20130812-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/9/2013 5:56 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 29, No. 33 AUGUST 12 – 18, 2013 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Health Care Heroes Election officials organize envelopes JOHN SOBCZAK containing tally sheets of write-in votes at the Board Honorees influence pop of Elections last week. culture and beyond, Page 11 ANDRE J. JACKSON/AP CRAIN’S Write-in counting done; MICHIGAN BUSINESS last 2 standing must play … NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS A worker scrapes away excess concrete on the site of the Troy transit center A money game near Maple Road and Coolidge Highway. Rising from the ashes of the Troy moves ahead ash borer, Page 19 for mayor Page 3 on transit center BY KIRK PINHO would resume reimbursements to It’s a seller’s market for CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Construction funding the city for construction on the homes in ... Detroit Napoleon: Needs transit center, which had been f Benny Napoleon wants to give campaign cash halted for several months, after re- Mike Duggan a run for his money resumes, but dispute ceiving a plan for continuous con- This Just In I in the Detroit mayoral race, he trol from the city, said Rob Kulat, Blue Cross to buy building needs more of it. Fast. on ownership remains public affairs specialist for the For the next three months, expect a railroad administration. BY CHAD HALCOM Reimbursements had stopped on that houses Metro Times whole lot of fundraising and a barrage CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS the federal funding portion of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of of advertising centered on differentiat- nearly $10 million transit center Michigan is expected to close ing the two candidates. Political ex- At the current pace of construc- after the Michigan Court of Appeals this week on the purchase of perts expect the mayoral hopefuls to tion, there is a good chance Troy ruled in May that the property be- the 24,000-square-foot build- will be finished with its transit continue soliciting business and union longed to Grand/Sakwa, not the ing that houses the Metro center project before the Michigan city. Troy has racked up about $1.6 contributions for their campaigns, and Duggan: Needs Times, among other tenants. policy specifics courts can say the same. million in reimbursable building The former Detroit Cornice & to spend those funds on advertising And if the center opens near expenses since then, said City En- Slate Co. building at 733 St. An- and outreach to voters in the run-up to Maple Road and Coolidge Highway gineer Steve Vandette. toine St. is expected to house the Nov. 5 election. next month with the legal question A three-judge appellate panel about 100 Blues employees on GOV ON LIFE of ownership unresolved, the city Duggan emerged from last week’s pri- overturned a 2011 Oakland County its second and third floors, He- AFTER CH. 9 could have to buy it back at sub- Circuit Court ruling in Troy’s favor, len Stojic, director of corpo- mary as a voters’ favorite former under- stantial cost from Farmington and ruled that Grand/Sakwa is en- rate communications, wrote dog, while Napoleon has garnered Snyder makes Hills-based Grand/Sakwa Properties titled to reclaim 2.7 acres of land in an email to Crain’s. She de- heavy union support. plans for post- LLC in a long-running dispute. where most of the construction is clined to provide a sale price. bankrupt Detroit, The Federal Railroad Administra- See Election, Page 41 The lease for Flood’s Bar & Page 41 tion last week notified Troy it See Troy, Page 37 Grille, the first-floor tenant, will be maintained, Stojic said, but the rest of the build- ing’s tenants are expected to relocate. That includes Paxa- hau, organizer of the Movement State initiative draws new map for regional organizations Electronic Music Festival. Both Paxahau and the BY CHRIS GAUTZ force development agencies and same set of strategies and have all ments have different service areas Metro Times say they have CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT other regional associations are state departments operate with the between divisions within their de- until Oct. 1 to move. now learning what changes could same service areas. partments that can cause confu- Brian Piergentili, senior vice A mishmash of boundaries and come their way under this new State government departments sion when local officials need to president for DTZ, formerly maps that state departments and system, called the Regional Prosperi- will be organized to have specific know whom to contact. UGL Equis, represented the agencies for decades have used to ty Initiative, which Gov. Rick Sny- points of contact for each of