Small Business Spotlight

Michael Greiner, Oakland University assistant professor of management, talks about the current hiring challenges and opportunities facing small and seasonal business owners.

Crain's Detroit Business reporter Jay Davis talks to Ben Blankenship and Arin Rentz of Robotic Precision Therapy about their experience finding the right space for their business.

Longtime accountant Jamie Lopiccolo offers tips on what small business owners need to look out for as they file their taxes this year.

Laura Grannemann, vice president of the Rocket Community Fund and interim executive director of the Gilbert Family Foundation, talks with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about how Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert plans to spend $500 million over ten years on philanthropic initiatives in Detroit. Grannemann spoke to Livengood during Day 3 of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviews Michigan Health & Hospital CEO Brian Peters and outgoing Senior Executive Vice President Chris Mitchell at the Mackinac Policy Conference about current hospital staff shortages amid a fourth surge in new cases of COVID-19.

Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee interviews David Parent, Michigan managing partner of Deloitte, on Sept. 22 at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference.

Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee interviewed Michigan Economic Development Corp. CEO Quentin Messer Jr. on Day 3 of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviewed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Day 3 of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

John Rakolta Jr., chairman of Detroit-based construction giant Walbridge, and his daughter, Lauren, CEO of DFM Solutions, talked with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about their family business and John Rakolta’s experience as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates under former President Donald Trump.

Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee interviews Marathon refinery General Manager Dave Leaver on Day 2 of the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.

Conrad Mallett Jr., deputy mayor of Detroit, talks to Crain’s City Hall reporter Annalise Frank

Crain’s City Hall reporter Annalise Frank interviews Detroit Future City CEO Anika Goss on Day 2 of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee interviews Bollinger Motors CEO Robert Bollinger on Day 2 of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Detroit Chief Financial Officer Jay Rising talks with City Hall reporter Annalise Frank about the city’s finances 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic. Frank interviewed Rising at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Managing Editor Michael Lee interviews HAP President and CEO Michael Genord on Sept. 20 at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference.

Crain’s reporter Annalise Frank interviews Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan on Day 2 of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviews DTE Energy Vice Chairman Dave Meador about workforce development issues and the summer of power outages from severe weather on Day 2 of the Mackinac Policy Conference.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviews Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II on Sept. 20 at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference in the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Reporter Annalise Frank interviews University of Detroit Mercy President Antoine Garibaldi on Sept. 20 at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference on the Grand Hotel’s front porch.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviews Consumers Energy CEO Garrick Rochow on Sept. 20 at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood interviews Brad Williams, vice president of government affairs for the Detroit Regional Chamber, at the Great Turtle Brewery & Distillery on Mackinac Island ahead of the annual Mackinac Policy Conference, which runs Sept. 20-23.

Crain's Detroit Business Managing Editor Michael Lee talks with WJR's Paul W. Smith about the top stories from the current issue of Crain's.

On this final episode of Detroit Rising for 2020, Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood talks with Suzanne Coffey, chief planning officer for the Great Lakes Water Authority, about GLWA's new 40-year master plan. The blueprint for underwater infrastructure includes plans for alleviating frequent flooding of metro Detroit's freeways.

This week on Detroit Rising, Henry Ford College President Russ Kavahluna talks about the state's new Futures for Frontliners college scholarship program that aims to help workers whose in-person work has essential during the pandemic climb the economic ladder. He also talks about how the Dearborn community college's operations are faring during the COVID-19 pandemic amid the ongoing shutdown of in-person instruction on campus.

Veronica McNally, an Oakland County attorney who founded the IVaccinate.org campaign, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the challenges ahead with distributing a COVID-19 vaccine and whether employers should mandate it for their workers.

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the former Detroit city health department director and 2018 Democratic candidate for governor, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the surging cases of COVID-19 and the need for investing in public health infrastructure and systems in Michigan. El-Sayed praised the work of his former gubernatorial opponent, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her handling the of the pandemic. He also talked about his book, "Healing Politics," and what's next in his career as a political activist and commentator.

Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, speaks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the struggles and challenges retailers, restaurants and bars are facing in downtown Detroit with just one-fifth of the pre-pandemic downtown workforce to patronize their businesses.

Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood speaks with Kerry Buffington and Tammy L. Turner, co-founders of Kapstone Employment Services in Detroit, which specializes in recruiting diverse candidates for corporations.

Mark Burton, president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the state budget for the MEDC, the resurrection of the Pure Michigan tourism-attraction campaign, where the agency is focusing its economic development work in Detroit after the construction of a new Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant on the city's east side.

David Merritt, co-owner of Narrow Way Café, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about how his northwest Detroit coffee shop has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic on the Livernois Avenue of Fashion, which is undergoing a transformation with new investment in businesses and an overhaul of the street's design and traffic flow.

In an exclusive interview with Crain’s, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart talks about the automaker’s $1.6 billion transformation of two engine powertrain plants on Detroit's east side into an assembly plant that will start pumping out Jeep Grand Cherokees and a new three-row Jeep SUV early next year.

This week on Detroit Rising podcast, Alecia Gabriel and Deirdre Roberson, co-founders of The Lab Drawer, discuss their Detroit-based education tech startup company that has a subscription service for science experiments and projects that comes in a box in the mail that looks like a science lab drawer.

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools, talks with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about the district's plans to reopen school buidlings and offer an online-only option this fall for families concerned about the spread of COVID-19.

Bob Walters, president and chief operating officer of Rocket Companies, talked with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood and tech and finance reporter Nick Manes hours after Rocket Companies began trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the Detroit-based mortgage giant's Initial Public Offering.

Detroit political activist Meeko Williams spoke to Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about his experience with police officers, why he believes police residency should be mandatory and how he’s not in favor of defunding the police.

In Detroit, just 23 percent of the nearly 2,500 police officers live within the city limits. A 1999 law outlawed local ordinances requiring police officers to live in the city where they serve. Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, a former county sheriff and one-time police chief in Detroit, says requiring police officers to live in Detroit is "a great concept" but "very impractical to be able to enforce." He spoke with Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood about police residency, construction of a new Wayne County jail, how the county's health department is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and other issues in a wide-ranging interview on Detroit Rising.

Drew Patrick, owner and president of Skidmore Studio, and Meg Burritt, a managing partner of Planted Detroit, talk with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood about Skidmore’s new online farmers market and delivery service, MichiganFields.com. The design studio launched the service during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Planted Detroit, an indoor vegetable growing operation on Detroit’s east side, is selling its salad greens through the website after its commercial restaurant work dried up during the coronavirus shutdown of dine-in restaurants.