State Has Projects List for Obama
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20081215-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/12/2008 7:08 PM Page 1 ® WWW.CRAINSDETROIT.COM VOL. 24, NO. 50 DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2008 $2 A COPY; $59 A YEAR ©Entire contents copyright 2008 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved THIS JUST IN State has projects list for Obama Great Lakes Recycling to add 2 new facilities gan of those kinds of projects, because of Roseville-based Great The tally: roads, bridges, schools, energy TRANSIT PLAN the budgetary con- Lakes Recycling plans a BY AMY LANE The plans are being drawn up in Congress. Backers say $10.5B in straints that we’ve grand opening Jan. 13 on a investment will bring CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT There are discussions indicating that as ear- had over the course $12 million, 50,000-square- $42B in development. ly as mid-January, Congress could pass at least of time, and also foot plant in Wayne Coun- LANSING — Being needy might be good. part of a spending plan for Obama to sign on Page 16. some of the bud- ty’s Huron Township. Also, That’s the hope of Michigan business and Jan. 20, his inauguration. getary decisions the company is looking to government officials, as they eye how a state Across Michigan, projects are being tallied made in Washington,” said Arnold Weinfeld, purchase another building with high unemployment, a struggling econo- that include roads and bridges, water and sew- director of public policy and federal affairs for in metro Detroit to expand my and challenged road systems can tap into er, school and university upgrades, and gov- the Michigan Municipal League. its computer and electron- pieces of a massive national infrastructure in- ernment energy and energy-efficiency mea- “I think that we can go in — and just like any ics recycling business. vestment and economic recovery plan pro- sures. Great Lakes plans to hire posed by President-elect Barack Obama. “There is a pent-up demand here in Michi- 40 workers for its plant in See Projects, Page 21 Huron Township and an- other 50 employees in 2009 to staff its electronics recy- cling unit expansion. “We are a growing busi- ness and are running over Renaissance capacity in Roseville,” said John Hawthorne, COO of MEGA takes up tax breaks Great Lakes. The 200,000- square-foot Roseville plant Fund closes 1st employs 200. 14 projects proposed The recycling company collects and processes round, makes more than 175,000 tons per totaling 2,450 jobs, year of paper, metal, plas- tic and glass. “We are seeing growth $921M in investment 1st investment in fiber and plastics, but metals have dropped be- BY DANIEL DUGGAN BY TOM HENDERSON cause of (the decline in in- AND BILL SHEA CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS dustrial production),” CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Hawthorne said. The Detroit Renaissance Inc. Ven- In November, Great A startup company that will produce fuel-efficient ture Capital Fund closed last week Lakes signed a joint ven- hybrid buses — getting twice the mileage of hybrid on a first round of $40 million, and ture agreement with Geet cars — will ask for $11.3 million in state tax credits COURTESY OF SEVERSTAL its board voted Thursday night on International of Ontario to today to get the compa- Coils of steel are stored in the cold mill and other places its first investment of $5 million, form Geet Michigan. ny off the ground and at the steel mill in Dearborn, which will get upgrades with in Ann Arbor-based Arboretum Part- the help of MEGA grants. “The equipment is al- hire 539 employees. ners L.L.C. Arboretum, which focuses on ready delivered and we are Fisher Coachworks “Our plan is to have the bus in the certification looking for a building for L.L.C. will go before the health care and medical devices, is process by the close of 2009, and gear up production nearly finished raising its second the plant,” Hawthorne said. Michigan Economic after that’s complete,” Van Alstyne said. Founded in 1927, Great Growth Authority board fund of about $70 million, called Fisher is building a 40-foot stainless steel passen- Arboretum Ventures II. In Janu- Lakes also operates facili- requesting the tax cred- ger bus designed for city use, using Swiss-made bat- ties in Flint and North Hybrid bus. it for its effort to con- ary 2007, Ar- teries to drive motors for each wheel and a small boretum got the Tonawanda, N.Y. struct a $7 million plant in Livonia for its ultra-light- diesel engine to charge the batteries. — Jay Greene weight, fuel-efficient hybrid buses. first invest- A prototype built by Rochester Hills-based engi- ments from both The request is one of 14 put before the