at 12K/res. unit. See siteplan at: chestnutdev.com, click Ramsey Park. Look-ing to do a deal within 30 days. Call Steve at 810-599-5147

Salem Twp. - 40 AcresZoned Residential.

W/1,000 ft. Frontage on 5 Acres Lake(734) 455 - 7373

BIRMINGHAM-Rare opportunity to build your estateon a nearly 2 acre parcel. Well situated w/in walkingdistance to Downtown, in area of multi-million dollarhomes. Many mature trees. $2.6M. 248-539-3350

RARE NORTH OAKLAND LAKEFRONT LOTSAVAILABLE! Pre-Grand Opening value opportunity!Estate-sized lakefront walkout sites to build on now orin the future. Call Now!

St. Dennis Development, Inc.Tom St. Dennis - Owner/Broker

248 - 620 - 5061www.starbluff.com

Beautiful Lakefront Estate Lots in Brightonon large All-Sports Woodland Lake. New exclu-sive lakefront community on scenic peninsulawith only 10 lots. Paved private road with ele-gant entrance. Each lot approx. 1 acre withmin. 160’ of frontage. Sewers. BrightonSchools. Excellent access to X-ways. Have"up-north" lakefront living minutes from work!

NOW TAKING RESERVATIONSCall Vantage Construction Co. @ 810-220-8060

ASSISTANT CONTROLLERPMA Consultants LLC, a nationally recog-nized program, project & construction man -agement consulting firm seeks an AssistantController that will oversee the accountingdepartment, and serve as the key coordina-tor of outside activities (taxes, audits, etc.)with external auditors. Responsibilities in-clude; Management of the accounting andfinancial systems and procedures includinggeneral ledger, accruals, monthly close andaccount reconciliation. Resolve daily opera-tional accounting issues, provide oversightof balance sheet analysis and ensure recon-ciliations are properly prepared. Analyzeall expense trends, participate in the area ofcost-saving efficiencies, create project con-trol reports and relate operations analysis,and special projects as necessary. Candi-date must possess a strong working knowl-edge of Accounting Software and the abili-ty to interpret legal documents (leases andcontracts). Must have a Bachelor’s degreein Accounting (CPA preferred) and 10+years of experience. Must be proficient inMicrosoft Office applications. Must be aself starter with proven leadership skills, ex-cellent writing, interpersonal & organiza-tional skills, and be capable of handling sev-eral projects simultaneously.

Email resume to:[email protected] or fax to:

734-663-9561EEO/AA

Needed:A Sales Rep. for Deep Draw Stampingand Two Fabrication Company.Commission Basis.Call Olympic Tool Company

(734) 458 - 2130

Superstar Salesperson WantedWe are looking for a confident, fiercelycompetitive person who must have priorsuccess in selling to fortune 1000 com-panies in a highly competitive market.There is unlimited earning potential forthe right person. Must have stronghunting & closing skills and be willing toprospect. Should have good phoneskills, listening skills and above-averageproblem solving ability. Must be com-fortable working on a commission basiswhere pay is based on performance. Ifyou hold yourself accountable pleasesee below.Please send cover letter with resume to:

[email protected] or mail to:P.O. Box 185

Southfield, MI 48037-0185Attn: Human Resources

MANAGEMENT

SALES

CRAIN’SEXECUTIVERECRUITER

Eastern Michigan UniversityVice President of Business & Finance

Eastern Michigan University is accepting applications for the position of Vice President ofBusiness and Finance. Founded in 1849, Eastern Michigan University is a public University with24,000 students, offering numerous undergraduate and graduate programs through our Collegesof Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Health and Human Services and Technology.

The Vice President of Business and Finance reports directly to the President, serves on thePresident’s Strategic Operations Council (SOC) and will act as the Treasurer to the Board ofRegents. The Vice President of Business and Finance provides direction and leadership to thebusiness operations of the University including: budgeting, planning, financial analysis, humanresources and facilities management. Responsibilities include: Developing short and long rangegoals for the Division and the University; guiding University administrative policies and procedures;directing the preparation of divisional annual operating budgets and administer operations withinapproved budget limits; monitoring and evaluating University investments; and providingleadership and support to the Finance Committee to the Board of Regents.

The ideal Vice President of Business and Finance candidate will have a collaborative andenergetic style that includes a team approach to problem solving, entrepreneurial thinking, goodjudgment, impeccable integrity and the highest professional and personal ethics. The idealcandidate will also possess the ability to work and communicate effectively with staff, faculty,students and the community, while demonstrating a commitment to the mission, goals andacademic values of the University.

Qualifications include: A Master’s Degree in accounting, business administration, finance orrelated field; CPA, CMA and/or CFA certification is strongly preferred; a minimum of five yearssenior level management experience with significant business and fiscal responsibilities isnecessary, preferably in higher education; progressively successful financial, leadership andmanagement experience across a wide range of people, functions and activities in large andcomplex organizations is necessary; in addition to financial and accounting knowledge, the desiredcandidate should also possess knowledge of human resources and facilities management.

To apply for the position online, go to: http://www.emich.edu/jobs/. Please reference Job Posting#: APPR0606 and include a cover letter with salary history/expectations, resume and contactinformation for three professional references. The University will begin reviewing applicationsimmediately, and continue until the position is filled. Interviews are likely to begin at the end ofAugust, with the University seeking to fill the position in the fall 2006.

EMU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and Educator that is strongly committedto achieving excellence through cultural diversity. The University actively encourages applicationsfrom women, persons of color, and applicants with disabilities, veterans, and members of otherunderrepresented groups.

REGIONAL SALES MANAGERCrain Communications is seeking an aggressive, results-oriented Regional

Sales Manager to work in our Detroit office selling advertising space into

Automotive News Europe and Automobilwoche. This position will require

approximately 40% travel including some international for such events as

European auto shows.

Qualified candidates will have 3-5 years of sales experience and a proven track

record of sales results. Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in sales or a

communications-related field. The ideal candidate will have an entrepreneurial

spirit with strong organizational skills.

Resumes with cover letters can be submitted for consideration to:

[email protected].

We thank you for your interest in Crain Communications and invite you to visit

our Web site at www.crain.com as positions are updated regularly.

