DETROIT BUSINESS MAIN 03-12-07 A 9 CDB 3/9/2007 11:49 AM Page 1 March 12, 2007 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 9 MARY KRAMER: We can wake up and answer the call Comerica Inc.’s core customers about all the things abilities of the region. Increased global competition and Chairman Ralph Babb Jr. to level are midmarket companies with wrong. Finally, a trio of The white paper was fol- movement to Sun Belt states were with them: What can best spur in revenues of $10 million to $1 bil- entrepreneurs from a lowed by an in-depth much further down the worry list. Michigan the kind of entrepre- lion or more. California company survey of more than 100 Based on that, here’s my recom- neurial culture that has taken hold That’s the core customer of spoke. “We feel like CEOs, many of them mendation: in Texas and California? What Plante & Moran, too, especially we’ve died and gone to from Southeast Michi- Comerica’s announcement pro- kind of single-business-tax re- owner-operated, entrepreneurial heaven,” said one, who gan, who were asked to duced angry reactions from the placement does its fiscal analysts companies. Plante & Moran, based had recently relocated rank the importance of state’s political leadership, from and economists think will serve in Southfield, is No. 2 on our list of to Ann Arbor. They seven factors or obsta- Gov. Jennifer Granholm on down. Michigan best? largest accounting firms in South- touted a strong work cles to growth. State lawmakers and the gover- The Comerica move is another east Michigan. ethic and skilled work- Michigan CEOs, not nor should put aside the anger and wake-up call. Will we continue to Comerica is moving its head- ers who focused on the surprisingly, ranked do two things: Schedule a meeting hit the snooze button? quarters to Dallas in part, it says, job, not lifestyle. “What the decline of domestic with Hermann and the folks who Mary Kramer is publisher of because the growth of its core cus- we have found here is automaking and the in- put their report together and ask: Crain's Detroit Business. Her weekly tomers is accelerating there and at we don’t worry if we hear ‘Surf’s fluence of unions on wages as major What is the best tax policy to sup- take on the latest business news airs a standstill here. up!’ ” the executive said. obstacles. But the high cost of doing port the growth of privately held, at 6:50 a.m. Mondays on the Paul W. By contrast, Plante & Moran is- Hermann decided he wanted to business and the growing region- entrepreneurial companies? Smith show on WJR AM 760. E-mail sued a white paper in December ti- take a hard look at the assets and li- al/state tax burden were also high. Then they should ask Comerica her at [email protected]. tled “Great Lakes Strengths: A Time for Real Regional Growth.” You can find it on the firm’s Web site, www.plantemoran.com. The paper suggests that the Great Lakes Region, aka the Rust Belt, spends too much time focus- ing on liabilities and not enough on its strong core assets, such as brainpower and innovation. We’ve created an atmosphere of “self-in- flicted negativity.” At the same time, there are serious issues, such as “fixing legacy problems” and ad- justing the business tax structure, that will help privately owned com- panies grow and add jobs. Managing Partner Bill Her- mann ordered the report after sit- Compare slingshots ting through a conference of se- nior executives held in Ann Arbor late in 2005. Speaker after speaker talked with the other Davids. att.com/OnwardSmallBiz LETTERS CONTINUED ■ From Page 8 Feb. 26), was spot-on about our pharma laws. You are the small business owner. Holding strong in a market full of giants. This state is one of the last places Introducing a program that’s uniquely yours. An online resource rich with biotech and pharma would want to community. Where you can flag articles with your industry peers. Compare be for so many reasons. Our state notes in weekly polls. Participate in live Q & A sessions. And get customized has a very misguided position hin- dering stem-cell research. In his information to help you do things your own way. Get ready to engage, exchange run for governor, Dick DeVos and excel. Log on, and it’s onward, business. att.com/OnwardSmallBiz made us a laughingstock in a top- tier journal for science, when the October issue of Nature reported DeVos’ support for teaching intelli- gent design as science. Other negatives: our union atti- tude and culture as well as our mis- guided tax policies (Michigan taxes are not high, in total, compared with those in California and Massa- chusetts, just very misguided). Well-spent tax dollars can be a plus in attracting businesses, as they are in California and Massachusetts. Those are just some of the rea- sons that hard-core, science-based companies do not want to be here. Much of the quality of life is good here, with the Michigan Opera The- atre, the Detroit Symphony Orches- tra and the wonderful outdoor recreational opportunities. That’s part of why I stay rather than re- turning to California. If I were, however, to start a new biotech company, versus working for my current manufac- turing employer, I would probably return to California for many of the reasons noted above. Stephen Munk, Ph.D. President and CEO Ash Stevens Inc. Detroit © 2007 AT&T Knowledge Ventures. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Knowledge Ventures. See Letters, Page 16 DBpageAD.qxd 3/1/2007 11:26 AM Page 1 Personal Health Record Help your employees make historySM today. Now your employees can make history with an innovative new tool that empowers them to share information with their doctors to help them achieve optimal health. Aetna’s Personal Health Record is a private, secure online location for each member’s personalized health history to which they alone have access. Their information is automatically updated. When medical findings can improve a member’s health, they receive automatic alerts. Make history today. Call your broker, Aetna representative, or visit us online at aetna.com/makehistory. ©2007 Aetna Inc. Plans are offered by Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Life Insurance Company and its affiliates. Health benefits and health insurance plans contain exclusions and limitations. The Aetna Personal Health Record (“PHR”) should not be used as the sole source of information about the member’s health conditions or medical treatment. 200707 REV 02/07 DETROIT BUSINESS MAIN 03-12-07 A 11 CDB 3/9/2007 11:47 AM Page 1 March 12, 2007 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 11 REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK Health info on demand Andrew Dietderich writes about health The state aims to connect all care, transportation, hospitals in the state with an international electronic network — one business and biotech. Call (313) region at a time. Page 12. 446-0315 or write adietderich Health Care @crain.com Andrew Dietderich Don’t forget about privacy A plan to link all hospitals into one Health coverage network to share patient information appears to be on the horizon, with an eventual goal of connecting with a national network. But it will all be for naught if privacy of patients doesn’t remain the top concern. The Michigan Health Information faces hurdles Network aims to link hospitals in nine IMAGES.COM regions into one big one so that consenting patients’ medical records could be accessed anywhere in the state. Granholm pushes plan to cover uninsured, It’s designed to cut costs and reduce medical error, among other things. while others take different paths to tackle problem But patient privacy remains a concern. BY ANDREW DIETDERICH James McCurtis, assistant to Janet A package of bills introduced by MICHIGAN: NEXT UP FOR UNIVERSAL CARE? CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Olszewski, director of Michigan Depart- Sen. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington ment of Community Health, the depart- Health care leaders have talked about Michigan as Woods, was signed by Gov. Jennifer ov. Jennifer Granholm is Granholm in December that tightens ment that would oversee Michigan perfect ground to develop a better health care system. working to push her Michi- access to medical records and places First, along with the state Office of Fi- The state’s system of nonprofit health care, large restrictions on their disposal. G gan First Health Care Plan nancial and Insurance Services. insurers and large employers bring enough leverage to over legislative and funding hurdles The plan would offer primary, hos- The bills require health care the table to develop a plan for universal health care and providers to have a mechanism for to see it happen in the near future. pital, emergency room care, and men- disposing records older than seven But in the meantime, Republican tal health services along with pre- make it stick, they say. years, for licensure applicants to sign legislators and other groups are work- scription drugs. And would direct Massachusetts found its political solution in a bipartisan an affidavit of written policy for ing on their own plans to help solve a low-income people toward preventive bill passed last year that requires every state resident to maintenance and disposal of records, growing problem: how to provide af- care instead of expensive emergency- and for health care providers to notify have health insurance and offers government dollars to fordable health care room care, saving the patients when they go out of coverage for more of help subsidize it.