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Gustafson Named New CEO at Illitch Sports + Entertainment

Ryan Gustafson, who had been the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Illitch Sports + Entertainment, has been promoted to president and CEO.

Chris Illitch, CEO of Illitch Companies, made the announcement Monday.

In this elevated role, Gustafson will continue to lead business operations for the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park, and Fox Theatre, as well as the joint venture interest in 313 Presents. He also manages the business operations for the Lakeland Flying Tigers, the Tigers’ Single-A affiliate. 

Gustafson had been Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since March 2023, reporting to Chris Ilitch. According to a release posted to the company’s websitye, there are no immediate plans to announce a successor for his current Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer role. In his new role, Gustafson will have an opportunity to assess the needs of his leadership structure over the coming months.

“Ryan’s collaborative and inclusive leadership style, business and analytical acumen, and passion for enhancing the fan experience has resulted in incredible accomplishments in a short time,” said Ilitch. “I’m looking forward to his continued success as he leads Ilitch Sports + Entertainment into the future.”

Gustafson has played a significant role in the multi-year renovation and expansion of the home clubhouse at Comerica Park, as well as a new videoboard which now ranks as the largest in the American League and second largest in Major League Baseball.

He also had a key role in delivering significant upgrades to field lighting, outfield wall reconfiguration, and audio and video system enhancements throughout the ballpark.

Future projects for the Tigers he will be central to include planning and preparation for a new dormitory at the club’s Lakeland complex, and new a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. 

He has remained steadfast in his commitment to leading from the front in leveraging the iconic power of professional sport to positively impact communities. The teams and their charitable foundations – the Detroit Red Wings Foundation and Detroit Tigers Foundation, both affiliates of Ilitch Charities – continue to raise and invest vital resources in inclusive education, wellness, sport, culture, and community initiatives.

“Sports and live entertainment have a tremendous power to unify communities in hometowns and around the globe, and at Ilitch Sports + Entertainment, we are proud to bring together some of the most iconic brands in sports and entertainment to fulfill our mission to amaze, inspire, and unite,” said Gustafson. “It has been an absolute honor to work alongside a phenomenal group of professionals who embody this mission every day, and I truly appreciate this opportunity and confidence placed in me to further lead this exceptional organization.”  

Gustafson currently serves on the Detroit Sports Organization Corp (DSOC), an all-volunteer advisory committee that represents the top private-sector, civic, philanthropic, community and sports leadership across metro Detroit.

The DSOC prioritizes, evaluates, and executes significant future bid opportunities to enable the Detroit Sports Commission to attract major sporting events to metro Detroit, accelerate economic growth and enhance the quality of life for citizens across the region.

He is also a board member for Business Leaders for Michigan, the state’s business roundtable, which is dedicated to making Michigan a Top-10 state for jobs, education, widely shared prosperity, and a healthy economy.

Gustafson has a diverse background in sports, including 15 years of strategic planning and revenue generation experience. Ryan earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Puget Sound and his MBA from Harvard Business School. 

MiLW Names Hanchett to 2024 Up & Coming Lawyers List

Michael D. Hanchett

Plunkett Cooney associate attorney Michael D. Hanchett was recently named to the 2024 Class of Up & Coming Lawyers by Michigan Lawyers Weekly (MiLW), an industry publication serving the state’s legal community.

Hanchett, along with 28 other Michigan attorneys, will be honored at a recognition luncheon on April 26 at the Petruzzello’s Banquet and Conference Center of Troy, and he will be included in a special print feature within the April 22 edition of MiLW.

The Up & Coming Lawyers program honors attorneys throughout Michigan who have excelled in the profession and set themselves apart from their peers with legal accomplishments and community involvement during their first 10 years of practice.

A member of Plunkett Cooney’s Bloomfield Hills office, Hanchett is a member of the firm’s Governmental Law and Labor & Employment Law practice groups. In addition to serving as general counsel to municipalities, he defends public-sector clients in a variety of litigation with particular expertise in police liability, including searches and seizures, use of force and corrections law. His practice also includes the defense of employment law disputes involving such issues as alleged discrimination, retaliation and civil rights claims brought under state and federal statutes.

Hanchett is a member of the Federal Bar Association for the Eastern District of Michigan, where he serves as co-chair of the Civil Rights Section. He is also a member of the Construction Law, Insurance Law and Young Lawyers committees of the DRI. Hanchett is also active in the Detroit Metropolitan, Oakland County and American bar associations, as well as the State Bar of Michigan’s Government Law and Labor and Employment sections.

Designated by Best Lawyers as one of their Ones to Watch in municipal law since 2021, Hanchett routinely speaks to police and various municipal organizations. He received his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 2016.

