20090810-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/7/2009 7:00 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 25, No. 31 AUGUST 10 – 16, 2009 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2009 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 On to November: What’s next for Detroit candidates? Electric cars: Will they sell? Book Tower in the sights Buyer interest, battery supply key concerns of developer John Ferchill The bigger “ BY CHAD HALCOM But a key question remains: If Detroit builds challenge for us CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS it, will customers come? Inside Michigan businesses received $1.35 billion, will be generating There’s no shortage of ambition in the plan. more than half of the total $2.4 billion in grants Jobs Fund competition The federal Electric Drive Vehicle Battery announced last week by President Barack Oba- consumer and Component Manufacturing initiative aims ma and Vice President Joe Biden. (See box, lacks minimum funding. to help an energy industry to build from the Page 30.) But rolling out a fleet of greener vehi- Capitol Briefings, Page 4 interest. ground up, forge supply chains with Detroit’s cles is the not the last hurdle to clear, business ” automakers and put a support system in place leaders and industry analysts said. Keith Cooley, NextEnergy around vehicle fleets, all in time to have 1 mil- Jobs/Economy Quarterly lion electric vehicles on the road by 2015. See Electric, Page 30 A line of “clunkers” Move to close rolls into Taylor Auto Salvage Inc. The business in Taylor has taken in about 900 cash for Audette Cadillac clunkers vehicles so far. See who’s adding jobs, NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 23 prompts petition This Just In BY DANIEL DUGGAN CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Program no clunker here Renaissance Venture fund to invest $4M in RPM Among the 58 GM dealerships to be shut down across Michigan, a casualty is Audette Biz jumps at scrap yards, towing companies The Detroit Renaissance Cadillac, started by one of the biggest names Venture Capital Fund is expect- in the local dealer community. BY SHERRI BEGIN WELCH ed to announce this week the Frank Audette, 84, created the Troy Motor CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS third investment from its $40 Mall in 1960 and married the daughter of Ed- million fund, $4 million for ward Fisher, one of the famous Fisher broth- With a second round of funding approved for Ann Arbor-based RPM Ven- ers involved with General Motors from its ear- the cash for clunkers program, local car deal- tures L.L.C. liest days. ers, auto salvage yards and towing companies RPM was founded in 2000 Though say the first round has been a boon for busi- as Waypoint Ventures L.L.C. but DEALER, PIONEER there are ness. changed its name in 2006 to Audette Cadillac founder Frank many deal- The small businesses, which have all had a reflect its focus, which is on Audette ers being bad first half of the year, are reporting increas- funding software companies created closed in the es in activity. whose technologies bring ef- Troy area, the Among the biggest benefi- Motor ficiencies to old-line compa- Audette sit- ciaries of the program so far nies such as auto and chemi- Mall in is Jeff Wojtylko, owner of 1960. uation has cal manufacturers, auto been stir- Taylor Auto Salvage Inc. in Tay- suppliers and auto dealers. ring to local lor. It was co-founded by Tony PHOTO/GENERAL MOTORS CO. dealers. In the week and a half be- Grover and Marc Weiser, a “That one tween July 29 and late last member of Crain’s 40 under was a shock,” said Paul Stanford, president week, Taylor Auto Salvage 40 class of 2006. of Les Stanford Chevrolet in Dearborn. “To see picked up about 900 so-called “What’s key about RPM is a guy like that go out is really unbelievable.” clunkers, or nearly 10 per- it plays to Michigan’s In 1960, Audette purchased a parcel of land Wojtylko cent of the 10,000 vehicles it strengths,” said Chris Rizik, near Maple and Coolidge for a car dealership. purchased last year, Wo- the Renaissance fund’s presi- At the time, dealerships were migrating SIDE EFFECTS jtylko said. dent and CEO. “So many into the northern suburbs. The land for Au- The availability of vehi- companies are out there dette’s Pontiac dealership at that corner was Suppliers and cles for scrap spurred him to looking for customers, but in vacant, said Jack Fowler, who was sales demand: call back eight employees he Michigan, RPM has lots of manager for the dealership once it opened. Companies ask laid off in November, bring- customers.” — will the rush ing his employee ranks back Fowler