Crain's Detroit Business articles from May 2004

Crain's Detroit Business archives from May 2004

Shopping for a chef.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Shopping for a chef The cost: The way personal chefs charge varies. Some offer packages. Heather Bress of Dinner is Served says her most popular one costs $350 and offers four servings of five entrees with side dishes. Chefs also can...

Stretched thin? Yoga pulls in a different direction.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Nicole Lanctot More executives today are bypassing their health clubs' elliptical machines and treadmills for a practice some think is a lot of pretzel-like bending, with poses that have funny names like "upward dog'' and "happy...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
May 3, 2004... * An April 26 Calendar listing for a May 3 Women's Economic Club luncheon gave an incorrect location for the event, which will be at the Troy Marriott. * A Page 1 story in the April 26 issue about Plastech Engineered Products Inc. should...

Where I Live; Lawyers by day, this couple built tranquility into their home.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: JoAnn Amicangelo * Who they are: Jerry Thurswell, president, The Thurswell Law Firm, Southfield, and Sarah Thurswell, attorney, The Thurswell Law Firm. * Where they live: A 10,000 square-foot, four-bedroom, 21st-century Tudor...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
May 3, 2004... Detroit needs council districts Editor: Having been a small-business owner and former resident in Detroit for nearly 20 years, I overwhelmingly support the idea of a City Council elected by district and strongly disagree with the...

Women's Econ Club chapter formed in Lansing.(News)
May 3, 2004... LANSING - There's a new Who's Who list forming in the Capitol. And it's for women. Women in Lansing area business and government circles are forming a local chapter of the Detroit-based Women's Economic Club, an organization dedicated to...

Wellness Plan chief charged in Utah fraud case; Expects charges to be dropped.(News)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx The state insurance commissioner asked The Wellness Plan's interim president to step down last week after learning that Utah had issued a warrant for his arrest in an insurance-fraud case. Richard Standridge, who...

One cost that just might be worth paying.(Column)(Column)
May 3, 2004... Byline: KEITH CRAIN I just got back from spending a week in Germany. Most of my time there, I traveled by car. It's too bad that we don't have the sort of highway system that Germany has. The ability to travel over a thousand miles at...

Secure Eco Shred opens Chicago office, plans another in G. Rapids.(News)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Brent Snavely Farmington-based Secure Eco Shred Inc. opened an office in Chicago on Friday. The Chicago office will enable Secure Eco Shred to offer secure document disposal services throughout Illinois. Founded in 2000, Secure...

Cobo fix a good idea.(Opinion)
May 3, 2004... If money weren't a problem, Detroit would build a $1 billion conference and convention center with state-of-the-art electronic support. But money is a problem, so it appears plans for a new Cobo Center are realistically focusing on...

DIA empties north wing as renovation moves forward.(News)(Detroit Institute of Arts)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Sherri Begin In its third year of renovation, the Detroit Institute of Arts moved its staff and art out of the museum's north wing in April. Administrative offices now are housed in the Rackham Building, which the DIA leases...

Week in Review.(Review)
May 3, 2004... Delphi, Visteon reach deal with UAW on wages for new workers Auto suppliers Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp. said they have reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers on a second-tier wage for new hires. The seven-year agreement...

401(k) plan providers.(Special Report)(guide)(Directory)
May 3, 2004... * Alcos 35735 Mound Road, Sterling Heights, 48311; (586) 977-6300; www.alcos.com. Contact: D. Scott Smith. Detroit area clients: 500. Services: Plan design, comparative analysis, valuation, compliance testing, reporting and...

Enthusiasm for dating waxes, wanes, but interest remains.(Special Report)(Column)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx I've been neglecting my dating column duties the past few weeks, I'm sorry to say. I had lost my drive, my interest in the pursuit. I hadn't lost my interest in being coupled with Mr. Right. But I had lost the...

Journey to a culinary shrine.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Micheal Strong While Detroit isn't known as a culinary mecca, it's certainly not an outpost, either. Chef Luciano Del Signore, owner of Bacco Ristorante in Southfield, just completed a turn as the featured chef at the James...

Old-fashioned networking comes of age.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Brian Charlton A group of nearly 25 experienced CFOs, information-technology specialists, human-resource directors and financial analysts meets weekly, but not to run a business. With the number of unemployed workers growing,...

Briefly.(Briefs)
May 3, 2004... Bloomfield Hills lawyer elected to Recording Academy board Bloomfield Hills entertainment lawyer Howard Hertz has been elected to serve a two-year term on the 30-member Chicago chapter board of governors for the Recording Academy, the...

