20140106-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 1/3/2014 5:41 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 30, No. 1 JANUARY 6 – 12, 2014 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2014 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 2013 NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR BLOOMBERG Making the improbable the inevitable Auto show preview: Dealers learn to talk tech Turnarounds put Duggan in race; Predictions 2014: What turnaround propelled victory industry experts expect BY TOM HENDERSON Inside CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS NEWSMAKER LUNCHEON When: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 ast year was a political year unlike any in Detroit’s long his- p.m. Feb. 25 tory, with a candidacy for mayor that seemed improbable to Where: MotorCity Casino- Lbegin with and downright impossible as the year progressed. Hotel, 2901 Grand River But Mike Duggan proved the improbable probable: A white Ave., Detroit Tickets: $65 individual, NATHAN SKID/CDB candidate from Livonia could get out the vote from a mostly $700 for table of 10, $55 black electorate in Detroit. And he proved the impossible possi- students, $85 walk-ins ble: Not only could a white candidate win election as mayor, he Register: could do so as a write-in. crainsdetroit.com/events In a year filled with huge headlines — an emergency man- Questions? (313) 446-0300 or ager took control in March of the state’s largest city, which in [email protected] turn filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, putting retirees’ pensions in doubt and the collection at the MORE ON NEW MAYOR New head of suppliers group Detroit Institute of Arts in play — Duggan dominated the news. For turning the improbable and the impossible into what Early start: Campaign skills sets out her priorities, Page 4 NATHAN SKID/CDB start in second grade, Page 14 in retrospect now seems to have been inevitable, Duggan is the Video: Duggan on how DMC experience will Familiarity breeds ... Old help him as mayor, the city’s neighborhoods, choice for Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year. hands dominate appointees, www.crainsdetroit.com/multimedia to dismay of some, Page 15 This Just In See Duggan, Page 14 This sign points to OTHER TOP NEWSMAKERS: FOR PROFILES, SEE PAGES 12-13 One Detroit Center A ribbon cutting will be held Tuesday for a large LED sign in downtown Detroit constructed by the managers of the One Detroit Center building. The newly operating sign is composed of three LED Mary Sue Coleman David Cotton John Giampetroni Dan Gilbert Phil Incarnati panels 13 feet tall by 8 feet Peter Karmanos Barbara McQuade Kevyn Orr Stephen Polk wide atop a granite base at the northwest corner of Larned Street and Wood- ward Avenue. The 957,000-square-foot Critics say DTE rate cuts not enough, urge more choice One Detroit Center is 45 sto- ries tall. New York City- based iStar Financial Inc. is the BY JAY GREENE business and most industrial customers $300 million in aggregate rate reduction building’s majority owner. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS between 5.5 percent to 7.4 percent and drop for 2014 is lower coal fuel and shipping Southfield-based Signature residential rates by an average of 6.5 per- costs, which accounted for about half the Associates Inc. is the property Detroit-based DTE Energy Co.’s electric cent. The cuts are expected to save about savings. Other reasons include lower re- manager and leasing agent. rate reductions this year will save money $80 a year for homeowners and varying newable energy costs, company opera- Signature installed the sign for its 2.1 million customers, but critics amounts for businesses based on usage. tional cost savings and the elimination of as a tenant benefit. It’s not say rates are still too high and legislation It was DTE’s first rate reduction since a 13-year-old customer choice surcharge. yet clear what kinds of mes- is needed to create more competition to 2007, when the company lowered base Anderson said the rate reduction was sages or advertising will ap- force rates lower. rates by $80 million. not connected with Gov. Rick Snyder’s pear on it. Last month, DTE announced it would In an interview last week, CEO Gerry speech last month in which he called for — Kirk Pinho Anderson lower electric rates starting this month for Anderson said the primary reason for the See DTE, Page 18 NEWSPAPER 20140106-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 1/3/2014 4:26 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS January 6, 2014 MICHIGAN BRIEFS Lansing casino a winner in court; cording