said Audette fought the battles last? Page 32 Previous investments by with local government to have the property to 18. the fund, which began opera- Rough road: Taylor Auto is paying deal- rezoned to commercial and then developed Dealers cope tions last year after funding NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS the site, literally paving the way for the other with system’s ers the scrap value of the by such companies as De- cars plus a premium for the With the doomed engine of this clunker — a 1999 dealers. kinks, Page 32 Dodge Durango SLT — spray-painted orange as See This Just In, Page 2 On the list: value of the resalable parts required, Paulo Dominguez of Taylor Auto Salvage See Audette, Page 33 Salvagers try to and paying a tow service to extracts motor oil. get in on the move the clunkers, Wojtylko action, Page 32 said. lot holds only 1,000 cars, so the oldest 50 vehi- Once the vehicle engines cles get crushed each day. have been disabled by the car dealers, auto re- Wojtylko initially put the company’s employ- cyclers drain oil, gas and coolants from the ve- ees on a 60-hour work week, but now has them hicles, remove batteries, cut catalytic convert- working 72 hours to keep up with the disman- ers and remove mercury switches. tling and crushing demand. Taylor Auto then puts the cars on its lot so Other auto recyclers say they’ve begun to customers can come in with their own tools and pick up clunker vehicles, but the majority of ve- NEWSPAPER remove, for a price, any parts they’d like. The See Clunker, Page 32 20090810-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 8/7/2009 6:25 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS August 10, 2009 Colorbok moves HQ to Ann Arbor although in a different role. ing project in Melvindale for pre- nounced last week. THIS JUST IN The group of companies in- viously homeless individuals and The Army Information Technolo- Scrap-booking company Color- cludes architecture firm Albert families. gy, E-Commerce and Commercial ■ From Page 1 bok Inc. has moved its headquar- Kahn Associates Inc., as well as en- Wayne Metro began the Raupp Contracting Center awarded its Au- ters from Dexter to Ann Arbor. gineering, design, planning and Supportive Housing project a tomatic Identification Technolo- troit-based Blue Cross Blue Shield The company also has offices in management divisions. It has 275 year ago after acquiring three gy IV contract in July to multiple of Michigan, Detroit-based DTE En- Tucson, Ariz.; Rancho Cucamon- employees worldwide and had blighted apartments in the city companies, including Lowry and ergy Co. and Taylor-based Masco ga, Calif.; and in China. revenue of $42.5 million in 2007. for $250,000, said communica- Dayton, Ohio-based CDO Technolo- Corp., were in Ann Arbor-based Colorbok signed a lease for As an engineer, Robinson guid- tions manager Erin Evans. gies Inc., with each company’s Arboretum Ventures and Kalama- 21,000 square feet of office space ed the development of South As part of the project, Wayne share to be determined by orders. zoo-based TGap Ventures. at 110 Parkland Plaza in Ann Ar- Bend, Ind.-based AM General Metro will provide mental health, Vendors in the contract will — Tom Henderson bor and will occupy the building Corp.’s Hummer H2 assembly training and employment ser- furnish technology including bar by early next year, said Jim Cha- plant in Mishawaka, Ind. vices to the residents of Raupp codes, contact-and-touch memo- Azure lands deal to supply conas, a vice president in the Ann — Gabe Nelson Apartments. ry, thermal printing, biometrics Arbor office of Colliers Internation- — Sherri Begin Welch and voice recognition systems to drivetrains for hybrid buses al who represented the landlord Verizon to beef up state network the Department of Defense, U.S. in the deal. Jay Chavey, a broker at Three Kentucky municipalities Coast Guard and the North At- Southfield-based Signature Associ- Verizon Wireless has announced Lowry wins share have signed a deal to buy 10 shut- lantic Treaty Organization. ates, who represented Colorbok, it plans to spend nearly $198 mil- tle buses, with an option for up to of Army contract Lowry also won a portion of a said the company’s Dexter site at lion this year on its Michigan net- 40 more, equipped with hybrid dri- Brighton-based bar code sys- $75 million Army contract last 2820 Baker Road will be redevel- work, about 40 percent of which vetrain technology from Oak tems designer Lowry Computer fall and a five-year, $8.5 million oped with a pharmacy on the first will be spent in metro Detroit. Park-based Azure Dynamics Corp. Products Inc. is one of several ven- contract in 2007 by the U.S.