Sanctuary at Villa Marie's Annual Bake Sale

You're Invited to Trupp Transformation Health's Patient Appreciation Day!

Entrepreneur - YOU Event at Walsh College

Entrepreneur-YOU (www.thewalshinstitute.com/EYOU) is a first-of-its-kind event designed to help any woman that has a passion for entrepreneurship. Attend and learn the steps necessary to open, run, and grow a business – and the unique challenges and opportunities that women entrepreneurs often encounter. Leave with self discovery, educational resources, and powerful contacts. Presented by leading business experts in southeastern Michigan.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Walsh College, Troy Campus
3838 Livernois
Troy, MI 48083

Entrepreneur-YOU will have something for everyone – from the stay-at-home mom with a good idea to the seasoned professional. Each knowledge path includes work sessions and panel discussions specifically selected to assist you in navigating every stage of entrepreneurship. Select from:

• NOVICE: The Novice Entrepreneur is a woman who is thinking about starting a business; is interested in taking a hobby to market; in the first year or two of getting a business off the ground.
• PRACTITIONER: The Practitioner Entrepreneur is a woman who has been in business for at least a year and wants to grow.
• ACHIEVER: The Achiever Entrepreneur is a woman who has run a successful business for many years and is looking at succession, philanthropy, and self-actualization.
• COMPETITOR: The Competitor Entrepreneur is a woman who wants to enter her business idea into entrepreneurship competitions for prize money.

Panel Presentations include:

• Funding Sources – Where’s the Money?
• Started from Scratch
• Next Generation: Family Business Relationships
• Resources for Entrepreneurs
• The Power of YOU

Breakout Sessions include:

• 1% Vision + 99% Alignment = The Key to Growing Your Business
• Greater Purpose: Giving Back
• Know Your Options
• Life Planning Tools (beginning with your obituary)
• Perfecting the Power Pitch
• Practicing the Power Pitch
• Social Media for Women Entrepreneurs
• Your Business Report Card
• And More!

Download event flyer: http://www.thewalshinstitute.com/EYOUFlyer

View presenters and session descriptions: http://www.thewalshinstitute.com/eyousessions

Register Today at www.thewalshinstitute.com/EYOU. Event tickets include full access to Entrepreneur-YOU, breakfast, and a buffet lunch.
Cost: $25 per ticket / $15 for Walsh students. Seating is limited!

 

Entrepreneur-YOU has been created through the collaboration of successful local businesswomen who strongly believe there are many women in southeast Michigan with significant, unleashed entrepreneurial talent that have the potential to positively impact and reshape our economic landscape.

Conference Collaborators:

Walsh College, Huntington Bank, inForum and Michigan Women's Foundation

Sponsors:

Plunkett Cooney: Attorney & Counselors at Law; Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Partners:

American Society of Women Accountants (ASWA)

Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC)

Automation Alley

Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce

Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce

Livonia Chamber of Commerce

Michigan Association for Female Entrepreneurs (MAFE)

Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce

Troy Chamber of Commerce

Travel and Vacation Packages Expanded for TRADEFIRST

While many cutback or cancel vacations, TRADEFIRST Members are booking exciting "Trade" vacation packages for 2012.

OAK PARK, MI – TRADEFIRST announced that it has expanded travel options for members by securing opportunities with new hotels, resort destinations throughout the United States, Caribbean and Mexico.

“We have been working diligently to expand the number of hotels, resorts and vacation destinations that accept Trade Dollars in lieu of cash,” said President and CEO Fred Detwiler. “For many of these luxury hotels and resorts taking trade for space that may otherwise go unused is just smart business in addition to being a great value for our members.”

Detwiler said the company recently hired a national expert to help secure barter opportunities with hotels and resorts to provide members with options for sunning and swimming at high end resorts from Mexico to St. Barts, to shopping in Chicago, deep sea fishing in Florida, playing in Vegas, skiing in Colorado and golfing in Palm Desert — the Trade First travel department has hundreds of ways for members to getaway. Some 500 hotels, resorts, restaurants – including the famed “Bitter End Yacht Club” -- are doing business with TradeFirst members.

