Small Business Spotlight

Michael Lee on WJR: Decade of decline for recycling | Home care caps

Crain's Detroit Business Managing Editor Michael Lee talks with WJR's Paul W. Smith about the top stories from the current issue of Crain's.

Detroit Flower Co. owner learns to run her business on the fly

Planning an infrastructure future without flooded freeways, basements in metro Detroit

On this final episode of Detroit Rising for 2020, Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood talks with Suzanne Coffey, chief planning officer for the Great Lakes Water Authority, about GLWA's new 40-year master plan. The blueprint for underwater infrastructure includes plans for alleviating frequent flooding of metro Detroit's freeways.

Beyond the pandemic: Will new college scholarship program help frontline workers gain new skills for future jobs?

This week on Detroit Rising, Henry Ford College President Russ Kavahluna talks about the state's new Futures for Frontliners college scholarship program that aims to help workers whose in-person work has essential during the pandemic climb the economic ladder. He also talks about how the Dearborn community college's operations are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the ongoing shutdown of in-person instruction on campus.

Challenges ahead for distributing COVID-19 vaccines in Detroit, Michigan; a chat with the Oakland County attorney who runs the IVaccinate.org campaign

Veronica McNally, an Oakland County attorney who founded the IVaccinate.org campaign, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the challenges ahead with distributing a COVID-19 vaccine and whether employers should mandate it for their workers.

Abdul El-Sayed talks public health infrastructure, Whitmer's handling of COVID-19 pandemic and his future in politics

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the former Detroit city health department director and 2018 Democratic candidate for governor, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the surging cases of COVID-19 and the need for investing in public health infrastructure and systems in Michigan. El-Sayed praised the work of his former gubernatorial opponent, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her handling the of the pandemic. He also talked about his book, "Healing Politics," and what's next in his career as a politic...

Eric Larson: Downtown Detroit retailers, restaurants struggling after seven months of pandemic downturn, steep decline in patrons and visitors

Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, speaks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the struggles and challenges retailers, restaurants and bars are facing in downtown Detroit with just one-fifth of the pre-pandemic downtown workforce to patronize their businesses.

Black women-owned staffing agency in Detroit sees growth opportunities in energy, aerospace and entertainment industries

Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood speaks with Kerry Buffington and Tammy L. Turner, co-founders of Kapstone Employment Services in Detroit, which specializes in recruiting diverse candidates for corporations.

MEDC CEO talks new FCA plant and auto supplier opportunities in Detroit, community redevelopment and revived Pure Michigan ad campaign

Mark Burton, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the state budget for the MEDC, the resurrection of the Pure Michigan tourism-attraction campaign, where the agency is focusing its economic development work in Detroit after the construction of a new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant on the city's east side.

From streetscape project to COVID-19, Narrow Way Café navigates adversity on Detroit's Livernois Avenue of Fashion

David Merritt, co-owner of Narrow Way Café, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about how his northwest Detroit coffee shop has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic on the Livernois Avenue of Fashion, which is undergoing a transformation with new investment in businesses and an overhaul of the street's design and traffic flow.

FCA's Mark Stewart talks about Detroit's new Jeep plant, challenges with COVID-19 and job opportunities for Detroiters

In an exclusive interview with Crain’s, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart talks about the automaker’s $1.6 billion transformation of two engine powertrain plants on Detroit's east side into an assembly plant that will start pumping out Jeep Grand Cherokees and a new three-row Jeep SUV early next year.

Detroit ed tech startup delivering science to students learning at home

This week on Detroit Rising podcast, Alecia Gabriel and Deirdre Roberson, co-founders of The Lab Drawer, discuss their Detroit-based education tech startup company that has a subscription service for science experiments and projects that comes in a box in the mail that looks like a science lab drawer.

Nikolai Vitti on Detroit Public Schools' reopening plans, education funding equity and deteriorating buildings

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the district's plans to reopen school buidlings and offer an online-only option this fall for families concerned about the spread of COVID-19.

Rocket Companies COO Bob Walters on Dan Gilbert's mortgage company going public, stock for employees, future of Quicken Loans brand and returning to the office

Bob Walters, president and chief operating officer of Rocket Companies, talked with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood and tech and finance reporter Nick Manes hours after Rocket Companies began trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the Detroit-based mortgage giant's Initial Public Offering.

Meeko Williams: Mandatory police residency would help officers connect with Detroiters

Detroit political activist Meeko Williams spoke to Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about his experience with police officers, why he believes police residency should be mandatory and how he’s not in favor of defunding the police.

Warren Evans: Requiring police officers to live in Detroit a 'great concept' but 'very impractical' to enforce

In Detroit, just 23 percent of the nearly 2,500 police officers live within the city limits. A 1999 law outlawed local ordinances requiring police officers to live in the city where they serve. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, a former county sheriff and one-time police chief in Detroit, says requiring police officers to live in Detroit is "a great concept" but "very impractical to be able to enforce." He spoke with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about police residency, construction of...

