“The Detroit Regional Chamber is excited to hear this great news. It’s an important step in the process that will help unify downtown Detroit and Midtown. This is a prime example of the transformative power of the public-private partnerships that are driving the renaissance under way in this great city and region. This is more tangible proof of the very real business and employment opportunities in Detroit’s future, which is important to highlight as the city works through its financial challenges.”

About the Detroit Regional Chamber
With over 20,000 members and affiliates, that employ over three quarters of a million workers, the Detroit Regional Chamber is one of the largest chambers of commerce in the country. The Chamber’s mission is carried out through business attraction efforts, advocacy, strategic partnerships and providing valuable benefits to members. For more information, please visit detroitchamber.com.
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Leadership Detroit’s Class XXXIV featured 68 executives from across the region, representing a cross-section of the community, including business, organized labor, government, education, media, civic groups, health services and community organizations.

“We are thrilled to work with another great class of dynamic individuals who are committed to building a better tomorrow for the Detroit region,” said Dan Piepszowski, senior director of community leadership development at the Chamber. “As the region and state continue to bounce back economically, it’s heartening to see the enthusiasm among key emerging leaders across this diverse set of organizations. The Chamber is proud to help connect and build partnerships that will be important to tackling key issues facing the region.”

The commencement ceremony took place at the Detroit Yacht Club and featured remarks from Leadership Detroit Class XXV graduate Deidre Bounds, chief operating officer, Ignite Social Media, who provided perspective and shared ideas on the importance of leveraging leadership skills when navigating change. The complete Leadership Detroit Class XXXIV roster is available at detroitchamber.com/ld.

About Leadership Detroit
Leadership Detroit is a community leadership program for executives in Southeast Michigan led by the Detroit Regional Chamber with over 1,800 alumni. Launched in 1979, the program aims to create awareness of key issues that affect the Detroit region and to challenge emerging and existing community leaders to bring about positive change in the community through informed leadership. For more information, please visit detroitchamber.com/ld.

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The third annual innovation survey from the public accounting, tax and business advisory firm will again ask Midwest businesses and organizations to share how they use innovation to increase revenue, improve quality and cut costs. New to the survey this year will be three sections exploring collaboration, which was identified by the 2012 innovation “superstars” as key to their success.

This year the survey will continue to chart attitudes toward innovation and investigate the level of interest in and perceived barriers to partnering for innovation.

“Our goal for the survey is to provide a better understanding of the innovation process,” said Gordon Krater, Plante Moran managing partner. “Last year our analysts charted the characteristics of innovators and documented techniques for improving innovation efforts. This year we’re building on that effort and we consider the survey a conversation starter among organizations looking for ways to improve. The more people who contribute to the conversation, the stronger the information we have to share.”

The 10-minute survey, which is available here, asks C-suite executives and innovation team leaders to answer questions designed to measure innovation activity, the business value of innovation and drivers and constraints on innovation. Last year, executives from more than 550 businesses, nonprofits and governmental entities from Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana took the survey, which found that:

•  Organizations that make a deliberate choice to build and nourish innovation can earn a significant payoff for their efforts.
•  Survey respondents said they generated 16 percent of their revenue from new products or services introduced in the last three years.
•  Innovators can be divided into four categories, from “accidental innovators” who dabble to “superstars,” who adopt deliberate innovation practices, establish budgets and publicly reward employees for ideas that emerge.

All survey participants will receive a customized report benchmarking their organization’s Innovation Quotient against best-in-class practices. All participants will get an advanced release of the report. The study wraps up in mid-July.
This year’s partners for the survey include: the National Center for the Middle Market, NewNorth Center, the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Institute at The Ohio State University, the Technology Report at CBS Radio in Detroit and the “World Industrial Reporter.”

ABOUT PLANTE MORAN

Plante Moran is among the nation’s largest accounting, tax and consulting firms and provides a full line of services to organizations in the following industries: manufacturing & distribution, financial institutions, service, health care, private equity, public sector and real estate and construction. Plante Moran has a staff of more than 2,000 professionals in 21 offices throughout Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois with international offices in Shanghai, China; Monterrey, Mexico; and Mumbai, India. Plante Moran has been recognized by a number of organizations, including FORTUNE magazine, as one of the country’s best places to work. For more information, visit plantemoran.com.