Plunkett Cooney Welcomes New Lineup of Board Officers

At a recent meeting of the Board of Directors of Plunkett Cooney, one of the Midwest’s oldest and most accomplished law firms, partners Scott K. Lites, Michael P. Ashcraft, Jr. and Audrey J. Forbush were elected to Board leadership positions.

Lites was elected Chair while Ashcraft was re-elected Secretary/Treasurer and Forbush was re-elected Senior Vice-President. All three will serve one-year terms.

A member of the Board for 17 years, Lites is one of the firm’s most accomplished business attorneys with nearly 40 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate matters and real estate transactions. Lites routinely acts as general counsel for many of his clients and adds a unique, practical perspective to their businesses.

Ashcraft, who serves as a co-leader of Plunkett Cooney’s Professional Liability Practice Group, is one of the state’s leading professional liability attorneys. He concentrates his practice primarily on the defense of attorneys, accountants and their firms in professional liability and responsibility matters. A partner in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, Ashcraft also represents judges, insurance brokers and agents, securities brokers and dealers, real estate brokers and agents, investment advisors, officers and directors, and notaries public in complex litigation in state and federal courts.

The managing partner of Plunkett Cooney’s Flint office and Co-leader of the firm’s Governmental Law Practice Group, Forbush focuses her practice in the areas of medical and municipal liability with particular expertise in the defense of municipalities in police liability matters.

New Pump Handbook from Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval just published a brand new edition of the company’s renowned Pump Handbook. The 375-page handbook is free and contains scholarly information on basic pump functionality and in-depth guidelines for sizing and selecting the right pump type for optimum efficiency. The handbook is packed with real-life examples to increase its user-friendliness.

The first edition of the Alfa Laval Pump Handbook was published 25 years ago and soon became part of the syllabus at engineering schools around the world. The book also found its way into manufacturing sites, serving as a reference work to technicians in the daily operation of fluid handling processes.

Up-to-date on pump technology
Over the years, the handbook has gone through minor revisions, and in 2023, a major overhaul was undertaken to make the handbook up-to-date on the most recent technologies.

“We have worked hard to provide the global pump community with the most recent knowledge about pump functionality and leading-edge technologies that enhance pump efficiency to meet the sustainability agenda of societies and industries. Pumps are among the most power consuming devices in fluid handling processes, and the potential for energy savings is big, when you select the right pump from the start and maintain it along the way,” says Lars Sørensen, Manager, Product Management at Alfa Laval .

Available online
The handbook is free and available online. It can be downloaded from www.alfalaval/PumpHandbook. The authors of the book are all experienced pump engineers with extensive theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience from pump installations and training of technical staff in fluid handling industries.

The main chapters of the handbook comprise:
• Basic theory on pumping applications
• Pump types for different applications
• Pump sizing for maximum efficiency
• Pump specification
• Pump motors
• Troubleshooting
• Technical data and formulas

New, Free Resource for Alzheimer’s Disease Caregivers

The Alzheimer’s Caregivers Network announced the launch of its brand-new resource, “Navigating Alzheimer’s Disease: A Map for Caregivers.” This free, comprehensive manual is specifically designed to empower and support caregivers through every stage of Alzheimer’s disease.

This manual isn’t just another book. It’s the culmination of countless conversations with caregivers, care professionals and medical experts. We listened to caregiver needs and challenges, and crafted a resource that addresses them head-on.

Inside You’ll Find:
– Expert-curated advice to help you navigate the complexities of Alzheimer’s disease with confidence, informed by the latest insights.
– Stage-by-stage guidance to understand what to expect at each stage, both behaviorally and medically.
– Self-care strategies so you can prioritize your well-being with dedicated chapters on preventing caregiver burnout.
– Empowering tools like checklists, to-do lists, and conversation scripts to manage challenging situations.
– Guided questions to help you reflect on your journey with dedicated note-taking sections, perfect for support groups or individual contemplation.
– A comprehensive resource directory to connect you with a wealth of organizations and support groups dedicated to assisting individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. This directory provides contact information, websites, and details about what each organization does.

The manual can be downloaded for free at www.AlzheimersCaregivers.org or purchased as an ebook or paperback edition on www.Amazon.com.

Fed Holds Interest Rate, Expects 3 Cuts This Year

Since March 2022, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times.

Following the Fed’s March meeting, instead of cutting the rate, officials left it where it was for the fifth straight meeting.

But they did indicate they expect to cut interest rates three times this year, despite the U.S. inflation rate staying well above the Fed’s 2% target rate. They also said they expect fewer rate cuts in 2025.

In new quarterly projections, Fed officials forecast that stronger growth and inflation above their 2% target level would persist into next year, according to an Associated Press report, suggesting interest rates would have to stay slightly higher for longer.

