Dan Calabrese

Serial entrepreneurs Jeff and Rich Sloan of Birmingham have taken the popularity of fantasy sports leagues and applied it to the entertainment industry.

The 2019 Class of 30 in Their Thirties volunteered their time during Life Remodeled's Six-Day Project in Detroit (Aug. 5-10). The nonprofit group, located at the Durfee Innovation Society (formerly Durfee Middle School), helps transform neighborhoods and lives of residents.

Penn National Gaming’s acquisition of Greektown Casino brings capital to Detroit.

After selling Gas Station TV in Detroit, Mark Alhermizi used his technical skills to transform how people share the news and memories of a deceased loved one.

The 2018 class of 30 in Their Thirties spans the business world, including employee staffing, finance, food production, health care, insurance, real estate development, and technology.

The film industry in metro Detroit, which is very much alive despite the end of sizeable state incentives that were designed to attract top-flight actors and directors, can draw big-budget production companies like Disney and Warner Bros. by building up a creative infrastructure.

Detroit’s three casinos, along with land-based operations outstate, are facing growing competition from the Michigan Lottery and its exclusive offering of online gaming options.

The region’s water economy, stretching from the southern end of Lake Huron to the northern tip of Lake Erie, is a major economic generator — but more marketing efforts could drive expenditures for fishing, boating, and charters even further.

Following a stint as manager of energy and sustainability at Eastern Michigan University, Steve Moore took over in 2013 as director of energy management for Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers Inc. He says he was surprised by what he found when he started. “I’ve worked in this industry 13 years, and when I first came here, what I expected was to walk into a lot of the malls we own and find savings opportunities relatively quickly,” Moore recalls.

Adam Jahnke sat at his desk at Honigman Miller, a large law firm in downtown Detroit, and pondered his position in life. He’d already made partner in his early 30s. Things were going well. But something was missing. He didn’t feel passionate about coming to work every day. “I called up my wife and said I felt I needed to move on to something else,” Jahnke recalls.