Can solar energy turn Detroit's vacant lots into profit?

How auto insurance reform is supposed to drive down premiums in Detroit

Skidmore Studio growing an online farmers market from Detroit for Michigan food producers

Drew Patrick, owner and president of Skidmore Studio, and Meg Burritt, a managing partner of Planted Detroit, talk with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about Skidmore’s new online farmers market and delivery service, MichiganFields.com. The design studio launched the service during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Planted Detroit, an indoor vegetable growing operation on Detroit’s east side, is selling its salad greens through the website after its commercial restaurant work dried up...

Detroit’s decision-making tables need more African Americans, Hudson-Webber Foundation CEO Melanca Clark says

How an unconventional hospital was stood up for COVID-19 patients inside Detroit's TCF Center

TCF Center was converted from a convention center to an unconventional hospital in April at the height of the coronavirus outbreak. Lynn Torossian, a retired Henry Ford Health System executive, talks with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood this week on the Detroit Rising podcast about what went into standing up the now-idled temporary hospital and how it might be used in the event of a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Southeast Michigan.

What's next for Detroit's construction industry? Return to boom or pandemic bust?

Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood talks with Sachse Construction owner Todd Sachse about the construction industry returning to work after a six-week shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. After the interview, Chad talks with his Crain's colleagues Kirk Pinho and Annalise Frank about the construction and real estate business in Detroit and what's on the horizon for the city as it emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Michigan Manufacturers Association CEO talks business adaptation, survival in the coronavirus outbreak

John Walsh, president and CEO of the Michigan Manufacturers Association, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about how his members are adapting to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's order that non-essential businesses shut down during the coronavirus outbreak. Walsh is a former state budget director and state representative from Livonia.

Lon Johnson see opportunity for Detroit in supplying capital for water tech development

Lon Johnson, CEO of WaterWorks Fund, knows Milwaukee is ahead of Detroit in developing technology for clean drinking water. But he thinks Detroit could overtake other Great Lakes towns by becoming the Capitol for water technology investment capital that can fuel innovation. Johnson, of Detroit and a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, has recently co-founded a Detroit-based online investment platform aimed at crowdsourcing equity capital for water technology projects at WaterWorksF...

Detroit Rising: Greektown Casino betting on growth from sports betting

Marvin Beatty, chief community officer of Greektown Casino, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood and reporter Kurt Nagl about the downtown Detroit gambling hall's foray into sports betting and what has changed since Penn National bought Greektown from billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert's Jack Entertainment.

Detroit Rising: Detroit CFO Dave Massaron talks frankly about city finances 5 years after bankruptcy

Five years after Detroit exited a historic bankruptcy, the city's chief financial officer Dave Massaron talks with Crain's senior editor Chad Livengood and reporter Annalise Frank about Detroit's municipal financial outlook and challenges ahead in the next decade when pension contributions will resume and an economic recession could hamper tax growth.

Detroit Rising: Expiring tax payment plans threaten new wave of foreclosures in Detroit next year

Laura Grannemann, vice president of strategic investments at the Quicken Loans Community Fund, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the company's efforts to educate low-income Detroiters about the eligibility to get exempted from paying property taxes and avoid foreclosure for unpaid taxes. Mayor Mike Duggan and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans are lobbying lawmakers to relieve homeowners in Wayne County of past fees and interest charges for unpaid property taxes to avert ano...

Detroit Rising: How Detroit is trying to get Detroiters in line for FCA auto plant jobs

Nicole Sherard-Freeman, executive director of workforce development for Mayor Mike Duggan, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the employee recruitment program the city developed to get Detroiters at the front of the line for the nearly 5,000 new jobs that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles intends to offer at its east side Detroit assembly plants.

Detroit Rising: Compuware has returned to its mainframe computer software roots — and is growing

Compuware Corp. CEO Chris O'Malley talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about how the information technology company has reinvented itself over the past five years since spinning off several divisions of its business and returning to its roots of developing software for mainframe computers, which remain the mainstay of IT operations for banks, airlines and insurance companies. Compuware remains based in the former Compuware Building (now called One Campus Martius), the headquarters of...

Detroit Rising: Two cannabis entrepreneurs at different ends of Michigan’s green rush

Chris Jackson and Anthony Sabatella are cannabis entrepreneurs who are building companies at different ends of Michigan’s green rush. Jackson is co-owner of Indica LLC in Ypsilanti, a state-licensed marijuana provisioning center that does business under the name “Sticky Ypsi.” Sabatella is the founder of THC 123, a back-office support firm tailored to marijuana growers, distributors and retail stores. Jackson and Sabatella sat down with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood last month at the 2020...