“Law firm's venture to establish global automotive practice - Detroit Free Press” plus 4 more

Law firm's venture to establish global automotive practice - Detroit Free Press
Women make history in automotive world - WIVB
Recession can't lasso Cattle Barons - Detroit Free Press
Look at what's new at LivingstonDaily.com; dining guide, coupons and ... - Livingston Daily.com
Three Michigan entrepreneurs announce grand openings in Troy - Oakland Press

Law firm's venture to establish global automotive practice - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 25 Oct 2009 12:01 AM PDT

Law firm Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn LLP is expanding its international business, especially in China.

The Detroit-based firm earlier this month announced a new partnership with Minneapolis-based Faegre & Benson LLP to create an international automotive legal team.

The partnership aims to leverage Honigman's deep experience in the automotive industry and Faegre's experience in China.

The Minneapolis firm already has offices in London with about 25 to 30 lawyers and in Shanghai with 15 legal professionals.

"We're so steeped in automotive, there is so much interrelationship between the U.S. automotive and the Chinese automotive, we were compelled to explore if there was an opportunity for us to both grow as a firm and expand the service we can provide our clients," said Robert Weiss, Honigman's commercial law, bankruptcy and reorganization department chair. "We genuinely believe that we have a unique combination of experience and relationships in the automotive sector, in particular."

Furthermore, Honigman is hiring Artis Noel, currently chief of export compliance at General Motors.

Noel is slated to the join the firm on Nov. 1 and bring a wealth of experience in export compliance, having been responsible for the issue in more than 200 countries for GM.

The issue is supremely important for supply chain management.

Honigman already played in international legal space. The firm, for example, represented GM in its efforts to sell the Hummer brand to a Chinese company.

GM is one of Honigman's big clients along with many in auto-parts suppliers. The firm also represents the Free Press.

With the new Faegre partnership, Honigman sees greater opportunities in helping its clients operate in China and helping Chinese companies trying to enter the U.S. auto industry.

"As China expands, if it is serious about being an exporter of things like cars, it's going to have to produce them outside of China. It's going to have to produce them elsewhere, which means its going to be in the supply chain business," said David Foltyn, Honigman chairman and CEO. "Our plan is that supply chain expertise that we have, if we're on the ground early, we'll be there to help grow as they grow and to be a trusted adviser."

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Women make history in automotive world - WIVB

Posted: 24 Oct 2009 12:41 PM PDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Six women became the first inductees into the National Transportation Women's Hall of Fame.

Museum President and founder, James Sandoro said, "There's never been a transportation related women's hall of fame and we canvassed the entire country. There's a group of people that think we should have it and have it in Buffalo."

"You know, to be honored by an industry that I've devoted my entire career to is a tremendous honor for me. It's a wonderful recognition," exclaimed inductee, Marguerite Hambleton.

Mary Martino, who was also inducted said, "There's so much more to transportation than most people realize. It's just not riding a bus or getting on an airplane. But it's the whole aura that goes around all of that."

"Yes, I had a long career at the NFTA in transportation. Now I'm serving as a board member of the New York State Thruway Authority and I'm enjoying that," inductee, Donna Luh said.

Race car driver and car care expert, Lauren Fix said women have always had key roles in transportation.

"Women are involved in every aspect of automotive. From sales to design to engineering, development and in my case, empowering women to make great decisions," she explained.

The late Alice Ramsey was inducted as the first woman to drive a car coast to coast from New York to San Francisco in 1909.

One hundred years later, Emily Anderson recreated that ride.

Emily's 30-day ride last summer in a re-built 1909 Maxwell taught her a lot about simply enjoying the journey.

"Being in an open air vehicle that only travels about 30 miles per hour certainly slows life down. So it was quite an experience all the way around," Emily stated.

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Recession can't lasso Cattle Barons - Detroit Free Press

Posted: 25 Oct 2009 12:08 AM PDT

In six years as a premier Detroit charity event, the annual Cattle Baron's Ball has raised nearly $6 million for the American Cancer Society.

Every year, the leading sponsors have been Detroit's big auto companies, whose high-level executives usually chaired the "cowboy black-tie" galas ---- Gary Cowger of General Motors in 2003 and 2004, Ford's Greg Smith in 2005, Chrysler's Eric Ridenour in 2006, GM's Ray Young in 2008.

This year, however, the Detroit automotive world was turned inside out by the federal rescues and bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler, accompanied by upheaval in the ranks of auto suppliers and dealers.

What would become of the Cattle Baron's Ball -- and, for that matter, scores of other charity events in the distressed Detroit region?

Should the ball be canceled? Or take a year off, while the region and its economic leaders regroup?

"Yes, we did go there, we talked about every option," said Jill Elder, senior executive director of the American Cancer Society's Great Lakes division. "Back in December and January, we called all our volunteer leaders from the past balls and asked, 'Where are you? How do you feel?'

Time for brainstorming

"And they all said 'Yes, 2009 will be a challenging year to pull it off, but cancer doesn't stop.' Everybody responded to the urgency and brainstormed about changes we could make," Elder said.

The result: a relocated, slightly less glitzy and pricey Cattle Baron's Ball will be held Nov. 7, without a big automaker leading the roundup. Jeff Bergeron and Tamara Izzo, partners in the Ernst & Young accounting and consulting firm, are the cochairs.