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Hennessey Capital helps growing, small- to medium-sized companies leverage their current assets to support new business opportunities. Specialized financing solutions include accounts receivable financing and revolving lines of credit secured by A/R, inventory, and equipment. Funding can be used for payroll, vendor payments, new sales growth, expansions, and more.

National Small Business Week runs from June 17-21 and was created in 1963 to recognize the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners.

“Capital is a necessity for any small business to thrive. We come across local entrepreneurs everyday that exemplify true passion and determination in their efforts to grow and move forward,” said Mike Semanco, president and COO of the Hennessey Capital division. “Southeast Michigan has witnessed great success and we are happy to lend a hand in the growth of our region.”

For more information or to take advantage of this offer, contact Jeff Wright at (248) 259-3749 or jwright@hennesseycap.com. Businesses must be new clients and close loans on or before August 31, 2013.

About Hennessey Capital
Hennessey Capital is a division of Hitachi Capital America Corp. and provides revolving lines of credit secured by A/R, inventory, and equipment along with factoring of accounts receivable for small- and middle-market companies across the United States. Facilities range from initial invoicing to $5 million and beyond and are used as primary loan facilities, for restructuring current debt, and funding seasonal or incremental sales growth.

Learn more at www.hennesseycap.com or by calling (248) 658-1100.

About Hitachi Capital America Corp.

Hitachi Capital America Corp. is an independent, diversified leasing and financial services company providing financing to Hitachi group companies and the commercial business sector in the United States and Canada. Hitachi Capital America offers a variety of asset-based financing solutions with a business focus on truck, vendor, trade, and medical equipment finance, as well as lease discounting and software financing.

Learn more at www.hitachicapitalamerica.com

•  Corporate/ Mergers & Acquisitions
•  Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
•  Labor and Employment
•  Litigation: General Commercial

For more than 20 years, Chambers has published the leading directories
of the legal profession. Chambers has built a reputation for in-depth, objective research and has a team of 100 highly qualified full-time researchers who conduct thousands of interviews with lawyers and their clients worldwide.

The following Butzel Long attorneys are highlighted in Chambers USA 2013:

– Robert A. Boonin –
Labor and Employment

– Stephen A. Bromberg –
Real Estate

– Robert G. Buydens –
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation

– David F. DuMouchel –
Litigation: White-Collar Crime and Government Investigations (Band 1)

– John P. Hancock, Jr. –
Labor and Employment

– Patrick A. Karbowski –
Real Estate

– Justin G. Klimko –
Corporate/ Mergers and Acquisitions (Band 1)

– Daniel B. Tukel –
Labor and Employment

Justin G. Klimko is President and Managing Shareholder of Butzel Long and serves on the firm’s Board of Directors. He is based in the firm’s Detroit office. Klimko has extensive experience in securities regulation, corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and general corporate matters, fields in which he has practiced since 1980. Klimko has substantial experience in securities regulation matters for publicly and privately held companies.

Robert A. Boonin is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor office. Boonin’s practice is largely concentrated in the areas of labor, employment discrimination, public contract and education law. He has represented public and private sector clients across the country in over 30 jurisdictions, performing legal work in the areas of wrongful termination, employment discrimination, wage and hour, tenure proceedings and other employment-related lawsuits and claims, as well as in labor grievance arbitrations, labor negotiations, unfair labor practices and representational proceedings and labor strikes. He is well versed in NLRB issues, having extensively practiced before that agency in many NLRB Regions.

Stephen A. Bromberg is Counsel to Butzel Long and based in the firm’s Bloomfield Hills office. He served as a Director and President of Butzel Long. Bromberg has represented borrowers and institutional lenders, purchasers and sellers, non-profit entities and contractors and owners in all kinds of office, commercial shopping center, apartment and subdivisions matters, major construction and zoning matters and workouts, reorganizations and foreclosures, with years of specialization in real estate transactions and litigation.