Crain Communications is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

July 3, 2006 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 27

CONTRACTSStarbucks Coffee Co., Seattle, hasnamed Airfoil Public Relations Inc.,Detroit, as the public-relations agencyto support its Great Lakes, North Cen-tral Ohio and Allegheny Mountain re-gions’ marketing initiatives.Franco Public Relations Group, De-troit, has added Commodity SourcingGroup, Detroit, to its clients.ArvinMeritor Inc., Troy, selected Me-dia Genesis Inc., Madison Heights, toredesign the commercial vehicles sys-tems portion of its corporate Web site.The redesigned site can be found atwww.meritorhvs.com.Qualitech, Bingham Farms, was se-lected by 250 East Broad Street Prop-erty L.L.C., a property-managementcompany in Columbus, Ohio; and Pre-mier Office Park, a property-manage-ment company in Cincinnati, Ohio, toprovide, install and conduct trainingfor the Skyline Property ManagementSoftware Solution.John Bowman Chevrolet, Clarkston,signed with Freedom One RetirementServices, Clarkston, as its new 401(k)plan provider.MessageWay Solutions Inc., Livonia,announced its MessageWay producthas been selected by Kale ConsultantsLtd. of Mumbai, India, for strategicmanaged file transfer. Kale will useMessageWay for the exchange of busi-ness critical files and payment trans-action data between Kale, airline cus-tomers and credit card companies.Campbell-Ewald announced the U.S.Mint, Washington, has awarded its na-tional advertising contract to Camp-bell-Ewald. The Warren agency willbegin developing an advertising cam-paign for the mint’s coin-collectingproducts.Golden Limousine, Ann Arbor, wasawarded a national transportationcontract with Toyoda Gosei NorthAmerica, Troy. Osiris Innovations Group, Oxford, hasretained Douglas, Curtis and AllynL.L.C. of Roseville, Calif., as its invest-ment banking firm.Johnson Controls, Plymouth, has beenselected by General Motors Corp., De-troit, to supply the seating system andother interior components for the new2007 Saturn Outlook. Cornerstone Building Group, Troy,was awarded the contract for the55,000-square-foot, four-story Wash-ington Avenue Mixed Use Project inRoyal Oak, drawn by Ron Jona Associ-ates Architects. The project consistsof first-floor garage and retail, second-floor tenant space for Ron Rose Pro-ductions, and five condos on the thirdand fourth floors.Farbman Group, Southfield, wasawarded the owner’s representativeposition for St. Mary Mercy Hospital,Livonia. The project includes a $70million, five-year capital program andrenovation and relocation of cardio-vascular, pharmacy, lab, endoscopy,radiology, and surgery. HuntingtonConstruction, a subsidiary of Farb-man Group, is handling the construc-tion of the new registration depart-ment and cancer facility.A3C Collaborative Architecture, AnnArbor, is working with OakwoodHealthcare System’s Oakwood An-napolis Hospital, Wayne, to redesignthe hospital’s second floor, whichhouses the labor and delivery depart-ment. The $2.7 million, 12,500-square-foot project will convert semiprivatepatient rooms into private labor, de-livery, recovery and post-partumrooms.DuPont Engineering Polymers, Troy,supplied material and technical sup-port to Delphi Corp., Troy, for its Del-phi Active Energy-absorbing SteeringColumn. The column was designed forFord Motor Co.’s Lincoln Town Car,Mercury Grand Marquis and FordCrown Victoria. Delphi uses DuPont’sZytel HTN, Zytel nylon, and Delrin ac-etal in the column.

EXPANSIONSAllstate Billiards and Patio Furniture,Redford Township, has opened a patio

furniture-only showroom at 690 S.Woodward Ave., Birmingham. Website: www.shopallstate.com.Soil and Materials Engineers Inc., Ply-mouth, is opening a new office at 733E. Eighth St., Suite 102, Traverse City.Telephone: (231) 941-5200. SME alsohas offices in Grand Rapids, Kalama-zoo, Bay City and Toledo. Flagstar Bank has opened a branch at4400 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloom-field Township. It is the Troy-basedbank’s second in the community.Allen Bros. Inc., a Rochester Hills roof-ing and sheet metal contractor, hasopened Retrofit Roofing Inc., whichreroofs and remodels the roofs of occu-pied buildings. The new division’smotto is “You Do Your Work — WhileWe Do Ours.” Telephone: (248) 852-4770.Nacht & Associates P.C., an Ann Ar-bor law firm, has opened a second of-fice in Oakland County. Address:28116 Orchard Lake Road, FarmingtonHills. Telephone: (800) 240-9044. Website: www.nachtlaw.com.

MERGERSDunn Blue Reprographic Tech-nologies, Entire Reproductions &Imaging Solutions and Westside & De-troit Reprographics have announcedthey have combined to form DunnBlue Reprographics. Dunn Blue willhave six locations: Ann Arbor,Rochester Hills, Troy, Southfield,Farmington Hills and Detroit.

MOVESGeneral Development Co., to TwoTowne Square, Suite 850, Southfield.Telephone remains: (248) 357-3777.

NEW SERVICESComerica Bank, Detroit, has an-nounced the launch of a new line ofcredit cards that will include a creditcard designed especially for smallbusinesses, and consumer creditcards with reward options. Franklin Publicity Inc., Royal Oak, hasadded new services, including: mediabuying, event planning and coordina-tion, wedding music, photographyand videography, voiceovers, Web sitedesign and hosting, and marketingsupport. Web site: www.franklinpublicity.com.Media Genesis, Madison Heights, hasannounced a new corporate citizen-ship program, Awecomm Technologies, Troy, haslaunched Awecomm Web Strategies, anew division dedicated to providingWeb design and Web marketing ser-vices.ASTI Environmental, an environmen-tal services group with offices inBrighton, Grand Rapids and Lansing,announces a new environmental plan-ning group. The group offers site plan-ning and design, permits, environ-mental impact statements,groundwater studies, corridor duediligence assessments, and publichearing support.The Michigan Institute for Health En-hancement, Rochester, has an-nounced it will provide its health andwellness services on-site to employersat their place of business to help thempromote employee wellness and man-age healthcare costs. Freudenberg-NOK, Plymouth, has pur-chased two fuel cell test stations fromFuelCon Systems Inc., Vancouver,B.C. The new stations enable Freuden-berg-NOK to perform completely auto-mated full frequency scans at its Ply-mouth headquarters and TechnicalConcept Center.

STARTUPSExceptional Life Chiropratic, 45637Hayes, Shelby Township, is the newpractice of chiropractor CharlesKratz. Telephone: (586) 566-0011.Mason’s Family Furniture is a family-owned and -operated store at 32104Plymouth Road in Livonia. Tele-phone: (734) 525-1737.

TRANSACTIONSFirst Commercial Realty & Develop-ment Co. Inc., Southfield, has an-nounced two retail transactions. FirstCommercial signed an agreementwith Rite Aid drugstores to build anew 11,000-square-foot prototype storeat the Dodge Park Plaza which FirstCommercial owns in Sterling Heights.The new Rite Aid will be built at 15Mile Road and Dodge Park. Rite Aid isto move in September from anotherstore in the plaza. First Commercialhas also signed Marshall’s Homegoodsas a new anchor tenant for its Wood-haven Commons Shopping Center atAllen and West Roads in Woodhaven.First Commercial brokered the leasefor 24,000 square feet at the center.Grubb & Ellis Co., Southfield, an-nounced the following transactions:The sale of 11,900 square feet of indus-trial space at 13075 Newburg, Livonia,to JMA Holdings L.L.C. The propertywas owned by Reid Ventures L.L.C.Grubb & Ellis represented both par-ties. Also, the renewal for the lease of34,338 square feet of industrial spaceowned by Butler Family L.P. at 30200Stephenson Highway, MadisonHeights, to Pitney Bowes Manage-ment Services Inc. Grubb & Ellis rep-resented the lessor. Also, the sale of16,400 square feet of industrial spaceowned by Burmatron Enterprises at845 Mandoline, Madison Heights, toParry Properties L.L.C. Grubb & Ellisrepresented the buyer. Also, the sub-lease of 11,560 square feet of industrialspace owned by Metromedia Technolo-gies at 33286 Sterling Ponds, SterlingHeights, to Vocheck Flooring. Grubb &Ellis represented both parties.Burger Easton & Co., FarmingtonHills, announced the sale of an 88,000-square-foot industrial building at23811 Telegraph Road, Southfield.Burger Easton represented the seller,23811 Telegraph Associates L.L.C.Colliers International, Southfield, an-nounced Maaco leased 14,452 squarefeet of industrial space at 14080 23 MileRoad, Shelby Township, from S.R. In-vestment Properties Inc. Colliers In-ternational represented the landlord.L. Mason Capitani Inc., Troy, an-nounced the lease of a 37,000-square-foot building at 50410 Patricia inChesterfield Township. RichmondSteel leased it from Phoenix 46 Indus-trial. L. Mason Capitani Inc. repre-sented the tenant. Also, the sale of a10,800-square-foot building at 42900Executive Drive in Harrison Town-ship to Wahoo Properties from RottierInvestments. L. Mason Capitani repre-sented both parties. Friedman Real Estate Group Inc.,Farmington Hills, announced thelease of 33,299 square feet in the Tim-berland IV building at 1450 W. LongLake Road, Troy. Landlord Timber-land IV L.L.C. leased the space to TitleSource Inc. Friedman represented thetenant.Trammell Crow Co., Detroit, an-nounced the following transactions:Trammell Crow represented New Tow-er Trust in a 12,987-square-foot leaserenewal/expansion by N.S. Interna-tional Ltd. at the Kirts Office Park,Troy. Also, the sale of a 40,000-square-foot Class A office property at 100 W.Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills.Trammell Crow represented the sell-er, 100 W. Long Lake Associates.Trammell Crow also procured thepurchaser, Century Associates.

