Crain's Detroit Business

Nobody will tell you your website sucks

05/22/13 Does your website contain incorrect capitalization or punctuation, misspellings, unclear ideas, cliches or bad grammar? "Of course not!" you reply indignantly. Nobody would deliberately put mistakes out there for the world (this the WORLD Wide Web) to see, right? Then why do I see so much of it?

Snyder transformation manager defends financing, mission of Education Achievement Authority

05/22/13 One of the key architects of the controversial Education Achievement Authority said many misconceptions still persist about its financing, its ultimate goals and whether it has taken money from Detroit Public Schools.

Fishing for a blue economy

05/22/13 When it comes to building the blue economy, there are few drivers more potent than fish.

EPA considers extending lead paint regulations to commercial buildings

05/22/13 "[W]ater from clay pipes is much more wholesome than that which is conducted through lead pipes, because lead is found to be harmful for the reason that white lead is derived from it, and this is said to be hurtful to the human system." Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, De Architectura, Book VII (~15 B.C.)

The merger that wasn't meant to be: What happened with Henry Ford and Beaumont?

05/21/13 You have to feel a little sorry for the executives at Beaumont and Henry Ford. They spent hundreds of overtime hours meeting and strategizing on how they could best make the proposed merger work.

Former state Dem chair Mark Brewer to blend law, consulting in new role at Goodman Acker PC

05/21/13 Mark Brewer, the former Michigan Democratic Party chairman of 18 years who stepped down in February to end a contentious battle for leadership with Lon Johnson, will blend political consulting with his labor law practice roots at Southfield-based Goodman Acker PC.

Is Michigan prepared for a cyber attack?

05/21/13 Imagine someone hacking into our waste management system, causing millions of gallons of raw sewage to spill into our rivers, lakes and parks. Marine life across our lakes and rivers dies, the stench is horrible and diseases spread fast. This is a true story.

Key Snyder adviser prefers his place behind the curtain

05/19/13 Most people have probably never heard of Rich Baird and his behind-the-scenes role in Gov. Rick Snyder's administration, and he likes it that way.

Second Papa Joe's market to open in downtown Detroit

05/20/13 Inside the Renaissance Center, it will feature pizza, pasta, sushi and other prepared foods, along with a bakery and a small grocery area.

Shortage of software professionals prompts new forms of training, education

05/17/13

Use key messages to control your story

05/17/13 The TV reporter's in front of you with a camera and a microphone. How do you make sure that your important content winds up on the air and not on the virtual cutting room floor? Here's the secret: Only "60 Minutes" can roll video for as long as it takes to hang you. TV news reporters have to get on to the next interview. If you keep repeating the same thing over and over, they'll be forced to use it.

Need talent? What's your plan?

05/16/13 In April of last year, the Society for Human Resource Management and the AARP teamed up to survey 430 HR professionals. Of respondents, 71 percent said that, although losing skilled older workers could pose a problem in their workplace, their companies had not done any formal planning to address it.

Bing as Pistons coach? Ficano jokingly offers up a suggestion for Detroit mayor

05/16/13

Orr: 'We are going to start running a little bit faster now'

05/15/13 Forty-eight days into his tenure as Detroit's emergency manager, Kevyn Orr has a better grasp of the depths of the city's financial problems and he plans to begin rolling out specific actions to tackle those in the next couple of weeks.

Party like it's 1920: Detroit City Distillery opening in Eastern Market

05/16/13 Workers are transforming a former Eastern Market slaughterhouse into a prohibition-themed micro-distillery. It will feature a tasting room serving gin, whiskey and vodka, to start, when it opens as early as spring 2014.

Snyder not surprised by findings in Orr's report

05/14/13 Gov. Rick Snyder did not find much surprising in the report issued this week by Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr, but said the benefit to having it is that all the facts about the city's finances and related issues are in one place.

Ingredients of successful entrepreneurs: 10 things to know

05/14/13 Last week, I was a guest speaker at Clippert Academy in southwest Detroit for their career day, where I spoke to 150 middle school students. Detroit-based Strategic Staffing Solutions organized over two dozen professionals from various backgrounds to come and enlightened the young minds.

Cyberterrorism: Pay attention to this new threat

05/13/13 On April 23, 2013 at 12:07 p.m., the Associated Press tweeted, "Two explosions in the White House, and Barack Obama is injured." By 1:08 p.m., the Dow had fallen 150 points, the price of crude oil had fallen, and U.S. government bonds briefly dropped. Fortunately, there were no explosions, our president was fine, and the Dow bounced back. That just shows you how powerful a simple hack of the AP's Twitter account can be.

Building a sense of place with green infrastructure

05/13/13 When you think of the term "water infrastructure," any of the following might come to mind: massive water and wastewater treatment plants, miles of underground pipe delivering water to homes and businesses, more miles of pipe shuttling sewage to treatment plants, and huge basins holding runoff from parking lots and roadways.

GOP Medicaid plan doesn't sit well with Dems, Snyder

05/20/13 At a news conference around lunchtime in the Capitol on Thursday, Gov. Rick Snyder was asked where negotiations stood on the expansion of Medicaid. As with his other top budget priority -- road funding -- Snyder did not have much to report, other than that progress was slow and he wished it wasn't.