Chair Jerome Powell made note of the fact that inflation has cooled considerably from its peak. But, he added, “inflation is still too high, ongoing progress in bringing it down is not assured and the path forward is uncertain.”

“The risks are really two-sided here,” Powell said at a press conference following the meeting. “We’re in a situation where if we ease too much or too soon, we could see inflation come back. And if we ease too late, we could see unnecessary harm to employment.”

Stock market averages turned higher after the Fed maintained its projection of three rate cuts this year, the AP reported. Traders had feared the Fed might downgrade the number of expected rate cuts for 2024.

For 2025, though, the policymakers now foresee only three rate cuts, down from four in their December projections. And they expect “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, to still be 2.6% by the end of 2024, up from their previous projection of 2.4%. In January, core inflation was 2.8%, according to the Fed’s preferred measure.

Two recent government reports pointed to higher-than-expected inflation. Those reports, Powell said Wednesday, “haven’t really changed the overall story, which is that of inflation moving down gradually on a sometimes bumpy road towards 2%.”

Trade Group Expects Retail Sales Spike in 2024

It likely won’t be as big a hike as last year, but the largest U.S. retail trade group thinks retail sales are going to take another jump this year.

After posting a 3.6% increase a year ago, the National Retail Federation said this week it expects retail sales in the U.S. to climb somewhere between 2.5% and 3.5% in 2024.

The group said it expects retail sales to reach between $5.23 trillion and $5.28 trillion this year, according to a report from the Associated Press.

The 2024 forecast is roughly in line with the 10-year pre-pandemic average annual sales growth of 3.6%.

“The economy is primarily supported by consumers who have shown much greater resilience than expected, and it’s hard to be bearish on the consumer,” the federation’s chief economist, Jack Kleinhenz, told the AP. “The question for 2024 ultimately is, will consumer spending maintain its resilience?”

The group’s calculation of retail sales excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on the core retail sector. The 2024 retail sales forecast is based on economic modeling that considers a variety of indicators including employment, wages, consumer confidence, disposable income, consumer credit, previous retail sales and weather. A strong jobs market and rising wages have fueled household spending, but retail sales have become choppy in the face of rising credit costs and still higher prices. And shoppers have been shifting their spending to services after focusing on buying goods while they were staying close to home during the heart of the pandemic.

Unemployment Applications Take a Slight Dip

The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits dropped a little last week as the job market showed signs of continued strength.

According to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday, the number of jobless claims fell by 2,000 to some 210,000. The four-week average, though, was up by 2,500 to 211,500.

Overall, 1.8 million Americans were collecting unemployment benefits the week that ended March 9, up a modest 4,000 from the week before.

Despite high-profile job cuts at tech companies such as Google parent Alphabet, eBay and Cisco Systems, the Associated Press reported that overall layoffs remain below pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate, 3.9% in February, has come in under 4% for 25 straight months, the longest such streak in six decades.

The economy and the job market have shown strength despite seeing the Federal Reserve raise interest rates 11 times in 2022 and 2023 in an effort to combat inflation. Inflation has come down from a four-decade high 9.1% in June 2022 to 3.2% in February — but remains above the Fed’s 2% target.

“Overall, layoffs remain at low levels,” Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, told the AP. ”We expect job growth to slow somewhat but the unemployment rate to remain low this year.”

Ben & Jerry’s Getting New Home as Unilever Announces Job Cuts, Other Changes

Unilever said Tuesday that it is cutting 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream business to reduce costs and boost profits.

London-based Unilever, the company that makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soaps and Vaseline,  said in a press release posted to its website Tuessay that its ice cream business, which also includes Magnum bars, has “distinct characteristics” from its other brands and would benefit from separate ownership to increase growth. It said the split is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

The British consumer goods company with 128,000 employees also said it is launching a “productivity program” that is expected to lead to a reduction of about 7,500 mostly office-based jobs worldwide, according to an Associated Press report.

Unilever said it will invest in technology to find efficiencies and avoid duplication that it anticipates will help it save 800 million euros ($867 million) over the next three years. The company also laid off 1,500 staffers in early 2022.

“Simplifying our portfolio and driving greater productivity will allow us to further unlock the potential of this business, supporting our ambition to position Unilever as a world-leading consumer goods company delivering strong, sustainable growth and enhanced profitability,” said CEO Hein Schumacher, who took the helm at Unilever last summer.

Fed’s Decision ‘As Expected,’ Rate Cuts Likely Mid-Year

The Federal Reserve’s March decision was as-expected, extending the pause on rate changes that followed their last hike in July 2023.

The March decision was unanimous. The key phrase in the monetary policy statement was that the risks to the Fed “achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance,” meaning that they are becoming more confident that inflation is returning to their 2% target.