BUSINESS DIARYBUSINESS DIARY

DIARY GUIDELINESSend news releases for BusinessDiary to Joanne Scharich, Crain’sDetroit Business, 1155 GratiotAve., Detroit, MI 48207-2997 orsend e-mail to [email protected]. Use any Business Diary itemas a model for your release, andlook for the appropriate category.Without complete information, youritem will not run. Photos arewelcome, but we cannot guaranteethey will be used.


July 3, 2006CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESSPage 28

BRIEFLYBRIEFLYAsset Acceptance to buy back up to 6.7 percent of shares

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. ofWarren said it will repurchase upto 2.5 million shares of stock on theopen market, or about 6.7 percentof its outstanding shares.

Asset Acceptance (Nasdaq:AACC) buys and collects written-off consumer debt.

— Tom Henderson

Store and Move comes to areaSelf-storage and moving con-

tainer service Store and Move is hit-ting the Detroit market throughtwo local dealers, Corrigan Movingand Storage in Farmington Hillsand White Star Movers in SterlingHeights.

Store and Move units are largeportable storage units that con-sumers can pack, store on-site orstore at a dealer warehouse. Theprocess avoids multiple packingand unpacking trips. Store andMove competes with otherportable storage systems such asPortable On Demand Service.

The SAM service is part of St.Louis-based UniGroup Inc.

— Jennette Smith

Goodwin Co. wins awardThe Goodwin Co. won an award

last month for having the bestmass-media campaign in the na-tion in the Project Safe Neighbor-hood initiative.

Led by the U.S. Department of Jus-tice, Project Safe Neighborhoods isa four-year-old national programthat aims to reduce gun crimes bylaw-enforcement agencies cooper-ating with businesses, the mediaand the residential community.

Goodwin, a Royal Oak-basedpublic-relations and marketingfirm, has done work for Michi-gan’s Eastern District task forcefor the past three years and thecampaign name is “Help Us, HelpYou.” The award was given at Pro-ject Safe Neighborhood’s nationalconference in Denver.

Representatives from the De-partment of Justice and the AdCouncil judged company’s cam-paign based on its endurance andperseverance, influence, innova-tion and the ability to provide re-sults.

— Bowdeya Tweh

Entrepreneurs gather for forum The Entrepreneurial Initiative of

Southeast Michigan will sponsor aforum on July 13 at the AutomationAlley headquarters in Troy to en-courage new business growth.

Jack Ahrens, general partner ofTGap Ventures L.L.C., a companythat focuses on early-stage invest-ments in Midwest-based compa-nies, will make the keynote speechon “What a Venture CapitalistWants in a Deal.”

Presenters from EnvironmentalTransportation Solutions L.L.C., IdetixSoftware Systems, Rapid BioSenseL.L.C. and Covalent Medical Inc. alsowill speak.

The forum runs from 8:30-10a.m. at 2675 Bellingham Drive,Troy. Check-in starts at 8 a.m., andthere is no cost to attend. Registra-tion is preferred but not required.Reservations can be made by call-

ing (800) 427-5100 or [email protected].

Other forum sponsors includeAutomation Alley and Crain’s De-troit Business.

— Bowdeya Tweh

Business Women’s Conference Aug. 9 at Royal Park Hotel

Oakland County Planning & Eco-nomic Development is holding itssecond annual Business Women’sConference Aug. 9 at the RoyalPark Hotel in Rochester.

Jean Chatzky, who writes amonthly columnon personal fi-nance for Moneyand appears onNBC’s “TodayShow,” will bethe keynotespeaker.

Sign-in andthe networkinglunch will takeplace from 11

a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by the pro-gram from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

The program will address twotopics: “Take Control: FinancialMyths, Realities and Strategies”and “A Walk down Wall Street.”

Participants can register atwww.oakgov.com/peds/calendar/businesswomensconference.htmlfor $65 or by mail for $75 until Aug.2.

Lynda Earhart, senior businessdevelopment representative forOakland county, said she stronglyencourages participants to regis-ter early.

“We have expanded the capacityfrom 200 to 500, but due to the pro-gram content and our presentationwe may have to cut off registrationearly,” Earhart said.

Sponsors of the event are Crain’sDetroit Business; Key Bank; BarronRosenberg; Mayorias & Mayorias P.C.;Daimler Chrysler Corp.; Derderian,Kann, Seyferth & Salucci CPAs; Oak-land County Business Finance Corp.;Oakland County Economic Develop-ment Corp.; and WDIV-Channel 4.

— Katie Maurer

North Pointe charged $1.4MSouthfield-based North Pointe

Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: NPTE) an-nounced on Wednesday that it willtake a pretax hit of $1.4 million andafter taxes $913,000 in its secondquarter because of a fee assessedby the Florida Insurance Guaranty As-sociation Inc. related to last sum-mer’s hurricanes.

The association is a state bodythat levies assessments on solventinsurance companies to coverclaims by customers of companiesthat become insolvent, in this case,several that became insolvent be-cause of post-hurricane propertyclaims. North Pointe was assessedcharges of 2 percent of the $69.1million it collected in premiums inFlorida in 2005.

North Pointe, a property and ca-sualty insurer for owner-operatedbusinesses and the nation’s largestinsurer of bowling centers, previ-ously announced it would reduceits commercial policy count inFlorida by 40 percent and its insur-able value there by 70 percent.

— Tom Henderson

Chatzky

Meridian to file new reorg plan,may leave Chapter 11 by fall

BY BRENT SNAVELYCRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

Allen Park-based Meridian Auto-motive Systems Inc. may be able toemerge from Chapter 11 bank-ruptcy by fall.

Last week, the auto parts sup-plier announced that it reachedagreements with all of its majorcreditor groups and plans to filean amended reorganization plansoon in U.S. Bankruptcy Court inDelaware.

Meridian Automotive filed itsfirst plan of reorganization March30, but that plan was opposed byseveral groups of creditors.

