APRIL 17 - 23, 2017 Endeavoring City eases for growth burden on Latest additions sudden spikes to entrepreneur program plan in drain fees expansions. aer backlash. Page 3 Page 3 Development Public relations 20-story-plus Avoiding the crisis trap high-rise may Lessons from a week be aimed for of PR disasters: New Center Act quickly, and By Kirk Pinho [email protected] don’t make it A large, skyline-changing residen- tial development is under consider- worse ation for the southwest corner of Woodward Avenue and West Grand Boulevard. Nothing is nalized and any pos- sible groundbreaking would be months away, or even longer, but if it is a development of the magnitude being discussed — 20 stories or more — it would be another corner- stone cementing the QLine’s draw for large mixed-use development along its 3.3-mile route. A high-rise is just one of the possi- bilities for the site, said David Gras- By Bill Shea so, CEO of Grasso Holdings Inc., [email protected] which is behind an entity called 6565 Veterans crisis manage- Woodward Holdings LLC that is un- ment handlers across metro der contract to purchase the proper- Detroit were not surprised to ty from Midtown Detroit Inc. It was watch a couple of major registered in January. brands soil their reputations in “I am considering a number of recent weeks by bungling inci- dierent development plans for that dents that could have been large- property,” he said last week. “I’m ly resolved with a simple apology. also considering developing just the Pepsi drew scorn for a baing on- public relations insiders say. existing building, and not something line advertisement that trivialized at’s a huge change from when large. I’m studying all the options.” the Black Lives Matters movement. social media just meant reporters According to a 2016 story in Phila- But United Airlines bookended the in a bar. delphia magazine, Grasso’s soft drink maker with a pair of inci- “A decade ago, the crisis hap- wide-ranging business interests in- dents, the second of which saw a pened in a 24-hour news cycle; now clude restaurants, apartment hotels 69-year-old passenger bloodied by it happens in real time,” said Darci and coworking space. authorities and has cost the brand McConnell, president and CEO of He said he has been in real estate not only goodwill and credibility but Detroit-based McConnell for 25 years and has developed proj- more than a billion dollars in share Communications Inc. “It’s ects in Philadelphia; New York City; value. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines important to have a plan Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; New Inc. also took heat for days of delays before a crisis happens, Jersey; and Florida. and canceled ights stemming from and it’s equally important is isn’t his rst foray into the storms that aected its Atlanta hub. to be swift and contrite city, which he likened to his home- Companies must be prepared to with your response. But town of Philly. handle a crisis in an instant because the response has to be much “Detroit reminds me of Philadel- the pervasiveness of social media more ambitious in reaching phia 15 years ago,” he said. “ere means an incident can go viral all the channels where a bad are so many similarities. It started quickly, and poor handling com- story can take on a life of its own.” with arts and culture, then emp- pounds the problem just as fast, SEE CRISIS, PAGE 17 ILLUSTRATION FOR CRAIN’S BY ANDREA LEVY ty-nesters started moving in, and young people started moving in.” SEE HIGH-RISE, PAGE 16 © Entire contents copyright 2017 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved crainsdetroit.com Vol. 33 No 16 $2 a copy. $59 a year. Doctors go slow on telemedicine Michigan laws encourage NEWSPAPER use but obstacles remain. Page 9 2 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS // APRIL 17, 2017 INSIDE MICHIGAN BRIEFS CALENDAR 13 CLASSIFIED ADS 15 Report: Entrepreneurial capital and business conditions, is DEALS & DETAILS 13 landscape declining outperforming other state’s. Michi- gan now ranks 16, up from 23 in last KEITH CRAIN 6 Despite improvements in busi- year's report. e state's entrepre- OPINION 6 ness conditions, spinos and federal neurial vitality ranks 32nd, up from OTHER VOICES 7 grants, Michigan's entrepreneurial 35th. Metrics in that index include landscape is declining, according to university company spinos and PEOPLE 14 the Michigan Entrepreneurship grant awards. RUMBLINGS 19 Score Card released by MiQuest. But the state continues to struggle WEEK ON THE WEB 19 e report indicates fewer new with growth as Michigan drops to 46 businesses are being established from 23 last year. BLOOMBERG COMPANY INDEX: while existing businesses are grow- Basically, those who have created Nestle wants to withdraw up to 400 gallons per minute from