May 7, 2009 - Back in the 1970s the word ‘cartel’ conjured up images of oil embargoes and Americans waiting in long lines to gas up their vehicles. Fast-forward more than 30 years and at least one savvy company has taken the cartel stigma away and turned it into something positive.

April 16, 2009 - Joe Vicari had a tangential interest in the restaurant business a while back when he owned some Ram's Horn properties. Then the owner of the Andiamo restaurant in Warren offered him the keys to the place.

April 2, 2009 - Carl Gerhardt has been trying to retire for a long time, but he can’t stay away from what has become his passion – leading the Allegra Network, a national printing, corporate identity and now marketing franchise organization.

March/April 2009 - A journalist who’s dedicated to covering Detroit and Michigan, Carol Cain is a columnist at the Detroit Free Press writing about business, politics and government issues.

March 5, 2009 - Attorney Bruce Knight is the founder of Advomas, a company that processes previously unpaid bills for a number of Michigan hospitals. For 18 years his company has also been the administrator of the Oakland County Indigent Health Plan, a source of pride for the fifth-generation resident of Oakland County.

January/February 2009 -In November 2008, Cary B. Wood was hired as chief executive officer of Jackson-based Sparton Corporation, an electronic design and manufacturing service provider with six locations worldwide, including Vietnam.