DBusiness Daily Update: Detroit Festival of Books to Expand in 2024, and More

Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies.
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Shopping crowd at register
The Detroit Festival of Books this year will be held between Eastern Market’s Sheds 4 and 5, with a combination of both open-air and indoor activities. // Photo courtesy of Detroit Festival of Books

Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.

Detroit Festival of Books to Expand in 2024

The seventh annual Detroit Festival of Books will be expanding in 2024.

Previously limited to Eastern Market’s Shed 5, Bookfest this year will spread between Sheds 4 and 5, with a combination of both open-air and indoor activities.

“Every year we’ve been seeing more foot traffic and greater interest in the event from vendors and book aficionados,” says Ryan M. Place, founder and chairman of Bookfest. “We very much appreciate the Eastern Market Partnership’s allotting us more space and continuing its support.”

Bookfest announced the expansion after receiving the Silo Buster Award from the Eastern Market Partnership at the market’s annual awards gala on Feb. 1. The expansion will allow Bookfest to offer more space for authors, booksellers, kids’ activities, and for nonprofit organizations promoting literacy in southeast Michigan.

“Bookfest is a highly successful and rewarding event for the Eastern Market Partnership,” says Lonni Thomas, who oversees both the Saturday and Sunday markets at Eastern Market. “We gave the festival our Silo Buster Award because this event is doing so much to bring people to the city, to support the city, and to make a healthier, wealthier, and happier Detroit.”

The Detroit Festival of Books will run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, July 21. Admission is free.

G-M Wood Products in Newaygo County Expands Operations

The Newaygo County Economic Development Partnership (NCEDP), The Right Place Inc., and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced wood components supplier G-M Wood Products will be expanding its facility at 531 Clay Street in Newaygo, north of Grand Rapids.

The company plans to add 25 new jobs and more than $8.6 million in capital investment.

The company, founded in 1987 as a manufacturer of small components around door handles, now manufactures patented door frame components and wood door frames in many sizes. The company currently has 139 employees in Michigan.

GMWP plans to construct a 25,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its existing operations in Newaygo. This will allow the company to bring some manufacturing processes currently being done out of state and overseas in-house, allowing for better product control, decreased production times, and reduced production costs.

“G-M Wood Products, being an industry leader in manufacturing millwork and entry door components with facilities in Michigan as well as Georgia, is excited to continue growing our Newaygo, Michigan campus,” says Kevin Karrip, vice president of G-M Wood Products.

“We are bringing a new technology on site that we previously sourced from out of state and overseas. We firmly believe that the value of automated USA manufacturing will continue to increase over the coming years. Considering the partnership with the state of Michigan, combined with the incredibly hardworking employees of our west Michigan community, we are left with no doubt that Newaygo is the right choice for G-M Wood Products to continue to grow.”

For more information, visit gmcompanies.com.

Lawrence Tech in Southfield Partners with United Arab Emirates University

Officials at Lawrence Technological University and the American University of Sharjah (AUS) in the United Arab Emirates have signed a memorandum of under-standing that will facilitate AUS engineering students to pursue graduate studies at LTU and introduce collaborative academic and training programs.

Based on the agreement, AUS engineering students can benefit from a 4+1 program where those who have completed four years of their undergraduate engineering studies at AUS can earn a master’s degree from LTU in just one year.

AUS students will benefit from an expedited admission process, provided that they meet LTU’s standard entry requirements. Successful candidates also will benefit from a partial scholarship of $10,000 to attend LTU.

The agreement also stipulates collaboration toward establishing one or more programs, potentially featuring double or dual degrees. Both institutions also will cooperate in designing training programs for research and development projects, explore shared areas of interest, and design exchange or study abroad initiatives.

Michigan Sea Grant Funds $1.7M in New Research

Michigan Sea Grant in Ann Arbor is funding six new research projects, totaling nearly $1.7 million, to investigate the shifting dynamics of harmful algal blooms, economic trends in coastal communities, emerging fish viruses, and other issues relevant to the Great Lakes.

Every two years, Michigan Sea Grant requests proposals for projects addressing issues affecting the Great Lakes and Michigan’s coastal areas. Funded projects are selected through a competitive process involving external peer review and advisory panel recommendations.