Employee-benefit consultants.(Special Report)(guide)(Directory)
May 3, 2004... * Acordia of Michigan Inc. 3000 Town Center, Suite 1900, Southfield, 48075; (248) 353-5800; www. acordia.com. Contact: Sal Faycurry. Detroit area clients: 1,000. Services: Retirement plan, savings plan, welfare plan, benefit...

Third-party administrators.(Special Report)(directory, Health care industry)(Directory)
May 3, 2004... * AdminPro Inc. 306 S. Washington, Suite 214, Royal Oak, 48067; (248) 543-2644; www. adminpro-inc.com. Contact: Kristopher Powell. Detroit area clients: 148. Services: Flexible-benefits administration, health reimbursement,...

Farr, Hawkins spar over money owed.(News)(La-Van Hawkins )
May 3, 2004... Byline: Michael Strong Detroit restaurateur La-Van Hawkins and used-car dealer Michael Farr are meeting in Wayne County Circuit Court on Friday as part of a protracted battle over money Hawkins owes Farr. They'll appear to determine...

Last call for 40 Under 40 nominees.
May 3, 2004... The deadline for nominations for Crain's 40 Under 40 feature has been extended for one week. Crain's Detroit Business is looking for successful executives and businesspeople for its 40 Under 40 feature. This special report, to be...

Bankruptcies.(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... The following businesses filed for Chapter 7 or 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit the week of April 23-29. Under Chapter 11, a company files a reorganization plan that the court must approve. Chapter 7 involves total...

Thsi Just in.(This Just In)(Team Schostak Family Restaurants)
May 3, 2004... Olga's Kitchen, Schostak ink deal for 15 restaurants Troy-based Olga's Kitchen Inc. and Southfield-based Schostak Bros. & Co.'s restaurant division, Team Schostak Family Restaurants, have agreed to develop 15 restaurants over the next five...

Cobo replacement a tough sell; Panel weighs high cost of building new against other needs.(News)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Robert Ankeny Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's dream of a shiny new $1.3 billion convention center may be bumping against some harsh realities. Some members of the Cobo Tourism Action Group, appointed to study convention center...

Domestic policy; Local companies are slower to adopt benefits for employees with unmarried partners.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Sherri Begin outheast Michigan employers are more conservative than most across the country in terms of offering domestic-partner benefits to their employees. But the number of local businesses opting to carry same-sex or...

Networking that works.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... A survey from OfficeTeam, a specialized administrative-staffing company in Troy, found that the biggest mistakes workers make is not asking for help when needed, not keeping in touch with contacts and not thanking people for their help. ...

United Way targets individual donors.(United Way Community Services shifts its attention to individual donors )
May 3, 2004... Byline: Sherri Begin United Way Community Services is shifting its attention to individual donors in an effort to build a stronger business model for the future. The agency's annual Torch Drive campaigns have fallen short the past two...

Prechter Fund to move $2.5M in assets to UM.(University of Michigan)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Sherri Begin The Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression in Southgate in the next few weeks will transfer its $2.5 million in assets to the University of Michigan Health System to create a donor-advised fund. Donor-advised...

Detroit needs to fix a broken tax system.(Column)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Mary Kramer Detroit faces a budget shortfall of $264 million for 2004-05. But consider what the red-ink projection could have been if the city's three casinos hadn't pumped at least $100 million into city coffers for each of the...

Local venture-capital deals highest in two years.(News)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Andrew Dietderich Venture-capital investments in Michigan-based companies hit $49.1 million in the first quarter, the highest amount during a three-month period in more than two years. That's according to the most recent...

Standing up to price cuts saved Breed, boss says.(News)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Robert Sherefkin The man who helped halt what he calls a "death spiral'' at the world's fourth-largest safety-system supplier says he did so by resisting automakers' demands for price cuts. Financier B. Edward Ewing, whose...

The mouse that roars.(News)
May 3, 2004... * This week on the Web: Visit www.crainsdetroit.com to read the latest daily breaking business news. Among the stories expected this week: Monday: Masco Corp. is to report first-quarter earnings. Wednesday: Amerigon Inc. and TRW...

Pavledes out, but who will be in?(News)(Detroit Civic Center Department)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Lou Pavledes, longtime director of the Detroit Civic Center Department, was fired last week, after months of running disputes with Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The department oversees Cobo Center. Kilpatrick said the city now wants to...

Venture-capital funding.(News)(list)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... Venture-capital funding Michigan companies funded during the first quarter: * STM Power Inc., Ann Arbor, $24.3 million. Develops and sells power-generation systems. * Discera Inc., Ann Arbor, $12.2 million. Develops components for...

