“The ‘LAFCU Women Helping Educate Every Lady’ program supports women taking the initiative to return to school as nontraditional students to meet life goals,” said LAFCU’s Kelli Ellsworth Etchison. “Rita, Sheri and Emily are role models for women want more for themselves and their families.”
The news media report often on the demise of retail stores, citing the shrinkage and even closing of chain stores and malls due to competition from big box discounters and online sales.
But the reality is more complex and less glum for retailers.
“We’ve all heard that retail is in trouble – even serious trouble, depending on who you listen to,” says Mark Matthews, vice president/research, National Retail Federation (NRF). “It’s true that some large, well-known brands are facing challenging times, just as in every industry. But the narrative that retail is struggling – or even dying – is significantly overblown.”
To compete successfully today, NRF experts say retailers must adopt new technology and invest capital into creating multichannel customer experiences. That may mean an online presence—a website offering online sales along with social media to nurture a customer base.
But brick and mortar stores are by no means obsolete. Global management consulting firm A. T. Kearney, in its 2014 Omnichannel Shopping Preferences Study, said 90 percent of shoppers “engage the physical store somewhere along the shopping journey.”
The reality is that the in-person shopping experience is still a major force in generating sales and loyal customers. And that experience varies tremendously depending on the type and location of retail outlet—from a locally owned pop-up, a brick and mortar store in an urban or suburban downtown, or a chain store in a strip mall or enclosed mall.
Retailer Rachel Lutz, who owns The Peacock Room and Frida! women’s clothing stores in Midtown Detroit, Michigan’s Park-Shelton, believes that city stores like hers provide a unique experience.
“Urban stores are real. They’re authentic,” Lutz says, comparing her style of store to the ones she formerly worked at in The Somerset Collection in Troy, Michigan. “There are not many family-owned stores (there), so you don’t know the customer well.”
Personally knowing and serving the customer well are important qualities for creating a successful shopping experience, Lutz believes, and retail experts agree. “Fashion is very regional and I’m selling them what they want, but introducing them to new things,” she says.
However, urban retail is not only about the merchandise and experience within a store. Ideally, it is integrated within a downtown area or city neighborhood. “You go to the store, a new restaurant, an art exhibit. Cities are denser and have walkability. They tie together places where people, live, play and work,” says Lutz. While some of her customers live or work in Midtown, many are destination shoppers seeking out her store.
In downtown Detroit, Dan Gilbert and his company’s real estate arm, Rock Ventures, has purchased more than 90 buildings and is transforming some into retail space. Downtown workers, including 15,000 employees of his related companies, provide a natural market for new stores, but housing being developed in and near downtown will provide additional potential shoppers.
Up until the Depression, cities were designed on an urban pattern with residential, employment, civic, and retail development enmeshed in one large space, says Robert Gibbs, president of Gibbs Planning Group, Inc., based in Birmingham. Gibbs is an internationally-known urban planner who works with cities and suburbs to create compact, walkable mixed-used developments. He developed Birmingham, Michigan’s retail plan and is a consultant for the City of Troy, which is planning a large-scale mixed-use development encompassing its civic buildings.
After the Depression, Gibbs says, the “sprawl model” went into effect, with shopping, office and residential areas separated and reachable mainly by car. Now, he says, suburbs such as Troy are concerned about the sustainability of this kind of development. Empty nesters are interested in condos in areas where they can walk to a store or restaurant. Suburban downtowns like Birmingham and Plymouth, Michigan, as well as planned mixed-use developments in other areas, attract visitors “because they can do more than just shop,” Gibbs explains. Also, there is usually less time required to park and reach a desired location in a downtown or mixed-use development, compared to a large shopping mall, he claims.
Urban locations with nearby public transportation can enhance store access. Lutz says that Detroit’s Q Line, which has a stop close to the Park-Shelton, has increased pedestrian traffic and had a positive impact on sales.
The Fisher Building is the first stop on the Q Line at Woodward and Grand Boulevard. Dietrich Knoer, co-principal of The Platform, a leading New Center development firm which owns the Fisher Building, thinks that the streetcar line will make the building more accessible and bring others to the district.
While parking is often cited as an impediment or at least an extra cost to urban development, Knoer points out that the New Center offers a range of options from street parking to $5 surface lots to more expensive secured lots and structures. He also mentions “alternative transport,” such as bike sharing, as a positive option for visitors.
Knoer points out that retail is far from new to the Fisher Building, a national historic landmark, since it was built with a three-story enclosed retail arcade connected by elevators and stairs. The Platform’s initial retail focus is the ground floor and maybe some stores on the concourse level.
Some of the Fisher Building’s retail tenants—including Russell Pharmacy and the Contemporary Gallery of Arts and Crafts—have operated in their locations for decades. “We have a great tenant base and the building is about 70 percent occupied,” Knoer says.
In filling the remainder of the retail space, Knoer says the goal is to be a destination with a good mix of national and local stores, although they are not really seeking big national brands. Their focus is local proprietors on a small scale, who will provide service to the community—both the daytime population of 10,000-15,000 office workers and the New Center neighborhood. In addition, during the theater season as many as 2,000 individuals attend a single performance at the Fisher Theater.
The Platform is in the construction phase for 230 apartments near the Fisher Building and plans other residential development. Knoer notes that some apartment buildings in the area are being remodeled. He anticipates that his customer base will look quite different in several years.
In addition to the Peacock Room and Yama, The City Bakery, a New York and Japan-based chain, will open this fall in the Fisher Building. The Detroit location will be their first outside of New York City and Japan.
It’s one of the first questions business owners ask: How do I make people aware of my company?
Today’s business environment requires you have an online presence. It’s important for business owners to consider the many online tools available to get the word out about their products and services. Also known as branding, awareness development is the first step in the process which leads to marketing success.
What Is An Awareness Campaign?
Why is awareness development so important? Simply, it softens the ground for future opportunity. People buy from those whom they trust; familiarity is the first step in trust development. When you create awareness or branding campaigns, the goal is eyeballs and brand retention. Get your name, logo, message or story in front as a many qualified people as possible. You want as many touch points as it takes for people in your target market to know your name and the problem you solve.
In the past, mass marketing was required via TV, radio or print publications. It was a shotgun approach unless you advertised with small relevant programing or specialty publications. Still, much of the ad budget was wasted on an unqualified audience.
A qualified audience are those most likely to resonate with your message. Online advertising is good news for those who wish to get the word out to the right people on either a large or small scale.
What An Awareness Campaign Is Not
The marketing process I use for my agency is to develop campaigns with four marketing components; awareness, traffic, conversions and retention. Awareness is similar to a branding campaign, traffic is a campaign to drive more visitors to the client website, conversion campaigns focus on testing and analytics to improve sales, and retention campaigns help to keep hard earned customers.
It is common for the goal of an awareness campaign to be confused with goals of the other three campaigns. Awareness campaigns are not directly about driving more traffic to your website, improving sales or retaining clients. Yes, such a campaign does offer some of those side benefits. However, if you’re expecting a direct ROI (return on investment) from an awareness campaign, you might wish to consider other tactics too.
Fortunately, the side benefits are enhanced when you combine awareness with other strategic campaigns. Awareness or name recognition makes it easier for salespeople to get in the door. If people know your name, they are more likely to click on associated online links. Awareness campaigns help retention because they keep your company top of mind with your current customers.
How To Create An Awareness Campaign
You have many tools available to you to get the word out about your company. The first thing to do is create a persona of the person who is most likely to buy your product or service. What are their demographics, interests and location. This information is important when you use the targeting features of online advertising platforms. It’s better to work it out ahead of time, rather than guess while you set up a campaign.
Consider display ads as a good first step in your awareness campaign. Google has a strong display advertising system which will show ads to your target audience on their properties, as well as, informational websites, blogs and media outlets.
For my clients with DIY (Do It Yourself) competition, I search Google for blogs and websites which explain how to do what my client does. Then I target such sites with ads on my client’s behalf. These ads remind the reader my client is a good option, especially, if they decide not to do it themselves.
Display ads are an excellent branding play. You can get your message in front of a lot of people for a relatively low investment. Facebook is another powerful platform you can use to develop awareness for your brand. Where you place your ad online depends on your target market. If you have a highly visual product or service, consider Instagram or Pinterest to get the word out.
