Crain's Detroit Business - November 23, 2009 - (Page 1)

® www.crainsdetroit.com ©Entire contents copyright 2009 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved NOVEMBER 2009 HOLIDAY EDITION $2 a copy; $59 a year Page 3 Blue Cross keeps contract to insure school retirees Foundations back United Way effort to improve aid delivery Detroit’s borrowing to repay old debt raises concerns Hospitals prep for flu Mobile units, extra ventilators ready for H1N1 BY JAY GREENE CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Film credits help hotels, survey says Bookings meant $5M in ’08,’09 BY DANIEL DUGGAN CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS This Just In OU hosts final event of diversification program The last event of the year for businesses participating in a state-led diversification program is set for Dec. 16 at Oakland University. The Oakland County Diversification Summit is part of the Michigan Manufacturing Diversification Strategy. The 8 a.m.-3 p.m. event at the Oakland Center on OU’s Auburn Hills campus is the last in the series of required summits. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. is using 12 events to qualify Michigan businesses for $10,000 or more in matching training grants and other assistance to help manufacturers diversify. Businesses that attend, complete a survey and meet criteria are eligible for the diversification strategy assistance. Speakers at the OU summit include James Braden, newly appointed director of the MEDC defense contract coordination center; Executive Director Gavin Brown of the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association; market analyst Michele Soderstrom of Detroitbased NextEnergy; Director Rob Hess of growth services at the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center; and CEO Christophe Sevrain of Bloomfield Hills-based CJPS Enterprises L.L.C. For details or to register, see www.ousummit.org. — Chad Halcom More This Just In, Page 6 Hospitals in Southeast Michigan are buying emergency equipment, redesigning work areas and stockpiling ventilators, respirators, surgical cots, facemasks, gloves and even mobile trailers in preparation for a possible pandemic of H1N1, called swine flu. From Sept. 1 through Nov. 18 in Michigan, more than 190,000 people have contracted the H1N1 virus, 1,369 have been hospitalized and 37 have died, including three children, making this the worst flu season in 50 years, according to the latest data from the state’s Department of Community Health. Nationally, 22,400 people have been hospitalized with H1N1 and 877 have died from Aug. 30 to Nov. NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS 7, according to the Centers for Dis- Oakwood Hospital and Medical Center in Dearborn has brought in portable units ease Control and Prevention. Typical- in case they’re needed to treat flu patients. Chief Nursing Officer Barb Medvec ly, seasonal flu accounts for 200,000 says flu cases are up, but not as much as in western Michigan. hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths rhea. annually. “Michigan was the last state to “Southeast Michigan seems less affected than western Michigan at show widespread influenza. We Establish a pandemic plan and are still seeing this point,” said educate employees about it. more people Barb Medvec, Allow sick workers to stay home coming in ill. chief nursing ofwithout fear of losing jobs. But it is less ficer at DearDevelop flexible leave policies to than other areas born-based Oakallow employees to take care of like Texas, Atwood Healthcare. sick family members. lanta or eastern Over the past Have conversations with other coastal states,” several weeks, businesses and chambers of commerce to share H1N1 Medvec said. there has been a preparation plans. Still, the CDC 10 percent inAdvise employees to wash warns that the crease in pahands often, exercise frequently seasonal flu seatients with fluand get enough sleep. Provide a son starts in like symptoms Jenny Atas, Region Two South work environment that promotes mid-December at Oakwood’s Biomedical Defense Network personal hygiene. and that it exfour hospital Encourage workers to obtain a emergency departments, Medvec pects additional outbreaks of H1N1 vaccine for the seasonal flu and in the spring and fall of 2010. said. H1N1. “We are seeing very busy ERs Other hospital officials in metImplement policies to minimize ropolitan Detroit have reported a 5 and sometimes have to divert (amface-to-face contact among workers. percent to 20 percent increase in bulances) because H1N1 is 10 perAdd a Web site for swine flu people either with H1N1 or dis- cent higher (than last year’s flu policies and updates. Source: Centers for Disease Control and playing symptoms that include season),” said Greg Beauchemin, Prevention, U.S. Department of Homeland fevers, chills, coughs, headaches, Security body aches, vomiting and diarSee Flu, Page 4 H1N1 ADVICE FOR EMPLOYERS We have “deployed forward 2,400 disposable ventilators (to Southeast Michigan). ” The hospitality industry is stressing the importance of film business to its bottom line as talks in Lansing weigh a cut in the state’s film tax credit. Figures released to Crain’s indicate almost 50,000 hotel rooms booked in metro Detroit by the film industry in 2008 and 2009. It resulted in nearly $5 million in revenue and roughly another $5 million in food and beverage spending. The Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau conducted the survey of 250 area hotels. “The numbers are higher than what we anticipated,” said Chris Baum, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the bureau. “It’s meant a lot of revenue for hotels, including smaller hotels.” In all, 33 hotels in metro Detroit hosted film-oriented visitors, Baum said. In 2008, there were 23,900 room nights representing $2.5 million in revenue, and 25,800 room nights were booked in 2009, worth $2.6 million. Baum said food and beverage spending is roughly equal to room spending. The information was collected as groups around the state have lobbied for the state to keep its current film tax credit intact. “I think the numbers we saw would have been even better without the negative conversations about film credits,” Baum See Film, Page 5 Skidmore president buys out founder’s daughter; she stays on board BY BILL SHEA CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Fifty years after her dad founded the illustration studio that bears their name, Mae Skidmore has sold the family business. Now a full-service creative agency doing graphics, storyboard animation, interactive, Web site design, copywriting, branding and marketing directly for clients and through advertising agencies, Royal Oak-based Skidmore Inc. is changing owners as local advertis- Skidmore Smith ing and marketing budgets appear to be opening up again. The firm’s president, Tim Smith, 46, two weeks ago bought the agency he joined a decade ago after working with it as a client. Terms of the deal were not revealed, but Smith is sole owner after buying out Mae Skidmore’s 90 percent share. He also takes on the role of CEO. It was Skidmore’s father, Leo, who founded the agency in 1959 primarily as a graphic design shop to serve the auto industry. She will remain as creative director and continue to sit on the board of directors. It was coincidence the sale happened as the agency turned 50, Smith said. He was hired to oversee the agency’s diversification, acquired a 10 percent equity stake in 2005 and became president in 2007. Skidmore has 20 employees at its 11,000-square-foot loft space in an old Montgomery Ward building, down from 33 staffers two years ago, when revenue was nearly $5 million. The auto industry downturn and general recession dried up advertising and creative budgets, Smith said. “Everybody clinched up over the last nine months,” he said. While the agency has remained profitable, revenue fell under $3 million last year, but Smith estimates Skidmore will hit up to $3.7 million when its fiscal year ends July 31. Some new hires are planned for the start of 2010. About a quarter of the shop’s clientele is advertising agencies, and about 15 percent of its work is See Skidmore, Page 4 http://www.crainsdetroit.com http://www.ousummit.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Detroit Business - November 23, 2009

Crain's Detroit Business - November 23, 2009