20140217-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 2/14/2014 7:50 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 30, No. 7 FEBRUARY 17 – 23, 2014 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2014 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Health Care Heroes OCC chancellor, faculty at odds JOHN SOBCZAK mance targets, accept OCC transfer students, New demands of job market and seemingly while coping with new budget real- picayune busi- ities amid reduced enrollment, ness, like how property values and per-pupil Honorees helped solve a erupt in clash over over control many faculty po- state aid. sitions the col- Meyer said he was a “little sur- mystery disease – and BY CHAD HALCOM college academics to reflect the de- lege keeps in ce- prised” by the faculty’s action, more, Page 11 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS mands of the job market. ramics. which cited “lack of leadership and Long before a no-confidence vote Meyer, OCC’s absence of vision for student suc- A power struggle between the Friday on Chancellor Timothy chancellor since cess.” Page 3 chancellor and instructors at Oak- Meyer, the administration and lead- Meyer 2008, said the “Most of the constituents of the land Community College flared up in ers of the Oakland Community College college is mak- college are reasonably satisfied Change is good? Opinions a public way Friday, but it actually Faculty Association have clashed on ing administrative changes to with the direction we’re taking,” has been in a slow burn for some broad strategic matters, like how adapt to the latest needs of local vary on minimum-wage hike time over staffing and control of OCC defines its mission and perfor- employers and universities that See OCC, Page 17 Obamacare mandate on hold: Flexibility – and confusion Ctrl-Alt-weekly: A new direction for Metro Times Seeing the forest for the trees This Just In Midtown Development Group files for Ch. 11 again Detroit-based Midtown De- velopment Group Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in three years. According to filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern Dis- trict of Michigan, Midtown De- velopment, whose principal is longtime developer Bob Slattery, has between $1 mil- lion and $10 million in assets. After years of cutting through government red Midtown Development’s largest unsecured creditor tape, John Hantz is ready for his idea of a tree Video: See what John claims are for the Geoffry Silver- Hantz is trying to grow in man Trust Account ($154,000); the heart of Detroit, PAGE 18 www.crainsdetroit.com/video the Detroit-based Woodward farm on Detroit’s east side to take root | Fund ($20,000); Lowe’s Cos. Inc., LARRY PEPLIN 1 for a $3,891 credit card bal- ance; Grosse Pointe-based Boyle Burdett PC, for $3,750 in legal fees; and Home Depot Inc., for a $3,281 credit card bal- Loveland’s passion: Battle blight ance, according to the bank- ruptcy petition, filed Wednes- day. Michael Lieberman, the Map tech – aka ‘blexting’ – charts growth partner at Farmington Hills- based Lieberman, Gies & Cohen BY AMY HAIMERL Don’t We Own This?, which maps Don’t We Own This? into New Or- PLLC who is representing Mid- CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS property ownership and tax data, leans and New York, with Chicago town Development, declined was just blossoming, and they were in development. And they’ve devel- to comment. Two years ago, Mary Lorene knocking on doors, trying to per- oped a technology that is the back- According to CoStar Group Carter and Jerry Paffendorf were suade anyone who would listen to bone of a $1.5 million city effort to Inc., a court order is forcing eating ramen and sweating the cost let them make public data public. fight blight. of drinks at PJs Lager House. They the sale of the Kresge Lofts on What a difference 24 months can were getting by — and funding their “We spent a lot of time banging Cass Avenue south of West make. Loveland Technologies LLC our head against the wall trying to Willis Street, a building that company, ANTHONY BARCHOCK — on Kickstarter campaigns, the get city departments to loosen up For the past nine weeks, 50 Slattery owns and operates. crews of two — one driver, one sur- Loveland Technologies founders Mary occasional microgrant and the gen- with their data,” said Paffendorf, 32. Lorene Carter, Jerry Paffendorf and The list price is $3 million. veyor — have been spotted around — Kirk Pinho erosity of a few small investors. This year, they project revenue of Larry Sheradon, with Carter’s Their signature website, Why $25 million. They’ve expanded Why See Loveland, Page 21 dog, Pasta Batman. COMING ISSUE FOCUS: Companies APRIL 7 Advanced leading the way in the use of new materials