Take Advantage of Influence
It is common for people to seek advice from online experts. Bloggers, YouTube and Instagram-famous people influence others who follow their niche. It’s like having a movie star, athlete, or musician endorse your product to a more focused audience.
There are a few ways to get your product in front of the right influential people. One is to send your product to the influencer with a nice note. However, you must remember, these are real people. They are more likely to support brands who support them first. Connect through social media with a targeted group of identified influencers, including online journalists. Ask them how you can support them. Take time to like and share their stuff with your community. Once you develop a sincere comfort level, you can inquire about how you can partner at a deeper level.
You can also pay your way into influencer attention with websites such as famebit.com, now owned by Google. This is where you can connect with influencers in a more formal setting by requesting proposals from influencers looking for sponsors in a variety of niches.
Retargeting
Often branding activities include a technique called retargeting. This option allows you to send messages to people who have limited or specific interaction with your brand. Target audiences can include people who visit your website to gather basic information, but don’t purchase or ask for more information. I look at retargeting as a second chance to make a first impression.
Both Google and Facebook have powerful retargeting platforms. Facebook retargeting and its audiences options are powerful considering all the data they collect. This data enables Facebook to create new target audiences similar to the ones who have visited your website. Google retargeting shows your message after people visit your website to properties across the web. Google has recently released updates to their system which makes it even more powerful, and a contender with Facebook data.
Google now allows you to target specific people who visit your website based on their demographics, where they came from, keywords they use to find your website, and the technology they use. For example, you can send a specific message to 25 – 45 year-old women in Oakland County, with a specific family income, who has visited have your website with an iPhone.
Another nice option is to send a message to people who visit specific pages on your website. For example, someone who only visits your front page many not be a strong prospect. However, a visitor who reads your front page, about page and contact page displays more quality signs of interest. You can send a custom message to such high value visitors.
Get Creative
There are many ways to earn attention online. Video continues to play a big role online. Often a combination of techniques is helpful to earn multiple branding touches. However, before you start a branding campaign, you must define who you want to know you. Build a messaging plan around their problem and show them you are the solution.
Rosh Sillars is a digital marketing consultant at https://rosh.media. Rosh also shares daily business and marketing updates on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/roshsillars.
Few issues are more difficult to navigate in a family business than the role of in-laws, or out-laws for that matter. In either case, they are relatives by someone else’s choice. Hopefully we all make good choices for partners, but what’s good for you might not be good for others. On the other hand, your choice of a partner could be the saving grace for your family’s business.
During my tenure as a family business consultant I have certainly seen it go both ways. The challenge becomes to find a level playing field that will work well for both the family and the business. When it comes to in-laws, finding that field can range from the “field of dreams” to a sinking hole with no boundaries.
Two Extremes
Families tend to take one of two directions with relatives of choice: either inclusive or exclusive. Some families approach in-laws as being the same as blood – same rights, privileges, opportunities, and perks. Others take an exclusionary approach and deny all “out-laws” any employment, ownership or even input. These families tend to reserve family business opportunities for blood lines only. Sometimes, these exclusionary families prevent any dilution of ownership in strongly worded legal documents.
Both positions have merit. Neither is right or wrong. The faith that our blood relatives will make good choices and add new strength to the family’s human capital has worked well for many. But sometimes those choices yield very different results, causing the need to discharge the once in-law who is now an out-law, and when that happens the results can be devastating for both the business and the family.
One family I worked with has two in-laws successfully running sister companies … and another family’s founder had to fire his son-in-law, and that couple eventually divorced. Consider what happens when divorce (legal or otherwise) alters the family tree and the business team?
Determining Family
Family trees have become very complicated. Defining family has changed and has impacted the family business. Couples are living together for years or decades, some having children out of wedlock. Sibships, step-sibs, half-siibs can also be challenging.
What if your Mom started the business, divorced your Dad and remarried? Here it is 10 years later, and she wants to give her step-son a good job. He is 7 years your junior, never finished college or held a decent job, but gets entry at a management level. While your family has always been “inclusive,” it was meant to include your blood relatives and their partners, and not the child of your Mother’s second husband with that “other woman.”
At what point in a relationship is a significant other considered family, and whose decision is it? Is the only defining moment marriage, or is a “ring and a date” good enough? Or how about long-term couples who live together, and how long is long enough? Again, no right or wrong here, but these are questions that families should navigate before making decisions about how relatives influence the family business.
Setting Up the Policy
It’s reasonable for the family to know the rules, and it would conform to best practices. Treating the significant other of one very differently than another would yield family conflict. How family members enter the business is a very critical piece of long term success. So, how relatives of choice fit into an Entry Policy is crucial. It is important for long term harmony and success that the family has input in this decision-making process through a series of thoughtful family meetings. Since entry addresses a beginning, it’s a great place to establish some decision-making protocol and authority.
Establishing a small committee of different generations, varied family branches and employment (or non-employment) positions would be a great start. I suggest that those with the “big stick” be left off this small think tank. The task at hand would be to develop an Entry Policy for family. Once the committee has done the hard work of mixing the family values with the business needs, they will present a draft of a policy for broader consideration, editing and eventually approval. Part of the task will be to define family and the position of non-blood relatives.
First, define family. One way to approach this is to see who fits on the family tree, and as you do that, define why, or why not, some individuals belong on the tree. Then consider what would need to happen for those who have been left off the tree to be included.
The past is a key to the future. Psychologists tell us that family patterns can run five generations deep. While skeptical at first, I have found this to be true in most cases. Your first step, then, should be to explore your family’s history of the acceptance of outsiders. Is your family one that has a history of long successful marriages and a sharing of holidays and lifecycle events? Or, is there more of a pattern of broken relationships, avoiding holidays, and sidestepping family events?
If your family fits the former, then you are probably more toward the inclusive side of the spectrum. If you’re on the latter then your family is more exclusive.
Next, determine whose decision an Entry Policy will be, and how they will decide? Keep in mind that at some point owners will have to empower stakeholders. If that doesn’t happen during life, it does after death. Ultimately, the hire decision will rest with the management team, but giving them some guidelines on how to deal with the family will make the process more professional and less controversial.
Who gets the final say will be another big decision. Will it be the owners by proportional vote, owners by one-person-one vote, or by consensus of the family? How decisions are made is crucial for buy-in and empowerment. Normally those with input during the decision-making process will buy in to the outcome even if they don’t fully agree.
Dissemination
Once a policy has been established it needs to be communicated to all the parties it affects – the stakeholders. Policies effecting the broad family should be rolled out at a family meeting attended by all who are expected to observe to the policy. The rollout will give the family an opportunity to discuss the policy and its development. Keep in mind that the value of this process is multifaceted, but two key points are central: the discussions in the small committee will set a tone for how this family will “do business” with each other, and entry into the business will be defined in a way that will prevent future conflicts that come with a – shall we say – a more flexible impromptu policy.
Policies are living documents and should be altered as things change. Part of an Entry Policy should be an exception process and an amendment process. Any exception process should be intentionally burdensome to prevent circumventing the intent, and an amendment process should require the same kind of due diligence as the original policy.
Summary
Developing an Entry Policy for your family enterprise will help avoid future conflict. It will impose existing family values on the opportunities that the family business presents while setting guidelines for family employment. A well drafted Entry Policy will define family including relatives of choice and prevent future struggles over issues that are likely to surface if not clearly delineated beforehand. Furthermore, by establishing a process to develop an Entry Policy, the family can design a procedure for governance. As always, professionals trained in family business will add meaningful insights and improved outcomes to your process.
With a slogan like “art for all,” the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, shows it is a regional art center committed to promoting visual arts experiences.
The BBAC, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary milestone this fall, has been place-making for decades. With three generations of artists, students, and art-lovers, its facility in Birmingham is called “home” by many. It serves a diverse mix of ages, nationalities, and religions that come from more than 100 Michigan cities. The number and variety of classes, exhibitions, and events also serve regional artists and draw regional audiences.
The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, founded in 1957, serves the Detroit region’s visual arts community. Its mission is “to connect people of all ages and abilities with visual arts education, exhibition, and other creative experiences.” It does this by offering classes, exhibits, workshops, camps, and events to the public.