CMS Energy's CEO cites successes, challenges on his 2nd anniversary.(News)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Amy Lane After two years of retrenching, Ken Whipple, CMS Energy Corp. chairman and CEO, sees light at the end of the tunnel. Approaching a May 28 annual meeting capping his second year at CMS' helm, Whipple can point to...

Fed-Mogul rejects asbestos bill; Supplier says its payment to liability fund would be too high.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky For Federal-Mogul Corp., the devil was in the details. Long a champion of a federal asbestos-liability law, the auto supplier last week yanked its support of the version in the U.S. Senate. It said the formula...

10 leave Lewis & Munday firm; Attorneys to start Troy and Washington offices for Minneapolis firm.(News)(Jacqueline Sellers opened Troy office for Blackwell Igbanugo Professional Association)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Robert Ankeny Ten attorneys from Detroit-based Lewis & Munday P.C., including the law firm's recent managing partner, have left to start offices in metro Detroit and Washington for a Minneapolis-based minority law firm. ...

Nonlawyer to lead Dykema development practice.(News)(Mark Hilpert is to head the new economic- development practice group of Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C.)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Robert Ankeny Dykema Gossett P.L.L.C. is using a nonlawyer to lead a new practice area to aid business, nonprofits and local governments in pursuing tax credits, grants and other incentive programs. Heading the new economic-...

Club Libby Lu founder brings store to hometown.(Briefs)
May 3, 2004... Five years after Mary Drolet founded a retail chain called Club Libby Lu, she has brought the store to her hometown, Livonia. Drolet, 41, grew up in metro Detroit and went to college at Michigan State University. After working for...

Where to go.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Nicole Lanctot * City Knits is located in the Fisher Building at 3011 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit. Call (313) 872-WOOL, or visit www.cityknits.com. * The Wool and the Floss is at 397 Fisher Road in Grosse Pointe. Call (313)...

About this directory.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... About this directory What follows is an alphabetical listing of companies with Detroit area (Wayne, Oakland Macomb, Washtenaw and Livingston counties) offices involved in employee-benefit consulting, third-party administration of health...

Annual Meetings.(News)(UnitedAuto Group Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... * UnitedAuto Group Inc., 9 a.m. May 21, UnitedAuto headquarters, 2555 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills.

Sharing the health; Oakland County to expand senior prescription program to 82,000 working poor.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Andrew Dietderich Oakland County plans to expand its senior prescription-drug discount program to the county's 82,000 working poor, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said Thursday. Details of the plan are to be discussed in...

Types of yoga.(Special Report)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... There isn't just one way to stretch your body with yoga; there are several: Power yoga: A fast-paced contemporary blend of several different yoga styles. Bikram yoga: A system of 26 yoga poses done in a room heated to at least 100...

Getting crafty; More professionals finding needlework a welcome relief from stress.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: Nicole Lanctot With computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants and other technology to juggle, some professionals are unwinding after work by taking up hobbies that are definitely unplugged. Knitting, crocheting,...

Finding peace in their time; Lawyers by day, this couple built tranquility into their home.(Special Report)
May 3, 2004... Byline: JoAnn Amicangelo Jerry and Sarah Thurswell were worlds apart in the architectural design style they wanted for their new home in Bloomfield Hills. He wanted the clean lines of contemporary style; she wanted a Tudor look. What...

About the asbestos bill.(News)(Brief Article)
May 3, 2004... * The bill, called the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2004, calls for a $124 billion fund to compensate victims of asbestos. * As currently constituted, the bill would require businesses to contribute a set percentage of...

Small businesses want to offer health insurance to their employees, but spiraling costs are forcing many to cut benefits, creating an Unhealthy dilemma.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx Arby's Inc. franchisee Mark Mitra is proud that he offers health insurance not only to his full-time employees, but also to many of those who work part time. Mitra credits Mitra Enterprises Inc.'s health benefits...

Corrections.(Correction)(Correction Notice)
May 10, 2004... * An Executive Life story on Page 13 in the May 3 issue identified Deborah VandenBroek as president and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital-Oakland. She left that position in October. * The phone number for AFLAC in the employee-benefit...

New rest rules for truckers result in higher costs.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Michael Strong Phil Riggio, chairman and CEO of Aunt Mid's Produce Co., says he may add 10 to 25 cents per package of food to counter the effect of new laws limiting how long a truck driver can be behind the wheel. Riggio's...

