No-Fault Reform Gets Traction
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20111024-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/21/2011 6:39 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 27, No. 44 OCTOBER 24 – 30, 2011 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 Price-fixing lawsuits may No-fault reform gets traction play out in Detroit Wings Potential repeal of helmet law provides opening below salary BY AMY LANE al aide and Republican-led Legisla- That alarms the Coalition Protect- cap, can CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT ture and, surprisingly, legislation ing Auto No-Fault, a group that in- to drop Michigan’s helmet require- cludes associations representing bulk up roster LANSING — It’s not the first ment for motorcyclists, an oppor- health care providers, unions, tri- time that state Rep. Pete Lund and tunity has opened for the two to al lawyers and consumers. Sen. Joe Hune have tried for no- achieve a goal of putting a ceiling “We had been told repeatedly by Inside fault auto insurance reforms like on the state’s now unlimited no- senior officials within the admin- those they’re shepherding through fault personal-injury protection. istration that auto no-fault was not Hune Lund New leadership at TechTown, the Legislature. “The stars seem to have aligned a top priority for the governor. We Page 4 In recent years, their bills didn’t fairly well,” said Senate Insurance had every reason to believe this to smaller government,” said CPAN budge out of Democrat-controlled Committee Chairman Hune, R- be true given the proposals being legislative coordinator Kevin committees. Hamburg. “I think it’s got an ex- advanced by the insurance indus- McKinney. 4 Belle Isle groups merge, But a combination of the more tremely good shot of getting try are in opposition to the gover- Page 17 receptive ears of a top gubernatori- through.” nor’s agenda of job creation and See No-fault, Page 33 Focus on philanthropy The future of giving, Page 9 Davidson estate Art by numbers Taubman, Fisher and Celani honored for giving, Page 14 builds foundation Study: Heidelberg has $3.4M impact on Wayne County Crain’s Lists BY MICHELLE MUÑOZ mated 40 jobs, according to the study. The lo- into $191M force SPECIAL TO CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS cal economic impact — in areas of Detroit Largest comprehensive around Heidelberg — is about $2.8 million. The Heidelberg Project is more than just an “I feel validated,” Whitfield said. “These multiyear campaigns, outdoor art exhibit in the McDougall-Hunt Priorities still a mystery numbers could be just a neighborhood of Detroit, and Executive Direc- start.” Page 18 tor Jenenne Whitfield always has known that. BY SHERRI WELCH The study was funded by Thanks to a study published Oct. 3 and con- CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS a grant from New York This Just In ducted by the Center for Creative Community De- City-based Leveraging Invest- The William Davidson Foundation quietly has velopment, or C3D, Whitfield now has the num- ments in Creativity and con- Thanksgiving parade to evolved into one of the largest family founda- bers to show that the project is making a ducted by C3D, which oper- tions in the state, but its philanthropic priori- difference. ates from the campus of include four new floats ties have yet to emerge. The economic impact study found that Williams College in Williams- The estate moved $191 million in cash and Four new floats will join based on the nonprofit Heidelberg Project’s town, Mass. Guardian Industries Corp. stock to the foundation America’s Thanksgiving Pa- annual budget of $400,000 and an average Whitfield said she and late last year. Whitfield rade as it heads down Wood- 50,000 visitors per year, the annual economic others at the 25-year-old It is unclear whether the ward Avenue this year. impact in Wayne County is about $3.4 million. Heidelberg had eagerly applied for the study. foundation has awarded The Detroit-based Parade The exhibit also has led the creation of an esti- “We have for a very long time … known that grants this year, but none Co. last week introduced the the Heidelberg Project was so much more than were made last year. new 2011 float commissioned The Heidelberg In 2008, while Guardian See Art, Page 32 by Art Van Furniture during Project’s quirky founder Bill Davidson was the invite-only parade pre- art has drawn still alive, the foundation view party — which was also visitors from made a “large grant” to Henry presented by Art Van. around the world, Ford Hospital to help fund the C3D study Also sponsoring new floats health information kiosks in says. this year are Compuware four churches, David Olejarz, Corp., a longtime cash and in- Davidson media relations manager at kind