Robert G. Buydens is a shareholder in Butzel Long’s Detroit office. He concentrates his practice in the area of employee benefits including preparation of pension, money purchase, employee stock purchase, and profit sharing plans for individuals, partnerships, corporations and multiple-employer organizations, as well as the preparation of master plans for profit and non-profit corporations. Buydens has substantial experience in providing advice on and drafting welfare benefit plans, including self-funded health care plans, flexible benefit plans, disability plans, and life insurance plans. He is experienced in executive compensation which includes the preparation of deferred compensation plans, management incentive plans, bonus plans and stock option plans. Buydens has been active in the multi-employer and multiple-employer pension area and is experienced in advising clients on plan terminations and withdrawals from multi-employer and multiple-employer plans.

David F. DuMouchel is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Detroit office. He chairs the firm’s Corporate Compliance, Internal Investigations and Criminal Defense practice. DuMouchel’s practice is limited to white collar criminal defense, professional licensure and criminal health care, criminal IRS investigations of both taxpayers and professionals, SEC enforcement of corporate executives, public corruption, as well as grand jury investigations, internal corporate investigations and compliance.

John P. Hancock, Jr. is a shareholder based in Butzel Long’s Detroit office. His practice focuses on collective bargaining negotiations and arbitrations as well as counseling of both public and private employers. He also has performed extensive employment litigation and OSHA litigation. Hancock has served as chief negotiator in numerous collective bargaining negotiations for public schools, municipal and public utilities as well as clients in various other businesses ranging from casinos to steel plants to hospitals and country clubs. A good portion of his practice is devoted to counseling clients on employment issues.

Patrick A. Karbowski is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Bloomfield Hills office. His practice includes both transactions and litigation, with concentrations in the areas of real estate and general business. Karbowski has served as the Chairperson of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is an ex officio member of its governing Council, as well as a member of many of its committees including its Pro Bono and ADR Committees. He is a member of the Real Estate Advisory Board for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education. He has also served as an adjunct professor of law teaching Real Estate Transactions at the Ave Maria School of Law.

Daniel B. Tukel is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Detroit office and serves as Chair of the firm’s Labor and Employment Law Department. His practice is devoted to representing both public and private employers in state and federal discrimination and wrongful discharge litigation, as well as traditional labor matters such as collective bargaining and union organizational drives. Tukel regularly counsels employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, in statutory compliance and in creating, implementing and administering employee handbooks and other personnel policies and practices.

About Butzel Long

Established in 1854, Butzel Long is a leading law firm with offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, and Washington, D.C., as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm is also a member of the Washington D.C. law firm, Butzel Long Tighe Patton. Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on regional, national, and multi-national levels and is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.

The proposed expansion of Medicaid to more than 400,000 individuals in Michigan passed through the Michigan House of Representatives last week, a measure supported by Governor Rick Snyder as well as the Detroit Regional Chamber. The proposal is expected to head to the Senate floor before landing on Gov. Snyder’s desk to be signed before the Legislature breaks for summer.

Estimates indicate that this expansion would provide care to 450,000 out of 1.2 million uninsured Michigan residents. The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation at the University of Michigan estimates that the combination of increased provider tax revenue along with savings realized by eliminating general fund subsidies to other programs will result in a net savings to the state of $983 million over 10 years. To watch video coverage of the Chamber’s Vice President of Government Relations Brad Williams on the subject, click here. For more information on current Chamber-backed public policy priorities, click here.

Rep. John Dingell Celebrated as Longest-Serving Congressional Member in D.C. Last Week

U.S. Rep. John Dingell became the longest-serving member in the history of the U.S. Congress on June 7, and was celebrated for this achievement last Thursday in the National Sanctuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol by Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner. The small but dignified ceremony was a rare display of bipartisanship with attendees ranging from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to UAW President Bob King.

Rep. Dingell was also honored on the final day of the 2013 Mackinac Policy Conference. Dingell has served Michigan in Congress for more than 57 years and has had a number of milestone achievements along the way. The Detroit Regional Chamber congratulates Rep. Dingell on this landmark accomplishment and thanks him for his lasting impact on our state and nation.