“(The case) should go veryquickly now, it’s partially up tothe judge’s schedule,” said BarryRidings, managing director ofNew York investment bankingfirm Lazard Freres & Co., which isserving as Meridian Automo-tive’s financial adviser.

Meridian President and CEORichard Newsted did not returnthree phone calls last week, but ina press release issued Tuesday hesaid: “We are extremely pleased tohave achieved a consensual plan.… This will enable us to emergefrom Chapter 11 in a quick, uncon-tested and orderly manner.”

David Neier, partner with Win-ston & Strawn L.L.P. and an attor-ney for Meridian’s unsecuredcreditors, said Meridian couldemerge by August or September.To emerge, Meridian’s plan mustbe voted on by creditors and ap-proved by a bankruptcy judge.

“This case needed to get out ofbankruptcy and go forward. This

is a good company,” Neier said.Meridian filed for Chapter 11

bankruptcy protection on April26, 2005, after suffering fromrapid price increases of steel andplastic, pricing pressures from itscustomers and the declining mar-ket share of its customers.

Since then, Meridian has re-vamped its management team,closed several plants, reduced itsemployee count and addressedpricing issues with its customers,according a disclosure statementthe company filed with the courtin May.

Jeff Mengel, a partner and plas-tics industry team leader with theChicago offices of Plante & MoranP.L.L.C., said Meridian is one ofjust a handful of automotive plas-tics suppliers that specialize incompression molding.

“So I can see them staying aliveafter Chapter 11 bankruptcy,”Mengel said.

Compression molding is doneby stamping large sheets of plas-tic and creates a more structural-ly sound part than the process ofinjection molding, Mengel said.

Meridian also moved its head-quarters from 40,000 square feetat 550 Town Center Drive Dear-born to 37,000-square-feet at 999Republic Drive in Allen Park inMarch, the company said in itsdisclosure statement. Meridianmoved after Ford Motor Co. termi-nated Meridian’s lease.

Meridian plans to exit Chapter11 bankruptcy by restructuringits balance sheet, paying somecreditors in full and issuing newstock to satisfy the debts claimed

by other creditors.Additional cash could come

from the sale of Meridian’s interi-ors division, although Ridingssaid the plan will work without asale. Meridian’s interior divisionincludes two plants in GrandRapids, and plants in Brantford,Ontario, and Muzquiz, Mexico.

In April, “CBS Marketwatch”said a buyer signed a letter of in-tent to purchase the interior divi-sion for $50 million. Last week,Ridings said there is still a poten-tial buyer but would not commenton the price.

Meridian also expects to gain$18.3 million from the sale of itsFowlerville plant to Chicago-based First Industrial AcquisitionsInc., according to its plan of reor-ganization, but will then lease theplant and continue to operate it.

Meridian’s first reorganizationplan was proposed by three invest-ment funds that hold portions ofMeridian’s secured debt and willown a portion of the reorganizedcompany. They are Camulos MasterFund L.P., an investment fundcalled DK Acquisition Partners L.P.managed by New York-based David-son Kempner and New York-basedStanfield Capital Partners L.L.C.

Meridian Automotive is a sup-plier of front and rear modulesand exterior plastic lighting toautomobile and truck manufac-turers. Meridian had more than$1 billion in annual sales in 2005,according to a list of auto suppli-ers compiled by Crain’s sisterpublication Automotive News.

Brent Snavely: (313) 446-0405,[email protected]

Senior Alliance back in the blackBY SHERRI BEGIN

CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS

The Senior Alliance Inc. is on theroad to recovery after nearly los-ing its state designation as anArea Agency on Aging in fall 2004over missed payments to itslargest vendor, Wayne County.

The certification allows it toleverage local match money from34 western and southern WayneCounty communities againststate and federal grants to fundservices to seniors.

The agency is ahead of sched-ule for repaying its debt to WayneCounty and is operating in theblack for the first time in threeyears under the direction ofRobert Brown.

The Senior Alliance in the fall of2004 brought in Brown, a formermember of the Michigan Houseand external affairs director at SBCMichigan, who had been serving aschair of a corporate advisory com-mittee to the agency’s board.

He replaced Michael Simowski,who resigned after the board andOffice of Services to the Aging dis-covered the Senior Alliance owedWayne County $704,244 in missedpayments for administering Mealson Wheels, adult day care and oth-

er senior programs. The agency has since reduced

that debt to $240,000, which it ex-pects to have paid off by year-end,Brown said.

The Office of Services to the Ag-ing, a division of the Michigan De-partment of Community Health, toldthe Wayne-based Senior AllianceArea Agency on Aging 1-C in fall 2004that it must resolve the liabilityand make sure “adequate manage-ment” was in place or it would sus-pend financial assistance to theagency and begin the process to re-voke its designation as an AreaAgency on Aging.

The agency was “spending moremoney than was coming in,” saidGil Talbert, parks and recreationdirector for the city of Gibraltarand immediate past chair of theSenior Alliance.

“They just didn’t want to cut se-nior services or deliver less,”Brown said. “But if you’ve got tomanage a budget ... you don’tspend more than what you bringin.”

The Senior Alliance had beenrunning a negative cash flow forseveral years, which resulted in agrowing deficit and missed pay-ments to Wayne County, starting

in 2001, Brown said. But after two years of operating

at a deficit, the agency posted to-tal revenue of $9.5 million and anoperating excess of $67,170 for theyear ended Sept. 30, 2005, Directorof Finance Kishori Gandhi said.

When Brown joined the agency,he shut down a money-losing fee-for-service program that had pro-vided respite, adult day care andother services to clients in WayneCounty and other states.

He also renegotiated theagency’s building lease, phone andemployee health care contracts,eliminated an annual fundraisinggala that had lost money and be-gan eliminating positions.

The agency now employs 34 to38 full-time employees, downfrom 45 to 50 in 2004.

The actions cut the Senior Al-liance’s operating costs by $1.1million, bringing them to $2.1 mil-lion last year, Gandhi said.

The cost-cutting plus some newfundraising efforts have enabledthe agency to add a yard-care ser-vice for seniors, Brown said. Thisyear it plans to add a Labor Daymeal for seniors in its areas.

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



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ADVERTISING

DMC: Duggan says WSU affiliation not necessary■ From Page 3

Golden Tee: No payoffs■ From Page 3

million Troy office center intended for an out-patient surgery center in November as the coreof a new “suburban strategy” announced bythen-interim Dean Robert Frank.

Duggan said that the affiliation announce-ment and new office raised questions about theschool’s commitment to theDMC’s downtown campus.

Mentzer defended thestrategy as necessary toprotect the school.

“This is not a ditching ofthe DMC,” he said. NationalInstitutes of Health dollarsare being targeted to pro-grams that can transitionresearch quickly to the pa-tient’s bedside. Affiliations with different sys-tems would give WSU physicians and studentsmore practical exposure to different patientpopulations and make the school a better candi-date for increased funding, Mentzer said.

But other issues remain.The data that determines DMC payment to

the physician’s group hasn’t been updatedsince 1998, said Mike Herbert, chief administra-tion officer for the medical school, and hasn’tkept up with inflation.

The DMC receives about $80 million in directmedical education payments from federal andinsurance programs.