However, they also repeated from their prior statement made Jan. 31 that, “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.”

The Fed’s quarterly “Dot Plot” (Projections for the economy and the fed funds rate) held unchanged the projection for how much Fed policymakers think it will be appropriate to cut the federal funds rate this year. The median Fed policymaker thinks it will be appropriate to lower the fed funds rate to a range of 4.50% to 4.75% by the end of the year, three quarters of a percent below the current level. 

The median dot on the Dot Plot also upgraded projections for real GDP growth in 2024, nudged lower the forecast for the unemployment rate at year-end, and raised the projection for core PCE inflation a bit. In reaction to this, the median dot raised the projection for the year-end fed funds rate in 2025 and 2026 by a quarter percentage point, to 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively.

The Fed’s March policy statement held their assessment of recent economic data essentially unchanged from the January statement, saying economic activity and job growth are “strong,” and that inflation “has eased over the past year but remains elevated.”

Chair Powell was asked directly at the press conference following the March decision about how much more data would be needed to make the committee “confident” enough that inflation is “moving sustainably toward 2 percent” before they start cutting, and he essentially said he wasn’t sure.

Powell loves to speak plainly, but precisely, and his response was anything but. That implies FOMC policymakers hold a range of views about what the threshold for rate cuts should be. Chair Powell stated in the press conference that the FOMC is “a consensus-oriented organization and we do try to achieve consensus and ideally, unanimity.” That messaging is essentially unchanged from the Fed’s prior decision in January.

In short, the March Fed decision indicates that the Fed sees the economy largely on course with their projections released last December, implying that an initial rate cut will likely be appropriate around mid-year. 

Comerica maintains unchanged our forecast for the Fed to make an initial federal funds rate cut of a quarter percentage point at the June 2024 decision, followed by subsequent quarter percentage point cuts in September and December. 

Separate from interest rates, Chair Powell stated at the March press conference that “the general sense of the [FOMC] is that it will be appropriate to slow the pace of run-off fairly soon.” ‘Run-off’ refers to the Fed’s policy of reducing the size of their balance sheet, a.k.a. Quantitative Tightening or “QT.” QT unwinds the Fed’s massive purchases of Treasury bonds and government-backed securities made during the pandemic and its aftermath to support the economy’s recovery.

The Fed is likely to slow QT shortly after they begin cutting interest rates in mid-2024, and to end QT late this year or in early 2025. Financial markets will likely see the end of QT as favorable for risky assets, like stocks and corporate bonds, since the Fed will be directing less of private investors’ money into the risk-free assets that the Fed had been taking off their balance sheet.

While Comerica’s outlook for monetary policy in 2024 is unchanged from the last time the Fed met in January, the balance of risks to that outlook has shifted. Inflation came in a bit hotter than expected in January and February, and in particular, service prices excluding energy services and shelter services—which tend to track with inflation’s underlying trend—rose rapidly after running cool in the second half of 2023.

Momentum has built up in inflation over recent years, and in early 2024 that showed up in high increases of health care service charges, car and truck rental rates, and other labor-intensive services whose prices change relatively infrequently. 

At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% in February, the highest since early 2022, indicating a modest margin of slack has returned to the labor market. While job growth was solid through February, growth of the labor force has picked up over the last year as people who stepped away from the labor force during the pandemic re-enter it, and as increased immigration swells the number of jobseekers.

With higher-than-expected inflation, but also an uptick in unemployment, the risks to Comerica’s forecast for monetary policy look balanced. In plain English, that means that if our forecast misses the mark, the Fed looks equally likely to cut rates less than projected as they are to cut them by more than projected.

Bill Adams is a senior vice president and chief economist at Comerica. Waran Bhahirethan is a vice president and senior economist at Comerica.

Craft Retailer Joann Files for Bankruptcy Protection

HUDSON, Ohio (Globe Newswire) — Joann Inc., the nation’s category leader in sewing and fabrics with one of the largest arts and crafts offerings, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as consumers continue to cut back on discretionary spending and some pandemic-era hobbies.

Joann announced it has entered into a Transaction Support Agreement with a majority of its financial stakeholders and additional industry financing parties to strengthen the company’s financial position. In connection with the TSA, the company has received commitments for approximately $132 million in new financing and related financial accommodations and expects to reduce funded debt on its balance sheet by approximately $505 million.

The parties have also agreed to a six-month extension of the Company’s existing ABL and FILO credit facilities, effective upon the company’s emergence from the court-supervised process. Under the TSA and related transaction documents, all obligations to employees, vendors, landlords, and other trade creditors will be paid or otherwise satisfied in full and honored in the ordinary course of business.