a well in Osceola County. SEE PAGE 18 ing and improving. small businesses are doing very well “In a healthy economy, entrepre- — Michigan ranks third in propri- large amount of information to con- ooding on Detroit-area freeways neurship competes with other ca- etor income growth and fourth in sider. Following Wednesday night's and the collapse of a pedestrian August 2014 that led to ooding of reer and employment options,” Rob favorable business taxes — but en- hearing at Ferris State University in bridge on the Southeld Freeway. Southeast Michigan freeways; $1.8 Fowler, president and CEO of the trepreneurs aren't starting business- Big Rapids, public comments are be- e funding from the agency's million for replacing the Cathedral Small Business Association of Michi- es like they did in early years post- ing accepted through April 21. emergency relief program is part of a Street pedestrian bridge over the gan, said in a news release. “With Great Recession. Environmentalists critical of the $768.2 million award for emergency Southeld Freeway that collapsed Michigan’s low unemployment and request say the plan could hurt wet- road and bridge repairs in 40 states. in September 2014 when it was hit many growing rms, those opportu- Hundreds turn out for lands if the company were permitted Funding is awarded to roads or by a waste-hauling truck, the driver nities become more numerous and Nestle water hearing to drain more underground water bridges that were damaged either by of which later died; and $2.9 million attractive. For example, nearly a for its Ice Mountain bottling opera- natural disasters or external "cata- for local projects on roads eligible hundred thousand men and women Hundreds of people turned out tion. strophic" events. for federal aid in Gogebic County were forced by economic circum- for a public hearing on a company's Nestle representatives say the in- Michigan received $72,496 in re- after July 2016 storms that produced stances to become sole proprietors proposal to boost the volume of crease wouldn't hurt the environ- imbursements for heavy rains in a tornado and ash ooding. in the 2007-2009 era. ey have now groundwater it pumps for bottling in ment. left entrepreneurship to become West Michigan. employees.” Nestle Waters North America Federal funds to fuel Correction e Score Card assesses 137 met- wants to withdraw up to 400 gallons emergency road repairs rics to determine the health of the per minute from a well in Osceola JJA story on Page 5 of the April 10 issue incorrectly characterized where state's entrepreneurial ecosystem, County — up from 150 gallons per e Federal Highway Administra- online gambling would be allowed under the proposed bill. It would be including climate, change and vitali- minute. e request is pending with tion approved nearly $4.8 million in allowed anywhere in the state, but only brick-and-mortar casinos could ty. state regulators. emergency transportation aid for be licensed to oer it and bets would be legally considered to have taken Michigan’s entrepreneurial cli- e Michigan Department of En- Michigan, which will be used to re- place within casino walls. mate, which measures innovation, vironmental Quality says it has a imburse the state for costs related to Not all heroes wear capes. Crain’s Health Care Heroes recognizes today’s industry professionals who are dedicated to helping save lives and improving access to care. THE DEADLINE TO NOMINATE IS MONDAY, MAY 22. For more information and to submit a nomination visit: crainsdetroit.com/nominate CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS // APRIL 17, 2017 3 Entrepreneurship Endeavoring for growth E-commerce furniture maker Floyd and raw juice maker Drought are the two most recent additions to the Endeavor program, and aim to use it as a springboard to the next level. Raw juice maker sees fruits of its labors By Chad Livengood [email protected] Cold-pressed raw juice maker Drought is preparing to quadruple its production space and open a sec- ond store in Royal Oak as wholesale and retail customer demand rises for its fresh drinks. Drought plans to move its pro- duction space from a 3,500-square- foot kitchen in Ferndale to a 15,000-square-foot former broom factory in Berkley within the next six months, said Julie James, co-founder and chief marketing ocer of the company. e Royal Oak-based raw juice company run by James and three of her sisters has plans to open a sec- ond store in Detroit and two stores in Ann Arbor later this year. e bigger kitchen production LARRY PEPLIN and new retail stores come as the six- Kyle Ho, co-founder and owner of Floyd Design LLC, at Evans Distribution in Melvindale. Floyd Design became the eighth year-old organic juice company is company from metro Detroit to join the nonprot Endeavor’s global entrepreneurship network.