The nonprofit organization is celebrating its milestone with a free community Sunday @ The Center. The celebration will include a choice of family-friendly workshop projects, a special “Exhibition Expedition” children’s art exploration activity, giveaways from Blick Art Materials and, of course, birthday cake. All activities are FREE and open to all ages (children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult). The event is supported in part by the Bank of Ann Arbor and Dick Blick Art Materials.
Each year, more than 500 classes are offered for all skill levels and ages, preschool to senior citizens. Throughout the year, nearly 9,000 individuals are served by classes, workshops, art camps, ArtAccess programs, special events and exhibitions that are free and open to the public. The BBAC also supports hundreds of artists each year, with opportunities to teach, exhibit and sell their work. The BBAC is a 25,000-square-foot facility with nine classrooms studios, five exhibition galleries and retail Gallery Shop.
Its exhibits are always free and open to the public. Also, scholarships are available for adults or youth classes. Nearly 6,000 individuals from Southeast Michigan benefit from art opportunities every year. Whether through art-looking and discussion or learning a new skill in drawing, painting, sculpture, jewelry/metalsmithing, printmaking, ceramics and fiber arts, the BBAC promotes the creative process.
Its support of artists includes not only exhibitions, but also retail space that facilitates partnerships with local artists. Its Gallery Shop, open year-round, hosts over 75 artists. During the month of December, the BBAC hosts the annual Holiday Shop. Participation well exceeds 100 artists throughout the region.
Finally, BBAC outreach programs, ArtAccess, provide authentic art experiences for those with limited access and varied challenges. For example, people with physical limitations due to age; cognitive disabilities; or geographic restrictions are likely program participants.
At the BBAC in 2016, art mattered to: 1,900 adults & youth taking classes, 1,500 people who looked at exhibits, 810 children who enjoyed free art activities at community events, 501 participants in Sundays @ the Center & Seniors @ the Center, low-cost monthly drop-in workshops, 288 Alzheimer’s or dementia patients along with their caregivers participating in Meet Me @ the BBAC as well as hundreds of artists who earn a living by teaching and/or selling their work in exhibits and/or the Gallery Shop/Holiday Shop.
The problem-solving iChallengeU introduces high school students to business careers. Teams develop solutions to a real-world challenges and are judged on their business plan presentations. Winners of the state contest, July 28, took home two-year scholarships to Baker College, the event’s sponsor.
Science centers, businesses and astronomy lovers of all ages are preparing for the total eclipse of the sun today – a unique event because it is a rare “All American” eclipse that U.S. residents can see across the nation.
While safety should be the first concern – for example, never stare directly at the sun because it can cause irreversible damage to the eyes – there are many ways that businesses are working with their customers to understand the eclipse, the sun’s power and solar energy as a whole.
For example, NASA predicts Monday will be a busy travel day. About 25 million people reside within a day’s drive of the path of totality. If you’re traveling, have your vehicle serviced prior to leaving; pack an emergency kit and extra food, water and blankets; and plan your route and have a backup.
Although partial solar eclipses occur worldwide multiple times a year, a Total Solar Eclipse occurs only when the disk of the moon appears to completely cover the disk of the sun, causing the sky to turn dark for roughly two minutes and the temperature to drop up to 10 degrees.
Space.com says the Great American Total Solar Eclipse will darken skies all the way from South Carolina to Oregon, along a stretch of land about 70 miles (113 kilometers) wide. People who descend upon this “path of totality” for the big event are in for an unforgettable experience. In Michigan, the state will experience a partial eclipse – where the moon covers only part of the sun.
This once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse has Consumers Energy sharing information about its company, how it looks at solar and what you need to know about what’s happening with solar around the state. Here is a brief update.
• The eclipse should block part of the sun over three hours on Monday afternoon, but it shouldn’t interrupt the energy Consumers Energy provides to 1.8 million Michigan homes and businesses. Even if its solar power plants aren’t operating fully during the eclipse, Consumers Energy still has reliable sources of energy to power homes and businesses.
• Solar has a bright future. Consumers Energy operates two solar power plants that opened in 2016, at Grand Valley State University and Western Michigan University. Together, they generate 4 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 800 homes.
• Consumers Energy started these plants as part of Solar Gardens, a growing community solar program, in which customers support the development of new solar energy projects. Learn more: www.ConsumersEnergy.com/solargardens.
• This spring, Consumers Energy also started a rooftop solar program for households. Customers can put solar panels on the rooftops of their homes, working with industry-leading solar provider SunPower. Learn more: www.ConsumersEnergy.com/solarpilot.
• Live video streams of the August 21 total solar eclipse, from NASA Television and locations across the country, will begin at noon at www.nasa.gov/eclipselive.
Detroit is a city of art, history, muscle and creativity. So to get to know it, you need to invest in these parts of its personality, and you need to explore its artists, their work and their inspirations.
That is what the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and the DRCFA Art Foundation have done as they recently debuted new artwork from local and regional artists at a reception to acknowledge these artists and their work.
The DRCFA Art Foundation’s initiative has Detroit’s Cobo Center joining major convention centers throughout the country featuring public art including cities such as Chicago, Nashville, Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. Cobo Center’s curator is Maureen Devine. Located downtown on the Detroit Riverfront, Cobo Center is one of the largest convention centers in the nation offering 723,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Featured artists include:
* Sergio De Guisti
* Hubert Massey
* Sr. Jane Mary Sorosiak
* Gilda Snowden
* April Wagner
* S. Kay Young
The two organizations also hosted a fundraiser to install a Hubert Massey fresco at Cobo Center. A completed drawing of Hubert Massey’s 30′ x 30′ fresco is on view for the public to see as the work continues. The fresco will be a permanent large-scale mural featuring positive regional stories.
Massey is a Michigan artist who works in a number of different kinds of media to create large public art installations. Massey frequently collaborates with the communities he lives in to help them use art to “tell their stories,” as the Kresge Foundation notes. In Detroit, you can see his artwork in the Museum of African American History, Paradise Valley Park and Campus Martius.
The fresco received initial funding from the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the Richard and Jane Manoogian Foundation, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts helping towards the $510,000 fundraising goal. Cobo Art and the fresco project are funded through the new DRCFA Art Foundation (501c3).
Another notable artist whose work is on display is Detroiter Gilda Snowden, who passed away in 2014. She was a graduate of Cass Technical High School and Wayne State University, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Art and Master of Fine Arts in Painting. She was Interim Chair and Professor of Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies and also Gallery Director of the Detroit Repertory Theatre. Snowden’s works have been exhibited throughout the United States as well as in Mexico, Canada and West Africa.
In September 2009, operational control of Cobo Center transferred to the Detroit Regional Convention Facility, under a collaborative agreement by the Michigan State Legislature, the City of Detroit, and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Each of these entities has an appointed member on the DRCFA Board. Larry Alexander is the appointee of the Governor of the State of Michigan and serves as Chairman of the Board.
Ross Mortgage Corporation closed its offices on Thursday, August 3, and brought more than 60 employees together to help clean up a Detroit neighborhood by removing blight, picking weeds, mowing lawns, and picking up garbage.
When they served in the U.S. military, the men and women of the armed forces fought to defend their nation, its ideals and its people. Now, employers throughout the country are fighting over them, hoping to hire these skilled soldiers throughout their organizations.
Michigan may be one of the most visible examples of a veteran-centric strategy.
Through a special program created through the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency in Lansing, employers looking for skilled workers and veterans are connecting for jobs and to create more opportunities for veteran hires across the state.
Along with other programs on a national level, Michigan’s Veteran-Friendly Employer program recognizes employers from small mom-and-pop shops to huge international companies to everything in between. Its goal is to recognize organizations for their dedication to recruiting, hiring, training and maintaining veteran talent, explained MVAA Director James Robert Redford.
Participants have opportunities to network with other companies to share best practices and take advantage of no-cost training to improve veteran outreach practices. The program also helps veterans to more easily identify employers committed to hiring and supporting former service members in their workforces.
“When the program started four years ago, we had about 37 employers in the first year. In our second year, that went up to around 65 employers. Our most recent count is 137 employers. It’s just exploding,” said Redford, who became director in February 2016.