Chamber Hosts Economic Developers from Around Nation for Detroit’s 21st Century Comeback Tour

Last Tuesday, the Detroit Regional Chamber welcomed the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) on a tour of Detroit touching on key issues and assets impacting Detroit’s ongoing transformation and comeback. The half-day tour featured speakers from the business community and showcased ongoing corporate investment in the city, tech incubation and innovation in districts like Midtown, private sector public safety efforts downtown and talent attraction and economic development efforts.

Hosting economic developers from around the country is an important piece of the Chamber’s strategy to change the conversation nationally and globally about the turnaround occurring in Detroit. As a result of this robust tour, 40 individuals from around the nation were provided an in-depth look at the change under way in the Motor City. Session highlights of the tour included:

• “Detroit’s Financial Crisis and State Government Intervention” by Harvey Hollins III, director, Michigan Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives, State of Michigan.
• “Corporate Investment Efforts Leading to Community Enhancement” featuring: David Carroll, vice president of miscellaneous stuff, Quicken Loans; Robert Gregory, senior vice president, Downtown Detroit Partnership; Tricia Keith, senior vice president, corporate secretary and services, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; Trevor Lauer, vice president, distribution operations, DTE Energy.
• “New International Trade Crossing” featuring: Roy Norton, consul general, Canadian Consulate; Sandy K. Baruah, president and CEO, Detroit Regional Chamber.
• “Developing a City Market and Local Food Economy – Detroit Eastern Market” featuring: Randall Fogelman, vice president, business development, Eastern Market Corporation; Red Elk Banks, executive operations coordinator, Whole Foods Market; Olga Stella, vice president, business development, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.
• “Midtown Detroit and the Innovation Corridor” featuring: Don Jones, senior consultant, New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan; Sue Mosey, president, Midtown Detroit Inc.
• “Project Lighthouse:  Safety in Downtown” at the Detroit Security Ops Center by Mike Bruggeman, senior vice president, security, Rock Ventures, LLC.
• “Entrepreneur and Talent Infusion” featuring:  Gabe Karp, partner, Detroit Venture Partners; Jeff Aronoff, executive director, D:hive; Ryan Hoyle, director, global recruiting, GalaxE.Solutions; Greg Schwartz, CEO and co-founder, UpTo.

The Chamber partnered with Ann Arbor SPARK, Downtown Detroit Partnership and Detroit Economic Growth Corporation in hosting the Detroit tour as part of the IEDC’s annual spring conference held in Ann Arbor from June 9-11.

Hungry for Chamber Success? Don’t Miss Membership Maximizer at Buffalo Wild Wings, June 27

Are you new to the Detroit Regional Chamber or are you a standing member looking for new ways to get the most out of your membership? If so, the Chamber encourages you to attend the Membership Maximizer on June 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Buffalo Wild Wings in Detroit. You’ll hear from a panel of veteran members on how the Chamber’s resources have helped take their business and career to new heights. For more information or to register, click here.

By Chris Gautz

June 16, 2013

Hunting and attraction efforts are returning to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. with a renewed focus this year.

The MEDC has created an export and attraction team that will focus on targeted industries and high-priority markets as part of a new strategic plan guiding the agency through 2017.

Those industries include manufacturing, energy, biosciences, chemical and agriculture. Countries being targeted are Canada, China, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the United Kingdom.

The goal for the coming fiscal year is to target $445 million in investment and 4,000 jobs due to attraction efforts.

After Gov. Rick Snyder took office in 2011 and said in his first State of the State address that there needed to be “more emphasis on economic gardening as opposed to hunting,” the organization has done just that.

But now, the MEDC is going back to its days of attracting businesses from other states and other countries, President and CEO Michael Finney said.

“We have way more opportunities then we had in the past,” he said.

That is because Michigan has become a business-friendly state in the past few years with scores of regulations removed, the elimination of the Michigan Business Tax and its surcharge, and the passage of right-to-work and a new corporate income tax, he said.

Finney said the addition of attraction efforts will not diminish the focus on economic gardening.

“We are not taking anything away from our gardening efforts,” he said. “We’re actually enhancing and adding gardening resources. We’re just expanding our efforts to go after some business attraction.”

Maureen Krauss, vice president for economic development at the Detroit Regional Chamber, welcomes the move.

“It’s really a natural path for the MEDC to be focused on attraction as the economy is coming back,” she said.