It has paid the physicians group about $77.4

million a year for the past two years. The DMCpays about $23 million as reimbursement forproviding uncompensated care, almost $9 mil-lion for medical administration, $9 million forstaffing clinics and about $36.7 million to coverthe direct costs of medical education.

About $6 million a year in pro-gram development funds wereeliminated in the 2004 contractextension, the school said.

The physicians group and theDMC also need to hash out whichresidency programs the systemwill support, Mentzer said.

Wayne State and the DMC end-ed an orthopedics residency pro-gram earlier this year due to

what Duggan said was a specific dispute andhad, “nothing to do with an overall considera-tion of ending residency programs.”

The physicians group hopes to start a newprogram at Oakwood by mid-2007.

Duggan and Mentzer both said they thoughtthey would reach an agreement by year’s end.

That may be the best thing for both.The physicians group is well-ensconced in

top-rated programs at Harper University Hospital,the school said, and developing new affiliationswill take time.

The DMC had a $13 million profit on $1.9 billionin revenue for 2005, a more than fivefold increasein net income from the previous year. But “slack

volume trends” and large pension contributionsdue this year and next led Standard & Poor’s todrop the DMC’s outlook from positive to stable.

The rating service company kept the BB- rat-ing it placed on the DMC’s bonds in a double up-grade from B last year.

Duggan said that while the system is “gettinghammered” on the cash demands, lower patientvolume was limited to Sinai-Grace Hospital.

The DMC doesn’t need an academic affiliationto be successful, said Gregory Mertz, presidentand CEO of The Horizon Group, a Virginia Beach,Va.-based health care consultancy that special-izes in physician group and hospital affiliations.But using residents as a primary workforcemakes economic sense for the system.

“An academic affiliation is 60 percent egoand 40 percent cheap labor,” he said. “Howmany superstars … will flock to an uncompen-sated scenario?” he said.

WSU physicians and the DMC provide asmuch as $150 million in unreimbursable care ayear.

Duggan recruited top cardiologists to the sys-tem several years ago, and cited a hire of a newpediatric orthopedics chief and part-time affili-ation with a group of vascular surgeons asmore recent successes.

“Will that succeed as a strategy?” he asked.“It already has.”

Michelle Martinez: (313) 446-1622, [email protected]

suppliers.In its ruling, the Michigan

Court of Appeals said that, “tothe extent the Golden Tee gamesare played for money, the gamesand suppliers of the games aresubject to the exclusive regulato-ry authority of the (Michigan Gam-ing Control Board).”

There are 418 registered Gold-en Tee Live games in the state ofMichigan, Colabuono said.

“Are they going to go to everybusiness operating one of thesegames and issue fines and takeaway liquor licenses? No,”Hanselman said. “But most busi-nesses probably don’t want to beone in trouble.”

Colabuono said that sinceGolden Tee is a game of skill, it isnot a game of chance like a slotmachine and shouldn’t be consid-ered a gambling device.

But because the Court of Ap-peals ruled that the Golden Teemachines are gambling devices,it doesn’t matter if it’s a game ofskill or chance.

Michigan law prohibits accept-ing money as a wager on chanceoutcomes, unless licensed as acasino.

Also, the law allows players toearn up to 15 free replays onvideo games for performance,but players can’t earn money.

That’s why, the court said, op-eration of the game when playedfor money falls under the Michi-gan Gaming Control and Rev-enue Act.

“Unless licensed by the Michi-gan Gaming Control Board, thecourt has said it’s against Michi-gan gaming laws to have ma-chines where money is put inand can be won out,” Hanselmansaid.

The Michigan case began in

2003 when two individuals filed alawsuit in Wayne County CircuitCourt against Incredible Tech-nologies for losing money play-ing the Hole-N-Win option.

Hole-N-Win was an option thatallowed players to potentiallywin thousands of dollars forlanding a hole-in-one, but re-quired players to put more mon-ey into the machine than if play-ing a regular round of golf.Currently, no Golden Tee ma-chines offer Hole-N-Win, but Co-labuono said Incredible Tech-nologies plans to reintroduce thefeature next month.

The lower court dismissed thecase, citing a lack of standing tobring the case under the Michi-gan Consumer Protection Act.The act allows individuals to sueif money is lost playing or bet-ting on cards, dice, “or by anyother device in the nature of suchplaying or betting.”

But the Court of Appeals saidthat when playing a game, ma-chine or equipment for money,the Michigan Consumer Protec-tion Act is pre-empted by theMichigan Gaming Control andRevenue Act.

Jim Gavano, co-owner of Ham-lin Pub in Shelby Township,Rochester and Lake Orion, saidpeople will come in to play Gold-en Tee no matter what. That’swhy all three pubs he owns carryit.

Hamlin Pub offers the optionof playing in tournaments formoney, he said.

“But a lot of guys will come inon their lunch hour or stop by ontheir way home and play just forthe enjoyment,” Gavano said.

Andrew Dietderich: (313) 446-0315; [email protected]

finished raising its second fund of$170 million, giving it $300 millionunder management.

Strength Capital’s first fund,which closed in 2000, was $30 mil-lion — all of it from high-net-worthindividuals. “We were the smallkids on the block,” he said. “Wehad the idea in 2000 that there was-n’t a lot of private equity in theMidwest. It was underserved.There should be less competitionhere and we should be able to buythings more economically, atmuch lower multiples.”

The new fund, called StrengthCapital Partners II L.P., includesabout $80 million from institu-tions, including JP Morgan Chase,ABN AMRO, Masco Corp., NorthPointe Insurance Co., and state pen-sion funds in Michigan, Ohio, Illi-nois, New Jersey and Virginia.

The firm began raising the fundearly last year. McCammon’s part-ners are Michael Bergeron, whomhe met at the Harvard BusinessSchool, and Jim Wigginton, a turn-around specialist who joined thefirm in 2004.

“Their first fund, they were test-ing out their thesis. Now they’vecome back with a more institution-al-based fund,” said Charles Roth-stein, senior managing director ofFarmingtonHills-basedBeringea L.L.C.,which has $250million in threefunds. Beringeaisn’t a directcompetitor withStrength Capitalbecause it gen-erally it investsin noncontrol-ling positions to fund a company’sgrowth.

“It’s a tribute to our area andour industry. They could work

anywhere in the country and theychose to be here,” Rothstein said.

“We’re friendly competitors inthe market,” said Brian Demkow-icz, managing partner at Huron Cap-ital. “From our point of view, it’snice to see more capital here. Itlifts everyone. … We all have ourniches. We’re very specific in whatwe do. So if we run across a dealthat doesn’t quite fit for us, it’snice to be able to send it to them.”

Rick Williams, senior partner atthe Birmingham-based law firm ofWilliam William Rattner & PlunkettP.C.has invested in both StrengthCapital funds.

“What they’ve done well is at-tack problems with good manage-ment decisions, even parachutingin management people if need be,”said Williams, who specializes inmerger and acquisition law.

“The easiest part is buying thecompany. The day after the checkclears, you find you’ve got a differ-ent company. They don’t let prob-lems linger and hope they getfixed. They fix them. I give themgood marks for that.”

McCammon said the companyhas already made four invest-ments from the second fund total-ing $29 million. The most recentcame in June, when Strength Capi-tal invested Minnesota-based Das-com Systems Group, an integrator ofaudio and video systems for tele-conferencing and distance learn-ing.