"This community has relied so much over the years on the generosity of the auto industry," Bergeron told me, "now somebody else has to step up. Obviously, GM had to lower their profile, so our strategy is to keep our automotive support, somewhat downsized, and then broaden the outreach to bring in more participation from the financial, insurance and other fields."

Changes to the 2009 ball include moving the venue from the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit to the Shotwell-Gustafson Pavilion on the campus of Oakland University in Auburn Hills.

Ticket prices have been lowered from $200 to $175 each, and the minimum corporate admission price went from $5,000 to $2,500. To attract young professionals, a Cattle Baron's after-party, called More Bull, opens at 10 p.m. with tickets to that event costing $75.

Elder, Bergeron and Izzo are expecting about 400 participants and hoping to raise $500,000 to fight cancer.

Want to join the roundup and move those numbers higher?

Call the American Cancer Society at 248-663-3400 or purchase tickets online at www.cbbdetroit.com.

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Look at what's new at LivingstonDaily.com; dining guide, coupons and ... - Livingston Daily.com

Posted: 24 Oct 2009 10:21 PM PDT

You may have noticed, things have been changing around here.

This week we've added a handful of new features to LivingstonDaily.com to better serve your readers.

We've added automotive deals, just like the ones you find in your paper, to our Web site. To view automotive deals, look for the auto deals logo above the photo galleries on the right hand corner of the home page.

We've also added our best bites menu guide which features the best places to eat out in Livingston County. You can find a link to the dining guide under the gray scrolling bar on our homepage.

They gray scrolling bar has changed too. We've updated it to include the 2010 Auto Preview. The gray scrolling bar changes each week and always has links to our Livingston Life special sections, People's Choice and more.

Under the scrollbar you will also find a link to our celebrations page. If you want to publish a birth, wedding or engagement announcement, birthday or anniversary notice or even publish a thank you note, the celebrations are for you. Click on the logo under the scrollbar, or the link on the home page for more information.

We've even made submitting photos and stories much easier — even if you've never registered for our site. Simply click the "share" icon under the gray scroll bar to get started. Our new "share" page will teach you everything from how to submit a letter to the editor, to creating a blog, or submitting a story for your community's get published page. Did you know you can read local stories and view pictures submitted by readers by clicking on the "get published" link on the toolbar?

Contacting reporters is also much easier due to some nifty new site features. We've added a contact page that can be accessed via the customer service link on the home toolbar. We've even linked bylines at the top of our stories to e-mail addresses. Try it out. Click on my byline at the top of this story.

Send me an e-mail and tell me what you like, don't like or want to see more of. We're already working on a new google searchbar for LivingstonDaily.com as well as a brand new video player.

These are just some of the changes going on at LivingstonDaily.com. Make sure to visit the site each day too see what else is new.

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Three Michigan entrepreneurs announce grand openings in Troy - Oakland Press

Posted: 24 Oct 2009 10:14 PM PDT

Click to enlarge

Bob Fender Jr. and Mike Fender (rear, from left) stand with Rob Fender Sr., Jason Roth and Larry Smith (front, from left) in front of their new businesses in the Troy Motor Mall.

The new operations of Autometric Collision, John R. Glass, and Dynamic Dents now occupy most of a new 27,000 square-foot complex at 1728 Maplelawn Drive, in the Troy Motor Mall.

At their new location, the three companies offer compatible services such as major auto body repairs and painting, paint-less dent removal and automotive glass service including windshield replacement. The new building is Autometric's eighth location, a second for John R. Glass, and the first fixed location for Dynamic Dents.

A grand opening is Wednesday from 1 to 7 p.m. and will include door prizes, demonstrations and high-performance vehicles on display, including the 2010 Ferrari California and Lotus Elise.

Larry Smith owns Autometric Collision and was the catalyst for bringing these companies together in the new location. Smith said,

"The team in this building meets a real set of needs for commercial and retail customers. In addition to providing services to the dealers here at The Troy Motor Mall, we're located ideally to service hundreds of thousands of people who live and work in the area."

Smith said he saw an opportunity to bring together existing companies that do related, but non-competitive work. "By having all of us in this one location, it'll be much easier for a customer to get just the service they need and save money."

Autometric Collision owns the new 27,000 square-foot facility. Smith's company spent nearly $2 million on the building, and occupies the majority of the space. Autometric currently employs nine at the Maplelawn Drive location, but, Smith said that up to 20 people could be employed. John R. Glass occupies about 2,500 square feet and has a staff of four. Dynamic Dents uses about 1,000 square feet for Roth's one-man operation.

Smith started Autometric Collision In 1975 with his first Autometric Body Shop in Center Line. The Maplelawn location is Autometric's eighth. There are also locations in Center Line, Eastpointe, Royal Oak, Pontiac (two), Utica, and Southfield.

John R. Glass is a family business. Bob Fender, Sr. opened the business in 1969 on John R. south of 11 Mile in Madison Heights. Since then, sons Bob Jr. and Mike have helped the business expand to include glass work for the automotive market (including fleets), homes, and commercial buildings.

Dynamic Dents Jason Roth entered the paintless dent removal business as a mobile service at age 18 in 1994. Roth says, "If it's a clean dent without any wrinkles or sharp edges, and provided I can access the back side of the damaged body panel, I can very likely massage the dent out."

FYI

Contact Autometric Collision at (248) 332-0600, John R. Glass at (248) 399-0878 and Dynamic Dents at (248) 851-5766.