“Over the past several months, Joann has made meaningful business improvements through the execution of our Focus, Simplify and Grow cost reduction initiative,” said Chris DiTullio, Chief Customer Officer and co-lead of the Interim Office of the CEO. “We are excited by our progress on both top and bottom-line initiatives in the past year and are confident the steps we are taking will allow Joann to drive long-term growth. We appreciate the support from our financial and industry stakeholders in this agreement, and their confidence in our ability to continue driving positive business change. There is no other retailer with the same ability to serve sewists, quilters, crocheters, crafters and other creative enthusiasts as we have for the past 80 years, and we take great pride in seeing the passion and engagement of our millions of customers and our Team Members.”

Scott Sekella, Joann’s Chief Financial Officer and co-lead of the Interim Office of the CEO, added, “This agreement is a significant step forward in addressing Joann’s capital structure needs, and it will provide us with the financial resources and flexibility necessary to continue to deliver best-in-class product assortments and enhance the customer experience wherever they are shopping with us. This includes our more than 800 stores across the United States, 95 percent of which are cash flow positive. We remain committed to our suppliers, partners, Team Members and other stakeholders, and are focused on ensuring we continue to operate as usual so we can continue to best serve our millions of customers nationwide.”

To effectuate the recapitalization transactions, Joann and certain of its affiliates have initiated voluntary prepackaged Chapter 11 cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. With the significant support of the Company’s financial stakeholders, Joann expects to complete this process on an expedited basis, as early as late April 2024. Following this process, the Company expects that Joann will become a private company owned by certain of its lenders and industry parties, and its shares will no longer be listed on Nasdaq or any other national stock exchange.

LAFCU’s IT Manager Presenter at International Conference

Ahmed Issawi

LAFCU’s IT manager, Ahmed Issawi, was recently on the world stage after being selected to present at the Service Management World Conference in Orlando, Florida. The annual conference brings service management leaders and technical support professionals from across the globe to explore the strategic and tactical elements of optimal service management strategy. Issawi provided thought leadership, resources, and examples of overcoming barriers and creating internal buy-in for needed IT processes and programs.

“We are incredibly proud to have Ahmed Issawi, our IT manager, represent LAFCU on the global stage,” said Emily Jannereth, LAFCU chief technology officer. “Ahmed’s accomplishments highlight the caliber of talent within our organization, and we commend him for his outstanding contribution to the industry.”

Issawi’s 60-minute presentation, “Going from Zero to 100 in ITSM” discussed how attendees can overcome senior leadership barriers and sell an information technology infrastructure library (ITIL) and information technology service management (ITSM) to skeptical staff. Furthermore, Issawi highlighted a case study of a university that went from having no ITIL and little senior leadership support to implementing an ITSM program based on a service management toolset with the full support of a new chief information officer and how it yielded successful outcomes.

“It was an honor, privilege, and a humbling experience to attend, speak, and be viewed as an industry expert at the Service Management World Conference,” said Issawi. “It was nice to be on the other side and see that my 20 years of experience is paying off and that I can help others through my lived experience and career path.” Issawi leads a team of 10 people in LAFCU’s IT department. He holds a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications/information systems management with a specialization in information and technology management and a master’s degree in strategic communications from Michigan State University.

Gardner White Names Rachel Stewart Its New CEO

Rachel Stewart

DETROIT – Leadership at furniture giant Gardner White is staying all in the family.

Rachel Stewart, who has been Gardner White’s president since 2017, has been named the retailer’s Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1. 

As the fourth-generation leader of the 112-year-old, family owned and operated company, Stewart succeeds parents Barbara and Steven Tronstein, who have served as co-CEOs of Gardner White, as they take on new roles as Executive Chair and Chair respectively.

Former co-CEOs Barbara and Steven Tronstein will take on new roles as Executive Chair and Chair respectively. Photo courtesy Gardner White

“Rachel’s strong leadership, innovative thinking and dedication to our employees, our company and our community give us confidence that she will continue to move Gardner White forward as she elevates to her new role as CEO of Gardner White,” Barbara and Steven Tronstein said in a joint statement.

As one of the only female leaders in the industry, Stewart’s dynamic approach to business and community have established her as a respected and admired leader, innovator and trailblazer.

With a strategic vision and an unrelenting drive for success, Stewart has been instrumental in Gardner White’s continued expanded footprint in southeast Michigan to include 13 retail locations throughout metro Detroit, Ann Arbor and Saginaw, and a team of over 1000 employees and growing.

Stewart has a strong passion for community and partnership, currently serving on the board of directors for Business Leaders for Michigan, The Parade Company, Math Corps, Detroit Economic Club and American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation. Under her leadership, Gardner White has been named Best Places to Work by lead industry publication Furniture Today for three consecutive years.

