20101213-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/10/2010 6:42 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 26, No. 51 DECEMBER 13 – 19, 2010 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2010 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Most Powerful People Snyder brightens biz outlook Who’s who in leadership? Crain’s looks at metro De- troit businesspeople who lead Survey: 75% expect he’ll have positive impact ABOUT THE POLL the way in influence and civic connected- BY NANCY KAFFER In a recent survey of 300 metro and venture capitalist, to have a Part of a series of surveys sponsored by Crain’s Detroit ness — and CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Detroit business owners, opera- positive effect on the economy. what the re- Business and Honigman Miller tors or managers conducted by “I’m thrilled Rick Snyder got into Schwartz and Cohn LLP on key gion must do to Michigan business owners still Lansing-based Epic-MRA for office because he really under- business issues. groom a new genera- aren’t happy with the economy, but Crain’s Detroit Business and Honig- stands the challenges facing busi- Full results are available at tion of movers and for the first time in years, some see man Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, nesses,” said survey respondent Eu- crainsdetroit.com/honigman and shakers, a light at the end of the tunnel — an overwhelming 75 percent of re- dora Adolph, a founding principal honigman.com. Highlights are on Pages 9-21 and that may have something to do spondents said they expected Sny- Page 26. with Gov.-elect Rick Snyder. der, a technology entrepreneur See Survey, Page 26 Digital edition Dillon scouts Top 10 stories of 2010 Recap the biggest news talent for state of the past year, plus all the latest, in a special holiday digital edition of Crain’s De- troit Business, available at Merger turnaround team crainsdetroit.com beginning Sunday evening. Paid subscribers already registered on our website will Treasurer expects wave automatically receive an e-mail link. Subscribers who of local fiscal distress need to register can visit mystery crainsdetroit.com and click BY TOM HENDERSON the “register” link directly CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS below the main navigation Incoming state Treasurer Andy Dillon fears a bar. The next regular print potential wave of financially distressed munici- edition of Crain’s will be palities and school districts may hit Michigan Jan. 3, following the Book of in the next few years. Lists (see below) Dec. 27. So he’s enlisting members of the state’s legal and accounting communities and the state’s BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE Book of Lists Investor William Ackman has referred to himself as a “stuck holder.” Turnaround Management Association to come up with a plan to train more Crain’s Book of Lists emergency financial man- arrives Dec. 27, and it also is Borders investor’s next chapter targets Barnes & Noble agers. being made available in digi- Dillon met with about 20 business leaders Thursday tal form with searchable con- BY DANIEL DUGGAN afternoon at the Detroit Re- tent, Web addresses as hot CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS links, links to company He’s got a losing bet, and gional Chamber to begin the articles and ca- When activist investor William Ackman “ process. reer bought an 11 percent share of Borders Group Inc. he needs to make it a Preliminary plans call for centers in 2006, he expected the $24 stock to hit $36 in setting up seminars and and oth- 18 months. winner. training sessions next year Dillon er fea- It’s been a long ride for ” for would-be emergency fi- tures. Ackman since then. Louis Meyer, Oscar Gruss & Son Inc. nancial planners and for government execu- Print sub- PLOT THICKENS He’s poured four years tives seeking advice on how to begin financial scribers Four players: of his time and has unreal- Ackman did not respond to two requests last turnarounds. will receive Rival investors ized losses estimated at week for comment from Crain’s. The goal is to act before such events as pay- both print have plans for $150 million for his invest- An as investor, Ackman has earned a repu- less paydays or missing bond payments trigger and digital chains, Page 28 ment in the Ann Arbor- tation for making investments in companies automatic intervention by the state. versions. based bookseller, referring at a low price then pressuring management to Dillon said it is crucial to improve the skills Standalone to himself once as a “stuck holder.” make changes to turn the companies around. of emergency financial managers, who under purchases of the digital edi- As shares opened last week at $1.25, Ack- He’s fought with the likes of Oak Brook-based