THE CONVERSATION As the CEO of Ignition Media Group and founder and president of Archer Corporate Services, Dennis Archer Jr. nds himself at the intersection of old and new Detroit. PAGE 22 CRAINSDETROIT.COM I DECEMBER 2, 2019 CANNABIS TECHNOLOGY A leaner Compuware MICHIGAN’S is growing again BY CHAD LIVENGOOD MARIJUANA On the fourth oor of the building where Quicken Loans Inc. is head- quartered in downtown Detroit, there’s a grave- yard of sorts for a mainframe soft- ware company MARKET that once occu- pied all 16 oors. Tucked in the middle of Compu- ware Corp.’s lone remaining oor of MUDDLE the building that O’Malley once bore its name Few welcoming communities, is a room that was packed with 75 racks of mainframe servers just ve years ago. delays in licensing growers and Dozens of standing signs on the oor mark the birthdate and death of back o ce functions — nance, pay- high prices keep conditions strong roll, product invoicing and business analytics, to name a few — that are no for the black market | BY DUSTIN WALSH longer run on “big iron” mainframes that Compuware owns and now run our out of ve Michigan municipalities have closed on cloud services such as Amazon their borders to marijuana businesses. Many are Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Net- taking a “wait-and-see” approach, allowing for the Suite Inc. and Salesforce.com. F Today, there are just two IBM pros and cons of adult-use legalization — sales were set mainframes running a tech company to begin Sunday — to play out before allowing busi- that has gone back to its roots of de- nesses to open. Others are simply concerned of the im- veloping operating software for pact the drug will have on their communities writ large. mainframe computers that still pow- er the functions of major banks, in- The shortage of welcoming communities and question- surance companies and airlines. able regulatory measures coupled with the fact that the is certainly isn’t Peter Karmanos Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency didn’t license Jr.’s Compuware anymore. growers rst has already led to a shortage of product. e shedding of 13 tons of main- frame equipment saved Compuware That shortage has driven up prices for marijuana — as $6 million a year as the company high as $480 per ounce for high-end medical marijuana slimmed down to leaner operations in Michigan, compared with just $300 per ounce for the following private equity rm oma Bravo LLC’s purchase of the main- same product on the illegal market. frame business for $2.4 billion ve It all adds up to a high likelihood years ago this month. “It’s not only cheaper, it’s better that the marijuana black market will and faster,” Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley said of outsourcing continue to ourish. non-competitive operations to third-party cloud-based vendors. See MARIJUANA on Page 21 RMBARRICARTE VIA ISTOCK See COMPUWARE on Page 19 VOL. 35, NO. 48l COPYRIGHT 2019 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED IN FOCUS: THE AREA’S BESTMANAGED NONPROFITS PAGES 1013 Winner: Living Arts builds a strong culture for clients and employees NEWSPAPER Finalists: Chaldean Community Foundation; Downtown Boxing Gym; The Henry Ford NEED TO KNOW THAT FEELING WHEN ... THE WEEK IN REVIEW, WITH AN EYE ON WHAT’S NEXT New freeway to be torn up AD GIANT TO TAKE BUILDING ground in Ypsilanti Township said students are in limbo on $2,400 per ADIENT GAVE UP ON Monday that COO Mark Chaput is in- student in nancial aid that was elimi- A half-mile of newly poured concrete that failed inspection will be terim CEO as a “national search is car- nated, the Associated Press reported. ripped up on northbound I-75 in Oakland County, delaying a portion of THE NEWS: e world’s largest holding ried out” to nd Noblett’s successor. the modernization project until next year. e left two lanes of the free- company of advertising and market- WHY IT MATTERS: Increased attention on way from 13½ mile to 14 Mile and some shoulders will be replaced. ing agencies plans to open a large hub the e ects of the cuts could pressure e problem: e contractor used an “incorrect mix” for that portion downtown Detroit in a move that legislators and the governor to nd of freeway, the Michigan Department of Transportation said. could bring more than 1,000 jobs to common ground on a supplemental e cost of the mistake, estimated at a $500,000 repair, will be borne the city. London-based WPP plc — budget that could restore some of the by the contractor, a joint venture of Wixom-based Toebe Construction which includes GTB, VMLY&R, Bur- cuts. e Legislature returns on Tues- LLC and Chicago-based Walsh Con- rows, Hudson Rouge, Iconmobile, day. struction Co. Work on I-75 earlier Xaxis and Zubi — expects to move MDOT is still deciding in the project. | LARRY into the vacant