Prior to returning to Detroit to work in the family business, Stewart spent nearly 10 years working in the clean energy sector. Her last position was at the U.S. Department of Energy on a program working for Nobel-Prize winning physicist Dr. Steven Chu to drive down the installed price of solar energy to be competitive with other forms of electricity.

“I am determined to continue the thoughtful expansion of the Gardner White brand and am committed to strategic innovation to benefit the industry and our customers,” said Stewart. “It is a privilege to work alongside a team that shares the vision for the future and comes together to do remarkable work.”

As Stewart transitions to CEO, Gardner White announed industry veteran Brad Bailey as President of Gardner White. With a proven track record for driving billion-dollar growth for iconic bedding brands in both retail and manufacturing across the country, Bailey is recognized for his ability to work cross functionally to develop vision, strategy and growth plans to deliver historic and record-breaking results.

Brad Bailey

Prior to joining Gardner White, Bailey served as Chief Sales Officer at Casper, where he led sales and operations for 65 retail stores throughout the country as well as the mass channel and wholesale sales divisions. He has also held leadership positions at Simmons, Serta Simmons and TempurSealy where he was credited with delivering growth in both profits and market share. Bailey will relocate to Michigan and assume his new role at Gardner White April 1.

“Michigan is a draw for top talent, and we have worked diligently to bring the most talented team in the industry to Gardner White,” said Stewart. “Brad’s vast understanding of the retail and manufacturing industry and impressive results are reflective of this. His experience and expertise will be key in our continued growth and delivering our customers an unparalleled Gardner White experience.”

“I am excited and honored to work with the Tronstein family as well as the outstanding leadership and retail team that they have assembled to help us continue to grow the Gardner White brand for many years to come,” said Bailey.

Four Michigan Merrill Advisors Make Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisors Lists

Four Merrill Advisors from Metro Detroit made Forbes’ 2024 “Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State” list: Kristina Abro, Nicole Christians, Nicole Norris and Melissa Spickler. Additionally, Spickler was named to Forbes’ “America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors” list.

Spickler of Bloomfield Hills joined Merrill in 1980, and holds the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation and is also a qualified Portfolio Manager. She built her team and clientele to provide individuals and businesses with the same high-quality wealth management she would expect to receive as a client. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

Kristina Abro of Auburn Hills joined Merrill in 2012, upon graduating from Central Michigan University with a degree in economics from the School of Business. Abro works with clients to help them identify and meet their unique financial goals, to simplify their complex financial lives. She uses a broad asset and liability management approach along with her understanding of the financial sector to benefit her clients.

Nicole Christians, of Bloomfield Hills, joined Merrill in 2002, after graduating from the University of Michigan with degrees in history and philosophy. She works with high-net-worth clients on estate, wealth, and tax planning strategies. Nicole holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification and the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation. She has been a participant in the Barron’s Top Women Advisors Summit since 2016.

Nicole Norris of Dearborn joined Merrill in 1993, after earning a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan Dearborn. She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, and a qualified Portfolio Manager. Norris uses her knowledge, resources and experience to develop financial strategies tailored to her clients’ needs and goals.

Miller Canfield Names A. Michael Palizzi as CEO

DETROIT — Miller Canfield announced that A. Michael Palizzi will become the firm’s Chief Executive Officer. He will assume his new duties April 1.

Palizzi is a respected trial lawyer and co-leader of the firm’s nationally recognized Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Intellectual Property Groups. For more than 30 years, Palizzi has represented clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property counseling and litigation, and other commercial matters.

He was elected by the firm’s principals in 2021 to serve on the Board of Managing Directors.

“I am honored to take on this new role and humbled by the trust placed in me,” Palizzi said. We intend to remain exceptionally client-focused. This is the foundation upon which our firm was built and why it has flourished over its storied 170+ year history.” 

Palizzi acknowledged that the legal industry has changed dramatically over the past several years.

“We expect that change will only accelerate, and therefore we remain committed to adapting through strategic growth, practice innovations, and building our exceptional and diverse talent base and areas of expertise,” he said. “But the one thing that has remained constant is what clients expect from their law firm: exceptional legal counsel, responsiveness and value. We have not, and will never, lose sight of that constant as we adapt to market changes.

“Fortunately, I’m surrounded by an unparalleled group of lawyers, professionals and firm leaders, all of whom are committed to these principles,” he added. “With their help, I am confident that we will become an even stronger, more diverse, and market-leading law firm.”

Palizzi will succeed Megan Norris, who is stepping down after serving as CEO since February 2021. Prior to her role as CEO, Norris served as the chair of the firm’s Board of Managing Directors and as the leader of Miller Canfield’s large and nationally acclaimed Employment and Labor Group.