Since Snyder took office, the economy has changed for the better, and the state has a good story to tell, she said.

While the MEDC focused for the past few years on economic gardening, Krauss said, the chamber and other regional groups were doing the hunting, but the state was always responsive when there was interest from companies looking at coming to Michigan. So far this year, Krauss said, she has been on two trade missions to Europe and has had MEDC officials with her on both trips.

“Economic development is a team sport,” she said.

The MEDC has a list of about 100 prospects it is working on with the hope that some will choose to locate in Michigan, Finney said. About 25 percent of those prospects come from overseas.

“We see some real opportunities for foreign direct investment,” Finney said.

He said that was not as easy to do previously because the MEDC did not have a comprehensive strategy surrounding foreign investment.

The organization has since crafted a strategy that identifies specific industries and countries that could produce not only increased export activity, but lead to new foreign direct investment.

Some of the industries being targeted globally are the same as those the team is looking at attracting from other states, but also include alternative energy, food processing and medical devices.

In terms of exports in the coming fiscal year, the exports and attraction team is targeting $81.3 million in revenue, with the goal of getting to $500 million by 2017.

The state ranks eighth nationally for exports and 14th for foreign direct investment. The goal is to move to seventh for exports and into the top 10 in foreign investment in the next five years. That would mean adding another $6 billion in exports and $378 million in foreign investment, which the MEDC believes are attainable goals.

As part of the strategy, the MEDC is leaning on the expertise of the heads of other state departments when attending investment missions overseas.

Last year, when it was clear that agriculture would be a major topic of discussion during a trade mission to China with Snyder and the MEDC, Jamie Clover Adams, director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, also attended. She also plans to attend the next China summit this September.

Clover Adams was also on hand on an investment mission earlier this year to the Netherlands with Lt. Gov. Brian Calley.

“We try to coordinate as much as possible when promoting exports and investment back in Michigan,” said Gordon Wenk, chief deputy director for the agriculture department.

Back at home, Finney said, the MEDC is comfortable with the tools it now has, including $170 million for the coming fiscal year for gardening and attraction efforts. The total includes incentives to encourage film production in the state, as well as funding for various incentive programs the MEDC can offer to companies considering coming to Michigan in return for hitting targets on investments and jobs created.

In March, the MEDC announced the expansion of Newell Rubbermaid in Kalamazoo, which came about after a number of site visits with the company and a trip to Chicago to make the pitch.

The result was that the Atlanta-based company decided to consolidate all of its product and graphic design capabilities from around the country to Kalamazoo, where Newell Rubbermaid plans to build a state-of-the-art design center and create up to 100 design jobs. As part of the deal, MEDC offered a $2 million business development performance-based grant if it indeed creates that many jobs.

“We hope we get to a point where we have so many deals in the pipeline that we have to come back to (the Legislature) and we need more money,” Finney said.

Finney said he doesn’t anticipate there being a time where Michigan can be completely out of the incentive game, and lure companies to the state simply based on its improved tax and regulatory climate.

Incentives that can provide funding to help close a deal, or to provide funding when businesses meet targets will likely always be needed, Finney said.

“It’s a continuously moving target,” he said. “The very next day, other states or other countries will modify their laws to be more competitive.”