There are three levels of recognition within the Veteran-Friendly Employer program: Gold, Silver and Bronze. Each level has its own qualifications. For example, to be recognized as gold, employers must retain at least 75 percent of veteran hires over the past 12 months, implement internal veteran support networks and create either a hiring rotation or leadership development program within their organization, in addition to meeting all other program requirements.
There are currently seven gold-level Veteran-Friendly Employers: Consumers Energy, DTE Energy, General Motors, Michigan Department of Transportation, Quicken Loans, Roush Enterprises, and Whirlpool Corporation.
A dozen organiztions are recognized as silver-level employers for meeting or exceeding their veteran hiring goals and implementing internship and on-the-job training programs for veterans: AlixPartners, LLP; Cooper Standard; Express Professionals of Grand Rapids; Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Ford Motor Company; GE; Kellogg; Michigan State Police; Optech; Prestige Group; Uniform Color Company; and Verizon.
The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency recently recognized Ford Motor Company as a silver-level certified Veteran-Friendly Employer. With the addition of Ford, the Detroit Three automakers, including General Motors and Fiat Chrysler of America, are now all certified program participants.
“It’s a great cross-section of employers across the state,” Redford said. “We’ve got every kind of company from the Detroit automotive manufacturers to financial institutions to small local candy shops. There are great success stories at every level.”
Ford is a great example of how the program works and the kind of impact it can have on a company as well as its employees, Redford said. Ford was certified at the silver-level for meeting or exceeding its veteran hiring goals and implementing internship and on-the-job training programs for veterans.
“Ford has a long history of supporting our military, and I am pleased and proud that this Michigan company is a certified member of MVAA’s Veteran-Friendly Employer Program,” Redford said. “As a silver-level employer, Ford has shown great commitment to hiring and training the veteran talent our state has to offer. Our veterans possess valuable skills and abilities that make them unique and excellent candidates for careers at Ford and at the more than 100 other companies participating in the program.”
Veterans working at Ford are provided the opportunity to bring unique leadership and project management skills to such areas as manufacturing, information technology, product development, purchasing and in finance. Additionally, the company’s Veterans Network Group helps veterans with the transition into corporate culture. The group sponsors activities throughout the year in support of the company’s veterans, military personnel and their families.
“Ford Motor Company is dedicated to supporting our military personnel, veterans, and their families,” Bill Dirksen, vice president Labor Affairs, Ford Motor Company, and executive champion of the Veterans Network Group, said in a statement. “At Ford, we value the military experience of our nation’s brave servicemen and women, the technical skills they gain while serving our great country, and leadership qualities which are well respected at Ford.”
Redford said he knows Ford as well as other employers appreciate the skill set military veterans have and can put to use in their workforces. They are skilled at teamwork. They have inner discipline. They can learn anything. And they’re eager to get on the job, Redford said.
“They’re tremendous assets for an organization, so companies are starting to compete for them,” said Redford, who noted that the unemployment rate for Michigan veterans has dropped from 15 percent in 2010 to under 3.4 percent now.
The program is a statewide effort from Gov. Rick Synder to the MVAA to every employer or potential employer, Redford added.
“It combines public and private partnerships, and we’re working hard every day to make it better,” Redford said. “For Michigan to compete, we’re going to need talent and veterans in the armed forces provides a ready talent pool.”
A complete list of bronze-level Veteran-Friendly Employers, as well as information on how to become a Veteran-Friendly Employer, is available at MichiganVeterans.com.
When the term infrastructure is brought up, several things come quickly to mind. Bridges, roads, pipelines, even the power grid that keeps the lights on are logical touchpoints and Corp! has featured these topics in a series of articles.
But there’s another category that is getting the attention of communities in Michigan and elsewhere—the enabling power of the internet as an essential job creator and sustaining economic force.
And, more to the point, the work being done by a widespread collaboration of private enterprise, community collaborators and government authorities is arguably having at least as much, if not more, impact as many of the “traditional” infrastructure projects being tackled.
Yet with any infrastructure project, the work begins by understanding what’s currently in place and what the future need will be and what it will take to deliver on that need.
As part of that “understanding” task, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder formed 21st Century Infrastructure, which issued its report in November 2016, an assessment of not only what is needed, but where, with one recommendation being to rectify a potentially polarizing situation involving the “haves” and “have nots” from a technology perspective.
In Michigan, much of the work around identifying areas of the state where high-speed broadband exists is being facilitated by Connect Michigan, a nonprofit organization that has links to the nationwide Connected Nation.
Eric Frederick, Connect Michigan’s vice president of community affairs, who grew up in the state and who returned to the area in 2011, has made it his mission to not only better understand the “state of” internet connectivity, but to work with communities and internet providers to upgrade that access.
Frederick calls the role of Connect Michigan as being somewhere between that of a private and public entity.
“We’re often confused between the two but we’re really a third phase, where we work with state agencies and legislatures, local chambers of commerce, and municipalities to try to build understanding of broadband and how it’s important and expanding throughout the state,” he said.
But if Connect Michigan doesn’t provide internet (it doesn’t), what is its specific role?
Frederick says a big part of what the organization does is to help other organizations understand what’s available today and what gaps in service exist, mostly so those gaps can be closed.
“Part of it is mapping the broadband that exists, as well as the competition there is in providing that broadband connection,” he says. “Competition breeds affordability and choice and we do a lot of research around that.”
Connect Michigan also identifies various barriers that exist to expanding internet, including availability. But it also works to address issues around affordability, as well as literacy.
Frederick says primary education is also playing a role in advancing the development of broadband internet throughout the state, notably in school districts where students are provided with tablets in a digital learning environment.
“When they take those devices home, unless there is good broadband connection, they turn into paperweights, so that reality is sparking a lot of attention in those communities,” says Frederick.
There are, of course, areas in the state where business leadership in advancing broadband internet is becoming a competitive advantage.
In Grand Rapids, for example, that charge is taking place at The Right Place, the primary economic development organization serving West Michigan.
Rick Chapla, who has been with the organization for more than two decades, is vice president of Strategic Initiatives and the executive overseeing the effort to improve digital infrastructure, a path he’s been on for about eight years.
“What we’ve discovered is that it’s not only the availability of broadband, but the quality of the service that has a growing impact on business decisions as to where they’re going to operate,” says Chapla. “Communities and regions that have higher quality broadband are going to be in a better competitive situation.”
And that means jobs.
“Having quality broadband throughout the area really is a job enabler,” says Chapla. “Businesses and communities that are able to conduct their business online are going to be better, stronger and better able to compete. And for some, it’s going to be a matter of their very existence, not just whether they can compete.”
Chapla says the strategy being employed by The Right Place and its membership has included an alliance with Connect Michigan, which fit with a set of prosperity initiatives outlined by Gov. Snyder.
“We’ve embedded the broadband initiative into our strategic plan,” said Chapla, who points to The Right Place being the lead economic development organization in a 13-county region, one of some 10 regions that Snyder’s administration has identified.
Snyder challenged the regions, including the West Michigan Prosperity Alliance, to broaden their thinking. “He said to think regionally, but act locally,” notes Chapla. “And we rose to the challenge.”
Essentially that means to create more prosperity in the region, with The Right Place leading the charge in working together to improve quality of life issues through business-led initiatives.
“The idea of broadband enhancement is a key driver for increasing prosperity generically in the region,” says Chapla, who says The Right Place contracts with Connect Michigan, focusing their technical assistance on helping the 13 counties in the area.
“The kind of work we’ve been doing includes accelerating those improvements,” says Chapla. “It’s the kind of work that demands immediate attention, rather than over 5-10 years. We don’t have the time to do that. There’s too much to do and the competitive forces are too great.”
Tactically, that work has included assessing the quality and accessibility of broadband on a county-by-county basis, with only two counties—Oceana and Ottawa—left to finish up that assessment, which is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2018.
Chapla says working cooperatively and on a regional basis is a strategy that recognizes the fact that there are numerous providers involved in the broadband industry. “The overwhelming vast majority are private enterprises, so working with those providers is essential to our success.”
That kind of cooperation and facilitation is evident in Clare County, where Jerry Becker serves as both director of Emergency Management and the person who oversees the area’s broadband authority.
Becker’s role as a county representative was largely one of facilitation, leveraging the role Clare County had in owning the fiber “backend” of the broadband network and working with a local provider, Alma-based ISP Management, to build out the broadband infrastructure.