“I am confident that Mike will serve the firm well,” Norris said. “He has a leadership style that is forward-thinking, adaptable and inclusive. The firm will be in excellent hands with Mike at the helm.”

Palizzi lauded Norris’ steady leadership, especially post-pandemic and during the firm’s return to the office.

“Megan served as a selfless and stalwart leader during one of the most challenging times in recent history. I hope to build upon many of the initiatives that began under her leadership and am grateful for her commitment,” Palizzi said.

Michelle Crockett will continue to serve as the firm’s Deputy Executive Officer and Chief Diversity Officer.

“I have had the pleasure of serving the firm as a managing director alongside Mike and under Megan’s leadership. We are so thankful to Mike for his willingness to serve the firm in this new role, and to Megan, whose unwavering commitment to the best interests of our firm has aided in building a strong foundation that will move us forward by way of growth and achieving our strategic goals,” said Danielle Mason Anderson, Chair of Miller Canfield’s Managing Directors.

U.S. Inflation Rate Up Again in February

Federal Reserve officials were looking at potentially cutting interest rates soon if consumer prices started coming down.

For now, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Consumer prices in the United States picked up last month, rising 0.4% from January to February, higher than the previous month’s figure of 0.3%, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Labor Department. Consumer prices rose 3.2% last month over a year earlier.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called “core” prices also climbed 0.4% from January to February, the Associated Press reported. That matches the previous month’s rise and a faster pace than is consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target.

“It’s a disappointment, but not a disaster,” Eric Winograd, U.S. economist at asset manager AB, told the AP. “The underlying details are more encouraging than the top-line number, which was boosted by a few volatile categories — the type of prices that tend not to repeat month-to-month.”

Those categories include gas prices, which jumped 3.8% just from January to February but are still below their level of a year ago. Air fares were up 3.6%, an clothing prices rose 0.6% after three months of declines but are unchanged compared with a year earlier, according to the AP report.

Despite February’s elevated figures, most economists expect inflation to continue slowly declining this year. At the same time, the uptick last month may underscore the Fed’s cautious approach toward interest rate cuts.

In his State of the Union speech last week, Biden talked about the things his administration has done to reduce costs. The president also criticized many large companies for engaging in “price gouging” and so-called “shrinkflation,” in which a company shrinks the amount of product inside a package rather than raising the price.

“Too many corporations raise prices to pad their profits, charging more and more for less and less,” Biden said.

Overall inflation has sunk from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, though it’s now easing more slowly than it did last spring and summer. Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled in congressional testimony last week that the central bank is getting closer to cutting rates.

After meeting in January, Fed officials said in a statement that they needed “greater confidence” that inflation was steadily falling to their 2% target level. Since then, several of the Fed’s policymakers have said they believe prices will keep declining. One reason, they suggested, is that consumers are increasingly pushing back against higher prices by seeking out cheaper alternatives.

Interest Rates at Peak, Reductions Likely to Wait

The CPI index likely ran hot in February on higher gasoline prices, but core inflation likely slowed further as car prices fell and rent increases moderated. Producer prices likely rose less than retail prices in the month, but were nevertheless higher as more expensive diesel caused transportation and warehousing costs to jump after three monthly declines.

The Treasury Department’s monthly deficit likely widened in February, as it typically does in that month. The Department of Education’s cancellation of $1.2 billion in student loans in February likely added to the monthly deficit, though its incremental effect on monthly borrowing will be smaller since its cash flow effect will be spread out over the life of the cancelled loans.

Retail sales likely rebounded sharply as Americans spent more at gas stations, bought more new vehicles, and increased discretionary spending on durable goods after bad weather held back spending in January. Industrial production was likely flat, with milder weather helping mining but hurting utilities.

No new insights about the future path of monetary policy were gleaned from Chair Powell’s much-awaited semi-annual testimony to Congress, where he reiterated: Interest rates are likely at their peak for the current tightening cycle; rate cuts are likely appropriate sometime this year; and monetary policymakers will need to have greater confidence that inflation is returning sustainably towards the 2% target before easing policy, but they are “not far” from having that confidence.  

275,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were added in January, well above the 190,000 consensus. That good news was partially offset by a substantial 167,000 downward revision to the prior two months’ job growth. The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose by 0.2 percentage points to 3.9%, as layoffs rose by 174,000 to a 27-month high of 1.730 million. The labor force participation rate held steady at 62.5% for the third consecutive month, 0.3 pp below the pandemic-era high of 62.8%. The decline was concentrated among men aged 16-19 years and over 55 years. The average workweek rose by 0.1 hour to 34.3 hours, partially recovering from the weather-related 0.2-hour decline in January. Following a strong increase in January, wages rose by a modest 0.1% last month and were up 4.3% from a year earlier. 