People.
May 10, 2004... Architecture John Bodag, vice chairman and director of design, Ford & Earl Associates, Troy; Nancy Lovaas, president and COO; Jerry Kline, vice president and principal of graphic design; and Michael Krebs, vice president and director of...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 10, 2004... Tuesday May 11 Detroit Black Business Expo. Sponsored by Bank One, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and the U.S. Small Business Administration's Michigan Office. 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Speakers: Ron Hall, President and CEO, Bridgewater...

Baseball comes to Ideas Before Dawn.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Joanne Scharich The 2005 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Detroit is the topic of Wednesday's Ideas Before Dawn breakfast meeting. Jim Stapleton, senior vice president of business affairs for the Detroit Tigers, and...

This Just In.
May 10, 2004... Origen offers $64M IPO Manufactured housing lender Origen Financial Inc. announced a $64 million initial public offering of 8 million shares and began trading on Nasdaq last week. Southfield-based Origen (Nasdaq: ORGN) is now a public...

World trade seminar set for OU.(News)(Oakland University)(World Trade Week 2004)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Joanne Scharich "World Trade Week 2004: Proven Strategies for Competing and Growing in the Global Economy'' is a May 20 seminar in Rochester Hills for small and midsized manufacturers. The Automation Alley Trading Co. is...

Rumblings.(comment)(Calendar)
May 10, 2004... Swonk treats DAC crowd to passion, advice Diane Swonk, Bank One's chief economist and a regular on cable business shows, lived up to the title of her recent book, The Passionate Economist, in her speech at the Detroit Athletic Club on...

EDS signs deal to sell Catuity products.(News)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Andrew Dietderich Plano, Texas-based EDS Corp. and Detroit-based Catuity Inc. have signed a marketing agreement in which EDS plans to sell Catuity products. Catuity, hurt by the loss of major customer Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT)...

Greektown Casino preps new site - but can't build anything yet.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Robert Ankeny Those piles of debris being hauled away from the corner of St. Antoine Street and Gratiot Avenue mean site preparation is under way for the permanent Greektown Casino L.L.C. hotel-casino complex. But actual...

Misplaced priorities.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... News flash: Wayne County commissioners have passed and Detroit City Council members are considering an ordinance that would require companies that do business with them to research their histories and disclose links to slavery before its...

Americans deserve a fuel-efficient choice.(Column)
May 10, 2004... Byline: KEITH CRAIN Last month, I spent a week traveling around Germany. Germany is coming out of a difficult recession as we are, and although there may be severe differences between our politicians, we seem to get along quite well as...

Private 200 show 3.6% revenue gain; Acquisitions, low rates help drive growth.
May 10, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky After spending the downturn cutting costs and cleaning up balance sheets, some private companies were ready to make a move last year. Bank credit loosened a bit for acquisitions, while low interest rates and tax...

Border crossings can mean sizable profits; Traffic flow, new crossing will affect how much.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Michael Strong The stakes are high in the competition to build a new border crossing between Detroit and Windsor, as illustrated by profit projections of one prospective player and the experience of bridges in Port Huron and...

NASD complaint says broker harassed couple after arbitration.(News)(National Association of Securities Dealers Inc.)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Bruce Kelly The National Association of Securities Dealers Inc. has charged that an independent broker-dealer and its chief executive harassed an elderly couple after they won $318,000 in damages and legal fees against the firm....

Honigman snags 7 patent attorneys; 'Bottom-line' move reflects national trend.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Robert Ankeny Seven attorneys from the intellectual-property firm of Rader Fishman & Grauer P.L.L.C., including one of its founding partners, have moved to Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn L.L.P. It is the latest move by major...

Business Diary.(Briefs)(Copley Publishing Group Inc.)
May 10, 2004... Acquisitions ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Co., Ann Arbor, has acquired Copley Publishing Group Inc. of Action, Mass. Copley publishes customized textbooks. The new product line will become part of ProQuest's XanEdu...

Demand for climate-controlled seats helps Amerigon's profits.(News)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky Amerigon Inc. is emerging from startup status with two profitable quarters in a row. The Dearborn-based auto supplier shipped almost twice as many seat-climate systems in the first quarter than it did in last...

Local businesses unsure of slavery ordinance effect.(analysis)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Michael Strong, Robert Ankeny The pending approval of slavery-disclosure ordinances in Wayne County and the city of Detroit has vendors and potential vendors wondering how it will affect their companies. The Wayne County...

Most hospital systems report gains; But struggles continue at DMC, POH.(News)(POH Medical Center )(Botsford Health Care Continuum)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx Job cuts and operational improvements paid off for most of the region's hospitals in 2003, but the improved results won't make 2004 any easier, hospital professionals and analysts said. A sample of six hospital...