and manufacturing Manufacturing technology. Ad Close: March 27 | Advertising Information: Marla Wise at [email protected] or 313-446-6032. NEWSPAPER 20140217-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 2/14/2014 3:04 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS February 17, 2014 MICHIGAN BRIEFS Kellogg to employ up to 600 traffic at the location “a real barri- er.” An upcoming lease renewal at service center in Grand Rapids More small firms toss landlines for Net-based phones forced the decision to close. Battle Creek-based Kellogg Co. Ⅲ Enrollment at Ferris State Uni- says it will open its North America When Grand Rapids-based Buys Chiropractic PLLC al landline phone services by 2017 and replace them versity is at an all-time high this se- Global Business Services Service switched from traditional landline phones to a voice with VoIP and other alternatives. mester even though fewer students are taking classes on the Big Center in Grand Rapids with a over Internet protocol system, commonly known as For the uninitiated, VoIP is a method of making Rapids campus, MLive.com report- staff of 300-600, MiBiz reported. VoIP, Aaron Buys and his staff were a bit hesitant. phone calls that uses the Internet instead of typical ed. When students at Ferris’ satel- The center will house employees But “traditional telephone service was getting more landlines. While apps such as Skype or Google Voice lite campuses, in online courses from the finance, information and more expensive and offering nothing new to allow users to place calls from their computers, and at Kendall College of Art and De- technology, supply chain and hu- show for it,” Buys said. most small businesses opt for services that integrate sign are included, enrollment to- man resources departments. Buys is not alone in opting for new phone tech- IP phones, which look like traditional office phones tals 14,003, up 1.4 percent from the Kellogg CEO John Bryant told nologies such as VoIP or smartphones. Nearly 79 except they plug into an Internet connection with an same time last year. The Grand Rapids Press that the percent of U.S. businesses use VoIP phones at one lo- ethernet cable. cation, according to the market research firm In- They offer a variety of pluses, including cost sav- Ⅲ Pennock Health Services plans cereal company chose Grand to build a 49-bed, $70 million hospi- Rapids after looking at nine possi- Stat. That’s up from 42 percent in 2009. ings, mobility and scalability. But while many Michigan small businesses have On the minus side: The quality of calls is only as tal and physician offices near the ble locations around the U.S., be- started to wrestle with switching to VoIP, that deci- good as your Internet connection, and some services Southwest Michigan town of Hast- cause 40 other corporations have sion soon could be accelerated. The state Legisla- like 911 and international calling may not be avail- ings, MiBiz reported. The project created similar service centers in ture is considering a bill that would pave the way able. would require state certificate of the area, creating a labor pool for phone companies to phase out offering tradition- — MiBiz need approval. from which Kellogg hopes to draw. Ⅲ Provost Donald Bachand will Some employees will be trans- become the new president of Sagi- ferred from other offices, includ- petrochemical and specialty-chem- tion spent about $1 million to in- ported. naw Valley State University, The Sagi- ing Battle Creek, while other em- ical businesses would hurt Dow’s stall Wi-Fi on the trains, The Asso- Ⅲ Galesburg-based Bell’s Brewery naw News reported. He succeeds ployees will be new hires, Bryant “value proposition,” the company ciated Press reported. Inc. has been rated the world’s No. Eric Gilbertson, who has been pres- said. said in a regulatory filing. A Ⅲ The Grand Rapids Area Chamber 5 brewery by RateBeer.com for the ident since 1989 and plans to return breakup also wouldn’t improve of Commerce endorsed a proposal second year in a row, the Grand to teaching. Saginaw Valley has Dow on suggestion that company productivity or capital allocation, to extend a city income tax in- Rapids Business Journal reported. about 10,500 students. Dow said. crease that will appear on the May Other Michigan breweries on the Ⅲ Grand Rapids-based Open Sys- break up: That would hurt value Third Point contends that Dow ballot, MLive.com reported. The list: B. Nektar Meadery, Ferndale; tems Technologies Inc., which has Midland-based Dow Chemical Co., — its top holding — could add bil- city, in turn, promised to spend at Dark Horse Brewing Co., Marshall; an office in Detroit, has appointed facing pressure from investor Dan lions of dollars to earnings by least $13 million on street repairs.