“We facilitated the connection between the ISP and the townships,” said Becker. Those discussions, which were held quarterly, followed a request for proposals in 2009 that went without a formal response.
“Ultimately, it was the townships that built towers that were used to build out a wireless internet network,” says Becker, with the county providing the essential connections to the larger internet, often referred to as “backhaul” in the telecommunications industry.
Heading north and west is Harbor Springs, across the Little Traverse Bay from Petoskey and part of Emmet County, where Rachel Smolinski and HARBOR Inc.—short for Harbor Area Regional Board of Resources—have worked on a grassroots level in developing the area through a broad range of interests, including improvements to broadband service.
“We work on projects that cross multiple jurisdictions,” says Smolinski, who has a bachelor’s degree in aquatic biology and who worked as a water quality specialist and environmental director with the Little Traverse Band of Odawa Indians before joining HARBOR Inc. seven years ago.
She’s now working on a master’s degree in public administration from Central Michigan University.
Smolinski recalls how the push toward broadband first began taking shape, a story that has its introduction over a cup of coffee with Marcie Wolf, who runs Abuzz Creative, a local agency.
“I knew her from afar and we started talking about what we could do together,” says Smolinski. “We had a platform and she had the expertise. Two or three months later, we were doing our first training on Twitter.”
That was January 2015 and the pair—through Harbor Active, a joint venture between Abuzz and HARBOR Inc.—have held a series of events and training, pricing them at an affordable, but not free, basis.
“That was deliberate,” said Smolinski, referring to the pricing scheme. “We often have a waiting list and if you don’t show up or pay, you’ve denied someone else the opportunity.”
On the broadband connection front, Smolinski admits the task was a little more involved, starting in 2012 with a survey that was mailed to property owners in the area.
Once the group had some data, they started to share that information with service providers, taking “any opportunity” to get in front of them and “telling anyone and everyone that the Harbor Springs area wants better broadband and better connectivity.”
Smolinski says she had a good response to the contacts and started hosting broadband team meetings, inviting representatives from local government (township and county) and anyone with a stake in better broadband.
“We started seeing connections being made,” said Smolinski. “Even with the providers, who were reluctant to talk about what they were doing, but opened up a bit when they started seeing the benefit.”
Smolinski also made a connection with Connect Michigan.
All that talk has resulted in plans to complete a fiber network that is close to becoming a reality, part of an initiative involving Emmett County, Central Michigan University and Harbor Springs High School, with connections through MERIT—the 51-year-old nonprofit internet provider that was first organized by Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
Smolinski admits to a certain level of frustration when she sees some providers “building over each other,” calling that a waste of resources.
“What we try to do is keep them communicating with each other,” she adds. “Sometimes it’s a side conversation, but you take the opportunities to put these entities together to make this happen.”
But Smolinski, not content to sit by and wait, is also involved in an initiative that is attempting to leverage demand for broadband with a growing cadre of workers who would more likely stay in the area longer if they had better digital connections.
The initiative has included carving out a downtown Harbor Springs facility that will offer, for a monthly fee, space for members to work with all the connections they need. Smolinski expects the project—The Loft—to be open in the early fall.
In Sharon Township, a Washtenaw County municipality about 30 miles west and southwest of Ann Arbor, it was the complete lack of broadband service that prompted Peter Psarouthakis and the rest of the township board to stand for election in 2012.
Psarouthakis, who works as a professional investigator in addition to his elected job of township supervisor, has since seen a “do it yourself” approach to broadband for the community of some 1,700 (the municipality is between Manchester and Chelsea).
The municipality has spent about $15,000 for a feasibility study, which led to a ballot proposal that Psarouthakis says is likely go to voters in May 2018. If voters approve the cost of connecting broadband throughout the township, they will pay the $5 million on their taxes over 20 years to get basic broadband with the option to pay for higher speeds, although the specific details have not yet been worked out.
And then there’s Detroit, where Rocket Fiber, founded in 2014 as part of the Rock Ventures and Quicken Loans organization, is bringing gigabit internet and what it calls an “industry-leading, personalized client experience” to residents and businesses.
Rocket Fiber’s cofounder and CEO is Marc Hudson, who before the firm was launched was working as a software engineer at Quicken Loans.
He heard about Google’s plans for gigabit internet service and basically thought “why not here?”
Teaming up with two other workers—Edi Dema is cofounder and Chief Operating Officer; Randy Foster is cofounder and Chief Technology Officer—the trio sold the idea to Dan Gilbert.
“We incubated with Quicken Loans and got the funding,” says Hudson, who says the subsequent three years have seen rapid growth. “We’ve gone from three guys in a conference room to our own dedicated space, about 60 team members and more than 200 large residential and commercial customers.”
The all new construction that has enabled Rocket Fiber’s growth is a combination of contracted and in-house work, plus a good deal of interfacing with resources provided by Connect Michigan.
“They’ve got some good data resources that we’ve been able to use,” says Hudson.
While Hudson won’t discuss specific financial performance for the venture, he does say they are generating revenue and are “happy, very happy” with Rocket Fiber’s trajectory.
“We’re on track,” he said. “In some areas, we’re ahead of where we thought we would be by this point in our development.”
A notable “case study” is that of Detroit Lives!, a video production company that was forced to physically ship hard drives to deliver its work prior to connecting to Rocket Fiber’s broadband, a cost that amounted to several hundred dollars.
“Now they have gigabit service to their suite [in the Penobscot building] and can bid on jobs that they might not have been able to prior to having this service,” said Hudson.
Rocket Fiber is also looking at an internet-based TV product that Hudson expects to launch this summer, with technology that would provide a higher quality stream than what’s currently available through traditional cable.
“The most exciting thing for me is that Detroit had one of the worst infrastructures from a choice perspective,” says Hudson. “Today we’re offering the fastest internet service available—10 gig—which is only available in a handful of networks elsewhere.”
Being a police officer is more than enough workout in one day, but St. Clair Shores resident Todd Fritz adds being a father, an athlete and a chief master sergeant to that mix.
Fritz also is a heart-attack survivor, and he uses that as inspiration for staying in shape. Fritz, who trains six to seven days a week, recently was selected by Men’s Health magazine out of hundreds of entries to become a top 10 semifinalist in The Ultimate Men’s Health Guy Search.
According to Men’s Health, the Ultimate Men’s Health Guy Search is a nationwide call for a “well-rounded, active, health conscious and thoughtful guy who is fit and fearless; a doer who gives back, leads by example, and shows the world his true self.” The winner of this contest will appear on the November 2017 cover of Men’s Health.
Here is what Fritz had to say about himself, his commitments and this contest:
Q: How do you stay fit and healthy? Why is it important to you?
A: “I remain committed to my fitness not only for individual health issues but also to allow me to serve my community, as well as, to serve as an example to my children to live a healthy lifestyle.”
Q: How do you give back to your community/friends/family?
A: “All three of my jobs are in service to others. During the day, I work as a public servant for the Federal Government and at night and weekends I am a reserve police officer. Also, I am a Chief Master Sergeant in the USAF military reserve which takes up a great deal of my time even when off duty.”
Q: What’s the most significant challenge you have overcome in your life?
A: “On Jan 29th 2017, I suffered a ‘Widow Maker’ heart attack with 100 percent of my left coronary artery blocked. At six weeks, the cardiologist felt I was fit enough to continue back training on my own, as Cardio Rehab would be too easy for me. I can say, it’s not been easy mentally or physically; however, I realize if I hadn’t been training so diligently all these years I would not have made it. Life has a whole new meaning now. Literally Training to Live!”
Q: How do you measure success? Have you achieved it?
A: “I measure success not by monetary value but by the impact I have made in others by investing in them. My wife would say that I have achieved it however; inside of me is an old super hero that will never stop trying to save the world.”
Q: What’s the best advice you have ever received?
A: “Pain is temporary, but quitting lasts forever.”
Baker College Girls STEM Camp was a flying success for girls ages 12-14 from Warren and Mount Clemens. “When we introduce a young girl to STEM career opportunities, we open the door to something she might never have previously imagined,” said Patty Kaufman, president of Clinton Township campus.
