Crain's Detroit Business - December 20, 2010 - (Page 13)

December 20, 2010 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 13 Most Connected From Previous Page Foundation director, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan trustee. 42. Tom Wilson, 61 President and CEO Olympia Entertainment, Detroit Longtime president and CEO of Palace Sports & Entertainment, including sports team and venue management responsibilities. Wilson joined the Ilitch organization in February. Just a few months later, it was announced that Mike Ilitch wanted to purchase the Detroit Pistons. Wilson is charged with leveraging business opportunities among Olympia Entertainment, the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers — while looking for new projects. Civic involvement: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan trustee (left Nov. 15), CATCH trustee, Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau director, past member of Boys Hope/Girls Hope, Boy Scouts of America and the PARK Program. troit group to Pittsburgh to study that city’s 25-year odyssey to replace steel. She chairs the chamber board for 2011-12. Civic involvement: Detroit Regional Chamber chair, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan trustee, 2010 Mackinac Policy Conference chair, American Heart Association board member. 45. Carl Camden, 55 President and CEO Kelly Services Inc., Troy Has been active nationally in health care, joining other prominent business, labor and public policy leaders in 2007 as a founding member of Better Health Care Together, a coalition urging reform of the U.S. health care system. Civic involvement: Detroit Regional Chamber vice chair, Detroit Medical Center director, University of Detroit Mercy trustee, Committee for Economic Development trustee. communications Ford Motor Co., Dearborn Leads Ford’s global marketing efforts and is pushing Ford into the digital age by earmarking a quarter of its marketing budget for online efforts. Click here for full profile Civic involvement: Chairs Ford’s United Way campaign, sits on the College for Creative Studies and Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan boards. Mission Exceptional! Would you describe your law firm as exceptional? It could happen. We are on a mission to provide exceptional legal services to every client. Attorneys on a Mission Your mission is our mission. We never lose sight of it. ® 48. David Fischer Sr., 64 Chairman and CEO The Suburban Collection, Troy Has assembled and grown a chain of more than 40 auto dealerships, ranking it the second largest on Crain’s list of largest dealers, while lending both financial support and his time to numerous nonprofits around the region including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Forgotten Harvest and the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. Fischer, who recently donated two transit vans to support the Ford Mobile Food pantries program, is also chairing the committee charged with raising $55 million towards the $145 million renovation for the College for Creative Studies the Argonaut Building in Detroit’s Midtown. The building was renamed the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education. To date, the campaign has raised $45.1 million. Civic involvement: College for Creative Studies trustee, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. A business advisory and advocacy law firm ® 39533 Woodward Avenue, Suite 318, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 • 248.646.5070 Carl J. Grassi Stephen M. Gross President Detroit Managing Member Chicago • Cleveland • Columbus • Detroit • West Palm Beach www.mcdonaldhopkins.com 43. Yousif Ghafari, 58 Chairman Ghafari Associates, Detroit The chairman of one of metro Detroit’s largest architectural and engineering firms is also one of the vocal leaders of Michigan’s Arab-American community. He has been a major donor to Wayne State University and the Republican Party and is among U.S. business leaders behind rebuilding efforts in Lebanon. He also is the former ambassador to Slovenia under the George W. Bush administration. Civic involvement: Business Leaders for Michigan director, Detroit Medical Center director, Detroit Economic Club director. 47. Gerard Anderson, 52 CEO DTE Energy Co., Detroit Since joining DTE in 1993, Gerard Anderson has risen through levels of responsibilities for key business functions. He became CEO in October and oversees DTE’s major operating areas and utility subsidiaries as well as areas like financial operations, information technology, human resources and general counsel. Civic involvement: Business Leaders for Michigan director, The Henry Ford trustee, The Nature Conservancy-Michigan chapter trustee, Michigan Greenways Initiative chair, The Parade Co. executive committee member, University of Michigan Ross School of Business advisory board member. 48. Robert Rossiter, 64 Chairman and CEO Lear Corp., Southfield Earlier this year announced it had pledged $5 million toward revitalization in infrastructure and community projects over the next 10 years in its headquarters city. Civic involvement: Detroit Economic Club executive committee, Business Leaders for Michigan director, Focus: HOPE advisory board. 43. Charles Podowski, 64 President and CEO Auto Club Group, Dearborn Came to the Auto Club Group from Advanta Corp. in 1999 and oversaw the group’s rapid growth, which has been hampered in recent years by increased competition, leading to layoffs. Is a director of natural gas distributor Semco Energy Inc. in Port Huron and serves on the AAA national board. Civic involvement: Board member, Business Leaders for Michigan, Detroit Zoological Society and Henry Ford Health System; served as chairman of the Michigan campaign of the United Negro College Fund. 48. Thomas Buhl, 43 Vice president Legacy wealth management UBS Financial Services Inc., Grosse Pointe Farms Heads up an eight-person family office of UBS. Buhl and Ken Fruehauf, co-head of the team, are intimately acquainted with the needs of a family office. Buhl is from the family which the Buhl Building is named for, and Fruehauf is of the famous trucking family. Buhl’s wife, Lindsey, is a Ford. “We’ve been part of Detroit history for a long time, which is why I have such a sense of commitment,” said Buhl. “My wife and I moved back here 15 years ago from Chicago, and we’re raising our four kids here. I believe very strongly in doing what I can to help out the city and the area.” Civic involvement: Trustee, College for Creative Studies, Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and Henry Ford Hospital; Detroit Historical Society president, Detroit Zoological Society director. 48. Brad Simmons, 53 Director, office of the executive chairman, Ford Motor Co., Dearborn Before being appointed to his current post, Simmons was controller and community outreach manager for Ford Motor Co. Fund, the philanthropic arm of the company. Serves on the board for the 201011 Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, which draws as many as 30,000 sevenththrough 12th-grade students from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties for the inner-school competitions. Civic involvement: Business Leaders for Michigan director, Detroit Economic Club vice president, Student Leadership Services president, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit board member. Give the gift of arts and culture! Wrap up your shopping with one call. Whether giving to clients, staff, family or friends—the region’s cultural organizations offer creative holiday gifts. Guided tours, concert tickets and much more. 45. Barbara Allushuski, 58 President, Great Lakes region Right Management, Southfield Co-chaired the Detroit Regional Chamber’s 2010 Mackinac Policy Conference and insisted on creating a “to-do” list from it. As part of that list, she led a De- the cultural concierge a program of the cultural alliance of southeastern michigan, a 501(c)(3) organization Find out more! 48. James Farley, 48 Group vice president, marketing and www.theculturalconcierge.org 248.767.6731 jacquie@culturalalliancesemi.org http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20101212/MOSTPOWERFULPEOPLE/312129983 http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com http://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com http://www.brightonhospital.com http://www.brightonhospital.com http://www.theculturalconcierge.org http://www.theculturalconcierge.org http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20101212/MOSTPOWERFULPEOPLE/312129983

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