to Conde Nast Traveler. Ⅲ Marquette: One of America’s opponents say game’s not over If your resolution is to be happy, start by reading this Top Mountain Bike Towns, says No matter what the 6th U.S. Cir- The Active Times. cuit Court of Appeals may have If you have begun reading this in the expectation of Mathews and Dallas Wade. “Showing happiness is Ⅲ Holland: Best Small Town Fes- ruled, opponents of the proposed news, well, as we like to say in parentheses, see story, easy,” Mathews told the Grand Rapids Business Jour- tival, for the Tulip Time Festival, ac- Lansing Kewadin Casino think their Page 1. We’re here to pose the question: What is it nal. “But how can we truly portray happiness that is cording to Reader’s Digest. side will prevail. with Grand Rapids and music videos? The erstwhile representative of the Grand Rapids community?” Ⅲ St. Joseph/Silver Beach: One of The Cincinnati-based court ruled Furniture City also keeps a stiff upper lipdub (Google Easy: Have more than 30 residents bust a move or CNNMoney.com’s 6 Terrific last month in favor of the Sault Ste. “Grand Rapids lipdub” if you have 10 minutes). two. Some appear to have busted a bone or two in Towns on Water. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, The latest video appeared over the holidays at the process, but who are we to sound like a “Danc- Ⅲ Alpena: U.S. 23 was named the which had bought land from the happygrandrapids.com and has fetched more than ing With the Stars” judge? Best Drive in the Midwest by The city of Lansing for a proposed $245 27,000 views on YouTube. The plot is pretty simple: The video was shot during the weekend of Dec. 21- Weather Channel. million casino. The Upper Peninsu- Have a bunch of Grand Rapidians dance — or, in 22 and released on Christmas Day. So at this point, you no longer la-based tribe plans to apply to have some cases, try to dance — to Pharrell Williams’ So, you’re wondering, how infectious is this should be suffering any of that the land taken into trust so it can “Happy,” a portion of which can be heard during the video? To adapt an expression from “When Harry post-New Year’s listlessness. operate a casino on the site. movie “Despicable Me 2.” Met Sally,” expect isolated epidemics of business- The state has sued to block the The brainchildren of this project are three alums man’s overbite. MICH-CELLANEOUS casino, contending the Sault tribe of East Kentwood High School: Atikh Bana, Dylan — Bob Allen was violating its compact with the Ⅲ Employers in the Grand state. In March, a U.S. District Court Rapids area created 14,600 jobs last ical Inc., which makes a system de- been over 65 percent. That means USA Today. judge sided with the state and is- year, up 3.7 percent from 2012 and signed to prevent leaving objects that for the first time, the county’s Ⅲ Petoskey: Best Lake Beach, sued a preliminary injunction. A an increase that’s more than twice such as surgical sponges, needles rate tops the U.S. average. Four says The Weather Channel. three-judge appeals panel ruled that the statewide average, MLive.com and instruments inside the body years ago, the rate was less than 49 Ⅲ Grand Rapids: Beer City USA the tribe was immune from being reported. But statistics compiled during surgery. percent. So it may be little comfort and a place on Lonely Planet’s list of sued on those grounds but suggest- by the Grand Rapids Employers Asso- “Sponges are the most common after having spent the past week U.S. destinations to visit in 2014. ed the state eventually could sue to ciation found that local wages have retained object, with approximate- digging out of your driveway, but Ⅲ Ann Arbor: One of America’s stop gambling on the site. not kept up with inflation over the ly 2,300 incidents reported annual- tourism is getting better. Greatest Main Streets, according past decade. ly at an average cost per incident And guess what helps? Yep, to Travel + Leisure, and one of the Ⅲ The Grand Rapids-Wyoming Stryker to buy firm; product of over $400,000,” Stryker reported those best-of lists that the Michi- Top 5 College Towns for Foodies, market is expected to be the 11th- gan Briefs have recounted and at says Fodor’s Travel. helps avert surgery leftovers in its release. MLive.com reported Ⅲ best place in the U.S. to buy a that the deal is expected to be com- times mocked. Traverse City: No. 4 Best Winter house this year, Forbes.com pre- “Every time we get these nation- Vacation Destination, says Kalamazoo-based Stryker Corp. pleted during the first quarter. dicts in an article titled “Best Buy said last week that it will pay $120 al accolades, it helps put us on the Livability.com.