He said one pending deal wouldbe the company’s largest, involv-ing about $35 million in Fund IImoney and substantial additionaldebt. He hopes to close that deal foran Indiana company this summer.

Tom Henderson: (313) 446-0337,[email protected]

This is not aditching of the

DMC.Robert Mentzer, Wayne State

University Medical School

”“

Strength: Ready to buy■ From Page 3

Rothstein


July 3, 2006CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESSPage 30

economy, occupancy rates that are some of the lowest in thenation, inadequate state tourism spending, and a geographi-cal location that leaves many travelers unaware of thestate’s attributes.

“We’re not a drive-through state,” Snider said. “If peoplelearn what we have to offer here, I think we can sell our-selves pretty easily.”

Jacci Woods is director of public relations and communi-ty affairs for Detroit’s MotorCity Casino, which is part of theindustry council. She said “there are so many things thatare unique about Michigan … that it’s a missed opportunityif we don’t come up with some kind of a strategic effort.”

“I think part of the challenge is going to be coming upwith something that is appealing and inclusive to the entiregroup,” she said.

The Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau calls the plana positive effort but is holding off on fi-nancial support.

Michael O’Callaghan, executive vicepresident and COO, said the bureau feelsthe project’s oversight and coordinationshould have been put out to bid, instead ofbeing handled through MSU’s Departmentof Community Agriculture, Recreation and Re-source Studies, which houses the Travel,Tourism & Recreation Resource Center.

The bureau also wants to see what enti-ty, whether the Michigan Travel Commission or another leader-ship structure, ultimately has control for enacting the planand overseeing it in future years.

“We don’t want to invest money in something that’s justgoing to sit on a bookshelf,” O’Callaghan said.

Gary Warnell, project specialist in MSU’s tourism re-source center, said that the project did not go out to bid be-cause there was no initial revenue source available to fund

it. Vendors would have been unlikely to bid on a project de-pendent on fundraising to pay the bills, he said.

Drafters of the plan will look at, among many things,whether the Travel Commission’s 61-year-old structure isappropriate for the strategic plan or if the commissionneeds change, resources or more authority.

“We’re happy that the industry has come together and isat least studying the significance of tourism to our state andour consistent inability to draw visitors to this destinationat the levels that would make tourism successful,” O’Callaghan said.

He said if the effort is successful, “it will help state gov-ernment understand the significance of tourism to the stateof Michigan, and how Travel Michigan’s efforts could be bet-ter funded to allow the state to become more competitive inthat arena.”

While industry members may agree on the need for a sta-ble, increased source of promotional revenue for the state,possibilities such as an additional 1 percent room tax or tax-es on rental cars or campgrounds run counter to those whobelieve state government needs to fund the solution out of

its budget.A recently formed coalition is pushing

for the Legislature to boost Michigan’sannual promotional spending from $5.7million to $30 million. The Tourism Improv-ing Michigan’s Economy coalition wants ahigher promotional budget without tax,fee or surcharge increases.

“Any additional tax is a bad idea, re-gardless of whether occupancy is high, oroccupancy is low,” said Steve Yencich,

president and CEO of the Michigan Hotel, Motel & Resort Asso-ciation. “But the worst time to discuss taxing tourism iswhen tourism is at its low point.”

State lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm are alreadygiving Travel Michigan a two-year, $15 million infusionthrough the state’s new 21st Century Jobs Fund. Tourism pro-motion gets an additional $7.5 million this year and next, ontop of the $5.7 million annually appropriated in the statebudget process.

But even so, a $13.2 million annual effort pales in compar-ison to competitors, like Illinois’ $48 million appropriation.And it leaves Michigan still with no money for national pro-motion, said Travel Michigan’s Lorenz.

Other issues under discussion in the plan’s framework in-clude developing a shared brand or unified image that couldenhance, expand upon or replace the state’s new “PureMichigan” slogan; defining current and future marketingtargets; and elevating the industry’s political stature.

The plan could also give new direction to Travel Michi-gan.

“There will be recommendations for things that the in-dustry feels we should do differently, and I know we’ll takethat into consideration, and follow their lead in a lot ofthings,” Lorenz said. “It is truly a grassroots effort.”

MSU has raised about $116,000 toward the project’s$200,000 budget, including $25,000 from the university and$10,000 from Travel Michigan. Both are also contributingstaff to work on the project. Others, such as convention andvisitors’ bureaus, are also devoting time and in-kind contri-butions.

A series of statewide hearings, including a July 12 meetingat The Henry Ford in Dearborn, are scheduled this month to dis-cuss the project and gather input from industry members.

Work teams on various areas will gather and refine inputfrom the hearings and other venues. The final plan is sched-uled to be presented at a statewide tourism industry summitin March.

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

O’Callaghan

Yencich

Tourism: Industry debates best way to promote state’s assets■ From Page 3

Agencies: Leo Burnett’s challenge has been faced before■ From Page 1

sor Chemistri, BBDO and the now-defunct De-troit office of FCB Worldwide. Today, he’s apartner of agency Evil Genius, marketing offi-cer of Mobil Box Office in Novi and an inde-pendent consultant.

Eventually, he predicts more names onthe door may change and more talented De-troit creatives may branch out and createspinoff companies.

“It will wake some of these agencies up,”Topolewski said. “It’s got to change.”

In recent history, the local FCB office (for-merly Bozell) shut down after it lost its Daim-lerChrylser business in 2000. In the early1990s, Detroit lost work on the Oldsmobile ac-count when Leo Burnett moved the work toChicago. Then the brand was discontinuedin 2004.

Detroit agencies have the potential to bemore diversified, Topolewski said, referenc-ing Warren-based Campbell-Ewald and South-field-based Doner as successful case studies.Campbell-Ewald is not-ed historically for itsChevrolet business buthas long since branchedout with nonautomotiveclients such as the U.S.Navy, the U.S. Postal Ser-vice, National City Bankand the University ofMichigan Health System.

Doner has long had astrong nonautomotivebase and then won a ma-jor coup when it landedthe Mazda account in1998. Other major ac-counts include La-Z-Boy,Blockbuster and the UPSStore.

For the other agen-cies to thrive even withautomotive client loss-es, they will need to make structuralchanges.

“Sometimes I think back about the struc-

tured lifestyle and meetings that had little todo with game-changing creative ... creative

people aren’t being used totheir best ability,” Topolews-ki said.

Mike Vogel, partner of RTVCommunications Group inAuburn Hills, and anotherformer big agency executivewho most recently was at thehelm at BBDO Detroit, saidDetroit’s big agencies needmore training and “a shot ofprofessionalism.”

Young professionals needmore training on items likehow to make a presentation.Meanwhile, some longtimeemployees cranking out “C-plus” work need encourage-ment to take a risk.

“There are so many bril-liant people here,” he said.

Vogel said he’s heard comments from con-sultants that they essentially don’t want towork with Detroit ad agencies because of

the perception that the only business De-troit understands is cars.

Detroit’s agencies that seek to breakthrough the car-town stig-ma, basically need prooffrom successful clientcampaigns. Besides thebig agencies, successfullongtime local midsizeshops that have pulled itoff include Berline, Brogan& Partners and SimonsMichelson Zieve.

“You need to have a fewarrows in the quill,” Vo-

gel said.Garry Neel, CEO and GM worldwide ac-

count director at the Detroit office of Mc-Cann Erickson Worldwide in Birmingham,agrees.

