January / February 2011

Magna Force

Frank Stronach has gone home for the holidays. Home as in Austria, that is — the once war-tattered country where he was raised before setting sail as a teenager, bound for a new country and a new...

By Paul Eisenstein

The Birth of Industry

Detroit in 1850 exhibited little in the way of mechanical ingenuity. The fur trade was fading as the city’s chief export, replaced by salted fish. The population of 21,019 had developed a fairly...

By Dan Calabrese and R.J. King

Where Are They Now?

Former Big 3 Executives (2007-10)

Chrysler Group LLC 2011

Chrysler posted better-than-expected financial results from Jan.-Sept. 2010 while raising its forecast. Chrysler says it expects to make a pre-tax profit of $700 million in 2010, up from $200...

Ford Motor Co. 2011

In 2010, Ford gained U.S. market share and was able to sell its cars and truck at higher prices. In October, the automaker made a final payment to the UAW’s retiree health care trust fund. The...

General Motors Co. 2011

In January, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson is scheduled to be elected chairman, replacing Ed Whitacre. GM remains the No.1 car company in the United States. In 2010, for the first time it sold more...

The Little Engine That Could

What downtown Detroit has in abundance is potential. Offering one of the nation’s most impressive collections of office structures built prior to 1940, the central business district is an...

By R.J. King

Engage and Enhance

For years, Habitat for Humanity Oakland County rolled out its affordable home program with little deviation — put out a call for corporate donors, gather volunteers, build or renovate dwellings,...

By R.J. King

Pop Pop, Fizz Fizz

When a 50-year-old dormitory at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor developed severe plumbing problems — water flow had slowed to a trickle — a school management team budgeted $11 million...

By R.J. King

PDA Q&A: Gary Burkart

Baby, You Can Drive My Virtual Car

Forget expensive prototypes. Realtime Technology in Royal Oak can project a 3-D image of a concept vehicle and make it appear to hug a hairpin turn or accelerate through a straightaway.

By R.J. King

Forward Observer

In business or in battle, David T. Maccagnone isn’t afraid to advance. The CEO of Multi-Bank Securities Inc. in Pleasant Ridge, which invests funds on behalf of banks, credit unions, and other...

By R.J. King

Auto App

Is it possible to buy a car using an Apple iPad? The answer is yes, thanks to Mercedes-Benz Financial in Farmington Hills, which developed an online sales tool for the German automaker’s 355...

By R.J. King

Global Speak

Jason and Michael Teshuba are used to navigating different business models. In 2002, the siblings designed and built websites for a variety of clients. Two years later, they began offering...

By R.J. King

Tax Detectives

Nino Licari is a popular figure these days. Like many city assessors in metro Detroit and elsewhere, Licari’s office is being overrun by tax reps — a collection of lawyers, accountants, and tax...

By Norm Sinclair

Fine of the Times

At the 34th District Court on Wayne Road in Romulus, the cash register begins ringing early most weekday mornings as dozens of motorists and lawyers, traffic tickets in hand, line up to play the...

By Norm Sinclair

The Brain Gain

The government restructured the auto industry; now it needs to restructure immigration. Why is that important for Michigan?

By Scott F. Cooper

Space Collector

Howard Weinberger was on a mission. As a longtime collector of toys from the past, as well as other rare items, he spent seven years in search of little-known silver and gold medallions from the...

By R.J. King

Run Silent, Run Cheap

A team of researchers at Kettering University in Flint has developed a device, called a reformer, that converts gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and other commonly available fuels into hydrogen —...

By R.J. King

Cadillac Man

Sailing for England in 1895, William E. Metzger carried letters of introduction from Detroit and New York bankers, but after almost two weeks in London, he remained uninvited to the horseless...

By Ronald Ahrens