Marquette Building at GILBERT LIEUTENANT when the replacement will PEPLIN FOR CRAIN’S 243 W. Congress St. e move is being WHY IT MATTERS: is marks the second LEAVES FOR NEW JOB occur. helped by a $1.65 million Michigan search for a leader for the autono- Business Development Program grant mous vehicle test bed in less than a THE NEWS: e communications chief from the Michigan Strategic Fund. year. Noblett was hired in February for Dan Gilbert’s Detroit-based Bed- following a protracted hunt for an ex- rock LLC real estate company is leav- WHY IT MATTERS: e move will ll in a ecutive who could elevate ACM’s pro- ing to go back to Dallas. Whitney building whose renovation plans were le and attract more companies inter- Eichinger, Bedrock’s vice president of halted when automotive seat maker ested in using the autonomous- and communications and one of Gilbert’s Adient Inc. abandoned plans to move connected-vehicle testing facility. e top lieutenants, said her last day was its headquarters from Plymouth to the center said little about the reasons for Friday and she will start today with a downtown Detroit building. It also the departure, but Crain’s quoted an company she left in 2014: Southwest beefs up the advertising business — ACM leader last month as saying the Airlines Co. Eichinger, 43, will be whose presence in Southeast Michi- facility had not taken o as quickly as managing director of culture and en- gan had declined over the decades — hoped. gagement, according to a Southwest in downtown Detroit. news release. BUDGET IMPASSE CEO OF AMERICAN CENTER FOR TAKES TOLL ON SERVICES WHY IT MATTERS: Bedrock has seen MOBILITY OUT AFTER 9 MONTHS some other shakeups recently: Matt CORRECTIONS THE NEWS: With lawmakers on holiday Cullen was named CEO in August and THE NEWS: Nine months after he was for deer season and anksgiving, im- Jim Ketai became the second An article titled “Bills would let he is also chairman of the legislative brought aboard to steer the American pacts from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s high-pro le executive departure over landlords crack down on support an- committee of the Property Manage- Center for Mobility into its next chap- budget moves are beginning to be felt the summer, following Dan Mullen. imals” on Page 13 of the Nov. 25 edi- ment Association of Michigan. ter, Michael Noblett is no longer the more strongly. Sheri s are starting to Also, Gilbert su ered a stroke in May, tion misstated a title for I. Matthew organization’s CEO, Automotive News cut loose up to 119 deputies whose though executives have previously Miller, a member of the property A Nov. 25 Deals and Details item reported. Without saying whether No- jobs are state-funded, small-town hos- stressed to Crain’s that operations management section for Farmington misstated the location of American blett was red or he resigned, o cials pitals will start confronting a $26 mil- have been running smoothly in his ex- Hills-based law rm Swistak Levine Graphics Printing Co. It is based in at the autonomous-vehicle proving lion funding cut and private college tended absence. PC. e article should have said that Clinton Township. 2 | CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS | DECEMBER 2, 2019 FOOD AND DRINK NONPROFITS Local Area Agencies on Aging step up fundraising Move comes as senior population grows BYSHERRI WELCH After relying largely on government funding for decades, two of the three congressionally created Area Agen- cies on Aging serving Southeast Mich- igan are stepping up their fundraising games. And the third is considering it. e moves come amid a growing population of seniors in the region and state, rising demand for senior services and lack of dedicated funding for things seniors need but can’t al- ways aord, like eyeglasses, hear- ing aids, hand- rails for showers, stair lifts and transportation. “We don’t have the nancial ca- Southeld-based ad agency Doner lmed six online-only commercials Nov. 11 for the historic Altes beer brand that relaunched under a new startup this spring. pacity to serve ev- Karson Starring Gary Pillon as Santa Claus and Jimmy Doom as a bartender, the short videos were lmed at the oldest bar in Detroit, the Two Way Inn. | ANNALISE FRANK/CRAIN’S eryone on the (waiting) lists ... (and) we know we have a growing population of seniors,” said Michael Karson, president and CEO of the Southeld-based Area CRAFTING THE RETURN OF ALTES Agency on Aging 1-B, which serves Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Liv- ingston, Monroe and St. Clair counties. Santa goes belly up to bar to revive an old-Detroit beer brand All three of the local AAA agencies have raised money for years to sup- BYANNALISE FRANK Altes, a lager born in Detroit ey poured in a total of $100,000 of port the Meals on Wheels program for around 1910, is back.