TradeFirst has 5,000 business members and 15,000-plus TradeFirst card holders that can use their trade cards like credit cards in lieu of cash at thousands of locations for every imaginable product or service – including travel. “You could literally go on vacation for a week without spending a dime!,” says Detwiler.

“This has been and remains a tough economy,” said Detwiler. “While some businesses and families are cutting back, the use of Trade allows our members to fulfill dream travel plans they deserve for working so hard to build their businesses. Trade is the new business currency and we had a great year at TradeFirst building our business and helping contribute to Michigan’s turnaround.”

TRADEFIRST EXPANDS TRAVEL AND HOTEL OFFERINGS

“Using trade makes a lot of sense and is why we have done more than $40 million in business transactions this year,” said Stephen Schroeder, a marketing and media executive with TradeFirst.  “For any business that could use a growing marketing network and ready customers, they should consider trade or barter.” Schroeder said the company’s development of an automated computer-based system for use of electronic “trade dollars” makes transactions easy to execute.  The company offers credit card-like swipe cards, mobile phone apps and instant web-based transaction recording and receipts to keep member accounts updated and automated.

“This is not your grandfather’s barter and trade system, we are using technology to make trade as easy as cash,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder says with the local and national and even world economy going through extraordinary swings, TradeFirst helps stabilize values and allows businesses stability and growth while conserving cash flow. “TradeFirst – is the new business currency,” said Schroeder.

TradeFirst was founded in May of 1978 and has been an industry pioneer. The company helped make modern trade and barter a common and accepted practice for virtually any type of business. TradeFirst is headquarted in Oak Park, Michigan and has offices in Denver, Toledo, Ohio and, Pompano Beach, Florida. For more information please visit www.TradeFirst.Com.

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BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS OFFERS SONY OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT IN 3D ON JANUARY 14 & 15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BRIGHT HOUSE NETWORKS OFFERS SONY OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT IN 3D ON JANUARY 14 & 15

Livonia, MI  (January 2012)  – Bright House Networks today announced that it again will feature coverage of the Sony Open Golf Tournament live in 3D on January 14 and 15.  Bright House Networks is offering its digital HD customers, exclusive 3D coverage of the Sony Open, shown live from the Waialae Country Club in Oahu, Hawaii, at no additional cost.  

Each January, the Sony Open attracts 144 of the world’s top golfers to compete in the first full-field PGA Tour tournament of the 2012 season at the Waialae Country Club’s, Oahu’s premier county club.  The 3D coverage will focus on holes two through four on Waialae’s front nine and holes sixteen through eighteen on its back nine.  There will be three hours of live coverage per day, and three hours of replay coverage per day.  Coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on January 14, and 7:00 p.m. ET on January 15.  3D coverage of the Sony Open will be available on channel 401.  Full coverage of the match will be provided by The Golf Channel, available on 33 locally.

“The Sony Open showcases international golf talent against the backdrop of Hawaii’s natural beauty, and we are thrilled to again feature 3D coverage of this signature event,” said Bob, McCann, Division President - Bright House Networks.  “We are kicking the New Year off with some fantastic 3D events, and are excited to continue to bring additional 3D viewing opportunities to our customers, right in the comfort of their own homes.” 

Bright House Networks digital HD customers who wish to access the Sony Open in 3D will need a 3D television and the TV manufacturer’s specified 3D glasses. 

About Bright House Networks 

Bright House Networks is the sixth largest owner and operator of cable systems in the U.S. and the second largest in Florida, with technologically advanced systems located in five states including Florida, Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and California. 

Bright House Networks serves more than 2.4 million customers who subscribe to one or more of its video, high-speed data and voice services.  The company also offers a full suite of phone, Internet, Ethernet and cable television services to businesses of all sizes. Bright House Media Strategies, the advertising arm of Bright House Networks, offers businesses advanced targeted advertising solutions.  Bright House Networks also owns and operates exclusive local news and sports channels in its Florida markets.  