the 10 The Michigan Department of Agri- Blues in the sale. Cornice & provide services is being thrown der rolled out Thursday. regions that have been created. culture and Rural Development, for Slate LLC, an entity registered out in favor of a new map dividing Details are still being worked Wayne, Oakland and Macomb example, has 15 different zones it to attorney Dean Gould of the state into 10 geographically through, but the initiative appears counties make up one region, for uses to provide services for things Bloomfield Hills-based Jackier distinct regions. example. The Upper Peninsula to have two major goals: Have all like dairy and food inspections, Gould PC, was the seller. And the multitude of local eco- organizations contributing to eco- makes up another. — Kirk Pinho nomic development groups, work- nomic development address the Currently, some state depart- See Map, Page 38 Deadline for entries Aug. 16 SPONSORED BY MEDIA SPONSORS Be recognized for your best practices that promote healthy employees and healthy workplaces. To enter, please visit crainsdetroit.com/nominate NEWSPAPER 20130812-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/9/2013 4:05 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS August 12, 2013 MICHIGAN BRIEFS Saginaw Co. becomes 3rd muni to Ⅲ The ninth annual Traverse City Film Festival, whose six-day run halt bond sale after Detroit’s Ch. 9 Expanding Meijer plans to hire 4,400 in Michigan ended Aug. 4, broke all records, the The number of Michigan munic- Traverse City Record-Eagle report- ipalities to delay bond offerings af- Walker-based Meijer Inc. plans to hire 4,400 work- wide. Nearly one in 10 — 880, to be exact — will be in ed. All told, 123 of 188 screenings ter Detroit’s record bankruptcy fil- ers in Michigan in the months ahead because it is the Grand Rapids area. Last year, Meijer said it sold out. Admissions totaled ing last month grew to three last growing beyond its current 100-plus stores across would hire 12,000 workers companywide. 119,000, up 28,000 from last year. week after Saginaw County post- the state and because the fall and holiday selling Most of the new positions this time around will be Ⅲ An $80 million development poned a planned $61 million bond seasons are approaching, MLive.com reported. part time, the company said. has been proposed for Bath Town- sale, Bloomberg News reported. A The retailer has opened five of six new stores Most new Meijer stores require 200-250 employ- ship, near East Lansing, the Lans- spokesman for Cincinnati-based planned for this year, including its first in Detroit. It ees. Besides the traditional retail roles of stocker ing State Journal reported. The Fifth Third Bancorp, lead under- has nine openings planned for 2014. and cashier, stores also will hire meat cutters and plan includes residential buildings writer on the offer, confirmed the Overall, Meijer plans to hire 9,000 workers chain- cake decorators. surrounding covered parking ar- postponement. eas along a commercial main street, as well as restaurants and Saginaw County, which had Michigan has an Old National, af- the first group of wannabe doctors, Farmington Hills-based private retail space. been set last Thursday to hold the ter Evansville, Ind.-based Old Na- The Associated Press reported. The equity firm Beringea LLC has in- Ⅲ What do you call someone biggest bond deal in the state since tional Bancorp acquired 20 Bank of 64 students in the first class will vested $3 million in Freeosk Inc., a who promises “outlandishly high Detroit sought court protection America Corp. branches in south- spend their first two years on marketing services company interest rates” and suggests that July 18, joined Genesee County west Michigan. Now the company CMU’s Mt. Pleasant campus and the with operations in St. Joseph and your investment is safe? In the and Battle Creek in delaying sales. wants to extend its reach from the final two years in Saginaw. The Chicago. Freeosk provides a case of Greg McKnight of Swartz Genesee County’s sale, planned for area around Kalamazoo into Grand Saginaw facilities include a CMU quick way for consumers to re- Creek, you call him a prisoner, af- Aug. 1, was to be $54 million in Rapids, a market four times larger, campus and sites linked to Covenant ceive free samples of new prod- ter a judge in Flint sentenced him bonds; Battle Creek was to sell $16 MiBiz reported. HealthCare and St. Mary’s of Michigan. ucts and has pilot tests in a hand- to more than 15 years for a finan- million in bonds this week. “We’re very encouraged by our Speaking of new medical schools, ful of retail operations, with plans cial scam that involved more than The Saginaw County and Battle growth prospects” in Michigan MLive.com reports that more than to roll out nationwide this year.