state Public Act 72 are appointed by the gover- tion cost $36 and include a man proposed to use his hedge fund to finance McDonald’s Corp., Minneapolis-based Target nor. yearlong online subscription; a merger between Borders and its largest com- Corp. and Atlanta-based Wendy’s Group Inc. In 2005, Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed standalone print copies are petitor, Barnes & Noble Inc. Louis Meyer, an analyst covering Barnes & longtime politician Arthur Blackwell Jr. as $29.95. For more information, Whether the merger has been his plan all Noble for New York-based Oscar Gruss & Son emergency manager in Highland Park. He was call (877) 824-9374. along or a last-ditch effort to salvage some of his investment remains to be seen. See Borders, Page 28 See Dillon, Page 28 Building the infrastructure for tomorrow’s economy. © 2010 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. NEWSPAPER 20101213-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 12/10/2010 6:11 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS December 13, 2010 ing jobs have been lost in recent New Telemus funds near closings cent increase in permits issued THIS JUST IN The way it was: 1986 years. for the six months ending in United Way plans to use the Southfield-based Telemus Capi- April, based on increases in em- Throughout our 25th-anniversary grant money to create up to 20 tal Partners LLC expects to hold ployment. Oyster Bar owner looks to sell year, Crain’s will use this space academies from the five schools two closings by the end of the The group’s forecast is based After 38 years in the restaurant to look at interesting items from it will choose and establish five year of $25 million on each of two on a formula that uses a range of business, Tom Brandel, founder of past issues. early learning communities to proprietary investment funds it economic factors such as automo- Tom’s Oyster Bar, said he is looking get children ready for kinder- has launched. CEO James Robin- bile production and the price of to exit the industry he entered in We no garten. son said the funds could top out at crude oil. 1972 by selling his two restau- “ Its goal is to “transform South- $50 million each. — Daniel Duggan rants. longer feel east Michigan into the home of The more aggressive of the two Brandel said he hopes to sell one the top five most -skilled and - funds is called the Telemus Capital both of his locations, one in De- down and educated workforces in the na- and Income Fund, the other is UM receives $5 M bonus for troit and the other in Royal Oak, tion,” said United Way President called the Telemus Income and Prin- Medicare program innovations in a deal that would allow the depressed. It has created and CEO Michael Brennan, in a re- cipal Fund. Fundraising to date name to live on. lease. has come from existing clients, For the fourth straight year, “When I sold the place on Mack pride in the community. — Sherri Welch with a minimum investment in the 1,600-physician University of Avenue (in Grosse Pointe Park), I ” each fund of $500,000. Both funds Michigan Faculty Group Practice has didn’t include the name in the Karen Kunkel, target a range of investment earned bonus payments from the deal, he said. “This time, I want Northern Michigan University Anesthesia Staffing expands classes, including senior bank Medicare program for improving debt, fixed-income funds, mort- quality and lowering costs. someone to take everything.” From a Dec. 8, 1986, article about into other Midwest states Brandel, 68, said he is looking gage REITs, absolute-return During the first four years of the new U.S. Olympic Training the five-year “pay for perfor- forward to having more personal Center in Marquette. Metro Detroit Bingham Farms-based Anesthe- funds and hedge funds. mance” demonstration program, time. ties to creation of the center sia Staffing Consultants, an anes- — Tom Henderson He said he has been consider- include architect TMP Associates thesia management company the Ann Arbor-based UM faculty ing putting the restaurants up for Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, serving hospitals and ambulato- Homebuilding permits drop practice group has saved sale for two years and is looking construction managers Gilbane ry surgery centers, is expanding Medicare $15 million, including at potential offers. Building Co. and Harper Durant into Ohio and Wisconsin and sev- Homebuilding permits $6.6 million in 2008, according to Co. Inc. of Detroit, and NBD — Nathan Skid eral other Midwest states, said dropped from September to Octo- the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Bancorp Inc. Chairman and company officials Friday. ber but still remain higher than Medicaid Services. President Charles Fisher III was a The company contracts with 27 2009.