Corporate Detroit articles from February 1991

Corporate Detroit archives from February 1991

Tiger management strikes out. (Detroit Tigers' plan to leave Tiger Stadium) (column)
February 1, 1991... Tiger management strikes out In dismissing Ernie Harwell and making plans to abandon Tiger Stadium, Tom Monaghan and Bo Schembechler present themselves as tough businessmen making hard-nosed business decisions. They imply that the masses...

Engler and the volcano: the tax-cutting governor has descended into a veritable inferno of budget woes, and the flames keep getting higher. (column)
February 1, 1991... Engler and the volcano State government is awash in red ink and pink slips, and Governor John Engler is rediscovering an ancient political truism: New governors are sworn in Jan. 1 and sworn at during the rest of their term. He has made a...

Shirley Young's GM crusade. (General Motors Corp.'s vice president for consumer market development)
February 1, 1991... Shirley Young's GM crusade For years, GM's biggest enemy has been itself -- the Chevrolets, Buicks and Oldsmobiles from the '70s and early '80s that always seemed to emit inexplicable noises and to spend weeks in the shop. GM's products...

A tinkerer's recycling solution. (Norm Martin's invention of a conveyor process to separate and recycle material in two-liter plastic soda bottles)
February 1, 1991... A tinkerer's recycling solution Norm Martin is finding out what generations of tinkerers have found out -- it is not enought to come up with a great invention. Once you built it, you've got to figure out how to market it or how to sell it...

For love and money: Richard Kughn has an acquiring mind. It's led to owning old cars, toy trains and - oh yes - more than a few companies. (includes related articles on automobile collectors and Gary Kohs, maker of Smithsonian-licensed replicas of trains, boats and planes) (Cover Story)
February 1, 1991... For love and money When Richard Kughn once walked into an auto auction in Auburn, Ind., he felt the bidding was unusually low for the car on the block, a 1936 beige Ford convertible with a rumble seat. So Kughn jumped onto the carousel for...

Dispatches from the supplier war: the auto supplier industry is shaking out, and many companies are going after Japanese transplants to survive.
February 1, 1991... Dispatches from the supplier war Three years ago, Edgewood Tool & Manufacturing Co. in Romulus was one of 150 stamping firms trying to win a contract to supply Mazda's Flat Rock assembly plant. After an arduous selection process, Edgewood...

Born-again Detroiter: Bud Brian bet his business on an inner-city neighborhood and some unlikely executives, and he won. (Brian Unlimited Distribution Co., marketing and promotion materials company)
February 1, 1991... BORN-AGAIN DETROITER Bud Brian must have been listening when Ma Bell said to reach out and touch someone. You may not have heard of Brian and his company, Budco. But they have affected the lives of thousands in one inner-city neighborhood...

Nip and tuck: need to firm up a sagging career? Try a little surgery.
February 1, 1991... Nip and Tuck Experience is everything, senior executives used to tell young upstarts. But no more. Today what counts is image -- or so a growing number of professionals seem to believe. They are paying for a little collagen injection...

Electronic cottage incorporated: when it comes to running a thriving computer consulting business, there's no place like home. (includes related article on cellular telephone technology)
February 1, 1991... ELECTRONIC COTTAGE INCORPORATED For Don Porter and Jim Foote, commuting is a breeze. There are no roads with unseen patches of ice, no freeway backups when the sun shines into drivers' eyes, no clogged city intersections. They need travel...

Life in the phone zone. (how lawyer Harold Fried uses telephones in his practice)
February 1, 1991... Life in the phone zone I would be a cruel, cruel thing indeed to take away Harold Fried's telephones. He loves them all -- the phone in his car, in his truck, on his desk, even the one built into a pedestra next to the mushroom-colored...

The great venture capital search: venture capital for entrepreneurs is drying up in the state. (Michigan)
February 1, 1991... The Great Venture Capital Search In 1987, Battery Ventures, a Boston venture capital firm managing $80 million in assets, opened an office in Ann Arbor. Flush with $5 million in state pension money from Lansing, it was attracted by the...