20091019-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/16/2009 6:59 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 25, No. 41 OCTOBER 19 – 25, 2009 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2009 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 New rail freight tunnel House speaker: for Detroit River crossing? Detroit Science Center bids Doctor tax may to run Children’s Museum Inside stall in Senate Tacom awards less, Specter of Medicaid but small businesses gain, cuts not swaying votes Page 20 fo BY JAY GREENE is Small Business Monthly NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS th Detroit-based Compuware Corp. is among the Inforum study’s “most valuable players” in Michigan based on d women holding trustee or top executive positions, including (from left) Lisa Elkin, vice president, marketing With a Michigan Senate hearing sched- and communications; Tanya Heidelberg-Yopp, senior vice president, sales operations; Denise Starr, chief uled for Tuesday, state House Speaker Andy administrative officer; Laura Fournier, executive vice president and CFO; Janette Lollo, senior vice president, Dillon, D-Redford Town- customer care; Kimberly King, vice president, channels and alliances; and Missy Root, senior vice president, ship, said he is not opti- recruiting, training and career development. mistic the Republican- controlled Senate will approve a 3 percent physi- cian tax designed to avert hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts to Women execs few hospitals, nursing homes, physicians and other safe- Dillon ty-net providers. Speaking last week at Crain’s Health Care Leadership Summit, Dillon said he believes at least four of the 21 state Senate Republicans will vote for the House- in Michigan – study approved bill to im- Businesses find success pose a physician tax, called the Qualified selling to Uncle Sam, Assurance Assessment Page 17 Plan. There are 17 Numbers called detriment to keeping talent Senate Democrats. “Some (Senate) De- BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH those companies are women, according to the mocrats are not on COMING UP This Just In CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS report, trailing the national average of 15.1 per- cent and ranking even with board. I don’t know if Nov. 2 in Crain’s: Pension boards’ plan for Michigan’s top 100 public companies aren’t the first year of the study, is- it will pass,” Dillon More coverage from the summit. new building hits roadblock tapping women as directors on their boards sued six years ago. said. “The 8 percent and top executives any more than they were six Yet women represent (Medicaid) cuts to The Detroit retirement years ago, and that could be hurting the state’s 46.5 percent of the U.S. work- hospitals and nurs- WEB EXTRA systems have hit a snag in competitiveness, according to a new study. force and more than half of ing homes will be Keynoter their effort to build a new The 2009 Women’s Leadership Index, re- all management, profession- devastating. … How leased by Inforum Center for Leadership, reports the Detroit Medical Paul riverfront headquarters. al or related occupations in Keckley: Last week, the City Plan- that women represent just 9.4 percent of the the labor force as a whole, ac- Center survives with We’re just on ning Commission voted to five highest-compensated officer positions at cording to the U.S. Census Bu- an 8 percent cut, I first base on reform, recommend denial of the the state’s largest public companies. reau’s 2007 American Com- don’t know.” www.crains pension boards’ request to That’s slightly higher than the 7.1 percent re- munity Survey. Barclay Michael Sandler, a detroit.com/summit rezone the property at 7850 E. ported in 2003, the first year of the biennial index. “This is a moment for Michigan and South- physician and past Jefferson Blvd. from high- Of the total executive officers at Michigan’s east Michigan,” said Inforum CEO and Presi- president of the Michigan State Medical Soci- ety, reminded Dillon that the majority of X density residential to public companies, 10.5 percent are women, trail- dent Terry Barclay. “What better time is there xx planned development, a use ing the 2008 national average of 15.7 percent. physicians in Michigan oppose the physi- xx that would permit the con- Likewise, just 9.6 percent of the trustees at See Women, Page 26 See Doctor tax, Page 28 xx struction of an office build- ing. Conceived as a joint ven- ture between the city’s Gener- al Retirement System and the Police and Fire Retirement Sys- Northern Group losing grip on buildings; $2M owed contractors tem, the plan calls for con- struction of a roughly 30,000- BY DANIEL DUGGAN idea was to be a long-term investor in De- based Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn square-foot office building. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS troit. L.L.P. — are suing to be released from DEBT DETAILS The pension boards pur- His Northern Group companies went on leases in Northern Group buildings, chased the 4.81-acre property When Alex Dembitzer and his affiliat- to assemble a five-building portfolio, in- claiming poor management. Northern Group’s ed group of holding companies pur- buildings: See See This Just In, Page 2 cluding the iconic First National and In addition, the Penobscot, First Na- chased the Cadillac Tower in 2003, the what’s owed, Penobscot buildings. tional and Alden Park Towers buildings Page 29 But since the end of last year, North- are now being managed by court-ap- ern Group’s ownership of those build- pointed receivers, with a ruling expected ings has been in jeopardy as the compa- today on whether the Cadillac Tower nies stopped paying mortgages on four of also will be run by a receiver. the five buildings and have not paid bills Dembitzer, managing principal of the to local contractors. Northern Group, could not be reached A total of $2.2 million is owed to 19 lo- for comment after two requests for an in- cal contractors for work performed over terview were made with his secretary. the past two years on the five buildings, Two e-mail messages were sent to him, NEWSPAPER and two tenants — including Detroit- See Buildings, Page 29 20091019-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 10/16/2009 6:36 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS October 19, 2009 was founded in the spring of 2008, Venture funds find tough going the Detroit market,” said region- heels of a $10 million order by the THIS JUST IN has won a $2 million grant from al manager Art Nichols. Israeli Army for the David, an- the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- in third quarter Nichols said the affordable nounced last summer. ■ From Page 1 tion to launch a pediatric device The third quarter was tough membership fees of $10 to $19.99 The David is a modified Land consortium and received a dona- nationwide when it came to ven- per month have resonated with Rover Defender. in 2008 for $1.8 million through tion of $1.2 million to establish ture-capital funds raising money, cost-conscious consumers and is The Israel Defense Force uses PFRS/GRS Jefferson Avenue Corp., the Mark S. Kahn Family Medical In- according to the Washington- fueling growth of the New Hamp- the David as its standard ar- an entity created to develop the novation Fund. based National Venture Capital As- shire-based company. Planet Fit- mored patrol vehicle. property, according to city tax Of the 16 applications nation- sociation. ness has 300 clubs in 32 states, — Dustin Walsh records. Pension officials say the wide for funding for pediatric de- Only 17 funds closed on fund- and 450 locations in the develop- Coleman A. Young Municipal Center vice consortiums, only three raising rounds, the lowest total ment phase. isn’t sufficient to meet the depart- were granted. The UM grant was since the third quarter of 1994. — Daniel Duggan Attorneys leave Butzel Long, ment’s needs. the largest. They raised a total of $1.6 billion, join McDonald Hopkins The developer had responded to The donation from Mark Kahn, the smallest amount since the Arotech expands customer base the Planning Commission’s re- former president of Production first quarter of 2003. Three shareholders and one as- quest to include waterfront access, Tool Supply Co. in Warren, and his Twenty-seven funds raised for armored vehicle sociate at Detroit-based Butzel as well as an easement and a resi- wife, Judy, will support biomed- Long P.C. have left the firm to join money in the second quarter and Ann Arbor-based Arotech dential development, in the plans. ical research and entrepreneur- 50 in the first. Corp.’s armor division, MDT Ar- the Bloomfield Hills office of Mc- The Planning Commission ship. Kahn also will lend his ex- Only nine states were repre- mor Corp., has formed an agree- Donald Hopkins P.L.C., the Cleve- judged the construction of an of- pertise in tool design and sented, but Michigan was one of ment with an Israel-based compa- land-based law firm announced fice business inconsistent with manufacturing to MIC projects. them, with TGap Ventures L.L.C. of ny to market its David light last week. the historical residential use of — Tom Henderson Kalamazoo closing on a round of armored vehicle to a larger group Former Butzel shareholders that section of Jefferson Avenue, $34 million. of global customers. James Giszczak, Miriam Rosen and adding that an office building is- Eight California funds raised a The agreement with Ramat James Boutrous II are now mem- n’t the best use of waterfront Cranbrook tops fundraising goal total of $1.1 billion.