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.
USA TODAY Names Detroit Thanksgiving Parade No. 1 in America
America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner White has been named Best Holiday Parade in America by the 2022 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
Detroit’s Thanksgiving tradition also received this award in 2018 and 2019. Produced by the Parade Co. in Detroit, America’s Thanksgiving Parade is broadcast in more than 185 television markets across the country and just celebrated its 96th year on Woodward Avenue.
“We are truly honored to have America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner White named the Best Holiday Parade in America by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for a third time,” says Tony Michaels, president and CEO of The Parade Co. “This year was a record year with nine amazing new floats. We were thrilled to be able to share it with millions across the country and are grateful for our incredible partners who help us celebrate this special tradition and shine a light on our amazing city each year.”
Nominees for USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards were selected by a panel of experts and voted on by the public.
In Related News: Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester has earned third place in the USA TODAY 2022 10Best Readers’ Choice travel awards!
The expert panel selected Meadow Brook Hall as Michigan’s only contender for Best Historic Home Tour from a pool of nearly two-dozen historic house museums across the country. The award recognizes the Holidays at Meadow Brook events — Holiday Walk and Winter Wonder Lights.
Nominees for all categories are chosen by a panel of relevant experts, which include a combination of editors from USA TODAY; editors from 10Best.com; relevant expert contributors; and sources for both these media and other Gannett properties.
Law Firm Re-brands and Moves to New Bloomfield Hills
The Strobl Sharp PLLC law firm in Bloomfield Hills has a new name, Strobl PLLC, and accompanying branding effective immediately. In addition, Strobl has moved its offices to 33 Bloomfield Hills Parkway, Suite 125, just east of Woodward and south of Long Lake Road.
“We have been at our current location since the early ’90s, so the timing of a move to updated space within same geographic area made sense to coincide with our re-branding,” says Tom Strobl, founder and Member of Strobl PLLC.
He says the new office space is better suited for a modern law firm, designed for versatility of its workspace and more multi-purpose meeting space and conference rooms, according to the firm. “While the move is just down the road, the new space and fresh look symbolize the innovative and forward-looking approach that the firm brings to client matters,” Strobl says.
The name change reflects the current leadership of the firm after the passing of one of its founding members, John Sharp in 2020.
The company website, StroblLaw.com, and email domain names remain unchanged.
Consumers Energy to Study Impacts of Dams on Local Communities
Consumers Energy in Jackson is funding an independent study during the first half of 2023 to determine the contribution of its 13 river hydro facilities to local communities near those dams across Michigan. That study will build on information gathered during community engagement meetings held earlier this year to help determine the future of its dams.
“Consumers Energy is committed to being a good neighbor and working transparently as we make informed decisions to reach the best outcomes for our customers, stakeholders and the communities we serve,” says Norm Kapala, vice president of generation operations at Consumers Energy.
“We know our dams play significant roles in Michigan, especially in the economies of the communities near our facilities, and we share with local leaders and others the desire to quantify those impacts before developing long term strategies regarding the future of those facilities.”
The 30- to 40-year federal licenses to operate the dams Consumers Energy owns and operates on the Muskegon, Manistee, Grand, Kalamazoo, and Au Sable rivers are set to expire beginning in 2034.
Consumers Energy is considering four options for each of its 13 dams: Relicensing the river hydro dam and continue generating electricity, selling the dam to a third party, removing the dam, or replacing the dam with an alternative structure that maintains some level of reservoir.
The energy provider hired Public Sector Consultants, a Lansing-based nonpartisan consulting firm that specializes in public policy research to perform the economic study. PSC has longstanding expertise in studying energy and the environment, economic research, public engagement, and group facilitation. The firm conducted the 2022 community river hydro in-person listening sessions and will build on the feedback from those meetings for this current work.
PSC will begin by engaging each of the local communities to identify and review available data to ensure the studies find all contributing factors that influence the local economies around Consumers Energy’s dams. It will produce individual studies for each dam to better understand the unique economic contributions — including additional data on how the hydro facilities and their associated reservoirs contribute to the recreational and tax bases of the communities — of all 13 hydro sites.
“A common theme we heard during our 27 community engagement meetings with communities and stakeholders is to know more about how much of the economic activity in the communities around our dams are associated with the hydro facilities,” Kapala says. “We have listened to the community members, and we are working on this economic contribution study to answer those questions to better understand those impacts.”
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Salt and Petroleum Lead Cargo Shipments in Final Weeks of 2022
As shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway enters the final weeks of the 2022 season, cargo shipments ebbed and flowed with the changing needs of the winter months. With nearly 4 million tons of cargo moving through the system in November, the year-to-date total has reached more than 31.5 million tons, down only 6.8 percent from this time last year.
“It’s important to take a step back and look at the big picture when comparing 2022 and 2021,” says Bruce Burrows, president and CEO of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “For example, general cargo was down 22.35 percent in November 2022, but it was up 71 percent in November 2021, so that paints things a little differently when you compare; not just general cargo, but all categories.
“We’re optimistic the season will finish in good shape and shipments of winter related products illustrate that.”
Salt shipments (up 17.23 percent) for replenishing inventories for roadways aided the dry bulk category (up 1.42 percent). Petcoke shipments (up nearly 16 percent) and potash (up 184 percent) also contributed to the increase in dry bulk. Liquid bulk was up 8.54 percent in November, including petroleum products (up 27.45 percent).
In November, shipments at the Port of Toledo surpassed 10.5 million tons thanks in large part to gains in coal, grain, and iron ore. Shipments are expected to remain steady going into the final month of the shipping season.
Through November, the Port of Monroe has handled more than 100,000 short tons of bulk product, 130,000 tons of liquid asphalt, and 210,000 tons of steel coils. This fall, the port loaded more than 3,000 tons of steel bars manufactured at Gerdau Special Steel Monroe on the Mark W. Barker, the newest ship on the Great Lakes.
The Port of Monroe recently received an $11 million grant from the U.S. Maritime Administration. The Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project will fund a handful of components including shoreline reinforcement, rehabbing the existing wharf and the addition of a second wharf for future wind energy cargoes. The port’s Turning Basin dock, built in the 1930s, will be heavily rehabilitated and shore power infrastructure will be installed along the riverfront to provide power to the riverfront wharves.
Editor: R.J. King
Associate Editor: Tim Keenan