MEGA neering firm Autokinetics Inc. is undergoing road board today, recommended by the Michigan Economic the state’s 21st SBA lending drops 64% testing. Century Invest- Development Corp. Fisher requested $6 million from Michigan’s 21st Two months into the If completed, the 14 projects will create about 2,450 ment Fund and Century Jobs Fund but wasn’t among the 17 compa- the Venture agency’s fiscal year, the new jobs with a total investment of $921 million in nies awarded nearly $30 million in October. number of loans backed by private investment in the state. Michigan Fund. It The company recently completed a new round of got $7.5 million U.S. Small Business Adminis- Projects encompass the automotive sector in addi- private financing that offsets the immediate need for tration lending has dropped tion to the green energy, medical, food and beverage for the invest- Rizik the jobs fund money, Van Alstyne said, but the com- ment fund and what was believed 64 percent compared with industries. Five new real estate development pro- pany’s request for that money remains active. last year. jects also are proposed. to be a matching amount from the Another green startup on the MEGA agenda is VMF, although that amount was The SBA backed 71 loans The Fisher Coachworks project is the brainchild Global Wind Systems Inc. in November, said Richard of Greg Fisher, grandson of Fisher Body Co. co- not officially disclosed. Incorporated in September by Christopher Long “You have to say they are one of Temkin, director of the founder Albert Fisher, who along with his brothers and currently headquartered in a home on Lotus SBA’s Detroit district office. ran the car body company whose iconic coach sym- the top young venture capital Lake in Waterford Township, the company proposes firms in the country,” said Chris Declines were across the bol was stamped on General Motors Corp. vehicles for to create up to 356 jobs and invest $32.3 million over board, Temkin said, with a most of the 20th century. Rizik, the fund’s president and five years making wind energy turbines. CEO. “They’re got a great niche 69 percent drop in the The company is still in negotiations with owners The company would make 1.5-megawatt turbine of several buildings in Livonia, said John Van Al- See This Just In, Page 2 styne, Fisher’s vice president of marketing. See MEGA, Page 20 See Fund, Page 20 Small-business owners get free advice to help survive Is metro Detroit ready for NEWSPAPER the slump, Page 11 digital TV? Page 3 20081215-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/12/2008 6:06 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS December 15, 2008 vestors planning on a 12 percent to has another 68 units in develop- Senate Bill 1281, sponsored by Ann Arbor-based Arbor Photon- THIS JUST IN 15 percent return, according to the ment around the nation with Sen. Cameron Brown, R-Fawn ics Inc., a University of Michigan company. The new company over 20 planned for Southeast River Township, would allow spin-off developing an optical ■ From Page 1 arranges loans through lenders Michigan. municipalities bordering anoth- fiber laser for manufacturing, and provides its own loans against The company also is opening er state or Canada to offer the received $250,000; Kalamazoo- agency’s 504 Loan Program, which a percentage of the incentive the two stores in Detroit during the abatements. But the municipal based Armune BioScience Inc., funds the purchase of fixed assets. state pays to qualified productions first quarter at 4501 Woodward league and urban mayors, in- which makes cancer diagnos- Throughout an otherwise grim upon completion and certification. Ave. and inside Children’s Hospital. cluding Detroit Mayor Kenneth tics, got $200,000; and Kalama- year for SBA-backed lending, 504 —Bill Shea Bob Fish, CEO of Biggby Coffee, Cockrel Jr. and Warren Mayor zoo-based Aursos Inc., which loans had fared relatively well. said 2008 was a record year for James Fouts, said in a Friday makes hormone treatments for Total dollars lent through No- Marriott at Renaissance the quick service coffee company, news release that the bill would osteoporosis, got $200,000. vember dropped 60 percent, from which saw its revenue increase make it harder for cities to at- —Tom Henderson $79.8 million in first two months of will have new manager by 37 percent, bringing sys- tract economic development, temwide revenue to $34 million. the last fiscal year to $31.8 million Marriott Hotels Inc. executive Bob and would push investment to DAC wins quality award this year. —Nathan Skid Farmery is giving up his multi-state rural, greenfield areas. The Detroit Athletic Club has Huntington Bank remains De- management post to take over as The bill passed the House Tax troit’s top SBA-backed lender.