Starting in early 2024, funded projects will develop information, create tools, and build partnerships that will improve decision-making to address particularly challenging coastal issues in the state and fulfill critical research needs for the Great Lakes ecosystems.

“We are funding a strong slate of projects that will provide new knowledge and information to improve management and conservation of our Great Lakes resources,” says Silvia Newell, director of Michigan Sea Grant and professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.

“As the climate changes and environmental stressors grow, research and science has become increasingly important in protecting our ecosystems and helping communities in Michigan adapt.”

Michigan Sea Grant has selected the following projects for funding in 2024-26:

Assessing blue gentrification in Michigan’s coastal communities. Blue gentrification poses a significant challenge for coastal communities in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. This emerging issue involves the displacement of long-term residents near water bodies due to physical and cultural changes. This project aims to assess the extent of blue gentrification from 2006 to 2020, identify its driving forces, and develop policies and strategies to address it. Researchers will seek to promote sustainable and equitable blue economies along Michigan’s coastline, addressing residential displacement and advancing justice and inclusion. Lead Principal Investigator: Joshua Newell, University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.

An Ecosystem-Scale Approach to Understanding Changing Winters in the Great Lakes. The Laurentian Great Lakes are the world’s largest reservoir of freshwater. Unfortunately, this valuable resource is being affected by multiple interacting stressors, many of which are related to climate change. Winter limnology represents a major gap in our understanding of the lakes’ responses to a changing climate, hampering our ability to manage these systems for resiliency. This research will use a networked science approach to conduct synchronous, standardized sampling across the Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair to put winter conditions and ecology in context and facilitate predictions of future ecosystem responses to climate change. Lead Principal Investigator: Trista Vick-Majors, Michigan Technological University.

A Novel Assessment of Lake Trout Growth Sensitivity to Winter and Spring Climate and Possible Interactions with Declining Prey Abundance in Lake Superior. Rapid warming and ice cover loss have modified the growth of lake trout in Lake Superior. This research will use a new approach that looks at year-to-year variation in the growth of fish ear bones. Scientists can use the width of these bones to measure the growth of a fish in a given year and compare it with climatic variation in that same year to determine, over decades, how climate variables regulate growth using data from 1980 to 2022. Results from this research will improve understanding of lake trout population dynamics and provide valuable information to fisheries managers. Lead Principal Investigator: Steven Voelker, Michigan Technological University.

Michigan the Beautiful: Great Lakes. Using input from a multisector advisory group and robust Tribal engagement, researchers will assess how Michigan’s coastal and Great Lakes waters can contribute to the United Nations’ “30×30” goal of ensuring 30 percent percent of Earth’s land, coast ,and open waters are under effective conservation and management by 2030. The project team will analyze the current status of Michigan’s coastal and open Great Lakes waters to determine what areas are and are not protected, identify and evaluate management and policy options to reach the 30×30 goal, and develop tools and information to guide implementation of identified management and policy options. Lead Principal Investigator: Jennifer Read, University of Michigan Water Center.

Determining Great Lakes invasive carp species susceptibility to emerging viral infections. Invasive aquatic species, particularly invasive carp, threaten Great Lakes ecosystems and regional economies. These carp are difficult to control and eradicate and can cause ecosystem damage. This research will explore the susceptibility of invasive carp species to new and emerging fish viruses circulating in the Great Lakes. These findings will inform management approaches to maintain healthy Great Lakes ecosystems and may contribute to international efforts against aquatic invasive species. Graduate Research Fellow: Santosh Lamichhane, Michigan State University.

Community Dynamics of Cyanobacteria in Lake Erie: Testing Environmental Drivers of Bloom Succession. This project will investigate how environmental factors influence the shifting array of algae species in Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms. In particular, cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cHABs) pose significant threats to water quality, ecosystems, human health and coastal communities, particularly in Lake Erie. It’s important to understand how environmental drivers such as water column stratification, nutrient concentrations and temperature affect which species develop. This study aims to refine forecasting models and aid in the mitigation of cHABs, contributing to broader efforts by federal agencies to manage cHABs in the Great Lakes and assess the impact of environmental policies. Graduate Research Fellow: Carol Waldmann Rosenbaum, Michigan State University.

