20131111-NEWS--0001-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 11/8/2013 5:57 PM Page 1 ® www.crainsdetroit.com Vol. 29, No. 46 NOVEMBER 11 – 17, 2013 $2 a copy; $59 a year ©Entire contents copyright 2013 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved Page 3 Bill would can ban TRW-GM rift signals power shift on logos on bar, eatery glasses JOHN PLANT: “I think the Suppliers less willing to take low-margin deals situation may Pistons rebound with BY DUSTIN WALSH cus on shareholder influence, experts say. be best characterized CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com- assist from tickets mission in September, TRW said that it terminated the by: Our Last month, TRW Automotive Inc. CEO John Plant – and talent customers have contract with an undisclosed customer, which repre- a view about told investors the Livonia-based supplier was walk- sented a 6.5 percent margin in 2012. the price point ing away from a $700 million brake contract. Neither company would comment on the specific When the corner office that they feel Sources told Crain’s a pricing dispute between reason for terminating the contract, but Plant told in- they want to TRW and General Motors Co. led to the contract termi- vestors on its quarterly conference call on Oct. 29 that is the pulpit pay for certain nation for parts supplied out of TRW’s Saginaw plant. pricing was the sticking point. components, which sometimes The move represents one of the largest dropped “I think the situation may be best characterized by: coincides with ours, and sometimes contracts in recent memory, and some local experts it does not; and we have to make an Our customers have a view about the price point that CRAIN’S say it is representative of the new power shift be- they feel they want to pay for certain components, assessment of where we believe that tween North American suppliers and automakers. MICHIGAN BUSINESS our competitive situation is or our which sometimes coincides with ours, and sometimes position assets are.” The new hard-line stance for better pricing is the result of strong demand, limited capacity and a refo- See Suppliers, Page 29 MATTHEW GRYCZAN Stocking Children’s Man’s plan for deer park Hospital to comes with a past, Page 11 build tower, This Just In Duggan’s Cabinet Detroit River wildlife refuge expand rooms to get a visitor center er Kevyn Orr, who must approve all actions taken The Detroit River Internation- He’s not naming names, but by a mayor — including the filling and creation of BY SHERRI WELCH al Wildlife Refuge will get a vis- Cabinet positions. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS itor center that’s expected to be used by school groups and others are making predictions Children’s Hospital of Michigan is others to help explore and un- Political connections making plans to construct a six- derstand the wildlife that call BY KIRK PINHO Duggan, who won Tuesday’s election 55 percent to story patient tower and reconfigure the region home. CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS 45 percent over Wayne County Sheriff Benny all of its double-occupancy rooms to A groundbreaking event Napoleon, told Crain’s that he has not offered specific private rooms for an estimated in- ow hiring: “First-class” administrators for was scheduled for Friday for jobs to anyone. Nor has he revealed whom he’s spoken vestment of $100 million or more. the 12,000-square-foot facility Mike Duggan’s Cabinet. To make room for the tower at in Trenton. The center is to be N Detroit political observers and campaign See Duggan, Page 27 Mack Avenue and Beaubien Street, built at the Refuge Gateway, supporters believe the mayor-elect should look to a the hospital plans to relocate the near the refuge’s Humbug mix of trusted inner-circle supporters and leaders Whoever Mike Duggan Ronald McDonald House Charities of picks for his Marsh area, by fall 2015. with proven private sector management skills. Southeastern Michigan house in Mid- Duggan has repeatedly said he wants to hire a Cabinet still must town from land it Wayne County, the U.S. pass muster with Fish and Wildlife Service and “first-class Cabinet,” mean- deeded condi- ing an administration with Emergency others worked for nearly a TUBE STILL RULES Manager Kevyn tionally to the decade on restoration of the strong, competent leaders Orr, who must charity to a new Refuge Gateway. Located on Got a mayoral who are able to do their jobs approve all site at Mack and the river’s Trenton Channel, message? Still hard without a micromanager actions taken Brush Street, it was the site of a Chrysler to stop the power of looking over their shoulders. by a mayor. about a half mile TV, Page 26 manufacturing facility that Who’s on the short list? away, for