Job openings were essentially unchanged at 8.9 million in January, with December revised lower. While the imbalance in the labor market has come down sharply from two years ago, demand for labor still exceeds supply, with 1.4 vacancies for every unemployed person. Quits, voluntary separations initiated by employees, and the quits rate—widely-watched measures of labor market mobility—continue to fall and were below pre-pandemic levels, indicating decreasing willingness of employees to change employers. Since job changers tend to see faster wage growth than job stayers, a lower quits rate will contribute to slower wage growth over time. 

Bill Adams is a senior vice president and chief economist at Comerica. Waran Bhahirethan is a vice president and senior economist at Comerica.

Number of Americans Filing for Unemployment Drops Slightly

While the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week went down a bit, the overall number of workers collecting jobless benefits was up.

Both numbers, though, remain at historically low levels.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that filings for unemployment claims for the week ending March 9 ticked down by 1,000 to 209,000 from the previous week’s 208,000, according to statistics released by the U.S. Labor Department.

The four-week average of claims came in at 208,000, a decrease of 500 from the previous week.

Some 1.81 million Americans were collecting jobless benefits during the week that ended March 2, an increase of 17,000 from the previous week. Last week’s number, which had been the most since November, was revised down by 112,000.

Weekly unemployment claims are considered a proxy for the number of U.S. layoffs in a given week. They have remained at historically low levels since the pandemic purge of millions of jobs in the spring of 2020.

Cadillac Teases Future of Zero Emissions Performance as V-Series Celebrates 20 Years

Cadillac gave the world a taste of what the future of electric performance could render, sharing a sneak peek at Opulent Velocity — a concept vehicle designed to celebrate the past, present and future of Cadillac and its performance brand, V-Series.

Opulent Velocity represents the duality of the Cadillac brand defined in the name itself, Opulent + Velocity.  The concept’s mission is to demonstrate the evolution of Cadillac’s revered sense of opulence, while envisioning the future of a high velocity performance driving experience.  

“Opulent Velocity is designed to foreshadow a zero emissions expression of performance and modern luxury leadership,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director, Cadillac Global Design. “We will share more later this year, so stay tuned.”

For 20 years, V-Series products have brought bold American craftsmanship, technology and performance to the street and track. V-Series represents the purest expression of the passion that exists at the core of the Cadillac brand.

The latest iterations of Cadillac’s iconic V-Series, the 2025 CT5-V and CT5-V Blackwing, debuted in January and feature a refreshed look while maintaining the renowned power, refinement and performance enthusiasts expect, on and off the track.

Cadillac celebrates 20 years of V-Series at Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
The teaser drops 20 years after V-Series was first launched at Sebring International Raceway in March 2004, with the race and subsequent first win of the CTS-V.R race car in the SCCA Pro Racing World Challenge GT race.

“V-Series forges a transformative relationship between Cadillac’s championship-winning motorsports program and the road vehicles it influences,” said Brandon Vivian, executive chief engineer, Cadillac. “It is a proven formula delivering authentic performance through technology, resonating with our passionate V-Series enthusiasts over the past two decades.”

Racing provides a testbed for Cadillac to transfer knowledge and technology between race cars and production vehicles.

Cadillac returns to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring this weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of V-Series, while aiming to defend last year’s win by the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac team.

After a Slow Start to 2024, Retail Sales Picked up in February

That didn’t last long.

Shoppers pulled back on their spending in January, but apparently picked it back up last month.

Retail sales rose 0.6% last month after falling a revised 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather, according to a report released Thursday by the Commerce Department. February’s number was lifted in part by higher gas prices and higher auto sales.

Excluding sales from gas stations and auto dealers, sales were up 0.3%.

Business at general merchandise stores rose 0.4%, while electronics and appliance stores had a solid 1.5% increase. Restaurants posted a 0.4% increase. Furniture and home furnishings stores saw a 1.1% decline. Online sales were down 0.1%.

According to a report from the Associated Press, household spending is being fueled by a strong jobs market and rising wages. But spending has become choppy in the face of rising credit costs and higher prices.

America’s employers continued to hire in February, adding 275,000 jobs, underscoring the U.S. economy’s resilience despite efforts of the U.S. Federal Reserve to knock down inflation by slowing spending.

“They continue to shop but they are more constrained, ” Target’s CEO Brian Cornell told The Associated Press in an interview last week. “People are using credit cards to get through the month. Rent costs across the country are up, and gas has been volatile.”

The government’s monthly retail sales report offers only a partial look at consumer spending; it doesn’t include many services, including travel and hotel lodges. It’s also not adjusted for inflation, the AP pointed out.

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