Our roundup of the latest news from metro Detroit and Michigan businesses as well as announcements from government agencies, including updates about the COVID-19 pandemic. To share a business or nonprofit story, please send us a message.
New Golf Store, PXG Detroit, in Troy Opens with Motown Style
PXG Detroit, a new golf store in Troy, opened April 14 with a Motown inspired affair including invited notables, athletes, and clients.
Among the notable guests included Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, Brooks Nader, Jim Harbaugh, Amani Oruwariye, J.B. Berntsein, Ken Downing, Blair Wheeler, Colin Dietrich, and Amanda Sinishtaj.
PXG Detroit, one of 13 dedicated brick-and-mortar stores within the U.S., is the first PXG retail store in Michigan. Located at 2830 W. Maple Road (near Coolidge), the facility supports an exclusive shopping experience for golfers and non-golfers alike.
During the event, guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, and the global reveal of PXG 0311 GEN5 Golf Clubs as the music group Big Swing and the Ballroom Blasters.
DJ Lucy Wruble lit up the black carpet as guests arrived and fashion icon Ken Downing produced a live runway show with 14 models walking the green in PXG Apparel’s SS22 Collection.
PXG Detroit’s 7,843-square-foot facility features a retail showroom with PXG’s latest apparel, accessories, and bags, roomy golf club fitting bays powered by TrackMan technology, and a dedicated putter fitting studio and practice putting green. A customer lounge tops off the in-store experience, offering customers the opportunity to relax after a fitting or watch the latest golf tournaments.
New Financial Planning Podcast ‘Unpack Your Financial Baggage’ Launches
Melone Private Wealth has created a podcast that focuses on the issue of retirement, and will your money outlive you or will you outlive your money?
The podcast features Lou Melone, managing member of Melone Private Wealth in Auburn Hills, and R.J. King, editor of DBusiness magazine, DBusiness Daily News, Tech and Mobility News, Detroit 500, and Michigan Makers.
“After 25 years of working with clients, posting blogs, presenting at conferences, and writing a book about financial planning, I thought a podcast was another way to talk about financial planning,” Melone says. “There is not a lot of information about the fundamentals of financial planning but there are daily shows about stocks up and stocks down. Retirement is important to everyone but a path to get there isn’t always understood. Financial planning may be the most secure way to retirement.”
The first episode covers behavioral investing. Topics covered include the fundamentals of behavioral investing, the nine behaviors to avoid, the difficulty in following behavioral investing, the impact behavioral investing can have on your retirement plan, and quantifying the value of having a financial advisor who can act as your coach.
“The podcast provides listeners with the fundamentals of financial planning, step by step. Lou offers candid, easy-to-understand commentary on investment markets, financial planning tools, and how to stay the course,” King says.
Episode 2 will feature Melone’s model of The Anatomy of Investor Returns. The five components are: The Stimulus, Investor Behavior, Volatility, Retention Rate and Asset Class. This unique blueprint uses long range analysis of the stock market, economic theories, neuroscience, human history, and psychology to explain how as humans we are vulnerable to sabotaging even the most carefully laid out financial plans.
Visit here to listen to the podcast.
Be:HER Women’s Fashion Boutique Opens in Detroit’s Morningside Neighborhood
Be:HER, a women’s fashion boutique that was the beneficiary of two rounds of Motor City Match (MCM) assistance, has opened in the Morningside Neighborhood of Detroit.
The store offers shoes, clothing, and accessories appropriate for both work and night life, and soon will expand to include hair care and fragrance lines. Collaborating with industry leaders and community members, it provides locally manufactured goods and services.
The boutique also offers customization and styling services, along with a “sip and shop” option that allows patrons to enjoy refreshments and unwind while they shop. Online shopping as well as in-store and curbside (contactless) pick-up is available.
Located at 15715 E. Warren Ave., Be:HER is a MCM Round 4 Business Plan and Round 6 Design track awardee, and worked with MCM on project development and site selection. It also is the recipient of the Michigan Small Business Restart program grant, administered by Detroit Economic Growth Corp. The boutique is among several Black and woman-owned businesses receiving support from MCM, the city of Detroit, and DEGC.
“We are offering a service that caters to women of all shapes and sizes looking to be fashionable and modest, with a component of sexy,” says Jamie Williams, owner of Be:HER. “I want to bring value and pride to this community — where I grew up and currently live — with something beautiful. We hope to become trendsetters and an inspiration to other community members to continue taking action to improve our community. We are so grateful for programs like Motor City Match that have helped us with this dream and goal.”
Williams purchased the building in 2016, and says she considered it an eyesore to the community. Wanting the chance to reinvest in and improve her community, she began the idea for her women’s fashion boutique.
To learn more about Be:HER, visit beherdetroit.com.