sponsor of the parade, Henry Ford Health System, wrote in an email. The and the Skillman Foundation, kiosks opened this year as part of a pilot project which commissions a new aimed at reducing health disparities within the float every year based on a African-American community. winning design from a De- Jonathan Aaron, Davidson’s son-in-law, pres- troit student. ident of the foundation and principal member PNC Bank has signed on as of The Velvel Group LLC in Southfield, declined to a new float sponsor. It will comment. parade a “Grow Up Great” But after Davidson’s death in March 2009, float, named after the bank’s Aaron said the foundation would seek to work 10-year initiative to help bet- with like-minded organizations that have a mu- ter prepare preschoolers for tual commitment to Davidson’s interests and success in school and life. — Sherri Welch See Davidson, Page 30 NEWSPAPER COURTESY OF THE HEIDELBERG PROJECT 20111024-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/21/2011 5:57 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS October 24, 2011 MICHIGAN BRIEFS Electric motorcycles help spark Abatement requests indicate mid-Michigan matchmaking East-West meeting softens perceived differences better days in Holland area Another example of Michigan In the Holland area, local tax businesses doing business with Marge Byington-Potter recently hosted a meeting west relationship is changing, although differences abatements are “a signal” that the Michigan businesses: Current Motor of two groups in Grand Rapids that was designed to remain. economy there is improving — be- in Ann Arbor has entered into an bridge their perceived differences. That the 50 In the Grand Rapids area, “we don’t insist on big, cause those abatements mean com- agreement with Dakkota Integrated young adults came not from different countries but complicated contracts,” he said. “There’s more chit- panies are investing in machines Systems in Holt, near Lansing, to from opposite sides of the same state did not miti- chat. … Over there (Detroit), people are more fast- that make things. Tim Vagle, the assemble Current Motor’s electric gate their suspicions. paced.” And more businesslike. city’s finance officer and treasur- motorcycles and ship them to cus- But it turned out their differences were more Tim Sokoloski is general manager of Enterprise In- er, said the increase in applica- tomers in the Americas. Dakkota imagined than real. “It was wonderful,” said Bying- tegrated Solutions, a software consultancy that does tions for tax abatements has been also will handle Current Motor’s ton-Potter, a former deputy director of the Michigan business on both sides of the state. “West Michigan noticeable. supply chain. Department of Commerce. “Someone came up and is a close community. There is more of an entrepre- This year, the Holland City Council “It’s a huge amount of infra- said, ‘This is so much better than social network- neurial spirit,” he said. On the east side, “there’s a has approved eight applications structure for us to get that kind of ing.’ ” lot more of an automotive mentality: ‘If you want to for a Public Act 198 tax abatement, capital and capacity,” said Cur- The gathering was part of a growing recognition do business with us, you’ll bend to our will.’ ” also known as an industrial facili- rent Motor Executive Chairman that the east and west sides must work together to Jim Dunlap, president of Huntington Bank’s West ties tax exemption. The exemption Lauren Flanagan. “This now al- assure the economic vitality of Michigan. Michigan region, thinks most of the rivalry proba- allows a 50 percent abatement of lows us to focus on next-genera- “It was like two different worlds, two different bly will fade as more business leaders on both sides the taxes assessed on an invest- tion vehicles and marketing” in- states,” said Carl Erickson, president of Atomic Ob- of Michigan realize their fates are inextricably ment in machines for a maximum stead of manufacturing. Flanagan ject, a Grand Rapids software developer. Erickson, linked. of 12 years. said Current Motor employs 10 but who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, thinks that east- — Pat Shellenbarger In 2006 and 2007, Holland ap- plans to double that next year. proved 12 and 13 requests. In 2009, “If we are able to get to the tax incentives for Priceline.com, MSU spinoff closing state plant The Michigan State University at the height of the recession, just 10,000s of bikes,” Flanagan said, which plans to add up to 562 jobs to spinoff also will close the 30,000- two companies applied for the ex- Dakkota can make them. “And its Booking.com call center in 2 years after MEGA tax credit square-foot facility it moved into emption. there isn’t anyone with that kind of Wyoming, near Grand Rapids.