“They don’t think of us, they think of NewYork. Stigma might be an appropriate term.It’s a problem for us,” he said.

McCann Detroit’s top clients includeBuick, General Motors corporate work, Del-phi Corp., Buick dealer groups, Honeywell Con-sumer Products Group and the Detroit MedicalCenter.

“It’s critical that to survive here, you’vegot to move beyond the automotive sector.The challenge to do that remains,” Neel

said. Because the compa-ny doesn’t rely solely onautomotive accounts, Mc-Cann Erickson couldweather the sort of lossLeo Burnett faces.

“We could continue inbusiness without any GMbusiness,” Neel said.

Bill Ludwig, vice chair-man and chief creative of-

ficer for Campbell-Ewald, doesn’t believethere’s a Detroit stigma. In fact, he thinksjust the opposite: it’s New York ad agenciesthat have an “arrogance” about whichclients have complained.

“Being outside of New York gives us per-spective,” he said. “(New York agencies) arereally only sophisticated about a New Yorkculture. If there is a (Detroit) stigma, I thinkit’s perpetuated by office extensions that arereliant on treating their automotive clientslike cash cows,” he said.

Ludwig is a Detroit advocate.“New York just eclipses everyone else in

the world. Nobody comes close. But Detroit,in terms of dollars and spending, is the sec-ond-largest market. Detroit is as creative, ifnot more creative, than any other city outthere.”

Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626 [email protected] Smith: (313) 446-0414,

[email protected]

A BIG ACCOUNT LOSSIn the wake of losing General Motors Corp.’s$225 million Cadillac advertising account toan out-of-state agency last week, Troy-basedLeo Burnett Detroit is left to chart an unclearfuture.About 70 employees were assigned to theCadillac account, said Jennifer Flowers,director of communications for Leo BurnettDetroit. Some will lose their jobs. Others willbe reassigned. Overall, the Troy office hasabout 220 staffers, she said, and notimetables have been set on changes at thecompany.Leo Burnett will remain agency-of-record forPontiac, the GM Service and PartsOperations division and GM Goodwrench. Italso was awarded, along with McCannErickson Detroit, local dealer advertising forCadillac, Hummer and Saab beginning July 1.The Cadillac work shifts to Boston-basedModernista, which has GM’s Hummeraccount, on Oct. 1. Liz Vanzura, Cadillac’smarketing director, moved some work toModernista shortly after taking the job inMarch. Previously, she had the same job withHummer and worked with the independentBoston agency.

— Bill Shea

LEO BURNETT DETROIT■ Headquarters: Troy.■ Employees: 220.■ President: Jim Moore.■ Corporate parent: Paris-based PublicisGroupe.■ Key clients: GM’s Pontiac brand, GMService and Parts Operations and GMGoodwrench.■ History: The office, part of Leo BurnettWorldwide, took its current name in Augustafter operating as Chemistri since 2002.Before that, the office was D’Arcy Detroit, asatellite of St. Louis-based D’Arcy MasiusBenton & Bowles, which was created througha series of mergers that included one withDetroit-based MacManus in 1970. Source: Leo Burnett Detroit

Neel

Vogel

Detroit, in termsof dollars and

spending, is thesecond-largest

market. Detroit is ascreative, if not morecreative, than any

other city outthere.

Bill Ludwig, Campbell-Ewald”

“



WEEK IN REVIEWRUMBLINGS

Delphi buyoutslessen chanceof strike, many say

he threat of a strike atTroy-based DelphiCorp. greatly lessened

last week with 12,600 an-nounced retirements andbuyouts of hourly unionworkers, putting the compa-ny well along the road tocutting the 24,000 U.S.hourly jobs it says it needsto reorganize under Chapter11 bankruptcy protection,Automotive News reported.

Delphi and its six unionshave been at loggerheadssince Oct. 8, when CEOSteve Miller put Delphi’sU.S. operations in Chapter11 protection. He said thecompany needed wage andbenefit cuts of more than 60percent to compete inNorth America.

The 12,600 retirementsand early retirements byUnited Auto Workers-repre-sented Delphi workers arejust the first round of de-partures. General MotorsCorp. made room for 5,000additional Delphi workersto flow back to the au-tomaker by getting nearly35,000 UAW members to re-tire or take a buyout. Thatwas two years sooner and5,000 workers more thanGM had expected.

But creditors are upsetover GM’s effort to get com-pensation for buying outDelphi’s unionized workers.

In a court filing last weekin New York, the OfficialCommittee of Unsecured Cred-itors challenged the claimson several grounds. Thecommittee contends GMhad no contractual obliga-tion with Delphi to pay forthe buyout and early retire-ments of union workers.GM expects to spend $5 bil-lion to $12 billion on Delphi.

Also, Delphi on Fridaysaid it lost $249 million onsales of $1.6 billion in May.For the year to date, Delphisaid it has lost $754 millionon sales of $7.7 billion.

Court nixes Northwest contract, then stays order

A U.S. Bankruptcy Courtjudge in New York City onThursday allowed NorthwestAirlines Corp. (OTC:NWACQ.PK) to dump itscontract with flight atten-dants and impose $195 mil-lion in annual wage andbenefit cuts that the unionhad previously rejected.

U.S. Bankruptcy JudgeAllan Gropper stayed im-plementation of the orderfor 14 days, urging further

negotiation.Also, Northwest on Tues-

day said that frequent fly-ers now can use specialboarding lanes startingJuly 3. And Northwestranked second-to-last inoverall passenger satisfac-tion on the latest J.D. Power& Associates survey re-leased Thursday.

DeVos: State needs astrong Detroit

Republican gubernatori-al candidate Dick DeVos saidThursday that he wouldwork to be a partner withDetroit and lessen senti-ment that the Capitol hasbecome remote from thestate’s largest city.

The west Michigan busi-nessman, who has spentmore campaign time inSoutheast Michigan than inany other part of the state,said he wants to play a partin the city’s revitalization.

The “Pancakes & Poli-tics” breakfast featured De-Vos as part of a series of fo-rums on business, civic andpolitical issues. The seriesis presented by the MichiganChronicle; Crain’s Detroit Busi-ness is a media sponsor.

ON THE MOVE■ James Vandenberghe,

vice chairman and CFO ofSouthfield-based Lear Corp.,was named to Detroit-basedDTE Energy Co.’s board.

BRIEFLY■ Unemployment for the

Detroit area was 5.8 percentin May, compared with 6.9percent in April and 7 per-cent in May 2005, accordingto the Michigan Department ofLabor and Economic Growth.In the Ann Arbor area, Mayunemployment was 4 per-cent, compared with 4.2 per-cent in April and 4.6 percentin April 2005.

■ A federal judge in De-troit granted the WayneCounty Airport Authority and agroup of limousine andsedan operators more timeto finish an agreement onnew passenger pickup rules.

■ Rochester Hills-basedEnergy Conversion Devices Inc.(Nasdaq: ENER) and War-ren-based Asset AcceptanceCapital Corp. (Nasdaq:AACC) said they will be-come part of the new NasdaqGlobal Select Market July 3.

■ The Michigan Public Ser-vice Commission fined DetroitEdison Co. $105,000 for fail-ing to meet state rules forrestoring electricity to resi-dential customers whoseservice had been shut offfor nonpayment.