Chris Gautz: (517) 403-4403, cgautz@crain.com. Twitter: @chrisgautz

“We are so excited for the team at Microsoft SMB whose cutting-edge thinking made this program possible,” said Airfoil Co-CEO, Lisa Vallee-Smith. “Being awarded the Silver Anvil in one of the industry’s hottest categories is a testament to the innovative programming that is possible through partnership.”
With the advent of cloud computing, SMBs are entering a technology revolution, which opens up a world of new applications and functionalities never accessible to them until now. SMBs generally tend toward a traditional technology such as hardware and on-premise software. This presented Microsoft with an awareness opportunity to educate this audience about the power of cloud computing while establishing brand affinity amidst a competitive set of technology providers also actively targeting this sector.
The Microsoft U.S. SMB PR team was tasked with building deeper brand affinity among SMBs for the Microsoft brand as a caring provider of innovative and valuable technologies, while communicating the power and potential of cloud computing for the SMB audience. They did this while also integrating with the company’s overarching marketing efforts. The PR team had three main objectives for the business-to-business campaign: create a perception shift around Microsoft’s support of SMBs, drive thought-leadership among SMBs and broadly educate SMBs.
“The success of programs today requires that brands tap into something larger,” noted Airfoil Co-CEO, Janet Tyler. “We applaud the team for identifying a relevant movement and capitalizing in a way that built affinity with the audience.”
Regarded as the “Icon of Best Public Relations Practices,” the national awards program was established in 1946 to recognize programs of excellence “that incorporate sound research, planning, execution and evaluation…and meet the highest standards of performance in the profession.” PRSA announced that, of this year’s program’s 847 entries, only 144 organizations were selected by the Silver Anvil Judges as finalists. The Silver Anvil Awards Ceremony was held on June 13 in New York City.

About Airfoil

Airfoil, with offices in Silicon Valley, Detroit, London and Hong Kong, is an independent firm specializing in marketing communications and public relations for both emerging and leading technology companies. Airfoil’s teams drive technology communications for a growing client roster across consumer, enterprise, health care, cleantech and industrial segments. The agency provides services to measure, inform and accelerate clients’ marketing communications, digital, social media and brand strategy programs. Airfoil has been named Technology Agency of the Year by the Holmes Report and recognized as a top firm in numerous industry rankings. Visit www.airfoilgroup.com for more information.

McMullan, based in the firm’s Detroit office, concentrates her practice in labor and employment law. She represents employers in judicial and administrative proceedings, and provides employment counseling regarding compliance with federal and state employment laws (including FMLA, FLSA, ADA and Title VII). She is admitted to practice in the State of Michigan, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit.

In addition to the Wolverine Bar Association, McMullan is a member of the American Bar Association and the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association. She participated in the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association’s first Inns of Court program and the local Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) diversity committee, where she has been instrumental in the organization of an annual law day program at the federal court. She also serves as a co-chair of the FBA’s summer programs committee, where she organizes educational opportunities for law students.

In 2011, McMullan was selected to participate in Inforum’s inaugural NextUP Emerging Leaders Program, Flight 1SE, a leadership training program. Inforum is the leading professional organization focused on creating strategic connections and accelerating careers for women throughout Michigan and the Midwest.

Moreover, McMullan served for four years as a mentor and Board Member of Student Mentor Partners, an organization that provides mentoring and tuition assistance for underprivileged metro-Detroit high school students. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first sorority for African-American women, where she participates in mentoring young women and other community service activities.

McMullan is a graduate of Wayne State University Law School (J.D., 2007), where she was a member of the Student Board of Governors, an Executive Board Member of the Black Law Students Association, and President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society. She was a Donald E. Barris Trial Competition winner, Chair of the school’s Mock Trial team and a member of its national team. McMullan received the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan’s Outstanding Woman Law Student Award. She also is a graduate of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor (B.A., with Honors, 2000).

During law school, McMullan was a law clerk at the University of Michigan’s Office of the General Counsel, the Library of Congress’s Office of the General Counsel, and at the National Football League’s (NFL) General Counsel’s Office. She also was a judicial extern for the Honorable Arthur J. Tarnow of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Prior to entering the legal field, she was a Coaching Staff Assistant for the Detroit Lions.

About the Wolverine Bar Association

The Wolverine Bar Association was established by a number of African-American attorneys during the 1930′s. It was organized to coordinate the energies and talents of the increasing number of African-Americans admitted to practice throughout Michigan. From its inception, the Wolverine Bar Association assumed a leadership role in community and political activities. The role continues to be paramount in its endeavors today. For more information visit the association’s website at www.wbadirect.org.

About Butzel Long

Established in 1854, Butzel Long is a leading law firm with offices in Detroit, Bloomfield Hills, Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan, New York City, and Washington, D.C., as well as Alliance offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Mexico City and Monterrey. The firm is also a member of the Washington D.C. law firm, Butzel Long Tighe Patton. Butzel Long represents clients from diverse industries on regional, national, and multi-national levels and is a member of Lex Mundi, a global association of 160 independent law firms. Visit the Butzel Long website at www.butzel.com.