Crain's Detroit Business - December 20, 2010 - (Page 10)

Page 10 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS December 20, 2010 I A family photo shows banker David Widlak and his wife, Anne, at home in Grosse Pointe Farms. David Widlak vanished in September and was later found slain. 1. Questions linger over banker’s mysterious death The mysterious disappearance of banker David Widlak on Sept. 19 and the ensuing events turned the well-respected but hardly wellknown community banker into a household name. He came in one Sunday to his Mt. Clemens office to work on a presentation for an upcoming meeting of the board of Community Central Bancorp, which was about to launch a public stock offering, and was captured on a security camera walking out a back door early in the evening. He wasn’t seen for another month, until duck hunters found his body floating near a DNR boat launch on Lake St. Clair. An autopsy by Macomb County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz said drowning was the likely cause of death. A second autopsy, requested by doubting members of Widlak’s family and performed by Oakland County Medical Examiner Ljubisa Dragovic, revealed he had been shot in the back of the head, execution-style, though suicide couldn’t be ruled out. Widlak’s car was left in the bank parking lot. How did he get to the lake, miles away? Who used his cell phone in St. Clair Shores hours after he was last seen? Why was his office in disarray? Why was an old handgun, a family heirloom so old no one knew if he still owned it, found near his body? Why would he have that gun with him and leave a new, more reliable handgun he’d bought for self-defense back in his bank office? What happened? By late December, there were no answers to those questions. — Tom Henderson t was a year when the area’s auto suppliers saw demand increase and vehicle electrification surge. The $1.5 billion deal to sell the Detroit Medical Center to Vanguard Health Systems Inc. of Nashville was the top local health care story, rivaled by national health care reform. Mass transit gained traction with work set to begin on a light-rail line on Woodward Avenue. 2010 3. $1.5B DMC sale could bring $850 million in construction TOP Stories of the Year At City Hall, Mayor Dave Bing’s team was taking steps to shrink Detroit’s footprint. And the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s labor strife sounded a dissonant note. A “tough nerd” from Ann Arbor won the race for governor, and questions lingered over local banker David Widlak’s slaying. In sports, Karen Davidson is still looking for a new Detroit Pistons owner. Here’s 2010 through the eyes of Crain’s. 4. Auto suppliers rev up as economy improves Consumers wanted cars again in 2010. The increased global demand and improving North American market led to an increase in car volumes and boosted the bottom lines of auto suppliers. Auburn Hills-based BorgWarner Inc., Livonia-based TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., Southfield-based Lear Corp. and Federal-Mogul Corp. in Southfield saw profits soar in the second half of the year, spurred by international market growth and lower overhead. The last two major suppliers in bankruptcy exited it in 2010. Novi-based Cooper-Standard Hold- 2. ‘Tough nerd’ builds winning momentum Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s impending political exit drew a crowded field of replacement hopefuls. Two Democrats and five Repub- The $1.5 billion deal to sell the Detroit Medical Center to for-profit Vanguard Health Systems Inc. of Nashville was the biggest local health care story of the year. If the deal closes by Dec. 31 as DMC officials expect, the $850 milBernero Snyder lion Vanguard has promised to spend on 20 new construction prolicans vied for the governor’s jects and capital improvements seat. will be one of the largest private On the Democratic side were investments in Detroit’s history. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Announced in March, the final state House Speaker Andy Dillon purchase agreement was signed in of Redford Township. June. But that was just the beginOakland County Sheriff Mike ning of a long process that includBouchard, Michigan Attorney ed a six-month review of the proGeneral Mike Cox, state Sen. Tom posed George of agreement by Kalamazoo, Attorney GenU.S. Rep. Peter eral Mike Cox. Hoekstra of Cox conHolland and cluded in an Ann Arbor 85-page report businessman that DMC will Rick Snyder receive fair battled it out market value on the Repubfor its assets lican side. Detroit Medical Center projects include this and that safeAnd then children’s specialty center. Nashville-based there were Vanguard Health Sytems is buying the DMC guards in the agreement two. for $1.5 billion. will ensure Snyder and Vanguard lives up to its obligaBernero walked away with victotions that include maintaining ries in their Aug. 3 primaries, and historic charity-care policies. the race was off to the Nov. 2 finThe DMC projects include a new ish line. tower at DMC’s Children’s Hospital Bernero, whose backing includof Michigan, a cardiovascular instied major unions throughout the tute at Harper University Hospital state, emphasized his fiscal and and Hutzel Women’s Hospital, and economic experience as mayor, expansion of the emergency deand he voiced a populist message partment at Sinai-Grace Hospital. as a defender of “Main Street” Vanguard also would pay DMC working families and businesses. $391 million to retire its debt and Snyder represented moderate fund $278 million in pension obligvalues as a businessman and a ations. Lansing outsider who pledged to At press time, DMC and Vanbring a new approach to state govguard were waiting for the U.S. ernment and “reinvent” MichiCenters for Medicare and Medicaid gan. Services to approve new Medicare Calling himself “one tough provider numbers for DMC’s eight nerd,” Snyder gained momentum hospitals, which are necessary to that continued to his victory on bill Medicare for services. election night. — Jay Greene — Amy Lane ings Inc., parent company of Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., emerged from its 10-month stint in Chapter 11 in May into the control of bondholders, who swapped their debt for equity in the reorganized company. Van Buren Township-based Visteon Corp. reached key deals with its former parent Ford Motor Co. and its lenders to shed more than $2 billion in debt and emerge from bankruptcy in October. And in 2010, the closing of dealerships was a minor point compared with 2009. Just two General Motors Corp. dealers closed and eight Chrysler Group LLC dealers were added in metro Detroit, based on reports from Detroitbased Urban Science, which tracks dealers nationally. This compares with 17 local closures of Chrysler and GM dealers during 2009. With the OEMs in bankruptcy, the companies drove the largest number of dealership closures in U.S. history. Meanwhile, Ford discontinued its Mercury brand, making all former Lincoln-Mercury dealers standalone Lincoln dealers. Ford announced a goal of thinning the Ford brand dealers by 10 percent and the Lincoln dealers by 35 percent to 40 percent. Southeast Michigan could lose a total of 10 dealers based on the current dealer counts. In September, Tower International Inc. (which had been Tower Automotive) went public — marking the first supplier to do so since 2005. — Dustin Walsh and Dan Duggan 5. Health care overhaul aims to close coverage gap Most health care executives in See Next Page COURTESY OF TOWER INTERNATIONAL With an IPO in September, Tower International Inc. — formerly Tower Automotive — became the first area supplier to go public since 2005.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Detroit Business - December 20, 2010

Crain's Detroit Business - December 20, 2010
Department Index
Keith Crain
Mary Kramer
Opinion
Calendar
People
Business Diary
Classified Ads
Briefly
Rumblings
Week on the Web

Crain's Detroit Business - December 20, 2010