Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists - (Page 9)

December 27, 2010 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Page 9 10 things to remember Landslide for the nerd ick Snyder was a virtual unknown across Michigan when he kicked off his run for governor in late 2009. Not anymore. The CPA, venture capitalist, University of Michigan law graduate and former president and CEO of computer maker Gateway Inc. — and self-proclaimed nerd — will be sworn in as Michigan’s next governor. Snyder is already turning heads by veering away from old Lansing politics. His early appointments suggest he’s committed to picking the best and brightest … and to populating his team and administration with individuals who share his innovation-oriented and business-friendly politics. R A kinder, gentler City Hall There was new civility in Detroit politics last year. The embarrassing sideshows went away, and Detroit is no longer a national joke on YouTube. That good news can be attributed to the fact that former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is now in prison, Barbara Rose-Collins wasn’t re-elected and Monica Conyers was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to a bribery charge. Mayor Dave Bing and Detroit’s new City Council, led by President Charles Pugh, are getting down to the serious business of governing. The problems Bing facing the city are daunting. Bing and council need to shrink the city, stabilize finances, improve a school system ranked at the bottom of Pugh the nation, reduce crime and bring needed jobs to a Detroit economy buffeted by recession. Suppliers lead rebound Southeast Michigan’s public companies spent months making deep budget cuts and major overhauls to their operating models. Now they are starting to gain some traction. The quarter that Sept. 30 was the sixth consecutive quarter that 60 public companies in the metro Detroit area combined for an increase in net income compared with the same quarter in 2009. As many as 42 public companies — 70 percent — improved their earnings over the same quarter last year. Best of all, the resurgence was led by auto suppliers, who continue to generate profits and pile up cash. Mike Ilitch, Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. co-founder and owner of the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings, was considered the frontrunner to buy the Pistons from current owner Karen Davidson. And then, he wasn’t. Ilitch’s bid for the team was estimated to be around $350 million, and it is believed he wanted the team to make it a co-tenant with the Red Wings in a new downtown DeCOURTESY OF URS CANADA troit arena. An artist’s rendering of the proposed DRIC span. Forbes.com has valued the team at an estimated $475 million. But in November, after Ilitch’s Two major regional trans- 30-day due diligence and excluportation projects took opposite sive negotiating period for the turns in 2010. purchase of the team bogged Legislation that would have al- down, previous bidders for the lowed the Michigan Department of team were contacted about their Transportation to enter into public- interest in the NBA franchise. private partnerships to build the Among them was California $5.3 billion Detroit River Internaprivate-equity billionaire Tom tional Crossing died in the final Gores, a Michigan State University session of the Legislature. The isgraduate. sue will now have to wait for the He’s founder of Beverly Hillsnew Legislature. Meanwhile, based Platinum Equity LLC, one of metro Detroit’s highest-profile mass-transit plan — a light rail the largest private-equity firms line on Woodward Avenue — in the country, and was unsuccessful in a bid a year ago to buy stayed on track. U.S. Transportation Secretary Troy-based auto supplier Delphi Ray LaHood announced in early Holdings LLC for $3.6 billion. August that the Woodward project had been approved to begin the environmental study required for The $1.5 billion deal to sell the eventual federal funding. eight-hospital Detroit Medical Center health system to investorowned Vanguard Health Systems David Widlak, president and Inc. based in Nashville, made top CEO of Community Central Bank headlines. Attorney General Corp., was reMike Cox conditionally approved ported missing the DMC sale to Vanguard in late from the bank November. in downtown Cox also found that VanMt. Clemens on guard’s total commitment of “apSept. 19. His proximately $1.5 billion exceeds body was found the highest estimate of DMC’s floating in value by independent analysts.” Lake St. Clair The deal faced a Dec. 31 deadin Harrison line because tax breaks approved Township on Widlak for the DMC and Vanguard under Oct. 17, and an autopsy revealed a Renaissance Zone designation he had been shot to death. for the DMC campus downtown News of the tragedy reverberated through the banking com- will expire then. If the deal closes, 20 new construction projects munity. A forensic accounting analysis can move ahead. Nine auto suppliers combined for net income of $806.5 million, compared with combined income in the third quarter last year of $376.5 million. Things appear to be getting better. The Detroit area was rated seventh among U.S. metro areas in economic growth from 2009 to 2010, according to a new global study by the Washington-based Brookings Institution. cutor now with the Royal Oak firm of Flood, Lanctot, Connor & Stablein PLLC, was hired to represent Widlak’s family in probate court and to help solve the mystery. Pistons for sale? Transportation direction Viewed from Quicken’s new Detroit offices, a mural on the Cadillac Tower sent a message about the company’s move from Livonia at the end of summer. NATHAN SKID/CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS Moving into the D Detroit Mayor Dave Bing was first in line to welcome Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Quicken Loans Inc., when Gilbert moved 700 of his employees into the company’s new headquarters in downtown Detroit. The 700 employees were just the first phase of a move by the company that would bring 1,700 workers downtown in 30 days. Quicken wasn’t the only one. In fact, as many as 5,000 jobs could be coming downtown in the next two years. Also moving downtown are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, which plans to bring 3,000 jobs downtown by 2012; C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc., which moved 150 employees from Southfield in February; and GalaxE Solutions Inc., which plans to move 500 jobs into the city in the next five years. “buying people into our state.” Meanwhile “Detroit 1-8-7,” a television crime drama, premiered in September to local ratings that were second only to Super Bowl XLIV in February. The drama, starring former “Sopranos” actor Michael Imperioli, was shot entirely in Detroit and revolves around a group of fictional homicide detectives working cases in the city. Nationally, the first episode had an estimated audience of 9.7 million, about half what the premiere of “Dancing with the Stars” drew in the previous hour. DMC agrees to sell Tragedy at the bank Lights, cameras … Tax incentives for films produced in Michigan sparked debate. The Michigan Film Office reported that the state has given out $62 million to production companies since the program started, generating $348 million in spending. Michigan’s tax credit is one of the nation’s most generous, refunding up to 42 percent of a company’s qualified expenditures. Gov.-elect Rick Snyder has said he would work with the film industry to retool the credits to make them more financially sustainable for the state in the long run. Snyder says the way to create jobs is to fix Michigan’s tax and regulatory system and make the state more competitive, not by Anderson Harwell Mourning 2 boys of summer Motown’s heart broke twice last year with the loss of two Hall of Famers: Ernie and Sparky, bluecollar names for a city built on the backs of steelworkers, millwrights and assembly line workers — the kind of workers who on the afternoon shift in 1984 hung on every word of Ernie’s play-by-play and Sparky’s lineup changes from the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. George Lee “Sparky” Anderson, who managed the Detroit Tigers to the 1984 World Series title, died Nov. 4 at age 76 in California. Sparky is the Tigers’ alltime leader in victories for a manager, with 1,331, and was named the American League manager of the year in 1984 and 1987. Ernie Harwell had a broadcast career that spanned seven decades and 8,500-plus games. He called Detroit Tiger games for 42 seasons and died May 4. by the Southfield accounting firm of Plante & Moran PLLC found no irregularities in the bank’s books. But the community bank was undercapitalized and was required by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the state’s Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation to take corrective steps to improve its balance sheet. The investigation into Widlak’s death continues and attorney Todd Flood, a former prose- One of the projects on the drawing board for DMC/Vanguard is a children’s specialty clinic. THE BIG PICTURE http://www.Forbes.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists

Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists
The Big Picture
10 things to watch in 2011
10 things to remember about 2010
Private 200
Fastest-growing companies
Public school districts
Top-compensated CEOs
Top-compensated non-CEOs
Metro Detroit employers
Wayne County employers
City of Detroit employers
Livingston County employers
Washtenaw County employers
Macomb County employers
Oakland County employers
Publicly held companies
Hispanic-owned businesses
Native American-owned businesses
Asian-owned companies
Black-owned businesses
Woman-owned businesses
The Motor City
Airlines Serving Detroit Metro
Professional Sports Teams
Auto Suppliers
Auto Dealers
Aftermarket Suppliers
Divisions
Defense Contractors
New Economy/Health Care
Family-owned companies
IP law firms
Group health plans
Hospital companies
Physician organizations
Graduate business degrees
Engineering companies
Environmental companies
IT companies
Biotech companies
People/Awards
Salute to Entrepreneurs
CFO Awards
40 Under 40
Best Lawyers
20 in their 20s
Women to Watch
M&A Awards
Most Connected
Finance
Capital campaigns
Accounting firms
Banks and thrifts
Money managers
Business insurance agencies
SBA Lenders
Real Estate/Services
Office furniture dealers
Nonprofits
Meeting facilities
General contractors
Architects
Property managers
Residential brokers
Staffing companies
Logistics firms
Law firms
Classifieds
Index of Companies

Crain's Detroit Business - 2011 Book of Lists