■ The Detroit Economic De-velopment Corp. on Tuesdayawarded Detroit-based Hom-rich Wrecking Inc. a $241,750contract, including a $48,350contingency, to tear down

the Lindell AC and an adjoin-ing building for the 30,000-square-foot, $18.3 millionRosa Parks Transit Center.

■ Bloomfield Hills-basedUnitedAuto Group Inc. will bethe exclusive dealer of Daim-lerChrysler AG’s Smart For-Two minicar when it arrivesin the U.S. in 2008, accordingto a statement Wednesday.

■ Wixom-based RockwellMedical Technologies Inc.said it has received a keypatent from the Hong KongPatent and Trademark Officefor a product used to treatpeople who must undergokidney dialysis.

■ Blue Cross Blue Shield ofMichigan said it has ear-marked $6 million to helpthe Michigan Health and Hos-pital Association’s KeystoneCenter improve patientsafety across the state.

■ About a dozen Greek-town restaurants were givena waiver to take part inGreektown Casino L.L.C.’scomplimentary food-vouch-er program Thursday at aspecial meeting of the Michi-gan Gaming Control Board. Allthe restaurants currentlyunable to redeem the casinovoucher will be able to applyfor the exemptions startingJuly 5, MGCB executive di-rector Dan Gustafson said.

■ Three employees fileda class-action lawsuitagainst Dearborn-basedAuto Club Group on Thurs-day, alleging the companyunlawfully has failed to payfor overtime worked.

■ The city of Detroitsought bids for the electri-cal contract for Cobo Cen-ter, the first time in morethan 12 years it has soughtbids on the contract, TheDetroit News reported.

■ Farmington Hills-based developer PremiumGolf upped its bid for thecity of Detroit’s RackhamGolf Course in HuntingtonWoods to $6 million, andHuntington Woods uppedits bid to $5.5 million, TheDetroit News reported.

■ Southfield-based For-gotten Harvest, a nonprofitthat collects and distributesperishable food, may moveto a facility in Oak Parkthat is five times the size ofits current home, the De-troit Free Press reported.

■ Detroit City Council voted5-4 to rescind a three-milltrash pickup tax, replacing itwith a $300 per year fee onproperty owners per 90-gal-lon trash container.

OBITUARIES■ Linda Hack, who co-

founded Troy-based Affiliat-ed Models Inc., died of pneu-monia June 24. She was 65.

■ Patricia Milner Sachs, di-rector of community part-nerships at the Barbara AnnKarmanos Cancer Institute inDetroit, died of skin cancerJune 23. She was 54.

he “tall ships” willsail up the DetroitRiver the week of

July 16-20, but they won’t bestopping in the city thistime.

Peter Mello, executive di-rector of Newport, R.I.-based American Sail TrainingAssociation, said his grouptried tobring theevent to De-troit thissummer, be-tween theTall ShipsChallengeRace SeriesJuly 12-16stop atClevelandand a July20-23 event atBay City.

“We want-ed Detroit tobe on theschedule,”he said, “butthe discus-sions nevergained muchtraction.” Hesaid Detroitofficialsvoiced con-cern aboutthe city having just hostedSuper Bowl XL, and thatthere was a finite amount ofresources for sponsorships.

Faye Nelson, executive di-rector of the Detroit River-front Conservancy, said therewere “general discussionswith the tall ships people,and we are very hopeful ofgetting them for 2010.”

The tall ships race on theGreat Lakes began in 2001and helped Detroit mark itstricentennial celebrationwith 30 vessels from six

countries.

You’re a bird, you’re a plane …

PromoPix Inc. of PlymouthTownship is part of MadameTussauds New York’s new,year-long “Superman Re-

turns”exhibit.Visitorsto the ex-hibit,whichopenedJune 27,can ap-pear tofly overMetropo-lis in avideothanks toPro-moPix’sgreenscreenvideotechnolo-gy.

Partici-pants arefilmed infront of ablankgreen

background, and a comput-er replaces that backgroundwith an image — in thiscase, an aerial flight aroundMetropolis with the personsuperimposed.

Participants can buy aDVD of their flight, whichalso will be available toview via an Internet site.

PromoPix founder BobSchinker began photo andvideo promotions in 1992with the launch of TurnerBroadcasting’s Cartoon Net-work. The company’s clients

have included American Ex-press, Discovery NetworksU.S., Build-A-Bear Workshopand others.

Racing may return to cityCan the Motor City resur-

rect the Grand Prix or otherracing event?

Al Fields, Fusion Centerdirector for the city of De-troit, said Mayor Kwame Kil-patrick and Roger Penskehave talked with him aboutthe possibility of bringingauto racing back to Detroit.One location, Fields said,could be Belle Isle, wherethe Detroit Grand Prix lastran in 2001.

Penske, chairman ofPenske Corp., and a formerauto racer turned entrepre-neur, said it was too earlyto comment. He led success-ful preparations for SuperBowl XL and recently be-came chair of the DetroitDowntown Partnership tospearhead upgrading thecity’s central business dis-trict.

Detroit’s Grand Prixstarted in 1982, on a 2.5-milecircuit in the downtownstreets around the Renais-sance Center. Formula Onecars raced downtown from1982 to 1988. Then Champi-onship Auto Racing Teamsran the race from 1989 to1991. The track was movedto Belle Isle 1992, whereCART raced until 2001.

BITS & PIECES■ Eisenbrenner Public Rela-

tions has won the Award ofExcellence in the ad/news-paper category the 2006Communicator Awardscompetition in Arlington,Texas, for a print advertise-ment it created for theSouthfield-based MiracleLeague of Michigan, a base-ball league for people withdisabilities.

■ Prestige AutomotiveGroup, Ypsilanti, owned byGregory Jackson, was namedthe nation’s largest black-owned dealership group byBlack Enterprise magazine.

RUMBLINGS WEEK IN REVIEW

Tall ships willpass city by on river tour

F R O M W W W . C R A I N S D E T R O I T . C O M , W E E K O F J U N E 2 4 - 3 0

T T

If I weren’t a journalist and had thefinancial backing, I’d love to be arace-car driver. While the execsfeatured in this week’s Executive Lifesection (Page 11) certainly have thefunds and the drive to make theirdream of racing a full-time hobby, I’mforced to settle for a few fleetingexperiences. If you’ve got the itch to get behindthe wheel and take to the track whilenot breaking the bank, there areplenty of opportunities out there incyberspace.Racingschools.com features 70different schools and almost any type of racingmachine you’d dream of squeezing yourselfinto. The schools here start at $99 for hot lapsand can push past the $3,000 mark (past

$7,000 if Formula cars are yourspeed) for three- and four-dayminiracing camps. If you really want to dive in to racing,check out racingjobs.com, whichfeatures openings in racing’s variousorganizations and programs. Are you already behind the wheel likeour execs? Keep up on trends and gettips through raceology.com, a greatlittle blog that features posts on thescience of driving. Or, if you’re like me, just push thespeed limit a bit on I-96. Instead of

checkered flags, a speeding ticket may bewaved in your face. If it does, the dent in yourpocketbook will quickly curb your appetite forracing.

WEB WORLDDaniel Eizans

Racing to get behind the wheel?

NEWSCOM

The tall ships will sail by Detroitagain in July.


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