Macomb Community College to Host Michigan Defense Expo April 20-21
Macomb Community College in Warren will host the free Michigan Defense Expo, April 20-21, featuring more than 60 guest speakers from the entire defense industry.
Taking place at the MCC Sports and Expo Center, among many others the event will feature exhibits and speakers from:
- Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
- Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA)
- Combat Support & Combat Service Support (CS&CSS)
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
- Ground Combat Systems (GCS)
- Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC)
- S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)
- Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross Functional Team (NGCV CFT)
- Tank-Automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM)
For more information and a detailed program, visit here.
Temple Shir Shalom Embarks on $5M Indoor and Outdoor Expansion
Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield Township, originally built in 1995, will break ground April 24 for several outdoor and indoor additions.
The $5 million for the expansion has so far been raised through donations by its members, the lead gift coming from the late June Gurwin and her daughter.
The expansion project includes outdoor spaces as well as multi-purpose indoor spiritual, community, and sacred spaces that will benefit the nearly 1,000 families who are members of Temple Shir Shalom. An enhanced pre-school and religious School also are to be constructed. Temple Shir Shalom members will be able to have all of their needs met for the first time, on one campus.
“Our dream has always been to complete the Torah (part of the original construction), for our building to house all of our programs, all of our families and find ways to engage our members every single day,” says Rabbi Michael Moskowitz. “With our new space and our outdoor pavilions and patios, it will be our blessing watching this become a reality which carries us into the future.”
DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Offers Ultrasound Device for Trigger Finger Treatment
DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township is the first in the state to offer a procedure that uses real-time ultrasound guidance to treat patients suffering from a condition known as trigger finger.
Trigger finger is the common name for stenosing tenosynovitis, a condition that causes pain, swelling, stiffness, or loss of motion or mechanical symptoms like popping, catching, or locking due to the progressive restriction of normal tendon motion. This may interfere with ones ability to bend or straighten a finger.
Trigger finger is a condition in which one or more of a person’s fingers gets stuck in a bent position. It is a common and treatable problem, and more common with certain medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and diabetes but can also be caused by repeated and strong gripping.
This treatment involves the use real-time ultrasound guidance, which enables the physician to perform the procedure through a small incision. Dr. Nicholas Moore, an orthopedic medicine specialist and the team at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital staff recently performed the first case in the state.
The technique allows patients to experience less pain and improved function. Performed in an office or procedure room with local anesthesia, the treatment is associated with reduced pain and improved function. It may allow patients to return to normal activities sooner when compared to the open surgery technique.
“This is an exciting option for patients who suffer from trigger finger and are looking for relief through a less-invasive approach,” Moore says. “Trigger finger can be a very difficult condition for patients, especially those who rely on their hands for their livelihoods. This procedure enables patients to more quickly get back to their daily activities.”
Trigger finger affects almost 9 million Americans and results in 350,000 surgeries every year. Traditional TFR procedures can remedy the condition but may result in large and sometimes painful scars, ongoing pain, and a long recovery.
$50K State Grant Will be Used to Document Ferry Street District in Niles
The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) of the Michigan Strategic Fund has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Historic Preservation Fund’s Underrepresented Community Grant program administered by the National Park Service (NPS).
The grant funds will be used to hire a preservation consultant to complete a survey and National Register of Historic Places nomination for the Ferry Street District in Niles, established around 1846, less than 10 years after Michigan achieved statehood.
“The African American community in Niles is among the oldest in the state,” says Mark A. Rodman, the state’s historic preservation officer. “The neighborhood continues to be a home and gathering place for this community, anchored by two churches, a masonic lodge, and the Ferry Street School. This cultural history will resonate as part of the National Register nomination, which in turn will enable other benefits such as access to the new State Historic Preservation Tax Credit program.”
The Ferry Street neighborhood consists of an eight-block area of approximately 30 resources.
The neighborhood was the site of Michigan’s first African American Freemason Society lodge (Harrison Lodge No. 6) founded in 1857.
Today, it includes the Ferry Street School, a one-room schoolhouse constructed in 1867 for African American children, the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge building, and is home to two church congregations, the Second Baptist Church (today the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church), founded at the corner of Sixth and Ferry Streets in 1849, and the Franklin AME Church on Sycamore Street established in 1888. Houses fill the surrounding blocks just to the northeast of downtown.
ASE to Host 2022 Michigan Pay & Economic Briefing June 7 in Troy
ASE in Troy will host its 2022 Michigan Pay & Economic Briefing from 8-11 a.m. on June 7.
“With the Great Resignation challenging employers, competitive compensation is more important than ever,” says Mary E. Corrado, president and CEO of ASE. “This briefing will include results from ASE’s 2022 Michigan Compensation Survey. In its 70th year, our data is the only Michigan-exclusive data available to Michigan employers and is crucial to remaining competitive in an employee driven market.”
Sessions will include Pay Trends 2022, led by Kevin Marrs, vice president of ASE, and 2022 Economic Update, led by James Robey, owner and principal of Robey Analytics.