Holocaust Center to Present ‘Eva’s Promise’ Sunday

The Zekelman Holocaust Center (The HC), in Farmington Hills will host a screening of the documentary “Eva’s Promise,” followed by a Q&A session with the film’s producer Susan Kerner at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

“Eva’s Promise,” featuring Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss (née Geiringer), chronicles her family’s ordeal of hiding from Nazis, as well as the bond she shared with her brother, Heinz, a gifted artist and poet.

After being discovered by the Nazis, Eva and her family were deported to Auschwitz Birkenau. On the train to the camps, Heinz entrusted Eva with a solemn request: to retrieve his hidden paintings and poetry should he not survive. Following the war, Eva, who later became Anne Frank’s posthumous stepsister after her mother married Otto Frank, committed herself to fulfilling her brother’s wish and preserving his memory through his creative works.

“We are deeply honored to present ‘Eva’s Promise’ to our community,” says Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO of The Zekelman Holocaust Center. “An underappreciated aspect of the Holocaust was the fracturing of families. Each individual lost in the Holocaust had unique talents to share with the world. Eva’s story exemplifies the resilience of a survivor who dedicated herself to ensuring her brother’s memory was not forgotten. Her journey serves as a powerful testament to the bonds of family and the enduring power of remembrance.”

A dessert reception will conclude the evening.

Admission to the event is $10 per person, with complimentary entry for members of The Zekelman Holocaust Center.

Registrations can be made online or by calling 248-553-2400.

UCFC-CALC Sharehouse Will be Open this Spring for Women to Pick Job Interview Attire

Leading up to International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, United Community Family Services – Chaldean American Ladies of Charity (UCFS-CALC), and the Women’s Business Institute (WBI) are collecting clothes and monetary donations to purchase clothes for women looking to enter the workforce.

“One of the obstacles for our client’s securing employment is having a suit or an appropriate outfit for an interview,” says Kristin Olmedo, president and CEO of UCFS-CALC. “In collaboration with our WBI committee, we are securing donations of suits and business attire or monetary donations to purchase items for our clients. WBI’s signature program is their mentorship program that is being developed and executed.”

Clothes for a Cause is an opportunity for people to donate and make a difference in someone else’s life.

Anyone wanting to donate professional clothing or money to purchase professional clothes can call 248-528-0130 or visit ucfamilyservices.org.

Concert ‘For the Love of Buddy Miles’ Coming to Dearborn March 1

The Michael A. Guido Theater in Dearborn will host the “For the Love of Buddy Miles” concert event March 1, celebrating the life and career of Band of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles.

The evening will be emceed by Doug Podell of 106.7 WLLZ and hosted by Slight Return and its musical director Mark Kassa.

Best known for his work as a drummer and singer for Band of Gypsys led by Jimi Hendrix and for voicing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” in a classic animated California Raisins TV commercial, Buddy Miles’ talents are multiple and his influence is widespread. He was also an accomplished guitarist, songwriter, and founder of bands including The Buddy Miles Express and The Electric Flag.

Among the musicians participating include Jim McCarty, the original guitarist of Buddy Miles Express; Tony Lindsay, recognized as the longest-tenured vocalist for Carlos Santana; drummer Dennis Chambers of Parliament/Funkadelic and Santana; Kenny Olson, who supports Kid Rock, Derek St. Holmes, and Ted Nugent; Lance Lopez, a member of Band of Trouble; Henri Brown, who recorded and toured with Miles; percussionist Juma Sultan; Peter Keys of Lynyrd Skynyrd; and Norwood Fisher of Fishbone.

Durfee Innovation Society to Host Prom Remodeled May 18

The Durfee Innovation Society in Detroit is hosting its Prom Remodeled event May 18 to raise funds for among other things the renovation of the former Dominican High School on Detroit’s eastside, now called Anchor Detroit.

Attendees can get their prom dresses and tuxedos ready to roll up in a limo and walk the red carpet. Once inside, they can njoy a variety of strolling hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.

Awards will be given to the best dressed and a Prom King or Queen will be crowned.

Durfee Innovation Society (2470 Collingwood St.) helps students perform at or above grade level in math and reading while giving families access to essential health and wellness services. The goal is to help community members obtain higher paying jobs and achieve economic self-sufficiency.

For more information, visit here or email advancement@liferemodeled.org.