Selling real estate requires attention to detail, a lot of empathy for buyer and seller as well as an understanding of how to market properties. Add a sizable price tag, and you have to step up your game to sell one of Detroit’s hottest properties.
Metro Detroit real estate agent Deborah Smith of the Family First Team at Keller Williams knows this game all too well. Smith recently found that innovating marketing helped her find the right buyer for the former Berry Gordy Mansion, one of the city’s most stately homes.
Known today as the Motown Mansion, the sale of the Boston-Edison Historic District property, located at 918 W. Boston Blvd., closed in August for $1.65 million. Current owner Cynthia F. Reaves, Esq. sold the home to a native Detroiter who is relocating back to the area from San Francisco.
The list price was $1.595 million. The sale price is higher than any sale in the Boston-Edison district in recent history and the second highest sales price for a residential property in Detroit this year, according to Smith of Keller Williams Realty – West Bloomfield Market Center.
Smith attributes the successful sale at above the asking price to the thoughtfully executed, award- winning restoration completed by Reaves, along with an aggressive marketing approach.
Reaves made a point to keep intact as much of the mansion’s original architecture and structure as possible. Situated on a 2.2 acre lot, the stately property includes a 10,500-square-foot primary residence and adjoining 4,400-square-foot pool house. A carriage house on the property also has its own apartment. From stain-glass windows and multiple fireplaces, to black walnut paneling and a hand-crafted fountain, the home is truly a Detroit jewel.
The restoration was the perfect launch point for an international marketing plan crafted by Smith. “Using the Keller Williams international network, I was able to give the home the exposure that a property of this stature requires. In fact, it was through this marketing that the eventual buyer contacted me to request a viewing,” noted Smith, who added that the marketing effort resulted in multiple offers that allowed the owner to sell for more than the asking price.
Interest generated in the property once it came on the market was widespread, and included inquiries from potential buyers in London, Dubai and Brazil.
Smith added: “The process took two years and we went through several deals with several buyers before Ms. Reaves found the right buyer to protect the legacy of this iconic home and become its new steward.”
On Sunday, August 6, more than 300 cyclists peddled through 15 miles of Detroit’s most beautiful, thriving and up-and-coming neighborhoods as part of Neighborhood Service Organization’s Annual “Handlebars for the Homeless” event and fundraiser.
The 2017 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest presented by Bedrock has a new crop of sem-finalists competing to open the latest and greatest retail concept in the city.
The Top 10, revealed in a special event Thursday, are competing for $50,000 from Comerica Bank and more than $200,000 in pro bono support from Hatch Detroit and its partners.
The contest now turns to the public to cast their vote and help determine the four finalists who will go head-to-head in a Hatch Off business pitch competition Friday, Aug. 25.
“As Detroit continues to prosper, so does the independent small business retail,” said Vittoria Katanski, executive director, Hatch Detroit. “This year we received more than 160 business applications and look forward to standing alongside the community as it determines the businesses that will become this year’s finalists.”
The 2017 Hatch Detroit semi-finalists vying for public votes are:
· Baobab Fare is a restaurant, market and juice bar, offering an array of prepared menu items, groceries, juices and other retail products unique to East Africa. Customers will be warmly welcomed to simply shop for retail products such as herbs, spices, produce, fresh meat or other groceries.
· Bar Botánica will be a mixed-use craft cocktail bar and café in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood of Detroit. Its unique concept takes inspiration from the mystery and magic of botánicas—shops that sell plants, herbs, candles and other mystical products used in Afro-Caribbean spiritual practices.
· Bases is an all-natural, organic one stop shop for DIY homemade external skin and hair care products. Customers are able to customize products to their specific needs and liking. Everything about Bases is new, original and a must have for Detroit.
· Bendicion de Dios is a Salvadoran immigrant-owned restaurant which features recipes passed down from generations of Salvadoran women. These recipes have been perfected to transport Detroiters to El Salvador one bite at a time. Operating as a catering business for four years, they are ready to offer their food in a brick and mortar restaurant.
· Coop Detroit tastefully blends Caribbean and Asian flavors together to create a mouthwatering grilled chicken base for each dish on the menu. Locally sourced and seasoned with a unique, but distinguished, array of herbs and spices from both cultures.
· Detroit Blows will efficiently provide women in Detroit with high-quality, specialized blowout hair styling services at a great value, utilizing non-toxic, high-performance products in a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere.
· Fam is a clothing store that features handcrafted contemporary menswear in Detroit with premium American fabrics. They are firmly committed to creating sustainable manufacturing jobs in Detroit and establishing the city on the cutting edge of the fashion industry.
· Rebell Nell a jewelry company in Detroit that makes hand crafted, high quality jewelry out of fallen graffiti. They exist to employ women who are transitioning out of shelter living, educate them on financial literacy, business, and life wellness, and empower them to live an independent life.
· Rosedale Beer & Bistro will be a community-focused, full-service restaurant and brewpub serving Northwest Detroit. It will bring a vibrant atmosphere for Northwest Detroit residents and visitors to enjoy fresh cuisine, hand-crafted house beer, as well as wine and cocktails.
· The Lip Bar is a beauty brand that exists to disrupt traditional beauty ideals by focusing on their beliefs to guide the products they produce. The products are free from harsh chemicals and filled with natural and organic oils. The products are responsibly made and affordable.
“The Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest helped accelerate small business growth in Detroit neighborhoods,” said Monica L. Martinez, senior vice president, External Affairs – Comerica Bank. “Comerica is proud to continue our support of Hatch Detroit and its alumni, and we look forward to seeing these entrepreneurs step into the limelight and be part of Detroit’s continuing revitalization.”
“Hatch Detroit aligns perfectly with our goals of supporting entrepreneurs, driving job growth, and creating opportunity for all,” said RJ Wolney, vice president of Finance at Bedrock and Hatch Detroit board member. “Bedrock is proud to continue our support of Hatch and its mission to grow Detroit’s community of small businesses. Small businesses are a crucial part to a unique, diverse and successful city.”
To vote, visit HatchDetroit.com, Hatch Detroit’s Facebook page or vote in person at the following locations:
· 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Friday, Aug. 11 at SISTER PIE
· 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Monday, Aug. 14 at CADILLAC SQUARE
· 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 15 at SOUTHWEST DETROIT BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
· 4 p.m. – 8 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 17 at GRANDMONT ROSEDALE FARMERS’ MARKET
Voting will close at midnight, Thursday, Aug. 17, and the four finalists will be announced Friday, Aug. 18. The final voting period will take place until noon, Friday, Aug. 25. That same day, finalists will present their business pitch to a panel of judges and an audience before the winner is announced at the ticketed Hatch Off event. The Hatch Off will begin at 6 p.m. at 2987 Franklin St. Detroit.
As more Americans look to shape up, eat more healthy foods and look for meat alternatives, a company known as Beyond Meat is stepping up in markets across the country to provide a plant-based protein alternative – that also tastes good.
Beyond Meat – with its signature Beyond Burger – is hitting more than 600 Kroger stores this summer and the company says it will more than triple its distribution channels. According to CEO Ethan Brown, Beyond Burger satisfies like a traditional hamburger, but with all the upsides of plant-based protein, including being naturally cholesterol-free and with just five grams of saturated fat.
Consumer confidence has attracted big investors, including meat-industry giants including Tyson Foods, which owns a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat. Based in Los Angeles, California, Beyond Meat is a privately held company with other investors including Bill Gates, Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams, investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson, Honest Tea founder Seth Goldman, and the Humane Society of the United States.
This understanding about how mainstream Americans are looking for meat alternatives has Beyond Meat thinking big. It is now working with Kroger, Fred Meyers, Ralph’s, and King Soopers. Most recently, the Beyond Burger was added to the menus at BurgerFi and Epic Burger, two of the nation’s leading gourmet burger concepts, as well as to the meat aisle at some 23 locations of Heinen’s Fine Foods, a family-owned chain with stores throughout Ohio and Illinois.
Coupled with added expansion into Whole Food’s South Region, as well as distribution at Safeway stores throughout Northern California, Northern Nevada and Hawaii, the Beyond Burger is hoping to reach its goal of bringing plant-based protein to the masses.
Brown says that the Beyond Meat line is in response to growing consumer health and environmental concerns. Plus, the Beyond Burger “looks, cooks and satisfies like a traditional hamburger, but with all the upsides of plant-based protein,” including 20 grams of protein. The produce uses no GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and contains no soy or gluten.