an ad- was deactivated in 1990. Duggan isn’t saying, but like- ditional $3.5 mil- When built, officials say, ly names are found among campaign staffers and lion. the visitor center will include supporters, former city department heads, former The new tow- Ewald a theater, classrooms and of- Detroit Medical Center colleagues and er and hospital fices along with a wildlife ob- even current and former state reconfiguration are part of the $850 servation area and outdoor lawmakers. million promised when Vanguard patios. Whoever those leaders turn Health Systems — now Tenet Health- The refuge includes more out to be, they will face the care Corp. — acquired the Detroit than 5,700 acres along 48 possibility that their selec- Medical Center in 2012, said Luanne miles of the lower Detroit tion could ultimately be Ewald, vice president of business River and western Lake Erie. scuttled by Detroit’s current development and strategic plan- — Associated Press leader: Emergency Manag- NATHAN SKID/CDB See Tower, Page 29 For advertising information, contact Marla Wise NEWSPAPER at 313-446-6032 or [email protected] 20131111-NEWS--0002-NAT-CCI-CD_-- 11/8/2013 4:12 PM Page 1 Page 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS November 11, 2013 MICHIGAN BRIEFS LG Chem back making batteries, the cleanup of the Torch Lake tox- ic waste site in Houghton County repays feds to resolve trouble Kellogg to cut 7% of global workforce to trim costs in the Upper Peninsula, The Asso- Nearly two months after shut- ciated Press reported. The EPA ting down production because it About the only people to extract anything good The cost-cutting plan involves increasing growth said that about 200 million tons of lacked approval from the U.S. Envi- out of this announcement last week were all the in emerging markets, consolidating facilities and a mine tailings were dumped there ronmental Protection Agency to use a headline writers who were given the opportunity to global emphasis on regional brands, according to during copper milling and smelt- key chemical in production, Hol- write “grrrreat!” in big type. Battle Creek-based Kel- the statement. Kellogg had about 31,000 employees ing operations from 1868 to 1968. land-based LG Chem Michigan Inc. logg Co. said it will cut 7 percent of its global work- as of Dec. 29, according to regulatory filings. Ⅲ Canada-based Graymont Inc. restarted production of lithium- force, or about 2,000 jobs, as part of a four-year cost- Also last week, Kellogg said it plans to borrow an wants to acquire more than 10,000 ion batteries for electric vehicles, saving plan, Bloomberg News reported. The reason: additional $500 million to help cover costs of the re- acres of state-managed forest in The Holland Sentinel reported. Slower sales of breakfast items and snacks. So structuring, Bloomberg News reported. Rather than Mackinac County in the Upper About the same time, the compa- maybe it’s not the most important meal anymore. curb dividends, the company may add to its $7.4 bil- Peninsula for use as an under- ny said it would pay about $1.2 mil- “We are making the difficult decisions necessary lion in borrowings over the next three years, CFO ground limestone mine. The Michi- lion to resolve federal allegations to address structural cost-saving opportunities Ronald Dissinger said during a conference with ana- gan Department of Environmental Quali- that it improperly sought and ob- which will enable us to increase investment in our lysts and investors. Bloomberg says Kellogg already ty would have to OK any mining. tained funds to pay workers en- core markets and in opportunities for future is the most leveraged among the five largest U.S. Ⅲ The Grand Rapids-Kent County Con- gaged in recreational and volun- growth,” CEO John Bryant said in the statement. food manufacturers. vention/Arena Authority extended its teer activities, according to a management contract with Con- statement from the U.S. Department shohocken, Pa.-based SMG for anoth- of Justice. long struggled with budget prob- law bars marijuana use and pos- MICH-CELLANEOUS er two years. That means SMG will LG Chem already has refunded lems and, like Detroit, is under a session unless it’s medical mari- manage Van Andel Arena, the DeVos $842,000 to the U.S. Department of state-appointed emergency manag- juana. Last year, Grand Rapids Ⅲ Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. Place convention center and the De- Energy after allegations that feder- er. voters made possession of small has announced plans to retire up to Vos Performance Hall on behalf of the al stimulus funds were used to pay Ⅲ Voters in Saugatuck and Dou- amounts of marijuana a civil viola- $500 million in debt in the fourth authority until June 20, 2016.