Bankruptcies.(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... The following business filed for Chapter 7 or 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit the week of April 30-May 6. Under Chapter 11, a company files a reorganization plan that the court must approve. Chapter 7 involves total...

Commercial rents flat, local brokers say; No big improvement expected until 2005.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Jennette Smith Metro Detroit's commercial real estate business remains stagnant, according to first-quarter reports, but brokers say meaningful improvement is expected next year. Local reports differ on actual vacancy rates and...

The mouse that roars.(News)
May 10, 2004... * This week on the Web: Visit www.crainsdetroit.com to read the latest daily breaking business news. Among the stories expected this week: Monday: Covansys Corp. is to report quarterly earnings. Tuesday: Perceptron Inc. is to report...

Letters.
May 10, 2004... At-large council fails Detroit Editor: Keith Crain's Feb. 16 column ("City Council needs to represent Detroit'') regarding the need for a district representation system in Detroit and Maryann Mahaffey's April 12 response ("Detroit...

Red Cross tries new tactics to raise money in wake of United Way cuts.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Sherri Begin Facing a $1 million cut in United Way funding, the American Red Cross Southeastern Michigan Chapter is turning to nontraditional methods to raise money. The organization has a revenue-sharing agreement with...

MotorCities historical area names board.(News)(MotorCities National Heritage Area)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Joanne Scharich Christian Overland, director of Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum at The Henry Ford, Dearborn, has been elected president of the board of directors of the MotorCities National Heritage Area for 2004-05....

State should help ex-convicts rebuild lives.(Opinion)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Ronald Fraser A felony conviction in Michigan triggers not one but two kinds of punishment - one visible, the other hidden. First, a conviction often means a prison term. But once that debt is paid, and just as the former...

Week in Review.(Briefs)
May 10, 2004... C&A announces 2 board resignations, offshore plan Auto supplier Collins & Aikman Corp. announced that Charles Becker and Elkin McCallum resigned from its board of directors. The two were the focus of an internal investigation regarding...

Briefly.(Briefs)(Original Equipment Suppliers Association)
May 10, 2004... ArvinMeritor sells truck parts plant to Sypris for $14M ArvinMeritor Inc. has sold its truck component plant in Kenton, Ohio, to a subsidiary of Louisville-based Sypris Solutions Inc. for $14 million. The deal with Sypris (Nasdaq:...

Annual Meetings.(News)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... * Syntel Inc., 10 a.m., June 3, Syntel headquarters, 525 E. Big Beaver Road, Suite 300, Troy. * Superior Consultant Holdings Corp., 9 a.m., July 27, Westin Southfield-Detroit Hotel, 1500 Town Center, Southfield.

Suppliers meet to try to preserve unity that grew from tariff fight.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Terry Kosdrosky Auto suppliers are learning to never underestimate the value of lobbying, industry leaders say. A two-day supplier conference in Washington last week was an attempt to keep suppliers as galvanized as they were...

Flagstar Bank smoke-alarm crusade ends in new laws.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Amy Lane Flagstar Bank executive Gary Burkart is persistent. And late last month, his and his employer's three-year endeavor to require broader installation of smoke alarms paid off, in four laws signed by Gov. Jennifer...

Growth by design; Acquisitions make Molina a rising force in Medicaid managed-care system.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx Molina Healthcare of Michigan is on the prowl to acquire more Medicaid HMO members to continue on a path that has seen the Troy-based Medicaid plan more than triple in size in the past three years. For-profit Molina,...

Laying a new cornerstone; New CEO charts aggressive path for once-sleepy credit union.(News)(chief executing officer)(Cornerstone Community Financial)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Katie Merx Dependent upon job growth at Chrysler Corp. for 53 years, Motor Parts Federal Credit Union's ability to add members was limited until the credit union hired a new CEO and was reborn as Cornerstone Community Financial....

Former CFO, Pro Golf companies file suits in accounting dispute.(News)
May 10, 2004... Byline: Andrew Dietderich A former CFO at Farmington Hills-based Ajay Sports Inc. has sued the company, alleging he was wrongfully discharged in January for refusing to comply with requests to present financial information to lenders in a...

Caps, gowns and goodbyes.(Opinion)(retirements)(Brief Article)
May 10, 2004... Higher education is part of Michigan's economic-development portfolio. So in this season of caps and gowns, we commend two visionary leaders who are leaving the institutions they helped grow: Michigan State University President Peter...