Q: Why meatless products?
A: Beyond Meat’s aim was to create a delicious, animal and environmentally friendly product for consumers who want to enjoy the same great meaty taste, but in a non-harmful and healthy way. With 20 grams of protein, and no soy, gluten, GMOs, or cholesterol, you can still have the healthier choice without sacrificing the flavor.
Q: What has caused your company to grow in the past few years? What are the market trends?
A: Consumers, especially younger ones, are increasingly investing their time, energy, and money on their health. Whether it be eating more avocado toast or attending more cycling classes, they have enabled brands like Beyond Meat to provide healthier alternatives to foods they already know and love.
Q: Where do you see the business in five to 10 years?
A: With consumers demanding more alternative meat options, we see ourselves further expanding into supermarkets, grocers, and restaurants nationwide due to an already increasing demand.
Q: Why Kroger?
A: Kroger has recognized Beyond Meat as a product that’s too similar to meat to not include it in the meat aisle.
Q: What else do you want people to know?
A: If you love our burgers we’ll have a lot more in store for you soon!
Michigan, like many Rust Belt states, has long suffered from what people describe as a talent gap or “brain drain.” One area of particular concern is whether women have enough opportunity within the math and science industries.
One university is working to find ways to help female engineers and other careers within the STEM fields. Recently, the Clare Boothe Luce Program of the Henry Luce Foundation gave the University of Detroit Mercy a five-year, $465,000 grant to establish a tenure track engineering professorship for a woman.
Megan O. Conrad, Ph.D., has joined the faculty; she is the only current Clare Boothe Luce professor at any college or university in Michigan. Conrad will serve as a role model and mentor for women in the STEM fields.
The program’s mission is to increase participation of women in the sciences and engineering at every level of higher education. In addition, this program also serves as a catalyst for college and university efforts toward this goal.
As an undergraduate student at Marquette University, Conrad usually found herself surrounded in class by male students, both in the seats and in front of the class. But when she returned to Marquette for her doctorate in biomedical engineering eight years later, she found herself working with more female students.
That may have been partly a change in times, Conrad said, but she also believes the field is attractive to women interested in engineering who don’t want to enter the automotive industry.
“I think there are as many young women interested in science as there are men, but maybe they don’t feel comfortable pursuing those fields,” Conrad said, adding that her male colleagues have always supported her work and treated her well. Still, she appreciates the philosophy behind the grant-making body’s aim. “Having more females involved creates a community and will help students feel more comfortable following their interests.”
University officials said they are honored to have this opportunity and to work with Conrad.
“The Clare Boothe Luce professorship is a very prestigious award,” Interim Dean of the College of Engineering & Science Katy Snyder, Ph.D. said in a statement. “This award recognizes the hard work that faculty have invested in high-quality and meaningful projects that are spot-on with our mission. Megan will help develop and expand this program to make Detroit Mercy a destination for students interested in assistive technologies.”
Conrad shares that excitement.
“It’s a big undertaking and it’s exciting for the University,” she said. “The Clare Boothe Luce backing comes with other benefits; the University will be able to attract more female students and will be able to build more partnerships with industry and other funders.”
In April, Conrad attended an event at which Detroit Mercy Mechanical Engineering and Nursing students presented assistive living devices to the disabled people for whom they were designed. This event, at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit, was the culmination of Faces on Design, the capstone project in the University’s Mechanical Engineering program.
“I was particularly impressed by a team that built an extension into the base of a cane that, when activated, could help a user with mobility issues lift their foot into or out of a car,” Conrad said. “The extension efficiently collapsed back into the cane so the patient could immediately use the cane for walking. Through my experience conducting disability and rehabilitation research, I have met many patients who could use a similar device and I feel it is very marketable.”
“We wanted a faculty member who could expand upon what we have built over the past several years with the College of Health Professions and the Mechanical Engineering capstone course,” said the College’s former Dean, Gary Kuleck.
“And to have such a strong candidate essentially in our back yard was even better,” Kuleck added. Conrad most recently was assistant professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Oakland University. “This grant is a recognition of the University’s commitment to creating opportunities for women in STEM fields.”
The grant to Detroit Mercy will fund a tenure-track professorship.
“The field of engineering has a shortage of women engineers and I am certain that Dr. Conrad will inspire prospective students we may have missed in the past,” Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Darrell Kleinke said.
“I love her energy and her vision for the Assistive Technology program,” said Associate Professor of Nursing Molly L. McClelland, who was on the committee that hired Conrad. “She will move this program into something big that can really help the Detroit Mercy community.”
Grace Hsia was born one month premature. Growing up, she would listen to her parents recount the tale of her birthday and the fearful days that followed, when her survival was uncertain. Instead of wrapping her in his arms, Hsia’s dad connected with his daughter by touching her toe as she lay in an incubator. That medical device kept her body warm until she was strong enough to do so on her own. Today, nearly 30 years later, Hsia’s life and work are a testament to her birth and the incubator that saved her.
She is the co-founder of Warmilu, a startup that produces an incubator-like blanket that’s affordable, reusable, and maintains a consistent temperature over long periods. And because the blankets don’t rely on electricity, they tend to be a hit in underdeveloped locations where incubators and the electricity to run them are scarce.
The company is a product of an increasingly popular entrepreneurial ecosystem, with Warmilu beginning as a University of Michigan senior design class project before growing into a startup idea, and then further developing at Ann Arbor SPARK, a startup incubator.
While a variety of incubators exist throughout the U.S., SPARK is part of a SmartZone initiative in Michigan, one of 19 zones where research universities, government, business and entrepreneurs intersect to bring new, industry-disrupting products to market.
Warmilu is one of 564 startups launched through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s SmartZone initiative.
Across the nation, startups drive the innovation and job growth critical for thriving local economies, but, as the economy recovers, the rate of startups is slowing. In Michigan, startups are also key to diversifying the once automotive-dependent economy and securing its future as the nation’s continued leader in vehicle design and manufacturing.
Improving entrepreneurial momentum will mean attracting and retaining startup talent like Grace Hsia and SmartZone incubators are taking on the challenge by capitalizing on what they do best: connecting resources to the people who need them.
Personal Connections
The co-working and meeting spaces offered by incubators are designed to build a critical mass of entrepreneurial energy, said Ned Staebler, president and CEO of TechTown Detroit, a SmartZone incubator with a co-working space that hosts some 85 member companies.
That critical mass occurs when entrepreneurial, creative, passionate and sometimes struggling people all occupy the same space and begin talking.
To a great extent, the relationships are forged in fire. Incubator leaders, staff, and mentors, as well as peer-entrepreneurs, are shepherding startup founders through the best and worst moments of their careers, guiding them through the vast unknowns of business, and giving them a place to connect with others experiencing the same challenges and successes.
Warmilu’s Hsia said she was “blown away” by her mentorship experience, which included her realizing that no one on her team had any experience with what was involved with the clinical trial process, a key point in the development of the business.
It was a moment when she thought Warmilu might be doomed to fail. It was then that Bill Mayer, vice president for SPARK’s entrepreneurial services, stepped in and connected her with a mentor who guided her through the process.
Having interacted with tech hubs in other states, Hsia said the Michigan ecosystem is different because it is far more personal. Mentors hold their protégés accountable for fulfilling key milestones, a critical support for new entrepreneurs. In turn, entrepreneurs have access to some of the biggest names in investment and expertise because of the resource networks available through incubators like SPARK.
Hsia’s story is not a pragmatic list of pros and cons about Michigan’s best attributes. Hers is a passionate retelling of the highs and lows of her entrepreneurial journey and how the resources afforded to her were the difference between success and failure. This sense of passion for the place where Hsia made her dream a reality is shared by another entrepreneur, Liz Hilton.
A native of New York City, Hilton’s academic and career paths were pointing her to the fashion industry before she realized, after learning to create garments with a 3-D knitting machine, that it was the untapped potential of the machines themselves that was igniting her passion.
Once that occurred, she further fueled that with a move to Grand Rapids where she started her own 3-D knitting company, KNITit.
KNITit could not have happened anywhere else in the world, says Hilton, who has leveraged the local entrepreneurial ecosystem that exists in Grand Rapids.