For more information about Bright House Networks or our products and services, visit brighthouse.com

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Contact: Leigh Byrd 

734-437-3355

leigh.byrd@mybrighthouse.com  

2012 Leadership & Awards Celebration's Honorees

Delta, Commercial Lawnmower, Marycrest Manor earn 2012 business awards

Ambassador, teachers of year will also be honored next week

(LIVONIA; January 11, 2012)  - The Livonia Chamber of Commerce will honor Delta Research-Delta Gear, Commercial Lawnmower, and Marycrest Manor for business excellence and contributions to the Livonia community at the eighth annual Leadership and Awards Celebration at Laurel Manor on Thursday, Jan. 19.

The honored businesses were announced this week by Chamber President Dan West.

“Each of these companies built a decades-long reputation as great businesses while devoutly giving back to the community with efforts that benefit many people in and around Livonia,” West said. 

The 2012 Large Business of the Year Award goes to Delta Research-Delta Gear, a three-generation family company that dates back to 1952. Over the past two years, the company invested some $13 million into purchasing buildings and completing significant renovations to the former Livonia Observer building for it growing production of high-precision parts and gears for automotive and aeronautical vehicles.

“Success only comes from good employees,” said Bob Sakuta, the company’s president and managing partner. “If you don’t have good employees, a company is not sustainable. We benefit from their hard work.”

Sakuta’s father, Alex, created Delta Research in Dearborn Heights in 1952 and moved the operation to Capital Avenue in Livonia with eight employees in 1966. The company grew on the design and prototype production of parts and machines. Bob and his late-brother, Dennis, continued to grow the company after their father died in 1986.

In 2004, the company purchased Tifco Gage and Gear in Wixom, brought it to Livonia as Delta Gear. Today, the companies have grown to employ 107 workers at three Livonia buildings. Today, Bob’s son, Scott, and son-in-law, Tony Werschky, are partners as the companies pursue future growth in their gear-making operations and roll out two new enterprises in the coming years.

“I want to make Livonia the gear capital of the world,” said Sakuta, a Livonia resident for 35 years. “I love to build things, and we are grateful because for how Livonia has allowed us to grow at such phenomenal rates.”

Delta Gear and Delta Research have contributed to the Livonia Police Department, military veterans, and a number of professional development causes. Sakuta said he was “surprised” and “honored” to receive the large business honor. 

The 2012 Small Business of the Year winner is Commercial Lawnmower, a sales, parts and service center for lawn care and snow removal equipment located on Plymouth Road since 1978. Owner John Murphy moved out of his original location near Wayne Road 12 years ago to a larger building just west of Merriman Road.

Murphy, a Livonia resident for 47 years, cut grass for one of his school teachers at LaForest Lawn Maintenance for 12 years before going into business for himself. Also during this time, he attended evening classes at the University of Detroit and earned a bachelor’s degree. He continues to work long days, driven by visible satisfaction from his customers.

“I enjoy people,” he said. “I enjoy selling good products and seeing the smiles on their faces when they use those products.”

The mild-mannered Murphy’s attention to customer service has always been his primary focus. His office features a document, Ten Commandments of Good Business, which is printed on an aging sheet of paper that’s turned yellow but the document remains relevant. He also credits his 14 employees, who average 15 years of service to the company, for sustaining the business for 34 years.

Murphy’s company has long supported a number of community causes including the Livonia Hockey Association, St. Michael’s church and school, Livonia high school sports boosters, Livonia Goodfellows, and Livonia Kiwanis.

“We just like working hard, running an honest business and staying involved in the community,” Murphy said. “Livonia and the other neighboring communities have been so good to us, so we want to be good to them.”

Murphy said he was “surprised” and “thankful” for the small business honor. Along with wife, Helene, he has two children in college.

The 2012 Community Enhancement Award goes to Marycrest Manor, a skilled-nursing and rehabilitation center located on Middlebelt Road since 1962. The facility employs some 100 people who tend to 600-700 patients each year.

Marycrest Manor recently invested $8.1 million into its campus by constructing a 60-unit apartment complex for independent seniors. The new 88,000-square-foot building is known as Marycrest Heights.