For more details or to register, visit here. To learn about sponsorship opportunities, email Nick Corrado at ncorrado@aseonline.org.
University Research Corridor Experts Discuss Ways to Ease Flooding During Storms
Researchers from Michigan’s three universities that make up the University Research Corridor (URC) conducted a roundtable discussion with community leaders and state and local lawmakers to discuss ways to deal with the frequent flooding being experienced in Detroit and other southeast Michigan cities after storms.
Heavy rainfall last June left thousands without power and freeways flooded and impassible, and ways are being sought to make communities more resilient when confronted with severe weather.
URC experts ‒ including Wayne State University Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Chair William Shuster and University of Michigan environmental epidemiologist Carina Gronlund ‒ met at the WSU Integrative Biosciences Center (IBio) to share ideas with Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash; Bethany J. Howard, Climate Equity Coordinator with Eastside Community Network in Detroit; and state and local officials.
“We’ve seen the heartbreak of thousands of Detroiters and Southeast Michigan residents who repeatedly have experienced hardships and health threats from the rising waters,” says Britany Affolter-Caine, executive director of URC. “Researchers at URC universities are laser-focused on solving these challenges and on sharing what they know with lawmakers, community leaders and the public.”
An alliance of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University, the URC has seen its institutions over the past five years conduct $493.8 million in environmental health research and service, and $1.64 billion in infrastructure-related research. Among the researchers’ goals is bringing updated engineering, smart technology and improved safety to flood-prone areas.
During the roundtable, participants discussed better ways to handle storm water, improve pumping stations and other infrastructure, address health effects of flooding and help disaster recovery in historically marginalized and low-income communities.
“We know that water always wins, as it has the time and energy to find the paths of least resistance, which are often our basements or other infrastructure,” Shuster says. “We need to respond to the way that water plays this game and give it other options. This means retrofitting residential and regional infrastructures, communicating clearly, and acting on the prospects for lowering risk through emergency preparedness and response and consistent, comprehensive redress of infrastructure problems.
“We are proud to be doing vital work in this area with all three URC universities to find and share solutions.”
Gronlund says, “Severe weather events will continue and intensify, creating more events of flooding and other serious environmental hazards. Developing greater resiliency in infrastructure and response systems is important in helping cities and communities adapt to climate change.”
DSO to Present Magical Music of Harry Potter at Meadow Brook July 10
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra will present the Magical Music of Harry Potter at 7 p.m. at Meadow Brook Amphitheatre on the campus of Oakland University on July 10.
The show will feature music from all eight Harry Potter films, including John Williams favorites.
Tickets, which start at $25 for lawn seats, go on sale April 22 at 10 a.m. at 313presents.com, ticketmaster.com, and the box office at Little Caesars Arena.
DIA Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May
Each year in May the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) partners with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community groups, enhancing their voices and experiences by showcasing a blend of traditional and contemporary dance, musical performances, art, and more.
This year’s celebration and performances include Burmese, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Mongolian, Polynesian, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese cultures.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) is presented both in-person and virtually. In-person events require prior registration. Updates and events are added every day, visit www.dia.org/APAHM2022 for registration info and event fees (if required).
General admission to the museum is always free for residents of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.
Friendship Circle to Conduct Art Exhibition Featuring Work by Special Needs Artists
Friendship Circle, a West Bloomfield Township nonprofit that supports individuals with special needs and those struggling with isolation, addiction and other family-related crises, is announcing its “Drawn Together” art exhibition.
The free exhibition features work from Friendship Circle’s Dresner Foundation Soul Studio, a studio and gallery space for adult artists with special needs — it will highlight the experiences individuals with special needs face as they navigate the world. Drawn Together will take place at Friendship Circle’s Soul Studio at 5586 Drake Road in West Bloomfield Township on April 26 from 6-8 p.m.
The studio’s Drawn Together exhibition will feature artwork that expresses the artists’ unique narratives and experiences through drawing, painting, sculpture, and collage. The event will highlight not only the work of the artists, but also the relationships forged through their artistic explorations in Soul Studio.
“Soul Studio is so much more than just a gallery to us,” says Bassie Shemtov, co-founder of Friendship Circle. “It’s an opportunity to see the world through the eyes of our friends with special needs, and it gives us the chance to become more understanding of their stories and their day-to-day experiences. We’re thrilled to celebrate the expressive pieces crafted by our talented artists and share their work with the community.”
In addition to the art exhibition, the event will feature:
- Silent auction for one of the artwork pieces
- Coffee by Chazzano Coffee Roasters & Starbucks
- Artisan pizza & salads for purchase courtesy of Friendship Circle’s by Soul Café
- Musical Guest: Guitar Master – Steve Jarosz
- Complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic refreshments
Drawn Together is free and open to the public.