While technically a tech startup, KNITit wouldn’t be a fit for scaling as quickly in the traditional “coastal” startup scenes.
In Grand Rapids, however, Hilton was able to tap into the area’s Start Garden’s 5×5 pitch nights, Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women, and the Avenue for the Arts where her studio is located. Here, there is a “contagious culture” of philanthropy where “everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” she said.
Investing in Traditional Businesses
There is a world of difference between a startup and small business, said SPARK’s Mayer. Startups open new markets that do not already exist. Consider the way personal computers and smartphones have become so integral to daily life. Yet, before their existence, humanity survived quite well using only typewriters and landlines. Now startups are expected to scale quickly and then be acquired by a larger company, creating wealth for the founders and many new jobs for the region.
Traditional businesses, though, have blueprints. And whether it is a restaurant or retail store, the market already exists, said Mayer. Owners do not intend to scale quickly or sell the business. Rather, they plan to own and operate the business for many years to come. In Michigan, nearly 80 percent of small businesses are owner-operated. For those with employees, more than half have fewer than four, reported the 2016 Michigan Small Business Needs Assessment (MSBNA).
Despite these differences, every successful startup begins as a small business. Companies with fewer than 500 employees comprise 99.6 percent of Michigan’s private companies and account for approximately 23 percent of Michigan’s export business, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Nearly all small businesses share common challenges in developing talent, accessing capital, and defining their markets, reported the MSBNA. And both startups and traditional businesses are needed for successful communities.
These realities are what led TechTown to start its “Blocks” program. Much like its Labs program that focuses on startups, Blocks provides a boot camp course that prepares traditional entrepreneurs to launch their bricks and mortar businesses, as well as a SWOT City course which guides “been-ups” through an analysis of their current model and processes, allowing them to stabilize or grow. The vitality of these businesses is critical for talent attraction in all fields.
Placemaking was on Aisha Warren’s mind when she opened her clothing boutique on Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, she said. Perhaps her business could serve as a catalyst for the neighborhood in which she grew up.
When her employer of 20 years closed, Warren took her 401k and a wealth of retail and customer service experience and opened Posh Fashions in August 2015. By February 2016, she was “drowning,” she said. And that is when she sought out TechTown for help. Like most business owners, she was looking for financing help, but, much like Hsia, what Warren spoke most passionately about was the help she received from her mentor. He connected her to legal resources, helped her set up a microloan, connected her with someone who helped her rewrite her business plan, diagnosed her breakeven point, guided her through the process of marking up merchandise, and walked her through the wholesale process, said Warren.
Despite the help, though, Warren is no longer thinking about physical placemaking. She is thinking about closing her bricks and mortar shop and moving her business completely online, one reason being that the store is not getting the consistent foot traffic it needs to be sustainable. Her boutique sits at the end of a strip mall which is separated from the main thoroughfare by a vast parking lot. On that same lot sits a vacant bank building which closed at the end of 2016. And next to the strip mall is a large furniture store that also recently closed.
Despite the strains of nearly two years without a salary or enough banked cash to keep inventory stocked, closing Posh’s physical doors is not the future Warren would have chosen. The day before she was interviewed for this piece, she hosted a website party where she invited customers into the store to train them on how to shop and purchase her merchandise online. Still, she said, she had not made up her mind.
Warren’s story, though far from over, illustrates the challenges for communities untouched by economic prosperity and the role of momentum in placemaking.
Inclusion & Equality
The lack of diversity in startups and small businesses reflects an untapped talent resource for Michigan (and the nation). Most small business owners are white men. Women make up about 37 percent of ownership, and ethnic minorities (women and men) comprise about 19 percent, reported the MSBNA. But the issue is not solely about filling talent pipelines, it is about creating thriving communities.
In Grand Rapids, it is a “tale of two cities,” said Darel Ross, a director at Start Garden, a Grand Rapids’ SmartZone incubator. That tale was made a national news story, in 2015, when Forbes ranked the 52 largest metropolitan areas by the economic prosperity of their African-American residents. Grand Rapids ranked second to last. (Grand Rapids’ largest ethnic and racial populations are Caucasian at 65 percent; African American, 21 percent; and Hispanic, 16 percent).
Jorge Gonzalez, another Start Garden director, and Ross were just hired in February. Each has personal and professional roots in Grand Rapids’ minority communities. Ross, who is African American, served as co-executive director of LINC UP, a community development organization. Gonzalez is Hispanic and served as the executive director of the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and as the director of economic development at LINC UP.
Their addition to the leadership team is an outward signal of an evolution that has been taking place at Start Garden, said Ross. With about 90 days on the job, it was too early to report outcomes on their work, but small changes are already underway with Start Garden’s 5×5 Nights, monthly pitch sessions that are a mainstay of the organization’s entrepreneurial offerings. Five people have five minutes each to explain to an equal number of judges how $5,000 could move their concept from idea to reality. The winner takes home that $5,000. Beginning last summer, Start Garden announced that these events would be held in areas “not previously reached.”
Since then, the event has been held at LINC UP where the room teemed with people who were “reflective of the neighborhood,” said Gonzalez. In November, the first Spanish-speaking 5×5 Night was held. These events triggered an increase in African American and Latino participation. The last eight winners have been women or members of ethnic minorities, said Gonzalez. “We have momentum in communities of color,” he said.
This kind of placemaking not only seeds new businesses, but possibly sparks relationships and connections that bond entrepreneurs to the places and people that witnessed and nurtured their companies’ birth. At Warmilu, Grace Hsia has already begun giving back to the Michigan entrepreneurial ecosystem that helped create her company.
Warmilu hosts summer interns, leases out manufacturing space, and provides feedback to startups. Hsia is not only building her business in Ann Arbor and creating jobs, but she and her team are fostering relationships by offering up their space and human resources to other startups. In its own right, Warmilu has become an incubator, building community by nurturing new entrepreneurs until they are strong enough to lend a hand to others.
Deep breathing. Finding a mantra. Sitting still and thinking quietly. These might not sound like things you and your co-workers might do at work – but one expert says they should be.
“It’s not uncommon now for big corporations to encourage meditation during breaks and even hold meditation events during working hours,” says Dr. Barbara Cox, a consulting psychologist and coach who specializes in working with innovative leaders and organizations.
“Research shows there are significant effects on physical and mental health for people who practice meditation, self-hypnosis and other stress-management tools,” says Cox, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego,and started her career as an environmental scientist, most notably organizing environmental projects for the Department of Defense. She has master’s and doctorate degrees in psychology from Alliant International University – San Diego.
And you don’t need a big budget to add meditation to your workplace.
“You can start small,” Cox says. “You could have a meditation week where everyone meditates at the same time every day for one week. You could have a meditation challenge between departments or send out weekly meditations in the company newsletter. You could even begin your meetings with a two-minute meditation.
“The key is to just get started because the sooner you do, the sooner your company will experience the results.”
Among the benefits:
Improved ability to manage stress: Life is filled with stress and the average work day can provide a host of new triggers that add to stress, whether it’s a demanding supervisor, a difficult client or uncooperative co-workers, just to name a few. “Stressful situations are going to happen,” Cox says. “So the question becomes how well you can handle the stress. Meditation can assist in that.”
Increased quality of sleep: Meditation can help people with their sleep issues, according to research by Harvard University, Northwestern Memorial Hospital. That doesn’t mean meditating only before bedtime. It also helps to practice meditation during the day, so you can more easily get into that relaxed state at night. “And if you get a good night’s sleep,” Cox says, “you’re more likely to perform well at work the next day.”
More mental energy: People can often feel tired during the work day, even if they don’t have a physically demanding job. One reason is mental exertion, some of which goes back to all that stress, Cox says. Meditation can help restore both your physical and mental energy.
Greater ability to concentrate: For many people, it doesn’t take much to let their minds wander – especially these days when distractions such as smartphones and internet connections are close at hand to give them an extra reason to lose focus. Those who meditate are better able to focus on ideas and remember facts without getting easily distracted, and there’s research by the University of California, Santa Barbara, to back that up.
“Supervisors need to take note of all that research if they haven’t already,” Cox says. “Companies are always looking for ways to improve productivity and meditation can help lead to a happier workforce and a more efficient one.”