“We have a lot of competition for skilled nursing and rehabilitation service, so with this project, we aimed to create multiple levels of service while making better use of our 10 acres,” said Jim Butler, the administrator and president of Marycrest Manor. He added that most of the new tenants moved in from another Livonia home.

The three-story complex is built on top of a heated garage. The apartments range from 925- to 1,280 square feet. Common areas in the building include a community room, media room with fireplace, multipurpose room and fitness room. Butler made a controversial decision in the planning phase by authorizing the bright, yellow siding.

“That was a tough decision because there were some who didn’t like the idea, but I thought the bright siding to bring attention to this building,” Butler said. “Since the building was completed, we have had plenty of positive feedback from people. It grabs their eye.”

While he said he was “thrilled” and “humbled” to community enhancement award, Butler added he hopes to expand and renovate the original Marycrest Manor building in the coming years. His goal: To serve more patients and match the exterior look of Marycrest Heights.

The Livonia Chamber will also honor Jeff Brindley as its Ambassador of the Year, which is awarded to the chamber’s most-active volunteer over the past year. In addition to helping recruit new members, welcome new business owners at grand openings, and provide support at chamber events, Brindley has been the leader of the chamber’s largest peer networking group for several years.

“I am surprised by this honor,” Brindley said. “The Livonia Chamber and the chamber ambassadors are great assets to my business. I have met some wonderful business people and lifelong friends through the chamber.”

Brindley is a financial advisor for Foresters Financial Partners. He has been an active member of the chamber and an ambassador for seven years. Aside from work, Brindley is active with the Livonia Rotary Club, Livonia Stevenson Booster Club, and other charities in Livonia. For 20 years, he has lived in Livonia where he raised his two teenage children.

The business award winners were nominated by Livonia Chamber of Commerce members and community leaders throughout December and January. The honorees were selected by an anonymous committee who evaluates the nominations. 

At the Leadership and Awards Celebration, the Livonia Chamber will also honor the teachers of the year for Livonia Public Schools and Clarenceville School District. At LPS, the teachers of the year are Buchanan Elementary’s Christine Wojcik, Frost Middle School’s Carim Calkins, and Churchill High School’s Kelly Eddy. At Clarenceville, the teachers of the year are Clarenceville High School’s Judy Bargerstock, Clarenceville Middle School’s Kendal Lamarand and Botsford Elementary School’s Dawn Monson.

The Leadership and Awards, sponsored by UPS, Huntington Bank, St. Mary Mercy Hospital and Madonna University, is coordinated by the Livonia Chamber of Commerce and the Livonia Observer newspaper. Tickets are still available at $25 each. Admission includes a light dinner and soft drinks. A cash bar will be available. To reserve tickets, call the Livonia Chamber office at 734.427.2122, or via e-mail at sweeney@livonia.org.

Celebrate 50 Years with Marycrest Manor with a Golden Bowling Bash!

Baby Basics Workshop at St. Mary Mercy Livonia

INFANT CARE & BREASTFEEDING CLASSES COMBINED

 

Livonia, MI - St. Mary Mercy Hospital is offering a "Baby Basics Workshop" Infant Care and Breastfeeding Class combined, on Saturday, January 28, from 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in Classrooms 1 and 2.

Get the basics of baby care and breastfeeding all in one class.  This class is designed for first-time parents to learn the skills of feeding, bathing, diapering, skin care, soothing and safety. A St. Mary Mercy Hospital pediatrician will discuss infant illness and child immunization.  In addition, new parents will learn breastfeeding techniques including positioning, pumping, storage and breast care.

Bring a stuffed animal or doll to use for a demonstration on how to properly hold the baby when breastfeeding.  Please arrive 10 minutes before the class starting time.  Bring your lunch, snacks and drinks.  There will be a 45-minute lunch break. 

This class is open to anyone who cares for an infant. The fee is $50 per couple.  Course materials included in the cost. Registration is required.  To register call St. Mary Mercy Hospital’s Marian Women's Center at 734.655.1162, or register online at stmarymercy.org and click on “classes and events.”

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CONTACT:     Jennifer Kennedy

Director, Marketing/Public Relations

734.655.1593 or kennedyj@trinity-health.org